The Reincarnated Count's Daughter Is the Strongest as She Is Loved by the Spirits, Though She Is Only Wishing for Regular Romance!

Alfred-sama quickly took Derrick-sama with him and returned to work. When Paolo finished greeting the royals and appeared in the training ground, the Royal Guards interrupted their training, lined up, and stood at attention with their right hands over their chests. Dressed in uniforms with white and black lines on navy blue, their impressive physiques made them look even more striking. Seeing them move in perfect synchronization was truly a sight to behold.

As the nation's highest authority, the crown prince had to give a speech on such occasions, which was quite a task. I, on the other hand, only needed to listen attentively while looking around for Alan-oniisama. Since he was still an outsider, he stood alone at the far end of the front row. In the midst of uniformed men, his light attire made him stand out. It seemed the crown prince was aware of Alan-oniisama's participation.

"Today, we will learn from Alan about the use of spirit beasts in the Berisario military," the crown prince announced.

All eyes turned to Alan-oniisama as he was called out by name.

"Alan, come forward," Paolo called.

As Alan-oniisama ran to the center of the group, the knights' gazes varied. Some might have been resentful of the special treatment due to his Berisario background, while others welcomed the involvement of a prominent noble. However, having to learn from a child was likely not a favorable situation for anyone.

"I've heard that Berisario's military is divided based on the attributes of their spirit beasts. Is that what you'll be discussing today?" the crown prince asked.

"No, Your Highness. Since I've never been part of the military, I don't know about that. Today, I plan to talk about how I personally cooperate with spirits in battle," Alan-oniisama explained.

"Interesting."

"Since spirit beast training can be done alongside regular training, I'll also discuss those methods."

To demonstrate, Alan-oniisama asked everyone to take a step back to give him space. The front row crouched down for better visibility. The spectators leaned forward, curious about what would happen next.

"I have spirit beasts of all attributes, and except for the water spirit, all are sword spirits," he continued.

"Pi-cho?"

"Paolo, let's just move on from that," Alan-oniisama interjected quickly.

"My sister named them on her own," Alan-oniisama added, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, I see..."

Despite the instruction to avoid drawing attention, he had brought me into the conversation. The water spirit was called Picho, the earth spirit Ganchan, the wind spirit Byuchan, and the fire spirit BouBou. It had started as a joke, but the names had stuck. I knew, though, that Alan-oniisama secretly used those names as well.

Paolo gave a sympathetic glance towards me before patting Alan-oniisama's shoulder, which drew everyone's attention back to him.

"When I train for combat, I enhance my defense with the earth sword spirit."

A yellow light enveloped Alan-oniisama's hand and spread across his body.

"Next, I use the wind sword spirit on my hands and feet to increase my movement speed and reflexes."

This time, his hands and feet glowed green.

"With this, I can move much faster."

Alan-oniisama lightly kicked off the ground, hovering about twenty centimeters in the air, and quickly moved side to side and backwards. The onlookers followed his movements in awe, their expressions no longer showing disdain or irritation but amazement.

"Hold on, Alan. Let's take it one step at a time," Paolo suggested, sensing the need to slow down.

"I have a question. Does everyone in the Berisario military train like this?" Paolo asked.

"That would be impossible," Alan-oniisama replied before anyone else could.

"No, not everyone," Alan-oniisama's vice-captains interjected, confirming that such expectations would be unreasonable.

"The full-body defense enhancement is only possible for a few. Some can do it on parts of their bodies, like their hands and arms, but the whole body is difficult," Alan-oniisama explained.

"I see."

"Some of our knights can do it with just their hands," Paolo noted.

"But floating while moving is possible with just one spirit attribute. Everyone can do it. You can move yourself, or move objects while floating," Alan-oniisama continued.

"Everyone?" someone asked incredulously.

"Even women and children?" another questioned.

"He's just a child," someone noted.

"If you can move spirit-powered vehicles, floating yourself should be simple," Alan-oniisama replied.

Despite their changing expressions, Alan-oniisama maintained his poker face. He seemed to find the questions somewhat redundant.

"In Berisario, we limit the use of horse-drawn carriages to specific roads, making the castle cleaner," he added.

Horse manure pollution is an issue often overlooked in fantasy worlds. Horses don’t excuse themselves to designated spots, so cities have people whose job it is to clean up after them, and roads are often littered with it. But with spirit-powered vehicles, this problem doesn’t exist.

"Children learn to float and move while playing. It strengthens their supporting muscles and improves balance," Alan-oniisama explained.

Hearing that even children could do it made it hard for the knights to deny their own abilities. Though they looked skeptical, they were also intrigued.

"If you can move on, Alan. The next demonstration is unique to me, so maybe I shouldn't..." Alan-oniisama hesitated.

Considering the purpose of showcasing the Royal Guard’s excellence, this demonstration seemed risky. However, Paolo wanted to instill a sense of urgency among the knights.

"Let's see it," Paolo insisted.

"Yes, it would be beneficial to know," the vice-captain agreed.

Alan-oniisama stepped further away, raising his right hand slightly forward and calling out the name of the fire sword spirit. His hand glowed red, the light intensifying and extending towards the ground, transforming into a flaming sword.

