Bonus Short Story

Let’s Go To Sepaeda

Having had my skills accepted and thus having subsequently been hired on as the bodyguard of Lady Douve of House Sepaeda, I was immediately put on the same carriage as Lady Douve, as though I belonged there, and sent on this leisurely journey to House Sepaeda’s lands.

Evidently, Lady Douve has a difficult personality, and despite being a member of one of the Great Houses, is rarely accompanied by a retinue.

Ordinarily, she’s only accompanied by her bodyguard, Blois, and the elderly gentleman who drives her carriage. In effect, Blois also fills the role of Lady Douve’s maidservant.

However, my baby daughter Lain has also been added to the party. Since Blois, herself a child, can hardly act as Lain’s nursemaid, Lain and her nursemaid are in another carriage, with the party therefore traveling in a convoy of two vehicles.

“How dull... I was hoping to have an opportunity to test the skills of my new bodyguard.”

“Please don’t say such things, Lady Douve.”

As might be expected, the road is actually rather peaceful, mainly because there’s no way the condition of the roads linking the royal capital with the House Sepaeda lands would be dangerous. That, and both of these carriages bear the emblem of House Sepaeda, to boot. It’s a rare bandit who’d have the nerve to strike.

I had actually felt the presence of several groups, each probably bandits, on the journey, but the moment we entered into view, they collectively decide to sit still and watch us pass. While this isn’t the outcome Lady Douve desired, not everyone in the world is as ignorant of matters as I am. Even bandits exercise some discretion in choosing their targets.

At any rate, we arrive at the Sepaeda territories without facing anything worth calling trouble, and for obvious reasons we receive a lavish welcome.

“Welcome home, Lady Douve. It is good to see you, milady.”

“““Welcome home, Lady Douve.”””

To be more precise, Lady Douve received the lavish welcome. It goes without saying, but we arrive at a giant castle, with scores of servants waiting out front.

I’d seen plenty of impressive mansions in the capital, but this castle was impressive even compared to them. Not only was it large, but it was clear that every corner of it was well-maintained. Frankly, it was the sort of place that gave off an air of wealth without anything like a connection to necessity.

“You must be Master Sansui, the gentleman that His Lordship approved as Lady Douve’s bodyguard. His Lordship provided some instructions by post, so if you could step this way...”

An older, distinguished-looking gentleman, who appears to be the butler, addresses me with respect, despite the fact that I don’t look much older than a child. At this point, I’m separated from Lady Douve and Blois. The nursemaid carrying Lain has also accompanied them.

I’m ushered into the castle, noticing that it’s surrounded by guards, and taken to a particular room.

As I should have expected, there were a number of tailors waiting inside. Equipped with cloth-cutting scissors and tape measures, they begin removing my clothes, with some of them then taking my body measurements, while others begin examining my clothing to see how it was made.

“This is some sloppy work... It’s clothing woven by an amateur, not a proper tailor.”

“First time I’ve seen this sort of ethnic outfit. To think there’s clothing like this out there...”

“...It looks like it’d be cool in the summer, but wouldn’t it be cold in winter?”

They enter a detailed discussion about my clothing. It seems that Lady Douve’s father, the Lord of House Sepaeda, has already issued some instructions. The tailors aren’t working on making customized Western-style clothing for me, but rather working to remake my exact clothing with new materials.

For whatever it’s worth, as an Immortal, I’m not particularly affected by the climate. My condition doesn’t change whether it’s hot or cold. I’ve never actually tested it, but I’m sure I’d be fine wandering about naked on a snowy mountain in the dead of winter.

“Anyway...cutting out the pattern won’t be hard, so let’s get to work.”

A kimono crafted by the elite of the elite of the tailoring world... They worked with such speed and precision that it looked like magic to me, completing a brand-new kimono without much delay on my part. Crafted by skilled tailors using materials from skilled fabric weavers, this new kimono puts the one I made from scratch, fabric and all, to shame.

“It’s very comfortable. Thank you very much.”

“We’re very glad to hear it.”

After thanking the tailors for their work, they step back. By the way, they also take away my old kimono; no doubt they’re going to throw it away.

It’s been over five hundred years since I’ve come to this world, but I’m probably the only Japanese transferee who’s ever had his clothes handled so roughly.

As I ponder this, a different craftsman appears in the room.

“Pardon. If you could remove your shoes, please.”

Seems the next person is a cobbler. She removes my sandals and begins investigating my “shoes.”

As I’m considered an uncultured savage, I’ve had my clothing replaced with handcrafted replacements made by master craftsmen. Since I spent decades in the mountains swinging a stick, I suppose a savage is more or less what I am. I mean, my old clothes that I had brought with me from Japan hadn’t even lasted ten years, never mind a century.

