CHAPTER 28 - Menial Tasks

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Duke's Daughter, Annabelle von Blohm, Russiva Imperial Year 782 Month 4, Day 18, Blohm Estate (Back), Deutsche Empery

The location was the large backyard of the overly large Blohm Estate, the farthest corner of it just inside a miniature forest where Anny liked to spemd her time in solitude to observe nature.

Reichel was currently with Anny because of her request to receive a special lesson because she learned that Reichel was going to move out of the estate again, and it wouldn't be a daily occurence anymore to see her everyday completing her tasks even though she only got used to it again.

Though it was a pity that she was going to see her Sister Reichel less frequently, she quickly adapted to it and made use of that fact to get her to spend extra time with her today just before the moment she packed her bags.

"Let's start with something basic." Reichel said as she waved around her wooden sword, seeming like she was observing the intricate details of the wood's wrinkles and shape.

'Something basic? Not quite what I expected but I guess this will do too as long as I learn something cool in the long run!' Though Anny was quite impatient enough to make up several methods and schemes to get what she wanted, at the same time she was unnaturally understanding and patient as well, understanding that one has to start with the basics before they moved on to the advanced levels.

A rare trait for children her age actually, but it was nothing less than what one would expect from the daughter of the man whose wealth rivals that of the Deutsche Empery.

"So what are we doing for today!? Learning to parry? Learning to strike? Oooooh or maybe we're doing endurance exercises to build up my strength!?" And as Anny listed off the things she expected from what Reichel had in mind when she was going to teach her, the girl in question abruptly stopped her by raising her hand.

"What is a sword?"

'What is a sword?' Anny became instantly confused when faced with Reichel's question which she thought was just too dumb.

For a moment, Anny thought that Reichel was joking but when she looked back at Reichel's eyes she saw no sign of joking whatsoever, as it always was devoid of humour despite her charms ...

'You know, maybe id she actually smiled a little bit more then she would have all the men in the Empery under her grasp, but nooooooo, she just always has to put on some poker face 24/7!'  Anny thought, and then Reichel, perhaps sensing that Anny was thinking about something rude decided to follow it up with another question.

"What, you don't even know what a sword is?" Reichel asked. which made Anny reply instantly out of her pride.

"I do know what a sword is!"

"Really? What's the hold up then?"

"Don't patronize me! I was just caught a little off guard by how basic your question is!" Anny said as she pouted while looking down upon the piece of wood in her hands which was supposed to represent what she planned to master in the future.

"..."

A few minutes passed of silence as Anny monologued about the deeper meaning of the word 'sword' and while Reichel was deeply monologuing about what her next meal was going to be, when Anny suddenly broke the silence with her answer.

"A sword is your companion ..."

'You entrust your life to that piece of metal, you can't just go around and say that it was 'just' a sword.'

"A sword is not merely a chunk of steel that people used to aid them in their jobs to serve the country's interests, it is a tool meant for protecting others ..."

'To wield a sword is to be prepared to entrust your life to that sword in order to protect the ones you care about ...'

"A sword's purpose is to guide a human to the light, while fending off those who seek violence ..."

'I see now, I see what Sister Reichel is trying to tell me, before learning how to paint for what it is, you must learn what the brush is! ... for how it is ...'

"A sword is not for violence, but to promote peaceful solutions and relief!" And while Anny said those things she suddenly felt a sharp pain erupt at the back of her head.

*B O N K!*

"Ow!" Anny instinctively dropped her sword as put both of her hands on the top of her head, which was the spot that Reichel had just hit.

"Wow, congratulations, all of literally what you've just said was as wrong as the Flat Earth Theory, and here I was thinking that humanity made much more rational decisions in placing their values during the medieval ages rather than the year 2223."

"F-Flat Earth Theory? Medieval Ages? Year 2223?"

*BONK!*

"Shut the hell up, can't you see I'm still talking?"

'Hey hey hey, what was that? Did you just hit me on my head twice?' Anny's brain felt itself melting over the over-processing of what just happened.

"And what's with that 'meant to protect others' crap? If you wanted to protect other people without hurting anybody then you should have just used a shield or maybe became a mage to actually use shield spells!"

"A sword is to not promote violence and instead peaceful outcomes and solutions? Then why does every country in the world  save up swords to arm themselves with because they couldn't reach a peaceful resolution? What are you? A romanticist? Well I guess I should have expected that from a noble's daughter, but it's not something I definitely would expect from a merchant's daughter!"

