Translator: Nonon
Proofreader: Silavin
“Mr. Clo!”
Ignoring the things those infuriating people were saying, I didn’t feel like going back to the waiting room, so I was walking around with Apricot, looking for a place where I could see the situation in the arena and devise a countermeasure, until I heard a voice call out to me from behind.
It was a rare friendly female voice in this academy that did not belong to my next opponent so I stopped and turned around.
“What’s wrong, Ms. Kriemhild?”
“Oh, um…”
When I turned towards Ms. Kriemhild, she looked a little flustered, as if she was wondering how to speak to me after seeing my face. Ms. Kriemhild is a kind girl, so she was probably worried about me and chased after me without thinking things through. However, after seeing my face, she seemed lost at what to do. It’s very typical of her, in my opinion.
“Umm… I’m sorry for ear- my deepest apologies!”
However, she quickly recovered and bent her waist nearly 90 degrees while apologizing to me. I feel bad because she apologized so politely, but it’s not like she did anything to me. If anything, I should be apologizing to her for showing a bizarre sight to our only ally at the academy.
“Please, there is no need for you to apologize…”
“Oh, um, it’s an apology for not being able to stop my senior and classmates and an apology for them saying weird things…? Probably something like that! Please let me apologize without worrying about the details!”
“O-okay.”
Despite that, I lost to her force and ended up accepting the apology.
What’s with her vigor? There’s something refreshing and nostalgic about her apology. The excessive apology eased my bad mood by quite a bit.
“So, um…”
“I don’t mind if you want to ask me about my past. I’m not really hiding it.”
“…”
I didn’t particularly mind it, and Ms. Kriemhild’s strange honesty had me taken aback, so it made me feel like it was a good opportunity to speak about it myself.
The fact that she remained silent in response to my words probably meant that she wanted to know.
“You know how in the current student tournament you automatically lose if the durability of your talisman falls below a certain level, right?”
“Yes.”
“Until a few years ago, you were declared a loser if its durability fell to a certain level and you admitted defeat.”
Basically, ‘since it’s a duel, you should admit defeat gracefully’. If they tried to force the fight, they would be criticized.
However, on the other hand, apparently there was a time when this was used to cheat, by people who took advantage of the difference in social status and forced their opponents to admit defeat by making them declare that their talismans had lost effectiveness.
Therefore, I had an idea.
“And I had an insight, ‘they won’t stop me unless he admits defeat because this is a duel, so can’t I just keep hitting him indefinitely?’, so I kept punching Carmine and beat him up before he managed to say anything.”
“O-oh…”
Yes, even if the talisman’s durability was exceeded, I just had to punch him before he admitted defeat.
Even if an outsider tried to step in, they’d be stopped with ‘They’re in the middle of a duel. How dare you try to barge in on a royal duel!”
Though at that time I did not think about such things and was only focused on hitting him.
“But I overdid it. I left the academy, was pretty much disowned by my parents and siblings, and I’m still being harassed by being invited to the school festival and made to participate in the tournament, but I’m doing this as the Lord of Shiki.”
“Oh, then your ‘Masked Pervert’ nickname is also…”
“Well, he’s probably the one who spread that—wait, what’s that nickname?”
“I also heard it. It’s one of your nicknames, Mr. Clo. I heard it while walking around the Domain.”
What’s with that nickname? Did that guy spread a new nickname for me again? Is he bored? Does he really have nothing else to do?
Unfortunately, I’m better than that lustful demon Khaki. Probably.
“But why did you do that to the Second Prince…?”
“Oh, the reason why I kept hitting him? Because my friend was killed and Carmine insulted him.”
“Huh?”
Why exactly did I hate that guy enough to beat the hell out of him? When I told her the reason casually, Ms. Kriemhild looked dumbfounded, as if she had been taken by a surprise.
“Just like how you came to the Shiki to investigate, there was an off-campus field training during my freshman year. My friend, who went to a different place for field study, passed away. The reason was because he protected that gu-… Carmine.”
It’s not like what I did would be excusable if the reason was serious enough, but at this rate she’ll think that I hit him because he was annoying, so I guess I’ll answer. It may be too late now though.
“At first, I thought that it was an accident, and even if I couldn’t cope with it, it was wrong for me to blame Carmine… however.”
“But?”
“… The accident happened in a very intentional way. Knowing that he was aiming for my friend, I just couldn’t endure it.”
Moreover, the reason was ‘I’m angry at that couple for flirting in front of me, a royal, even though I’m not getting along with my fiancée (roughly paraphrased)’. Once I heard that, I couldn’t stand it. When I saw him laugh at and agree with the people around him saying things like ‘they should be proud that they died for the royalty’ (also roughly paraphrased), I really thought that those people did not deserve any forgiveness.
But if I attacked them blindly, I would be stopped by the people around them, so I decided to take advantage of the school festival tournament.
“However, it’s true that violence is bad. I didn’t attack him to protect anyone, it was merely for dispelling my frustrations. Also, this is my subjective view, so it may differ from the truth.”
If I were to go back in time before the field training, I would try to save my friend without hesitation. But no matter how many times I would return before my duel, there is no way I wouldn’t beat that guy up.
Even if hitting a member of the Royal Family is a sin. Even if there was a better way to punish him. I just could not accept the idea of him living without pain.
“… Even if that’s the case, I don’t blame you, Mr. Clo. Rather, I think I hate His Highness Carmine now.”
However, Ms. Kriemhild listened to only my side of the story and believed me.
When I asked her why, she answered me with a smile.
“After all, you got angry for my friend.”
“For your friend?”
“Yes.”
For some reason, Ms. Kriemhild gestured as if beating somebody, like shadow boxing.
“I also got angry about what happened earlier. However, you got angry for Vi, Mr. Clo. As somebody who’s able to get angry for another person and cherish Vi, I believe in your subjective feelings, Mr. Clo.”
Even after listening to my one-sided recollection of the past, Ms. Kriemhild still believed me with a smile. I think her ability to express her feelings honestly is dazzling and amazing.
…I’m really glad that she’s at the academy. I’m grateful that her cheerfulness has been a source of comfort for Lady Violet.
“Oh, by the way, Silva was trying to chase after you with some inexplicable dark aura around him so I silenced him with an Iron Claw. He won’t be coming after you for the time being!”
I swear, this girl is really amazing in various ways.