“Are things going well?”
“Hmm? Didn’t you go earlier, sis?”
“…I came to see you.”
Belin Mayas sits next to me, where I’m watching the twins, Ben and Valtory. Since Diana left earlier, I thought maybe she had some purpose, but apparently not.
“Yeah, well. It’s going fine.”
After the lecture ended at 4 PM, I had been watching them until sunset, so my eyes felt a bit dry.
The twins were busy preparing for the competition with Pales Academy, practicing not only combat sports like Battle Soccer and Mana Volleyball but also swordsmanship, like in the last King’s Game exam, so they were gaining a lot.
The twins see me with Belin. At first, they wave their hands at Belin, then give me a thumbs-down, wondering if she’s still here.
I smile and give them a thumbs-up in return, and Belin chuckles, sitting down beside me.
“Just so you know, I’m not on either your side or Tana’s.”
“Excuse me?”
“When I first told you about the duel, I said it was to help Tana, but to be precise, I wanted to give her a chance. It’s too sad for her to be dragged off like livestock without a fight.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
I knew it wasn’t unconditional support. Belin suggested the duel not because she wished for Tana to win, but to give her at least some time to struggle, even a little.
“By the way, if Tana wins, Valtory will end up as the princess’s maid.”
“…”
“I don’t know why, but I heard the princess requested it directly. She really wanted us to provide her a maid.”
“Really?”
“Yup, so even if Valtory pretends to be indifferent, she’ll be quite desperate. Her dream is to become a great swordswoman alongside her twin brother, not to be a maid.”
Watching Valtory wielding her sword, sweating while battling with her peers, I can see she and Ben are clearly passionate and seem to have dreams. They look very satisfied with their current lives.
“Sorry, but this side is struggling too, you know? I don’t need any unnecessary sympathy.”
“Sure, of course. I just said it because with just three days left until the duel, I hope everyone can prepare their best.”
Belin dusts off his pants and stands up. I follow suit.
“Hmm? Aren’t we spying on our kids?”
“It’s over. Plus, confirmation is needed now.”
“…Confirmation?”
I’ve been sitting for a while, so I loosen up my creaking joints and made a request to Belin.
“Let’s have a duel once.”
*
Three days later, day of the duel.
Since we decided to rent the academy dueling arena after all classes were finished, it took quite a bit of time before the duel actually started.
Maybe that’s why Tana was so nervous that even when she got to the arena, she was taking harsh deep breaths, and Eve next to her started stretching excessively, saying her body felt stiff.
“Fweeeh!”
Watching Eve moving her body this way and that, I thought she really seemed stiff today when a light jab hit my side.
“Are you just staring at Eve?”
It was Hayun, who came to support today’s duel.
“Yeah, I think Eve seems a bit stiff. I should go help her loosen up a bit.”
“…Sigh, I’d rather you be straightforward about it.”
“Hmm?”
If you move your body excessively while so tense, you could get hurt. So I thought of going to help, but Hayun grabbed my shoulder.
“I’ll go help. And remember, the person you like is Ms. Eris. She’s waiting for you.”
“Suddenly? Of course.”
What’s this girl talking about?
“I heard that when you bump into other girls, feelings you didn’t have can arise. So don’t create opportunities unnecessarily. I don’t want my friend to become a Casanova, okay?”
“Seriously? You probably didn’t hear that but read it. I heard from Eve that the borrow rate for romance books is pretty high nowadays.”
At that, Hayun, rarely, turned bright red with embarrassment and shouted back.
“That’s your fault! You keep blabbering about love advice all the time! I’m studying things I don’t even know about just to help you!”
“Right, right. Thank you, teacher!”
“How annoying.”
Whack! Hayun turns her head and goes to help Eve with stretching. Even though she said that, thanks to Hayun, I solidified several pieces of advice and direction.
“Hey, you came to watch.”
I smoothly dodged Mei’s hand as she approached to link arms. I made an irritated face, but I answered like a sage.
“Ms. Hayun just advised me it’s wise to avoid excessive physical contact with other women, so I can’t break that rule.”
