Evan D. Sherden, People (2)

Shine, upon seeing Evan’s monopoly on popularity among women regardless of age, vaguely thought that it was a story from a distant country. In fact, he was even interested. At the age of twelve, he was old enough to be interested in women, but it was because he had a lot of different things to focus on instead.

‘There’s no end to practicing my dual swordsmanship, and I still have a lot to learn from the butler.’ Thus, the situation surrounding him these days was even more disturbing. He often felt passionate gazes from girls of the same age as him inside the mansion, and sometimes even from older women when he went outside.

At your age, I tried hard to meet a boy my age somehow. But you know? Back then, a girl had to hold a coming-of-age ceremony to make her debut on the social stage! I could only go to places my father had decided!

“I’m not interested in stories from decades ago. I’m also not interested in women, either.” Since joining him, the ghost had been talking to Shine frequently, though Evan didn’t know.

No matter, does it make sense to reject such a clear signal?

“A signal…” In Shine’s hand now was an envelope decorated with a pink heart pattern. He had been cleaning Evan’s room with a maid his age, but at some point, the maid had vanished, and such an envelope had been left in her place. The cleaning had already been finished, so there was no need to call her back. He would rather finish the task by himself!

“Isn’t it a letter to the master?”

No. It says, ‘To the cute butler Shine.’

“If your eyes see it, then it must be correct…” Of course, Shine knew; he just wanted to escape from reality. Stuff like this had been happening quite frequently these days, so he was getting used to it. With a sigh, he opened the envelope and read the letter. The content was as he expected, having read similar before.

“What is she talking about? A meeting? I’ve already started training my fighting skills, so I don’t have time.”

You’ll make unpopular boys cry.

“I don’t need popularity, so please take some from me.”

Yes, I’m crying the most at those words. I want to cry.

Taking a look at the ghost, one could say that she was the master of elegant beauty, but when she was young, because of her strict noble father, her entire family of Kirsun had been framed. The ghost had died without a chance at love, making her a bit envious of the situation Shine was facing. Shine was only embarrassed that people who had nothing to do with him were suddenly showing interest in him. Although the direction was a little different, he felt like he could understand Evan a bit better now.

“Am I weird? I am almost thirteen.”

Ugh. Originally, humans burn with anguish and lust from that age until their death.

“If you used that passion to devote yourself to other things, anyone could succeed…are you all stupid?”

…

The ghost went silent. Well, of course, if you were to put your mind off of romance and instead into other things, the sky was the limit. But that wasn’t something anyone could do…perhaps that was the difference between a criminal and a genius. Shine’s attitude remained stubborn.

“It is enough to meet with a woman later. I still don’t have the time if I want to do my job well.”

What is your job?

“Protecting master Evan. To be strong enough to do that… I’m still far off the mark.” Shine responded firmly and folded the letter away. He couldn’t throw it away, however, as it represented a person’s heart.

“… I’m going to train the kids. The master said he would come before lunch.” Shine’s principle of action was basically the same as Belois. His focus was on Evan, and even training the knights was also a means to help Evan. The ghost followed, thinking that this kid seemed a little too manly sometimes.

***

As the cold wind began to blow in earnest during mid-November, the reserve members of the dungeon knights gathered at the training grounds and worked hard on their training to forget the cold. It hadn’t been more than a few weeks since Evan had started teaching the children in earnest, but everyone was following along with his teachings quite well as they laid down the foundations of their body through his rookie training method.

“Alright, today’s class is over.”

“Ah, ah.”

“Kahk.”

“Thank you, sir…hahaha…” As soon as Evan announced the end of class, most of the children collapsed on the spot to rest. He had been able to grasp their limits accurately and adjust the class difficulty for them, so there was no one who was left with energy. In fact, Evan himself had studied with devil-like masters who increased the difficulty of the class based on how good he was, so his own teaching method viciously resembled theirs. However, Evan himself wasn’t aware of it.

“If you’re tired, gather over here.”

“Please, Raihan…” Raihan, who had been striving to practice his shield technique, gave the children healing magic. Thanks to his vast divine power, Ran, the youngest knight, quickly recovered their stamina and jumped up to grab onto Evan’s arm.

“Master, let’s play now. The class is over!”

“No, I have a noble class in the afternoon. Before that, we should go to the construction site of the HQ building we will be using later.” Evan was a very busy person. In the midst of being overwhelmed with work to do, he had taken on the role of teaching the children martial arts, so he was being shuffled from job to job.

“Young master, how is the situation at the construction site?”

“It’s going better than I thought it would. No, their passion is a bit strange.”

“…The people who meet with you tend to become a little like you.”

“No, I’m not that weird.” In fact, Evan’s influence had gone so far as to make Shine think he didn’t have time for dating.

“Shine, I’ll practice with the master.”

“Then, I’ll leave it to you, Belois. Have a nice trip, master.”

“Yeah. See you in the evening.” Evan turned around after waving to Shine, followed closely behind by Belois. Shine sent the two off with a sense of deep admiration as Ran grumbled behind him.

“The captain’s always very busy.”

“You guys, I told you to call him the boss.”

“Then we should play with you instead!” Ran’s twin sister, Lin, hung onto Shine’s back. If they were left as is, the training ground would quickly become a playground.

“You can play later. Now is training time.” It was Shine’s job to manage, supervise, and educate the members while Eva was away. Shine placed the children down, trying his best to make his tone cold.

“You haven’t learned how to train as a rookie yet. If you work a little harder, I will give you time to play in the afternoon. Understood?”

“Ooh, okay.”

“Alright, good.” Still, the way they immediately followed his orders made him aware of the fact that they were reserve members of the dungeon knights. When Shine had barely calmed Lin and Ran, someone approached him.

“Please give me guidance!”

“Oh, Marie. Okay, then, from now on, let’s practice fighting in pairs. Lin and Ran, you will train with each other.”

“Yes!” All of the prospective members of the dungeon knights listened to Shine well. Perhaps because he was friendlier and more accessible, there were also some children who liked him more.

“It’s ready, vice-captain!” Among them, Marie, who had blue eyes like the sky, followed Shine with admiration. Because of that, she had been learning how to use dual swords.

“Just take one long sword for now.”

“Huh…okay.” Shine didn’t have a systematic technique, however, since he had learned it on his own. Evan had given him a strict mandate to build up the basics before Marie started full-fledged training.

“It’ll be frustrating, but I hope you can believe and continue on this path.”

“…Yeah.” She wanted to wield two weapons like Shine as soon as possible.

“Then, I will go!”

“Yes!” The two began to battle in earnest. Of course, Shine had already cleared the dungeon up to the 20th floor, and Marie hadn’t even entered the dungeon once. Marie rushed toward Shine, her spirit on display despite the difference in skill.

“Alright, you’re getting better!”

“Thank you…hup!” Her blue eyes twinkled as she dashed toward Shine. Shine received her attacks with a relaxed appearance. Her eyes became brighter as they dueled. The ghost nestled in the bracelet had only a single thought upon looking at the sight.

No matter how much I look at it, it looks like a love confession, not a duel.

Will Shine one day realize Marie’s feelings?

Perhaps it might even be good for Shine’s mental health.