I Became a Swordsmanship Instructor in a Romance Novel

Splash—

Splash—

Soi nervously washed the mud off her face in a nearby valley.

Her face was flushed red with shame.

She saw her disheveled reflection on the surface of the water and grabbed her head with both hands.

“Argh! This is so embarrassing!!”

Just thinking about how she must have looked in front of everyone made her cringe.

She had stuffed her clothes and hair with all sorts of weeds for camouflage, making her look like she was about to burst, and she had smeared mud all over her face so that no skin could be seen.

On top of that, she had even tied a long vine around her waist to prevent falling, so it was obvious what she had looked like.

“They must have thought I was crazy……. I’m dead. Dead. Soi Spoon….”

Soi plunged her head into the valley, her face devoid of light.

Gurgle gurgle

“…….”

Then she abruptly raised her head and shouted.

“Ugh! This is all because of that man!!”

If he hadn’t left her behind in the first place, she wouldn’t have been so embarrassed.

No.

If he had come back as promised, she wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

She had simply made a perfectly reasonable judgment to protect herself in the middle of a forest where wild animals and monsters could appear at any time.

Splash—

Splash—

“Ugh……. I’m not going to let that man get away with this……. I’ll get him back someday! I’ll get my revenge!”

“And what do you plan to do if you don’t let him get away with it?”

“Eek!”

Splash!

Soi was so startled that she missed her footing and fell into the valley.

“You seem to be enjoying a lot of physical comedy these days. Is being a clown your new dream?”

“Pfft!! You scared me! Make some noise when you walk! And what are you doing barging in like this when a woman is trying to wash up!? What if I was naked!?”

Soi spat out the water in her mouth and glared at Zeke.

Zeke looked Soi up and down with a flustered look on his face.

“Hmm……. I don’t see anything worth looking at……”

“What did you say!?”

“Well, the situation is not that good, so I couldn’t help it. I ask for your understanding and forgiveness.”

‘Is this guy seriously trying to apologize right now?’

Soi glared at Zeke.

“Soi Spoon, we have work to do.”

“……You know I’ve been building a house by myself all this time, right? Building a house in that tree may not look like it, but it’s not easy, you know? Can’t we just do it tomorrow?”

She couldn’t bring herself to speak properly in front of her instructor.

Zeke nodded.

“Yes, well, that can’t be helped. I was hoping everyone would make it through the day. It’s a shame some of them will die without eating your bread, but what can I do? The baker wants to rest. Very well. Rest well.”

Zeke’s mutterings reached Soi’s ears clearly.

Soi, who had hardened her face, turned her head away, determined not to be fooled this time.

“……Not again! Not with people’s lives! Why would people die just because they missed one meal? You’re lying!”

“I’m not lying. Your bread is not just any bread. You underestimate your abilities even though you have already saved Iriel.”

Zeke said in a serious voice.

“……R-Really?”

“Yes, didn’t you see the people lying down earlier? Some of them will not make it through the day.”

“……!”

She bit her lower lip.

‘Yeah, Instructor wouldn’t joke about something like this.’

People were in danger, and she could save them with her bread.

It was nothing compared to the fact that she was having a hard time.

Soi’s eyes were filled with a serious determination.

“……How many people desperately need my bread?”

“About three hundred.”

“Three hundred….”

No matter how much bread Soi sold in a day at her bakery, it was only about 200 at most.

And that was on a very good day.

It was the amount that her whole family, her mother, Celia, James, and herself, could barely manage to bake.

To think she had to bake more bread than that.

Could she do it all by herself by the end of the day?

She could only shake her head at the thought.

“Soi.”

A voice called out to Soi, whose face was stiff with anxiety.

Soi raised her head.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”

“……Instructor……?”

* * *

Zeke had offered to help, but things were still bleak.

This was not the Hillaise Bakery. It was the middle of the forest.

There were more than enough ingredients to make hundreds of loaves of bread.

Her instructor had told her that she might need to treat other people on their trip, so she had packed enough ingredients for a few hundred kilos of bread.

Of course, her mother didn’t think that Soi would be carrying them by hand instead of loading them onto a wagon.

Even with all that, it was nowhere near the value of a gold coin, so Soi barely managed to persuade her mother, who had wanted to give her more.

So, the ingredients were plentiful, but there was no environment to process them.

She might be able to make one or two loaves, but mass production was out of the question.

“Instructor……. What should we do?”

Soi asked, looking at Zeke.

“Hmm?”

“First, we need to decide what kind of bread to make……. I’ll just make baguettes. They’re the simplest and I’m most confident in them.”

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

Zeke readily nodded.

Soi rested her chin on her hand and fell into deep thought.

“And……. The bread that heals people……. Um, can I just make it the same way I did for Iriel?”

“No. Have you ever heard of……. the placebo effect?”

“The what-a-ma-whozit effect?”

Soi’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar word.

“It sounds weird if you put those two words together……. No, never mind. I’ll help you with the emotional control, so don’t worry about that. Just tell me what else you need.”

