Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga

Chapter 672

How long have you been sleeping?

Yekaterina opened her eyes half-asleep, surrounded by a high-quality bed and blankets that were half-submerged in water. She slowly regained consciousness amidst the strange coldness she felt on her cheeks.

What is in front of my eyes, which are not even properly awake, is a woman who is just opening the curtains and the curtains that dimly block the sunlight outside the window, but my sleepy, hazy consciousness looks at that scene and recalls memories from the past.

Now, I can only remember my childhood memories as ‘unpleasant’. I was half asleep so my mind wasn’t working properly, but I could clearly see why the past that I had let go of without even a trace of regret suddenly came to the surface.

It must be because I finally pulled out all of my dragon blood abilities. I didn’t expect this side effect, but it was natural when I thought back to what I had experienced at the time.

All those memories were not things that could be forgotten just by turning away and physically moving away. If it weren’t for the cool breeze outside the window, I would have even forgotten that I wasn’t in Loveville.

“Good night, Catherine.”

But the haziness remained unchanged. It was a long time after that that Yekaterina, who had been absentmindedly burying her head in the pillow, understood Yan Tie’s morning greeting and realized that the strange coldness she felt on her cheek was coming from the drool she had shed.

“Breakfast is still being prepared. Ega-sama also just coughed, so please prepare slowly.”

“Oh yes, thank you···”

As soon as she came to, Yekaterina’s ears turned red at her shameful behavior, but Tie bowed her head as if she hadn’t seen anything and left the room. Only after the silence fell did Yekaterina properly realize the reality that she had accepted Eldmia’s request yesterday.

There was no need for any further conversation or negotiation. At that moment, both Eldmia and Yekaterina had the same interests. After that, for efficient training, Yekaterina and Lelie decided to stay at Eldmia’s mansion for the period he suggested.

Excluding meal times, I spent a satisfying day repeating sparring and reviewing to the point where it could have been all day, and after enjoying luxury that couldn’t be compared to a cheap bathhouse and a bed in an inn, I threw myself into a high-quality bed, which was the last thing I remember. It had been a long time since I had fallen asleep to the point of almost fainting while doing a recent request, so Ekaterina was quite flustered, and as soon as she got out of bed, something even more absurd happened.

“Muscle pain···?”

My whole body ached to the point where I felt tired even after working hard for days on end for a request. It was so absurd that I could barely laugh.

Eldmia asked that it would be a great help to her and the demons, but this was clearly a good experience for Yekaterina herself. Feeling excited after a long time, she washed her face with the water the servants had provided and headed to the restaurant.

Despite the early morning, the mansion was noisier than yesterday. While Eldmia was sparring, the dwarves who had finished their work had started preparing the necessary materials and working since yesterday.

The sound of hammering could not be heard yet, but the dwarves gathered together and chatting loudly to share their opinions was no less than the sound of hammering.

“I told you the drainage system here is different from the kingdom!!”

“There is an old underground waterway, so if we just dig it up, the problem will be solved!!”

“It’s going to collapse!!”

“I said no!!”

Yekaterina wanted to carefully avoid the shouting that made her dizzy just by hearing it, but sadly, the place where the commotion started was the restaurant. It was natural since the dwarves would have breakfast and start their real work.

However, when Catherine showed up, the servants started to bring out the food in earnest, and the dwarves’ heated argument died down. She was the last to wake up, so the meal was delayed, and she felt embarrassed once again.

“Good morning, Ekaterina. Wasn’t it hard for you to wake up this morning? I feel like I’m going to die right now.”

Eldmia groaned as she rubbed her neck and arms as if they were sore as she greeted Yekaterina. At first glance, it seemed like she had mentioned fatigue on purpose to be considerate of Yekaterina who woke up late, but since the demons who had suffered greatly from being tormented by the two had also come out early, it had little effect.

Until yesterday, the demons who had tried to maintain a dignified posture with their shoulders and backs straightened up somehow have long since disappeared. Unlike Eldmia and Yekaterina, who were relatively fit despite having trained much more, their faces were covered in dark circles in just one night.

“Today, I plan to actively utilize the equipment I obtained from the Dwarf Kingdom. First, I think it would be good to check the shield’s performance.”

“Did you have a shield?”

