63. Itching
63. Itching
Even though it was called a three-day break, no special events were being held, so there wasn't much to do that they hadn't already been doing.
They couldn't leave the academy grounds, but since all the students were out and about, the academy was unusually crowded—a rare sight.
Even the café, which they had never seen at full capacity, was packed.
"Is that her? The Sword Saint's..."
"Hmm... So if she marries up, does she go to the Clover Kingdom?"
"I guess so?"
"How did the engagement even happen...?"
Thanks to whoever had loudly spouted that sensational nonsense, people were whispering and staring at Riber wherever you looked.
They weren't saying anything particularly grand.
It was just such surprising news that everyone had to toss in a comment.
After all, Riber was the duel maniac who would rush out and challenge anyone to a duel if she heard gossip, and I was the crazy bastard who would beat people down on the spot without even mentioning the word duel.
After hearing from Hera Nunim, I learned that the rumors about the two of us had spread not just among the freshmen but to the upperclassmen as well.
"Atlas... should we move somewhere else?"
Perhaps deeply concerned by my restless mood, Amy asked first.
The one they were gossiping about was Riber, not me, but even as a bystander, I felt incredibly unpleasant.
Those stares that made you feel like a spectacle and the sound of whispering never became something you got used to, even if you weren't the target.
"Sorry. It's because of me..."
"...No, I'm sorry. I'm being needlessly sensitive... let's just get our drinks and move."
"Okay."
We grabbed our drinks from the café and headed to the clearing where we always trained.
Unlike me, Riber paid absolutely no attention to these stares.
She was different from me—I was like a pressure cooker on the verge of exploding from those itchy, irritating stares.
'I used to be like that originally...'
I couldn't remember when I'd become unable to tolerate those looks.
It was a memory too old to recall now.
"Hah, now it feels like we can breathe a little~"
As we got away from the academy buildings, the number of people gradually decreased.
Anyway, even if you stayed inside, there wasn't much to do besides chatting idly with the Clover Academy people who had come to visit.
For someone like me, who had given up on any reputation and was roaming around after laundering his identity, it wasn't really a big deal.
"Hwah~ The weather's nice again today."
"No heavy assignments either, so it's peaceful."
The temperature was just right and the sun was shining brightly—truly great weather.
It was the kind of day that made you want to take a nap in a prime spot they'd scouted out before.
"Speaking of which, Atlas, how's that thing about you getting taller last time going?"
"Mm... it's a bit complicated, but I'll summarize and tell you."
Riber, who had seen the record of my height carved into the tree, spoke.
I'd boasted that I'd shoot right up, but I was still stuck at 0.1, so it made sense she was curious.
"The same effect doesn't work for me because I'm much stronger than the people who originally saw results. I need to switch to a stronger ingredient, but that's not exactly easy.
So I've been digging through all sorts of legends. Something about the essence of a werewolf or whatever..."
"The essence of a werewolf?"
"Huh?"
Amy looked like she was hearing it for the first time, but Riber, who heard the phrase "essence of a werewolf," was startled.
It was absurd, sure, but was it something to be that surprised about?
"It's nothing. Uh... uh, right. It's nothing."
Riber stammered, flustered.
Now that I thought about it, the Simoa swordsmanship was called the Wolf's Swordsmanship. Did she know something?
"What?!"
This time Amy suddenly jumped in surprise.
We hadn't been talking about anything that surprising—why did she suddenly shout?
"It's nothing. Uh... yes, it's nothing!"
Amy also waved her hands desperately to indicate it was nothing, just like Riber had a moment ago.
'Why are both of them acting like that?'
I had an ominous feeling.
It seemed Amy hadn't heard the legend of the werewolf's essence yet, so I was explaining it to her when I sensed people approaching from afar.
"Oooh, I think that's her?"
"That's right, that's right, I saw her!"
Men with sturdy builds came swarming over.
They were unfamiliar students I'd never seen at the academy.
They were all students from Clover Academy.
Since Clover was a country bordering ours, there were no racial differences, but perhaps because they were abroad, they all wore the same uniform.
They quickly surrounded us, observing us—no, observing Riber—with eyes full of curiosity.
"Is it true that you're the Sword Saint's fiancée?"
"How did that happen? The Sword Saint never even left the country..."
They had been holding back, but they gradually closed their circle around us.
Unlike the academy's students, they didn't care about reading our reactions.
'If they don't move, I'll have to mess them up.'
"Atlas... if you hit them now, it'll be a diplomatic issue...! The Sword Saint is here too, you know..."
Amy somehow knew I was about to start swinging my fists to open a path and grabbed my arm.
Diplomatic issue, she said, but when was beating up another country's nobles ever not an issue? If a problem arose, I'd just beat up whoever came looking.
