Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Tigers' Fight #6
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The next morning.
Tweet tweet. Jeejeebee, jeejeebebee. Jeejeebe.
I woke up to the birds chirping incredibly loudly.
Birds.
Something flashed in my mind, and as I shook off the sleep, I opened the window and called out to the birds fluttering around on a nearby tree.
"Come here."
Using Bird Taming, pigeons flocked to my windowsill. I tied simple scrolls to their ankles.
"Deliver these to Gorgor, Marmar, and Lady Kallira's lodgings. It's not a difficult task, right?"
Goo.
Watching the birds fly off with a flutter, I recalled the letters I'd discovered yesterday. The ones from the storage shed on the dormitory rooftop. Reinhardt, Alistair, and Isaiah.
If my guess was right, this Isaiah was probably a survivor of Angmar. High chance he was the one who became my father.
If an Angmar survivor had been a student here at the Arc, there had to be records of him somewhere.
I decided to mobilize the faculty members I'd planted here as my subordinates to investigate this "Isaiah."
Of course, I planned to look into it myself too.
I wanted to check what that storage shed on the rooftop of Truth Hall had originally been used for.
Now that I knew the ladies' fathers had lived in this Truth Hall, sitting idle would be the height of laziness.
Not knowing was forgivable if it paralyzed me, but knowing and not acting? I couldn't forgive myself for that.
To survive, I had to do anything and everything. Rational voice.
As I looked in the mirror and psyched myself up, someone was waiting for me as I stepped out the door.
"You're later than expected, commoner?"
It was the silver-haired Lady Draco.
"Na—"
I almost greeted her as Narmi, clamping my mouth shut in a panic. Clearing my throat with a hem-hem, I bowed to Mirna.
"Good morning, Lady Mirna. What brings you all the way here?"
"Commoner, I'm giving you the chance to escort me today. Be grateful. Isn't escorting a suitor basic etiquette for gentlemen?"
Was there such etiquette?
"Ah, I see. I wasn't aware."
Swoosh.
Lady Mirna Draco extended a pale white hand toward me. She probably wanted me to take it and lead her.
Even Aira or Elga had never asked me for something like this. Feeling a bit awkward, I took her hand, and Lady Mirna Draco furrowed her brow ever so slightly.
"Gripping it that hard might leave marks on my delicate hand."
"Sorry. So, where should I escort you, milady?"
"You figure that out... No, Lady Lioness has a duel today. Let's head to the arena."
Got it.
Holding Lady Mirna Draco's hand, I left the dormitory. Whispers from the many cadets passing by in the hallway reached my ears.
—Look at them. Holding hands while walking around school.
—Campus couple? So brazen first thing in the morning.
—Cherry blossoms are blooming, and suddenly couples are everywhere. Amazing.
—It's fine. They'll all break up once the blossoms fall. Happens every year.
To everyone else, we must have looked like a couple holding hands.
In reality, it was more like servant and lady, but for me—who had zero experience holding a woman's hand and walking—it felt embarrassingly novel, and my face burned hot.
Campus couple, of all things?
It dredged up my dark history of being in a university CC, making me miserable. Back then, the rumors spread everywhere, and I ended up fleeing to the military...
"You're walking too fast, Theo Gospel."
Lady Mirna tugged my hand. I had no choice but to drop thoughts of 21st-century campuses.
"Sorry. I'm not used to this sort of thing."
"I see. So you haven't held hands with the Tarantella Queen or Lady Lioness?"
I'd done far more intense things than that, but thinking back, I'd never even attempted the simple skinship of holding hands and walking.
As I hemmed and hawed, Lady Mirna Draco chuckled softly behind her fan, which she snapped open with a whoosh.
"Everyone's clumsy at first. I, Mirna Draco, am magnanimous."
Lady Mirna Draco seemed magnanimous.
But the world wasn't so kind to me.
As we stepped outside the dormitory building, I ran into someone I hadn't expected at all.
"Well, if it isn't Lady Lioness?"
"What are you two—"
By chance or design, I bumped into Elga, who was jogging near Truth Hall dormitory in her tracksuit.
No, probably not chance.
Elga's face twisted dynamically upon seeing Mirna Draco holding my hand.
Eek...
My legs nearly buckled, almost dropping Mirna's hand, but she gripped mine tighter, refusing to let go.
Swoosh.
Regaining her composure, Elga asked calmly.
"What are you two doing? Why are you holding hands?"
Even with my eyes wide open, the world felt dark. It really came.
But I'd already settled things with Elga yesterday. If I explained well, she'd understand the situation.
As I opened my mouth to say, "Here's what happened—," Mirna beat me to it.
"I'm in the middle of being escorted by the commoner."
"Escorted?"
"Isn't it common sense for suitors to escort? Lady Lioness, as the daughter of a great noble, you should know that much, right?"
Mirna scolded Elga as if to say, "You don't even know that?" Probably trying to poke at Elga's unladylike ways, but Elga shot back indifferently.
"Theo Gospel is your suitor?"
Elga asked innocently, her expression shifting to haughty confidence. She was probably suppressing her anger to tease Mirna.
