Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely

Chapter 85: The Kids at the Apple Tree House

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Two swords come at me simultaneously, but I can read their paths.
Looks like their attack timing is perfect, but they’re positioning is bad.

 

I let my body tilt to one side and dodge one attack.
The other attack, I brace my sword ー a wooden sword wrapped up with several layers of cloth and stop the blow.

 

“ACK?!”

 

And the one who I dodged was being carried forward by his momentum, so I put my foot out to trip him lightly.

 

“Kay!!”

 

Henry: “You don’t have any time to be distracted.”

 

Red looked concerned for his partner, but I pushed his sword back.
He didn’t let his sword go, but Red had to try and regain his balance first.

 

Henry: “Here.” And while he was doing so, I lightly tap Kay on the shoulder, and now Kay is officially out of the picture.

 

Red: “Dangit!”

 

Henry: “You don’t have time to complain either.
Come at me.” Red: “Urrrgghhhhh…….YAH!!”

 

And with his sword raised up high, Red comes charging in.

 

………….his being too careless, and there’s too many openings on his body now.

 

Henry: “If you become reckless, you’ve already lost at that point!”

 

Before he can swing down his sword, I step forward, and strike Red in the stomach.

 

Red: “OW!”

 

And being pushed back from the impact, Red rolls backwards.

 

If this was an actual battle, Red would have been split into two.

 

Henry: “Okay, that’s the end of Round 5.”

 

I tap the sword against my shoulder, and signal the end of our bout.

 

The children are weary from the exercise, but they stand up straight and bow politely.

 

“ “Thank you so much!” ”

 

Henry: “Yeah, you’re welcome.” We are in the yard of the Apple Tree House.
I’m with the two boys ー Red and Kay.

 

I was giving the two a sword lesson.

 

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As they told me when I first got here, they are both trying to become Adventurers.
And in order to reach that goal, they both have been training daily.
Under the instruction of Ms.
Fi-Ne, who used to be a famous Priest Warrior, they were now practicing sword swings and building up their physical body.

 

………..but they were also thinking about wanting to practice fighting and do matches too.

 

So since I had nothing else to do, the request was delivered to me.

 

Henry: “Red, you said ‘ow’ a second ago, but are you hurt somewhere?” Red: “Ohー no, not at all.
When the sword hit me, it scared me so I said that without thinking.” Red laughs with a little embarrassment.

 

Well, I know how he feels.
It doesn’t have to be painful or hurt, but if something hits you, you can’t help but let out a shout of surprise sometimes.

 

But I’m glad.
I didn’t think Yuu would screw up, but accidents can happen.

 

Henry: “Yuu! Just to confirm, but you haven’t broken the Spell, right?!”

 

Yuu: “Of course I haven’t! I’m being 10 times more careful than when I cast stuff on you!”

 

From a little distance away, I call out to Yuu who is holding her Godly Equipment・The Star of Destruction as she faces Ferris, and I get a surprising response.

 

……….10 times? You know you could be a little more careful when casting Spells on me too?

 

Henry: “Ohー and besides that, Ferris! I felt your Spell weaken a few times! Be more careful there!”

 

Ferris: “YーYes!”

 

Feeling her regather her concentration, I feel the Magic Power that was gathered around me become more stable and solid.

 

This is one of the Ningel’s Magecraft Spells {Aura Barrier}.
Basically, it’s a Magecraft Spell of invisible armor made of Magic Power that you cast onto a target.

 

Unlike the Enhancing Magecraft, it’s slightly different in nuance, and you don’t need to really adjust the Spell to the individual you are casting it upon.
The difference is whether you permeate the Magic Power into the target or not.

 

But it’s a very handy Magecraft Spell to cast on yourself, but as soon as you try to cast it on someone other than you, the difficulty of the Spell increases dramatically.
In the Ningel Church, if you are able to cast it on yourself and two others, you are considered as adept on using the Spell.

 

………but Ferris was able to cast the Spell on herself, and she was using it regularly during our expeditions, but she was not using it beyond that.
Mainly performing as a Healer within the city, she was not used to Spells outside of Healing for that reason.

 

But with Yuu’s [Don’t you think it’s more important to PREVENT injuries rather than having to heal it when it happens?!], and with that, this training began.

 

Ferris is practicing casting {Aura Barrier} on herself and me while fighting at close range against Yuu.

 

And Yuu is also casting it on herself, and the two children.

