The Story of a Middle-Aged Knight Who Tried to Live a Relaxed Slow Life in the Countryside, Only for a Duke's Daughter Whose Engagement Was Broken Off to Move in With Him

Knowing When to Give Up

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After spending a relaxing time at the pasture, Cistilia (and Aisha) and I returned to the village before dark.

We washed the boxed lunch at the village washing spot, then went to Granny's house to return the container.

「It was delicious. Thank you very much.」

「Don't mention it. I was wonderin' if it'd suit a fine young lady's taste, though.」

「It was a flavor I've never had before, but it was truly delicious.」

「Is that so, is that so.」

Granny narrowed her already squinty eyes even further and nodded to Cistilia.

To that Granny,

「U-Um...!」

Cistilia spoke with a deeply troubled, resolute look on her face.

「My, what is it?」

「Could you please teach me how to cook?!」

Cistilia pressed in closer to Granny as she spoke.

Granny shot a quick glance at my face.

(Granny knows that Cistilia just barged in here, after all.)

She was someone who would eventually have to be sent back to the royal capital.

Getting her recklessly involved in village matters and giving her false hope would only be cruel.

「Well now. It ain't like it hurts me none, and I'd love to teach ya, but it's probably too soon for that right now.」

「W-Why is that?!」

「You ain't the Magistrate's wife yet, missy. Right now, you're still the daughter of some grand noble out there. If I go teachin' a daughter like you local village cookin' or summat, folk might accuse us of makin' a noble daughter do vulgar work.」

「V-Vulgar, you say?!」

「Missy, you're pushin' yourself too hard, ain't ya? The world you lived in till now and this village are completely different. Even so, you're in a hurry thinkin' you gotta fit in right away. The village folk are good-natured, but if you jump in among 'em all prickly and anxious, it might lead to trouble.」

「Th-That's...」

「Brides who get impatient like you are right now often can't settle into a countryside like this.」

「Th-Then, what should I do to fit in?」

「Keep a broad and open mind, I reckon. Like the sky, like the forest, just accept the unchanging rhythm of every day, every month, every year as it is without trying to change it.

Layer year upon year like that, and keep livin' just as you are until you're an old hag like me.

For someone used to the exciting city, it's somethin' that sounds easy but is actually quite hard.」

Faced with Granny's words, steeped as they were in the wisdom of age, even Cistilia fell silent.

「Even men like the Magistrate here, who retire saying they're tired of the big city and wanna rest their bones—once they actually start livin' here, they sometimes get sick of how boring the village is.

Well, our Magistrate here is an easygoing soul. He chops his own firewood, helps out with field work, and goes boar hunting with the hunters, grinning as if having the time of his life. He's a man suited for this village, he is.」

「Hey, hey, that's pretty harsh.」

I gave a wry smile, wondering if that was really how she viewed me.

「So for those reasons, I can't let you do village work, missy.

Besides, you don't really understand village life to begin with, do ya?

I don't know what you plan to do from here on, but first, take a good, hard look around the village.

And after that, if you think you can't live in a countryside like this, then as pitying as it is for the Magistrate, it'd be best for ya to go back to the royal capital.」

「I-I don't particularly...」

I tried to refute Granny, but the words caught in my throat.

It wasn't like I had proposed to Cistilia.

She had just barged in on her own.

Still, I felt guilty saying that as if she were a nuisance.

Cistilia cast her eyes downward for a moment.

Don't tell me she's crying?

Just as I thought that, Cistilia snapped her head back up.

「—Understood. If that is the case, then I will prove to you that I can live properly in this village!」

As Cistilia declared this resolutely, my shoulders slumped in defeat, while Granny let out a broad grin.

「In that case, let's go inspect the village right away!」

To Cistilia, who was raring to go:

「Whoa, hold on. It's already late today.」

Though the pasture wasn't all that far, we had taken our time eating our lunch before heading back, so it was already evening now.

「We should let Aisha rest, too, and you have those flowers you picked, right?」

「A-Ah, that's right!」

Cistilia snapped out of it.

What I pointed out was the 'Moon-Waiting' Cistilia had gathered at the pasture.