"A sword? When did he—?"

"I recall hearing rumors about the second son of Berisario creating a flame sword when the Fairy Princess first visited the palace..."

"I thought it was a mistake, a misidentified enchanted sword."

The knights and spectators erupted in excitement. Even the crown prince leaned forward in his seat.

"When I was young, I wasn’t allowed to carry even a wooden sword outside the training grounds. So, while swinging a stick around, I wished it could turn into a sword. Then, the spirit made it happen," Alan-oniisama explained.

Practicing with long sticks and branches had eventually led to creating a sword out of nothing.

"This is... impressive."

"Once you learn to enchant a sword, everyone should be able to do it eventually."

"It's not that simple," someone countered.

"Not everyone has high magic power or a fire spirit," another noted.

"If you believe you can’t, then you never will. And if you say it out loud, the spirits will think they can’t either," Alan-oniisama emphasized, extinguishing the flame sword and manifesting all his spirit beasts in miniature form.

"The Royal Guard can increase their magic power through training and communicate with spirits. Unlike the commoners in Berisario, the Royal Guards are all nobles, so they can have more spirits," Alan-oniisama continued.

"I'm forty now. It’s too late for me to bond with a spirit beast," one of the vice-captains remarked.

Paolo seemed to employ experienced veterans as his vice-captains, one in his forties and another in his mid-thirties. Both had bonded with two spirit attributes before the central spirits existed, thinking it sufficient.

"Even without forming spirit beasts, spirits can still use magic. Gradually increasing magic power while nurturing spirits will benefit in the long run. A Berisario captain once mentioned that as we age and our physical strength declines, having spirit beasts or well-trained spirits can extend our careers and help avoid injuries. Having many spirits around after retirement can also be enjoyable," Alan-oniisama shared.

"I see."

"Indeed."

Despite his young age, Alan-oniisama's insights were not met with anger but with understanding, likely due to his earlier impressive demonstration. Some knights even seemed eager, eyes sparkling with interest.

"Can the flame sword only be created with a fire spirit?" one knight asked.

"What I did earlier can be done with any sword spirit attribute. Earth enhances defense, wind increases speed, water heals injuries, and fire boosts attack power, so it’s best to enchant swords with it," Alan-oniisama explained.

"So, it’s best to experiment based on the spirits you have," Paolo summarized, leaning forward eagerly.

Paolo's enthusiasm to learn was evident, while his vice-captains seemed somewhat dazed.

"Spirits are important. Sword spirits can’t use area magic," Alan-oniisama noted.

"In Berisario, units are divided based on spirit attributes and the balance between spirit and sword spirits," Paolo commented.

"I've heard that, but I don’t know the specifics," Alan-oniisama admitted.

"Fair enough."

"Well, let’s integrate these training methods gradually. Everyone can’t learn this all at once," Paolo suggested.

"That’s not quite right," Alan-oniisama interjected.

"Huh?"

"Spirits learn. They perform magic and enhancements, so it’s the spirits who need to see the demonstrations. Haven’t you noticed that when one person’s spirit learns a new spell, other spirits in the group can do it too? Spirits observe and learn from each other," Alan-oniisama explained.

"So, by showing Alan’s demonstrations

 to the spirits, they can learn," Paolo concluded.

"Well, yes."

Realizing they didn’t have to master everything themselves, the knights’ faces brightened.

"Spirits will learn and perform these techniques?"

"But they won’t cooperate without proper communication."

"My Pee-chan is very smart!"

"Is it really that easy? Seriously? I want to float and move too."

"Quiet!"

The knights instantly fell silent at Paolo's command.

"Alright, Alan. Show the spirits everything you demonstrated earlier," Paolo instructed.

"Paolo... I mean, Commander, humans still need to learn balance," Alan-oniisama reminded.

"That can be learned physically. For now, let’s focus on showing the spirits," Paolo insisted.

"Alright. Please gather your spirit beasts around me. Those with spirits in an earlier stage can sit nearby..."

Is this really how training for the Royal Guard goes? Alan-oniisama is surrounded by a variety of spirit beasts, almost like an impromptu classroom for spirits. I expected more marching and combat drills, but this is quite different.

"Isn’t that the crown prince’s spirit beast over there?"

I glanced at Patty, who was clasping her hands and blushing while gazing at Alan-oniisama. She wasn’t listening to me at all. Oh, Patty likes Alan-oniisama. Maybe we’ll be sisters one day. That wouldn’t be so bad.

"How adorable..."

"Is he secretly fond of children?"

"Probably so."

The ladies around me were enjoying the scene, watching the earnest expressions of the spirit beasts as Alan-oniisama taught them. Dozens of spirits floated above, glowing softly, while the knights observed, worried about their spirits' progress, looking like fathers at a school event.

The empire is peaceful today. The training might not seem peaceful, but with Alan-oniisama's teachings, our military strength will surely increase.

"Hm?"

Someone made a strange sound. Whoever it was seemed overwhelmed by the cuteness of the scene with the spirit beasts and the knights.

"Biddy suits her better than Bridget."

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Author Notes:

  Thank you for reading.

  Your reports on typos are greatly appreciated.

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