Chapter 46
The final match was a fight between Tania and a boy from a village who came with the vigilantes.
The duel ended in an instant.
Through her training with Luizella, she had become proficient in maintaining and reshaping flames.
As she swung her staff, three fireballs floated above her head.
Although they were small in size and few in number.
Her magic shared the same principles as the magic Professor Gordon had shown at the research center.
“I-I lose!”
The village boy knelt and threw himself flat on the ground as if prostrating with both hands.
Tania’s finger stopped in midair.
If she simply swung it forward, the fireballs would collide with the ground and trigger an explosion.
She wanted to show it.
The results of her hard work until now.
Immediately after watching the previous duels, she felt her body heating up.
She thought any student would be intoxicated by such a feeling.
However, the boy in front of her was not a student.
He was merely a pitiful survivor called upon because he was stronger than others.
He laid down a crude spear made by carving a tree branch, not a sword or an axe, and trembled.
“That is enough.”
Tania withdrew her mana and returned to the side of the group.
Even then, people were engaged in a heated discussion about the fourth match.
The apprentice knight who used Aura.
The apprentice mage who lightly blocked it.
The heat generated by the two of them overwhelmed the crowd.
When she could not hear an evaluation of herself anywhere, the girl became a little bitter.
“You did well.”
Joshua stroked her head gently.
As if this person could see through a person’s heart.
He soothed her defenseless mind.
She barely suppressed a sob that almost burst out unconsciously.
“The flames were steady and the formula had a high degree of completion. It was the principle of exploding if you struck it down just like that, right? As expected, it is impressive.”
Tania smiled brightly.
He was watching her properly.
He might be the only one, but it was praise from the person she wanted to show it to the most.
She thought this was something worth bragging about.
In her mind, she pictured the envious expressions of Talleon and Gavinu when they returned to the tower.
“I worked hard.”
“I know. There is no way you would be lazy.”
Joshua shrugged his shoulders.
He stroked her head once more and walked toward the inn with Rodwell.
Several people began to follow his back.
It was different from the lukewarm attitude shown to Joshua when he first arrived at Rosenwald.
It was as if they were yearning.
It was a greedy gaze that found what it wanted.
A chilling sensation ran down her back, and she felt her own feet freezing cold.
It was the first time she realized that receiving attention could feel like such an ominous atmosphere.
She bit her lip.
She must stay sharp.
In order to not be swallowed by this dreary, suffocating air before helping him.
She was certain that she must not let her guard down.
* * *
Joshua returned to his room, avoiding the people.
Rodwell followed behind him.
He checked to see if anyone was following and carefully closed the door.
“Well, there is a lot I want to say, but... first of all, it was amazing.”
Perhaps his throat was itchy from the unfamiliar praise, as he looked for water on the table.
He poured a glass and gulped it down.
Then he pulled out the chair hidden under the desk and sat down.
“What kind of magic is it?”
“Mages make it a rule not to disclose the identity of their magic.”
“Are you planning not to tell me either?”
“Did Lady Lucille do it?”
Rodwell scratched his jaw and recalled memories of the past.
He had become interested in her wind magic and made advances to find out about it.
The result was not good.
After that incident, he and she did not exchange a single word for an entire week.
Lucille’s contemptuous gaze remained like a large nail in his heart even now.
“I think she told me honestly.”
“That is a lie. Your answer was five seconds slower than usual.”
“...Do you really check every single thing like that?”
“Complaining won't change my answer.”
“Dreadful fellow.”
Rodwell cleared his throat and continued speaking politely.
“It wasn't empty talk when I said it was great. It was truly amazing, to the point that it might actually become a problem. I expected you to win, but I didn't know you would overwhelm Leonard. Now no one speaks ill of you. Everyone has started to watch you.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Did you see Carius’s expression? His face was as red as a ripe tomato. But the absurd thing is that his attitude changed again after Leonard showed his Aura. The loathsome fellow.”
He criticized Carius with a very displeased expression.
The human who had pointed his finger at Leonard several times during the fight.
He swallowed his groans after confirming the possibility of Aura from the boy.