(When she gets focused on something, she loses sight of her surroundings, huh.)

It wasn't just because she was young... that was probably just her natural personality.

Cistilia and I returned to the manor, leading Aisha.

Along the way, as Cistilia asked, I explained the things that caught her eye.

「What is that thing spinning around over there?」

「That's a watermill. It uses the river's current to grind flour.」

「What is that tall, thick cylinder-shaped building?」

「That? That's a silo. Apparently, they prepare fodder in it.」

「Further back, identical trees are lined up at regular intervals.」

「That's an orchard. They harvest apples and oranges there. I hear they're relatively rare varieties in the kingdom.」

「Oh no! That field is flooded!」

「The one filled with water is a paddy field. Unlike wheat, growing paddy rice requires a lot of water.」

「What is that low, flat building further back? It's strictly surrounded by a fence—are there prisoners inside?」

「That's a slime shed. They breed slimes for agricultural use. Even if they're for farming, they're still monsters, so there's a fence just in case.」

Just as Granny said, Cistilia genuinely didn't know a thing about farming villages.

The dusk deepened, our shadows stretching across the earth like ink stains.

Children ran past along the village path, fooling around with each other.

「Magistrate! Good evening!」

「Hey. Be careful on your way home.」

I raised a hand in response to the village child who greeted me so energetically.

*Neigh*, Aisha whinnied.

In the peaceful evening landscape of the farming village, the fine white horse stood awkwardly.

When I turned around, Cistilia had come to a halt without me realizing it.

She stood rooted to the spot a few paces behind me.

「...Cistilia?」

「Eh... Y-Yes.」

Cistilia raised her face, looking surprised that her own feet had stopped moving.

I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

「...Don't worry about it.」

「Eh? W-What do you mean?」

「Everyone has the environment they were born and raised in. Just because you don't know about this place doesn't mean you're at fault.」

「...That's true, isn't it.」

「Though it's not like I can tell you to adapt to this place either. If you want to return to the royal capital, tell me. I'll smooth things over and make excuses for you.」

Honestly, I didn't have much confidence it would go well, but I said it anyway.

If only I could just say, 'I took in a runaway young lady,' and have them believe it without suspicion.

「I don't... want to go back. I am Master Leonardo's wife.」

「No, like I said, stop making yourself my wife without asking.」

「But things are so different from what I expected... and the old woman gave me a talking-to as well.」

「Can you really call that a talking-to?」

What Granny meant was probably that Cistilia wasn't a village woman yet. Even if a magistrate's wife would receive special treatment, her status as his wife wasn't even clearly established yet.

To Granny, current Cistilia was nothing more than a 'guest'.

「Didn't you say so yourself? That you'd prove you could live properly in this village.」

「That's true, but... no matter how much I think about it, I can't imagine myself being of any use in this village...」

「Is it really that difficult? It's not like Granny and the others are doing anything special. They haven't been trained like knights, nor have they had the deportment of a duke's daughter drilled into them like you have.」

「That is precisely why it is difficult. If it were something I could learn and master through instruction, there would be room for effort. That is how I learned horseback riding, mounted archery, making sweets, and taking care of horses.

But the people of this village have been here since they were born, and village life is ingrained in their very bodies.

Unless I am reborn and raised in this village from scratch, I feel I will never be able to imitate them...」

「You're taking things to a pretty extreme conclusion again.」

「Because...!」

「Then what about me? Even though I'm commoner-born, I was raised in the royal capital too.」

「Why is it that you have managed to fit into this village, Master Leonardo? It hasn't been that long since you became magistrate, either.」

「Why, you ask...? Why, indeed?」

Prompted by Cistilia's words, I fell into thought.

I had never considered it until now.

To be sure, I had accepted life here without much resistance.

「Hmm... It's not like I put in effort to fit in or anything.」

I said, tilting my head.

「Sure, I wasn't raised in this village. I didn't even know this village existed until my boss introduced me to it. I thought it was a nice village, but I never thought, 'I *have* to fit in here. Aha, maybe that's why.」

「Eh? What do you mean?」

「Yeah. Trying to fit in means you believe you ought to be able to fit in if you just try hard enough, right? Or you've convinced yourself that you *must* fit in no matter what.

