Chapter 70: 53

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Sapphiras Perfectio, 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge

Percival Belisario, 3rd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Aurora Steinfeld, daughter of the Duke of Bloomfield

Adeline, Margravine of Vanderwall, Percival’s mother

Matteo, Percival’s horse

 

The wind blows across the surface of the lake and the floating pseudo bait moves. After a while, ripples formed on the side of the bait. Almost at the same time, Percival raised his rod tip and pulled the line.

The body of the fish danced with a splash of water.

“You’ve caught it! You did it, Percival!”

He guides the fish to the shore, where he quickly grabs it by the jaws and pulls it out of the water. It’s a pretty good size. It’s amazing that you can catch fish even with fake bait. But still, great skill!

Percival took the fish off the hook, put it in a basket and put it in the lake. By doing this, the fish can be kept alive until we return home.

“Do you want to try it?”

“Of course!”

I immediately borrowed the rod and threw the bait, but it inevitably fell in front of me. This is quite difficult. It will take time until I can throw it properly, so I’m going to rely on magic for now, assuming I’ll get better.

I let the wind carry the line and bring it to the area where Percival had dropped the pseudo-bait, then gently drop it into the water and let the natural wind carry it away. In short, it should look like a winged insect floating on the water, right?

“If you wait a while and don’t get any response, retrieve the pseudo-bait and throw it again.”

“Okay.”

As I was told, I retrieved the bait and threw it again. I was able to throw it better than before, but it still didn’t have enough distance, so I used wind magic to carry it and fix it.

The moment it landed on the water, the bait was sucked into the water.

“Sapphiras.”

“Alright!”

When I pulled up the rod tip, it pulled back hard. Wow, this is a big one.

“The line is thinner than normal fishing lines, so if you pull too hard, it’ll come loose. You have to let the fish breathe as much air as possible to tire it out.”

“I got it!”

After a lot of pulling and tugging, I finally saw the shadow of a fish. The trout was bigger than I had expected.

“Good, just keep pulling it in slowly.”

“Yeah……”

Following Percival’s instructions, I carefully pulled the fish into the shallow water. The trout finally gave up and did not resist any longer. That’s when I knew I had won the battle with the trout. The trout, which had been so quiet until then, suddenly changed its position.

“Ah!”

The feeling of the string being snapped is transmitted from the rod, and the weight that was there until now is gone.

“Shit! It got away!”

I’ve come this far, and I can’t let it get away! In my haste, I slipped and fell backwards into the lake.

“Uwah! It’s cold!”

The water is shallow, so it’s not a big deal, but as Percival said, the water temperature is a little low for swimming. Without having acclimated to the cold water, my whole body was suddenly submerged in the cold water, and my heart cried out in fear. As I hurriedly tried to get out of the water, I was grabbed by the collar and pulled ashore.

I turned around to see if it was Percival, but it was Matteo who scooped me up.

“Th-thank you, Matteo.”

When I thanked him, Matteo snorted. He must have been grazing some distance away, but did he come rushing over? You’re a nice guy.

“Sapphiras, are you alright?”

“Yeah…… thanks to Matteo I’m fine……but the long awaited big one got away.”

That response must have been a pretty big one. It was so close, but I missed it.

“That’s quite a catch.”

“…..Eh?’

I turned to see Percival, knee-deep in the lake, holding up the trout I had missed. The trout was a big one, from my fingertips to my elbows.

“You did it, Sapphiras.”

“Th-that’s great! Percival! How did you manage to catch it in that situation?”

“Among the big trout, there are some that pretend to be weak like that. I thought it might be possible.”

Just after the line broke, Percival jumped into the lake and grabbed the trout.

A man who always looks one move ahead at any moment and never lets his guard down……I, for one, was soaring as soon as I saw the fish.

The fish was too big to fit in the basket we brought, so I put a thin string through its mouth and gills and let it swim in the water. I couldn’t help but admire the magnificent fish. I caught a great one. I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ll have this trout sautéed in butter tonight.”

“Sautéed in butter……”

What’s that, doesn’t it sound incredibly tasty?

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“Kush!”

My body shudders as my wet clothes take away my body heat. As soon as the excitement subsided, I instantly felt cold.

“I better dry my clothes.”

“Yes, let’s just dry them off quickly in the wind.”

