Chapter 31 – Awakening Training with Kirimune

After that, we repeated the seeds  with the two of them many times. I continued to unleash the long-absent male instinct, pouring it onto the two innocent wives in the frenzy of animal desire.

And then, naked, the three of us slept soundly together.

“Mm..”

“Fua…”

I must have moved, as both of them woke up at the same time. Phew… I did my best!

“Good morning, both of you.”

“Morni~…”

“G-good morning to you too…”

Oh… This sight of the two of them is quite refreshing and nice!

“Are you feeling sleepy?”

“Nn… I’m sure everyone will be waking up soon…”

Ah… I vaguely remember. People of the grasslands may be fierce on the battlefield, but generally, they are gentle and laid-back. So, on the day after a feast like yesterday’s, many spend the morning lounging around until noon.

Of course, there are those who have duties like taking care of livestock, and not everyone spends their time that way.

“But… it’s a little embarrassing to wake up naked in the morning, isn’t it?”

“Yes… We’ll be seen well in the sunlight…”

Yesterday, we started procreating in the faint light. Well, it was clearly visible to my eyes.

But seeing their bodies in the bright daylight like this is also exceptional. Honestly, I’d like to engage in procreation again, but… there’s the issue of time, and more importantly, someone might come around here soon.

“Vyril’s body. It’s still covered in scars.”

“From this past year, right? What happened?”

“Ah… yeah. Let me tell you about it.”

This is a good opportunity and I don’t want to keep anything from these two.

“On that day, I was indeed swept away by the river…”

From there, I began to tell them what happened.

I told them about drifting to the sea, moving to a cave with a sword, being surrounded by monstrous creatures for about a year, finding a book in the deepest part, learning about the contract, and finally being able to come to the surface.

“That’s…Vyril… you’ve been through so much…”

“But… enduring such a long time, surrounded by monsters in a lightless space… If it were me, I wouldn’t last a day, my mind would collapse.”

“Yeah… I think my mind is pretty messed up too.”

I suppose my mind adapted to survive in that environment. A calm state of mind like the calm before a storm is the extreme, I think.

I’ve been questioning myself about what strength really is.

The tension of having to keep fighting and the extreme mental state must have combined, propelling my sword forward.

Then, without realising it, we continued our conversation while using the water that had been swapped out at some point to wipe ourselves clean.

I felt so relieved to see the faces of the two people I didn’t know about their lives on the grasslands over the past year.

Just as we finished changing, someone entered. I informed them that we had woken up and next came breakfast… no, lunch, brought to us.

It seems like there are still people sleeping on the grasslands, so it seems like everyone is free to have lunch on their own. We started eating together inside the yurt.

“Fufu… I wonder if Vyril’s baby has been conceived.”

“It would be nice if it has… Humans are said to be particularly difficult to impregnate. And even if conception happened during last night’s activities, it will still be some time before we can confirm it.”

“I see… Well then, we’ll have to keep making babies a lot from now on, so we can conceive quickly!”

“…That’s right!”

While children are absolutely necessary for political marriages, I think again that it’s good that my wives are these two. They’re cute and the fact that I already knew them well is significant.

In the future, my wives will likely increase as we incorporate the lords’ union and the imperial nobility. But for now, I want to cherish this time spent with the two of them.

‘Afternoon will be busy…’

■

After finishing lunch and stepping outside, I saw Roban waving his hand. I raised mine too and walked over to him.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. …Did you rest well last night?”

“Yes, thanks to you….and Thank you for your concern.”

Roban definitely asked to confirm if we had properly engaged in procreation last night…

Rina and Mayo are women I desired as wives, so I intend to fulfil my duty properly.

“I’d like to discuss our future plans, but could you wait a few moments? Some are still feeling the effects of last night’s drinking…”

“Yes, of course.”

He asked me to gather the representatives in the yurt later and we parted ways there.

From a distance, I saw Mayo, Shizuku, Karan, and Rina talking. I headed towards my Master.

Here is the translation to English, with each sentence translated separately:

“Master”

“Heh…you’ve finally got a man’s face.”

“Eh!? R-Really!?” 

I was going to greet him, but suddenly he said I have a man’s face…!

“..What do you think, Vyril. No, Prince Vilgard?”

