Chapter 79: Marin-sensei’s Consultation

After breakfast, it was time to head to Browning-sensei’s place. Since I was going to receive instruction from the teacher, Cass came along. Officially, it was because Cass was a maid with no combat ability, so an escort was necessary. As expected, that escort was Marin-sensei.

I thought that since Marin-sensei had been embraced by her husband last night, she would be showing a face full of happiness today, but her expression wasn’t bright at all. Maybe her husband had been too intense and she was exhausted? Or perhaps she simply didn’t want to face me?

Cass seemed to sense that Marin-sensei and I still weren’t fully comfortable with each other, so she kept trying to make conversation between us. But there wasn’t really any good topic. She had already escorted me yesterday, so she didn’t need to be so considerate. Personally, I think Marin-sensei is better suited to working outside like this rather than doing detailed calculations indoors. She doesn’t seem like the type who’s good at fiddly desk work.

Since I knew the location of Browning-sensei’s open-air classroom, I walked in front. Cass and Marin-sensei should have been walking side by side behind me.

Marin-sensei’s expression remained gloomy, and Cass, looking worried, kept talking to her. Marin-sensei only gave short replies like "Yes..." or "No..." each time. Eventually, Cass seemed to have an idea and asked,

"Marin-san, is something troubling you? If you’d like, I’d be happy to listen."

Marin-sensei hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind and said,

"Gilmore-sama, actually... I have something I’m struggling with regarding my husband..."

Internally, I thought it would be impossible for her to ask Cass about married life, but Cass responded in a senior-wife tone,

"What exactly are you worried about? I’ve had my own troubles in married life, so I might be able to help a little."

I don’t know much about Cass’s marriage, but I doubt she’s skilled enough at relationship advice to counsel others. Besides, I was in the position of eavesdropping on the conversation from behind, so I couldn’t comment.

"Actually, it’s about our night life..."

Marin-sensei dropped a bombshell in broad daylight. There’s no one around listening, right?! I secretly wondered whether it was okay in this world to ask such things so directly, even at night.

"Huh? Night life? Is something not going well?"

Cass asked back. Can Cass even give advice on this?

Cass had been married for quite a while, but when it came to "night matters," she was basically still a beginner with just a bit of fuzz on her. Maybe Cass didn’t even realize it was about physical intimacy between husband and wife? Perhaps she thought it was about some other kind of "night life" (I don’t even know if that concept exists here, but maybe it did in Cass’s head)? It was a little hard to believe.

However, Marin-sensei took Cass’s response seriously and lowered her voice,

"It’s about our night life. You know what I mean, don’t you, Catherine-sama?"

"Eh!?"

Cass probably finally understood what she was being asked. She had been thrown the one topic she was worst at handling. She probably never expected to be asked something like this in the middle of a public road. Still, Cass bravely asked back. She couldn’t just say she didn’t know.

"By night life... do you mean what married couples do?"

That’s the only thing it could mean, Cass-san.

"Yes, that’s it."

"What about it?"

Of course it’s that. My interest suddenly surged. I had already been eavesdropping, but now I really had to boost my hearing. This might turn into a long Q&A session. I should probably take a slight detour. I didn’t want to miss anything.

"Well... the night life is painful for me," Marin-sensei said.

"What exactly is painful?"

Cass (who probably had no relevant knowledge on the subject) asked.

"Yes... actually, my husband wants it every single day."

"Ehh!? Every day!?"

Cass sounded shocked. From her perspective, that was probably surprising. But from my point of view, it seemed pretty normal for newlyweds.

Marin-sensei continued in a troubled tone,

"Right? Normally, a husband doesn’t ask for it every day, does he? For nobles, it’s usually once a week at most, right?"

"Y-yes, that seems to be the case..."

Cass was already flustered and could only agree.

"Because of that, and since he’s my first, it’s painful. It hurts."

"Eh!? It hurts...?"

"You’ve been married for a long time, Gilmore-sama, so you probably don’t have that problem anymore, right? But I’ve only been married a short time, so I still can’t get used to it. When my husband wants it and I make sounds, he seems happy, so I try to make appropriate noises... but honestly, I just want it to end quickly."

"...I see..."

Gaaah— So the voice I heard last night was all acting? Wait, wait, wait... does that mean the time with me was also acting? But the way she was so wet back then didn’t feel like acting at all. That was just my impression though; only Marin-sensei herself knows how she really felt...

"Actually, I also (mumble mumble)..."

Cass seemed to say something to Marin-sensei, but she whispered it right into her ear, so I couldn’t hear. Picking up a conversation from behind like that was too difficult.

