The Male S*ave of the Count Sianella Family

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“…Were you watching?”

Shione seemed a bit embarrassed as she scratched my cheek.

At the same moment, Siabel’s blue eyes, which had briefly focused on me, began to reflect my sister.

Only then did the unnerving gaze that had been troubling me lift, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Of course. Your skills have improved a lot since you faced that goblin earlier, haven’t they?”

“I simply followed Ray’s advice and applied it. I’m glad you think so.”

“If it’s Ray…”

“Oh, that’s the name of my personal attendant.”

Shione half-turned her body to look at me, who was hiding behind her.

Thanks to that, my reflection returned to Siabel’s blue eyes once more.

We locked gazes again.

I quietly lowered my head towards Siabel.

Be that as it may—

“Hmm.”

Siabel scanned me silently for a moment.

Just like when I first met Ainel Shianella, her penetrating gaze made me uneasy.

Moreover, unlike the puppy-like Shione, Siabel had a cold demeanor.

It reminded me of Ainel and sent a chill down my spine.

Though it was only a short time, it felt like an eternity of discomfort for me.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it were someone like Shione, but being under the watchful eyes of nobles from the get-go was quite burdensome.

I wished this moment would pass quickly.

As I wished, Siabel slowly opened her mouth.

“Right, you’re Ray, then.”

It wasn’t merely a simple statement.

Siabel’s expression, which had been stoic, curved into a slight smile.

Perhaps it was just my self-consciousness, but I felt a hint of intrigue in her cold eyes.

Whatever the case, Siabel’s interest was quite disturbing.

…For some reason, I had a feeling that getting involved with Siabel would lead to trouble.

I just wanted to maintain a relationship with Shione, free from any complications.

Was the curiosity I sensed from Siabel not an illusion?

“Come to think of it, I heard you were taught archery by your attendant. Is this person your attendant?”

She started questioning my identity.

“That’s correct. Ray has taught me archery.”

“For an attendant to teach you archery instead of another instructor…”

Siabel narrowed her eyes.

Shione seemed to find my story amusing as she chimed in without hesitation.

“I heard he had briefly learned archery in the past. He teaches very well, and… you can trust him.”

“Oh?”

Siabel swept her silvery-white hair aside.

At the same time, the intrigue shining in her eyes deepened.

It almost seemed like she was enjoying herself—just a little bit.

That said, I had nothing particular to say, so I quietly accepted her interest with composure.

“Well, from what I’ve seen for just a moment, you had pretty sharp skills, just like the archers of our Count’s House.”

While pushing her hair back, Siabel crossed her arms.

Leaning slightly, she caught my gaze and said,

“Interesting.”

I silently nodded my head again.

Even though there was no need to feel intimidated, I wasn’t fond of this situation where Siabel was pressing me down with her presence.

Why was it that Siabel, who I’ve met several times already, suddenly started showing interest in me?

While pondering this, I recalled the rewards from the two quests I had recently completed.

‘…The rewards from this quest had everything to do with Siabel Shianella.’

These quests were different from the ones that had purely focused on Shione’s growth up until now.

The rewards were none other than—

Siabel Shianella’s interest in me and the acceleration of my talent development.

It seemed that since the rewards of this quest were related to Siabel, a connection between us was forming.

I couldn’t help but internally sigh.

‘…This is not what I wanted.’

With Shione actively making her intentions clear about breaking off her engagement with the Marquis’s son, I was already on edge.

Now, I had to start paying attention to Siabel too?

What on earth was it about the Shianella family that warranted such attention?

At this rate, wouldn’t I also have to concern myself with Sion Shianella?

“When I said I wanted to climb the mountain with just one attendant, I felt very uneasy… What a surprise.”

“I told you beforehand, didn’t I? I awakened my mana and I’m proficient in archery, so I won’t be a hindrance.”

“Just saying that doesn’t make it believable. I accepted because I had confidence in keeping you safe, even if one person came along… but still, you’re a man.”

Saying that, Siabel crossed her arms.

“Well, looking at it now, it doesn’t seem like such a bad choice.”

As Siabel said that, she slowly approached me.

She then extended her hand towards me.

“I’ll rely on you to take good care of Shione. Can I trust you with that?”

I quietly took Siabel’s hand.

“…You can trust me.”

With that, a satisfied expression spread across Siabel’s face as she nodded her head.

“I’ll be watching.”

*

A day passed swiftly.

I managed to cut down numerous goblins and successfully located traces of the Ashen Wolves, estimating their territory.

Simultaneously, I caught a few stray Ashen Wolves that had wandered off from the pack.

During the monster hunting, I gave Shione one archery tip after another.

While she was still inexperienced, her accuracy began to improve little by little, thanks to my guidance.

All of it stemmed from her constant practice shooting arrows at many enemies.

Later, back at the makeshift camp, we handled various tasks.

Mostly, it was Bronte, not tired like me, who took charge, so it wasn’t too bad.

The problem lay elsewhere.

‘I was too overwhelmed.’

Every time I was with Bronte, Siabel Shianella tried to observe me.

It felt as if I was some sort of fascinating creature she had discovered, and I wasn’t fond of it at all.

What was it about me that caught her attention so much?

It wasn’t like I had performed any magic or anything, just shot a bow once, yet it was too much for this level of interest.

