6
Chapter 6:
"H-how dare you!"
The idiot who'd taken my fist to the face staggered.
'Can't kill him.'
It's true I'd thrown that punch because I was fed up.
But it wasn't a choice made out of emotion.
I was doing this because it was all to my advantage.
I surveyed the remaining rabble.
"A mere escort daring to hit Teodora... urk!"
"Are you alright!? Guh—!"
I punched them just as equally.
'What an absolute mess.'
I let out a deep sigh as I knocked the group down one by one.
Then I looked around at my surroundings.
The banquet hall, which had been full of laughter and chatter, had gone silent.
Countless gazes stabbed at me like needles.
The most dramatic reaction, unsurprisingly, came from—
"M-mister!"
—Siellin, who clearly hadn't expected me to go that far.
Well, it's true I'd done it after running a full cost-benefit calculation.
But there had been a slightly impulsive side to it too.
"There was no need to go that far..."
Siellin bit down hard on her lip and lowered her head.
But stopping here would be a real loss.
"These individuals insulted my student, Siellin Rekanof—and me, Adrian Valter."
This sort of thing needed to be stated plainly.
"V-V-Valter Ducal House...!"
Teodora, pinned beneath my foot, went pale with shock.
At the same time, murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"The prodigy swordsman, Adrian..."
"Why would someone like that be working as an escort?"
"I heard he was quite the notorious troublemaker in social circles. Seems it was true."
Prodigy swordsman, sure—but troublemaker, no.
Having settled that internally, I looked down at Teodora.
"What you can't say to someone's face, you don't say behind their back either. That's basic common sense."
It was addressed to her, but it was also a message meant for Siellin.
Not that Siellin would ever go around badmouthing people.
But early education matters in everything.
On the off chance she went astray, I couldn't afford to let my guard down.
"I'm sorry!"
Teodora immediately pressed her forehead to the floor.
"I-I failed to recognize who you were, Young Lord!"
"I'm not the only one who was insulted."
Whether she'd read the room, Teodora went straight to Siellin and dropped to her knees.
"I'm sorry!"
"Apology delivered, now get lost. I'll show you mercy this once."
Siellin said it plainly.
"Yes!"
He quickly signaled his companions.
"We're sorry!"
"Forgive us..."
And with that, he led his group and scurried out of the banquet hall.
I didn't bother to stop them.
They were clearly lower-ranked nobles—there was nothing worth wringing out of them.
And if they kept making a scene, Siellin wouldn't like that either.
'But she's come a long way.'
Siellin, who would have simply told them to get lost—
Actually voicing her opinion like that.
The effects of the education were excellent.
"Mister."
"Siellin, well done. You need to be able to speak your mind like that. One more thing to add—it's better to finish the cost-benefit calculation quickly. Even throwing a punch first, like I did just now, is premised on a fast calculation..."
"...Thank you."
My eyes went wide for a moment.
Did I hear that wrong?
"I said thank you for stepping in for me! Why are you making that face...! D-did I say something I shouldn't have!?"
"No. You did well."
I soothed Siellin, who was huffing with her face gone completely red.
"...Anyway! I don't really care about what they said. So don't worry too..."
Siellin faltered mid-sentence.
"Do I even have to say all this?"
"I never asked you to."
"I don't know! Figure it out yourself."
Soothing her had failed.
Leaving Siellin to sulk to her heart's content behind me, I set about scanning for food she might enjoy.
'Would dessert be better?'
Thanks to my involvement, the Rekanof Household brought out high-quality dishes.
But whether it was a household trait, the confections left something to be desired.
The last time I'd had a private meeting with Harsen in the drawing room, the tea hadn't been great either.
"Want some?"
"Hmph."
I held out a sorbet and Siellin sniffed—
But those twitching eyebrows were a dead giveaway.
"I'm only eating it because you offered. Right. There's no other meaning to it."
"Just eat it if you want it."
"..."
In silence, Siellin scooped up a spoonful of sorbet.
Just then—
"Thank you all for accepting the invitation!"
The Northern Grand Duke made a fashionably late entrance into the banquet hall.
"The Northern Hunting Tournament is a meaningful event with a long and storied history... I'll spare you all that meaningless drivel, and say just one thing. Have fun! Enjoy the very process of hunting monsters with everything you have. Isn't that what this event is here for?"
The opening speech was over in an instant.
A reflection of the Northern Grand Duke's personality.
"Oh, and something rather entertaining happened just now..."
He seemed to be referring to what I'd done.
The Northern Grand Duke was looking straight at me.
