361. Lena Ep – Tournament

“Ugh!! What kind of jerk… Hey?”

What hit my forehead and fell to the ground was a gold coin. Wow. I don’t think I’ve seen one since I was little.

I stared blankly and looked up. There, someone was waving me away disdainfully.

“Look at this country bumpkin walking in the middle of the street. Get out of the way.”

It was a carriage with a beautifully engraved crystal design. No, it seemed like they embedded raw crystals to create the pattern.

Did I do something wrong?

Realizing the other person was a noble, I inadvertently said, “I’m sorry…” and stepped off the road. But suddenly I wondered why I was apologizing.

After all, the street was empty, and I wasn’t blocking the way. Even if I were, why was he causing a scene?

The noble’s carriage was parked beside the road. It felt as if he was saying I should just pick up the thrown gold coin and scram.

He really looked down on people.

I dashed to the ground and picked up the gold coin. The heavy feeling of the coin momentarily swayed my mind, but I tossed it through the carriage window.

I heard gasps from the bystanders.

…Did I just cause an incident?

Nah, no way. What trouble could this cause me?

I felt a bit anxious, but I took a step forward to the carriage, anticipating a middle-aged noble to poke his head out.

But then,

“Hey! You just threw that gold coin, didn’t you? Huh?”

“Ow, ow! How dare you!”

Peeking out through the window was a young man with a youthful appearance.

He wasn’t much younger than me, probably only a few years older, but he had that look of someone who had never seen a drop of sweat. I felt slightly deflated.

“That’s the foolish country bumpkin! You deserve this!”

“What? Hey. You threw it first.”

“Hey? How dare you! Do you even know who I am? Captain of the Guard! Oh wait, the Captain went shopping. Soldiers! Capture that girl!”

“W-What? What are you doing!”

As the soldiers approached, I tried to draw my sword. Then from behind, I heard,

“Miss, don’t!”

“Apologize! Hurry up!”

I heard voices from the bystanders. I was dumbfounded.

‘Is this how nobles act? But what did I do wrong?’

I hadn’t done anything. I simply protested after he threw the gold coin first. I was ready to draw my sword.

“Back off! If you keep this up, I won’t hold back either!”

“Y-You!”

“Oh no…”

I shouted with what I thought was a determined spirit, yet the bystanders all sighed in unison. It was deflating. One of the approaching soldiers lowered his voice.

– “Local lady. I don’t know where you’re from, but you can’t act like this in front of a noble. Don’t make a scene and apologize now.”

“…Why should I?”

I had learned that knights mustn’t bend to injustice. From Uncle Noel.

Of course, I wasn’t a knight yet, but would be soon, and I didn’t want to kneel to that pompous noble.

But the atmosphere was chilling.

People seemed to think I had done something wrong and needed to apologize. Completely confused, I looked back at Ray. But then…

‘Where did he go?’

Ray was nowhere to be seen. What to do?

“You arrogant…! What are you doing? You will not subdue a subversive person who points a sword at a noble!”

“Wait a minute!”

I was pondering whether to fight or retreat.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man burst out from a clothing store behind the carriage. Ray was with him, and right away, I could tell this man was Ray’s…

“Young Master! What’s going on here?”

“Captain of the Guard! No, it’s just…”

“How many times have I told you not to throw coins at passersby! This won’t do. I will have to report this to the Count! Coachman! Take Young Master Yuan back to the mansion! Ray, I’m sorry. You go home first.”

It was definitely Ray’s uncle.

He ran a mercenary group in the capital.

The carriage left with the noble’s complaints trailing behind, and I sighed in relief internally.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. But Ray, where have you been? I was worried when you disappeared.”

“I saw my uncle.”

“So that guy from earlier was your uncle. Phew. I was lucky… or not! Why on earth did I have to get caught up in this?”

Whether I was lucky or unlucky was unclear. Still, it ended up uneventfully, and this incident would simply remain a small happening in my life to be forgotten.

I grumbled and followed Ray, and that evening, I received an indirect apology.

It was from Ray’s uncle, Elson.

“I’m sorry. That young man has grown up a bit unruly. The Count and Countess have been busy running the crystal mines and neglected him, and recently they asked me for help. Really, I am sorry.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t a big deal. So, Uncle, do you work like a tutor?”

“Not quite a tutor, but someone needs to follow that young man around and fix his manners. The Pamphilly House has a lot of money, and it would be good to get close, so I’ve taken on the role of the Captain of the Guard and whistleblower. Haha. Well, it’s quite amusing. It feels like I have a troublesome son now.”

“Hmm~ I see.”

“But he has improved a lot now. At first, he was truly something else. Just staring would make him want to slap someone. So, I slapped him back, haha.”

“Really? Is that allowed?”

“Why not? I got permission from the parents. The Count and Countess were surprised, but, hahaha! Who am I? I once threw the armor of a bad senior into a dung pile when I was in the knight order, after all~”

“R-Really…”

This guy is worse than me.

Looking at Uncle Elson, I thought I should never become an adult like that. I felt like I should have just held back earlier.

But regardless of my thoughts, he was a fun person.

He was cheerful (though a bit long-winded) and excitedly recounted the events with that noble brat.

I heard he hadn’t gotten married… Seems like he’s living quite a fun life.

Ray and I indulged in dried Radimu pieces as snacks, and our first day in the capital slipped by like that.