 

Just to avoid any accidents, I went easy on them, but with Yuu’s protection, even if I punched them at full strength, the children should be okay.
But of course, that’s assuming that I do not use any {Physical Enhancements} myself.

 

Red: “Mr.
Henry! Let’s do one more round, please!”

 

Kay: “We’ll go full force this time!”

 

Henry: “Okayー sure, sure.”

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Both Red and Kay are trying to be polite to their instructor, but……they are 9 and 8 years old.

 

Henry: “Okay, then come at me one at a time.
I’ll only defend, so attack me however you like.” Red: “Okay.
Kay, I’ll go first!”

 

Kay: “What?! That’s not fair, Red! I’m first!”

And they fought.

 

They argued about who would go first.

 

But I guess they fight because they get along so well.
Instead of using their fists, they determine turns by rock, paper, and scissors, and it made me smile watching them.

 

…………hm?

 

Henry: “FERRーーーIS!! I felt the Spell weaken just now!!”

 

Ferris: “SーSorry! I’ll be more careful!”

 

Maybe it’s because I wasn’t fighting, but the {Aura Barrier} around me weakened slightly.
I don’t like doing it, but I send a scolding yell in her direction.

 

Of course, during an actual fight, you can weaken and strengthen it according to the situation, but while you’re not used to casting the Spell on others, it’s important to just practice holding it at a certain solidity…………is what Yuu said.

 

Think about it.

 

For instance, if you have a shield, and you knew how strong the shield should be, you brace it for an attack you knew it can repel………….but if the shield was weakened, the attack would easily break through.

 

On the contrary, if you didn’t know that the shield was stronger, then you wouldn’t have to force yourself to dodge an attack you thought it couldn’t repel and lose your balance.

 

That’s why for beginners, holding the {Aura Barrier} at a single solidity is so important.

 

……….and as a side note, as one who gets {Aura Barrier} casted on them, we understand that the defensive properties of it can be unstable, so if it’s a critical moment during a fight, vanguards need to operate as though the Spell isn’t there in most cases.

 

But if I start arguing with Yuu about this, I know she’ll beat my logic to a bloody pulp, so I kept my mouth shut.

 

Kay: “Yes! I’m first! Here I come, Mr.
Henry!”

 

Henry: “Right, right.
Come at me.” Kay defeated Red in the rock, paper, scissors and yelled out a triumphant and then came charging in at me with a .

 

………..um, you really shouldn’t yell while you’re running.
You won’t be able to use your full strength that way.

 

I need to make a comment about it later and make a mental note.

 

I block Kay’s first attack.

 

<<<<>>>>

 

Red: “(gasp)…..(gasp)……”

 

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Kay: “(gasp)……..(gasp)……..”

 

Afterwards…..

 

I fought with Kay for about 15 minutes, and I blocked all his attacks, and then Red tried for the same amount of time.

 

At the end, I asked both of them to attack me at the same time, and now they’ve been continuing this exercise for about 20 minutes.

 

Because of that, they are both heavily out of breath.

 

Cyril: “I brought you towels and some lemon juiceー”

 

Red: “ThーThank you, Sister Cyril.” Kay: “Thanks……” Cyril was watching us from the sidelines at some point, and sent words of encouragement to the two.

 

As she complimented their hard work ethic, she patted their sweaty heads and walked over to me.

 

Cyril: “Here’s yours, Henry.” Henry: “Yeah, thanks.”

 

I wasn’t tired at all, but I was a little thirsty from moving around so much.
I take the cup of lemon juice, and wipe off the little bit of sweat on my body.

 

Cyril: “But that’s amazing that you dodged all of their attacks.
You didn’t get hit onceー”

 

Henry: “Um, I know it was two against one, but you don’t have to compliment me for fighting against kids……” If I bragged here, wouldn’t it just make me look like a real jerk? Cyril: “Do you think so? But you instructed them properly too.
I didn’t know you were adept at using the sword too, Henry.” Henry: “The Nyoiten Spear can change into a one-handed sword, so when I’m fighting in close-quarters or have to focus on defense, I use it a lot, so I’ve trained quite a bit with it because of that.”

 

And the Fezard Knights incorporated the one-handed sword fighting style within their Martial Arts training.

 

When using a one-handed weapon, you have one hand free to use Magecraft Artifacts and other tools, so it’s pretty useful to know.

 

Well, that’s how I fight, and the best I can advise the two about is how to properly swing the sword and simple techniques and basic theories when using a sword.
I tried to teach them to use those techniques in a practical battle, so I hope this will help them in the future.