"Then what is a sword!?"

"A sword is just a hunk of sharpened metal that humans swing, stab, and kill each other with, you over-complicate things. That is all there is to it."

...

...

...

It took a moment for Anny herself to process what Reichel had just said, but when she finally did her thoughts became disarrayed.

'That's it!? There's no deeper meaning!? What were all those philosophy classes for then!?' Anny wanted to lash out but then the fear of being hit on the head again overtook her urge to speak.

So instead, Anny took the moment to deeply think about Reichel's words, and see if there was any deeper meaning behind them ...

...

...

...

'She's right ... that's all there is to it ...' Anny wanted to slap herself for thinking about something as ridiculous as a 'deeper meaning' for something that was so dastardly simple.

Just as Reichel said, a sword is merely a piece of sharpened steel that people wave around to harm each other.

Just now, Anny had a partial glimpse of the simplicity of the horror that is called humanity.

"I see now, it seems I still have much to learn, please take care at your new lab, I will be visiting from time to time to inquire more knowledge, danke."

And with those words, she went off the satisfy her crave for understanding ...

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Studentin (Second Lieutenant), Reichel Schwertspinne, Russiva Imperial Year 782 Month 4, Day 22, Schwertspinne Private Lab, Deutsche Empery

"And so ever since the day you've moved away from the Blohm Estate she's just been inside her room after moving all of her furniture out, only having a stack of training swords annd decorative armor inside her room."

"She pays no mind to the staff and her tutors and threatens them with the words 'If you want ladylike then I'm going to bash your head with this wooden stick first', throughout the day loud bangs keep sounding from within the room, only stopping late at night to what is what I presume to be resting."

"I see ..."

Reichel said as she sipped her lemonade while putting one of her legs on top of the other, as well as pulling a lever that was just attached to the right side of her chair ...

*criiiiik!*

The back of the chair lowered, allowing Reichel to adopt a more relaxed and comfortable position.

'Hmmmm, the sound of the reclining could be modified so it wouldn't make any noise, and there could be a platform that would raise my feet as well to the same angle as the back of the seat, but for a first trial of the product I'd say this wasn't too shabby!' Reichel took notes inside her mind as she then faced towards the person she was conversing with just across the coffee table she ordered.

*criik!*

*criik!*

*criik!*

The sounds of the adjustment lever grinding metal kept repeating as the person who sat just across Reichel kept pulling and pushing back the level adjustment lever like a child who had seen a new toy, which kind of annoyed Reichel herself.

'Nevermind, I have to stark work on silencing the sound after this conversation ...' Reichel thought as she finally made ready to say her words after the repeated creaking.

"So the old man wants me to come up there and convince the girl to continue with her aristocratic studies is what you're saying ..." Reichel commented with a snarky tone that was just too filtered by her poker face for anybody to notice.

"... Adrian."

"Ah yes! This Reclining Chair that you've thought of amuses me very much, when is it due for release?"

"That's ... not what I said."

"Hahaha, Reiche you need to lighten up a bit more! You always go and work every second of the day, aside from eating is there nothing you take pleasure in?" Adrian said as he continued to push and pull the lever with the obvious disregard of Reichel's annoyance.

But rather than telling Adrian to stop the noise-making, what she said rather was quite different from what Adrian expected to hear.

"Reiche?"

"It's a nickname I made for you, Reiche, you like it?"

"No, that sounds disgusting."

"Well just Frau Schwertspinne it is then."

"Anyways, about the thing with Anny ..."

"Yes yes, I'll go tell Herr Blohm that you have other plans and can't be bothered with something as measly as child-counselling, believe me, I understand what you're trying to say, but even if I put in a good word for you don't expect that he'll just let it go without any backlash such as the potential oh-so-threatening budget cut, nyahahahahaha!"

"That's ..."

'--exactly part of what I wanted to say ...' Reichel was about t say but then again decided against it knowing that it would just fuel his pride and make him talk about unnecessary things again.

"Anyways, I met the Head of the Research Branch in a random corridor just the other day." Instead Reichel remembered her meeting with the buff tech-guy in Officer School just a few days ago.

Thanks to him, Reichel managed to move out of the Blohm Estate and then was met with a few carts filled with random materials and plants, most of which were on Reichel's list of things to acquire which she gave to the old man Blohm.

