"Papa!"

  Her hands were eager as she sprinted headfirst at one of the areas shut with bck, reflective gss. Lowering her posture, she crossed her arms when she was less than a meter away and-!

  "Follow me, 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 dimensional doorway.

  A fitting bck gss for the Sanctified Knights, the Fgbearers of Light. Plus, walking up to the gss-

  Tap. Tap.

  It's solid.

  The feeling of gss ran through my fingers when I tapped the gss.

  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 gss and abruptly csped mine.

  "Woops! I forgot! You can't come in without my help!"

  Then, with a dazed expression, I was pulled into the gss. The sensation of passing through a solid, yet not solid, gss wall was like that of slime 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 emergencies. 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 men and women.

  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 me.

  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 come back?"

  The girl, Hilda, hopped up and down with her fists balled up and shaking beside her.

  "Papa, Papa, this little dummy!"

  Pointing at me, "She was in the pce you said not to go! Alone! And hurt!"

  Then.

  The Commander's eyes turned to me.

  Fiery red eyes.

  Burning.

  They judged me.

  They saw through me.

  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 dy, sorry for my Hilda's arbitrary actions. Please, do forgive her; she only means good."

  Hilda shook her head side-to-side as he ruffled her hair, "What do you mean?!"

  Looking into the Commander's eyes, I immediately realised what he meant:

  [I know who you are; please forgive my daughter for her transgressions.]

  He knows me? How?

  And, as though he was reading my mind, "News travels quickly, little dy. Gossip is a powerful weapon."

  Oh.

  "Who's the little dy? The little dummy?" Hilda hadn't given up her title for me. She carelessly pointed at me 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 compints, 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 someone could turn into a tomato in real life...

  His face was redder than his hair.

  "...Hilda."

  "Yes, Papa?"

  "...1,000 swords swings next time."

  "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 retionship.

  But with the smile arose a faint stickiness, a pitchy stickiness.

  It makes me want to-

  "Little dummy! What are you ughing at!"

  Hilda had, at some point, come right up to my face. She stuck to me with those bubbly tears of hers, with her fist raised to the sky-

  Bop!

  -and this time, there was no escaping it.

  The strong fist smmed into my skull, almost rattling me 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 pyfully waving my hand. "No worries, Commander." My words came 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 remembered the original topic at hand. "Oh yes! Hilda said you were lost and hurting. Are you okay, little dy?"

  Nodding, "Yes, Commander. I came 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."

  Contempting my words, the Commander spent a moment preparing his words-

  "Hey! You dummy! You can't go into the gardens without permission!"

  -Hilda rushed up to me again, but this time 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 abdomen, around my back; patted my butt and then my legs.

  "Are you okay?!"

  I don't know what she thought would happen to me for going into the gardens, but she'd obviously been told not to go there, otherwise...

  Punishment 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 me 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 rger and much softer body.

  ...

  No way, I probably made her crazy.

  "Hilda!"

  A hand tched onto Hilda's nape and peeled her off me. 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 merely 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 come back whenever you want; plus, it would do this idiot daughter of mine well if she were to hang out with you."

  [Please come back; your status can help my daughter rise higher. Yep, I'm shameless, but who cares?]

  Is what he's saying.

  "Understood. Farewell for now. You and your daughter have my greatest Blessings."

  [Alright, I'll come back. But fix her up for me, will you?]

  Etiquette might be irrelevant to him, and I may also hate it, but some things shouldn't be said aloud when his daughter is right there.

  "Got it. Farewell."

  Thump.

  Once he had saluted me, Hilda fixed her posture and followed through with a simir but messy 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 come back for training and information purposes ter.

  If I'm allowed to, that is.

  "Hilda, go help the little dy out."

  "Yes, Papa!"

  Hopping and skipping, Hilda popped up beside me with a fitting smile for her rambunctious personality.

  "Little dummy, follow me out!"

  She grabbed my hand and, once again, took the lead in pulling me.

  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 warmers, the bath, the sink taps, the dimensional gateways, and now these training grounds.

  How does this work in a world containing only Blessings and Curses?

  Is there a method 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 me.

  Shrugging at her, I waved and walked down the pathway.

  My goal:

  The bedroom.

  I need some rest, this body is falling apart from all the hits it sustained.

  Also.

  I was half-expecting her to pull off something ridiculous... Like chase me or something.

  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?

  Sometimes, things CAN go well.

  -----

  The next morning, I woke up to Hilda's fist in my abdomen.

  "Stop oversleeping!"