Now a little closer to a civilized being, I’m again being ushered around by a butler-like person. I sense the presence of Lain, in addition to Lady Douve and Blois, at my destination. There were a few other presences I didn’t know. It doesn’t look like they’re in combat, so they’re probably just family.

“Relatives of Lady Douve... His Brothership and His Fathership, huh...”

I can’t help but have a bad feeling about this. His Brothership and His Fathership had already tried to find a random excuse to kill me. Lady Douve, who knew that would happen, tried to hire me anyway.

Bluntly speaking, they’re not the sort to hide their hostility. So just what sort of relatives would these be...?

“Begging your pardon, ladies. I have brought Master Sansui.”

The butler opens the door to the room, where three women, including Lady Douve, are relaxing. Blois is also standing behind Lady Douve in her customary position.

As for Lain, she’s fast asleep, carried by a woman I’m now seeing for the first time.

“Oh, so you’re Sansui?”

“Yes, Lady Minke. He’s my new bodyguard.”

“Mm, you really are as young as she says.”

The woman holding Lain looks me over, clearly surprised. Given that Lady Douve addressed her with her with an honorific, she must have a certain amount of status.

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to bow, salute, or kneel in situations like this. For the moment, I start with a bow. I don’t think I’m doing anything out of the ordinary.

“A pleasure to meet you, milady. I am Shirokuro Sansui.”

“Oh my... You needn’t be so formal.”

The lady tries to put me at ease. She probably thinks that I, a child — clearly a foreigner based on my appearance — am in a mild panic, somewhere between anxiety and fear at the thought of offending my new employers.

I’m sorry, but I’m actually a man who’s over five hundred years old and hiding his age. Even though I was sent to another world, I never expected to be confused for being younger than I am based purely on my appearance. Kind of a late realization, I must admit.

“Sansui, this is my brother’s wife, Lady Minke Sepaeda. And this is my mother, Lady Althe Sepaeda. Be sure to be on your best behavior.”

I can’t help but be a little surprised at the fact that the absent His Brothership is married. I guess it’s natural, given that he’s a noble and heir to the house, but it’s still surprising that someone who is so protective of his sister would actually be married.

“I’ve been taking the liberty of holding your daughter. I simply had the urge to hold a baby for the first time in a while. My apologies.”

“Not at all. No doubt Lain is happy to be held by you.”

Based on her statement, I guess His Brothership even has children. This is definitely not a world I would ever have imagined to be possible.

Still, it seems that they’ve exchanged information about my daughter Lain, as well, and they don’t plan on mentioning that she and I are clearly not of the same ethnicity. Information-sharing is a wonderful thing.

“We have received word from my husband and my son concerning you. They say you are a very skilled duelist.”

Unlike the Lady Minke, who exudes an air of gentle calm, Lady Douve’s mother, Lady Althe, has a very severe gaze. In fact, she has an air identical to His Fathership.

“My husband and my son both have a skill at arms worthy of the current lord of a martial house and his heir. That you easily defeated them is a testament to your skill.”

“You honor me.”

“However, the fact that they have approved of your hiring does not mean I will do the same. I will also be testing your skills. That does mean you will have to accept the consequences of failure.”

“M-Mother?!”

“Silence. This concerns my daughter’s life. His Lordship, my son, and Douve have all accepted the terms.”

Lady Minke seems at a loss, unable to keep up with the hard-core martial family traditions of House Sepaeda. However, Lady Althe makes a fair point, leading me to simply accept her demand.

“Lady Douve has hired me as a bodyguard. As such, all there is for me to do is to accept all threats to Lady Douve, no matter when or where they may come from.”

“A fine answer. Come to the courtyard. Also... You two will be waiting here.”

Lady Althe, with the aura of an Amazonian queen, stands and leads me to the courtyard. Lady Douve appears to want to follow, and Lady Minke appears to want to stop us, but neither seem able to challenge the current lady of the House.

There’s no reason for Blois, Lady Douve’s bodyguard, to move from her position and Lain, held by Lady Minke, is clearly not going to say anything, so only Lady Althe and I leave the room.

“Age has nothing to do with talent. Blois proves that with her ability,” Lady Althe explains in a clipped tone on the way. Thinking about it, these harsh critics have accepted Blois’s ability and left Lady Douve’s safety to her alone, which is truly impressive.

“However, Douve is my beloved daughter. I must be sure of anyone who is assigned to protect her.”

In the courtyard there are several score fully armed knights, and ten prisoners locked in cages as though they’re large animals. That was enough information to give me a good guess about what the test would entail.