I took off my shirt, which is wet and sticking to my skin. I’d better take off my shoes and trousers and dry them off too.

“Sapphiras, what happened to your back?”

As I was about to take off my waterlogged shoes, Percival suddenly sounded panicked.

My back?

I twisted my head, but I couldn’t see my back. But I had an inkling of what he was talking about.

“……Aah. A long time ago, I was whipped by the Earl. I was beaten so severely that I think I’ve been left with scars.”

“……With a whip?”

Deep wrinkles form between Percival’s eyebrows.

Sure enough, one would make that face. Although it doesn’t hurt anymore and I don’t need sympathy, I’m not going to hide what that man did to me. That’s why, if asked, I don’t hesitate to talk about the treatment I received at the Earl’s house.

“Yes, it seems like he thought it would be better if I died.”

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to use such force against his own son. In fact, he did say something like that.

The most difficult time was endured by ‘me’ alone. I think I lived well without any hope.

“……Does it hurt?”

“It’s an old wound, it doesn’t hurt anymore. I didn’t even notice it until just now.”

“I’m sorry……for reminding you of something unpleasant.”　

Percival showed a visibly depressed look. Maybe it’s the first time I’ve seen such an expression.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. There’s no need to apologise. It’s all fine, it’s nothing now.”

I have the power now, and if I want to live freely, I can do so. It’s useless to dwell on the past now. That doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven that house.

“Sapphiras is strong.”

“Is that so? But if so, it’s thanks to Percival and Miss Aurora, who both reached out to me when I was in trouble. So now every day is a lot of fun.

When I was alone in the cafeteria. When I was about to quit the academy. The two of them are the reason why I’m having fun now.

When I said that, Percival made a difficult face for some reason. Then, hesitantly, he reached out his hand to my cheek and brushed off the wet, sticky hair. Percival’s hand was a little hard to the touch. It’s proof that he holds his sword unrelentingly every day.

“Sapphiras is going to be an adventurer, right?”

“I intend to.”

“……When Sapphiras becomes an adventurer, will you make me a member of your party?”

“I don’t mind at all, but……”

Come to think of it, he’s said something like that before. But does Percival have to support his brothers at Vanderwall? The margrave seems to be a very strict man, and he might not like the idea of becoming an adventurer and leaving the area.

“Isn’t Percival supposed to lead the army here with your brothers?”

“My two older brothers are enough for Vanderwall. It doesn’t matter if I don’t stay.”

I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m sure it would be fun to have adventures with Percival in the future. He and I get on well together and I have no doubt we’d get along.

“……Then, after graduating from the academy, shall we go to the guild together to register as adventurers?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do that.”

As we were talking about the future, Matteo poked his big face out from the side.

“Of course Matteo will be with us. Right, Percival?”

“Yes, of course.”

I see, in the future I’m going to party with Percival. When I thought about the future, I felt some kind of itch in my back, and then I sneezed again.

……Let’s dry our clothes for now.

After magically drying our clothes, I enjoyed a bit more trout fishing and had a slightly early lunch.

Perhaps because Madam Adeline had requested it, the sandwiches were the meat and vegetable sandwich from the first day’s dinner, and steamed chicken. There was also cut up fruit for dessert. Very sumptuous.

The basket full of sandwiches were all delicious and I ate them in no time. After eating, we drank the tea Percival had brewed for us and took a break.

“Haaaa! That was delicious! I’m full.”

With my stomach full, I lie down on the mattress. It’s bad manners to lie down right after eating, but it’s okay because there’s only Percival and me here.

As I felt the pleasant breeze blowing softly, my eyelids gradually became heavy.

“……Sapphiras?”

He calls my name, but I’m more than half asleep and can’t answer anymore. I’m sorry, Percival. Just let me sleep a little.

After a while, my body was softly wrapped in a light cloth, and a hard palm strokes my hair a few times and moved away.

Oh, that feels good……

I ended up sleeping until the sun went down and we didn’t get to swim. I apologised profusely to Percival for bringing me to the lake, and he said it was fine because I had come here to relax and unwind. But were you bored while I was sleeping?

The trout we caught went on the dinner table that evening. The trout was sautéed in butter, the skin was crispy and the flesh was plump and very tasty. Madam Adeline was in a good mood, probably because the trout was so delicious. If you like trout that much, I wouldn’t mind going to the lake with Percival again.

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