Doggone Academy-Chapter 8: The Beginning (2)

We headed toward the Weisel region. Silveryn had said that her estate was located in Weisel.

From time to time, Silveryn boasted about how peaceful and beautiful Weisel was.

According to her, Weisel boasted clear valley streams formed from melting glaciers enveloped by perennial snow, and fields abundant with flowers.

The forests were rich with rare herbs, and the beasts, scarce throughout the vast area, were limited to maybe one or two sightings a year. Even those were mostly from other regions.

Having left the unexplored territories behind, we spent a night at an inn in a small village.

Over dinner, we settled on what to call each other. She said ‘professor’ or ‘master’ was too stiff and preferred to be called ‘teacher’.

That night, I shared with Silveryn a peculiar feeling I had when searching for the fragment of the star.

As I talked about the dream related to the ghouls and the cabin that appeared at a crucial moment, Silveryn listened intently with a serious expression.

“That area used to be the site of a beacon tower and observatory. It was quite splendid, though abandoned, and all destroyed with the meteorite.”

Silveryn advised me to write down any significant dreams just in case. She didn’t explain why I should do that.

The next day, after lunch, we embarked on our journey once again.

***

A week later, when we entered the Weisel region, the tension eased considerably. The anxiety about sudden beast attacks lessened, and above all, the mild weather and natural beauty contributed greatly.

Upon arriving at Silveryn’s grand estate, my eyes widened in awe. It could’ve been mistaken for a palace.

“A vampire used to live in this mansion about a hundred years ago.”

Silveryn seemed proud of this fact.

Memories of childhood tales about vampires breeding humans like pigs suddenly surfaced.

“Not exactly a pleasant thing to mention.”

At my response, Silveryn chuckled.

“If there’s a chance, I’ll show you the secret dungeons below.”

“……”

A joke, right? It’s hard to imagine there’s a dungeon beneath this fairy tale-like beautiful estate.

Butlers and maids came out to greet us as we reached the mansion. From the grand estate to the maids, everything was unfamiliar to me. I had never once experienced such affluent living conditions.

Silveryn dismounted and stretched elaborately. Following her, I got off the horse and took in the view of the estate.

Silveryn introduced me to the butler.

“This is my apprentice. He’ll be staying here for a while, so prepare a room for him. And check his side — there’s a scar. Take care of him and provide him with whatever he needs.”

The butler greeted me with respectful politeness.

“I am the head butler, Ezra. Feel free to call me by my name.”

The word ‘head’ butler made my head spin. That means there are more butlers under him. Ezra was a middle-aged man. There was a significant age gap, and I had never had the experience of having people under me.

I responded with a polite greeting as well.

“I’m Damian.”

Silveryn had already passed us, climbing up the mansion’s pristine white front steps.

Without looking back, she ordered,

“Get everything done before dinner!”

She then disappeared into the residence.

Despite Silveryn’s sharp command, the head butler and maids wore relaxed smiles on their faces.

Their expressions as they welcomed me were incredibly gentle. This was a type of warmth that couldn’t be feigned — a genuine enjoyment of receiving guests.

Curiosity prompted me to ask the head butler a question.

“…Do you often have visitors like me?”

“Miss Silveryn doesn’t care for visitors in general. Bringing a guest personally like this, it’s been a very long time.”

I could somewhat understand why they were so delighted to welcome a guest.

Head butler Ezra gestured for me to follow him into the mansion.

“Let me show you.”

The head butler led me up the central hall staircase to a second-floor room.

“This will be the room for Damian sir.”

The room seemed about five times larger than the one I had stayed in back at Loreil Manor. A white bed, big enough for three people to lie side by side, and a sunlit balcony were immediately noticeable.

While I hesitated in awe, the maids quickly brought in my belongings and the clothes I would be wearing, organizing everything into storage efficiently.

Behind me, a maid with a silver tray full of potion bottles spoke up.

“May I check your scar?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

The maid guided me to an armchair in the corner of the room. As I took a seat, she instructed,

“Please remove your shirt.”

I took off my shirt, and the maid inspected my upper body closely. She tilted her head curiously at the odd scars on my abdomen, marks left by the wraith’s hand.

My side looked especially grotesque due to the hasty potion healing.

The maid sprayed a clear liquid onto gauze and dabbed it on my wound area, identifiable by the distinctive biting scent of medicinal herbs. It was an anesthetic.

“It’s going to be quite hot.”

Soon after, she placed drops from a vial of green liquid onto the anesthetized area with a dropper.

