Anyway, You Know What's Good
The attacks grew fiercer by the moment.
Roy scrambled backward, putting distance between them.
As the racket swelled, the horses tethered inside the stables began to scream as one.
I saw them around here earlier… Ah. That one? At a glance, it's a magnificent thoroughbred.
Roy lured them. Straight toward the horses, of course.
He never drew the sword at his hip. That would have been a violation of school rules. Fighting unarmed, even if he took a few accidental cuts, was no problem—he had his amulets.
"Your skills are truly pathetic. Then again, that's why you hide and bully people in secret, isn't it? Don't tell me you lot are the ones inheriting your houses? At this rate, you'll bring them to ruin before long. How do you expect to take down even a single goblin like this?"
His relentless taunts finally snapped their tempers.
"Stop snorting and say something, why don't you? If you inherit your houses, do those houses become the Houses of Horse Manure? Pwahahaha."
"You little—I'm going to kill you. How dare you insult our families!!"
Roy deliberately refused to dodge until the very last instant. He had already finished reading their skill. Wait until the razor edge of the moment, then slip aside—that was all.
"Whoa there—careful!"
Hiiiiiiih! One boy's blade carved a line across the thoroughbred's hide inside its stall. Pain hit the animal without warning, and it went berserk, thrashing madly. Fortunately, the wound wasn't life-threatening. A blessing from the campus priest would wipe a scratch like that clean away before long.
"What did the horse ever do to you? Ugh—the smell."
He pinched his nose shut again and fled. Because Roy never once counterattacked, the boys' momentum never broke. Their skill was so wretched they hadn't landed a single clean hit, yet with Roy doing nothing but run, they seemed to have decided they were rather impressive.
Did they really think that if they just kept swinging, they'd hit him eventually?
I'm the one running from a beating, and they're the ones going wild. Isn't that right, Chloe?
Behind a corner of the stables, Chloe was watching everything. She was meant to be today's witness. She had even brought a friend along, by the look of it.
"Get back heeere!"
"Kgh. I'll never forgive you."
"What are you doing? Catch him already!"
Roy ran for a long while, and the boys' swords left the stables in ruins. Wooden stalls were sheared clean through; blood ran down the flanks of one horse after another. A mess this thorough was hard to invent. Horse dung stuck to their clothes, tangled with straw, until they looked thoroughly ridiculous.
Chloe watched Roy and the boys with an expression of pure disbelief.
"Um, Lady Chloe."
"Mm."
"That boy Roy—he's being bullied, right? Only… he keeps laughing."
"Why? Five of them are ganging up on him, aren't they? That's what it looks like to me."
"But he's the only one doing all the insulting. The ones with the swords are gasping for breath."
"We'll pretend we didn't hear the conversation. We only remember what we saw with our own eyes. Got it?"
"Yes…"
The girl Chloe had brought was from a vassal house of the Bacon County. She wouldn't say anything unfavorable about Roy in front of the professors.
Word of the day's uproar reached the professors almost at once. In the end, everyone who had been in the stables—including Roy and Chloe—was summoned. But there was nothing to worry about. The one who had planted the witnesses there was Roy himself.
After hearing Chloe's and her friend's account, the professors concluded that Roy had done nothing wrong. Of course they did. Roy hadn't even drawn his sword. His only "attack" had been flinging horse dung with Psychic Bind, and neither Chloe nor her friend felt any need to mention it. Even the boys caked in manure kept their mouths shut. If word got out in high society, the humiliation would be unbearable. Better to let it be known that they had merely swung their swords.
In the end they received a confinement order, and summons for their guardians were issued as well. That was as light as it got—only because Roy, the victim, had asked for leniency. A worse outcome could easily have meant expulsion from the Knight Academy.
"That was deeply satisfying. The looks on their faces that day—they weren't even human."
"Pfft. Stop it. You're going to make me remember again."
Jack, listening to Roy and Chloe, asked with a worried face, "They won't… come after you for revenge, will they…?"
Roy answered without hesitation. "Probably not for a while. That's not the only problem they have to deal with."
He smiled with a devilish wickedness. Among the horses that had bled under their blades that day was the prized mount of a marquis's son—not a fellow first-year's, but an upperclassman's horse.
"The priest treated it, so it's fine now, but if I were him I wouldn't forgive them easily. They wounded someone's beloved horse."
"Whoa. You calculated that far when you lured them?"
"Well, I deliberately chose the spot with the flashiest horses, so I figured someone would get caught. Luck was on my side."