Unaware of that, Lady Mirna Draco puffed up even more arrogantly.
"Lady Lioness, you must be behind on the news. The entire Arc already knows this young, talented half-fairy proposed to me."
"Oh. I think I've heard something like that."
The atmosphere grew awkward.
"Anyway, Lady Lioness, we were on our way to watch your duel. Care to walk with us?"
"Sure, why not. I've warmed up just enough."
Drip drip.
Having jogged since dawn, sweat trickled down Elga's body.
As Elga pressed against my side, a fresh apple scent wafted over, making my head spin. But Mirna scolded her.
"The parasol's getting cramped."
Mirna didn't like how Elga's arrival had squeezed the space under the parasol I was holding.
"Theo Gospel, stick closer to my side."
"Understood."
I pressed even closer to Mirna, and Elga clicked her tongue at the sight.
"Tch. Too sneaky. I'm out."
Just as I thought they'd sulk briefly, Elga spoke up.
"So, Theo Gospel. What exactly do you like about this gloomy girl that made you propose? Tell me."
"......"
Elga, are you teasing me? As I hesitated to answer rashly, Lady Mirna Draco laughed instead. Hahaha.
"Isn't it natural for gentlemen to propose to someone as perfect as me in every way? Of course, someone like Lady Lioness, who's built walls around romance and love, might not get it."
"You saying I don't know about romance?"
"Lady Lioness, it's famous how you rejected every suitor. Though, to be fair, they were all old geezers, so I get it."
"Grrrr..."
Lately, I'd noticed Elga wasn't great at verbal sparring. She seemed to be taking critical hits from the chattering Lady Mirna.
Why even ask why I proposed to Mirna? Is this the female psychology of asking a boyfriend about his ex?
Mirna drove the nail in.
"Theo Gospel, explain to Lady Lioness what it is about me that captivates young, healthy gentlemen. She might learn something."
"Well..."
"Yeah, spill it, Theo Gospel. Let me learn a thing or two. How alluring can Lady Mirna— who just now held hands with a man for the first time—be?"
Do I really have to?
If I bullshitted, Mirna would get mad. Elga knew my situation, so she'd understand even with some flowery words.
So I talked about Mirna's appealing points.
"Well... Lady Mirna has such beautiful silver hair. Her eyes are ruby red, like jewels. And she's so intellectual, fluent in ancient languages..."
"Enough. I can't listen to this. Blech—."
Elga grimaced openly.
I could tell Elga was genuinely upset, but Mirna laughed arrogantly, Ho ho, ignoring it.
"Too far removed from Lady Lioness's world. Not helpful at all, huh?"
"You've been needling me this whole time. Are you picking a fight?"
"Did it sound that way? You must lack composure, Lady Lioness."
Halt.
Elga stopped walking. Then she rummaged in her tracksuit pocket, pulled something out, and tossed it at Mirna.
Flutter.
It was a white handkerchief. One meaning only.
"Mirna Draco, you bitch. Duel me."
* * *
Single Numbers had to duel another Single Number once a week or at most once a month to prove their rank.
Today, Elga was heading to challenge someone at rank 4.
But circumstances twisted, leading to a duel between Elga and Mirna— a Single Numbers showdown.
—Fight between rank 5 and 6?
—Finally, a proper duel. Not that weird word-chain nonsense last time.
The arena filled with spectators swarming like clouds from everywhere. And between Lioness and Draco—rival houses famous across the continent.
—Alright, today's History of Duels lecture will be replaced by watching this fight and writing a report on it.
Not just cadets, but faculty and professors showed interest too. No stopping it now.
"Lady Mirna, are you sure about this?"
I'd promised to escort her today, so I checked once more. Lady Mirna Draco was a necromancer.
But right now, she lacked the powerful lich Alistair Draco and the Draco house's dragon soldiers.
Could she really beat Elga? A natural question.
Mirna laughed leisurely. Hahaha.
"I'll show you my skills. So, are you ready?"
At her question, I handed her a sword I'd fetched nearby.
Shing.
Lady Mirna Draco drew the blade.
Mirna and a sword—an unlikely pair. But she affixed something from her pocket to the blade with slaps.
Talismans.
"The Draco house doesn't just command the dead. Otherwise, we couldn't claim the title of eastern overlords."
Facing her was Elga, gripping a massive axe.
Crackle, crackle. Their auras prickled my sensitive fairy skin. The mediator, Professor Stella, sighed as she watched.
"You two are nothing like your fathers. Fitting daughters, though? Why am I always stuck stopping Lioness-Draco fights?"
Stella Belhawk's words sparked something in my mind. Turning from the heated ladies, I subtly asked Professor Stella.
"Do you perhaps know their fathers? Duke Reinhardt or Sir Alistair, I mean."
"Know them? I was in their class. Same club too. That was thirty years ago already."
That was the setup?
Whatever. If Stella knew Reinhardt and Alistair, she probably knew about him too.
As attention focused on the ladies about to start, I whispered just loud enough for Stella alone.
"Then... do you know anything about someone named Isaiah?"