The Saint"s Picture Book
When I approached Tos.h.i.+zou Hijikata"s room I could hear that there were women inside.
At first, I wondered if he was busy, but I could hear that they were talking, and so I opened the door after knocking.
In spite of it being the day of the fight, he had called the women of the brothel to his room. One of them had his head on her lap as she cleaned his ears.
He was playing a lute and seemed to be enjoying himself.
It didn"t seem like the right att.i.tude to have before a match, but I did not get the sense that he wasn"t taking it seriously.
"I"ve trained every day since I was a boy. One thousand swings a day. And so taking some time off now will not affect my abilities."
"True. It may be good to loosen your nerves before a fight. By the way, Tos.h.i.+zou. This has all gotten a little out of hand, given that we were just deciding who would go to the dungeons. Are you not a little worried?"
"No. Besides, I do not see how I could lose to that girl. The only thing I am worried about is that she may get hurt."
"In other words, you cannot win unless you go all out?"
"You can interpret it any way you like, my lord. Well, I do expect to work up quite a sweat today."
Tos.h.i.+zou said as he closed his eyes and relaxed on the woman"s lap.
"I have people here to comfort me, but she does not have anyone. Perhaps you should go to her."
He said with a wave of his hand.
"Comfort is good, but I hope you will not tire her too much before the fight."
Tos.h.i.+zou ended with one of his base jokes, then continued to play his lute.
Eve saw him and said,
"It is as if he is some kind of king."
"Indeed."
I agreed.
I tended to live modestly. Tos.h.i.+zou"s lifestyle was must more similar to a n.o.bleman.
"If you wished it, master, you could live just as he does."
She said hesitantly, but I shook my head.
"Not me. Humans are not all the same. I lived modestly even in my past life."
Of course, the memories were hazy, but I was the second son of a poor n.o.bleman. And so our lifestyle was not one of luxury.
All of my income as a landowner went into my research.
When I told Eve about this, she chuckled.
"So being a Demon King has not changed you at all then. The only thing you collect is books."
"Yes. And I do not care about first editions or conditions. I just need to be able to read them."
The castle library wasn"t particularly large, nor was its contents rare.
It had books of knowledge you could find anywhere, along with some works of fiction.
Still, I could spend a day in any of those books, so I was clearly not a Demon King with expensive tastes.
While I was not interested in womanizing, deer and falcon hunting were things I would like to do one day.
In any case, Demon King Ashta was not a king with refined tastes.
I next went to Jeanne"s room.
I knocked on her door as well, but for a different reason.
With Tos.h.i.+zou, it was in consideration of the fact that he had company. But with Jeanne, it was to make sure she was not changing.
I knocked twice, but there was no answer.
Had something happened?
I told Eve to go in to see if everything was alright. She returned with a smirk and gestured for me to enter.
She would never lie to me, so I went in without much concern, however, I was very surprised to see Jeanne in the state that she was in.
She usually stared blankly into s.p.a.ce, meditated or was otherwise eating.
However, today she was sitting at her desk and concentrating at something.
She was holding a pen and appeared to be writing.
"Now that I think of it, I did teach Jeanne the alphabet before."
I had taken out a chart and asked her to write it down, which she had done.
The current page was filled with "U," which meant she was close to the end.
As I watched, she finally noticed me and looked up with a smile.
Then she proudly showed me the notebook.
"Look, Demon King. I have been writing every day."
The book was filled with so many letters that there was hardly any white on the page.
"That is quite a feat, Jeanne."
I said as I patted her head.
Her gold hair was smooth and soft.
She looked up at me with puppy dog eyes.
Suddenly, I was reminded of a golden retriever.
Then Jeanne opened her mouth as if remembering something.
"…Oh! I forgot to say, Demon King. I have been studying every day. Surely it is time that I practice reading?"
She asked as she looked up at me.
It was hard to say no.
Besides, she had worked very hard. It was time to go to the next level.
And so I pulled out a book from my pocket.
I was quite thin.
In fact, it was really just a picture book.
They existed in this world as well.
They were read by children of n.o.bles and merchants, but the vocabulary was likely a good fit for Jeanne as she was now.
That was why had I had bought it at a bookstore in town. I wondered if she would like it.
With a little sense of anxiety, I handed it to her.
It was t.i.tled,
"The Carbuncle that Died Ten Thousand Times."
The owner of the bookstore had said it was educational and written specifically for girls.
The green carbuncle on the cover was also very cute.
Jeanne took the book and…
Her reaction was stronger than I was expecting.
She held the book tightly to her chest as tears flowed from her eyes.
"…Demon King, thank you. I shall cherish it forever. I will always carry it with me."
I patted her on the head once again.
"Well, you shouldn"t take it to the bathes."
I joked.
She wiped her nose and said,
"Yes."
Then she nodded and hugged me.
Eve saw this with a less than amused expression, but she was not such a tactless woman as to interrupt a crying girl.
She feigned indifference for a few minutes before producing a pocket watch.
"Master. Miss Jeanne. It is time."
"Oh, yes. There is a match to attend."
Jeanne put down her pen and replaced it with her sword. Her face turned to that of a warrior.
Now, it was the gallant Maid of Orleans that stood there.
For a moment I had felt that Tos.h.i.+zou had the advantage, but I saw now that it was not the case.
I was very much looking forward to this fight.