CH 107

“No.”

“Ehhhh, look, my arm’s like this, you know? Come on.”

“…… Lars, you’re planning to follow Nina, aren’t you?”

“Uh ……”

My brother, who is an early riser, wasn’t even up yet, and my mom and I were having a question and answer session in the living room. I was going to follow Nina, but she easily saw through me and I broke out in a cold sweat.

Then she put her hand on my shoulder and said in a serious voice, shaking her head quietly.

“…… Did you see how excited Nina was yesterday? Maybe this will make her bloom. What if she finds out that you’re following her and they become cold to each other? Can you take responsibility?”

“Gulp ……”

Heavy.

To be honest, while Brao was the lord, she must have had a lot of worries about my brother and Mom, and now that it’s settled, she’s already twenty-six years old. The best age for women to get married in this world is between twenty and twenty-three, so it’s already too late for her. She was just in time to see Verna-sensei, and I remembered how Nina looked at Verna-sensei with resentment when she came to play.

“…… Sorry, I was thinking too shallow ……”

I was curious, but I had no choice but to sit down in my chair and hang my head down. My Mom laughed and patted me on the head.

“As long as you understand. Now, let’s wake up Dedite and have dinner. If you just want to play with Sarge, you can take a break.”

“That’s okay, I have to practice for the tournament.”

It seems that he was nearby, and Sarge bites my hand sweetly, wincing that it is terrible. As I’m having breakfast with my brother, Dad comes in.

“Good morning, Dad.”

“You still look sleepy, did you come home late again?”

“…… Oh, good morning. I heard that Sorio got a big deal, and they want me to be there, so I’m looking into it.”

“Does it smell fishy?”

“It’s not that, but if you’re not careful with new clients, you’ll get hurt.”

Dad sipped his vegetable juice and looked like he could be counted on.

“It’s a friend’s house, for me and for Lars, so I’m curious. Dad, let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“Yes, I will. I’ll be there to cheer you on in the competition! …… Fuah ……”

Dad gulped down his vegetable juice and went back to his room. We said greeted Mom and the breakfast in-charge maid and left the house.

“I hope you get some rest.”

“Yes. Do you want to help Dad on your next day off?”

As we were talking, Nora was waving and smiling at the meeting place.

“Good morning, you two! Lars-kun, what happened to your arm ……”

“Ahhh, I fought Tigre-sensei yesterday and got beat up pretty good.”

“I was surprised when I came home yesterday to find Lars hanging his arm. It looks like it won’t heal for a while.”

“I see …… I guess we’ll just have to try to help Lars-kun with everyone in A-class.”

“Haha, I’m fine. How was your Riding training?”

Nora said, not by herself, but by A-class. It seems that she is aware of this, since she has stopped making inadvertent contact and behavior since that day.

Originally, she was just airheaded and misunderstood, though, so I knew that smart Nora would adapt quickly. While I was thinking about this, Nora continued to talk.

“It was fun! The horse looked so happy when I petted it! Although I was surprised when Sarge came along on the way.”

“Now that I think about it, he went with Nina ……”

When my brother chuckled, Nora smiled.

“When she got mad, he went back, though! And as for the riding, the girl from C-class was amazing!”

“Heh~, so you’re saying that Nora, who has [Animal Protection], is awesome?”

When I asked, Nora nodded her head and said.

“She’s a girl like me, but she’s not making the horse miss her, she’s following her, I guess? She’s like a Dedite-kun.”

“So she has something like [Charisma]. If so, she’s going to have a way of running to win. You’re going to compete with the horse you’ve been training with, right?”

“Yes, yes. We’ll have to get to know each other!”

“I think Nora can win, but we’ll have to practice hard.”

Brother held hands with Nora and smiled, and Nora smiled and nodded. Nora continued talking. She had seen things on the ground field that I hadn’t seen.

“I think it was E-class, but they were practicing magic really well. Except for Lars-kun, then maybe they’re as good as Me and Helena-chan. I think B-class was practicing swords?”

It seems that each class is also working hard to prepare for the competition. I said something that had been bothering me.

“What are you going to participate in, brother? Last year it was all combat events, so what is it?”

“I’ll be in all the combat events, I guess? I’ll do the same as last year. I’d like to participate in something like a bread-eating contest once in a while.”

He answered while laughing.

He said that since there was no concept of changing classes, he would have to study with the same classmates for five years, so this area was not interesting.

However, I thought it would be interesting to read each other’s stories behind the scenes, because if you are in the same class for a number of years, your unity will increase, and you can combine different people from last year.

“Oh!　That’s the girl from B-class. She was fighting a boy with two daggers in each hand.”

“Eh, that girl?”

“I guess appearances can be deceiving?”

Nora pointed me to the girl with braided hair and glasses and purple hair who was just passing through the school gates. The girl looked quiet, but Nora said she was moving very fast.

“Hey, you guys! Good morning!”

While we were looking at the girl with the braids, Ryuuze called out to us.

“Good morning, Ryuuze.”

“Good morning.”

“What have you been looking at?　It’s ……. That’s Naru, isnt it?”

“You know her?”

“Yeah, she lives next door to me. Well, I’ve never talked to her. I mean, she looks at me like I’m scary.”

“Scary?”

When I asked him back, something interrupted me.

“…… You’re not scary! Would you mind not sneaking around looking at people and talking? Lars-kun and Ryuuze-kun from A-Class?”

The one who intervened was the one that Ryuuze had called Naru. She seemed to have been listening, and said so with a frown between her eyes.

“You know me?”

“Yeah, why not? You’re famous enough to have the skill [Jack-of-all-Trades], but you took back the title of lord from Ryuuze’s father, and you’re looked up to by the headmaster and the king, you know? And you’ve got a dragon.”

Rustling sound ……

Hm? I think my bag just moved ……? Anyway, it seems that my name is surprisingly well known. It’s not a bad trend. I’d like to think that if I can make it solid in the competitive games, people won’t call it a failure skill anymore. 

As I was thinking about this, Ryuuze gave me a response that missed the point.

“Because I live next door.”

“T-That has nothing to do with it! I’m just curious because on the contrary, you have a rare skill [magic swordsman]! …… And the Makina girl have the skill [Kaiser Knuckle], right? So, for combat events, each class will have Beat A in mind. Be careful at all costs. “

“Seriously? That’s something to watch out for …… Thanks for the heads up!”

“I-It’s not like I’m doing this for you! I just want to play fair! See you later!”

Ryuuze tilts his head and opened his mouth as Naru leaves in a hurry.

“I wish we could go together, though.”

“Right ……”

Well, at this time of the year, if you’re getting along with other classes, you’re likely to get some flak from them, and It’s not I don’t understand it. 

But if you don’t think about Naru’s story and practice, it’s not a good idea to expose your hand. With that in mind, I headed to class.

There will be a subtle increase in the number of characters for the competition?

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“You’ll Increase it?”

Subtle. I don’t plan to show the whole competition, though ……