"Ehhh—! Is that so!? But that’s a bit... Still (mumble mumble)..."

The crucial parts became inaudible. It was probably not the kind of thing to discuss openly on a public road. Well, given the topic from the start, that was only natural.

Because I couldn’t hear, I naturally started walking faster, and we soon arrived at Browning-sensei’s open-air classroom.

---

The open-air classroom was already in session. Under the blue sky, several students were swinging their swords.

As the three of us entered the empty lot, Browning-sensei immediately noticed us and waved. I walked over and greeted him.

"Browning-sensei, good morning. Thank you for today as well. Here is the promised one silver coin."

I politely handed over the silver coin that Cass had given me.

"Oh, right. The one silver coin thing was half a joke, you know? Hahaha. Well, if I’m getting something, I’ll gladly take it. Thanks, kid. And those two... I know them. Marin Brando and the maid from the inner palace, Catherine Gilmore, right? It’s been a while."

"Yes, I am Catherine Gilmore. It has been a long time. I’m glad to see you looking well."

Cass curtsied gracefully and bowed her head. Marin-sensei followed suit, placing a hand on her chest and bowing.

"Browning-sama, it’s been a while!"

"Yeah, Brando, you look energetic too. Are you working hard in the knight order?"

"Yes! I’m giving it my all!"

She’s giving her all in an office job, which is kind of unfortunate... Of course, sensei didn’t know that.

"I see, that’s great. Hahaha. So why did Catherine Gilmore and Marin Brando come all the way out here? Are you babysitting the kid?"

Cass smiled wryly and replied,

"Roby-sama said there was someone teaching swordsmanship in the commoner district, and he wanted to learn from them. So we thought we should come greet the teacher once. I had a feeling when I heard the name Browning, and sure enough..."

"Wait, don’t say anything more. Right now I’m just the kept man of a cafeteria owner."

Marin-sensei immediately jumped on his words.

"Browning-sensei! What do you mean by ’kept man of a cafeteria owner’? What are you doing now? What have you been doing since you resigned?"

"Hey, hey, even I can’t answer if you fire questions at me that fast. Oi, kid, go do some practice swings over there."

I was promptly sent away from the conversation. I later learned it wasn’t because they didn’t want me to hear — he simply didn’t want to leave me standing there doing nothing.

Browning-sensei had suffered a serious injury during a demon beast subjugation while he was knight order captain. He lost his left arm from the elbow down. Although his life was saved, he could no longer perform knight duties with only one hand and had to resign. Some people urged him to stay in an administrative role, but he had never been suited for desk work. He received a modest retirement payment and left the order.

Now with a wife and children to support, Browning-sensei moved out of the official residence. His wife was a commoner whose family ran a cafeteria, so they moved in with her family. His wife was bravely running the cafeteria as the proprietress.

His wife started helping at the family business, but there was no way Browning-sensei could help with the cafeteria work. He worked as a sort of bouncer for a while, but wanting to at least earn his own pocket money, he started gathering neighborhood kids and teaching them swordsmanship. That was when I showed up.

The moment he saw me, he realized I was a young master from a good family. When he heard my name, he immediately knew I was the prince. Originally he was fine with just one large copper coin as tuition, but since I offered a silver coin, he accepted it. By the way, the neighborhood kids pay one copper coin per lesson. He also teaches them reading and arithmetic along with swordsmanship, so it’s apparently like a temple school from the Edo period.

According to sensei, if I pay one silver coin, after the kids’ lessons he can treat me to lunch at his wife’s family cafeteria, which helps him out a lot. He was grateful. Eating at the cafeteria would also help Browning-sensei save face in front of his wife and children. Teaching a noble-looking child like me lets him boast to his family: "Daddy is teaching swordsmanship to a fine young master from a great household. They even call me ’sensei.’"

Completely unaware of Browning-sensei’s various calculations, I just kept swinging my sword and sweating. Before long, sensei called me over and started giving me actual instruction.

Marin-sensei was watching with envious eyes, but lessons cost money, you know!

Or so I thought, when suddenly—

"Brando, would you spar with the kid for a bit?"

Browning-sensei called out to Marin-sensei.

"Yes!!"

Marin-sensei replied happily and stepped in front of me, raising her sword. Then immediately—

"Eeeii!!"

She let out a spirited shout and attacked. Huh? This is supposed to be my training. Shouldn’t I be the one attacking? Why is Marin-sensei striking first? Marin-sensei really is a bit airheaded... Sigh.