"The North welcomes duels between individuals. If anyone desires one, I can have a proper venue arranged."
The Northern Grand Duke grinned, teeth on full display.
'Figured a Grand Duke would be like this.'
The reason I hadn't thought too hard before making a scene was precisely because of his personality.
Having caused a scene at his own banquet, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to express displeasure.
"I like people who act boldly. Why don't all of you try acting on what your body tells you, once in a while? Being a noble doesn't mean you have to chase justification at every turn."
Instead, he singled me out and showered me with praise.
"Did you plan that, mister?"
Siellin, who had been happily spooning up her sorbet, asked.
Her grin stretched from ear to ear.
"As I explained earlier, I ran a cost-benefit calculation before moving."
"You're fast."
"I couldn't just stand there while my student was being insulted."
"Student, please. You're just a mister."
That was what Siellin said—
But the smile that had crept onto her lips refused to leave.
"Enough small talk. Let me properly explain the Northern Hunting Tournament."
The Northern Grand Duke began his explanation.
"You will put on special equipment and enter the dungeon. It won't be the kind of enclosed dungeon you might be imagining, of course. It's simply a place that used to be a dungeon in the past."
Using a cleared dungeon as a hunting ground.
The North really was out of its mind.
"Monsters that appear there are assigned points upon defeat. The points vary per individual monster. As for the escorts..."
There wasn't much to the escort explanation.
A dungeon was still a dungeon, so safety concerns could arise.
To prevent that, escorts had to be brought along—that was the gist.
And the escorts had to wear a device that weakened their strength.
To keep them from killing the monsters on behalf of the participants.
In emergency situations, however, escorts could use their full power, apparently.
"Does fighting monsters count as real combat experience, mister?"
"In many ways, monsters are actually the better opponents. An enemy with no reason is the most frightening kind."
"Alright. Then what's the first-place reward?"
I jerked my chin toward the Northern Grand Duke.
He was explaining it now—a gesture for her to listen.
"The reward for winning the tournament is the right to ask something of me. You may request that I open the North's treasury, or join the knight order without going through the usual process. Decide what you want when the time comes."
I had my eye on the treasury.
The choice was Siellin's to make, but if my memory was right—
The Sword Saint had also requested the treasury be opened.
She hadn't used just one or two weapons.
One of the weapons the Sword Saint had used most frequently was something she'd obtained from the North.
"That's all for the explanation. Once the banquet ends, the tournament will begin immediately."
With those words, the Northern Grand Duke left.
***
About thirty minutes had passed since the hunting tournament began.
The monsters encountered so far hadn't been at a high level, so there was no tension.
That was less of a problem than this.
'My body does feel heavy.'
I fiddled with the bracelet that had been specially crafted in the North.
I could break it with my own strength—but that would result in disqualification.
"Mister. Does this count as real combat experience?"
Siellin, who had been cutting down monsters before they even knew what hit them, asked.
"Don't drop your guard. Even if a dungeon has been fully cleared, a dungeon is still a dungeon. You never know what might happen."
Accidents at the hunting tournament weren't frequent.
But what was certain was that there had been cases.
"Got it."
Siellin dragged her feet a little—
And I was thinking the same thing on the inside.
Squelch!
A monster made entirely of slime split apart.
"Feels like I'm just getting my sword dirty."
Siellin complained as she stepped forward.
"In a normal dungeon, this is usually when something happens."
—Scream!!!
"Just like that."
"...H-how did you know?"
It was a coincidence.
I hadn't actually expected something to happen.
"My instincts are sharp."
"That's a thing? Impressive."
Siellin's mouth fell open slightly.
"Mm. My instincts are telling me we need to head toward where that scream came from."
"Mister. You're just talking nonsense, aren't you?"
"Caught me."
"Haah. I'm a fool for trusting you."
Siellin sighed and sheathed her sword.
"Shall we go?"
We sprinted toward the source of the scream.
Something might have gone wrong—there was no room to be leisurely about it.
"Looks like we found it."
The moment we arrived at the scene, I scanned the area.
'The escort is half dead. The noble young lady has sprained her ankle.'
And the monster fighting that escort was a minotaur—
But for some reason, its eyes looked far more feral than any minotaur I'd seen before.
Like something in it had snapped.
"Oh... oh?"
The young lady, who'd sensed our presence, turned her head.
"Y-you came to help..."
"A real opponent!"
Before the young lady could finish her sentence, Siellin launched forward.
The kind of action that showed she felt absolutely no need for conversation.
'She's learned well.'
As expected of my student.