Chapter 13
My bewildered gaze turned to Seria.
The proud, intimidating-looking girl was standing with her head bowed, holding out a pouch filled with gold coins.
To anyone watching, it might have looked as though a nasty senior were extorting a timid junior. Seria's body was trembling pitifully.
That was how nervous she was. Perhaps she still feared me.
Judging by the size of the pouch, it contained at least two hundred gold coins.
A single Imperial gold coin was worth roughly a month of living expenses for a four-person commoner family. If its value rose or fell too sharply, the Empire stepped in to regulate prices.
That meant the pouch contained enough money for Emma and her herbalist father to live for more than thirty-three years.
Even a low-ranking noble like me found spending a few dozen gold coins burdensome. To call more than two hundred gold coins a ‘modest payment’ meant that, illegitimate daughter or not, she truly was a daughter of House Yurdina.
The problem was, what on earth had I done to deserve such a fortune?
However, I could not simply respond incredulously to a woman who had squeezed her eyes shut and was trembling, so I spoke in a gentler tone.
“S-Seria? What do you mean by ‘payment’?”
“……Ah!”
Only then did Seria realize that part of her explanation had been omitted. She jolted and raised her head again.
Her eyes met mine. The moment her jewel-like aquamarine eyes met my gaze, they slid down to the floor.
I had once thought she was ignoring the other person, but judging by her reaction now, that was not all there was to it.
If anything, she seemed far too nervous when dealing with people. Worried that she might bite her tongue again, I spoke in a leisurely voice.
“You can take your time. It’s not as if I have anywhere to go.”
In truth, I had plenty of places to be, but I said it because I wanted Seria to calm down, even if only a little.
Perhaps my reassurance worked, because Seria’s trembling subsided slightly. She took several deep breaths, then spoke in an uncertain voice.
“When I asked you for the map last time…… I thought it might be rude to ask for a favor without offering anything in return.”
I had to suppress a hollow laugh at that.
What was wrong with asking a senior for such a small favor? Of course, I could treat her to a meal in return for the time I spent, but two hundred gold coins was excessive.
Seria seemed to lack common sense about human relationships in general. I pressed my fingers against my temples. I had no idea what answer I should give her.
If I accepted the gold coins, I would have enough money to spend for a long time, but I was not particularly inclined to do so.
Once I graduated from the academy, I would not have to worry about making a living. I was not the sort of person who cared much about money, and more than anything, accepting payment for something I had not even done yet felt wrong.
What if what I could do for her was not worth two hundred gold coins?
There was a rule nobles had to follow: ‘Return what you receive.’ Whether it was favor or hostility, nobles always gave back as much as they had received.
They believed that was what demonstrated a noble’s pride.
Unfortunately, I was neither desperate enough for money to bend that pride nor jaded by the world. Refusing the pouch of gold coins was inevitable.
“……Seria. You seem to have misunderstood because I was so firm last time. I don’t consider what happened then rude. Even if I had granted your request, I couldn’t accept a payment this large.”
At the sound of my sighing voice, Seria began to fidget as though she wanted to argue. A small voice escaped her lips.
“B-but……”
“I can’t accept this money, Seria.”
I delivered the words with a firm resolve that left no room for argument. Seria eventually lowered her arm again, looking dejected.
However, by this point, I was genuinely curious why Seria was so desperate. If that failed to move my heart, I would not be human.
I cautiously asked her a question in a gentle voice so that she would not become nervous again.
“But Seria, why do you want my map so badly?”
“……?”
Seria’s puzzled eyes turned toward me. Looking into them made me feel as though I had fallen even deeper into a maze.
“I mean, isn’t that so? There are plenty of other talented people at the academy besides me. Even without going as far as the fourth years, there are dozens of swordsmen among the third years alone who are more skilled than I am. There are even Professor Derek and the various professors in the Department of Swordsmanship, so why specifically me?”
Seria lowered her gaze and fell silent for a moment. She seemed to be thinking about what she should say.
I waited with my arms crossed so that she would not bite her tongue again. There was still plenty of time before my next lecture.
I desperately wanted to return to my lodgings and rest, but I was even more curious about Seria’s circumstances. After all, she was that ‘Yurdina brat,’ wasn’t she?
If this was an issue she was so fixated on, there had to be a reason. So I merely gazed at Seria in silence.
“……Because that’s what you said last time.”
“What?”
I could only tilt my head at her words. I could not think of anything that fit.
What had I said last time? An ominous feeling slowly began to rise within me.
And Seria’s next words were exactly what I feared.
