novelThe 220 Year Gap (2)
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Chapter 24 - The 220 Year Gap (2)
"Well, I can do this."
For an advance Spirit Order Practitioner, a shaving knife was merely a decoration. While looking at his face on the surface of the water, he swept his hand across his chin once. This caused all the dirty beard he was growing to fall off cleanly.
If the soldiers saw this then they would have been jealous of this method. After he finished shaving, he dried himself with a towel and he put on the neatly folded clothes. Then he swept his hair back and tied it off. He looked halfway decent now.
After he had taken a bath and put on decent clothes, he looked entirely different from his previous state. His hair was crimson as if it was burning, and he looked like a splendid young man with blue eyes.
"I have to quickly grow my muscles."
Azell looked at reflection of his body on the surface of the water, and he started posing to accentuate his muscles. However, the definition had yet to emerge.
'I would have never thought it would be this difficult. '
Before he went in hibernation, his body was perfectly trained like a marble statue. However, it was a body made from training long hours since his childhood. Therefore, Azell wasn't sure whether he could create his muscles in a short amount of time. Now that he had tried it, it wasn't as easy as he thought. He was able to bulk up his body, but it required a lot of time to shape the muscles to his liking.
"Well, there is no such thing as easy work in this world."
While grumbling, he went to look for the infirmary, and Rick was surprised.
"Are you really Azell?"
"I am. You don't have to emphasize it."
"You look like an entirely different person. If it wasn't for the color of your hair, I wouldn't have recognized you."
Azell's hair was red as if it was burning, and it was very eye-catching. His hair was very fragile when he first woke up, but now his hair was very lustrous. It looked good.
Suddenly, Azell asked a question.
"I'm glad everyone arrived safely. Do you know what happened to Sir Giles by any chance?"
"Sir Giles arrived not too long ago and he is resting. He arrived after recovering a lot of his men."
"That's fortunate."
Azell sighted in relief.
Suddenly, Rick lowered his voiced and asked a question.
"So, Azell, what really happened?"
When Azell requested the Dragon Slayer's Ritual, Rick had already fainted. Afterwards, he wasn't able to hear a good explanation from Arrieta. Also, he had heard various stories from the scouting party, who had returned, and he had a hard time believing most of it.
Azell spoke.
"It is as you have heard. The bastards called the Dragon's Shadow used some method to involve a dragon to capture the princess. I don't know if it held a grudge or if there was another reason, but another dragon showed up. The dragons warred against each other. That's what happened."
"From one to ten(TLN: this is a direct translation, its like saying "From start to finish"), it sounds like lies, but I experienced all of that...."
"Isn't that how the world works? You can boast about it later."
Azell patted Rick's shoulder.
3
"Wah, you look much younger than I thought?"
Enora's eyes became round as she talked. Her reaction made Azell laugh bitterly, and he queried.
"What did you think my age was previously?"
"About 40 years old?"
"......."
Arrieta and now Enora said the same thing so his previous appearance must have made him look really old. Azell promised himself that he'll never grow his beard ever again.
Azell queried.
"Anyways, isn't it too early for you to get up and move around, little lady?"
Enora was neatly wearing her maid outfit, while she still had bandages on. Since she had already come to call on him, she must be back to doing her work.
'She is a little lady, but she has a keen sense of professionalism. Jeez. '
While he was admiring her, Enora glared at Azell, while she had her hands on her hips.
"Well, it might not look that way, but I'm serving as the royal maid as the daughter of the highly regarded Balray family. Therefore, you can't just call me that."
"Ughh, come to think of it...."
Unless there is a special reason, one doesn't serve as a maid for the royal family. One has to at the very least be a daughter from a noble's family. He guessed that part hadn't changed even in this time period.
Enora saw Azell's expression starting to crumple so Enora feigned generosity as she spoke.
"I guess i can forgive you since you saved me. However, you can't call me little lady."
"May I call you Miss Enora?"
"I'll allow that much."
"Oh my, pardon my bad manners. Miss Enora."
"It's fine if you realize it. You look pretty good after you washed and shaved your beard. How about paying attention to your hair?"
"My hair?"
"Yes. It is very shaggy, so it doesn't look very good. Please cut it."
"Is that right?"
Azell scratched his head as if he was embarrassed. Enora spoke.
"Please put aside some time later."
"Huh?"
"I'll specially cut your hair."
When she saw Azell only blink his eyes, Enora thumped her chest with pride.
"Appearances aside, I groom princess' hair. For a guy like uncle, you won't ever experience a service like this in your life time. So you should feel honored."
"Wow, I'm really honored? Still, I don't think you should call me uncle...."
"How old are you?"
"Mmmm. I'm about 26 years old?"
"Then you are an uncle."
"......."
