"Papa!"
Her hands were eager as she sprinted headfirst at one of the areas shut with black, reflective glass. Lowering her posture, she crossed her arms when she was less than a ter away and-!
"Follow , you little dummy!"
She disappeared into the partition.
Wow.
That was my first reaction.
I've seen a lot of fantasy stuff, but this almost tops the dinsional doorway.
A fitting black glass for the Sanctified Knights, the Flagbearers of Light. Plus, walking up to the glass-
Tap. Tap.
It's solid.
The feeling of glass ran through my fingers when I tapped the glass.
So how did that girl run through it?
And how do I get in?
Just as I was thinking that-
Fwoosh!
-her hand shot through the other end of the glass and abruptly clasped mine.
"Woops! I forgot! You can't co in without my help!"
Then, with a dazed expression, I was pulled into the glass. The sensation of passing through a solid, yet not solid, glass wall was like that of sli squeezing my body from each corner.
Slimy but warm.
Swoosh.
Following that hand, I popped out the other end.
...The other end was eerily quiet.
Unlike from the outside, the inside contained an orderly training field with servants on the outskirts, racks for weapons, and tents prepared for any ergencies. Benches and seats were scattered around the edge for both resting and observation.
Most important, though, was the centre.
The dozens, perhaps over a hundred, loosely dressed n and won.
They stood in formation with no fluctuations in their faces.
However.
That's not where my eyes were drawn to.
It was to the man standing before .
With one hand scooping his scattered hair over his head and sweat dripping from his forehead, he stood there gazing upon his daughter with loving eyes—familial eyes.
"Hilda, what's wrong? Why did you co back?"
The girl, Hilda, hopped up and down with her fists balled up and shaking beside her.
"Papa, Papa, this little dummy!"
Pointing at , "She was in the place you said not to go! Alone! And hurt!"
Then.
The Commander's eyes turned to .
Fiery red eyes.
Burning.
They judged .
They saw through .
Instinctively, I knew I couldn't hide what this creature was from him.
But, as fast as they saw;
As quickly as they knew;
They retreated.
His eyes softened, curling up with a smile as he patted Hilda's head, "Hello, little lady, sorry for my Hilda's arbitrary actions. Please, do forgive her; she only ans good."
Hilda shook her head side-to-side as he ruffled her hair, "What do you an?!"
Looking into the Commander's eyes, I imdiately realised what he ant:
[I know who you are; please forgive my daughter for her transgressions.]
He knows ? How?
And, as though he was reading my mind, "News travels quickly, little lady. Gossip is a powerful weapon."
Oh.
"Who's the little lady? The little dummy?" Hilda hadn't given up her title for . She carelessly pointed at as she asked her father.
Chuckling, the Commander patted her head again. "Yep! That's exactly who I'm talking about."
...Should you be saying that to my face?
And, again, practically reading my mind, "We don't care about that around here, only the size of your fist." He shrugged whilst gesturing to the orderly knight squadron standing behind him.
"If you're one of us, then nothing else matters."
If Ducal Houses of the Domain of Light heard his words, they might have gone crazy.
But power is power.
No matter their complaints, they could never touch the Commander of the Sanctified Knights.
I like it.
Thanks to him, my endless frustrations from years of learning etiquette were partially relieved.
"Ehhh~ But Papa, if you say that to Mommy, you won't get to eat dinner for a few days. Mommy always says: 'Make sure to watch yourself!' right?!"
Hilda joyfully ruined the Commander's image, turning the air around us still enough to hear the noise of a pin drop. The squadron behind him flinched with quivering lips, while the Commander himself...
Wow, I never thought soone could turn into a tomato in real life...
His face was redder than his hair.
"...Hilda."
"Yes, Papa?"
"...1,000 swords swings next ti."
"Eeek~!" Hilda shot into the air like popping popcorn, "That's not fair!"
"2,000-" But then the Commander almost raised it even further.
"Sorry, Commander!" Hilda's pained face begrudgingly saluted the Commander, bubbly tears piled in the corners of her eyes as she hiccuped with helplessness.
Beneath the mask, a tiny smile licked my lips.
That's a lovely relationship.
But with the smile arose a faint stickiness, a pitchy stickiness.
It makes want to-
"Little dummy! What are you laughing at!"
Hilda had, at so point, co right up to my face. She stuck to with those bubbly tears of hers, with her fist raised to the sky-
Bop!
-and this ti, there was no escaping it.
The strong fist slamd into my skull, almost rattling with the sudden burst of pain and dizziness. It almost perfectly synchronised with the flood of Curses rushing through my body, amplifying it slightly.
