Not a barbarian warrior.

“I, I was worried since it’s been a while since I made this… But this is quite excellent…”

Lorena nodded as she held the flask containing the purple liquid up to the sunlight.

At the mention of an aphrodisiac, Eugene momentarily recalled .

‘I remember. The sixth method in the story…! Mixing an aphrodisiac into the lady’s food, causing her to become aroused without knowing why, unable to sleep and then…’

Unaware that Eugene had taken a step back, Lorena kindly added an explanation about the aphrodisiac she had made.

“If, if you mix this into feed, it will make them give birth to an enormous number of offspring… Hehe…”

Eugene, startled by the word ‘feed’, took another step back.

Noticing now that he was backing away, Lorena said:

“What’s wrong…? Ah, it won’t have any effect unless you drink it anyway… The fumes are fine, so you don’t need to worry…”

“That’s not the issue… Lorena, you didn’t make this to use on ‘someone’, did you?”

“…?”

Lorena belatedly realized what kind of misunderstanding he was having.

She recalled the same content from a certain book, just as Eugene had.

Then she blushed and accused Eugene:

“You, you pervert…”

“No, if we’re being strict about this, isn’t this Lorena’s fault?”

“It’s obviously made for livestock… You, you pervert…!”

Lorena narrowed her eyes and hit Eugene with her fists repeatedly.

Eugene tried to plead his innocence, but she wouldn’t understand.

After that small incident, the next day.

Lorena left the house with Eugene from early dawn.

Eugene pulled a cart full of luggage.

Lorena, riding on top of it, worked him like a pack horse.

“Ke-Keep moving those feet…!”

She poked Eugene’s back repeatedly with her staff instead of a whip.

“Yes. Understood.”

Eugene obediently increased the speed at which he was pulling the cart.

It was punishment for misunderstanding and having indecent thoughts about his master who had worked hard yesterday.

When the two arrived at the square, they set up a stall and neatly arranged items on it.

The miscellaneous items Lorena wanted to sell, including the aphrodisiac made yesterday, were placed on it.

“…Lorena, are you going to sell these too?”

Eugene asked, pointing to the books loaded on the cart.

She nodded without hesitation.

“We can’t take all these heavy things with us… And, and I don’t need them anymore…”

Eugene was surprised by her declaration.

Because they weren’t ordinary books. They were the erotic books she had kept hidden away.

“Are you really okay with this?”

Although they were called erotic books, the contents were far from romantic whispers of ordinary love.
Most were stories about twisted and violent relationships, submission and subjugation, bondage and servitude.

Eugene had assumed this was just Lorena’s taste, but the reason she had purchased these books was completely different.

By reading these books, she had tried to understand the mind of her father who had abused her.

She had tried somehow to understand that incomprehensible violence and distorted affection.

For her, these books were a kind of clue.

Was it really love? Or was it another form of violence under the name of love?

‘Now I know… It wasn’t love in the first place.’

Now that she had freed herself from the shackles of the past, she realized she no longer needed to understand her father.

“Re-Really, it’s okay…”

Lorena wore a somewhat bitter smile.

Eugene looked at her face for a moment, then held out a handkerchief to her.

“…?”

Lorena touched her eyes, wondering if she had unknowingly shed tears.

But all she felt was smooth skin without any moisture.

“Why are you giving me this?”

Eugene whispered quietly into Lorena’s ear:

“Lorena, since you’re leaving Carlisle now, have you decided not to care how rumors spread…?”

“What do you mean…”

“Are you okay with being labeled as ‘the pervert magician who stacks and sells lots of erotic books’…?”

“…!!”

Lorena was startled by Eugene’s words and snatched the handkerchief.

Hurriedly covering her face with the handkerchief and pulling her robe over her head, she completed an extremely suspicious appearance.

“Lorena, I’m sorry to say this, but you look like an illegal merchant selling contraband…”

“…It’s, it’s better than showing my face…”

“Hmm… I guess you’re right, now that I think about it.”

She waved away Eugene who was about to finish organizing the stall.

“It’s, it’s fine, just go…! I’ll take care of the rest… When you come back to pack up the stall later, you need to cover your face too… Understood?”

“…”

At her words to hurry and leave, Eugene had to leave the square.

“Maybe I should buy a mask on the way…”

He muttered as he turned his steps towards the swordsmanship guild.

Eugene had now officially become a member of the Brotherhood of the Sword.

Before entering the guild, he took a deep breath to calm himself for a moment.

Although Sir Bernard had accepted Eugene, it was another matter for the other trainees to truly acknowledge him as a comrade.

As Eugene stepped in with determination, trainees gathered in one corner of the training ground were murmuring and talking among themselves.

If it were like usual, they should have been training somehow, either dueling with swords or honing their skills.

“…?”

At that moment, Clea who spotted Eugene came running.

“What are you doing standing there blankly?”

“Ah… Well…”

Before Eugene could answer, Clea grabbed his wrist.