Certainly, it was correct for a 12 year old girl to consider a 26 year old an uncle. However, he couldn't help but be wounded.
"Anyways, princess is waiting for us so please follow me."
'I haven't even married, yet I'm being called an uncle.... '
Azell followed Enora, while he complained inside.
He arrived at Arrieta's room and unlike the time he saw her in prison, she looked clean. Enora had groomed her, so she had a princess-like appearance.
"I'm sorry it took this long to call you. I was thinking about having dinner with you, but the commander invited me."
"It's fortunate that I wasn't called to attend."
"The commander wanted to, but I stopped him. I guess I made the right choice."
Arrieta laughed playfully, and she offered Azell a place to sit. Then she stared at Azell's face.
There were no words being spoken. Azell felt awkward, so he cleared his throat.
"Is there something on my face?"
"No. I'm just surprise that you are younger than I thought."
"Didn't I tell you before? I'm 26 years old."
"Still, you didn't look like it. Now I can believe those words."
Soon, Enora prepared the tea. Arrieta spoke when she saw Azell bring the tea cup to his mouth.
"I was right to think that you are a noble."
"Yes?"
"Your etiquette in drinking the tea looks very natural. One wouldn't be able to do that if one wasn't properly educated." (TLN: maybe he had his pinky up??)
"Is that right?"
Azell calmly tilted his head. However, he felt startled inside.
When he was young, he was an orphan with an unknown origin, but after becoming the hero of the Dragon Demon War, he became a member of the noble society.
Therefore, he worked hard on his manners. He put in a lot of effort as much as he put into learning swordsmanship. This was revealed in the way he drank his tea, and the minor ways he conducted himself.
'I didn't realize it would be this difficult. '
He would rather disguise his swordsmanship since he could absolutely conceal it. Azell had learned various styles of swordsmanship, so he was able to easily disguise his real style.
However, it was hard to conceal one's conduct. He had to work hard at learning his manners, so he didn't really know any other way to drink his tea.
Arrieta spoke while having a dubious expression.
"Except... Something is a bit weird."
"Which part are you talking about?"
"The manner in which you drink your tea evokes a sense of antiquity."
"Really?"
"The etiquette may be from a regional area or a foreign country.... However, it feels similar to the etiquette of the Nadick Kingdom I learned when I was a child."
"......."
Azell continued to break out in cold sweat inside. This was something he hadn't thought of. After 220 years had passed, the language itself hadn't changed, but the vocabulary that filled the language had changed. The words Azell had used in his time had changed a bit or entirely new words had cropped up. Azell was quick at picking things up and he was pretty quick on the uptake. He used the Spirit Order technique on regular people, and he used it to fill in the gap within the language using telepathy.
However, the change in etiquette was a complete blind spot for him. The noble society's mad it a point to differentiate themselves from the common people through their speech and movement. Depending on the region and the time period, it was inevitable for it to change. After the Nadick empire collapsed, seven kingdoms emerged and now Azell's etiquette could only be seen as disparate.
'I guess it was fortunate that I didn't act like a noble?'
The nobles were particular about their speech and conduct, but they did not force it on the common people. The manners of a noble was something that differentiated them from the common people.
Therefore, the current basic etiquette on treating someone above your station was similar to before. Since Azell was a common person, there weren't any problem stemming from the way he treated Arrieta. If he acted like a noble then he would have been put in an awkward situation.
Fortunately, Arrieta didn't dig any deeper into that subject.
"Hmm. I guess your memories haven't recover."
"Yes."
"It is unfortunate."
Arrieta made a faint smile. It was obvious to her that Azell had a secret that he had a hard time talking about. His actions were too absurd for her to continuously believe his lies.
However, Arrieta decided to bury it. Azell was her benefactor, and he was a figure she wanted to trust in.
'I want to trust him?"
Arrieta was surprised at her own thoughts. Has she every thought of someone this way?
'He really is a strange man. '
She had met many people living as the Dragon Demon Princess. There were people who admired her, feared her, been jealous of her or hated her.
However, it was the first time meeting someone like Azell. The way he looked at her was unfamiliar yet comfortable. In spite of herself, she wanted to tell him the stories she had buried inside.
Arrieta spoke.
"Do you perhaps have anything you want? You have helped me, so I want to give you some kind of reward."
"Mmmm. Let me see."
Azell thought about it briefly then he spoke.
"I want a small travel expense and a status card that'll allow me to freely travel around this country. Also, do you think I could also ask for a sword?"
"Is that it?"
Arrieta was taken aback.
It was none other than the Dragon Demon Princess telling him that she'll reward him. However, he only wanted this much.
Azell spoke.
"That will be enough. From the outset, I didn't plan on doing what I did to get a reward."
"You have a talent for constantly surprising me."
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