Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: 4th Princess Rozaria (2)
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"Please become my escort knight, Sian."
Her sudden words left me at a loss for a response.
Out of nowhere, she was asking me to be her escort knight.
"Escort knight...?"
I echoed her words in confusion.
I had certainly saved her before.
Once when a horde of goblins and an ogre attacked her carriage.
And again recently during the assassination attempt at the tournament.
Did she see me as a promising talent?
I had certainly demonstrated aura in the arena, something rare for someone my age.
Thanks to that, I was able to cut through the helpless participants and behead the spies.
But this was all just cheat-level growth from my past-life knowledge.
True talent.
Everything crumbles before it.
Look at Cain.
I'd mended my dantian and luckily learned swordsmanship from Iris, a Sword Master.
Even with the mental maturity of my twenties from before possession, deeply grasping the professors' lessons better than my peers.
Yet I was still only a step behind his level.
And Cain had trained entirely on his own.
Did I have the talent to become a princess's escort knight?
I didn't know much about this possessed body, but the odds of it having that level of innate talent were extremely low.
Before long, Cain would surpass me.
"...I'm sorry."
So when the princess nodded at my question, I had no choice but to decline.
"What's the reason? Becoming an escort knight would bring you honor and wealth in abundance."
"I believe high honor and wealth suit only those who deserve them."
"Now I see—you have a habit of undervaluing yourself, Sian. If not you, then who deserves it?"
"...As for manifesting aura, it was just luck that I grasped it early."
"What about the swordsmanship and martial arts you showed to save me from the spies?"
"That was also just luck that made it possible now."
"......"
Refusing this firmly could border on insolence.
But even so, I had to decline earnestly.
It wasn't just the talent issue...
I was aiming for the safest, smoothest graduation possible.
4th Princess Rozaria was at odds with 3rd Prince Gerald.
She might not realize he saw her as an enemy yet, but she would eventually.
When that happened, it would escalate into a battle for the throne.
I couldn't guarantee my safety.
That's why Cain—who could protect himself and Rozaria—was the one suited to be her escort knight.
He was the true protagonist of the story, after all.
"...I understand."
Rozaria stood from her seat.
And continued speaking.
"This isn't something you need to decide right now... I'll come again. Please think it over until then."
"......"
I met her words with silence.
And soon, she left the hospital room.
Now, only Hedi and I remained in the room.
"......"
"......"
Was it because of the earlier conversation?
Hedi sat demurely with her hands on her lap.
...I didn't like this kind of atmosphere.
I smiled casually as usual and spoke to her.
"What are you thinking about?"
"...Nothing."
She seemed cautious somehow—was it my imagination?
"What the hell have you been up to, wandering around?"
"Huh?"
"How else would a princess of a nation go that far for you?"
"......"
...Beats me.
I wanted to ask why things turned out like this.
I hadn't done anything special, yet here we were—it was awkward.
I'd just saved her because she seemed in danger.
How could I have ignored it?
The real protagonist, Cain, wasn't around when the heroines were in peril.
If I hadn't stepped in, who knows what would have happened in those dire situations.
I could save them. So I did.
...This world felt too real.
Not like a game where you control with a keyboard—it had sensations, smells, clear interactions.
It didn't feel like a game at all.
That's why I couldn't ignore people in danger. And it happened to be the heroine-types.
I wasn't trying to create these situations.
"I just happened to save her when she seemed in danger. Nothing more."
"The more I watch you, the more you really seem like a promising talent."
"...?"
"Me aside, how do you keep saving people left and right? What if the goddess Hea really chooses you as a hero?"
"...What nonsense is that?"
It was unlikely, but just imagining it sent chills down my spine.
The reason I'd grinded levels so hard while playing the game.
To clear the Demon King in record time.
Even paying for power-ups as Cain, beating the Demon King took me at least four hours.
The Demon King and his demon subordinates were overwhelmingly stronger than regular monsters.
Me becoming a hero to defeat those...? With talent not even on Cain's level? Absurd.