*

A few weeks later, Ray and I finally left the mansion.

We were out to enjoy the growing festive atmosphere and to sign up for the Maunin-Letii Tournament, and hanging on the mansion’s wall was something splendid.

I thought it was a present bestowed upon us for our intense training, having stayed within the mansion for weeks without stepping outside.

“Wow! Ray. Do you like Northblue? If you do, let’s go and pick some later.”

“Northblue? I like it, but what do you mean by ‘pick some’?”

“Huh? Look over there. There’s plenty of Northblue laid out! Didn’t you notice?”

Uncle Elson’s mansion, known for its long-standing knightly family legacy, had walls adorned with vines.

Those were Northblue vines, and in the weeks we’d been holed up in the mansion, they had produced a bountiful harvest of fruits.

Ray, upon seeing the ripe berries, stuttered in surprise.

“Uh? Ah, ah! So that’s what you meant. I thought…”

“Why? Is it not okay to pick them?”

“W-Well… I guess we can. B-but I should probably ask my uncle first.”

“?”

What was that? I was puzzled but figuring it wasn’t a big deal, so I replied to just go ahead and do that. We went out early in the morning to finish signing up for the tournament.

“What should we do now? Barnau is so vast; I can’t tell what’s what.”

“Come this way. There should be a market over there.”

Ray was right. Following his lead, we came to a crossroad filled with stalls. I tapped Ray’s shoulder excitedly.

“Just as I thought! Our Ray knows everything. Where shall we explore first? Finding marbles? I’m pretty confident about that.”

“That’s the perfect setup to get scammed, so let’s start from the side instead.”

A little while later, we were having fun and sat down in an inn.

But I was feeling a bit tired, exhausted from the unexpectedly huge crowd.

At first, it was okay. But as lunchtime approached, the flow of people increased… Ugh. Is this the capital? This should be the last day I come out here again.

I laid my head down on the table and said,

“Ray. I understand now why you wanted to go out this morning. This is unbearable.”

“Haha. You’d really find out what ‘many people’ means if you came out on the day the King gives a speech. It’s a shame.”

“The King’s speech? Hmm~ I do want to see it, but no thanks. I’d rather win the tournament to meet him; it would be better for my mental health.”

“Winning, huh… Haha.”

“Why? You think I can’t do it? If you’re too complacent, you might just get a severe shock from me.”

I confidently declared (while laid flat).

After all, either I or Ray would take the win anyway. The key was whether I could beat this guy.

If I won… If I do…

“…Lera. Your expression looks strange.”

Oops.

I must’ve failed at keeping a neutral expression. But I found it hard to suppress the grin that crept up.

Soon, Ray and I would become knights.

Side by side. Alongside each other, we would become knights and hold our wedding ceremony right when we receive our knight titles. Although we hadn’t discussed when or how we’d get married yet, I hoped Ray would indulge my wishes.

If possible, I’d want to marry after winning… Let’s do our best! Fighting!

“Hahaha! With that meaning, cheers! To victory!”

Just then, the beer we ordered arrived.

I shot up, grabbed my beer mug, and shouted “cheers!” But I got a little too excited.

– Splish!

“Ah! Oops. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

I spilled some beer on a young man next to me. Not a lot, just a little… or maybe more than just a little?

Oh no, what do I do?

As I was assessing the situation of the guy I spilled beer on, he was… smiling. And not just a little; he was grinning widely.

“Um… Are you okay?”

“Puhuhuhuhuhuh! Hehe. I’m perfectly fine. I tried to dodge, but, hehe, it just didn’t work.”

“Really?”

“Don’t worry about it. If you really want to, you can order me some snacks.”

Is he out of his mind?

But he didn’t seem like a strange person. He looked quite friendly and amiable… Who cares, right?

“Um… sure. Well, it wasn’t much to spill anyway. How about some chicken? I’ll get you something simple. I’ll be right back.”

I walked over to the innkeeper to ask about the menu. Picking something that anyone young or old would enjoy, I ordered (though “Ah, my money.”), turned back around.

But huh? There was Ray, smiling.

Ray doesn’t usually smile much.

He only smiles at me, which I’m thankful for; why is he smiling now? I hurried back to my seat.

“What’s up? Were you chatting with him?”

“Yeah. This guy is also participating in the tournament.”

“Oh, really? He looks different than I expected… Ahem. Have you signed up?”

“Not yet. I just arrived. I plan to eat what you bought before signing up.”

“Aha~ I see. I ordered soy sauce chicken. It’s seasoned.”

“Got it. Thanks for that.”

“Yep. Sorry again.”

Hmm. I didn’t have much to say.

The other person didn’t seem too chatty either; he just said he’d enjoy the food and turned his attention away. Looking at Ray, he was only staring back at me with a questioning look.

What’s going on?

It felt a bit suspicious, but I didn’t press for answers. Then, not long after, an unbelievably funny coincidence occurred.

During the Maunin-Letii Tournament, as I received the B-2 seed and passed the preliminaries.

“Hahahahaha! So you two met? What an amazing connection!”

Ray got the C-2 seed and advanced to the top 16. But that young man I met in the inn received the C-1 seed.

I burst out laughing.

“Haha! Congratulations! I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but he doesn’t look very strong at all. You’ll easily get into the quarterfinals!”

However, Ray wore a completely disheartened expression. As if something unexpected had just occurred.