The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

“Please come to the capital.”

I spoke with a tense expression, not letting my resolve waver.

“There, you can be with all your disciples.”

“Hm.”

The Swordmaster seemed to contemplate my words, and for a moment, he loosened his grip on his sword.

I felt a momentary relief—only to be abruptly interrupted.

Thwack!

“Eek?!”

The Swordmaster’s blade tapped sharply against the top of my head.

Reflexively, I clutched my head, glaring up at him.

He looked at me with a mixture of exasperation and disbelief.

“Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? I came to this mountain to avoid the world. And you want me to endure the crowds in the busiest part of the capital, surrounded by all sorts of people?”

The Swordmaster scoffed.

“And as bait, no less? I’m not foolish enough to fall for such a flimsy trick.”

Of course, he wouldn’t be.

Internally, I agreed. A man who’d lived on a mountain for decades wasn’t likely to leave just because of a stranger’s words.

“In that case, I’ll stay here.”

“Hm?”

“I’ll remain here until I convince you to come.”

I wasn’t unprepared. There were only about two weeks left of my break, but I could spend those two weeks persuading him, figuring out what approaches might work, and then rewinding time to refine my attempts—

Thwack!

“Gah?!”

“Is that exclamation part of your vocabulary or something?”

Hitting someone on the head without warning and then making that kind of comment was beyond frustrating.

Not that I could actually defeat him if it came to it.

“A grown woman—even though I may be older—is suggesting spending the night in a man’s home? That would damage your reputation. And beyond that, the fact that you’d even consider such a thing is problematic, especially for a princess.”

“...”

He hadn’t seemed to care when I’d stayed overnight with Jennifer, or when Alice had done the same. Claire had even stayed, too.

Granted, Jennifer was with us those times, but in the original storyline, the Swordmaster was never a character who cared about such things. He was just looking for reasons to send me away.

Ignoring my glare, he turned his gaze elsewhere.

“And why are you so frozen in place?”

“Ah, well...”

Leo’s forehead was damp with sweat, his hair clinging to his brow.

“Are you upset that I keep tapping ‘Her Highness’ on the head with my sword?”

“...”

“I’ve met other princesses before, you know? And if I cared about rank, I wouldn’t have taken Jennifer as my disciple.”

“Y-yes, but...”

“Oh, right.”

The Swordmaster turned back to me.

“Is Alice your elder sister or younger?”

“She’s my sister—”

Leo started to respond, but a quick glance from me made him close his mouth.

“...She’s my ‘sibling.’”

“Oh-ho.”

The Swordmaster smirked, his lips twisting in amusement.

“I see. So that’s how it is...”

He crossed his arms, pausing to think.

“Well, fine. It’s already late. Sending you down the mountain at this hour wouldn’t be right.”

He rose from his seat.

“I’ll let you stay for one night. But leave tomorrow. I’m not idle enough to entertain you any longer.”

He’s definitely not as busy as he claims.

But at least I had his permission to stay the night.

It was a start.

---

“Did you learn that from Alice?”

At dawn the next day, as I sat cross-legged in meditation, waking at the same time as Leo, the Swordmaster asked this question.

It was the first thing he’d said to me since yesterday’s conversation. He’d completely ignored me since, which, in hindsight, was justified given my presumptuous request.

But if words wouldn’t convince him, then actions would.

He’d declared I had “no talent” last night, so all I had to do was show him some “talent.” And waking up at the same time as Leo seemed a good place to start.

Peeking slightly, I noticed Leo watching me, somewhat surprised.

His expression was more contemplative than shocked, though. He’d been there with me at the ruins in Northwood and might be wondering if I’d already trained here before.

The truth was, I didn’t have any talent in this area. I hadn’t even learned the basics of meditation until coming here, and it had taken me 300 days to master the simplest technique under this “Swordmaster.” Learning any other moves would take me even longer.

But for now, I needed to make it seem like this ability was my “talent.” Only then might the Swordmaster take me seriously.

I heard the sound of his footsteps approaching, and I shut my eyes completely, resuming my meditative state.

The Swordmaster moved around to observe me from the front, as if scrutinizing my posture—

And just before he could speak—

Bang!

The door burst open with a loud noise.

“...Alice. If you open the door like that, it might break.”

The Swordmaster spoke leisurely, as if he’d expected Alice. His demeanor was completely different from when I’d arrived.

“If it breaks, I’ll buy you the finest door I can find.”

Alice’s voice was calm, yet somehow sounded deeply angry.

“I doubt such a door would suit this place,”

the Swordmaster replied, sounding mildly amused.

Alice didn’t seem to hear him.

I found their exchange intriguing.

Though I’d met the Swordmaster before and knew his character from the game, this was the first time I’d seen him and Alice interact directly.

In the game, aside from main story dialogue, other party members, besides Leo, often faded into the background during side quests. Although the developers tried to give attention to detail, the sheer amount of main story text meant they couldn’t dedicate as much care to side quests.

As the party options increased, it was easier to skip dialogue entirely, especially to save on development costs.

But this was real life.

I couldn’t just skim over it with a single line like, “They shared opinions” or “They all trained together.”

“What brings you here? It doesn’t seem like you came to train, unlike Leo.”

“...I came to find my ‘sister.’”

I couldn’t read people’s energy, but I could tell that the Swordmaster was now staring intently in my direction.

“Did something happen at the palace?”

I kept my eyes tightly shut, trying to look deeply immersed in meditation, as if I were completely oblivious to Alice’s presence.

Of course... I had a feeling that wasn’t particularly convincing.

After all, just closing my eyes didn’t make me invisible.

“I’d like to speak with Sylvia for a moment.”

There was the sound of fabric brushing against wood as Alice made her request, likely prompted by the Swordmaster gesturing to the table.

“You’re free to use the table. Since there’s no separate room here, I can’t offer privacy.”

“That’s fine.”

Alice’s voice carried a hint of laughter.

It didn’t sound warm, though.

---

“I heard about it.”

“...About what, exactly?”

Alice and I sat facing each other across the worn table, with Leo and the Swordmaster standing about three paces away, both looking curious about our conversation.

I pondered briefly. Could it be about Lucas? Had Alice somehow learned that she and I might actually be sisters—

“I heard you called Jayden ‘dear brother.’”

—Apparently not.

Still, I realized the importance of what Alice had just said.

I turned toward Leo.

Leo looked at me, his mouth hanging open, clearly not expecting to hear such words from me.

Unfortunately, I had no idea how to control my rapidly beating heart, which was now pounding with embarrassment.

...Maybe I should at least learn how to deal with this kind of shame during my two weeks here.

And as for Jayden, who apparently didn’t bother to keep that little incident to himself—I was definitely going to make him pay.

Even if it was my fault for forgetting to ask him to keep it a secret.