Chapter 13
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 13: Trouble Breaks Out When You're Next to the Protagonist (4)
After the lecture ended, the Saintess suddenly came to find me.
"Please spar with me, it's been a while!"
"Hasn't it been less than ten days since we sparred? It seems inappropriate to use the phrase 'it's been a while'."
"Anyway!"
"I refuse."
"Are you scared you'll lose to a sword while holding a spear?"
"That doesn't work anymore."
"Hing..."
"Even if you do that, it won't work."
At my iron wall, the Saintess fell into deep contemplation.
Taking advantage of this moment, I tried to ignore her and leave the lecture room, but the Saintess blocked my path with her body.
"....."
"....."
Silence continued for a moment.
When I looked at her with feelings full of absurdity, the Saintess avoided my eyes, perhaps pricked by her conscience.
Considering her social face, I waited for 5 seconds.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Since time was up, I decided to leave the lecture room through another path.
"W-W... Wait a moment! If you win the spar, I'll grant you anything you want!"
".....?"
It was quite a bold proposal.
The Saintess's social status is top-tier even in the continent.
Isn't she a mythical figure born after hundreds of years?
Such a Saintess will grant anything I want?
It was quite tempting.
"What!? Alicia, what are you saying!"
"Saying you'll grant anything he wants, do you know what Ethan will demand!"
But the ones who showed intense reactions to the Saintess's words were actually Kyle and Asel.
Just what do they think I will demand to react like that?
".....Both of you. What do you take me for?"
When I looked at them as if offended, the two only then seemed to come to their senses and made awkward expressions.
Commonsensically, there's no way I would demand something strange.
If I mess with the Saintess wrongly, it wouldn't be strange if not just me alone but my entire family perished.
"Well, fine. Let's go."
We moved to the sparring arena.
There were many people besides us in the training ground, and when I started sparring with the Saintess, I could feel their gazes gathering.
This is the third time, but it seems they don't get tired of it.
Well, how much entertainment would there be in the middle ages?
Especially for those who use their bodies like the Knight Department, each of these spars was no different from a lump of dopamine.
"The match will be decided when one side falls or admits defeat. Then, start!"
As the assistant in charge of refereeing announced the start, the Sword Saintess rushed at me immediately.
And well.. there was nothing special.
Isn't skills changing dramatically in a week only possible when one gains enlightenment?
In the first place, the skill difference between her without the Holy Sword and me was clear.
Adding the compatibility difference between sword and spear, the result was obvious.
"Ah...!"
Unable to overcome the spear's offensive, the Saintess, who was retreating little by little, tripped on the ledge of the sparring arena and fell.
"Good work."
I extended my hand to her.
The Saintess holding my hand with a bewildered expression.
Her face seemed to ask what got into me.
'She's someone who will grant me a favor, can't I do at least this much?'
When I helped her stand up, the Saintess dusted off the dirt on her clothes and asked me.
"It is... my defeat. What favor should I grant you?"
Ideally, I wanted to ask her not to approach me in the future.
But she and I are both in the Knight Department.
There were many occasions where our paths overlapped due to lectures or training.
Plus, since our club is the same, realistically, this was a difficult request.
"I heard the Saintess can make special holy water. Could you give me a bottle of that?"
"Holy water? Making it is cumbersome, but it's not impossible. However... holy water doesn't have effects like elixirs, so you can't complain after receiving it, okay?"
"Of course."
I demanded the Saintess's special holy water I heard about through rumors.
Did they say it has superior effects compared to existing holy water?
Considering that warlocks will appear frequently in the future, it didn't seem bad to be prepared.
'By the way, is making holy water that cumbersome?'
Seeing how she speaks, it seems many people demanded holy water thinking it was some kind of elixir or restorative medicine...
Thinking about it, doesn't the Saintess in front of my eyes belong to the eccentric side for a Saintess?
Entering the Knight Department instead of Theology just because she received the Holy Sword, and holding a wooden sword instead of the Holy Sword during sparring saying she needs to increase her skills.
Since she's such an eccentric Saintess, maybe she finds making holy water annoying.
It wasn't my business, so I greeted her and went down from the sparring arena.
I obtained a not bad reward for spending a little time.
"Excuse me, regarding the spar, can we talk a bit..."
I left the sparring arena feeling good.
After the morning lecture ended the next day, I headed to the club room.
Since I couldn't enjoy the meal properly due to the attempted assassination of the Saintess yesterday, I intended to get recommendations for a new place from the seniors.
"Hello."
"Is that Ethan? Welcome."
Entering the club room, I saw a few club members.
Among them, there were a few seniors I had broken the ice with.
After exchanging greetings with them, I examined the Academy Gourmet Map attached to one wall of the club room.
Indeed, fitting for a club with decades of tradition, numerous gourmet restaurants inside the academy were marked on the map.