“Yes, I left it out yesterday, but thanks to Catherine, I was able to change the plan a bit. If I can properly channel Catherine’s Warhammer, I should be able to respond to most attacks.”

Eldmia was the one who made me forget my age every time I saw her. She didn’t have the arrogance or pride that those who suddenly improved their skills usually have, and she didn’t shy away from acquiring various tools and techniques despite her skills. That feeling only deepened as the meal continued.

“I will trust you with the mansion.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it a real fortress for you.”

Yekaterina, who was busy cutting meat between the dwarves who were laughing while having a meaningful conversation and the demons who seemed to be forcing themselves to eat to survive, turned her gaze to Lelie who had been quiet the whole time.

Although she had an overflowing thirst for learning, Lelie was the type who only focused on food during mealtimes, but today was different. She was always muttering to herself with her magic book open, which she never left her person. She looked exactly like a magician preparing a spell.

Even without asking, Yekaterina couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Eldmia asking for something in order to deal with magic.

The discomfort she had felt upon waking up in the morning had long since disappeared. Ekaterina began to increase her eating speed in anticipation of the enjoyable training that would continue for a week.

◈

It’s been four days since I asked Catherine and Lelye for help.

“ha ha ha·”

I usually try not to have any regrets about my choices, but I am extremely satisfied with this choice.

“No, what the heck is this? Seriously!”

“ha ha ha·”

Not everything went smoothly. The practice of blocking Catherine’s army with a shield was much more sluggish than expected. But I’m not particularly impatient.

From the beginning, it was not simply blocking with a shield, but it was a process of learning a new and fundamental method that could not be found in any of the swordsmanship textbooks of the kingdom, let alone the swordsmanship that I had learned, which naturally attached the shield while performing swordsmanship. Since the shield was firmly fixed, it did not twist or shake even if it was hit directly, so I was able to try. If that were not the case, I would not have bothered to use the shield now.

You have to figure out a method while taking your time and embroidering it one stitch at a time.

Fortunately, Catherine had no intention of killing me, so I had many opportunities. The reason I could smile during this time was because I had shown results in other areas. And Lelie, who confirmed the results, screamed with her shoulders shaking.

“Even so, it’s strange that my magic is destroyed so easily!”

“ha ha ha!”

It turns out that you can block the magic of the powerful magician Lelie, known as the Star’s Favorite, in real time!

“What the hell is that obsessive destruction method?!”

“The magic teacher I met in the Demon Territory was an author obsessed with Dispel.”

In fact, this wasn’t a good start either. Until two days ago, I spent the entire morning of my schedule divided into morning, afternoon, and evening, and it was almost like I was getting beaten up by Relie with magic all day long.

No matter how great the teachers were, I studied the theory, but in the end, magic made of mana was just a theory to me. Unless I could fundamentally cut off the magic power through magic poetry, they were still something otherworldly to me, and it wasn’t easy to cast Dispel according to the rules.

It is possible to dispel and attack at the same time by injecting magic power while damaging the caster, but it is beyond the skill to destroy only the magic, and requires actual combat.

And Lelie helped me with that actual battle. I just achieved the feat of destroying the target with the iron objects that had been used to annihilate Envelde’s mercenary group in one blow, and even the magic that burned them in time.

I can’t help but laugh. I feel sorry for Lely, but I can laugh to my heart’s content…

“Ega-nim, are you okay for a moment?”

···I was thinking about that, but suddenly Tea intervened·

“What’s going on?”

“It’s not a big deal, but… I need to tell you about it separately.”

It meant that only I could hear it. Since there must be a reason for Tie to do this, she nodded and decided to take a short break. Lelie grumbled but started eating the snacks that had been prepared in advance. Magic was ultimately a battle of calculations, so it seemed that after a few rounds of sparring, she started craving something sweet.

I tried to leave her alone and listen to what Tie had to say, but Tie carefully opened her mouth only after she had entered the mansion, not the parade ground.

No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like good news.

“This is a message from the Dwarf Kingdom and the Empire, but they say that a delegation has moved from Lovell.”

I don’t say the cliche, “Why are you telling me that?” without thinking. Honestly, I really wanted to say it, but my instincts had already figured it out.

“···Ekaterina?”

“I guess that’s how it is.”

My instincts are only as accurate as this.