D, damn...
"...Hilda."
"Yes, Papa?!" Hilda cheerfully turned around at her father's voice as though she hadn't just almost burst my head apart.
"Don't do that." His lips were twitching with worry.
Rubbing my sore head, I eased his worries by playfully waving my hand. "No worries, Commander." My words ca out fluently when I saw Hilda clench her fist behind her back.
Violence is a solid question, and Hilda's answer is a bubbly yes.
"Once again, sorry."
Then, the Commander popped one fist on an open palm and seemingly rembered the original topic at hand. "Oh yes! Hilda said you were lost and hurting. Are you okay, little lady?"
Nodding, "Yes, Commander. I ca to check the training grounds, where all the noise I could hear from the gardens was coming from. I was curious about training and how to get stronger."
Contemplating my words, the Commander spent a mont preparing his words-
"Hey! You dummy! You can't go into the gardens without permission!"
-Hilda rushed up to again, but this ti without her fists. Genuine worry tinged her voice as she touched every corner of my body. Her little hands patted my chest, down to my abdon, around my back; patted my butt and then my legs.
"Are you okay?!"
I don't know what she thought would happen to for going into the gardens, but she'd obviously been told not to go there, otherwise...
Punishnt would await.
"Ah- Yes. I'm okay."
"Thank the Light!" Wiping the nonexistent sweat from her forehead, Hilda spread her arms wide-
Eh?
-and stuffed my head into her breasts. The mask barricaded from most of the sensation, but my exposed head, the ticklish feeling from my hair...
Was she worried?
...
Squeeze.
My body was wrapped beneath her much larger and much softer body.
...
No way, I probably made her crazy.
"Hilda!"
A hand latched onto Hilda's nape and peeled her off . She hissed and squealed like a feisty cat but fizzled apologetically under her father's stern gaze.
"Sorry..."
She'd do well in a cage-
...
Anyways!
"As I was saying, Commander, I was rely curious about these grounds. While I would love to learn more about your knight order, I shall go back."
Still holding onto Hilda, "No problem! You can co back whenever you want; plus, it would do this idiot daughter of mine well if she were to hang out with you."
[Please co back; your status can help my daughter rise higher. Yep, I'm shaless, but who cares?]
Is what he's saying.
"Understood. Farewell for now. You and your daughter have my greatest Blessings."
[Alright, I'll co back. But fix her up for , will you?]
Etiquette might be irrelevant to him, and I may also hate it, but so things shouldn't be said aloud when his daughter is right there.
"Got it. Farewell."
Thump.
Once he had saluted , Hilda fixed her posture and followed through with a similar but ssy salute. The squadron behind him, too, repeated the salute.
Nodding, I turned away to take my exit.
I've created a connection with the Sanctified Knights, I can co back for training and information purposes later.
If I'm allowed to, that is.
"Hilda, go help the little lady out."
"Yes, Papa!"
Hopping and skipping, Hilda popped up beside with a fitting smile for her rambunctious personality.
"Little dummy, follow out!"
She grabbed my hand and, once again, took the lead in pulling .
Unlike the way in, the way out of the partitioned training ground was simple: an exit. The partitioned training ground had a set of doors leading to the outside, as for coming inside...
I'm not too sure how that works.
I was only able to enter due to Hilda's assistance.
Maybe there's a recognition system?
I was still interested in the functionality of all these systems: the crystal lights, the warrs, the bath, the sink taps, the dinsional gateways, and now these training grounds.
How does this work in a world containing only Blessings and Curses?
Is there a thod to transfer Blessings and Curses into objects that aren't a part of you?
Intrigued, I sprinted out of the training ground alongside Hilda.
Once outside, Hilda firmly patted my back:
"Go on, little dummy. If Papa says you can go, then you can go. If Mommy was here, then she'd never let Papa do that, but she's not here. You're lucky."
Pointing at the well-paved pathway with signage signalling the directions to be taken to get around the mansion grounds, Hilda decisively parted with .
Shrugging at her, I waved and walked down the pathway.
My goal:
The bedroom.
I need so rest, this body is falling apart from all the hits it sustained.
Also.
I was half-expecting her to pull off sothing ridiculous... Like chase or sothing.
Luckily, I won't have to deal with her crazed antics any longer. I'm sorry for turning you into that, but what can I do?
Sotis, things CAN go well.
-----
The next morning, I woke up to Hilda's fist in my abdon.
"Stop oversleeping!"
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