After the three adventurers patrolling the Noble District departed, Ashie, the maid who had been seeing them off, turned back to Rei.
"Now then, Rei-san, Seto-san, please come inside. I’ll go and fetch the Master immediately."
With a cheerful smile, she opened the door and gestured for Rei and Seto to enter. Rei and Seto nodded and stepped through the entrance, but then...
"Guruuu..."
Seto let out a somewhat dejected cry.
The gate had been fine, but the mansion's front door was simply not large enough for him. While his body might have squeezed through, the wings on his back were far too wide.
"Ah... um, I’m terribly sorry..." Ashie murmured, looking troubled as she glanced at Rei.
Rei gave a wry smile and stroked Seto’s head to comfort him. "Sorry, Seto. Wait outside like you usually do. If it gets too cold, you can head back to the inn. What do you want to do?"
"Guruuu." Seto gave a small cry and turned his gaze toward the garden.
"Is it all right if he waits in the garden?" Rei asked.
"Oh, but... the garden is..." Ashie hesitated.
Rei understood her reluctance. The areas visible from the main path were neatly kept, but the parts hidden from view were likely overgrown and neglected. She was clearly embarrassed by the lack of upkeep.
"Don't worry about it. Seto is a monster, after all. He’s used to living deep in the mountains. It doesn't matter to him if the garden is a bit untidy."
"......I'm sorry......" Ashie nodded sheepishly, her face flushing red with shame. To have a noble’s estate in such a state was a source of deep embarrassment for her as a maid.
"That’s that, then. Seto, wait out here."
"Guruuu." Seto nodded as if to say he understood and trotted off toward the garden.
Watching him go, Ashie then led Rei into the mansion.
The interior was, in some ways, exactly as Rei had expected—and in others, it far exceeded his expectations. He had anticipated that they weren't wealthy, but the sheer lack of decoration was startling. The entrance hall was utterly bare, devoid of a single painting or work of art. In fact, calling it an "entrance hall" felt like an overstatement; given its size, "foyer" was much more accurate.
(Are they what you’d call fallen nobles? Or maybe they messed up in the Center and got exiled to the Frontier?)
While these thoughts crossed his mind, Ashie led him further in. Within a minute, they arrived at a reception room.
"Please wait here for a moment. I'll go call the Master right away."
"Yeah, got it."
Ashie gave a slight bow, still clutching the paper bag of food, and left the room.
Left alone, Rei sat on the sofa and scanned his surroundings. "In here, too, huh?"
A reception room was the face of a home, the place where guests were welcomed. Usually, a noble’s reception room would be filled with paintings, vases, suits of armor, or perhaps the taxidermy of monsters and animals. This room had none of that.
The sofa he sat on might have been considered high quality for a commoner, but for a noble’s furniture, it was undeniably subpar.
(I don't know the story behind it, but they’re definitely broke. Though, if it turns out the guy is just a total miser, that would be pretty funny in its own way.)
As he sat there, there was a knock at the door, and Ashie returned.
"Pardon me. The Master and the Young Master will be here shortly. Please wait just a bit longer."
She announced this as she poured tea from a tray and placed a cup before Rei.
(Heh...)
A faint floral scent drifted from the cup. When Rei took a sip, a gentle sweetness spread across his palate, followed by a hint of astringency.
"This is good," Rei muttered, genuinely impressed.
Ashie beamed with delight. "I'm so glad it's to your liking! This tea is actually my own creation. I dry the flowers from our garden and..."
"I see. Herb tea."
"Yes! Exactly. The Master loves this tea, so I serve it to him often... Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bothering a guest with such trivial things."
She had been speaking excitedly, her pride in her work shining through, but she suddenly caught herself and covered her mouth as if she’d made a blunder.
However, Rei didn't care about formal etiquette. Unless someone’s attitude was deliberately offensive, he wasn't one to take a girl’s enthusiasm poorly.
"Don't worry about it. I don't know how a noble guest would feel, but I'm just an ordinary adventurer."
"Thank you very much."
Ashie bowed, then suddenly shifted her attention toward the door. "It seems the Master and the Young Master have arrived."
She moved to the wall and stood at attention. A few seconds later, the door opened and two people entered. Rei stood up from the sofa to greet them.
The first was a middle-aged man around 170cm tall. He wore a timid smile and looked more like a common citizen than a noble. He had a mustache, but rather than adding dignity, it seemed to only emphasize his meek appearance.
Beside him was a child of about 130cm. He looked to be around ten years old.
"Hello. You must be Rei-kun?"
"Yeah. I'm Rei, the D-Rank adventurer who accepted the request."
"Ah, you can speak naturally with me. As you can see, we’re just a poor noble family. We could go under at any moment, so I'm not really used to formal noble interactions."
"......Well, if that’s okay with you, it makes things easier for me."
It was just as Rei had suspected—or perhaps even more financially dire than he'd imagined.
