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THE academy grounds bustled like a festival when the day of the tournament came around.
“There are more participants than usual,” I noted.
For some reason, Scarlanette Jordan was sitting beside me. “There are rumors the Knights are putting more effort into discovering new potential talent because of what happened at the Festival of Hunting,” she said.
“Selena,” came a call from below. I looked down to see Evan waving from the tournament grounds.
Ah. I guess Evan’s the representative from the royal family this year.
The impression he gave was one of a slender boy who had never fought a day in his life, but he must have confidence in his skill since he went up against the monsters at the Festival of Hunting without hesitation. That would have been too reckless otherwise. Especially as that’s not something you do as a royal.
“I see Prince Evan’s taking part as well,” said Scarlanette as she returned Evan’s wave. “Lady Selena, come on,” she said, then grabbed my hand and forced me to wave as well.
Evan looked happy, even though he would be able to see I was not waving of my own volition.
“I heard royals take lessons directly from the Captain of the Royal Knights from a very young age,” said Scarlanette. “And I also heard Prince Evan is particularly skilled. He’s so good that the captain apparently said he’d want to take him as his own son if he weren’t royalty.”
“Mm-hm.”
“It’s starting!”
Well then, Evan, show me what you got.
Right, left, right, left… He continued with the exact same attacks for a while, following swordplay basics.
Eh, that’s not a problem in a fight between two knights, particularly in a tournament like this with your fellow knights. But Evan, if this were a battlefield and you were fighting an experienced knight, you would not win this way.
“Ah!”
And then Evan switched from his knight-like basics. Just as his sword bounced back from his opponent’s guard, it changed angles and swung towards his opponent. That student could anticipate that move specifically because all the attacks had been as practiced before, and he brought his sword up in response, but he couldn’t keep up with the surprise attack, and his sword flew from his hand.
“…He was just laying the groundwork,” I murmured.
Evan calmly pointed his sword at the other student who was left off balance, and the referee watching the match called, “And the winner is, Prince Evan!” ending the first match.
“Not bad,” I said.
“Prince Evan is amazing,” said Scarlanette with excitement. “He was so cool.”
Shrieks of delight rose from the noble girls in the spectator seats. Apparently, nobles and commoners were the same in that regard.
Evan raised his hand to the audience in response and bowed. For some reason, his eyes were on me when he raised his head again.
You know, it was an entertaining enough match, I thought and decided to give him some applause, which put a smile of joy on his face. And that just made the shrieks of delight from all around grow louder. I think my eardrums might split.
The next match was between two students hoping to become knights. They fought as prettily as someone wanting knighthood. There didn’t seem to be any of the type of strategy Evan used to catch his opponent off guard.
How boring.
The short student attacked, the brown-haired student guarded, then knocked the sword aside. Oh, look at that; the short one lost his balance, his flank is wide open. That’ll decide the match.
“And the winner is, Inovan!”
As I expected, the brown-haired student won, and the stadium erupted into cheers when the referee called it.
“I was on the edge of my seat during that match!” exclaimed Scarlanette excitedly.
I turned my eyes towards the next match as I wondered what about that last one was exciting.
Deflect, guard, attack. Their movements were so regular I nearly had the urge to clap my hands in time with the beat.
“It’s almost like they’re waltzing,” I observed.
“Huh, that’s an interesting opinion,” came a voice.
“Evan. Don’t you have a match coming up?” I asked.
“There’s some time until my next one. I came to watch as part of my break.”
“Prince Evan, your match was incredible,” said Scarlanette.
“Thank you, Lady Jordan.”
As Evan sat next to me, a blade swung out at a speed so fast the average person behind us had no chance of seeing it. Evan seemed to have expected this attack, though, because he blocked the knife with the hilt of his sword.
“Tiegel. What is the meaning of this?” he asked.
“I was trying to eliminate an insect to protect Lady Selena.”
“Insects can be dangerous, what with all the diseases they can carry, and so I am impressed by your efforts to protect your lady. However, you were sloppy. I nearly died.”
