2nd Rank Has Returned

Exclusive Knight-1

As soon as she woke up from the bed, Arya took a deep breath.

“…Write…”

With his breath, a deep scent entered his lungs as he wrinkled his nose.

“under…”

I felt some kind of comfort. A very familiar, yet regrettable scent that I couldn’t smell often, this…

“Leonardo…?”

Fully floating with only half floating.

Because he knew who the owner of this incense was.

“…me…! Why am I here…?!”

Arya got up from the bed and rolled up the blanket. Obviously, he was standing next to Leonardo, watching him rise.

And… I don’t remember after that.

“…how…”

smart

In that haze, someone knocked on the door.

“It’s Lina. may I come in?”

“…uh?”

It wasn’t a sign of consent, but the sleepiness remaining in his body was enough to obscure it.

“I think I overslept last night. I’m here to wake you up… Did I get in the way?”

To Lina’s words, she answered with a slightly stiff mouth.

“Oh, no. It’s just that I haven’t slept less.”

“That’s right. What a relief.”

“Hey, Leonardo…? Where did you go?”

Lina replied while looking at the annex outside the window.

“I do not know. Apparently, Mr. Leonardo is in the annex.”

“okay…?”

Aria got up from her seat, dissolving her trembling expression into her expressionless expression.

“Girl, can I comb my hair? You are very messy.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Lina went behind Arya and started brushing her hair with a comb.

“Yesterday… where did Leonardo go?”

Arya asked Lina, who was combing her hair from behind.

“That’s… you left the room and went for a walk in the garden with the owner.”

Arya’s body twitched at the word “go”.

“…with your father…?”

“Yes, we were walking in the garden together. I thought we were talking…”

“Did you talk?”

That day, there was only one topic that we could talk about until we had time at night.

I couldn’t find anything other than that for a single servant to talk to the owner of the family face-to-face.

“…what did you talk about…?”

“I don’t know. I’m just looking at it from afar. However…”

A little bit Lina hesitated. It was because there was a fear that it might be attaching a certain four limbs.

“…Sister Leonardo seemed to cry. I saw your face on the way to the annex.”

That moment.

“…Crying?”

At that time, Arya was in love.

It wasn’t information that I could tell because I saw a fair-skinned face. Even Lina in the back could see that she was in love.

“…yes?”

“Leonardo cried?”

The tone of the horse, the posture of the body, and even the air around it were laid with a strict force, so anyone could tell that Arya was in love.

“…that’s exactly what I…”

“Where is Leonardo now?”

Cutting off Lina’s bewildered words, Arya resolutely asked a question. The cold sound of anger was enough to terrify even the innocent Lina.

“…probably in an annex…”

“I’ll go for a while.”

I wasn’t asking for permission. Leaving the doctor close to the notice, she got up from her chair.

Her hair wasn’t completely trimmed, but that didn’t detract from her appearance.

As quickly as it felt rushed, and precisely enough to look mechanical, she changed into her outdoor clothes.

“Tell me you skip breakfast.”

“Oh, I see. miss.”

There was no time for leisurely breakfast. I don’t know what he heard from his father, but that Leonardo was about to cry. If it was heavy, it was heavy, so it would be difficult to expect light work.

‘…Isn’t that supposed to be kicked out…?’

It’s not as good as that. Whatever it was, it had to be stopped.

Even if he had a fight with his father, it would be unacceptable for Leonardo to go away…

“Are you going to skip breakfast?”

“Uh, right now…”

At that moment, she had to pause for a moment.

There were two reasons.

The first was that Lina did not answer. From a voice or a direction, it was not appropriate for Lina to answer the situation.

and the second reason

“good morning. Ariaspil-sama.”

It was because the owner of that voice was the person Arya was going to meet now.

“…Leonardo?”

“Yes, did you call?”

Leonardo smiled with a respectful attitude.

“…you…you didn’t go?”

“Where are you going?”

“So… I talked to my father…”

“Oh, I have something to tell you about that.”

To the bewildered Ariaspil, Leonardo got down on one knee and spoke politely to her.

“Seal Leonardo, I became Ariaspil-nim’s exclusive knight at the command of Gladio Reinharat, Gaju.”

“…uh?”

The bewildered expression on his face contorted into even more bewilderment. But for some reason, that crooked expression seemed to be smiling.

***

“…so while we were walking, that’s how it was decided.”

“Yeah, it’s a decision that the Lord and I have decided, so if Ariaspil-sama refuses…”

“no!”

A firm yet emotional cry.

Even Leo, who had a natural smile, was surprised and opened his eyes wide.

“…I, I’m fine! It’s okay to become an exclusive knight! uh!”

There was no reason to refuse.

Rather, wasn’t that what Leonardo had been hoping for since he came to the family?

It was not enough to welcome them with open arms.

“thank you.”

“Then… what are you doing now?”

She looked at Leo with a little anticipation. Of course, it was a very ‘little’, so it wasn’t to the extent that Leo, who lacked insight, realized it.

“Basically, it is done according to Ariaspil-sama’s plan and life. I’ll accompany you nearby. Of course, if you want personal time, I will not accompany you.”

In fact, it was closer to asking what he wanted to do than asking such a thing, but Leo’s blunt eyes could not reveal that fact.

“Then let’s go to the gym.”

“Is it okay if I don’t eat breakfast?”

“Yeah, I’m not hungry.”

More than that, training with Leo was expected.

***

It was as quiet as seeing a desolate plain in the gymnasium. Leo could vaguely notice that the cause was himself.

“Then let’s get started.”

Leo started swinging his sword. It was the same mana exercise as usual, but it was developed more delicately in terms of technology.

“okay!”

She also grabbed the sword and started training. Aria also started to show more sophisticated mana training techniques.

[He’s a real genius.]