(That explains why the reward was what it was.)
"You've likely seen it on the request form, but I am Muet Cisne. I hold the rank of Baron... though, as I said, I'm a Baron in name only. This is my son, Basrero Cisne. Basrero, introduce yourself."
Prompted by his father, the boy stepped forward.
"Nice to meet you. I am Basrero Cisne. I'm very happy to have someone as famous as you train me, Rei-san."
His polite, intelligent speech was clearly the result of a noble upbringing. Rei noted this as he watched Basrero bow deeply.
"Well, now that the introductions are done... Oh, Ashie, could you bring tea for Basrero and me as well? Your herb tea is always so delicious."
"Certainly, Master. I’ll prepare it at once."
Ashie bowed and began setting out more cups.
"Please, have a seat. We can discuss the details of the request over tea," Muet said. "As you can see, we're a poor noble family. People with less-than-kind things to say call us 'ruined.' But even so, I'm grateful to have a mansion with a garden. We can't afford to hire anyone to maintain it, so Ashie and I have to do it ourselves... but the herb tea made from the flowers we grow there is our little pride and joy."
With a level of humility unbecoming of a noble, Muet encouraged Rei to enjoy the tea. Rei, knowing the tea was indeed excellent, took another sip.
"Yeah, it really is good. You could serve this in a shop."
Ashie blushed at the compliment. Muet looked at her with a warm, affectionate gaze, treating her more like a daughter than a servant. Beside him, Basrero also wore a smile, clearly pleased to hear Ashie being praised.
Rei was content to watch the warm family dynamic for a moment, but he was here for business. He addressed the three of them, breaking the cozy atmosphere.
"So, about the request."
"Ah, yes, my apologies," Muet said. "As stated in the request form, I would like you to provide Basrero with combat training."
"I-I look forward to your guidance!" Basrero bowed his head again from his seat.
"......Wait a second. I figured as much, but..." Rei muttered, feeling a slight sense of hesitation now that he was face-to-face with a ten-year-old.
Muet seemed to have anticipated this reaction. He gave a pained smile and stroked Basrero’s head. "Yes, I know what you’re thinking. You probably feel there isn't much point in training a child this small for only about one week."
"Well, yeah," Rei admitted. Skills weren't something you could master on a whim. In Rei’s own case, he had the benefit of Zephyle's knowledge, his own staggering physical ability, and a massive pool of magic power—not to mention his childhood experience playing in the mountains. He was an outlier. A normal person couldn't just copy him and expect to survive. And more importantly...
"My fighting style is basically self-taught. I don't follow any established school of combat."
(Well, since the Death Scythe was made with Beast Magic, I didn't exactly have a choice.)
In a world full of adventurers and knights, almost no one used a great scythe. Spears were the standard for long-reaching weapons. A great scythe was far more difficult to handle, and Rei had never seen another user in the City of Gilm, the City of Baar, or any dungeon he’d visited. While he surely wasn't the only one in the world, they were rare enough that it wouldn't have surprised him if he were.
"At best, my style is one forged in real combat. It’s probably not the kind of thing a noble should be learning. I don't mind acting as a sparring partner for a mock battle, but trying to teach him my techniques would do more harm than good."
"I understand that. Truly, I do," Muet replied. "However, to learn the kind of sword skills a noble 'should' possess, one has to attend an prestigious dojo. And naturally, such places require a significant fee."
"......I see."
(That makes sense. Looking at this house—well, it’s not even big enough to really be called a mansion—there's no way they have that kind of money.)
Rei understood the situation, but he pressed further. "I get the reason. But... are you really okay with this? You’re a noble, yet you want your son to be taught by someone like me? My style is heterodox, at best."
"Yes. I believe strength has no 'right' or 'wrong' path," Basrero said, a wry, modest smile on his face that didn't match his age. "If you are strong, you are strong. If you are weak, you are weak. That’s all. And..."
Basrero looked at his father before continuing. "As my father said, we are poor nobles in name only. Our family could fall at any time, so I want to have a skill I can use to survive. Fortunately, the City of Gilm is a great place to live as an adventurer. In that sense, being sent here from the Royal Capital might have been a blessing in disguise."
"Ugh... when you put it like that, it’s hard for me to say no," Rei sighed. "What do you think, Muet-san? The kid says he doesn't care about the means as long as he gets strong. Do you still want me for the combat training?"
Muet bowed his head deeply. His humility was likely a product of the hardships he'd endured as a struggling noble. Beside him, Basrero bowed politely as well, and Ashie watched Rei with pleading eyes.
Rei felt the weight of their gazes for a few seconds before letting out a massive sigh.
This request was a requirement for his rank-up, so he’d never intended to refuse it anyway.
(Besides, it’ll be a decent way to kill some time during the winter.)
And so, for the next week, Rei would find himself acting as a combat instructor for the son of a noble.