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“Susie, you’ve changed a little, haven’t you?”

After breakfast had been cleared away and the morning cleaning finished, I was practicing my forms in the yard when Papa Howard suddenly spoke to me.

Having completed my Trial, I was told to take the day off to rest and recover. Apparently, I could have taken an entire week off if I wanted, but since it was left up to me, I decided to rest for just one day.

And yet, even on my rest day, I ended up training as usual— which is when Papa Howard came to see me.

“…Changed, you say?”

I had just finished running through the forms, so I caught my breath and answered him.

It seemed he had been watching my practice and noticed something. I never expected Papa Howard to comment on my swordsmanship!

(That’s rare! I have to listen carefully!)

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I interrupt you?”
“No, I was just about finished. But, have I really changed?”
“Well… How should I put it… You’ve grown thinner, perhaps?”
“Thinner…?”
“Yes… Just some time ago, your presence used to feel stronger, denser?”
“Denser?”
“Did you perhaps discover something new during your training?”
“Uh… Who knows…”

I’d gotten way better at adjusting my skills through practicing the forms, but I didn’t know that would show so much on the outside.

“You used to sneak out at night to train, didn’t you? You couldn’t exactly move around inside the house without Elrose scolding you.”

Papa Howard squinted his eyes with amusement and even winked.

“Eh?! Wha—?! Huh?!”

(Eeehhhhh?! How does he know that?! I used Invisibility! There’s no way he could have sensed me! Why? How?! Does Papa Howard have some kind of detection skill I don’t know about?!)

“As a father with a daughter your age, I couldn’t just ignore you wandering around at night. But I couldn’t imagine there was anyone capable of harming you… If there were, that would be a crisis not just for our village, but for the whole country.”
“Uh? Well…”

My head and eyes were spinning. Yet Papa Howard didn’t pause his talking. To think I wasn’t as sneaky as I believed. Knowing that I’d been caught red-handed by Papa Howard was so awkward and embarrassing! My face felt like it was on fire! I couldn’t even look him in the eye!

“And sometimes, you even patrolled the area, didn’t you?”
“Eh?”
“From time to time, Demonic Beasts with high Threat Levels slipped past the forest’s defenses. The night watch couldn’t handle them, or didn’t notice them until too late. Things like that.”
“Ah… That’s…”

My eyes darted everywhere.

“But somehow, those threats always disappeared quietly, as if nothing had happened. The next day, when we investigated, we found faint traces of a battle, one-sided, swift, the work of someone strong. That sort of scene appeared quite often.”
“Ah… well… that must have been… quite troublesome…”

I wanted to sink into the ground.

“And strangely enough, those incidents always happened on the nights you went out. Odd, don’t you think?”

Then Papa smiled with that dazzling, calm smile of his.

(Please, forgive me! Please, just forgive me!!! I’ll never sneak out again!!)

“Thank you, Susie. You’ve been protecting Amukham all this time, haven’t you?”

(NOOO! Wait, what?! Papa just bowed his head to me?! I thought I was about to be scolded, not thanked!! I don’t understand what’s happening anymore!!)

“You’re wondering how I noticed you, aren’t you?”

(Of course I am! Normally, that’s impossible! Without a detection skill, you’d have never been able to find me!)

“As I said before, your presence is usually very strong.”

(…My presence… is strong?)

“And then, all of a sudden, at night, that strong presence of yours would vanish.”
“Ah!”

It hit me right away! Of course! Invisibility completely erased one’s presence! If I suddenly disappeared like that, of course, he’d notice something was off!!

(Good grief! I really want to punch myself from the past for bragging about being totally undetectable!)

“The nights after your presence disappears, the next day, you’re usually practicing a new form. So I tend to assume you find something during your nightly training. Am I wrong?”
“Ah… um… n-no… you’re right…”

I felt like a little monkey dancing in the palm of a giant hand! So helpless!

“I’ve already told Anne-Marie that you sometimes go out at night, so don’t worry about her knowing.”
“Ah… okay. Thank you… very much.”
“As the one who oversees the Village Guard, I’m truly grateful you’ve been patrolling places we can’t reach. Let me thank you properly, Susie.”
“P-please, don’t! Raise your head, Papa Howard! I… I don’t deserve that!!”
“Still… as a father, I’d prefer it if you refrained from going out at night as much as possible.”
“…Yes, sir. I’ll… do my best, no, I’ll make sure to avoid it.”

Right. Of course. Any father would stop his daughter from going out at night if he knew.

“Thank you, Susie.”

Then he placed his big hand on my head and gently patted it. Being patted by Papa Howard’s large, warm hand felt so comforting that I melted a little inside.

(Okay… I’m sorry. I’ll really try to stay home from now on…)

◆◆◆◆◆

“Congratulations on your achievement, Miss Susie.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Henry.”

After lunch, I visited Mr. Henry at the temple. I came to return a book he had lent me and to ask a few questions.

“So, today you’re here for the prayer of success in your ceremony?”
“Ah, yes. That, and… I came to return this.”

I held out the book I had borrowed.

“Did it help you?”
“Yes, I learned a lot from it. But, Professor, the hero’s name isn’t written anywhere in this book, is it?”
“Hmm, that’s right. This particular text doesn’t record the hero’s name.”
“Is there a reason it’s not written?”
“Well… yes. This volume is more of a commentary — a collection of interpretations of the Heroic Tales. Unfortunately, among the books I own, this is the only one about the heroes that you’re currently able to read, Miss Susie.”