Carrying Zofia on his back, Manner almost forgot Zofia's weight.
He and Zofia used to be very close, often getting into trouble together, and then, when scolded by Old Tianma, Snitz would intercede. Anyway, back then, they never thought about what the situation would be like today—
Just as Manner is now the pillar of the Lingguang Family, Snitz also held up a sky back then, allowing Old Tianma to permit Manner and Zofia to fool around, and even allowing them to do what they liked. Back then, they would often go out fighting, and Snitz would pick them up from the police station, Snitz smiling wryly, while Manner carried the exhausted, sleeping Zofia home.
The road wasn't that long, but they seemed to walk for a very long time—
Zofia, who was once carried on his back, was now once again... though this time, it wasn't Big Brother Snitz accompanying them, but his niece, Maria.
Manner walked slowly and steadily. Maria, who followed him, seemed a little cautious. She had originally thought Uncle Manner would be angry, as two girls going out to drink at night was bad enough. Especially in the strict Lingguang Family?
Logically, it would be unreasonable for Manner not to scold them thoroughly. But Manner said nothing, just as usual, expressionless, and took the two girls home.
After putting Zofia on the guest room bed, Manner returned to the living room and saw a flustered Maria. He first paused, then seemed to realize something, sighed, walked over, and sat beside Maria.
"Does your wound still hurt?"
"...No, it doesn't hurt anymore."
"The match... I watched it."
"Oh... Eh?!"
Manner's words startled Maria. Uncle Manner actually watched her match? Had the sun risen from the west?
"You played very poorly."
"...Oh."
As expected, he was going to criticize her. But indeed, she didn't play very well. Although she won in the end, it was entirely due to her physique and the resilience granted by Stone source art. The opponent's overall strength was quite a bit stronger than hers. If they fought again, or if the opponent had more preparation, she might even lose. Now, it was just her status as a rookie. She was taking advantage of that to some extent.
For many, she wasn't worth studying yet. That's why she was able to exploit a loophole; with insufficient strength, only in such circumstances could she pull off an upset victory.
Of course, this method of victory. It really didn't resemble the way the Lingguang Family should or ought to win. It was perfectly normal for Uncle Manner to have an opinion of her. In his eyes, perhaps her current state was more like an insult to the Lingguang Family's tradition and honor. And he himself disliked her participating in knight competitions. Now he had even more reason to persuade her to withdraw. She was still thinking about how she could refute Uncle Manner's arguments.
But to her surprise, Manner didn't say anything to her, nor did he ask her to withdraw from the knight competition. Today, he only said one thing: she played very poorly. This level of scolding couldn't even be called scolding; it was more like concern.
"Your swordsmanship isn't flexible enough; you need to improvise and not get stuck in routines. What we teach you are just the basics; you need to adapt. Combat isn't won by simply following a script."
Manner continued, his expression not bad at all. On the contrary, he looked very patient. He pointed out the flaws in Maria's sword moves and offered his solutions. He looked more like a patient elder. Even if Zofia were awake, she would probably be startled. The current Manner, unusually, showed some warmth.
"Mm-hmm... Mm." Maria was a little unaccustomed. Her interactions with Uncle Manner were usually one-sided, mostly Manner's unilateral output to her.
She had never experienced this kind of heart-to-heart atmosphere. Although she also understood that a large part of why Uncle Manner seemed so agitated before was due to his becoming a corporate drone, having very little time to communicate with them. But now, Uncle Manner seemed to inexplicably be able to leave work on time, and naturally, his interactions with her increased, which made Maria somewhat unaccustomed.
"If you don't want to listen, then I won't say anymore."
Manner saw Maria's distracted look, thinking he was being too verbose, and spoke.
"No, not at all. I just… I'm not quite used to it," Maria said, waving her hand in explanation. "I thought, Uncle, that you were very displeased with me participating in the Knight's Tournament. And that you were going to try and persuade me to withdraw."
"You guessed correctly. That's what I was thinking."
"But didn't you just teach me sword moves?"
"My not supporting you doesn't mean I can't teach you. There's no causal relationship there."
Manner's expression remained unchanged, as if he were stating a truth.
"…But… but if you don't support me, and even want me to withdraw, why would you still teach me? Wouldn't it be better to just let me lose and withdraw directly?"
"Lose? Why would you lose? If you participate, wouldn't it be better if you could win? Or do you think you're sure to lose? Then you should withdraw sooner."
"No! I didn't mean that! Of course I want to win, that's why I joined!"
Maria no longer knew what Manner was thinking, but it was always a good thing that he was willing to talk.
"Then keep winning. You shouldn't consider losing first, but rather how to win. Those of the Lingguang Family never give up easily. Fearless in the face of darkness."
"…I… then me?"
"Can you still wield a sword? If you can, come to the backyard, and I'll teach you a couple of moves," Manner said, his expression softening slightly. "If you're late, I won't wait."
"Yes!" Maria quickly picked up her practice sword from the ground and followed Manner's footsteps to the backyard. When was the last time her uncle taught them swordsmanship? Maria couldn't remember. But she still remembered that her uncle back then used to smile and was very patient.
"…Ugh… my head hurts… I drank too much last night."
The next morning, Zofia woke up in the Nearl Family guest room. She stretched lazily while looking out the window. Then she felt like she might have seen wrong and rubbed her eyes again.
"I'm done for, I'm still drunk."
She mumbled to herself, seeing Manner in the backyard, holding a longsword and teaching Maria swordsmanship—and by the looks of it, the atmosphere between the two seemed incredibly good.
Of course, it wasn't an all-nighter; it was just that Manner started work at nine, and after waking up, he found Maria was up even earlier than him, so the two simply exercised together in the morning. This hadn't happened in a long time, so Maria was naturally full of energy.
Even Manner's face had softened somewhat—
Perhaps he really had spent too little time with them.
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