“You are right, Your Highness, that insects can be dangerous. That’s why I felt there was a certain amount of sacrifice I must accept if I am to protect Lady Selena.”
Why are these two so barbaric? I thought. “Tiegel, just put that knife away. Things will get complicated if others see you.”
“…Yes, my lady.”
He looks incredibly unhappy about that.
“The next match has started!” said Scarlanette, so absorbed in watching the tournament she didn’t even see the altercation.
It was a good thing she didn’t. It could’ve turned into an uproar.
“You seem bored,” said Evan, looking at me for some reason rather than the match.
Didn’t you come here to watch the match? Also, Tiegel, get your bloodthirsty aura under control. There are big wigs from the Knights here, they’ll notice.
“This is the Academy’s headline event,” said Evan. “Look around you.”
I did as he said and saw Scarlanette next to me, her eyes so focused on the match that she didn’t even notice Evan and I having a conversation. The other students around us were throwing out cheers and jeers alike. It was like a festival.
“It’s just you,” said Evan. “You’re the only one who looks so bored watching the matches.”
These matches were like playtime for someone like me. It was more ridiculous to ask me to enjoy watching them.
“You anticipate it all, don’t you?” he said. “What attack is coming and when, how it’ll be defended. That’s what a fight is between knights, after all.”
“I’m not a knight.”
“I know,” he said, then a sad, lonely look came over him, like an abandoned puppy, and he murmured, “I don’t know why, but sometimes, I wonder if you’re not someone from the other side.”
“The other side” was a phrase used by the royals and those close to them to refer to those who operate in the shadows of society, the underbelly. It wasn’t quite a codeword, but normal people wouldn’t understand what it meant.
The right decision here was to play dumb.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
I’d lied more times than I could count. I concealed the fact that I was an assassin and grew closer to someone over a long time as a friend or even lover before killing them. I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t think anything of it. It was my job.
And now, I thought of myself as having skillfully become a noble girl.
So, why did my heart ache?
“You fought against monsters on the day of the Festival. No normal duke’s daughter could do what you did,” said Evan.
I didn’t say anything. He was right. If I had been born as nothing more than Selena Violette, I would have died that day.
9956. That was my name in my previous life. That was Selena Violette’s true identity.
“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Evan asked.
If you knew my true identity and the fantastical events of being reborn with the memories of my previous life, what would you do, Evan?
“Evan,” I said, “you shouldn’t recklessly force others’ secrets into the open. There’s no story where that ends well.”
“You’re right.” I readied myself for his next attack, but he stopped there. Instead, he asked, “What if you join the Royal Knights?”
“Me? A knight?”
“Sure. You’re plenty skilled.”
I’d spent so long killing people for money, and now he was suggesting I start killing people for my master and loyalty? I couldn’t imagine myself doing that.
And it definitely wasn’t in me to risk my life for someone else.
“We were born alone, and we die alone. There is no one to sit at our deathbed with us and no one to lament our passing. That is the final punishment given to those of us who have long taken human lives.”
My teacher, who had several other students other than me, had murmured that sadly when he learned of the death of one of those other students.
A punishment that people who continue to kill receive in their final moment?
“I did fight monsters at the Festival,” I said. “However, I wasn’t fighting to protect others. I was just fighting to eliminate whatever enemy stood in front of me.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me,” said Evan, but that was just because Scarlanette happened to be standing behind me at the time. It was the result of coincidence. “So, you have no intentions of joining the Knights?”
“It wouldn’t suit me.”
“I see.”
Once we reached that pause in our conversation, Scarlanette said, “Prince Shaghad is in the next match,” drawing our eyes back to the tournament grounds.
She also reminded me she was sitting next to me. I’d forgotten she even existed.
“It seems Prince Shaghad will be going against Master Alaban,” I said. Because I’d pulled strings to make it that way. “Let’s see what he can do.”
Shaghad, things will not end well for you if you lose.