“In informal settings, Vyril is fine. I intend to do the same.”

Always being called Vilgard would mean constantly speaking from a superior position to those above me like Roban-san. Perhaps I’ll get used to it eventually.

“I see. Then, Vyril, shall we have a match after so long?”

“………..”

“Likely your sword has reached a pinnacle over this past year. Considering your age…it seems you have continued placing yourself in an unimaginable world. Will you show me that summit?”

“…I don’t mind. Whether it’s the pinnacle or not…I cannot say. What about the mark?”

“None.”

Master throws me a wooden sword. I catch it and place the sword on the ground. Then we take distance from each other and take stances with the wooden swords.

‘Well…up until now I’ve never been able to take even one strike from Master, but…’

I did want to judge how strong my current ability is. 

And as I take this stance, I realise. I can clearly see Master’s form. No, I can perceive it.

In the past when facing off like this, his aura of strength expanded endlessly and I couldn’t see his form. But now I can make out the outline of that strength.

Ah…my heart grows still, a time of calm has arrived.

“………..”

“………..”

A wind blows between us. At that moment, Master dashes across the ground. Meanwhile, I start walking slowly.

From Master’s eyes, arms, legs and wooden sword stance, I discern what his intent is, what he’s thinking as he swings the wooden sword. What his consciousness is looking at, what it’s aiming for.

With a completely still mind, I meet his attacks head on, using the eyes of my heart to perceive what’s ahead.

“………..”

A slashing strike comes rising up from his lowered hips. With movements twice as fast as before, I shift my feet backwards to evade it.

Without losing the momentum of his swung wooden sword, Master spins his body with footwork and sweeps it horizontally.

He likely predicted I would evade sideways, so his next attack was prepared for that. But since I retreated backwards, he had to shift his centre of gravity slightly forward as he swung the wooden sword.

His trunk and body weight wobbled ever so slightly. To further unbalance that, I went to receive his horizontal wooden sword strike with my own…but.

“………….!!”

Rather than firmly receiving it in that stance, I advanced my feet forward as if being pushed in by Master’s wooden sword. This moved my body directly to Master’s side.  

From Master’s perspective, he likely expected me to solidly receive it. But instead of receiving it, I borrowed that momentum to move to his direct side.

Now Master’s previously slightly wobbling trunk and body weight is further thrown forward.

But without creating any further opening, Master immediately dashed forward. 

It would be difficult for him to turn his body towards me and attack from here. And in this position, he’d be forced to receive my attack from a disadvantaged stance.

So he likely saw an opportunity to escape forward and tried to run through. Therefore…

“Wha…!?”

Even as I moved to Master’s direct side, I had left one foot planted in front of him.

As Master dashed forward, he tripped over my planted foot and fell down. From the moment Master started rushing towards me, I could already see this future outcome….But.

“Gah!?”

I intended to turn around and point my wooden sword at Master’s neck. But before that, a sharp pain shot through my foot. 

Looking over, Master had switched his grip to hold the wooden sword reverse-handed even before falling to the ground. And he had stabbed it into my foot.

Even as he got dirt on his own face from the fall, Master’s smile deepened.

“If this was serious, you may not be able to stand anymore,right?”

“…As expected of Master.”

Kuh…! I didn’t foresee this future outcome…! If it was serious, I would have responded differently from the start… No, that’s just an excuse…!

“I didn’t think you would choose to attack instead of just taking the fall in that situation. Normally one would instinctively try to break their fall…”

“That’s precisely why. Midway through, I realised all my actions were being read. I thought if I just took the fall as expected, I wouldn’t be able to get outside of Vyril’s read.”  

“Muu…”

Master gets up and brushes off the dirt from his face and clothes.

“No, no. Your reading ability is terrifyingly accurate. But because of that, it also quickly becomes apparent to the opponent that you are responding based on reading them.”

“To notice that in such a short time…only you could likely do that, Master.”

I intended to be able to respond even to split-second actions…but somehow, I feel extremely frustrated.

“Still, it has been quite a while since someone got me this dirty. If serious…and if the mark were allowed, who knows what would have happened. …You have truly grown strong.”

“…Thank you very much.”

It seems Master acknowledged me. I was very happy about that.