My Disciples Think I’m Strong

Creak.
I open the inn room door and enter.

“Come in.”
“…Yes.”

Maria rolls her eyes anxiously.
Well, it’s understandable for her to be afraid of entering a private room with a man she doesn’t trust yet.

“I won’t do anything. Come in.”

Rather, it would be more problematic for me to do something to this child.
Thanks to the medieval setting, there seems to be relative leniency towards crime, but I had no intention of committing any if I could help it.
The era is medieval, but my mindset is modern, perhaps.

“Mmm…”

At the sound of footsteps, Iris and Tina, who had been sleeping cozily on one bed, stirred.

“Uh… Lord Praus…?”

Rubbing their eyes, they sat up. Still half-asleep, they couldn’t fully open their eyes.

“Have you finished your tasks?”

They turned their heads this way and that, searching for me in the dark room.
As Iris sat up, the blanket slid off, causing Tina to curl up until she opened her eyes.

“Praus? You’re back?”
“Yes. I’m back. And I’ve brought the last one.”

The hunched Maria hesitantly entered. Her gaze met the two seated on the bed.

“L, Lord Praus, who are they…?”
“People who have lived similarly difficult lives.”, Wolfkin, Elf.
A diverse array of races.
In any case, I had gathered all the heroes.

“It’s late. We’ll talk tomorrow. You two, go back to sleep as well.”

I took off my shoes and climbed onto the empty bed.
Tina yawned and immediately lay back down, quickly falling asleep.
Iris, however, stared at me intently, as if she had something to say.

“Do you have something to say, Iris?”
“No. Ple, please sleep well.”

With those words, she pulled the blanket over her head. Tina grumbled as she snatched the blanket back.

“…Maria.”
“Y, yes?!”
“Keep your voice down.”
“S, sorry.”
“There’s a bag over there. It looks like you just bathed, so take some suitable clothes from the bag and change. Take off the robe and put it in the bag.”

I pointed to the bag neatly placed beside the dresser. She nodded in understanding and began rummaging through the bag.
Soon, the sound of her changing clothes could be heard. I closed my eyes.

When the noise stopped, I opened my eyes slightly. Looking up, Maria was standing in front of my bed, as if waiting for further instructions.

“How long do you plan to stand there?”
“Y, yes? But…”
“Come here.”

I patted the space beside me.
With only two beds, Maria had no choice but to sleep with me, whether she liked it or not. I couldn’t very well make one of the heroes I had painstakingly acquired sleep on the floor.

However, Maria seemed to have misinterpreted my pure intentions, hesitating as if she expected me to do something untoward to her.
Her fearful expression made me feel like I had done something wrong.

“Are you planning to sleep standing up?”
“B, but…”
“Don’t think unnecessary thoughts.”
“Huh?”

I didn’t buy her to do anything to her.
I didn’t buy her to make her my ally, either.

I simply saved her to survive.
I couldn’t bear to watch this country crumble and the world perish at the hands of the demons.

Since I had been reincarnated into this game world, the only way to return to my original world was to see the ‘ending’.
That’s the cliche of game reincarnations.

Even if I couldn’t return, to keep living, I would eventually have to reach the conclusion of defeating the Demon Lord.

“I didn’t spend a fortune to buy you for some petty pleasure. Discard such lowly thoughts.”
“Yes…”

‘What should I say to put her at ease… I can’t exactly tell her I was reincarnated.’
“Rest assured. I dislike flat-chested women.”

…What the fuck? Did I really just say that?
Flinch! For some reason, the other bed shook.
I glanced at the other bed before looking back at Maria. She had a bewildered expression from my nonsensical remark.

“Oh, I see.”

At least it got her moving.

“Then… Ex, excuse me.”

Although unintentional, the implication of a man and woman sharing a bed.
While nothing like what people might imagine would happen, it couldn’t be helped if it appeared improper. It would have been better if we were father and daughter.
To help her sleep more comfortably, I turned my body away from her.

“Sleep.”

With those words, I closed my eyes.
I heard rustling sounds from behind me. The mattress shook slightly. Maria had joined me on the bed.

“Good night, Lord Praus.”

I didn’t respond.
My exhausted body refused to acknowledge any more words.

“He’s not waking up today, huh…”
“You don’t think he’s dead, do you?”
“Watch what you say. Even if Lord Praus doesn’t hit us, he’s terrifying when angry.”

At Iris’s admonition, Tina’s eyes widened as she hurriedly covered her mouth.

The two of them observed Praus’s sleeping face, checking for any reaction.
Seeing his steady breathing, they felt relieved.

‘It doesn’t seem like he’s waking up. I wonder what happened yesterday? Well, he has been traveling a lot this past week.’

“Let’s not wake him. He told us to eat the hard tack if we’re hungry, so let’s do that while we wait.”

Iris, now accustomed to living at the inn with Praus, rummaged through a bag and took out some hard tack. She shared it with Tina.

“Hard tack is tasty.”

Tina happily munched on the hard tack.
Maria woke up to their voices and sat up. As if she had been waiting, Iris approached her.

“Hm? You’re awake too. Would you like some hard tack? We also have water.”

Iris offered Maria the hard tack and water. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Maria received them with a “Thank you.”

“I wonder what we’ll do today. It’ll get boring if we just stay in the inn.”
“Lord Praus must have his reasons. He’s not one to act meaninglessly.”

Maria silently observed the two conversing peacefully.

“Who are you two?”
“I’m Iris. This child is Tina. We’re both ten years old. What’s your name?”

Her white fox ears twitched. Her tail swished back and forth, a sign of curiosity.

“My name is… Maria… I’m ten too.”
“I see. Let’s get along well.”
“You don’t need to be so formal. We’re the same age, after all.”
“…I suppose so. Okay.”