The difficulty would be Triple Hell mode or worse. Might as well call it suicide.
"That'll never happen, so don't get your hopes up."
I shook my head firmly, denying her words.
Waking up to a hero's mark on my hand? I'd rather die than deal with that nightmare.
Cain's self-esteem had hit rock bottom.
What was his sword, really?
He kept doubting it.
He'd defeated one of the swordsmanship club's top fighters.
He thought that brought him a step closer to proving himself.
But...
'Stay back and watch, you rookies!'
'Move and I'll cut you down. Stand still quietly.'
Before the assassins' blades who burst in suddenly, he was helpless.
The princess was in mortal danger, and trapped by the obsession that wooden swords couldn't face real steel, he floundered uselessly.
But then one man appeared and shattered his fixed ideas.
Sian.
A peer from the swordsmanship club he'd never seen before.
He used aura.
Like his childhood friend and sword genius from a renowned family, Aria Silvesta.
But his skill seemed incomparably superior to Aria's.
If Aria had been in the tournament, could she have skillfully beheaded the assassins and saved Princess Rozaria like Sian did?
Nearly impossible, he thought.
Aria was strong, sure—but not on Sian's level.
So Cain felt the wall even more acutely.
'Was my talent... just mediocre after all?'
He'd recently gained enlightenment and grown wildly.
Reaching the early 3-star realm through hard work, he thought maybe his talent was an unfinished vessel that could break innate limits.
Keep expanding it, and someday he'd reach the pinnacle he dreamed of.
Being chosen as the hero.
The gap with Aria Silvesta had narrowed; maybe he could surpass her, claim the top spot in the swordsmanship club among peers, and prove his talent.
But once he tore down the wall called Aria, another towering one appeared.
Sian.
The name matched the debauched young master who'd bullied him as a fallen noble in the first semester, making it even more infuriating.
Who the hell was he...?
He'd protected the princess Cain thought he couldn't.
With his own sword.
No matter how he thought about it, Sian fit the hero candidate better.
"Urgh..."
Overwhelmed by inferiority, Cain kicked the ground.
He was furious.
The dream he'd thought was close felt distant again, a more bitter experience than imagined.
"...Hoo."
Standing alone in the training grounds, Cain silently gripped a wooden sword with his calloused hands.
And set a new goal.
A mix of resentment and fervor ignited his drive.
Cain's eyes snapped open wide.
Staring at his new target, he swung the sword fiercely.
"Hedi not coming today?"
In the student cafeteria.
While eating at the same table, Lloyd said to me.
"Uh? Yeah. What's up with her? You didn't ditch her, did you, Sian?"
Bobby paused his frantic eating to chime in with Lloyd.
Ditch her...?
What kind of nonsense was that?
Lucky she didn't kick me away.
She said she'd eat lunch separately for training since seeing me was a distraction lately.
...Her personality had softened a bit recently.
But watching her sharply cut down approaching guys with harsh words, I thought she was still the same.
"Shut up and eat."
I was brushing off talk that could get annoying if it reached Hedi's ears.
"May I join you?"
Someone approached our table.
A clear voice laced with refinement and grace.
Lloyd, Bobby, and Lui—who'd been chattering—turned toward the voice in surprise.
And froze solid.
Seeing my friends like that piqued my curiosity, so I looked ahead too.
'Huh...?'
I stopped mid-bite in shock.
I felt nearby students' eyes concentrating on us.
Naturally so.
Someone who didn't belong in this lowly student cafeteria was here.
Well, the student cafeteria wasn't actually bad.
As befitting the empire's top academy, it had diverse menus and services for students.
But it was relatively lowly for her.
Someone who should be dining in a VIP room off a personal chef—why was she here?
"P-Princess...?"
"B-Buh-buh-buh-blah...!"
Lloyd's eyes bulged in shock, and Bobby trembled like he had a tremor.
...Princess Rozaria spoke.
"There's space, right? Mind if I eat with you?"