“Bullshit.”
“……”
I didn’t expect her to say it outright like that.
Mei glared at Hayun helping Eve, cautioning me.
“Hey, don’t let your guard down too much, alright? Those in the helper position tend to show their fangs later.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s a warning. Don’t end up putting your head in a snake’s mouth just because you asked for help.”
She thinks of Hayun the same way she thinks of herself.
“She’s fine, she’s different from you. We’re totally flawless friends.”
Mei clicks her tongue, pulls out candy from her hoodie pocket, unwraps it, and warns me.
“If she invites you to go somewhere, make sure to refuse and say you need to meet me. If she offers to help you practice, just slap her.”
“Is that a kidnapping tactic? And what practice?”
“Sex.”
I stared at Mei wide-eyed, mouth agape from the shock, and she mischievously grinned while stuffing the recently unwrapped candy into my mouth.
She pushed it in so hard it hit my uvula.
“Gak!”
“Hehe, if you want to practice, come find me, big sis!”
“You, I told you not to say things like that!”
Predicting I’d say something, Mei instantly spun around and dashed off to the other side. She’s only maturing in the weird parts.
There should be a way to deal with this.
“……”
Feeling a presence behind me, I glanced back to see a little girl with white hair staring up at me.
“What are you looking at?”
I felt like I was exposed for being shaken by Mei, so I spoke a bit sharply, but Sen chuckled.
“Did you know? There’s a gambling ring going on in the academy right now?”
“Is it another one of Mei’s gang? I told those idiots to stop being weird last time and…”
“No, it’s not those guys.”
Sen shakes her head left and right, as if she hasn’t shaken off the Chokugen faction habits and reports information to me.
“Who is the girlfriend of the King of the Monsters?”
“What?”
What the heck am I hearing?
It wasn’t meant for me to ask for a repeat, but Sen insisted on saying it again.
“Who is Daniel McLean’s girlfriend?”
“Are you insane?! Is there really someone starting a gambling ring for that? Who is it! Which guy is it!”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already taken care of it.”
Seeing Sen say that calmly made me wonder if she was messing with me, but at least she got it sorted out, so that’s a relief.
“Really? Huh, thanks.”
“By the way, Eve had the highest at 37%, followed by Rin.”
“I didn’t even need to know that!”
I had no interest in that at all.
“Don’t feel sad, I’m at only 3%. But since I have some affection, I’ve let the students who bet on me go.”
“Why did you let them go?”
By now, I was just asking out of the flow of consciousness. It seemed unlikely I could get a proper answer from Sen anyway.
“Huh? They believed in me. So it’s a form of reward, I guess?”
“……”
Fine, whatever.
I didn’t want to get involved.
Anyway, since Sen told me she sorted it out, she probably made sure they won’t try to do that again.
“Okay, let’s drop it. Just go.”
I waved my hand like shooing away a fly, prompting Sen to pout her lips and head towards Hayun. Tana and Eve seemed to have loosened up and were lightly swinging their swords as Hayun helped them.
“I’m here.”
“Hmm? You came too?”
“Of course, I had to come. Tana has a really important duel.”
Rin approached, brushing her hair over her ear. I hadn’t expected her to show up, so after thanking her for coming instead of Tana, I was wondering when the Mayas twins would get here.
“By the way, was it good?”
“……Huh?”
Even though it’s late summer, it’s still summer.
The sweltering heat was intense, yet it felt strangely cool around my neck, as if someone had cast ice magic.
“Did you enjoy it?”
Rin looked at me with a smile that seemed like it was drawn in a picture.
Since it was a question I’d heard multiple times, I didn’t even ask what she meant by good.
I had gotten so used to it now that my body instinctively replied.
“It wasn’t good.”
“Is that so?”
“……Yeah.”
I turned my head slightly to glance at the dueling arena door. There, the twin Mayas were getting ready to take today’s loser away, accompanied by the royal palace servants.
‘Ah, maybe I should just go as a maid instead.’
Feeling a sense of disillusionment about the academy life, I unconsciously thought something strange.
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