Chapter 398 - Episode Eight: Daily Life
"Good morning, Matilda."
"Good morning, Noein-sama."
Morning. Awakened by Matilda's gentle shaking, Noein smiled back at her, and they exchanged a soft kiss.
As Noein rose from the bed, Matilda presented his change of clothes. While still sleepy and hazy, he dressed with her help and then washed his face.
While Noein went out to the backyard to stretch, bathing in the morning sun and waking up with the fresh outdoor air, Matilda headed to the main building to receive breakfast for the two of them.
The two of them slowly ate the breakfast Matilda had brought, and after the meal, they drank tea she had brewed. Her tea-brewing had become even better than before, and both the temperature and strength matched Noein's preferences perfectly.
"Well then, I'll do my best today too."
"Please, do not overexert yourself."
"Thank you, Matilda... I love you."
"...I adore you as well, Noein-sama."
After another kiss, Noein went out to the backyard and removed the leather cloth used as rain protection over the golem.
Then, directing both hands toward the golem, he poured in magical power to activate it and faced today's training.
The days with Matilda since they became aware of their love for one another had become warmer and more fulfilling than ever before. The distance between them grew closer; they no longer just embraced, but began to overlap their lips and exchange words of love.
Because Noein was still immature, their physical connection (both Noein and Matilda had gained knowledge of such things from books) was limited strictly to skin-to-skin contact, but their spiritual bond became as strong and deep as could be, to the point where they felt loneliness just by being apart when Matilda went to the main building or the city center.
He could no longer live without this love. How happy are days filled with love. Such thoughts deepened within Noein day by day.
Noein continued his training to the extent that he would not collapse from magical exhaustion, reading books during breaks. Meanwhile, Matilda handled chores such as cleaning, laundry, and preparing the bath, and spent her leisure time reading or studying more advanced reading, writing, and arithmetic. When Noein's hands were free, she did so while receiving his guidance.
After spending a peaceful day and finishing dinner, Noein headed to the bathroom with Matilda.
"Phew~, this is heaven, Matilda."
"Yes, Noein-sama."
Now, they were together even during baths. When Noein leaned back while soaking in the tub, Matilda gently supported him. Using Matilda's abundant and soft breasts as a pillow, Noein spent a time of supreme bliss.
Once the bath was finished, all that remained was sleep.
"...Hey, Matilda."
When Noein called out in a spoiled voice and clung to her, Matilda, as always, held him gently. Burying his face in her chest and being enveloped by her entire body, Noein's consciousness melted into a slumber.
Perhaps Matilda had not yet fallen asleep, as she moved slightly, and Noein's lightly bent legs were sandwiched between her thighs.
Feeling an unparalleled sense of security knowing that Matilda was snuggling close and watching over him, Noein fell asleep.
.....
"Hmm..."
While relentlessly repeating simple movements by operating the golem, Noein wore a sour expression.
More than two months had already passed since he began training with the goal of becoming a master puppet mage, like those described in books from the era of warring small nations.
If he repeated simple movements to hammer the sensation of golem operation into his own body, he should be able to move the golem freely, almost unconsciously. Under that premise, the training Noein was performing was not bearing fruit. No visible results were appearing.
"...Sigh, it's no use."
Noein, whose concentration had run out, stopped the supply of magical power to the golem for a moment and let out a sigh.
If no results appeared by now, he might soon have to think of a different training method. While thinking about this and gazing at the sky cut out by the wooden fence of the backyard, Matilda poked her head out from inside the house.
"Noein-sama, will you take a break? If you like, shall I brew some tea?"
"...Yeah, I'll take you up on that. Thank you, Matilda."
Noein replied with a smile to the devoted girl who cared for him.
After that, Noein, having calmed his mind and rested with the tea Matilda brewed, faced the golem operation training once again.
Over and over, an dizzying number of times, he made the golem perform simple movements; when his concentration dropped, he rested a bit and then made it perform simple movements again, and just as evening approached.
"Huh?"
Noein felt a change in his golem operation.
The golem's right arm, which until now required him to concentrate his consciousness and operate it precisely, moved as easily as if it were his own right arm.