One might think it's a terrible method—thoroughly destroying everything until the chain of hatred ends—but that was how I'd lived until now.
At that moment, a clear, ringing voice echoed from the back of the crowd.
"Everyone move."
Pushing through the crowd that was closing in, thinking only of their own standing, a woman walked over with confident strides.
Stroking her attractively curled purple roll-bun hair with one hand, she appeared, a thin rapier at her waist and clothes different from the other Clover Academy students.
Yes, she was definitely the student representative.
I remembered her continuing the event after the Sword Saint flew up into the sky.
Parting the crowd, she stood in front of Riber, crossed her arms, and looked Riber over as if appraising her.
The sight struck me as incredibly arrogant.
"Hmm... from the looks of it, you don't seem to have seduced him with your looks... What kind of deal did you make with the Sword Saint?"
Riber wasn't smiling either at the student representative, who was spouting extremely unpleasant things.
And I was the same.
As if the two of us might rush in and start a brawl any second, Amy grabbed one of my arms and one of Riber's.
"Ugh, let's quickly go somewhere else...!"
Taking the opening created when the student representative appeared, Amy desperately tried to avoid a conflict between us and Clover Academy.
But the student representative blocked Amy's path as she tried to peacefully slip away.
"Where do you think you're going? I'm speaking to you."
"We have urgent business, so we'll just pass through..."
Watching Amy, who was simply trying to leave, and Riber, who was being dragged along, the student representative clicked her tongue and gave a sardonic smile.
"...I heard you were the Sword Saint's fiancée and wondered how great you must be, but you're nothing but a loose woman."
-Ppajik!
The moment I heard those words, my blood boiled.
What the hell did this bitch just say?
"I don't know what kind of great price you paid to take the place of his fiancée,
but I cannot acknowledge you becoming a member of our Clover Kingdom. It lowers the dignity."
The blood rushed straight to my head at the student representative's rude remarks.
"Ah... Atlas, no!!!"
Knowing what I was about to do, Amy grabbed my arm, but that wasn't enough to stop me.
I heard her voice, but my brain was no longer thinking.
My hand drew back far behind me.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The fist I launched toward the student representative's abdomen did not connect.
"Riber?"
"It's my business, so I'll handle it."
My fist stopped just barely in front of Riber, who blocked the way.
If I had noticed just a little later, Riber would have been sent flying.
It was an incredibly dangerous move.
Did she believe that I would naturally be able to stop?
Riber didn't even look back.
"Seems you have a lot you want to say to me?"
As Riber made me step back and strode toward the student representative, one student blocked her path.
"How rude—do you even know who this is...! This is Lady Margaret Alban, heiress to Duke Alban, who rules the Suar Plain!!"
"Pfft."
Hearing the student's pompous explanation, Riber simply laughed.
And at that sneer, the student representative... Margaret glared with wide eyes.
"What's so funny?"
"No, it's just a bit funny... The Clover Kingdom is, at most, smaller in territory and economic scale than the Phrygia Duchy... and you come to the Empire bragging about having a duke title? Isn't that a little funny?"
In an instant, Margaret's face flushed bright red.
She flaunted her status in the kingdom, but considering the overwhelming difference in national power that existed between the Empire and a kingdom, it was simply a frog in a well coming outside and acting froggy.
"You have nothing to show off either...!"
"I don't have much to show off, but I am a bit confident in my sword skills. If you have so much to say to me, how about a duel?"
"...!"
When Riber stroked the hilt of the sword at her waist, Margaret grabbed her own sword hilt as well.
Right before they drew their swords on each other, sharp waves of fighting spirit burst from both of their bodies.
"...Fall back."
""""Yes!!""""
Margaret frowned as she considered it, then ordered a withdrawal.
Just as they had barged in on their own, they scurried off on their own.
'She won the standoff of spirits. That's a relief.'
Fighting spirit wasn't always proportional to actual skill, but swordsmen who emitted a sharp fighting spirit were generally powerful.
Margaret, who was slightly pushed back by Riber's spirit, had tucked her tail and fled.
Watching the Clover Academy people crowd away, Riber clicked her tongue loudly.
"Tch... making a fuss over nothing."
"That was cool!"
After driving Margaret away, Riber grinned again and pulled my face around wildly with her palm.
"Atlas, relax your face! You're making that terrifying expression again."
She was acting all smug.
Her expression looked like she was asking for a compliment for resolving a hair-trigger situation without any real trouble.
"I said I could handle it, right?"
"Yeah, you're amazing."
I thought as I watched Margaret disappearing far away.
...She very clearly wore a sword at her waist.
It meant she was coming to the exchange meeting with the Swordsmanship Research Club tomorrow.
'I'll need to consult with Nunim.'
It seemed I would likely have to attend the exchange meeting.
Because I tended to hold grudges.