Everyone in that place expressed difficulty.
It was shameful that he was a fellow Knight Captain.
If given the chance, he wanted to personally teach him what chivalry was.
“Joshua, you are planning to bring that fellow over, right?”
Joshua’s eyebrows twitched.
As expected, the saying that he was Rodwell of Insight was not a bluff.
Like his nickname in the game, he succeeded in glimpsing part of the plan.
“If that was your intention, wouldn't it have been a wiser choice to completely crush him and induce Carius to abandon Leonard?”
“It isn't that I didn't think about that at all. It is just.”
“Just?”
“He looked precarious. If the content of the duel had been one sided, he might not have been able to stand up again.”
This was also a matter of possibility.
Perhaps the boy’s emotions still had some room.
Even if struck, swept away, and fallen.
Steel did not break easily.
However, even the hardest raw ore changes shape when it passes through human hands.
He thought he needed to fill that in.
Even if it meant taking a slightly longer path.
“Is that so.”
Rodwell did not rebuke him.
He also seemed to accept it while thinking of the wounds on Leonard’s back.
“But as you know, it isn't a simple matter for a survivor to move from one group to another.”
If it were a group he didn't know at all, he wouldn't care where they came from or what they did.
However, the five groups gathered here were in a cooperative relationship.
One must not bring a survivor from an opponent’s group without any consultation.
It was a matter of information.
Numbers, supplies, locations, and so on.
The anxiety that someone might use that to invade.
Regardless of the intention, it was easy to cause misunderstandings.
That was why he answered that it would have been better for Leonard to be abandoned.
“It might work if you give a ransom, but now that it’s been revealed Leonard uses Aura. They will demand an absurd amount.”
“As I see it, Carius doesn't have the capacity to tame Leonard.”
“The expression ‘tame’ is a bit funny. It sounds like the fellow is a hunting dog.”
“He is closer to a wolf. He is the type with stronger pride than loyalty.”
Rodwell tilted his head.
Two doubts arose from the previous Q&A with him.
First, putting himself on top while comparing himself to a Knight Captain.
Second, talking about Leonard like someone who has known him.
“I think this every time, but your way of speaking is unique. You speak as if you have met everyone at least once.”
“I know how to read faces a bit.”
Joshua smirked.
“Well, let us watch for now. According to the agenda, there is still one more test left.”
“Do you mean the area exploration?”
The final test was to investigate the forest located not far from Rosenwald.
According to the report, that forest has not yet been occupied by other groups.
There was a possibility that animals could be found.
If they were lucky enough to find even livestock, that day would surely be the best day of their lives.
“The report was written plausibly, but it will probably be a dud.”
If there were any items left in the forest that someone would covet.
It would not have been used as a place to test survivors.
According to the Moonlight Knights, there are no traces of outsiders having visited the area.
Only a minimum number of zombies were confirmed near the temporary base.
It was written that it was a level that students could also investigate.
“I suppose so.”
However, Joshua had an expression that was not disappointed in the least.
Who was he?
He was a boy who believed that benefits must follow actions.
Rodwell began to understand that when he was full of composure, he would return enjoying the happiness of a full ship.
“You are hiding something again. Give me a little hint, just to me.”
“I don't want to.”
“You said you also want something from me anyway! Then isn't it fine for us to be on familiar terms with each other?”
“I like this level of distance with you.”
“Stingy bastard.”
Rodwell snorted and kicked back his chair, leaving the room.
* * *
When evening came, a small change occurred in the hall.
More people flocked to the table where they had eaten yesterday.
Six people instead of four, as two more were added to the seats that were full with four.
All of them were women.
As he recalled, they were people brought from the Moonlight Knights to handle chores.
Carrying food when it is finished.
Clearing the plates after eating.
Cleaning with a wet mop if the floor gets dirty.
Around the time those tasks were finished, they went to the central table where the Knight Captains were staying and waited on them.
“It seems you aren't busy today.”
He sat down and noncommittally tested them.
Makeup thicker than yesterday and a dress that seemed to emphasize the chest.