“They are prisoners sentenced to death. They were once skilled mercenaries, and aside from their loyalties, they are capable soldiers. For the sake of fairness, they have been provided their desired meals for the last week. All of them are in decent physical condition.”

That’s going to quite a bit of trouble for this test. It’s not a great way to put it, but it also means they’re all opponents who I can kill without issue.

“A number of them can use magic. I will not tell you how many or which ones have that ability. With that in mind, defend me, as though I am Douve, without troubling the knights.”

She’s really putting herself out there on this one. Even if she’s got knights for protection in the worst-case scenario, it’s still risky to put herself out in front of a bunch of condemned prisoners.

At Lady Althe’s direction, the knights open the cages and release the prisoners.

“Choose your favored weapons and armor. Once equipped, kill this child. You need not attack one by one; attack all at once. If any of you can kill him, regardless of which of you accomplishes it, all of you will be pardoned.”

I guess she draws the line at telling them to attack her. Well, that’s to be expected. Whatever the case, I look over the prisoners arming themselves. They’re mainly arming themselves with metal weapons without any hesitation while looking over at us and chuckling boorishly. They’re plenty dangerous, and can certainly stand in as a threat to Lady Douve.

“No doubt you’re aware, but no matter what happens to you, there will be no one to help you.”

“Understood.”

Drawing my wooden sword, I face off against a group of prisoners while surrounded by knights.

The prisoners have completely underestimated me, happy to gain the opportunity to go free simply by killing a poorly-equipped brat. It’s best to take them down while they’re still under that mistaken impression.

“Can I consider this test to have started?”

“Yes, do as you wish.”

When I hear those words, I use my Flash Step to move directly among the prisoners.

Appearing in their midst before they even realize I’ve vanished, I thrust my sword at one’s throat. It’s a spot that’s hard to protect, even while wearing armor and a helmet. I land a precise blow on that spot and take the first one down.

“Gu-uh!”

The Flash Step doesn’t make any noise. With my small stature and their overconfidence, they don’t have the sense of urgency that comes from real pitched battle. As such, taking down the first one was easy, and it was still easy as I landed a blow on the second prisoner’s throat.

“Ah...guh?!”

The second one noticed me, at least. He reacts with shock as the first target tips over, then is even more shocked at my sudden appearance. Of course, he takes the blow without being able to muster up any meaningful response.

“W-What the hell!? When did he—”

“Dammit, kill him!”

“We’re damned anyway, if we can’t kill....guh!”

As the others finally realize that I’ve disappeared from in front of Lady Althe, they’re stunned to find two of their fellow prisoners are already down and begin to hurriedly prepare for battle. However, that’s meaningless with my Flash Step in play. I circle behind each of them in turn, hitting them in the back of the head with a single strike. Even wearing helmets, taking an unguarded blow from a Ki-Infused wooden sword is still enough to knock them unconscious.

“I’ve put all ten of them down. If you wish them killed, I will do so now.”

After taking down the prisoners, I return to report to Lady Althe. She and the knights are looking on in surprise as they finally realize what has just transpired. It should be easy for anyone to see that the unconscious prisoners are easy enough to kill. I don’t feel the need to do so in front of a gentlewoman, even though, as condemned prisoners, they’ll all be executed eventually.

“...No, that is quite enough. There is no need to kill them here. Impressive. I will accept that you have the skill needed to protect my daughter. Although, truth be told, it was in a different manner than what I expected.”

There was not a shred of showmanship in the fight. In the end, it didn’t matter how many of them or which of them could use magic. Still, there’s no room for criticism if I take them all down before they can act. It was best for Lady Althe’s safety to not let them do anything.

“Still, why do you fight with a wooden sword?”

“I’m used to it. And if I used a steel sword, I would have had their blood on my clothing.”

I check to make sure there’s nothing dirtying my newly-made clothes and sandals, then place my nearly unsullied wooden sword back in my sash.

“Mother, you’ve returned rather quickly. Was there a problem?”

“No, everything went well.”

Lady Althe and I return a few moments later to the original room, still dressed in the same clothing. Since all we really did was go to the courtyard and return, I can understand why the worried Lady Minke would draw that conclusion.

By contrast, Lady Douve’s lips are quirked up in a satisfied smirk. She seems to have sensed that her mother had been a bit shaken by the ludicrous skill of her bodyguard.

Her personality is a bit of a problem. I’m already worried Lain might end up like her.

“Douve, you always do seem to draw talent to you.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you approve, Mother.”

While I understand Lady Althe’s desire to make certain of her daughter’s physical safety, I have to wonder if it’s presumptuous to think Lady Althe should also worry about Lady Douve’s personality as well? I’m a bit worried for Lady Douve’s future.