Reichel didn't know how, but it was surprising to her that her request for a large research facility was easily met with such haste considering the primitive technology level of the world, but then again she just assumed that the fact that people had magic powers had some sort of play in it.

She was actually right now still in the process of multi-tasking of making herself home whilst sorting her material possessions out, as well as putting up security on a specific room on the third basement which contained her special food which she gets from all of her hunting trips during the night, disguised under the folklore which was the Rotkäppchen.

Her schedule was so full along with the mandatory need for attending Officer School that she actually pulled off a few all-nighters due to her workaholic tendencies.

"Oh? You met Olaf? Well I guess that would explain to how you got your longsword back as well as the address to this place ..."

"That's right, and from our conversation on that day I heard something about a Monstertöter that's been causing trouble in your field." Reichel said as she shook her cup filled with lemonade as if she were holding a wine glass filled with high-grade liquor.

It was something that Reichel had been curious about as she juggled her tasks with great efficiency, and it had been something that she kept thinking about even while sleeping.

Meanwhile Adrian, as soon as he heard the word Monstertöter just brought out a long groan as he fully reclined the reclining chair he was sitting on while covering his eyes with his forearm as a sign of deep frustration.

"That kid, I told him not to tell you anything!"

"I think it's a little too late for that ..."

"Well long story short it's just like what you, as the Rotkäppchen does every night as you make tens of men disappear belonging to other criminal syndicates disappear as if they were smoke, and how do you do that by the way? I can pay good sum of Yuleas if you share with me the methods if you want!"

"How I get rid of bodies is none of your concern, nice try by the way, attempting to change the topic."

"Tsk."

"Well anyways, our Head of Security Branch is already on the case, there's even a plan today on how we'd finally take him down with him at the center of it."

"Woah, such great progress, and how come you're so sure that this plan will work?" Reichel was all up for plans, and with the fact that the Blohm Company has been one of the most successful financial powers in the Empery, she had an idea about the average competence of the executions of its operations considering that it hasn't fallen yet.

But even still, Reichel was curious and liked to know what was happening around her.

"I'm absolutely positively sure that it will work because it's the Head of the Security Branch that is going to take care of this."

'Dominik Fürstenberg, 34 year old beserker, called the Hammer of Blohm by the lower employees, he's said to have the strength and martial prowess just below that of a member og the Six Grands ...' Reichel had to admit, the so-called Hammer of Blohm had a good reputation, and his reliability was nothing to be scoffed on seeing as how his level of strength is supposed to be 'the strongest in the Empery' if you exclude all Six Grands ...

'Quite a reputation indeed ... however ...'

Even with quite the reputation ...

"Your outstanding faith in another person will lead to their eventual downfall." Reichel said as she chugged down the remnants of her beverage, shorty after making the motion to wipe her mouth with a handkerchief.

"Say what you want, but the fact that there's already another person on the case means there is no need for you to personally go out of your way to get rid of the new threat, since there would be a problem if your identity were to be exposed due to the high frequency of your own selfish operations."

'Not that I was going to anyways ...' Reichel thought.

It would have been up for debate if it were a well-known person who was easy to find. but the person in question was a person just jumped out of nowhere on a rainy day and just started killing people in the Unterwelt left and right indiscriminately without any sort of distinction or pattern and then retreats just as quickly as the person initially comes into the scene.

With all her tasks at the moment, she wasn't really looking all too great when faced with the possibility that she had to play detective.

"I see."

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Security Branch Head, Dominik Fürstenberg, Russiva Imperial Year 782 Month 4, Day 22, Unterwelt, Deutsche Empery

"So you've come."

A man with a slim build holding a pole-hammer said, as he turned around to meet another person, his opponent who was just behind him.

The man holding the halberd was naturally Dominik, the so-called "Hammer of Blohm".

crink!

Dominik put his pole-hammer up, getting in his battle-ready stance.

"Sigh, it's another fail, just when will that Red-Hood pop out?"

Though the person who was unlucky enough to be Dominik's opponent was unarmed, all of Dominik's battle senses signalled him that he was not an opponent to be underestimated despite that.

His battle instinct even, which he had cultivated for many years even gave him the idea that the man's bare hands packed as much punch as his hammer, which had also been with him throughout many battles.

But he didn't care, because in the end it was just a mere human who was going to crushed to paste just like how tomato sauce was mashed before it was processed.

"I'm going to eliminate you now."

Dominik made the first move.