If it were after showcasing some flashy magic, I could understand the attention.

But given there was none of that, I couldn’t fathom why Siabel was acting this way.

I couldn’t even ask her why she was following me around and staring.

Thus, the first day passed awkwardly, and the second day dawned.

As the sun illuminated the mountains, we started our hunt once more.

“You’re much better than yesterday.”

“I shot arrows to the point of getting blisters on my fingers, so it would be strange if I didn’t improve.”

“…That’s true.”

Shione was showing significant improvement day by day.

The time it took her to aim at the enemies was decreasing, and her hit rate was also getting decent.

It was amusing how she bragged about adapting to fighting goblins.

Seeing her enjoy herself that much, it was hard not to smile.

As we continued hunting, not long after—

“I’ve confirmed a group of orcs!”

A soldier, having scouted ahead, reported this to Siabel.

“How many are there?”

“There are six in total.”

“Hmm…”

Siabel stroked her chin for a moment, pondering.

Her decision came swiftly.

“Let’s ambush them.”

Following Siabel’s decision, we made our way stealthily towards the area where the orcs were spotted.

Siabel, who usually walked leisurely as she killed goblins, kept a reasonable tension now.

Before long, we caught sight of six orcs, just as the soldier had said.

They were monsters with green skin, much like goblins.

However, treating them as mere goblins just because of their skin color would be a mistake.

With heights exceeding two meters and a massive, heavily built physique, these were born fighters with remarkable strength.

The fortunate aspect was that despite their great strength, they usually had sluggish movements.

With regular clearances of the Beltlin Mountains by the Shianella family, the soldiers here had ample practical experience and should be able to handle them.

Moreover, with expert knights present, the soldiers only needed to distract the orcs until Siabel went for the kill.

While I compared the orcs to our forces, I suddenly heard Shione’s voice.

“…I’m getting nervous.”

It seemed the sight of the orcs scared her.

Well, considering that orcs have a distinct aura of menace unlike other weaker monsters, it was understandable that Shione, who wasn’t used to facing monsters, was sweating and looking pale.

To ease Shione’s anxiety, I spoke up.

“Just think of them as big green targets. The ones facing them up close will be the soldiers, not us.”

“Big green targets, huh…”

It seemed my analogy had done the trick, as Shione’s expression brightened up.

Just then, Siabel’s voice rang out, calm and clear.

“I will strike the first one. Follow immediately.”

As the aura of mana cloaked her sword, Siabel’s feet dug into the ground.

In an instant, she darted toward the nearest orc.

She brought her sword down with strength.

“Yaaaah!!”

With a mixture of confusion, the orc howled as one of its green arms fell to the ground.

Just as I’d thought, Siabel, being an expert knight, showed a thrilling prowess compared to the archer Shione.

With Siabel’s strike, the soldiers joined the fray.

“We’ll support you too.”

“Well… then let’s do that.”

After taking a deep breath, Shione began shooting arrows.

Despite appearing overly tense, she fired her arrows diligently.

Thanks to that, several arrows lodged into one orc’s belly.

She was neatly doing her part.

As I began to shoot arrows towards the soldiers who were struggling a bit, it turned out to be a problem.

After a few arrows were stuck into its bulging belly, the orc shifted its gaze towards Shione.

“Yaaaah!!”

With injuries inflicted by several soldiers covering its body, the orc seemed unwilling to go down without a fight and charged at Shione.

Clearly, it appeared to think that taking on Shione, the one nervously firing arrows, was the right path rather than facing those wielding swords.

That orc’s reasoning was correct.

“Uh….”

Shione uttered, filled with a look of alarm.

When I turned to see what was happening, I finally understood how the situation had unfolded.

With the orc launching toward her, I could only wonder why she was just standing there in disbelief.

Shione kept her face full of despair as the giant raced towards her.

“…Damn it.”

What on earth were the soldiers doing, allowing the orc to charge at her?

I quickly racked my brain on how to change this situation.

Siabel was engaged with another orc over there…

But if I tried to charge in on foot, would I arrive in time to save her?

Not to mention, if I shot an arrow at the orc, it seemed likely I could deliver enough force to take Shione down before it went down.

If it came to this, I’d have no choice but to use magic that I had no intention of showing off in front of others.

Before the orc’s fist reached Shione’s head, I hurriedly gathered my mana.

What I needed was enough speed to save her.

I invoked the power of the spirits within my body.

“Ha….”

As a brisk mountain breeze brushed against my cheek, tangling my hair, I launched myself forward.

Fortunately, I reached Shione just in time, catching her and rolling to the side to evade the orc’s attack.

After tumbling a few times, I felt a considerable pain in my back and arm.

I can’t believe I’m rolling down a mountain all because of Shione.

“Ray…?”

Shione looked at me with wide eyes as if she couldn’t comprehend what just happened.

“What were you just standing there staring for?”

I scolded her.

If she was scared, she should’ve at least screamed; how could she just freeze in fright?

What would she have done if I hadn’t noticed?

“I’m sorry….”

As Shione weakly apologized, a thud resonated.

The orc that had charged at her lost its head and collapsed.

The blood-covered Siabel appeared as she wiped her sword, glancing down at us.

“Magic?”