“Ah, nothing at all. Please don’t worry about it.”
Seleiyu dodged the question as she finished up washing and rinsing Noa off.
“There, all clean. You can go and soak now.”
“Thank you.”
Noa and I headed off to soak in the bath first. It felt nice, but I might have been spoiled by the hot springs in the Land of Wa. Which didn’t mean I couldn’t still enjoy a regular old bath, of course.
“It’s so nice,” Noa said from beside me. She seemed very comfortable. Eventually, once I told Noa about my bear transport gates, I’d take her to the Land of Wa.
Seleiyu joined us once she was finished washing up and the three of us let the day’s fatigue wash away in the water. A lot of stuff had happened today. We’d walked around town, met Seleiyu, had a duel, and walked some more before we got to Seleiyu’s house.
Pondering everything that had happened today, Seleiyu wasn’t as bad as I had originally thought. At first, I’d thought she was a pain to deal with—well, she still kind of was, I guess. Seleiyu was way too serious and concerned about others, the type to follow rules blindly. Meanwhile, I was more laid back and did what I pleased. We were kind of opposites.
If we were ever roommates, it’d probably be like torture.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you, Noa, if I may? If you do not want to answer, you don’t need to.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“It’s about when Shia was saved from Lord Lutum.”
Lord Lutum? I had no idea who that was.
“I heard that Lord Lutum was attempting to force Shia into a marriage with his son.”
Wait, seriously? This was news to me.
“Oh, so you knew about that, Lady Seleiyu?”
“A portion of the nobility is aware of the incident. Count Lutum Roland forfeited his position as the knight captain and became an instructor at the academy. It seems His Majesty has sworn him to secrecy regarding the matter, and no one knows the details of what happened. However, based on your tone, it appears that you do, Noa.”
“Oh, um, yes.”
Noa nodded, then glanced at me. Huh?
“Lutum? Did something happen to Shia?”
“Yuna...”
Noa seemed exasperated. Why was she looking at me like that? Did I say something weird? I was just asking because I was curious.
“Ah, so you don’t know either then, Yuna? I’m not aware of all the details, but it seems that during the academy festival in the capital, Lord Lutum attempted to request His Majesty to approve the betrothal of his son and Shia.”
The academy festival? Shia’s betrothal? His Majesty?
“It all sounds so terrible. But then, as the rumors go, a girl gallantly showed up on the scene and, with His Majesty’s approval, requested to duel with Lord Lutum in order to stop the betrothal. Then she bested both Sir Figo, the vice knight captain, and Lord Lutum in a row.”
A duel with the vice knight captain and knight captain? The pieces started coming together. Even I remembered now.
“I can’t believe a student could win against the knight captain and his vice-captain. I thought that they might have gone easy on her, but Shia’s marriage was at stake. I couldn’t think of any reason they would hold back. There would be nothing to gain. In fact, Lord Lutum even lost his position and became a teacher.”
Wait, was this student she was talking about—the one who had fought the knight captain—actually me?
I pointed at myself while looking at Noa. She nodded subtly. That explained the exasperated look she gave me when I asked that question earlier. It’s not like I’d known the guy’s name was Lutum. All I knew was that I fought a middle-aged guy who was the knight captain.
“I’d like to know more about her. She’s a girl like me, but she defeated both Sir Figo and Lord Lutum. I tried asking Father about it, but His Majesty had sworn him to silence, so I haven’t been able to look into it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Father apparently attempted to look in to why Lord Lutum resigned as knight captain and became an academy teacher, but he stopped when he learned of His Majesty’s gag order.”
“As nobility, shouldn’t you be able to find out easily?”
“Of course I could. But knowing that His Majesty ordered it suppressed, if I attempted to continue looking into the matter, I can only imagine the punishment in store.”
“In that case...” Shouldn’t you just stop looking into it?
“What I would like to learn about isn’t Lord Lutum. I am interested in the girl who fought him. Do you know anything about her?”
“Uh, well...”
Noa avoided her gaze. It seemed like she was trying to hide that it was actually me.
“Why do you want to know about her?”
“It’s notable that a girl won against men, since women have a handicap compared to men in every aspect. Most ordinary girls cannot defeat a man without an extraordinary amount of effort. So how was that student so strong? I want to know why she wanted to become so powerful.”
“Do you need a reason to become strong?”
“I believe so. Even if she were trying to become a knight, a girl would need to pour all her blood, sweat, and tears into that goal, because the men are stronger. Why would she do that? She would be constantly reminded of the difference between herself and the men. To become that strong, she must have an equally powerful motive.”
It was as though she was trying to convince herself of what she was saying. Was there a reason Seleiyu was trying to become powerful, then? I had only gotten stronger because I wanted to have fun playing my game and I hated losing.
At the beginning of the game, everyone’s stats were equal. Of course, there were differences between classes, but men and women were equal. We all had the same starting point. And leveling up our stats was the same no matter what gender we were.
Anyone could build up muscle if they put their mind to it. The only difference was in technique. In that aspect, everyone really was different, regardless of their starting stats. But even so, it didn’t matter whether you were a guy or a girl—it mattered how much experience you had and how fast you could think. Those things varied from person to person.
“I’ve asked you something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for asking even when I knew about the gag order.”
“Lady Seleiyu...”
“I suppose we should be heading out soon.”
Noa called out to her, worried, but Seleiyu still left the bath.