When Noein thought about thrusting the golem's right arm forward, the golem extended its fist without him even needing to consciously operate it. He thrust the arm up, then lowered it, then rotated it in a circle. Limited to the right arm, any movement was completely free.
"Matilda! Matilda!"
When Noein called her name, Matilda immediately flew to the backyard. As Noein pointed toward the golem while gesturing with his left hand and directing his right arm toward it, Matilda, looking over, wore a surprised expression upon seeing the golem moving its right arm smoothly.
"I did it! I've grasped the sensation!"
"...Congratulations, Noein-sama."
When Noein spoke with a beaming smile, Matilda replied while her expression softened.
"Finally, results... It was worth continuing to work hard for over two months."
"I believe it is truly wonderful that you were able to acquire such skill after such fierce effort."
"You think so? Am I amazing?"
"Of course. I admire you from the bottom of my heart, Noein-sama."
"Ahaha, thank you, Matilda."
Showing a tickled smile at Matilda's praise, Noein continued to move the golem's right arm.
.....
Once he grasped the sensation of operating the golem unconsciously, subsequent growth was fast.
After the right arm came the left arm. After that, both legs. Then, the sense of balance when moving the entire body. Noein grasped the sensations of operation one after another, and in a few months, he became able to move the golem's entire body almost intuitively.
Noein continued to strive for proficiency in operation, and a year after starting training to improve his abilities, he became able to manipulate the golem at a speed almost no different from a human moving. With that, Noein brought a conclusion to that stage of training.
Then, around the time he entered his twelfth year, Noein began training to operate two golems simultaneously.
Thinking that he still had room with his magical talent, and wanting to acquire even stronger power, he purchased an additional golem and began this training, but it was proving difficult.
There were no problems regarding magical talent or the amount of magical power, but the operation was simply complex. It was as if he were trying to hold brushes with both hands and both feet, moving them separately to write four characters simultaneously.
To become able to move two freely seemed like it would be a struggle even greater than when he mastered the operation of the first one, in a different way.
"............Sigh, this is... my brain is fried."
Autumn of the Imperial Calendar year 208. Noein, having cut off the magical power supply to the two golems, muttered to himself while looking up at the familiar backyard sky and wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Although he had become able to move two golems simultaneously if it was only the upper body, the smoothness and speed of the movements were nowhere near those of when he operated only one. On top of that, because he still lacked familiarity, it required a far more precise level of concentration than when operating one.
At this rate, would it take another year or more? While resting his mind and thinking about such things, a black shadow cast over the sky he was looking up at.
The shadow, which flew in from beyond the wooden fence, fell with a thud right in front of Noein. It was the carcass of a large crow.
"Gah."
"Gyahahaha! Serve you right! You wretched child of mine!"
When Noein involuntarily let out a sound, a voice shouting childish taunts and the sound of someone running away clattered from beyond the wooden fence.
The source of the sound was Noein's half-brother, Julian Kivileft.
Julian, who had been nothing more than a seven-year-old toddler when Noein was first confined to this annex, seemed to have acquired a fair amount of wit and knowledge now that he was ten. Malicious wit, and biased knowledge.
It seemed Maximilian and his legal wife taught Julian, born as the legitimate heir of the Earl's house, that he was a special and noble existence from birth, and that Noein, who lived in the annex, and his attendant slave were despicable, low-life beings. Influenced by his parents, Julian was growing up steadily in a bad direction.
And occasionally, he would harass Noein and Matilda like this. Throwing trash, animal carcasses, or water from beyond the wooden fence, or shouting insulting words toward Noein and Matilda from within the forest outside. Though the methods were childish, it didn't feel good for those on the receiving end.
Regarding the harassment of throwing things, he could notice in advance when the perceptive Matilda was by his side, but when she was absent for shopping or other reasons, he would be caught off guard like this.
"...Honestly."
Sighing, Noein activated only one golem, had it grab the crow's carcass, and made it throw it outside the wooden fence.
Though there were unpleasant things like this occasionally, life in the annex was basically peaceful.
After repeating such a life for another year and a bit. News arrived that would decide the course of Noein's life.