Chapter 24
There wasn’t even a memo, but it was obvious who had brought it. Alice Winterbell. Eki stared blankly at the tray. Her chest fluttered strangely. Inside her head, the Demon Sword laughed like crazy.
“Stop laughing, it’s making my head ring.”
[Hey, she’s pretty cute. I thought she’d be annoying… It would have been a waste to kill her back then.]
She ignored the Demon Sword and ate her breakfast. She was supposed to meet Baraha at the stables again today. Originally, Baraha had asked if she wanted to do personal training instead of Squire training since the New Student Ranking Match was the next day, but Eki had refused, saying it wasn’t necessary.
‘I should have said I’d do personal training.’
After washing up and picking out the clothes she would wear today, Eki belatedly regretted it. Her whole body ached whenever she moved. The slight fever she had was spreading throughout her body, and it seemed like she was about to get a cold.
She had no intention of resting just because she was sick. Ekinesia was a superhuman who had reached a realm beyond Master. If she used Mana, she could ignore the cold and move. Even without using Mana, she could move without showing it.
If she had the kind of mentality that would make her rest just because of a cold, she wouldn’t have been able to gather Giosas for nine years. Of course, it was impossible to cure a cold with that mentality or Mana.
Since it was the stables again today, she chose a short dress that came to her calves. It was a dark brown color with beige lace. It was a spring dress, so it was thin, but it was made of a fairly warm material, and the long sleeves and high neckline seemed like they would help with her poor condition.
Eki slowly put on the dress, but then got annoyed and sat down on the chair. She used Mana to put on her stockings and accessories. She put on dark gloves to cover her blistered hands. Her arms were heavy, so she infused Mana into her cosmetics to move them and do her makeup.
Bardelgiosa, who saw her sitting in the chair and doing her makeup without lifting a finger, muttered as if she was dumbfounded.
[Using Mana for makeup? There’s a limit to how much you can waste… ]
“Moving my arms is more annoying right now.”
It took longer than usual. Eki checked one last time to see if the flush on her face was noticeable, then left the room. Baraha was already at the Azure Sky Stables.
“Welcome. But is it really okay for you to be taking care of horses when the New Student Ranking Match is tomorrow?”
“Yes, there’s a lot to learn. The probationary period is only a month, and considering that I’ll be going on a Monster subjugation mission in the middle of it, there’s not enough time.”
“…I don’t think you’ll be out of the top 3, but aren’t you taking it too much for granted, Eki? Don’t underestimate the Military Cadets.”
Baraha chuckled. Eki followed him into the stables and answered nonchalantly.
“I’m not underestimating them.”
“Then?”
“I’m just well aware of my own skills.”
Baraha twitched his lips and then burst into loud laughter. He couldn’t even speak properly because he was laughing so hard, and he pointed at Silfide with his hand.
“Pfft, cough, today, ahem, let’s finish grooming her mane and tail, which we couldn’t do yesterday. Then I’ll teach you how to put on the saddle and pack the equipment.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Silfide was docile as always. Eki brushed her as Baraha instructed, put on the saddle, and packed each piece of tack, such as the saddlebags. She was inwardly nervous that Yuriene might appear again, but fortunately, he didn’t.
In the late afternoon, Baraha said.
“That’s it for today. It’s the Ranking Match tomorrow, after all.”
“I’m really okay, though.”
“I have to go see the Lord in the afternoon anyway. Come to think of it, yesterday…”
Baraha frowned as he spoke. He remembered going to see Baron after hearing the Commander’s words yesterday.
〈He told me to stop by before I left work. Is he already here?〉
That was what Baron had said, sounding flustered, when he asked why he had been summoned. Had Commander Yuriene misheard Baron?
“Baraha, Senior?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Anyway, I have to go, so that’s it for today. Good luck in the Ranking Match tomorrow. I’ll come watch.”
“Yes, I understand. Thank you for your hard work today.”
Eki lightly bowed, holding the hem of her dress. Because she was so calm, Baraha didn’t notice her condition until the end.
After parting ways with him and leaving the stables, Eki headed straight for the nearby water fountain. She shook off the straw and dust, washed her hands, and then soaked a handkerchief in cold water and pressed it against her cheek. She felt dizzy as her fever rose.
“I should go and get some sleep.”
[I think this is the first time I’ve seen you sick. I’ve seen you get hurt a lot, though.]
“I can’t help it since my body isn’t trained. I’d need to spend at least a year properly building my body…”
Eki, who had been replying curtly, suddenly stopped talking. Someone was approaching. It was the presence of someone she didn’t really want to meet.
‘Ian Pelletro.’
She wanted to avoid him if possible, but there was only one entrance to the water fountain. Ian was coming towards the water fountain. She had no choice but to run into him.
Eki sighed, grabbed her handkerchief, and headed towards the entrance. As expected, as soon as she went out the entrance, she saw Ian approaching. Ian smiled brightly.
“Ah, Ekinesia Cadet, I was looking for you. Baraha Cadet said that you had parted ways at the stables a little while ago, so I thought you might be at the water fountain.”
