361: Lena - Tournant
"Argh! Which bastard... Hey?"
A coin hit my forehead and fell to the ground. A gold coin, no less. Wow. It's the first ti I've seen one since I was a kid.
Stunned, I looked up, only to see soone dismissively waving their hand at .
"A country bumpkin dares to walk down the main road? Move aside, now."
It was a carriage adorned with an elaborate crystal design. No, judging by the sparkle, it looked like they had embedded actual crystals to create the pattern.
Did I do sothing wrong?
Realizing that the other party was a noble, I instinctively apologized.
"I'm sorry..."
I stepped aside from the road, but then I wondered why I even needed to apologize.
No, the road was empty, so I walked through it. I wasn’t blocking anything, and even if I were, why were they being so rude?
The noble’s carriage stopped by the roadside, as if to ddle unnecessarily, throwing the gold coin at as if to say, "Take this and get lost."
How disrespectful.
I dashed to the street, picked up the coin, and felt its heavy weight in my hand. For a mont, I wavered, but I threw it back through the carriage window.
Gasps echoed from the bystanders.
...Did I just make a mistake?
No way. What’s the worst that could happen?
Though a bit nervous, I approached the carriage, expecting a middle-aged nobleman to poke his head out.
But instead—
"Hey! Was it you who just threw the coin? Huh?"
"Ow, ow, ow... Which wretched fool dares...?"
Rubbing his eye, a young man with a youthful face leaned out of the window.
He wasn’t much younger, maybe a little older than , but he had the look of soone who had never lifted a finger to work. I felt a bit let down.
"So, you’re that stupid country girl! You insolent wench! Do you know your cri?"
"What? Hey, you threw it first!"
"Hey? Hey?! You?! Do you even know who I am? Guard Captain! Ah, right, he’s out buying clothes. Guards! Seize this wench and make her kneel!"
"What? Hey! What’s going on?"
As the soldiers approached, I reached for my sword. Then, from behind —
"Miss, no! Stop!"
"Just apologize! Quickly!"
The cries of the bystanders left bewildered.
‘Do nobles really get to act like this? But what did I even do wrong?’
I hadn’t done anything wrong. All I did was protest against having a gold coin thrown at . I drew my sword.
"Back off! If this is how you’re going to act, I won’t stand idly by!"
"That wench dares—!"
"Oh dear..."
I shouted with determined resolve, but the bystanders only sighed. How discouraging. One of the soldiers lowered his voice and spoke to .
"Miss, I don’t know where you’re from, but you can’t act like this in front of a noble. Don’t escalate things; just apologize."
"...Why should I?"
A knight should never bow to injustice—I learned that from Uncle Noel.
Of course, I wasn’t a knight yet, but I would be soon, and I certainly didn’t want to kneel to such an insolent noble brat.
But the atmosphere grew colder.
The onlookers seed convinced that I was in the wrong and needed to seek forgiveness.
Feeling confused, I turned to look for Ray. But...
‘Where did he go?’
Ray was nowhere to be seen. What should I do?
"You insolent...! What are you all doing? Seize the lowly wench who dares to draw a sword before a noble!"
"Wait!"
Just as I was debating whether to fight or back down, a middle-aged man burst out from behind the carriage, coming from a clothing shop. Ray was with him, and from his deanor, it was clear—
"Young master! What trouble have you caused this ti?"
"Guard Captain! No, you see, that wench—"
"How many tis have I told you not to throw coins at passersby! This won’t do. I’ll have to report this to the Count. Driver! Take Young Master Yuan back to the estate imdiately! Ray, I’m sorry. Head ho first."
It was undoubtedly Ray’s uncle.
The man who ran a rcenary group in the capital.
The carriage left, carrying away the protesting noble brat, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I’m fine. But Ray, where did you go? You disappeared and scared ."
"I saw my uncle."
"So, that really was your uncle. Phew, I guess I was lucky—no, actually, unlucky! What kind of brat was that? And why did it have to be who ran into him?"
I couldn’t tell if I’d been fortunate or unfortunate. Still, it was over without major trouble, and the incident would only remain as a minor mishap in my life.
Grumbling, I followed Ray. That evening, I received an indirect apology.
It ca from Ray’s uncle, Elson.
"My apologies. That young master has grown quite insolent. The Pamphili Count and Countess are busy managing their crystal mines and neglect him. Recently, they asked to take care of him. I’m deeply sorry for what happened."
"It’s fine. It wasn’t a big deal. So, are you acting as a tutor or sothing?"
"Not exactly. They needed soone to follow him around and fix his attitude. The Pamphili family is wealthy, and getting close to them is advantageous. So I took the role of guard captain and, well, disciplinarian. Haha. It’s actually been quite entertaining, like having a troublemaking son."
"Hmm~ I see."
"Believe it or not, he’s much better now. When I first t him, he was impossible. He once tried to slap soone just for looking at him. I slapped him back."
"What? Is that okay?"
"Why not? I had permission from his parents. They were shocked at first, but haha! Who am I? Back in my knightley days, I once threw my tyrannical superior’s armor into a dung pit and quit the order!"
"I... see..."
This guy was sothing else.
I looked at Uncle Elson and thought to myself: I should make sure not to beco an adult like him.
I also thought that I should’ve just held back earlier.
That being said, he was still an amusing person.