Jack and even Chloe stared at him with their mouths open. The look in their eyes carried a single clear message.
I must never make an enemy of this guy.
"More importantly, Jack. I promised you, didn't I? Come over to my place this weekend too. I'll set you up with the best job."
Jack brightened; Chloe looked puzzled.
"A job?"
"You'll see."
Roy intended to teach Chloe and Jack how to produce mana solution.
Two temporary assistants secured, then.
In truth, "assistants" was a polite word for something closer to slaves—but neither of them knew that yet.
"What's with that outfit?"
"What's wrong with my outfit?"
The promised weekend arrived. Roy was a little speechless at the sight of Chloe, who had shown up at the manor first thing in the morning.
"Were you invited to a banquet or something?"
"No? I'm spending the whole day at your house. I told them they only need to come fetch me before sunset."
"And you came dressed like that?"
"Obviously. You might not care, but I'm meeting your family for the first time today. I have to observe proper form, don't I?"
Chloe had appeared in a brilliant dress that looked ready for a formal ball. She had a different charm than usual—but to Roy's eyes she still just looked like a pretty child.
Because she had arrived so much earlier than agreed, Anna and Terry, who had only just finished breakfast, startled and hurriedly checked their clothes. She was a count's daughter, after all. However warm the friendship between House Bacon and House Greenhilt, some things still had to be observed.
Of course, the little figure beside them didn't even bother to stand, just sat there shamelessly and watched with an appraising gaze.
"Noah. Come here and say hello."
Noah was currently free to show himself inside the manor. That was the condition under which he was absolutely forbidden to appear anywhere else—and so far, at least, he had kept it. Still, if he sensed powerful mana, there was no telling what he might do, so Roy had to stay vigilant. According to Noah, remaining visible and in constant communion with his contractor made him easier to use, or some such nonsense. Roy trusted none of it, but for now he let it be.
He already had a plan to bring the creature to perfect submission. If anything like the last incident happened again, there would be no discussion. There would not be a second forgiveness.
The higher the fall, the more it hurts.
While Noah trotted over, the others were already exchanging greetings.
"Good morning. I'm Chloe Bacon. We've met before, Lady Anna."
"Welcome. I am Terry Greenhilt, Roy's grandfather. It is a great honor that one so distinguished should visit us."
"Hello, Lady Chloe. It's been a year since we met—when we stopped at Bacon Castle on the way to the royal capital last year."
After a little small talk, Chloe's gaze found Noah. How could it not? He had a small, adorable face and was stuck fast to Roy's side. He was even wearing a hat indoors, and his eyes were a suspicious, mysterious gold.
"Roy. And that one is…?"
"This is Noah. Noah, say hello. You already know who she is."
"Well met, little one."
"……?"
Not only the condescending address—he was smaller than her, and he was calling her "little one"? Chloe looked utterly flabbergasted and turned to Roy, clearly demanding an explanation.
"You'll have to put up with him. He's my spirit. His way of talking is a little rude, but his performance is excellent."
"How can you say it like that? You make me sound like a tool."
"See? That's how he talks to me, too."
Chloe's eyes lit up. She seemed quite taken.
"Wow—! A spirit that talks? Then he must be a really high-ranking spirit, right? But he's so cute. If it's not too rude, may I touch him?"
"You are my master's acquaintance, so I permit it, little one. I enjoy having my head stroked. But thou must not touch the ears."
"Kyaa! So cuuute!"
Chloe reacted exactly like Anna. She lunged, poking and prodding Noah here and there, scooping him into her arms, even pressing her cheek against his and rubbing.
Honestly—what did women find so adorable about a creature like that?
If they ever saw his true form, they wouldn't get away without wetting themselves.
Roy imagined Noah's real appearance and pulled a face.
"He's really adorable. Come to think of it, those glowing eyes Roy showed and Noah's eyes are the same color. So that was your ability?"
"Indeed. Do not stop thy hand."
Noah caught Chloe's hands and guided them back onto the top of his head. He must have bugs in his hair making him itch.
Grandfather Terry finished his greetings and disappeared into his room to prepare for an outing. Truly, the man never rested a single day; his stamina was something else.
Roy had already been pushed to the sidelines. Chloe and Anna seemed to hit it off at once, chattering without pause while they squished and kneaded Noah between them.
This is better. I have no desire to be in the middle of that.
Roy leaned deep into his chair and sat blankly, waiting for Jack to arrive. Only when that boy showed up would this uncomfortably soft, fuzzy atmosphere finally clear.