After a week(1)

No matter how much Ethan tried to call his teacher, there wasn't any response. He doesn't have much choice but to wait. Maybe he will answer his call tomorrow. So he went downstairs for dinner.

After dinner, he went to play with the kids. But his mind was still distracted by his thoughts about his teacher. And Alice noticed it. She came closer to him, climbed up on his lap, and patted his head.

"Big Brother, don't worry."

Ethan was taken aback by her gesture. And he thought that he managed his facial movements well enough to not let others notice his worries. But it looks like it's not good enough. He was ashamed of himself for letting such a cute and sweet girl worry about him.

And after thinking for some time, he remembered that his teacher wasn't someone to be worried about. After all, he wouldn't even flinch when dying. And he told Ethan not to worry about him, and even if Ethan was worried, he would not care. So worrying about him was pointless.

Such thoughts eased Ethan's burden.

"Thank you, Alice. But I'm okay now."

She stopped patting his head and looked at his face closely, but after finding that he wasn't lying, she nodded and climbed down from his lap. And Millicent came closer to them. She was cheerful as always.

"Big Bro! Let's play!"

She took Ethan's hand with her little palms and started to drag him with her. And Ethan wasn't able to resist her; he didn't even try to do so.

After playing time was over, the girls went to bed, and Ethan returned to his room. He decided to train his mana control; after all, he was sure that if he didn't train and study on his own, his teacher would say something like, "Hmm, you were slacking off when I wasn't supervising you. I increase your study load, so don't dare to think about slaking."

After he finished his training, it was already time to go to sleep. So he went to bed.

***

Next morning.

After being woken up by Lena again, Ethan went down to breakfast, and after eating his food, he went to the library along with Lena. On the way, he asked if she wished to learn magic from him. And Lena readily agreed to it. Ethan told her that before that, she needed to know how to read and write, and Lena was happy to hear that he would teach her.

In the library, Ethan decided to start teaching Lena how to write. But she didn't have a notebook or writing utensils, so Ethan gave her one of his spare notebooks and a pencil. He demonstrated how letters were written and let her try it. And Lena tried it.

"No, not like that; you are using too much strength when writing."

He took her right hand, which had a pencil, with his hand. Lena flinched a little at this unexpected gesture.

"You shouldn't use too much force. You should write it like this."

He started to move Lena's right hand with his hand.

"I understand. Can you let go of my hand now?"

"Um, yes. I'm sorry."

He thought that he had done something wrong to her after hearing her voice. But Lena was sitting, and Ethan stood behind her, so he didn't see her face, which was slightly rosy.

"Em, it's okay. No need for apologies."

"Um, okay. Then I'm going to read; you can ask me if you have some questions."

"Okay, will do."

Ethan went to the shelves and took out the book that he hadn't managed to finish last time. And an hour went by quietly like this. Ethan was reading, and Lena was writing letters.

After that, they went to the guards quarters for Ethan's training.

***

A week has passed. After breakfast, he taught Lena for an hour and went to the guards training field, where he walked at a fast pace as he was told. With each day, the distance he could walk increased, and his breathing wasn't as ragged as it was on the first day. After training was over, he goes to his room, where he studies by himself or trains his mana control until lunch. After lunch, he played with the kids for an hour and went to his room to study or taught Lena until dinner. After dinner, he played with the kids again and went to his room, where he trained his mana control.

All this time, he wasn't able to talk with his teacher, but he wasn't worried. It might be said he waited expectantly to hear his teacher's voice and show him how much he managed to reach in his mana control and physical endurance this week.

***

It was the fourteenth day of April, and Ethan was on the guards training field and had finished his training. It wasn't because he was out of breath, but because Muller told him so.

"From tomorrow, your training regime will be different."

And after thinking about whether he should say more or not, Muller decided to tell him.

"Training will be once every two days."

"Um, are you making things easier for me?"

Muller furrowed his brows at Ethan's question.

"No. It'll be more difficult."

After saying these words, he turned around and wanted to walk away but was stopped by Ethan's voice.

"Um, Mister Muller, can I train at the shooting range?"

Muller didn't answer; he simply called one of the guards and told him to escort Ethan to the shooting range, then left to supervise other guards training.

And Ethan, along with Lena, followed the guard to the shooting range. There they went straight to the kind-looking man with a great mustache.

"Captain Siegfried, I brought Young Master Ethan at Captain Muller's request."

"I see. You can go."

"Yes, sir."

The guard left after saluting. And Captain Siegfried looked at Ethan.

"Hoho, so you must be the young master and his maid I heard about."

"Nice to meet you, Captain Siegfried." "Nice to meet you, Captain Siegfried."

Ethan and Lena said the same thing and bowed.

"There is no need for such formalities with an old person like me. You just call me Siegfried or Sieg."

"Um, then you can just call me Ethan."

"And I'm just Lena."

"Hoho, you sure know how to please this old man."

His smile became even wider.

"And you, Ethan, don't behave yourself like other nobles."

"But my father is a knight."

"Even so, when I was younger, I was in service on the Wall, and even knights weren't kind like you to a commoner like me."

He sighted himself remembering his past, and his face became melancholic for a brief moment.

"But it's all in the past."

He started to smile again.

"So, Ethan, what brings you here?"

"Um, can you teach me how to shoot with magic guns, please?"

"Hoo, how can I turn down such a polite kid? I will teach you, and moreover, I will make you one of the best shooters in this county, but after me."

He winked.

"Follow me."

He turned around and went straight to a small building, and Ethan and Lena followed after him.

There was one guard sitting behind the table, and behind him were weapons with spare parts and big boxes with bullets.

"Give me one dummy rifle."

He turned to Ethan.

"Ethan, do you know the rules when handling a weapon?"

"Um, yes. You shouldn't point a gun where you don't intend to shoot. Don't rely on safety. And, um, keep the weapon unloaded when not actually shooting."

"Hoho, you really know the rules."

He turned his face toward Lena.

"And what about you, young lady?"

"Me?"

"Yes! Do you want to learn how to shoot?"

"Can I?"

"Of course you can." "Bring another dummy rifle."

He said this to the guard.

"Em, then I will practice too. And you can just call me Lena."

"A gentleman like me can't do such a thing. I bet after some years you will become a real beauty who is going to break many young men's hearts."

"Thank you."

Lena turned her head away, blushing.

And the guard brought two rifle dummies and gave them to Captain Siegfried.

"Um, do we really need to use these rifle dummies?"

"Do you shoot before?"

"No."

"That's why we use these rifle dummies. It's to learn how a weapon feels in your hands."

He gave one of these dummies to Ethan.

"Always keep your muzzle pointing down when you are not shooting. Like this."

He showed how it was done. And Ethan repeated after him.

"Good. You too, young lady."

He gave the dummy in his hands to Lena. And Lena, too, repeated what he showed.

"Always be sure where your weapon's muzzle is pointing. Follow me."

He turned around and went straight to the shooting range, where other guards were practicing. And Ethan and Lena followed after him, moment by moment, looking where their dummy muzzles were pointing.