His stories (albeit long-winded) were entertaining, and he enthusiastically regaled us with tales about that noble brat, Yuan.
I heard he never got married, but it seed he was living a rather enjoyable life in his own way.
Ray and I snacked on dried radimu pieces with so drinks, and that’s how our first evening in the capital ca to a close.
A Few Weeks Later
Ray and I ventured out from the estate for the first ti in a while.
We wanted to enjoy the ripening festival atmosphere and also submit our applications for the Maunin-Reti Tournant. As we walked, I noticed sothing remarkable hanging along the estate wall.
Excitedly, I turned to Ray, convinced it was a gift for us after all our dedicated training.
“Wow! Ray, do you like Northblue? If you do, we should pick so later!”
“Northblue? I do, but... pick so? What are you talking about?”
“Huh? Look over there. There’s so much Northblue growing! Didn’t you notice?”
The estate wall was covered in vines, befitting a manor belonging to a distinguished knightly family.
Apparently, during the weeks we stayed cooped up, the Northblue vines (a type of berry) had produced a bounty of fruit.
Ray, upon noticing the ripe berries, stamred in surprise.
“Oh? Ah, ahaha! You an that. I thought—never mind.”
“Why? Is it not okay to pick them?”
“Well... uh... probably okay, but, um, we should ask my uncle first.”
“?”
I wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t seem like a big deal, so I simply agreed.
We finished our tournant applications early that morning.
“What now? Barnaul’s so vast, I can’t make heads or tails of anything.”
“Follow . There should be a marketplace that way.”
Ray was right, of course. When we followed his lead, we found ourselves at a bustling crossroads filled with stalls. I tapped Ray on the shoulder.
“As expected! Our Ray knows everything. So, where should we start? Shell ga? I’m pretty good at those.”
“Those are perfect for getting scamd. Let’s start with the stall next door.”
After wandering through the marketplace and having so fun, we found ourselves seated in a tavern.
I slumped into my seat, exhausted by the overwhelming number of people.
It wasn’t too bad at first, but by lunchti, the crowds grew unbearable. So this is the capital, huh? I’m never coming out here again.
Face down on the table, I groaned.
“Ray, I get now why you suggested going out early. Ugh, it’s exhausting.”
“Haha, you haven’t seen anything yet. If you were out here on the day the King gives his speech, then you’d truly understand what a crowd is.”
“The King’s speech? Hmm~ I’d like to see it, but forget it. It’d be better for my sanity to et him by winning the tournant instead.”
“Winning, huh... haha.”
“What? You don’t think I can do it? If you underestimate , you’re going to regret it.”
I declared this confidently (while still slumped over).
After all, either Ray or I was bound to win. The real question was whether I could beat him.
If I won, if I could beat him...
“...Rera, your expression is weird.”
Oh no.
I must have been failing at controlling my expression. But I couldn’t help it—my grin kept breaking through.
Soon, Ray and I would both beco knights.
Side by side. We’d beco knights together, and on the day of our knighting ceremony, we’d also hold our wedding. Of course, we hadn’t discussed the specifics of when or how the wedding would happen yet, but Ray would surely agree to my wish.
Ideally, I’d win before we got married. Let’s do this!
“Hahaha! Cheers to that! To victory!”
The beer we’d ordered arrived just in ti.
I jumped up and raised my mug for a toast—but in my excitent—
SPLASH!
“Ah! Oh no, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”
I’d spilled beer on a young man sitting nearby. Not too much, but more than just a little.
Oh dear, what now?
As I checked on the beer-soaked youth, I noticed he was... laughing. Out loud. Cheerfully.
“Uh... are you okay?”
“Pfft, hahahaha! Ahem, I’m fine. I tried to dodge, but... haha, no luck.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry about it. If you feel bad, just order a snack or sothing.”
What a weirdo.
Still, he didn’t seem like a bad person. He had a friendly, likable face... but whatever.
“Okay, fine. I’ll get you sothing. Chicken? I’ll get sothing simple. Be right back.”
I went to the tavern owner to ask about the nu, picked sothing universally appealing, and placed the order (ugh, my money). As I turned back, I noticed Ray smiling.
Ray didn’t smile often.
He reserved his smiles for , which I always appreciated. But now? What was this about? I quickly returned to the table.
“What’s up? Were you chatting?”
“Yeah. Turns out, this guy’s joining the tournant too.”
“Oh, really? You don’t look—uh, I an, did you already register?”
“Not yet. I just got here. I’ll head over after eating what you ordered.”
“Ah~ Got it. I ordered braised chicken, with sauce.”
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Sure. Sorry again.”
I didn’t have much else to say.
The guy wasn’t very talkative either, only thanking politely before withdrawing his interest. I glanced at Ray, but he just t my gaze with a “what’s up?” look.
What was this about?
It felt odd, but I didn’t press the issue. Soon after, sothing hilariously coincidental happened.
When the Maunin-Reti Tournant began, I was seeded in B-2 and made it through the preliminaries.
“Hahaha! You two ended up eting? What a crazy coincidence!”
Ray was seeded in C-2 and advanced to the round of 16. And that young man from the tavern? He was seeded in C-1.
I laughed it off with great amusent.
“Congrats! Not to jump to conclusions, but that guy doesn’t seem all that strong. Looks like you’ll have an easy ti making it to the quarterfinals!”
But Ray wore a completely defeated expression, as if sothing entirely unexpected had happened.
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