Since an incident happened while eating meat yesterday, exclude meat, and since it's early in the year and the weather is still cold, exclude cold food too.
While looking for a restaurant excluding a few conditions like this, someone covered my eyes from behind and asked.
"Fuhu, guess who?"
"....Senior Luciela?"
"Correct."
Relaxed yet gentle... a bewitching voice that seemed to enchant people.
Among the seniors with these characteristics in this club, she was the only one I knew.
"Hello."
"Yeah, hello. Did you eat lunch?"
"No, not yet. I'm looking at what to eat now. Do you happen to have a place you can recommend?"
"Really? Then how about here?"
The place her finger pointed to was a spaghetti shop.
Just in time, it was a place that matched the conditions I was thinking of, so it seemed like a good choice.
"Sounds good, I should solve today's lunch here."
"Really? Then want to go eat with me? I'll treat you."
"Yes? It's fine though.."
"When you're a freshman, you're supposed to be treated by seniors."
There was no reason to refuse when she said she would treat me.
Besides, isn't it a meal with a beautiful senior?
No matter how I thought about it, it was something to accept.
"Then let's go. It's before lunch time yet, but if we don't go quickly, we'll have to wait."
"Yes."
We decided to go to the spaghetti shop right away.
However, while leaving the club room, a female senior who saw our appearance shouted.
It was the senior who ate with us during the last freshman welcome party.
"Luciela is taking a male junior to eat alone!"
"What!? Luciela alone with a man?!"
"I knew it since seeing them at the freshman welcome party! As expected, they were that kind of relationship!"
Instantly, the gazes of the club members turned to us.
Since there wasn't much to enjoy in this uncivilized middle age, other people's love lives were also excellent dopamine supplements, so it couldn't be helped.
"Eh...?!"
An attack from a friend she hadn't imagined.
The senior who was showing the composure of an older woman just a moment ago reacted like a girl hearing love stories.
Although she protected her usual relaxed smile with an outstanding poker face, I, who was right next to the senior, could see her neck turning red.
Is this what they call gap moe?
Suddenly feeling mischievous, I responded to the surrounding reaction.
"Senior... I think our relationship is caught."
"Junior, such a joke is.."
"What, it was real? Since when!?"
The female senior snapping up my words as if saying 'gotcha'.
"It's not like that, just try spreading false rumors!"
Eventually, Senior Luciela couldn't stand the surrounding teasing and ran out of the club room.
Then, perhaps recalling that she decided to go with me, she came back in, grabbed my hand, and dragged me out.
"Ooooooh!"
Leaving behind the voices of club members admiring the forceful appearance, we headed to the spaghetti shop we originally planned to go to.
"Our junior, just like last time, you have quite a mischievous side."
On the way to the restaurant, the senior, who regained her composure perhaps because the heat subsided in the breeze, said.
I wanted to see the cute reaction from earlier, but since she seemed to want to show the senior's composure, I apologized obediently.
"I'm sorry. Your reaction was cute so I couldn't help it."
"Cute... Junior, you've made some girls cry, haven't you?"
"I only speak facts."
Senior Luciela pretending to be calm but strangely shy.
Walking as if possessed looking at that appearance, we arrived at the restaurant before we knew it.
"Welcome! How many are you?"
"2 people."
"Yes, please sit where you are comfortable."
We took a seat by the window and ordered food.
I ordered the familiar Aglio e Olio, and Senior Luciela ordered a somewhat unfamiliar menu called Pajata Spaghetti.
"Senior, what is Pajata?"
"Ah, you didn't know? It's an intestine dish."
"Oh... First time hearing it."
"If you're interested, want to try a bite later?"
"I would be grateful if you do."
Interest arose in the food I heard of for the first time.
Indeed, since she belongs to a gourmet club, is even the food she eats extraordinary?
I started looking forward to the food that would come out in a bit.
"Here it is. Enjoy your meal."
A few minutes later, spaghetti came out in wide, flat bowls.
The Aglio e Olio I ordered had a familiar visual, but the Pajata the senior ordered was definitely new.
Unlike mine, the spaghetti she ordered was made with Rigatoni, noodles that looked like hollow tteokbokki, and in addition to that, intestines that looked like Gopchang were contained together.
"This is Pajata. The small intestine of a young calf that grew up drinking milk. Since it's intestine, likes and dislikes might be divided, but if you like it, you can eat it deliciously."
Saying that, Senior Luciela picked up the Pajata and Rigatoni together with a fork and said.
"Junior, say ah~."
"Senior?"
"Fuhu, our junior. It was good when teasing me earlier, right? If you want to eat this senior's food, eat it like this."
When I asked back, she held out the fork to me with a playful smile as if it was revenge for earlier.
Since there was no reason to hesitate particularly, I accepted and ate it with a grateful heart.
"Hueet....!?"
Senior Luciela's face turned red.