＜Did I just get jealous?＞

Particles of mana floating around were swirling towards Arya. Without Leo’s level of skill, mana training next to her would be meaningless and overwhelming.

[But who the hell killed that guy?]

Leo’s expression hardened at those words.

It was just a word that came out of nowhere. If it wasn’t noticed, it was nothing, and if it was rude, it was rude, just that much remark.

But Leo’s expression was as hard as ever.

＜…that is…＞

“Leonardo?”

Arya noticed the sign and approached Leonardo.

“what’s the matter? I have a bad complexion.”

“…it’s okay. I’m just feeling a little unwell.”

“Then would you like to rest for a while?”

“no. Practicing helps me clear my head.”

Arya agreed to those words and started training again while holding the sword.

[Did I say anything harsh?]

＜Okay. As someone who rarely hears harsh words.＞

[…Yeah, yeah, I’m trash.]

＜It’s garbage. Still, garbage was once useful.＞

[Would you like to go back?]

Leo cleared his complexion again and swung his sword.

“But, Leonardo.”

In the same way, Arya, who was wielding the sword again, asked.

“From whom did Leonardo learn the martial arts?”

“Are you talking about weapons?”

“I’ve never seen anyone with so many weapons. There will be no one like that in the family.”

Leo responded by swinging his sword from top to bottom.

“No one taught me. This is what happened because I wrote what I could get my hands on.”

It wasn’t just to defeat Arya, but to learn various weapon skills.

There were many situations where it was impossible to obtain a weapon due to lack of money, and sometimes stealing the opponent’s weapon or using an object in the vicinity as a substitute for a weapon.

“As a result, the number of weapons that can be used naturally increased.”

Of course, it was because of Arya that I was able to develop like this, but I couldn’t say that yet.

“…Still, that’s great. That’s how I learned it on my own.”

“is that so? In fact, it was also because of my mother as a mercenary.”

Leo’s mother, she made a name for herself as a well-known mercenary. The people of the surrounding villages didn’t know the place of Leo’s hometown, but it was enough to remember Leo’s mother’s name.

“You are such a wonderful person. I did not know.”

“It’s natural not to know. It wasn’t nationally famous.”

“Then where is your mother? Far from here?”

To that, Rao calmly replied.

“It’s dead.”

“…dead…that…?”

As he spoke too casually, the color of the expression on the side of the listener who was listening changed.

“I was about 10 years old, and my mom hasn’t been home for about three months.”

Leo’s mother was a mercenary and often traveled to distant places.

It wasn’t like that when Leo was a baby, but as Leo broke his words and his gait improved, there were often cases where he didn’t come in for a week.

[How did you live alone?]

＜Well… the villagers helped out quite a bit. When the gate opened, my mother often held me, so it felt like a reward.＞

But if he didn’t come for three months, he would suspect that he was dead.

“Still, you don’t know. For some reason…”

“Ah, but it was my mother who told me to think like this.”

“Well…?”

“They say that if a mercenary hasn’t heard anything for about three months, it’s as good as dead. That’s why I told you to think that you’re dead if you do that.”

The expressions on the faces of those who heard the explanation were different. Arya was shaking rapidly as if there had been a resonance in her pupil, and the sage could not speak as if he had been shocked by the foreign culture.

[Is the progress too fast?]

＜He loved early education so much.＞

After that, things were simple.

After making his mother’s grave, he thanked the villagers and left the village.

And it became the present.

“…that…that’s right.”

“It’s like that.”

“…Sorry, I was just asking…”

“it’s okay. That’s what all people do. And it wasn’t necessarily all bad.”

“Then… did anything good happen?”

Leonardo said with a smile.

“I met Ariaspil-sama. And we became friends.”

It was a bit strange to say, but I needed to make it clear. This needed to be taken more seriously in light of an argument I had with a friend over respect before.

Of course, the wise man on the other side was looking at the person over the garbage and looking at the waste… but he was old anyway, so he decided to ignore it.

“…that’s right…!”

Ariaspil turned his head and repeated the words that he had become close. The turned head must have turned red, but Leo did not notice it to a surprising degree.

“…then… maybe…”

After hesitating for a while, Arya opened her mouth again.

“Can you call me Aria…?”

“…Aria?”

I didn’t even expect to stop saying respect. However, she thought that it would be okay if this was enough, so she had the courage to do it herself.

“It seems… a little difficult.”

Leo’s response to courage was that much.

The heat on the face rapidly cools, and the raised corners of the mouth also lose strength.

After all, Leonardo did not make himself very special…

“But you can call me ‘Miss Arya’ if you want, but… how about that?”

The onomatopoeic word “hwaak,” was actually felt. I tried to cover my face as much as I could, but the redness spread all over my skin like red ink spreading through water.

That would be only a compromise for Leo, but for Arya, it was nothing more than a titan of titles.

Isn’t it like being embarrassed to tell an older woman that she’s just “sister” and attaching her name to her at the same time?

Even if that’s a more rewarding reward.

“…that, yes…! That would be nice…!!”

“Fortunately, the. Arya girl.”

“…uh…”

face is burning How can you call such a name so simply?

He had asked for it, but that’s why he couldn’t stand it any more.

“… Miss Arya?”

Leonardo couldn’t help but worry when she didn’t show his face. As long as she became her exclusive knight, it was Leo’s duty to satisfy her as best as possible.

“What do you mean by substitute, but… Then why don’t you call me ‘Leo’?”

“…yes…?”

“Leonardo seems like a long name. It is often called Leo for short, but… how about it?”

She slowly turned her head to Leo. It wasn’t shameful. However, this ‘name’ had meaning only when looking at the face.

“…Okay…Leo…”

“…thank you. miss.”

So we became friends with each other.

and

A month has passed.