Chapter 15 — Sir Cain’s Worries

Sir Cain was worried.

To be more accurate, he had been burdened with a fair amount of worries from the start of this entire chain of events. Recent developments, however, had added on to his already heavy load.

Raising his gaze, Cain continued to worry, fixating on the silhouette of Princess Fie, who was currently stepping out from the headquarters of the 18th Knights.

As if on cue, Cain began to move. Hiding his presence, he made his way to his usual spot.

“Sir Cain, I’ve come to play!”

Standing in front of the tree, Princess Fie raised a hand, intent on climbing it.

Before she could begin her ascent, however, Cain leapt off his perch, landing on the ground with nary a sound.

Upon seeing Cain, the princess’ face broke into a smile.

“Sir Cain, I’ve come to play!”

Cain could not bring himself to tell her that she had repeated her statement. After all, there was something more important that he should be saying.

“Heath, have I not informed you that climbing trees is dangerous, and that you should stop doing so?”

“Ehh? I mean, I can climb walls too, so why tell me that now?”

Cain felt those words stab at his very being.

She was right. There was little point in telling her not to climb trees — not after everything they had done. He was the one who had taught Princess Fie the climbing techniques of the Grass.

It goes without saying that climbing trees was dangerous. Yet he had also taught her other techniques, like the correct way to fall and land from high places. They had long since passed the level of danger involved in climbing a mere tree.

“Although it is as you say, there is no harm in caution.”

“Yes, I will climb trees carefully,” said Fie, despite what Cain had said moments ago.

Cain placed a hand on his forehead.

“More importantly, Sir Cain, I’m here to play! Teach me some new techniques!”

Cain started sweating at an accelerated pace upon hearing Fie’s words, his back now soaked.

This was precisely why Cain was worried. After making his acquaintance, Princess Fie had visited him again and again, claiming to be “here to play” each time.

That in and of itself was not a huge issue, although it wasn’t a good thing to begin with.

The main problem here was the princess’ definition of “play.” The princess would demand that Cain teach her techniques on each of her visits.

“Heath, the techniques of the Grass are not toys! You cannot hope to master them with such a mindset...”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry! I intend to seriously work hard!”

(No... It isn’t that. If possible, I don’t want you to learn any of these techniques to begin with...)

Cain’s words of caution seemed to have an opposite effect on Fie, who was now fully motivated in her pursuits.

Cain held his head in his hands once more.

To begin with, she was one of noble birth and high social standing. As such, she should not be exposed to danger at all, much less voluntarily.

If one possessed dangerous abilities, danger would inevitably find its way to oneself — at least, that was how the saying went.

Although said saying may be nothing more than a superstition, learning dangerous techniques naturally meant that the user takes on dangerous jobs or assignments, and would naturally be more exposed to risk in their lives.

In addition, Princess Fie was originally supposed to live her life surrounded by maidservants while attending tea parties and dinners. To think that he was teaching one who was supposed to have an elegant and peaceful life such techniques was a prospect that filled him with dread.

This was why Cain had, if possible, not wanted to teach Fie any techniques of the Grass at all.

However, the princess continued approaching him, like it was something as mundane and trivial as going to the downtown shopping districts on a Sunday.

As a result of her persistence, a large portion of the Grass’ techniques had been inadvertently taught to this kingdom’s second queen.

Cain was now running out of techniques that he could teach Fie — at least, techniques that would be somewhat acceptable to teach. The only techniques he hadn’t taught her were self-defense skills, the martial arts taught only to the Grass, and assassination techniques.

Of course, Cain knew that teaching the princess such skills was in no way acceptable.

“Sir Cain, what skills are you going to teach me today?”

Princess Fie, however, was unaware of all of this, and innocently posed her question to Cain, her eyes sparkling with eagerness. More accurately, Fie’s look indicated that she had no doubts whatsoever about Cain teaching her a technique.

Due to his unique standing as a member of the Grass, Cain had no choice but to teach Princess Fie something.

(I am Grass... For the sake of this kingdom, I will execute the King’s orders on the pain of death... Father, Mother... Is what I am about to do really necessary?)

However, Cain’s parents did not respond. His parents were traditionally tight-lipped, and hardly had anything much to say to begin with.

Eventually, Cain had no choice but to turn away from the mental image of his parents, turning instead to face reality.

In any case, he had to teach her something — this was the reality of the situation. But if possible, he wanted to teach the Princess a less dangerous skill.

At that moment, Cain, who had been stuck at a mental crossroads, was suddenly struck by an idea.

“Heath, what techniques would you like me to teach you?”

Although the Grass did not use it often, Cain decided to employ negotiation techniques, designed to extract information from their targets.

If he had allowed the situation to advance, it would surely fall into the pattern of him suggesting a relatively safe technique, only to have the Princess reject it. He would go on to suggest progressively more dangerous techniques, with the Princess rejecting each one until he suggested something that satisfied her requirements.

However, if he instead asked the Princess what she wanted, he would not be pushed to the point where he had no choice but to teach her a dangerous technique.

Moreover, Cain starting the negotiation gave him space to work with — if he taught the Princess a slightly modified version of the technique involved, the dangers of learning it could be significantly reduced.

Cain nodded at the ingenuity of the idea.

If her requests fell outside the general techniques used for members of the Grass, that would be a good outcome. After all, if it were a normal technique that a common soldier would learn, he would have no problems teaching it to her.

“Hmm...”

Fie paused, placing a finger on her lips as she thought of an answer to Cain’s question. After a while she turned to face Cain, her eyes glittering as she delivered her demands with a smile.

“An assassination technique would be good!”

“Guh—”

Fie’s unfiltered demand hit Cain with the force of a cannonball.