Chapter 11: Master Bastion

A week later…

We finally arrived at the capital, and all of the recruits including me would take some formal training before heading out to the battlefield.

But of course, because of my relationship with Kather, I was given leave for a few days. Meaning that I would start my training a little bit late compared to the other recruits.

Why? Because Kather said that her father was in the capital and would like me to meet her father… so that Kather could announce our relationship to her father.

So naturally, I agreed.

Although she didn't give me any details about how we would be meeting him, I figured it would be something along those lines.

I was standing there waiting for Kather when she arrived, wearing a white dress covered with lace sleeves and a light blue skirt. She had also tied her hair back, although the way it fell behind her left shoulder made it look messy. I thought it suited her perfectly.

She took my hand and smiled at me. "Ready for today?"

"As ready as I will ever be," I said that as we both then visited Kather's father's house.

…

Her father's house is quite big… but that's understandable since Kather's father is quite a renowned person who had the status of being an incredible soldier back in his prime days of the course.

We then walked inside the house together.

"Father!" Kather called as soon as we entered the living room, where the man was sitting drinking tea, reading a book, and eating biscuits.

He looked up from his book. His eyes met mine and I saw something flash in them before he stood up and walked over to us. He grabbed my hand and shook it before saying, "Ah, so you are Ceonre, Kather said a lot of stuff about you. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too sir," I said while nodding my head but with the way Kather's father said, does he not remember me? "Um? Sir, do you not know me?"

He chuckled. "Of course, I know you… I wouldn't forget you as you're one of my disciples back in the village. It's just you had changed a lot, well in terms of appearance that is but I do hope you had gotten stronger as well." Kather's father said that as he laughed softly.

The last part caught me off guard if I had changed that much… as I feel like I haven't changed at all.

"Thank you for saying so," I said, smiling at Kather's father.

"You're welcome Ceonre. Now come on let's get to know each other better." Her father said with a wide smile.

I nodded again and followed him into another room, Kather trailing behind us. The room wasn't very large, probably only about ten meters long and three meters wide, but it still felt like a lot.

There were a bunch of bookshelves lining the walls and most of them were filled with books that seemed more interesting than useful. There were various instruments scattered around the floor, none of which I recognized. They must've been weapons of some kind or maybe even magic tools.

There was also a table in the middle of the room, with two chairs placed on either side of it. On the table were a teapot and cups.

"Please sit down," Kather's father said as he gestured toward the chairs.

We sat down in two chairs next to a table, Kather taking a seat across from us.

"So tell me, Ceonre, what has been going on lately? Kather told me that you had joined the army under her unit, is that true?" Her father asked me.

I nodded. "Yes, I am under the Kather unit…But I feel like I did not deserve to enter such a unit as I am weak." I said that.

Kather's father frowned. "Ceonre, please don't think like that. You're still learning and you need time, and that takes some time. I'm sure after all these weeks you'll have improved greatly…" He paused for a bit as he then said, "If you still have those thoughts, how about I train personally… It would be a bit harder since you're not a kid anymore."

That sounded good actually. Training with my former teacher and knowing that the training would be specialized in combat and not the basic stuff like what I learned before, would help ease my anxiety. And maybe even teach me a thing or two.

"Would you mind doing that, Sir?" I asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

He smiled. "Not at all! Since you're going to be part of the family, you can start calling me father or you could call me Master Bastion if you feel calling me father was a bit uncomfortable." He said.

It seems like Kather had already explained that part of me being in a relationship with her daughter, Kather. I guess it's better as it saves time for me to explain it.

"Thanks… I think I would call you my master for now, because I will be training under you, sir." I said that.

"If that's what you want," He then turned towards Kather. "Would you want your boyfriend to train with you?"

Kather blushed slightly. "Oh… I um…" She glanced over at me, biting her lip. "I would like that."

I couldn't help but blush upon hearing this. I mean I knew that she wanted me to train with her and her father. This would be the first time someone else referred to me as her boyfriend in front of their family. This makes me happy as I never thought that I would experience this stuff…

I guess Kather wanted me around more.

Master Bastion nodded and reached over the table to pat my back. "Good, I'm glad that my daughter is having such a nice man as her lover.." He then patted Kather on the back as well.

Kather's eyes widened slightly.

"Now, why don't you both go out and have a detour of the capital for the rest of the day? It would be a nice date, don't you think?" Master Bastion suggested.