I don't really have those kinds of feelings. Sure, I respect the village rules and interpersonal relationships.

At the end of the day, I'm just an outsider. As long as I don't overstep my bounds and simply fulfill the duties assigned to me, that's enough. And as long as I do that, the villagers respect me in return. I am the Magistrate, after all.」

「'Just an outsider'... is that it...?」

「Yeah. To this village, I'm an outsider. Maybe I'll adapt down the line, or maybe I'll kick the bucket without ever fitting in.

But hey, it can't be helped. I accept that it can't be helped, and the village accepts it can't be helped either. Since both sides have given up on that expectation, neither makes unreasonable demands of the other.」

「Given up? But you seemed to understand each other so well with the old woman...」

「Granny takes care of me, and we've come to understand each other. She's an honest woman with no two-faced hidden agenda. But if I had any double-dealing, she'd spot it in a heartbeat. In her own way, growing up in a peaceful village, she's accumulated all kinds of experiences. Good things and bad things... though there were probably more bad things, really.」

「Even so, you still haven't fitted in?」

「There are definitely times when I think, 'Yeah, I'm really not a man of this village.' But even so, there are ways to interact that suit that. Human relationships aren't all about bending over backward to conform to the other person, you know? It's just like back when I was in the knights order.」

「Were you like that during your time in the knights order too, Master Leonardo?」

「Of course I had to be. Picture a commoner-born irregular knight working under a silver-spoon noble, right?

My former boss was a sarcastic bastard, but because we both understood there were parts of us that were fundamentally incompatible, we managed to get along without much friction.

If I had tried to fawn over a noble boss to fit his mold, or if he had tried to treat a commoner irregular knight as an equal, it probably would've gone far worse, don't you think?」

「So it wasn't a matter of becoming close regardless of status...」

「It might be ideal if you could do something like that, but in reality, that's impossible. You just consider your own position and the other person's position, and interact without being rude. Even if you don't like each other's status, there's nothing you can do about it anyway. Sure, as you interact, there might be someone you become good friends with, but generally, things go smoother if you don't hold such naive expectations.」

At my words, Cistilia sank deep into thought.

(Wait, I didn't mean to give such a heavy speech...)

I had intended to comfort her, but ended up going too deep.

Suddenly, I felt embarrassed.

「W-Well, it's just an old man's rambling. What I mean is, you have your own position, Cistilia, so you don't need to force yourself.」

Panicking at Cistilia's continued silence, I hastily added that.

「...Fufu.」

Cistilia suddenly giggled.

「W-What's so funny?」

「Because... Master Leonardo, you're just like you were in the past...」

「In the past? Ah, we did meet before, didn't we?」

「Yes. You always comforted me whenever I was feeling down all by myself, Master Leonardo. You would try so hard to find the right words, and in the end, you would always look so embarrassed.」

「I-I don't remember any of that.」

「That just shows how naturally it comes to you, Master Leonardo. Someone like me wasn't special at all; you would probably do the exact same thing for any girl who was crying.」

「W-What's with you all of a sudden?」

Cistilia huffed, turned her head away, and started walking ahead of me.

「If I have no 'position' in this village... then I will create one. Not by suppressing who I am to force myself to fit in, but a 'position' where I can make full use of who I am!」

「H-Hey, don't wrap things up so nicely like that...」

If anything, I'd prefer her to be aware of her position and quietly return home.

「The old woman also said that I don't know anything about the village. Starting tomorrow, I intend to look around the village thoroughly.」

「Well, it's not like I can stop you, but...」

「I will definitely make you acknowledge that I am necessary to this village, Master Leonardo!」

「It's a problem for me if you make that kind of resolution, you know?!」

「Since you said giving up is what's important, Master Leonardo, I will simply persevere until you give up and feel like accepting me.」

Turning halfway back in the setting sun, Cistilia spoke with a mischievous smile.

While I was unwittingly mesmerized by that smile, Cistilia jogged up the slope leading to the manor.

「...Good grief, what a troublesome young lady.」

As I walked up the slope together with Aisha, I let out a sigh thinking about what the future held.

*****

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