Three Strikes
"……Leon?"
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever be glad to hear Leonhardt's voice. Even Silvia, who had fought against him, called out his name with wide eyes. Leonhardt appeared from a slight rise in the terrain, ignoring everything around him and fixing his gaze solely on Silvia.
"Come to me! Silvia!"
Of course, my relief at hearing Leonhardt's voice had nothing to do with expecting him to help us. I knew full well that once he showed up, he would only try to save Silvia and leave the rest of us behind. At the blatant way he called only for her, Silvia unconsciously furrowed her brow and shook her head.
"I can't do that."
Though her voice was quieter than his, Leonhardt immediately realized she was rejecting him. He ground his teeth, his expression twisting in anger.
"Why……"
Once again, dying in the training grounds didn't mean actually dying. Even so, Leonhardt was seething with rage at being refused in a situation like this. Not that it was any of my business.
Anyway, I hadn't expected the slightest bit of help from Leonhardt, so why had I welcomed his appearance? Because he was even more of an idiot than I'd imagined.
"Grrr……"
Surrounded by Fang Wolves, he shouted at the top of his lungs, naturally drawing all their aggro straight to him. The wolves bared their fangs and began moving toward Leonhardt. A few still remained near us, but their numbers were far fewer than before. Leonhardt's teammates grimaced at the sight and began forming ranks. They looked frustrated at being put in danger because of their foolish prince, yet they couldn't say a word against him.
Not that I felt any sympathy for them. If anything, it served them right. Those guys had clearly been following Leonhardt's orders and watching us from the start. They must have planned to wait until we were in the most dramatic crisis, then swoop in to save Silvia. Probably thought that would help him reconcile with her and raise her favorability toward him.
'What is he, a grade-schooler?'
Anyone could see how suspicious this situation was, but apparently only the one who made the plan had failed to notice. Even if they couldn't disobey Leonhardt's orders, they were all the same type of people. No need to pity them. Besides, I didn't have time to pity anyone.
We were too busy trying to overcome the crisis right in front of us.
"Form ranks!"
I raised my voice while watching the Fang Wolves slowly approach, and everyone who understood the situation quickly grabbed their equipment and began forming up. The remaining wolves were still a difficult number for us to handle, but their reduced count had clearly eased everyone's expressions.
"Let's hold them off as long as we can."
I curled my lips into a grin and muttered the words. Everyone nodded in agreement. At the same time, the battle resumed once more.
@ Our resolve was firm, but reality was merciless.
Training End.
At the sound of Selenda's voice, I relaxed my body and let out a small breath. We had all fought hard, but overcoming that many Fang Wolves had been beyond us—both in skill and experience.
Forcibly ejected from the training grounds, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and clenched and unclenched my fists, replaying the battle in my mind. There had been more shortcomings than successes, but it had been a training session full of lessons.
After briefly reviewing the fight, I opened my eyes at the presence I felt beside me and looked around. Silvia, Helena, and Conan—all three of them were watching me, for some reason radiating a sense of camaraderie. I clicked my tongue and forced an awkward smile.
"Good work, everyone."
I wasn't the team leader, but somehow it felt like I was the one who should say it first. Silvia gave a small smile at my words, while Helena beamed with pride. Conan nodded calmly, though his ears had turned slightly red—now that the battle was over, he seemed to have reverted to his timid self.
"What a shame."
Helena's words carried both pride in our effort and deep regret. I silently nodded. If only I had been a little more capable, the fight could have been easier. But that, too, was nothing more than belated regret. Rather than dwelling on the past, we still had many days ahead of us as academy students.
"Still, you were all amazing! At this rate, we might even expect a good score!"
"Helena's right. Everyone played their part well."
Just before entering the training grounds, Silvia and Helena had seemed awkward to the point of disliking each other. Now they were nodding at one another. As expected, boys grew closer through fighting, while girls…… I didn't know. Anyway, spending time training together had brought them closer, just like kids their age. I still didn't know why they'd disliked each other in the first place, but if they'd made up, that was all that mattered.
"Let's do even better next time."
The result was disappointing, but it had been a good opportunity for everyone to find motivation. Helena and Silvia nodded brightly at my words and began chatting animatedly.
"Helena, I was surprised you could wield a sword so well with that slender frame."
"I've been training hard since I was little. But you, Silvia—your abilities are really something, aren't they?"
"It wasn't that impressive……"
At Helena's praise, Silvia blushed and grew embarrassed. But there had been no exaggeration in Helena's words. I'd only thought of her as a healer, yet she could provide buffs on top of healing—I never would have imagined it. And her healing wasn't lacking either. The way she could instantly fill a tired body with vitality was impressive enough to make me think, 'As expected of the protagonist.'
"I thought so too. It was incredible. You could probably go pro right now."
As Silvia's face turned crimson at my words, a voice cut through the atmosphere from somewhere nearby.
"……Silvia."
Step, step.
Leonhardt's footsteps, heavy with anger, approached. At the same time, everyone turned toward the voice that was barely suppressing its rage. Leonhardt, his handsome face twisted, strode straight toward Silvia without sparing us a glance. Silvia didn't avoid him either—she simply stood and met his gaze.
"Leon."
Her voice was so cold that it was hard to believe these two had once shared a passionate love in the original novel. Even I flinched at hearing Silvia speak so icily for the first time, but Leonhardt looked down at her with a calm expression. Of course, his mind was probably too full of rage to think clearly.
"Why did you do that?"
The words were abrupt, but no one needed an explanation to understand what he meant. Since only two people here could speak, the rest simply remained silent.
"Why did you do that, Silvia?"
Before Silvia could answer, the impatient Leonhardt exhaled sharply and asked again. His hands trembled as if he wanted to grab her right then and there, yet he seemed to be holding back with superhuman patience.
"……So you're saying I should have abandoned my teammates?"
"Even if this is just training, shouldn't you have come to me?"
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
Silvia's delicate brows furrowed at Leonhardt's illogical words. Yet he looked down at her as if there was nothing wrong with what he'd said.
"Because you belong to me. Of course you should come to me."
"Leon, stop saying ridiculous things. I don't belong to anyone."
"You!!"
At Silvia's words, Leonhardt finally lost control of his anger. He didn't touch her, but he shouted at the top of his lungs, breathing heavily.
"You are mine!! No matter what anyone says!!"
"……"
Even Silvia seemed at a loss for words at his absurd reasoning. Wow, this guy was actually insane. I'd already known he wasn't the brightest, but I never imagined he'd be this unreasonable. Feeling dizzy, I blinked blankly.
"Don't lower your worth by staying with these inferior people. In the end, you're going to become the crown princess!!"
"Leon!!"
Unable to tolerate Leonhardt treating her like property and insulting us in the process, Silvia finally raised her voice. At the same time, seeing her shout at him, Leonhardt raised his hand. The moment I saw him reach for her shoulder, I stopped holding back.
"That's enough, Your Highness."
I grabbed the hand heading for Silvia and muttered quietly. Only then did Leonhardt's bloodshot eyes turn toward me.
"Take your hand off, you insignificant thing."
Hold it in. Fighting Leonhardt wouldn't benefit me in any way. Thinking that, I tried to speak to him rationally—until his next words forced a long sigh out of me.
"Disappear from my sight along with that pathetic friend of yours."
The third time.
I'd shown the bare minimum of courtesy. There was no longer any reason to hold back.
"Ha…… You little bastard."