“Well, I don’t have anything right now……. I didn’t bring any cooking tools because I was busy packing ingredients. First, I need a bowl to mix the ingredients in……”

“Will this do?”

Zeke swished the baguette he was holding a few times.

The tree next to him turned into a wooden bowl of just the right size.

“Uh, um……. Yes. Next, a large cutting board……”

“Ready.”

“A rolling pin……”

“Ready.”

“A bread knife of a suitable size……”

“If a wooden knife will do, I’m ready.”

“A-As long as I’m alive, it’s f-fine.”

With Zeke making everything she said with a snap of his fingers, Soi asked tentatively,

“Hillaise Bakery……?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Soi Spoon.”

“No! I need a worktable as big as the one in the Hillaise Bakery to make a large quantity!”

“Then you should have said so in the first place.”

Looking around, Zeke spotted a large tree.

It was the tree where he had found Soi.

Clank!

In an instant, there was a loud sawing sound,

Thud!!

and the huge tree fell, along with the makeshift shelter Soi had built.

“Oh, no! My house!!!”

Soi shouted with her eyes wide open, but it was too late.

Zeke trimmed the entire tree and made a workbench out of it.

Whoosh.

Clank! Clank!

The workbench was wide and sturdy enough for two people to work on.

“My, my house is like this……. This, this is……. It’s better than the one we have at the bakery……”

Soi’s eyes trembled like an earthquake as she stroked the workbench.

But Zeke, who had accomplished such a feat, simply slung the baguette over his shoulder and said,

“What else do you need?”

“……This is the most important thing. I need an oven that maintains a constant temperature……”

Soi said in a hesitant voice.

Even Zeke couldn’t do this.

An oven that maintained a constant temperature was difficult to make unless you were a craftsman who specialized in making them.

Soi had originally planned to just build a fire and pile up some stones to make a makeshift oven if Zeke asked for baguettes during the trip, and bake them one by one.

But now she had to make a large quantity of bread.

“That’s the easiest part. We’ll just dig a hole and bake them in there.”

Fire erupted from Zeke’s hand.

“……What in the world is this guy……?”

Soi looked at Zeke with bewildered eyes.

***

On a plain away from the forest.

There were so many collapsed knights that the clearing was too cramped for them to stay there, so they came out of the forest.

Duke Yohaiden looked at the fallen with a gloomy face.

They had set out to attack Eustia with high hopes, but most of them had collapsed before they could even set out.

With Zeke’s support, they had managed to put out the fire before it could spread, but there were still many whose lives were in danger.

Duke Yohaiden hung his head, his face heavy with fatigue.

“Sigh……. To think……. I thought that I would be able to achieve the long-cherished wish of our ancestors in my generation……. Was it too much after all…….”

The Duke of Eustia and the Duke of Yohaiden were sworn enemies.

Many of Yohaiden’s people had lost their lives or their positions due to Eustia’s insidious schemes and other political reasons.

“……It seems that I have no choice but to leave everything to Zeke Clayman……”

“……Are you saying that we should retreat from here, my lord?”

Sedan, who had been lying next to him, sat up and asked at the Duke’s muttering.

“Sedan, it is important to fulfill our long-cherished wish, but saving lives comes first, don’t you think…….”

Duke Yohaiden said in a feeble voice.

“And you too seem to be in danger in your current state.”

“…….”

Indeed. Sedan Yohaiden was only holding on by a thread.

In his current state, he wondered if he could even take a single blow from the enemy.

“……Yes, I suppose it can’t be helped. By the way, where did that Zeke Clayman go?”

“He said he had some business to attend to……. I heard something collapsing, so he must have caught a large monster or something……”

Sigh—

A deep sigh escaped his lips.

“Alright. We will return to the Yohaiden estate as soon as we regain some of our strength. We must save anyone we can.”

“Yes……. Understood.”

Clack clack!

Just then, a girl ran out of the forest and stood before them.

“Hmm……. You’re……. That……”

The girl from before who had been covered in mud on the tree, he had thought she was a monster at first.

Soi, who had washed all the dirt off, was so beautiful that Sedan’s heart skipped a beat.

“Um……. I! I didn’t get to introduce myself! I am Soi Spoon, a commoner who is honored to be acquainted with Lady Selena Yohaiden!”

Soi bowed politely.

“Selena’s……?”

“Yes, although my status is that of a commoner, the Princess of Yohaiden has graciously allowed me to be her friend.”

Soi smiled tiredly.

Soi’s arms trembled from the long hours of labor.

“……Ah, well, Ramielli Academy is a place of equality regardless of status……”

“Yes, I apologize if I have offended you……”

“No, no. I can’t interfere if Sere has decided to befriend you herself. By the way, what brings you here?”

“Oh, yes! The instructor told me to get ready……?”

“Hmm?”

“He said we’re leaving as soon as we eat, so he told me to wake everyone up.”

“……What!?”

Duke Yohaiden and Sedan frowned, confused, and looked at Soi.