Kays Translations

Chapter 271: Remarkable Whiteness

I now had another household shrine to make. I planned to work on it little by little during breaks from my lessons with the tutor. Nero attended those lessons as well, and he absorbed academic subjects with surprising ease.

He was handsome, intelligent and athletic—an almost unfair combination. Logically speaking, I belonged in that category too. Young ladies at future tea parties might see me as a desirable match, which made the prospect of attending them increasingly daunting.

“What is wrong? You have seemed distracted for a while.”

“Oh, I was just thinking about the tea parties.”

As the son of a high-ranking noble, I could not simply avoid them. Perhaps choosing a fiancée early would discourage some of the attention.

“I see. Speaking of which, your outing with Lady Fabienne is coming up soon.”

That was right. I had not forgotten, but the day of my outing with Lady Fabienne was almost here. Nero apparently thought I might invite her to one of the tea parties, and given the circumstances, I could understand why.

Brother Alex and Sister-in-law Daniela had already researched suitable places to visit in the territorial capital and reserved a restaurant. The remaining problem was choosing a gift. Perhaps I could find something she would like at the jeweller's.

I also planned to bring dried fruit, now a speciality of the Heine Margraviate. It was easy to eat in a carriage without making a mess. Should I give her some liquid detergent as well? No, it would be better to teach her how to make it, since Lady Fabienne was already a skilled magic pharmacist.

“Giving her a household shrine would be a bad idea, would it not?”

“It would not be an appropriate gift for an outing.”

Nero answered carefully. He was right. I would invite Lady Fabienne to House Heine one day and see what she thought of the shrine before making any decision.

That afternoon was devoted to swordsmanship and magic training. I was finally returning to my normal routine after spending an unusual amount of time making things.

“Julius, look at this!”

“W-wait, Sister-in-law Meeka! What are you doing?”

Brother Cain and Sister-in-law Meeka had apparently been practising swordsmanship since morning. When did they study? Well, never mind that. The moment Sister-in-law Meeka spotted me, she hurried over and removed her armour, revealing the dazzlingly clean white training clothes beneath it.

“I washed these with the liquid detergent. Look how white they are! There is no unpleasant smell either. Here—smell them!”

“Er, all right…”

Brother Cain, stop her! Why was he leaving his fiancée to do this? Oh, he was stretching nearby. It looked as though he had overdone the training again. Why did he always push himself so hard?

There was no graceful way out of it, so I cautiously checked. There was no unpleasant odour at all; only a faint, pleasant fragrance remained.

“Well?”

“You are right. They do not smell bad at all.”

“See? Julius, could you share some of this liquid detergent with me?”

Sister-in-law Meeka clearly loved the detergent. From the hopeful way she looked at me, she wanted to take some back to the academy. I had no reason to refuse.

“Of course. I can prepare some for Brother Cain as well and send regular supplies while you are at the academy.”

“Really? Thank you, Julius!”

Phew. My heart was pounding a little.

After Sister-in-law Meeka had put her armour back on, we joined the training. Brother Cain offered to spar with me, but he had already exhausted himself in repeated matches against House Heine's territorial knights. That worked out rather well for me.

“It has been a while, Lord Julius.”

“Yes. I have been rather busy and have struggled to find the time.”

“I have heard all sorts of rumours.”

Commander Lionel smiled. He had evidently heard quite a few stories. I would have liked to know how matters had grown so exaggerated myself.

I declined to spar with Lionel and concentrated on the fundamentals instead. He looked disappointed.

I practised with the apprentice knights of my age, including Giles and Christopher. The sword remained the foundation of a knight's training. Even if it was not my speciality, daily practice was necessary.

After watching Nero and me spar, Lionel immediately recognised Nero's talent and began instructing him in earnest. I left them to it and moved on to magic training.

As I casually fired spells at the targets, I noticed that they consumed less mana than before. Was this another effect of the spirits' blessings? A single blessing had been difficult to notice, but the combined effect of three was unmistakable.

My mana consumption appeared to have fallen by a fixed proportion. That meant the benefit would be greatest when casting powerful magic. I hoped I would never face a situation that required anything so destructive.

“Lord Julius, could you teach us magic?”

“Why? Should I not be the one learning from you?”

“There is nothing left for us to teach Lord Julius. We should be learning from you instead.”

One of House Heine's territorial mages approached me. They had apparently been watching me fire spells at the practice targets, but why did that make them want me as their teacher?

“What makes you say that?”

“Your accuracy is extraordinary, Lord Julius. Look at your target—it forms a perfect Southern Cross. Surely you did not do that unconsciously?”

His voice grew increasingly excited, and the other mages gathered around. Why did this always happen to me? Was I cursed?

“If his unconscious accuracy is this high, what would happen if he aimed deliberately?”

No, let us not find out! One excited voice followed another, and the atmosphere rapidly grew heated.

I desperately searched for a way to escape.

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