“That wielding it alone had its limits……”
But I had never said anything like that.
Still, I quickly realized who the speaker must have been: the Ian Perkus who had acted during the week my memories had vanished.
That rude, utterly ill-mannered man was very likely to have said it. I pressed a hand to my forehead.
Regardless, Seria fidgeted but somehow managed to continue speaking.
“I-I’d never heard anyone say such a thing before. And then, after losing to Senior Ian, I thought about it for a long time. Why did I have to lose to a layabout who doesn’t even work as hard as I do……?”
Another rude remark had slipped in. A layabout who did not work hard? I had undergone brutal training since childhood, for goodness’ sake.
Still, she might have thought that way from her perspective. Thinking something and putting it into words were separate matters, though.
My gaze grew slightly sullen. Seria did not seem to notice even that.
“If anyone knows the answer, it would be you, Senior Ian. And you gave me advice during our spar last time, too……”
“Ah, that.”
It was the advice that I could spot the ‘tells.’ In the end, I had gained far more from that day than she had.
I had gained eyes that could see through my opponent’s movements.
It was still blurry, but if my opponent tensed or hesitated, I could tell more clearly where their next attack would come from.
That alone made me feel as though my skill had advanced by an entire level. However, I was apparently not the only one who had found our spar that day memorable.
Seria must have been troubled by all sorts of questions afterward: why she had lost, and what exactly I had told her to fix.
She was a talented swordswoman. She would quickly realize what I meant and correct her problems. That might have been why she had misunderstood.
The idea that I was qualified to advise her was laughable.
What happened that day had been the result of coincidence and good fortune lining up. I could not imagine being able to offer her advice that would help her again.
“……I understand what you’re saying.”
I said that with a sigh. I decided to overlook the rude remark Seria had just made.
It was Seria, after all. There was no way that Yurdina brat would change overnight.
And although it was still only a guess, Seria did not seem to harbor any ill will.
The proof was the hopeful light shining in her eyes. Wouldn’t anyone assume a negative tone when someone began speaking with a sigh?
She was either oblivious or simply inept at human relationships.
I did not know whether the child of a high noble family like House Yurdina could really be that way, but for now, it seemed the most likely possibility.
“But Seria, I’m not as impressive as you think. What I said that day just happened to be right…… You’re a talented swordswoman. Even if you stop rushing, you’ll reach a higher level if you keep moving forward one step at a time, won’t you?”
Seria had initially been buoyed by hope, but the longer I spoke, the more her shoulders began to shrink. She looked dejected again.
Feeling needlessly sorry for her, I cleared my throat and finished with words meant as consolation.
“So try to live with a little more patience. You’re already an excellent swordswoman, and someday you’ll become an even better one.”
Having said that, I turned my back. I judged that she had understood enough.
However, the single word that escaped Seria’s lips stopped me in my tracks.
“……The Hunting Festival.”
My footsteps stopped dead.
It was something I had heard somewhere before. No, of course I had heard it many times. It was one of the academy’s largest events.
Held during the Month of the Bow, it was a competition to see who could hunt the most powerful magical beasts in the forest.
The Hunting Festival, in which teams of four competed, was an important festival that even the emperor attended whenever his schedule allowed.
But that was not why I had stopped.
It was simply because I remembered seeing that word somewhere recently.
My thoughts turned to the contents of the letter tucked inside my coat.
‘Sepia’ and ‘the Hunting Festival.’
“If it’s not this year, there won’t be another chance……”
Her voice trembled. With her eyes squeezed shut, she spoke like a sinner making a confession.
My thoughts became tangled in an instant. I could not tell exactly what Seria meant or what her circumstances were. But one thing seemed certain.
Sepia was planning to participate in this year’s Hunting Festival. And she had a reason why she had to do so.
I agonized, fretted, and hesitated.
However, it did not take long for me to reach a conclusion. I bit my lip, turned around, and strode toward Seria.
Then I placed both hands on her delicate shoulders as she stood with her head bowed.
“……Seria.”
“Y-Yes, y-yes?!”
Perhaps startled by my sudden action, she opened her eyes wide and made a cute little sound.
Her raised eyes met mine. We were close—close enough that our breaths might mingle.
A sweet scent tickled my nose. Her deep-blue eyes stared blankly into mine.
After agonizing and hesitating until the very end, I finally managed to open my mouth.
“You look especially pretty today.”
“……?”
Of course, Seria merely tilted her head as though she had no idea what I was talking about.
It was the day our training began, just the two of us.