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Running away from the unexpected encounter, I rushed towards my room. There awaited Den and Letina who also remained behind. It seemed that she was helping with the cleaning, but was that something a Marquis’ daughter should be doing?

“Well, I guess that’s how Letina is.”
“I feel like you’re saying something rude to me right after coming back.”
“I just meant it was nice that you were so open-hearted.”
“Well alright then!”
“Lady Nicole, please have a drink. Today is quite hot.”
“Thanks, Den.”

My tense mood disappeared thanks to this exchange with Letina that went unexpectedly smoothly considering we’ve been separated for three years.

Then Den brought me a cold drink so my expression naturally mellowed.

“Looks like you have learned cajoling skills in these three years, looking at your current expression.”
“What do you mean I learned? I don’t remember ever doing that.”
“I see. I suppose those skills were high from the start.”
“That’s rude!”

I was simply drinking the glass cup with both hands since it was too big for one hand. It was Den’s blunder for not giving me one with a handle. I wasn’t at fault here.

“Leaving that aside, thank you for putting a word in to let me use the kitchen.”
“Oh, yeah, I thought you’d be needing it from now on too.”
“About dinner, shall I make something right away?”

I started to ponder at his words. I mean, I wasn’t exactly thinking about whether I wanted to eat, but rather what I wanted to eat.

In the first place, Den’s tea brewing skills were high, but the same couldn’t be said about his cooking skills. This is because the one who taught him had no cooking skills, so he wasn’t at fault.

He should still be able to make a sandwich or something even with crude skills, but my thoughts were interrupted by someone who suddenly rushed into the room.

“Wait a minute! Lady Nicole’s meals have always been my duty!”
“Finia, at least knock.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
“Also, you’re currently Letina’s attendant.”
“People have things they can’t yield no matter what.”

She declared that so brazenly, skillfully holding a tray in her hands with lightly stacked sandwiches on it.

They didn’t only have minced veggies, but even chicken tenderloins, which means she even considered Den, a male, when making them.

“They are on the lighter side, but should have enough volume to serve as dinner.”
“Then I shall prepare tea. Do you have any requests?”
“I will have coffee then.”
“Then scented tea for me. With extra sugar.”
“Understood.”

Den received the orders and quickly headed to the kitchen installed in the room.

My room was also technically aimed at nobles, so there was equipment for simple cooking. Of course, it wasn’t as proper as the one on the first floor, so it wasn’t suited for multi-course menus.

After seeing him off with my eyes, I moved my gaze to the side.

“Heh… Coffee huh?”
“W-What about it?”
“The Letina I knew who was bad at bitter stuff is drinking coffee now? You aren’t pushing yourself, are you?”
“I am not! How rude. My taste has been refined enough to enjoy tea and such.”
“Are you sure?”
“You are so persistent. I am not.”
“…Really?”
“…Maybe a little.”
“I’ll trade it with scented tea later.”
“Ugh.”

She probably wanted to show me that she had grown up and ordered coffee, but apparently, she didn’t like it, after all. Trying to argue away while pursing her lips appeared as if her personality had remained the same as it had been as a child.

More importantly, I had something else to confirm now.

“Letina, I met with Cain in the backyard earlier.”
“Lord Cain? How was it? Did he gaze unpleasantly at you?”
“Yeah, like a snake.”

Then I double-checked his appearance with Letina to confirm it was really him.

There was his portrait in a public place, but those were sometimes drawn ‘differently from reality’ by painters in consideration of some circumstances. It was very important to check with someone who actually knew how he looked.

“He seemed decently trained, but how is it in reality?”
“According to the city rumors, he can defeat an Ogre on his own. His slender arms make me doubt it, however.”
“Even if they are slender, they seem to be slender from the training.”

I was exactly like that in my past life. My trained arms with compressed muscles were flexible yet strong. I couldn’t output as much brute strength as Lyell, as expected, but I could still easily strangle an ordinary person with one hand.

Cain also felt the same. I shouldn’t underestimate him.

“Haven’t you seen him actually fight? Aren’t there practice classes in the senior class?”
“Even if you ask me that, our years are different. There is a practice festival in autumn which has a tournament where people compete in magic and martial arts. Which reminds me, it should be coming up quite soon.”
“So a new transfer like you wouldn’t have seen it, huh. I don’t want to stand out too much, either.”
“If we take our time here, Lord Lyell might come flying here.”

Lyell and others were busy training Cortina now, and I sometimes dropped by to check on them. But I couldn’t carelessly leave the academy grounds while I was doing this job. We were in the center of the enemy territory, so harm may come to Letina or Finia the moment I took my eyes off them.

Besides, even if I could use Teleport, the magic power that it consumed was still quite draining for me. It might leave me with no means of handling the situation in such a state if something happened at midnight.

So with that, I had conveyed to Lyell and others that I won’t be able to visit them due to work for some time. But even so, if I delayed it for too long, they would still start to worry. Once Cortina’s training ends, they would probably immediately come to check on me.

“That reminds me, how strong are you now, Den?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. It would be great if you’re strong enough to protect yourself.”
“Well, Hastur… I mean, Lord Aste is training me, so I can fight to a degree.”
“Is that so?”
“I have no real combat experience, so I cannot declare it with certainty, however.”
“I see.”

I hoped I could expect things from him in terms of combat, but my hopes were instantly shot down. No people died as fast as those who were confident in their skills without having actual combat experience.

Den didn’t seem to be conceited about his skills, but I still had my apprehension.

“I have to start attending classes tomorrow. Can you remain with Finia as much as possible during then?”
“As you wish.”
“With me?”
“I don’t doubt your skill, Finia. But it’s easier to deal with things with the two of you rather than on your own. We are at the headquarters full of suspicious elements, so we have to stay vigilant as much as possible.”
“Understood. I will remain with Den to not worry you, Lady Nicole.”
“That would be for the best. I will try to be with Letina within the academy too.”
“Okay, that would put my mind at ease.”

Finia gave me a sweet smile. It was silently screaming at me to stay the hell out of danger. I mean, I knew she wouldn’t use those exact words, but her silent pressure brought about such an illusion.