 

Yuu: “Henry, good work today.
Thank you so much for instructing the children.” Henry: “Yeah, good work to you as well.
………..is Ferris okay?” Yuu and Ferris wrapped up their training and were coming back.

 

………..and Ferris seemed pretty beat up as always.

 

Ferris: “IーI’m fine.
I’m fine.”

 

Yuu: “Is that so? Then maybe we can add 3 more hours of…..” Ferris: “Eek! …..IーI mean, if you have time, I would appreciate more instruction from you, Miss Eustacia.” Ferris flinched in horror for a moment at Yuu’s words, but she straightened her back and asked for further training.

 

She was beaten up by Yuu at close quarters and was getting yelled at by me every time the {Aura Barrier} got weak.

 

If it was any other ordinary person, they would have been crying on their knees, but Ferris’ determination was something to be admired.

 

And Yuu smiled at Ferris’ attitude and…

 

Yuu: “Hehe, I am just kidding.
Training when you are so tired like this will not be very efficient.
We’ll do some Academic studies.”

 

Ferris: “AーAcademic…….I mean, yes, thank you.”

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It’s pretty bothersome to deal with when a determined person’s spirit breaks, so it’s good to let them break them at least once…………is what Yuu might be thinking.

 

Using your brain when you’re physically exhausted is………torture.

 

Henry: “Don’t push yourself too hard…..” Ferris; “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Ferris’ face carries a pained smile……….but she suddenly turned cheerful.

 

Ferris: “Hm? Oh, Jend is back.” Jend and Ms.
Fi-Ne are walking down the path towards the Apple Tree House.

Jend accompanied Ms.
Fi-Ne to carry all the groceries and supplies.
Because we arrived, the number of people to feed doubled, so she had to go buy more groceries than usual.

 

……….I better add more to the donation to the Orphanage later.

 

But Ferris runs with light steps to go greet Jend.

 

Yuu: “Well isn’t that an envious sight.”

 

Yuu smiles warmly at the scene but is she really thinking about wanting a boyfriend like that? I know we did do something similar as kids, but it was on the level of playing house, but she hasn’t really expressed any interest in men since.

 

And it’s not like I haven’t thought about her………thinking of me in that way, but if she did have feelings for me, would she treat me like this? She wouldn’t, right?

 

Ferris: “Welcome back, Jend.” Jend: “Hey, Ferris.
I’m back.
……….looks like they put you through the grinder again.”

Ferris: “Haha, yes, most definitely.
But I can feel myself improve, so it’s not as bad as you think.” Well, I’m glad Ferris looks cheered up.

 

…………oh, what’s that? Cyril: “I wonder who that is? Someone’s running this way.” Cyril notices too and points a finger in the direction.

 

The Apple Tree House is actually a little ways away from the town center.
It is on the inner-side of the city walls, but it’s an area left alone by people in general.

 

So it’s easy to notice people when they are heading over here, but there’s a man wearing armor who seems to be urgently running this way.

 

That armor is of the local town’s militia.

 

Yuu: “……looks like an emergency.
Ms.
Fi-Ne, I’m going to see what this is about.” Yuu looks upon the situation, and immediately tells Ms.
Fi-Ne who just got back with Jend.

 

Fi-Ne: “Yes, please do.” Henry: “Hey, you need a bodyguard?” Yuu: “It’s not necessary, but please come with me anyways.” Yeah, I don’t think Yuu can be taken out by any ordinary soldier, but I go with her just in case.

 

As we ran towards him to meet with him, he was out of breath, but opened his mouth to speak.

 

“IーI am Nikola with the Wreathfield Gate Guards! I would like to speak with Sister Fi-Ne please!”

 

Yuu: “Please calm down.
Can you tell us what happened?” “We have a carriage that was attacked by Demonic Creatures, and we have several severely injured who arrived in town! This location was closer than the Clinic………but we have soldiers heading there to ask for help as well!”

 

Yuu’s face turns dead serious at the news.

 

Yuu: “Where is the carriage now?!” “WーWe thought transporting the injured any further would be risky, so they are waiting at the gate.
Right now, soldiers with first-aid experience are attending to them.” Yuu: “Henryー! Go ahead of us!” Henry: “Understood!”

As soon as I know which direction to run, I run at full speed towards the gate.

 

Yuu is slower than I am, but she’ll be arriving there soon afterwards.

 

……….well, I don’t know how bad it is, but I hope we make it in time.