The conversation briefly paused, an awkward silence hanging in the air.
After staring at the hard tack, Maria hesitantly spoke.

“…Were you two also slaves bought by Praus?”
“I was, but Tina was with some scumbag… Dingk, was it? Lord Praus took her in.”
“My life was practically that of a slave too. Begging every day and getting beaten… But Lord Praus isn’t like that. It’s been about a week since he took us in, and he hasn’t made any demands or hit me even once.”

Tina smiled cheerfully as she spoke. It was a pure, sincere smile. Maria let out a heavy sigh at the sight.

“Isn’t that only natural?”
“Hm?”
“Slaves are people too. For a fellow human to beat others, just because they have more money or power, and trample on other lives, does that make any sense?”

Tina looked at Maria in perplexity, unsure how to respond. She glanced at Iris for help.

“There’s no point in getting angry at Tina.”

Having immersed herself too deeply, Maria belatedly bit her lower lip.

“…Sorry. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Oh, no. It’s okay.”

Iris immediately understood why Maria was behaving this way.
She instinctively sensed that Maria had a past similar to her own.

“You too, huh?”

At Iris’s words, Maria’s elongated ears twitched.

“…It’s the same for any non-human race enslaved by the Empire.”

Maria clicked her tongue and glanced back. Praus was still sleeping peacefully, his breathing steady.

‘A person who can overwhelm even an S-rank adventurer. I must become this person’s disciple and grow stronger. Then I can ensure no more elves will become enslaved.’

Maria’s admiration for the strong had been ingrained in her mind since before she was enslaved.
It was because an S-rank adventurer had once saved her village from monsters just as it was on the verge of destruction.

Despite her young age, witnessing that scene made her constantly aspire to become as powerful as an S-rank adventurer, to protect people and keep them from losing their smiles.

But those hopes vanished when her village burned down and her family was killed.
All that remained was resentment towards humans and a desire for revenge against those who had killed her family.

“I suppose so.”

Iris gave a wry smile in agreement. But that was all she could say.

The lull in conversation left the three in silence. Tina alternated between munching on the hard tack and glancing at the two before speaking up.

“Now that I think about it, there was a huge explosion last night. Did you hear it, Maria?”

Maria nodded at Tina’s question.
She had been near the source of the explosive sound that had echoed throughout the capital. There was no way she couldn’t have heard it.

“I wonder what that was? It was really bright outside the window?”
“Yeah. It felt like the sun had risen at night.”

Listening to their conversation, Maria carefully spoke up.

“Do you two… know that Lord Praus is strong?”
“Yeah! We know!”

Tina exclaimed with a clenched fist.

“Ti, Tina! Shh! You’ll wake Lord Praus.”
“Oops…!”

Iris hurriedly covered Tina’s mouth. Embarrassed by her own raised voice, she lowered her head.

“…How do you know?”

After silently observing their behavior, Maria asked in a soft voice. Iris slowly removed her hand from Tina’s mouth.

“Well, of course I know, since he saved me. The way he killed Dingk with a single thrust was so amazing… It made me think that if the skill gap is that wide, he can just toy with his opponents.”
Recalling that moment, Tina became excited.
While Tina’s description might have been exaggerated, having witnessed Praus’s battle last night, Maria couldn’t help but agree.

“I suppose! Considering what he showed last night, it’s unthinkable for him to be weak.”
“What he showed last night?”

Iris questioned Maria’s mutter.

“The explosive sound you heard last night was from a battle between Lord Praus and the S-rank adventurer Inkuro.”
“An S-rank adventurer?!”
“Iris! Shh!”

Iris gasped in surprise. This time, Tina covered her mouth.

“I, I figured he was strong, but… Strong enough to fight an S-rank adventurer… Were you there watching, Maria?”

Maria nodded. Iris’s gaze turned towards Praus.

‘Last night, Lord Praus didn’t seem injured at all. His clothes were normal too. And seeing how peacefully he’s sleeping now, I can’t imagine he was hurt during the battle.’

Observing Praus’s state as objectively as possible, Iris came to one conclusion.

“Could it be… he defeated the S-rank adventurer?”
“…I’m not sure about that. Lord Praus only defended, but with a single bout, he proved the gap between himself and an S-rank adventurer.”

‘A gap from an S-rank adventurer? Just how strong is he…?’

“I, I see.”
“Woah… Praus really is an amazing person.”

Tina expressed her pure amazement. But Iris, seated beside her, couldn’t conceal her bitter feelings.

“…Why would someone with the power to shake the world take us in?”

Iris still didn’t understand her own value. Praus had always brushed it off, saying he would explain once all three of them were together.

As a result, she was always uneasy.
It felt like she could revert to a slave’s life at any moment, leaving her fearful.

Having already tasted the comfortable, un-slave-like life Praus had provided, she didn’t want to return to slavery again.

So she desperately tried to find her worth, but as a mere ten-year-old, it was impossible for her to find a way to be helpful to Praus. The only thing she had learned was how to move heavy objects.

“Who knows. But for Lord Praus, we must be helpful in some way.”

‘Helpful to Praus? Does that mean he’ll give us lots of tasty food from now on?’

‘Helpful. Can I really be helpful with this useless body?’

‘I don’t know what that help is, but I’ll definitely find out and seize the chance to become his disciple.’

While the three pondered with different emotions, Praus, who had long since woken up, was breaking out in cold sweat.

‘Shit, what should I do? Should I pretend to still be asleep? The timing isn’t right at all.’

With the children chattering like a heroic tale, Praus had no choice but to continue feigning sleep for a while.

‘I’m weak, they say. Why do they think I’m strong…?!’