One week had passed since we got back at Citrine. Alice and I stopped doing tasks in the Guild because we still have lots of money to spend.
Because I don't have anything to do yet, I decided to train Alice again. We started to train again the day after we got back at Citrine and now we've already been training for a whole week.
Today, together with Alice in the forest near the City, I'm training Alice how to use bow and swords, I also taught her some basic hand to hand combat.
Because Alice is still struggling to pull the string of a bow, I made her a smaller one and also arrows for her to use.
And now, Alice is pulling the string of her bow, aiming at the Circle Target I made my own.
[ focus... ]
Alice muttered, with her one eye closed and her breathing; calm, just like how I taught her.
Then...
*Swhooosh...!!!
her arrow struck the target in the middle, splitting the last arrow in half that was connected in the middle of the target.
[ wow... that was great Alice, you already perfected it! ] I stroke Alice's head as I said so.
[ hehe. ] Alice became bashful and only blushed when I complimented her, which was really cute.
[ okay, one more time. Hmm... how about we try shooting a moving target? ]
[ are you sure I can do it onii-chan? ]
[ of course, I think you can already do it. ]
[ Un! okay. ] Alice replied with enthusiasm.
[ look! there's one! ] I pointed at one bird I saw flying at the sky.
[ ye-yes! ] Alice readied her bow...
[ hnn...!!! ] then she pulled the string...
Swoosh...!!!
The arrow hit the bird and it fell to the ground.
[ wow... congrats Alice. I told you so, it might not take long before you can get even better than me. ]
[ no, onii-chan is still the best! ]
[ is that so, then thanks, Alice. ] I patted Alice's head again.
[ Un! ]
***
We went back to Marinda-san's Inn after training outside the City. Alice, Bretta-chan and I are now eating sandwiches made by Bretta-chan on the same table while Marinda-san is Cleaning the other tables inside the Inn. I asked Marinda-san where Victor-san went and she told me that he is still sleeping.
[ Haruto-kun, why are you only teaching Alice how to use weapons? why don't you teach her magic instead? ] Asked Marinda-san who just finished cleaning the table and now also sitting at the same table as us.
[ oh...? Haven't I told you yet, Marinda-san? I actually can't use magic in any way. ]
[ ...what? I only saw a few people who can't use magic... ]
[ really? so there are other people too who can't use magic huh? ]
[ well, yes, but... almost all the people I met with no magic are slaves... and I only met three people so far. ]
[ re-really? why are they turned in to slaves...? ]
of course Clair, the Goddess told me that the people here are measured by their magic, but she never told me that they will be turned into slaves if they don't have any...
[ haah... well, I know you obviously seem to lack common sense but I didn't expect even this you wouldn't know... ] Marinda-san said looking at me with disbelief.
[ is-is that so...? ]
[ you know that people who lack magical power and people who're having difficulty controlling them often can't get jobs from other people. Some countries even have policies that turn those kinds of people into slaves, no matter how high their ranking in society is. ]
[ ... I didn't know that... ]
It's the first time I heard about it, but it's really screwed up...
[ well, I would say this to you now, don't you ever try to go to the countries who has those kinds of policies or you'll immediately be turned into a slave. ]
[ yea, I will be careful. ]
[ by the way, Alice, What magic aptitudes do you have? ] Marina-san then turned to the still eating Alice and asked her.
[ umm... I don't know Marinda onee-shan. ] Alice replied while still chewing on some sandwiches with breadcrumbs all over her cheeks.
[ don't talk while you have food on your mouth. ] I wiped her cheeks with the handkerchief I bought.
[ yesh... ]
[ why don't you take Alice to the church? the church can see the aptitudes of people for magic, but only if you can pay them enough. ] Marinda-san said.
[ really? how much do I need to pay? ]
[ well, if you're not an aristocrat they will ask you to pay more, sometimes even thrice the aristocrats will pay. ]
isn't it supposed to be the opposite!?
[ the-then how much the aristocrats needs to pay? ]
[ that's 3 gold coins for them. ]
It's a bit expensive but I still have enough money.
[ hmm... yea, I still have enough money so maybe we'll try to go to a church. Is there any in this city? ]
[ well, the only church that can do that is the church at the capital. ]
Capital huh...? I thought Citrine was the Capital City...
[ then I guess we now have a goal to go to the Capital, but maybe I will still train Alice for a month before going. ]
I still want to train Alice enough to catch up with me. Alice is still not good with using swords so maybe we'll only go when she's better at it.
[ if that's so then how about you apply Alice to the Holy Knights School? It's also in the capital. ]
[ Holy Knights School? what do they teach in there? ]
[ well, Holy Knights trains both at magic and weapons. If you train Alice enough to be able to hunt small monsters and if it turns out she also has a good aptitude and magical power, then I recommend you sending her to the Holy Knights School. ]
[ well, I only heard about that today, but I will think about it. Alice might also not agree to it... ]
[ I get what you mean... ]
A big problem had occurred to Alice, and that is she can't go anywhere now without me. Last week when I left Alice and went alone at Jacked Jack-san's Mansion, Alice almost didn't move a muscle and Marinda-san wasn't able to stop her from crying. Even Victor-san and Bretta-chan also weren't able to do so. When I went back to the Inn that day, Alice glued herself to me for a whole day before I can finally convince her that I wasn't trying to abandon her.
It was very scary. I need to immediately fix it or Alice wouldn't be able to go anywhere alone anymore without me.