Chapter 49
“Just playing with him.”
“He’s crazy, he’s crazy. What confidence did that upperclassman have to challenge her to a duel?”
“Wow, that’s really scary.”
The edges of his collar, the ends of his sleeves, the thread of his buttons, the decorations on his shoes, the back of his shirt collar, the ends of his hair. Cadet Ekinesia Roaz was cutting away only those parts with precision, without leaving a single scratch on Bread's body.
At first, Bread's club members ridiculed her, but they gradually noticed the unusual situation and their faces changed. The chattering mouths closed one by one. They retreated little by little, trying to look like bystanders.
Bread could no longer attack and was terrified, switching to a defensive stance. It was like standing naked among snakes with bared fangs, feeling them approach as if to bite, only to crawl over his skin. The fact that they might suddenly turn and bite was even more frightening. He almost wished he would be cut quickly.
But no matter how hard he tried to block, Eki's sword easily avoided his and cut the desired parts. The tip of the sword rose as if to cut his groin, barely leaving a scratch on his leather belt before retreating, and Bread's face finally turned blue.
“S, s, stop! Stop it!”
Bread screamed. As soon as the words left his mouth, Eki's sword lunged fiercely. Bread grabbed his sword and closed his eyes. Eki's sword stopped just short of touching the tip of his nose.
“Open your eyes, upperclassman. It shouldn’t have hurt at all, but you’re quite the scaredy-cat.”
It was a plain tone, but it sounded like a stinging mockery to Bread. Nevertheless, he had no will left to retort. Bread gasped for breath and remained silent. The blade, stopped just a hair's breadth away from his nose, was eerily frightening. So were the purple eyes visible beyond it.
“Do you admit defeat?”
“I, I admit it. I admit it. Put the sword away…!”
The sword retreated cleanly. As soon as he heard the sound of the sword entering the scabbard, Bread staggered and collapsed on the spot. His face was pale, as if he had seen a ghost.
As Eki, who had sheathed her sword, approached him, Bread unknowingly retreated backward, supporting himself on the ground. It was an unsightly sight, but surprisingly, no laughter erupted among the Cadets. This was because the pressure of the swordsmanship Ekinesia showed was more impressive than Bread's ugly appearance.
Eki stood in front of Bread, looking down at him, and said,
“Get up, upperclassman. As promised, you need to kneel and apologize. To our club president.”
Fatima, who had been out of her mind, suddenly came to her senses at those words. She approached Eki and shook her head.
“Ah, Eki, I’m okay.”
“I’m not okay. Upperclassman Bread, what are you doing?”
Reddish purple eyes were coldly looking down at him. Bread hurriedly got up and knelt down, feeling as if a blade was scraping his neck. He bowed his head toward Fatima.
“I, I made a mistake. Please forgive me…”
Alice, who had been watching from the sidelines, interjected in a stiff tone.
“Mistake? Your attitude was not a mistake. Wasn't it just acting as you normally think? Don't try to minimize your wrongdoing with the excuse of a mistake.”
“Oh, right? I almost overlooked it. Alice, thank you for pointing that out.”
Eki widened her eyes and turned her gaze to Bread. Bread, who was already pale, turned black and died at that gaze. He hurriedly bowed his head again.
“Y, yes, what I usually think came out! I was foolish. I’m sorry, really. I won’t do this again!”
“Oh, um… Yes, I understand. You shouldn’t do that again, okay? And don’t pick on our club anymore. You saw it, right? Our club members are scarier than me.”
Fatima said with a smile, scratching her cheek. Bread nodded diligently, and Alice frowned but didn't say anything more. Eki sighed softly.
Princess Diasante watched until that point, then turned her body. She quietly moved away from the training ground.
She returned to the royal guard headquarters, crossing the now deserted academy, as most of the Cadets were gathered at the 6th training ground. On the way, she ran into someone who was rushing towards her.
“…Princess Diasante.”
“Oh my, Yuriene, Your Highness, no, Sir.”
Yuriene caught his slightly disheveled breath and stared at her with cool eyes.
“Where are you wandering around alone?”
“Isn’t the Azure Knights headquarters safe?”
“You should know how dangerous your situation is. Always bring a royal guard with you.”
Rosalyn quietly looked up at the expressionless man. She had a hunch.
The fact that a freshman was appointed as a Squire from the first day of admission, and that the freshman was the daughter of Count Roaz. Because of those two facts, she had secretly gone to see Ekinesia Roaz. Taking into account the rumors about the Wisdom club meeting that her maid had brought.
Rosalyn asked a question to turn her suspicion into conviction.
“Sir Yuriene, you didn’t run over here because you were worried about me, did you?”
“Your safety is important. There are many who are after you.”
“Not that, you found out where I went and came to find me yourself. If you were worried about my safety, you could have just sent a royal guard.”
She added with a smile.
“Ekinesia Roaz… You heard that I was going to meet your Squire. You must have ears planted near me.”
“….”
