Chapter 221

Prided Maid
"I want to see it!! I want to see Brother Noel’s sparring match!! Let’s go!"

"Yeah, I’ve heard rumors about Miss Zoey’s sword skills too! I’d love to see them with my own eyes!"

"Then it’s settled—here!"

"“Huh?”"

When I held out my hand, Young Master Eric and Belle both looked at me, puzzled.

"Take my hand. I’ll teleport us."

"Eh? Teleportation? Isn’t that something you do alone?"

Young Master Eric asked, surprised.

"I can handle it! Come on, hurry!! You too, Belle!"

"O-Okay."

"Y-Yes."

"Then I’ll join like this."

Brother Gene came in from behind and hugged me in a back-hug.

"Here we go~ (To the edge of the training field) Teleport." Poof

"…… Whoa."

"That was instant……"

"Pretty convenient, right~? Ah, there they are. Oh… amazing."

Just then, Zoey was sparring with Vee. She didn’t have her usual cool smile—instead, her gaze and presence were sharp and intense, fully focused on the fight. The weapon she used was a rapier, just like Grandmother’s.

"I didn’t expect this much……"

"Right? Zoey comes from a long line of skilled fighters. I sparred with her father several times, but never managed to win."

"So cool……"

"Right~? She’s my proud maid, after all."

"Yeah, that’s something to be proud of! … Ah, now it’s Brother Noel’s turn. Hmm? Is that Nathan? Wait, huh!? Sarah!?"

Looking closely, Sarah was wearing that ninja-like training outfit I use for my workouts. And she was holding twin blades.

"Joan? That outfit Sarah’s wearing……?"

"Ah, that? It’s the training gear I wear when I practice. It’s easy to move in."

"Heeh~ Is that so?"

While chatting with Belle, the sparring match began.

Brother Noel fired a Firebal》, but Sarah dodged it easily and closed the distance. As expected, he couldn’t use magic at close range, so he blocked her right-hand slash with his one-handed sword—but Sarah anticipated that and sent a punch to his torso with her left fist. Brother Noel avoided it by jumping back, then countered with a Flame Arrow. Sarah evaded it with a backflip.

"Amazing… She’s dodging all of Young Master Noel’s attacks."

"Ah—Sarah’s just getting started."

After flipping back to create space, Sarah removed something from her ankles. Then she took something off her wrists and dropped it to the ground—thud, a heavy sound.

"What was that?"

"Ah, I heard she always wears weights for strength training."

"“““Haa!?”””"

Brother Gene’s explanation left me, Belle, and Young Master Eric all stunned.

Wait, really!?

I did notice she always had something wrapped around her wrists, but… they were weights!?

She’s like that green demon king from Dragon Ball!!

Once Sarah removed the weights, her movements became noticeably faster. Brother Noel tried firing more Flame Arrows, but none hit. Worse yet, she kept narrowing the distance as she dodged.

"Ahh, Sarah’s probably aiming to exhaust Brother Noel’s mana."

"Yeah, in close combat, Sarah seems to have the upper hand."

As I listened to Brother Gene and Young Master Eric talk, I kept my eyes glued to the match.

After a while, Brother Noel’s spell intervals grew longer. Sarah noticed and attacked all at once. She narrowly dodged a Flame Arrow, feinted, then slipped behind Brother Noel and held her twin blades to his neck in a flash. Brother Noel sighed and raised his hands in surrender. The match went to Sarah.

Clap clap clap clap…

"Good job~ Here, everyone—sports drinks."

I pulled drinks from my storage and handed them out.

"““!!””"

"Joan, where did you pull those from just now?"

Young Master Eric asked.

"Eh? From my storage?"

"Joan? Those drinks just popped out of nowhere…?"

Belle said in amazement.

"Eh? Ah, well… In my case, I just visualize what’s inside my storage and it comes out."

"“““Haaaaa!?”””"

"…… I thought I was done being surprised."

"Hahaha. Eric, just give up. That’s Jo for you—she defies logic."

"Exactly. It’s Joan."

"Hey! Brother Gene, Vee, you’re so mean!"

＊＊＊＊＊

BBQ at the Training Grounds

"Alright, let’s welcome Eric, Miss Belle, and Miss Zoey—cheers!"

"““““““““““Cheers!!””””””””””

"Joan, what’s this sauce? It’s way too good!"

"Yeah, it goes great with grilled meat. And there’s so many kinds I don’t know what to try first, Joan!"

"I’m glad it suits your taste, Young Master Eric. Belle, try them all and find your favorite! You can even match them to the type of meat."

"Okay, I will!"

Both Young Master Eric and Belle seemed to love the yakiniku sauces—Seuyu sauce, Miso sauce, and Negi-Shio Lemon sauce.

"Jo, give me some rice."

"Ah, me too."

"Jo, I’d like bread."

I took rice from my storage for Brother Gene and Vee, and handed a butter roll to Brother Noel.

"Young Master Eric, Belle, do you want some too?"

"“……”"

"What’s wrong?"

"…… That ‘rice’ you mentioned—what is it?"

"Umm, it’s a grain from the East called ‘kome’, and this is the cooked version."

"I knew it… rice…"

"Eh? You know it?"

"Well, it’s a bit awkward to say, but in our territory, rice is used as animal feed."

"““““Haaaaaaa!?””””"

"Eric, what the heck!? It’s so good!"

"Good? No way. It’s hard and tasteless, that’s why it’s feed."

"Then try it for yourself!"

"Eh? Wait—hold on, whoa… Mmm!! This is amazing. Is this really rice?"

"Yes, it’s rice."

"But Joan? Isn’t rice usually brown?"

Hm? Brown?

Wait, could it be?

"Hey, Belle. Did you eat the rice just as it was harvested?"

"Yeah. Isn’t that normal?"

"Ah—that’s the problem. When it’s harvested, it still has a hull on it… Here, look."

I pulled some rice with husks from my storage.

"Ah, that’s it!"

"Just as I thought. You remove this brown husk and scrape it a bit—then you get the real rice… see?"

I peeled off the husk with my nail, polished the grain, and revealed the white rice.

"Oh, it’s white."

"This is what we cook into rice."

"Then… we just didn’t know how to prepare it?"

"Yeah, that’s all it was."

"Then—could rice maybe help the people in our territory?"

"Eh?"

What do you think about this chapter?