A faint scent of violets wafted from their necks, as if they had applied perfume.
“Fufu, I was asked to stay by your side today.”
They narrowed the distance.
Because of that, Tania, who was in the next seat, knitted her brows as if displeased.
He felt the surroundings become hot momentarily.
“We are eating right now. You are interfering with that.”
Tania took courage and answered in a sharp voice.
However, the two ladies did not even blink.
Instead, with a calm expression, they just slightly raised the corners of their mouths.
“Perhaps the mature atmosphere of men and women is unfamiliar to the young Miss Rainwood.”
“W-What!”
“Three more years, that should be enough to build up refinement.”
“You, seriously!”
Tania stood up from her seat as if she could not listen anymore.
Then she shot a fierce gaze at me, not at the ladies.
[Clever] chuckled.
I focused on my meal, ignoring the gaze felt from behind.
“Oh my, more than I thought.”
“She withdraws obediently.”
The two ladies chuckled and laughed, seemingly enjoying the situation.
“Now the interloper is gone. I saw the match today. I don't know much about magic, but I heard your skill surpassed that of an apprentice mage. How did you reach that level?”
“I was lucky.”
“That means it is a secret. I expected that, of course.”
They were now right under his chin.
As if his hand would touch somewhere on their bodies if he moved it wrong.
[Patience] repeatedly asked if it was its turn to help.
This is a trap.
He knows through experience that it is better not to touch.
If he spends a night with them.
It is certain that the Moonlight Knights will pester him throughout the summit.
“If you come over to our side, I will tell you something good. For example, night techniques that others don't know.”
“Ah, you don't need to worry about Sir Rodwell. We received a promise from Sir Derek that he would handle it.”
“You just have to choose. Whether to embrace us or not.”
They whispered in a soft, gentle voice that only I could hear.
[Clever] showed interest in the night techniques they mentioned.
Is it not just wanting to strip their clothes off using curiosity as an excuse?
When he denounced it that way, [Clever] went wild.
[Cool] warns him to be careful.
[Patience] wagged its tail like a dog still waiting for a command.
His head throbbed.
At this rate, his brain might explode from overload.
“If I report what you said to Sir Rodwell, you might not be safe. Are you doing this even while understanding that?”
He answered harshly with the intention of shaking them off.
Their eyes widened.
However, it was not fear of the fact that he was keeping it in.
It looked like a reaction to the fact that he rejected the temptation and gave a warning.
“If we are punished for that, it can't be helped.”
“Women without ability have no proper way to survive other than honey traps.”
A bitter smile came back.
It wasn't that he didn't feel sympathy.
However, he had no intention of ruining his plan by being engulfed in that sympathy.
[Cool] advised him to be cautious.
“You are kind. Usually, most people either grope the chest or shove their lips in first, as if they are somebody.”
“I am not giving a pretext.”
“Even if I say it's a pure emotion as a woman, not Sir Derek’s order?”
“How much of those words are sincere?”
He countered casually, shrugging his shoulders.
Her eyes were sincerely flustered.
“It isn't that you aren't attractive. I simply have no intention of leaving the Order of the Star yet.”
“Fufu, thank you for telling me honestly.”
They smiled brightly, gave me a light hug, and left.
Only I and Adela remained in the spot where the two had disappeared.
Her eyes sparkled as if she had seen a curious creature.
“Hey, can I ask you one thing?”
“Sure.”
“Why didn't you embrace them? Mirina and Alisa are among the top beauties even within our knighthood.”
If it were a game, he would have spent the night together.
Even if it went wrong, he could just start again from the beginning.
But for him now, there was no saving or restarting.
“Because I'd be giving them a weakness.”
“They might pretend not to know and let it pass.”
“I have no intention of relying on ‘if’.”
Adela laughed as if she were amused.
Even though there didn't seem to be anything particularly funny.
“You are truly very different from the nobles I know.”
“Is that a praise?”
“It is a praise.”
She stood up from her seat, holding the plate she had cleared.
Even then, the smile did not leave her lips.
He realized late.
That she had also put effort into grooming herself like the previous two.