Yuriene closed and opened his eyes. The blue eyes, surrounded by silver eyelashes, were as sharp as if they could cut if touched.
“Princess Diasante. Don’t cross the line.”
“Oh my, so she’s your line?”
“You interpret it as you please. Imagination is free, but remember.”
Yuriene approached Rosalyn. He whispered in a voice that seemed to freeze her.
“I haven’t decided anything yet.”
“…Did you have any other choice, Sir?”
“If I decide to give up Holy Sword Rangiosa.”
The smile disappeared from Rosalyn's face. The owner of the Holy Sword was now hypothesizing that he might give up the Holy Sword. With his own mouth. The meaning was by no means light.
The Holy Sword Rangiosa cannot be held any longer if one commits evil deeds. Therefore, the owner of Rangiosa cannot do anything that goes against the universal definition of human justice.
In fact, the biggest reason why the imperial family of the Empire treats Yuriene, the Monarch of Ajenka and the commander of the Azure Knights, without vigilance was because of that. A person who can only act righteously at all times, what an easy being to handle.
But what if he were to let go of the Holy Sword?
“…The range of choices would be very wide.”
The words Yuriene spat out were cold but soft. But that was more eerie than the sharp warning from before. Rosalyn's face turned pale.
“Princess Diasante. Go back to your room now. I hope you won’t wander around without a royal guard in the future.”
Leaving those words behind, he moved towards the academy.
Rosalyn Diasante was unable to move for a while and remained frozen in place. After barely calming her surprised heart, she returned to her room and muttered to herself.
“Wow, it’s deeper than I thought. With this, there might be a possibility…”
* * *
After Bread and the Noblesse club left, Wisdom continued their club meeting.
The issue of selecting new club members was decided to be left to Fatima, the club president, by both Eki and Alice. After sparring with each other and having a brief conversation, the first meeting was successfully concluded.
After the sparring, the Cadets who had gathered scattered one by one. Some Cadets followed Fatima, perhaps because of inquiries about joining the club. Eki and Alice returned to the dormitory together.
“I felt it while sparring today, but it seems that I’m not putting as much strength into attacking the upper body as I thought. What do you think, Eki?”
“Hmm… Alice tends to have her lower body’s center of gravity shake when she raises her sword high. To maintain your balance, it’s better to widen your stance a bit…”
Eki’s words trailed off as they walked side by side. She stopped abruptly in her place.
“Eki?”
Alice looked back at her, puzzled as to why she wasn’t following. Eki’s gaze was fixed straight ahead. Following her gaze, Alice discovered a silver-haired man. Recognizing him, Alice quickly gave an Ajenka-style salute.
“Arse Sebatiel. Greetings, Commander.”
“Cadet Alice, please excuse us. I have something to say to my Squire.”
Yuriene, who accepted the greeting with a nod, said calmly. Alice understood and looked back at Eki.
“Yes, Commander. Then I’ll go ahead, Eki.”
“Ah… Okay, Alice.”
Eki barely managed to resist the urge to reflexively grab Alice. Fortunately, Alice didn’t notice her strange reaction and headed towards the dormitory after saying goodbye.
Only Eki and Yuriene remained on the path. Eki kept her head bowed.
‘What should I do? I can’t make eye contact.’
Now that she was aware of her feelings, she couldn’t properly look at his face. Shyness, guilt, and the situation that he might get engaged were all mixed together, pulling her head down.
She fixed her gaze on the lace of her dress hem, which was visible below, and didn’t say anything.
Yuriene was also silent for a while. Eki could feel his gaze lingering on her forehead, then moving down along her flowing hair.
Then she became very worried about what her hair looked like now. She wanted to raise her hand and touch it, but it was too embarrassing to do so.
‘Ugh, my hair must be messed up and tangled from the sparring…’
Is her outfit okay? What about her makeup? She felt like checking a mirror right away. It wasn’t just the anxiety that she might be reminiscent of the Demon of the Demon Sword. It was just that she was so concerned about what she looked like to him.
[What are you two doing? You said you had something to say, but why isn’t he saying anything? Are you having a contest to see who can’t stand it and speaks first?]
The Demon Sword grumbled, bored. After a long silence, Yuriene opened his mouth.
“Ekinesia.”
“…Yes, Lord.”
Her reply was a bit late. Now that she was a Squire, Yuriene no longer used the title of Cadet. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t called her name a few times before, but just because the title wasn’t attached, her heart sank.
‘No, he called me by my name even right after the appointment ceremony. It wasn’t like this then, this is just…’
Because she had become aware of her feelings. All the nerves that were already leaning towards him were blushing.
Realizing that anew, Eki felt her face heat up. From her neck to her earlobes, it was burning. At this rate, absolutely, no, she hadn’t intended to raise her head even before, but now she couldn’t raise her head even more.
After calling her name, Yuriene was silent again. His gaze lingered on her forehead. As if he wanted to know the face below it. Then he spoke again.
“Did something happen?”
