Early one morning, Ralph was teaching Elliot swordsmanship. He was six years old.

"Okay, a cross cut. And then a middle attack."

Ralph uses a relatively light wooden sword made of puff wood to teach Elliot basic combinations. In response, Elliot uses his whole body to hit with the puff sword, which seems a little heavy.

"Good, next is a thrust, pretending to be an upper attack."

A pleasant knocking sound echoes through the large garden. Emily, who had opened the window to let in some fresh air, was watching the scene with a smile while drinking tea. Then her stomach growled. She turned her head to look at the clock in the room and saw that it was already breakfast time. She called out to the two from the window.

"Ralph, Elliot, breakfast will be ready soon!"

Then the two stopped playing with their swords, and Ralph put his wooden sword back on his waist. "Okay, Elliot, we'll just have to do fifty practice swings for the upper level and that will be the end of this morning's training."

"Yeah."

Elliot began counting as he started practicing.

Elliot had begun learning swordsmanship, and he wanted to grow up to be an adult who could protect people like Ralph, so he absorbed all the techniques of the sword. Ralph would occasionally smile as he fought, and Elliot felt that he was carrying everyone's expectations. As if to answer those expectations, he swung his sword with all his heart.

Elliot was old enough to go to school, but the letter he received from Kratos yesterday said:

"When Elliot turns six, we will be sending a teacher and wizard from the Brannor Law Kingdom, so please make the necessary preparations."

Ralph had to clean the second floor, which was used as a storage shed, in the morning, bring in bedding, and make it liveable.

After breakfast, Elliot and Ralph started moving the furniture that was crammed into the second floor.

"Hey, do I not have to go to school like Garal next door?"

Elliot asked Ralph while carrying his small bag.

"Elliot has to learn more than just studying, so he has a specialized teacher."

"I see. I wanted to go to school and play with everyone, too, but..."

Ralph stroked Elliot's head, who looked a little lonely.

"It's okay. I'll make time for you to play."

Elliot showed his fully grown, permanent teeth as he said this.

The room was tidied up in the morning, and in the afternoon, Emily only had to wipe the floor.

After lunch, Ralph put on his sword and said he was going on patrol.

"Dad, I'm going on patrol too!"

Ralph looked hesitant for a moment, but replied with a smile, "Okay, let's go! It'll be good training for my legs, too." He made the decision after considering that there hadn't been any monsters recently.

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They entered the forest from the west side of the village and walked along the undulating circuit.

"From here on, the climb gets the steepest."

"Yeah."

Perhaps because Elliot was still light on his feet, he was able to keep up with the steepness with ease. Eventually, the two reached the top of the highest hill.

"Elliot, this is where the view is the best."

"Wow, it's amazing!"

Further into the forest, across the deep, dark Zalto Strait, is a continent with towering mountains.

"Across that Zalto Strait lies the Jirard Union. I once had a chance to look at a world map, and the seven nations form a circle around the Great Sea of Orbis. There are no wars between nations now, and it's peaceful."

Ralph emphasized the word "peace." He remembered how he had shuddered when King Kratos told him that the Great Sea of Orbis was the result of a meteorite impact brought on by a hero of the past.

Elliot, unaware of this, looked at the magnificent scenery with shining eyes.

"Let's go, Elliot."

"Yes!"

With the sun beginning to set in the west at his back, they went down the hill, through the forest and arrived at the entrance to the wall surrounding the village.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry."

Ralph smiled and patted Elliot's head.

Four days after preparing the guest room, a woman arrived in a carriage in the early afternoon.

She had pale blue short hair and similar blue eyes. She was a head shorter than the relatively tall Emily.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Clare Coredoniu, from the Law Kingdom of Brannor. Is Ralph here? I've brought a letter from my country's Pope Albeini. Umm..."

He put down his large backpack and took out a letter with a wax seal on it.

"This way. I'll be looking after you for a while."

Emily, who answered the door, was surprised at how young the woman was. She had heard that he was a teacher and a wizard, so she had expected that the person coming would be quite elderly.

"Ralph has just been out on patrol with Elliot, so please come into the living room. It must have been difficult for you to carry such a large load."

Emily opened the door all the way.

"I'm sorry, I'll be off then."

Clare once again shouldered her backpack, which looked heavy, and entered Ralph's house.

"How long will it be until Ralph returns?"

"Normally it takes about an hour and a half, but since Elliot is with us, I think it will take a little longer."

Clare placed her backpack in a corner of the living room, said "Excuse me," and sat down in a chair again.

Emily saw his behavior and thought that he was a well-behaved and polite child. She went to the kitchen to prepare tea.

"How old are you, Clare?"

Emily called out from the kitchen.

"I'm 16 this year."

"Wow, it's amazing to be a teacher at such a young age."

"I hear that a lot."

Emily entered the living room with tea utensils and cups on a tray.

"It's a specialty tea from Suwari Village, but I don't know if it will suit your taste..."

She placed the cups in front of Clare and poured the tea. The rich aroma of fermented tea leaves instantly filled the room.

"I'll also bring some snacks."

"Snacks?!"

Clare's tone suddenly changed.

"Ah! I'm sorry."

"You don't like sweets?"

"No, no! I love them! They're not very common in Brannor..."

"Hehe, wait a minute."

For the next two hours, the two of them talked about sweets and cooking, in addition to Ralph and Elliot.