She dragged Eugene along and headed towards where the trainees were gathered, saying:

“Sir Bernard called you brother yesterday. Do you know what that means?”

“That’s-”

“Whether you like it or not, you’re now in the same boat as us. Got it? And betrayal is not tolerated.”

At her words, Eugene felt his heart flutter.

“I have no intention of betraying anyone.”

Clea suddenly stopped and turned to face Eugene.

With an expression that seemed displeased, she said:

“…You’re now our comrade and brother. So…”

“…?”

“Ahem, speak casually. The same goes for others too.”

“…Alright, Clea. I’ll speak casually.”

“Hmph…”

She turned her head forward again and continued dragging Eugene along.

Eugene tilted his head slightly to look at her profile.

As expected, Clea’s cheeks were puffed out like balloons.

The two approached the trainees… no, their comrades.

The comrades who had been exchanging opinions looked at Eugene behind Clea and continued their conversation.

“…Right! Let’s put the new barbar- no, what was his name again? Ah, right, Eugene! Let’s put Eugene in the center. What do you think?”

“No. Someone as excellent as Eugene should be placed on the right wing. It’s standard for the center to hold out until a breakthrough from the flank, right?”

“What I’m saying is, let’s aim for a central breakthrough by catching them off guard.”

“What do you mean catch them off guard…”

“Hey! Eugene! What do you think! Isn’t the center better?”

“No! Obviously he should be on the right wing! Eugene, say something!”

Amidst the comrades suddenly debating where to place him, Eugene wondered what was going on.

Clea patted Eugene’s shoulder and explained:

“In two weeks, there’s going to be a tournament in Carlisle’s square. It’s a team competition.”

“Tournament… Team competition?”

“Our opponents are those ‘Cunning Steel’ bastards. We must win this time and get our revenge.”

Eugene didn’t bother to correct that it was ‘Shadow of Steel’, not ‘Cunning Steel’. There was something more urgent to ask.

“…Don’t tell me all that talk earlier about being in the same boat and not tolerating betrayal was because of this?”

When Eugene looked at Clea with shocked eyes, she shook her head seriously.

“That’s not it. Even if there wasn’t a tournament, I would have treated you the same. I swear on my honor.”

“There’s no need to swear on your honor… Anyway, I understand. So now you’re arguing about where I should stand in the tournament?”

“…Anyway, you’re as good as our guild’s core fighting force.”

“When Sir Bernard is right here, what are you…”

“There’s no way His Lordship would participate in this tournament.”

“Why not?”

“What knight would lower themselves to participate in a tournament for trainees like us? Even Silas won’t be coming.”

“Ah… I see.”

“But that doesn’t mean you should take it lightly. It’s a tournament held in the guild’s name after all.”

“Is there some disadvantage if we lose?”

“Of course there is. Do you know what those guys did to us after we lost last time?”

She gritted her teeth and revealed the atrocities they had committed.

“They took all our armor and even our weapons. Those bastards…! Usually the implicit price is just one weapon at most… And they even openly insulted our guild. My blood still boils just thinking about that day.”

“Hmm…”

Listening to Clea’s words, Eugene realized he had been thinking too lightly of this.

Belonging to a group meant shouldering that group’s grudges, whether he liked it or not.

Now that he had come this far, there was no backing out.

If there was any consolation, it was that the ‘Brotherhood of the Sword’ he belonged to was a group that somewhat aligned with Eugene’s morals and ethics.

Eugene, who had suddenly become the guild’s core fighting force participating in the tournament, let out a deep sigh inwardly.

Clea spoke to Eugene with blazing eyes:

“We must win this time. They’re cowards who know nothing of honor. We must pay them back for that humiliation. So…”

She brought up what she had been pondering since the moment she heard about the tournament in two weeks.

“Duel with me. For the next two weeks, I’ll teach you everything I know.”

Although she had lost in the previous duel, in terms of pure swordsmanship skill, Clea was still far superior.

Nevertheless, she decided to pass on all the swordsmanship she possessed to Eugene.

“…”

However, unlike Clea’s determination, Eugene’s reaction was somewhat… lukewarm.

His face clearly showed an expression of reluctance.

“What’s with that expression?”

“Well… Clea, don’t take this the wrong way, but listen.”

“…?”

“Um… Wouldn’t it be a little… no, much better to learn swordsmanship from Sir Bernard rather than you…?”

“…”

Clea stared blankly at Eugene without saying anything.

Then her face gradually turned red from the bottom up, becoming as red as a tomato in an instant.

Honestly, Eugene’s words weren’t wrong.

With Sir Bernard there, there was no need to learn from her.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t take back the words she had already said. Strangely, her pride wouldn’t allow it.

“You… Even though I’m offering to teach you…! So, you don’t want to duel with me?”

Eugene hurriedly shook his head seeing her tomato… no, reddened face.

The atmosphere was such that he simply couldn’t say no.