“Hello, Senior. What’s the matter?”
“We need to decide the matchups for the New Student Ranking Match.”
Ian took out a leather pouch from his pocket. He untied the string that was tying the entrance and held out the slightly opened pouch to her.
“Since you don’t have any previous records, we’ll decide the matchups by drawing lots. Pick one.”
“Yes.”
Eki obediently put her hand into the pouch. There were folded slips of paper inside. She grabbed one at random, and Ian said with a smile.
“I heard that you’ve decided that you’re going to be in the top 3 and definitely participate in the Monster subjugation mission?”
“Ah… Yes. Did you hear that from Baraha, Senior?”
“Yeah. Well, it wouldn’t make sense if a Cadet who’s going to be the Commander’s Squire couldn’t even be in the top 3, right? Oh, I don’t mean to put pressure on you.”
“Yes, I know.”
She didn’t really want to have a long conversation. Eki answered vaguely and pulled out a slip of paper. When she unfolded the folded paper, she saw the number 8 written on it.
“You’re kind of unlucky, Ekinesia Cadet.”
Ian clicked his tongue and took out the bracket, writing Eki’s name in the number 8 slot. Then he showed it to her.
The Ranking Match was a tournament. The winner went up and the loser went down. Of course, depending on the luck of the draw, even someone with good skills could end up with a low ranking. To compensate for that, it was possible to change your ranking through duels.
“Your first opponent is Mikhail Cadet. You know Mikhail Cadet, right?”
Next to Eki’s name was the name Mikhail von Fran Almary. The younger brother of Giosa Owner Teresa. One of the three first-years that Fatima had said to keep an eye on.
“If you win and go up, your next opponent is Alice Cadet. Well, you already won against Alice Cadet in a duel. Of course, you have to win against Mikhail Cadet first, though. I believe you’ll do well. I’m looking forward to it.”
Ian smiled and patted Eki on the shoulder. Was this bracket a coincidence? She had a strong feeling that it wasn’t, but Eki just nodded.
“Thank you, Senior.”
She didn’t care what the bracket was anyway. Ian looked down at her face, which was as calm as ever, and was about to say something when Eki flinched. She sensed someone else with her sensitive senses. Neat footsteps. Yuriene was passing by nearby.
“Ekinesia Cadet?”
Ian called out to her, puzzled. Eki quickly erased her nervous expression.
“Yes, Senior.”
Of course, she only erased it on the surface, and all her senses were focused on Yuriene. Yuriene was heading towards the entrance of the stables when he suddenly stopped.
Even if he wasn’t as good as her, Yuriene would also have a wide range of senses. It was enough for him to notice the presence of Eki and Ian in front of the water fountain. Instead of going into the stables, he started coming towards the water fountain.
‘If he’s coming to get Silfide, he should go to Silfide, why is he coming this way…’
She was already dizzy and tired. Eki, who was grumbling inwardly, suddenly had another thought.
‘Did he come to check on me from the beginning?’
If he suspected that she might be the Demon Sword’s devil, it was natural for him to keep observing her.
He might feel uneasy if she was alone with someone else. From his point of view, a potential murderer was wandering around his territory.
If that was the case, it was natural for them to run into each other often. He was constantly monitoring her and might be getting daily reports about her from places she didn’t know about. He would want to make her his Squire as soon as possible and keep her within his sight. He must see her as a ticking time bomb.
If he had no memories and was watching her because he had seen something in her at last year’s birthday banquet, then the reason they kept running into each other was…
〈No, it was personal interest.〉
Yuriene’s words lingered in her mind. Eki shook her head without realizing it. Was her head acting up because of the fever? She was suddenly having romantic novel-like fantasies.
“Ekinesia Cadet, are you listening to me?”
“Ah, yes? I’m sorry. What were you saying?”
“Bread Cadet wants to apologize to you.”
“…What?”
What kind of nonsense was this? She was so dumbfounded that even her thoughts about Yuriene flew away. Ian said with a gentle smile.
“He said that after thinking about it, he felt like he had made a mistake in many ways, and he wanted to apologize. Bread Cadet asked me to arrange a meeting for him with you. What do you think?”
“He said he wanted to meet and apologize? To me, Bread Senior?”
“Yeah. You can refuse if you don’t feel like forgiving him. Just because he wants to apologize doesn’t mean you have an obligation to accept his apology.”
What kind of trick was this? Eki frowned. She didn’t know Bread von Poum very well, but even from that short meeting, she couldn’t imagine him reflecting on his actions.
Even if Eki had shown skills in the Ranking Match that left no room for criticism, it would be different, but she hadn’t even done the Ranking Match yet. And Ian Pelletro was the one delivering this message. It smelled fishy.
“…When does he want to meet?”
“If possible, he wants to meet even this evening…”
Ian’s voice trailed off. Eki knew why he had stopped talking. Ian quickly greeted.
“Arse Sebatiel. I greet the Commander.”
