“I told you not to cry, right? I’ll tell you now, I won’t comfort crying men. The only time I’ll comfort anyone crying is if they’re a woman in bed. You get that, right?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t help but laugh at Crow’s words.
Fie felt resolved to do her absolute best. If there were such good people in the fold, the Royal Knights must be full of them. If there was any suitable place to start a new life, this would be the place. If things turned out well, maybe she would even be in the same platoon as Crow.
And so, the two of them finally reached the end of the line.
“Thank you for everything, Sir Crow.”
“Don’t worry about it. After all, this is part of my job too.”
However, it was obvious to a certain extent that buying kebabs for wannabe squires wasn’t exactly part of the job. “I should also tell you that there is no special treatment in the test. All candidates are equal. And they will be judged fairly.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Seeing Crow’s slightly more serious expression, Fie mustered a serious face of her own with some effort.
But of course this was the case. There were this many candidates, after all. Just because she had become a little familiar with a knight didn’t mean that she was going to have an easier time at the test — it simply did not work that way.
For a kingdom as large as Orstoll, it was probably incredibly difficult to enter an organization like the Royal Knights. With the sheer number of participants present, it was sure to be a strict, harsh test.
(Will I be able to see it through...? No, there is no way out but to win.)
She was going to leave behind her life as Fie in the rotten corners of the back pavilion, and live her new life as Heath. For that, she had to win.
Seeing Fie’s suddenly nervous expression, Crow slapped her on the shoulder amicably, grinning his broad smile as he did so.
“I can’t give you preferential treatment, but I’ll cheer for you!”
Fie thought that this was a great thing to hear. After all, not even a single person had cheered for her ever since she came to this country.
“Yes! I’ll work hard!”
“Yeah, give it everything you’ve got!”
And with those parting words, Crow waved nonchalantly as he set out in the general direction of the castle.
(A knight... I want to become a knight!)
Fueled by thoughts of leaving behind her captive, unwanted princess life, Fie’s desires of achieving knighthood burned stronger than ever.
The entry procedure progressed without much of an issue. It seemed that the test would be split into two groups, one for those under 17, and one for those 17 and over. As Fie was still 16, the contents of the test were simple — a one-on-one trial by combat, courtesy of supplied wooden swords.
The bouts would be monitored by the judge, who would watch as said wooden swords clashed. Amongst them were figures clad in knightly dress, one of whom was Crow.
After a short while, Fie’s name was called.
Her opponent was a thick-set boy, almost three times Fie’s body size. However, if he was paired with Fie, it meant that he was around her age.
After having their names confirmed by the knights in attendance, the pair headed off into a wooden pen in preparation for their bout.
Sneering at Fie, the boy laughed, regarding Fie’s stature with dismissive amusement.
“The hell is a kid like you, who doesn’t even have any hair down there, doing here? This is not a place for kids to play pretend sword fighting. You’ll probably get hurt, so you might as well just head home and have some of your mama’s milk, huh?”
Although the match had not started yet, spectators had already begun to crowd around the pen, discussing the events of the day with enthusiasm.
“Man... That kid has it rough. To be paired up with Gormus for his first bout...”
“Yeah. Wasn’t he one of the top candidates in previous tests?”
Upon hearing their words, Fie did think of herself as unlucky. But there was no choice but to win. And that was why her attitude took a sudden, unpredicted twist.
“Huh? It seems like the gorillas in Orstoll actually speak! How incredibly smart! I am so surprised. But... why is a gorilla attempting a squire test? Even for a talking gorilla, becoming a knight is a bit too much isn’t it?”
Normally, Fie would not be one to bad-mouth others, let alone say such words to them. It was a little cold and even twisted. As she had shown to Crow, she was otherwise a proverbial good kid.
However, having lived the life of one born in the shadow of another, Fie had a certain dark part in her heart that was very well-acquainted with insults and other demeaning mannerisms of speech. She had first picked it up from her nursemaid, who was swearing at Fie for causing undue work for her. At that time, Fie had wanted to cry.
Even such painful experiences had their uses, although exactly how useful they were was yet to be seen. But to live on, Fie was willing to do anything — of this, she was sure. This once in a lifetime bout, upon which her entire life hinged upon, had somehow released Fie’s darker side to the world.
“Y-You! You’ve got some damned guts! As soon as the bout begins, I’ll friggin’ kill you, you hear me!”
“Man, this kid doesn’t know what he’s in for...”
“What’s going on in that head of his?”
Yet for Fie, it was natural to behave this way. If she lost here, she would be as good as dead — or at least, would have to live a life that was worse than death.
As such, Fie held the sword with a definite sense of resolution, perhaps the most resolute since the moment she had been born.
Shortly after the test began...
(I knew this wasn’t going to be easy...)
Fie felt it in her body and soul.
It was a fact that her opponent was bigger and stronger than her. However, he probably couldn’t move very fast, so Fie moved around quickly in hopes of spotting an opening.
(I can’t even make a dent...)
Although this was a bit of a given, Fie realized that the sword-practice she had as a child, and her recent two weeks of practice swings, could not possibly hope to compete with one who had studied and practiced swordcraft all their life. It was impossible to match her opponent’s skill with the sword.
She was unable to even swing her sword blade at her opponent — it took everything she had just to dodge his blows.
On the other hand, Gormus was also surprised at the current turn of events.
(This guy... He’s so small but fast, I can’t bloody hit him! I thought I’d send this punk flying in a minute, and make him grovel in front of everyone in shame!)
But then, for the past five minutes, Fie had been dodging Gormus’ wild blows.
Her movements were distinctive. Her small and soft body was that of a cat’s — she jumped and leaped, landing in strange stances that made it impossible for Gormus to predict where she was going to come from next. At times she would stay low, or roll away while avoiding his attacks.
(Even so... Even so, this punk is nothing to me!)
It was a definite fact that Fie’s ability to dodge was astonishing. However, from the very beginning, Fie had not even taken one swing at Gormus.
(You can tell from how he moves. This punk doesn’t know very much about the sword at all.)
If his opponent didn’t have the power to overwhelm him, then he would win just by continuing to attack.
(There’s no way I’ll lose.) That was what Gormus believed.