A burning scent filled the air, followed by the scorching pain of skin seared by fire.

“Ah!”

A groan involuntarily escaped me. Then, without missing a spot, the maid applied a recovery potion over the entire area of injury.

Finally, she expertly wrapped my abdomen in bandages and said,

“You can unwrap the bandage in the morning. However, no bathing until then.”

That’s unfortunate. The one thing I had most wanted to do upon arriving at Silveryn’s estate was to take a bath.

As if aware of my predicament, the maids soon came in with steaming buckets of water along with washcloths, apparently intending to clean me since I couldn’t bathe.

They tried to undress me, treating me like some child. My face flush with heat, I pushed their hands away and insisted,

“I can do it myself. Please leave.”

Only then did the maids stop and stepped back. After exchanging looks, they said,

“We’ll come again at mealtime.”

After all the maids had left the room, I exhaled a breath of relief.

***

Meeting Silveryn again in the dining room, she was dressed in a lightweight linen dress that looked comfortable. Her cheeks were rosy as if she had just finished bathing, and the dryness in her hair from our travels had given way to renewed vitality.

I sat awkwardly across the table from Silveryn, and soon the maids started serving dishes one by one. I wasn’t yet accustomed to such treatment.

Silveryn spoke first.

“I heard you had five big holes in your belly.”

It seemed that the maid who treated my scars had told Silveryn about them.

“Oh, that… Yes, I nearly died.”

“Who did that to you?”

“You might not believe it, but it was a wraith.”

Interest sparked in Silveryn’s eyes.

“A wraith? Something ordinary people might search their whole lives for and never see… Where did you encounter it? Did you commit crimes in a past life?”

“……In the unexplored territories to the northeast.”

“Why did you go there?”

It felt strangely hard and embarrassing to tell the truth. I was afraid she’d see me as recklessly foolish.

“The same reason as this time.”

Silveryn chuckled lightly and said,

“You’re quite the tough one. You almost died once searching for that, and you went again?”

“Yes, somehow…”

I couldn’t tell if it was praise or sarcasm.

“How did you survive that time?”

“I had companions then. They’re the ones who saved me.”

Her expression wavered momentarily at the word ‘companions’ before she asked,

“Was the person you were with a wizard?”

“Yes.”

I tensed up, thinking Silveryn might ask about Liza.

I still couldn’t trust her enough to reveal everything.

Contrary to my expectations, Silveryn said in a demure voice,

“I see.”

Thankfully, she didn’t press further.

Silveryn stopped asking questions and wore an inscrutable expression. Did I make a mistake?

She looked as though she wanted to ask more but eventually kept quiet and picked up a piece of bread from the table, seemingly mulling over our conversation. She appeared somewhat dissatisfied.

As the atmosphere grew a tad awkward, I continued with another question.

“Do you live here alone? What about your family?”

“I’m alone here. Just get to live without nosing around.”

“Do you live separately?”

Silveryn’s tone was nonchalant as she replied,

“No. I had a younger sibling with quite an age difference, but they died a long time ago.”

Oops. Did I ask something unnecessary?

She observed my face for a moment before adding,

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

Suddenly recalling, Silveryn continued,

“Oh yeah, don’t mess around tonight, get some rest. Training starts tomorrow.”

Training would officially begin tomorrow. A mix of excitement and fear tangled inside me.

I had thought I’d have a day or two more to rest, but that seemed like a vain hope. Neither Silveryn nor I could rid the fatigue of the journey with just one night’s rest.

“Okay.”

“If we had met a bit earlier, I could’ve trained you and shown you around the village. Unfortunately, we don’t have the leisure for that now.”

***

I sat on the balcony chair, staring blankly at the moon.

Silveryn’s words lingered in my head.

“Three months.”

That’s how much time was left until the academy’s entrance examination. Subtract the time it would take to travel to the academy, and it was even less than three months.

I had lived a life far removed from any thought of academies.

My mind was filled with questions. Could I gain skills suitable for the academy in just three months?

It would be a relief not to be ridiculed.

What did Silveryn see in me to bring me along? Was it just because of a sword?

Even though we had become master and apprentice, I couldn’t rely on her for everything. What comes easily can be easily discarded.

As much as things might seem fine now, who knows if she might discard me over some slight disturbance or dissatisfaction.

My chest tightened, and I took a couple of deep breaths. Thinking too much wouldn’t change anything.

The important thing was to do what I could.

Not to look too far ahead.

But to reach as far as I could.

I clenched my fists.