Chapter 97

But he considered that was, perhaps, a bit too selfish of him. Because Myuri knew that they would never venture into battle together. She had pictured herself bathed in the blood of another she had cut down, pictured how her brother might look seeing her like that, and gave up on ever wielding her sword in open battle. Yet it was perhaps apt to call it incredibly twisted for him to think it perfectly normal and natural to have her by his side if he were ever to march into battle himself. But as one who was all book smarts and no street smarts, he was very likely underestimating what real war would be like. While that may be the truth, another truth was that he could picture her so firmly in his mind beside him as they made their way to battle. And if they were never to stand side by side in a fight, then who was the silver girl who stood at his side now? He squinted at the sight, carefully taking Myuri in—her ash-silver hair fluttered in the wind, and a confident smile rested on her face. “Ah…I see. I see now.” He realized that he had always been expecting something from her. And with the greatest jousting tournament in kingdom history on the horizon, he clearly expected the rambunctious girl to whine about taking part. Thinking about how he would calm her had been a headache-inducing problem, but the answer had been there all along. It was Canaan, surprisingly, who had given the last push to help the round fruit fit into the square box. Canonization was a dream of unimaginable proportions that Col thought would never fit into the box. And even if it would never fully fit into his mouth, there was another who dreamed bigger than anyone else. “All sorts of roles need fulfilling in a battle,” he said, adjusting his clothes, straightening his posture. “A jousting tournament will need a guest of honor.” At last, the round fruit slid nicely into the square box. Perhaps it was a bit of an exaggeration to say that the reason his first step was unusually long was because he was excited to see the astonished look on Myuri’s face.