Chapter 74
I had been so distracted by his right eye that I didn’t notice—he had very naturally taken my hand and was lifting it toward his lips.
Just before his lips touched the back of my hand—
“Someone here doesn’t seem too interested in the lecture?”
My brother’s low voice rang across the training ground. His blue eyes glared in this direction, sharper than ever before.
Kai let go of my hand with a good-natured smile—but it was already too late.
My brother smiled brightly. A very, very ominous smile. Then his grin turned toward the other male students.
“Would anyone like to try what you just saw? I’ll guide your stance properly.”
“Yes!”
One boy immediately answered.
The others looked scandalized—how shameless—but when my brother pulled out a practice sword for that boy, one by one, others hesitantly raised their hands.
“Uh, me too.”
“I’d like to try as well.”
My brother grinned.
“I like your open-mindedness. Learning how to handle a cowardly many-against-one fight isn’t something you’ll be taught elsewhere. …Especially not while protecting someone at the same time.”
He deliberately looked straight at me. Kai gave an awkward smile and muttered:
“Almost sounds like he’s telling me to come down there, doesn’t it?”
“…That’s the vibe. By the way, Kai.”
“Yeah?”
“I have so much I want to ask you… uh, well—”
“I don’t have a lover.”
“Not that! Your eye. What on earth happened?”
“Grandfather’s health has been failing lately, so I’ve been covering inspection duties for him. Ended up getting mauled by some noble brat’s monster hound.”
“Ah…”
The claws of that beast I’d seen six years ago flashed through my mind. Just imagining it made me shiver.
“Kai, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked about something painful.”
“It’s fine. I actually prefer people asking me straight out instead of pitying me with assumptions. Doesn’t even affect my sword arm, so don’t worry!”
True to his word, Kai’s hand—the same one that had held mine earlier—was covered in thick calluses.
Right then, my brother’s booming voice echoed.
“You! Yes, you! I’ll count that as volunteering. Come on down! I’ll teach you every! Single! Detail!”
“…”
Kai smiled brightly.
“Guess he’s calling me. Well then, I’ll be back.”
He stood up—whoa. All I could see were legs. Everyone but me had shot up like weeds.
And it wasn’t just his height. His face too… he’d grown into a striking man.
The kind of clean, handsome looks you’d expect of the protagonist in a hero’s tale. Far from making him look menacing, the eyepatch over his right eye only added a dramatic allure.
As Kai walked down between the spectator seats, the ladies’ gazes followed him.
“Who is that…?”
“Let’s ask his name later.”
“There’s no way I wouldn’t know someone like that.”
Even in the original work, Kai was described as a small sun—drawing everyone’s eyes.
Ugh, but the injured eye part wasn’t in the original! He says it was a monster hound, but what if—it was actually the Cardinal Dragon clawing him for refusing a contract…?
While I was trembling with unease, my brother picked up a wooden practice sword and declared:
“You’ve all learned how to swing a sword back home, right? From now, line up and attack me one at a time.”
“What?”
“You can choose any weapon from here.”
On the table lay all sorts of weapons—longswords, rapiers, even maces.
One boy protested in disbelief.
“Attack you? Weren’t you supposed to teach us?”
“You need a foundation before I can teach. Only those who succeed in landing a hit on me will be taught. As for those who fail—”
My brother smiled sweetly and gestured toward the parade ground.
“You’ll be running twenty laps before I dismiss you.”
“What?”
Grumbles rose from the boys.
“Straight to running? What do you take us for, recruits?”
“Do you even know who we are! My father won’t tolerate this treatment!”
House names, that’s all they ever bragged about. If they knew the man before them was the heir of Duke Schlaeger, they’d shut up real quick.
…Wait. Is my brother provoking them on purpose, so he can reveal his identity?
While I was thinking, he picked up a practice sword—and with one hand, snapped the blade in half. Like it was nothing more than a twig.
The boys’ eyes (mine too) widened like lanterns.
Holding what was now barely a hand’s length of wood, he declared:
“From now on, I’ll fight with this. If you can’t land a single hit against me while I wield such a toy—”
“…”
“Then you’d best accept your own weakness and start running laps.”
That did the trick. The ringleader among the noble boys immediately grabbed a rapier.
He pointed it at my brother.
“What’s your name, instructor?”
“Ignatz. I’ve discarded my family name.”
“Easier to remember. But after you lose here, you’ll remember my name and house instead. I am—!”
<Oh no, I can already see how this ends.>
And sure enough.
Before he could finish his grand speech, my brother had disarmed him and thrown him to the ground.
The boy just stood there dumbfounded, as if waiting for Ignatz to say, just kidding. But my brother wasn’t one to humor anyone.
“Run. Quickly. Others are waiting behind you.”
“Ah…”
“Introduced here through your father, weren’t you? Should I write in my report that you achieved nothing today?”
“Grr…!”
And so the so-called leader began running. Then the next, then the next. One by one, those finely dressed noble sons filled the parade ground.
Finally, only one student remained before my brother: Kai.
He showed no sign of nerves.
“Greetings, instructor. I am Alkaios Lafrande. Even with just one eye, my swordsmanship isn’t hindered. Please fight me seriously—”
“I haven’t agreed to teach you yet.”
Why is my brother suddenly acting prickly?!
“Alkaios, why were you late?”
“Ah, you noticed? Embarrassing.”
“Of course I noticed. Instead of reporting your tardiness upon arrival, you made a show of sitting beside a young lady, didn’t you?”
“Was there a rule about gendered seating?”
“In a holy academy, avoiding physical contact between men and women is common sense. And you even held hands with her…”
…Brother, you saw that?!
And worse—don’t narrate everything we did out loud! Now all the girls are staring at me!
One girl sidled up and whispered:
“Hey, is he really Alkaios Lafrande? The marquis’s heir?”
“…Yeah.”
“How do you know? The Lafrandes live far from the Flogels.”
“We met once at a banquet in the middle region.”
Other girls crept closer too, questions brimming in their eyes. Damn it.
Now that I think of it, hadn’t Brother mentioned recently that “a big fish from the Lafrande house has enrolled, and the academy’s abuzz”? I really didn’t want to experience that firsthand.
One girl with a roll-bun hairstyle cut in sharply:
“What’s your relationship with him?”
“We played together as kids. I just greeted him out of nostalgia.”
“Really nothing else?”
“Why keep asking? You his fiancée or something?”
“Of course not!”
She shouted with a red face, and suddenly everyone went quiet. Even Brother and Kai paused mid-fight to look this way.
…Wait. The other boys had all been defeated within thirty seconds, but Kai was holding out much longer than expected?
Brother called out:
“Everything fine over there?”
“All good! Keep fighting hard!”
“Very well—ugh!”
At that moment, Kai’s blade grazed beneath Brother’s chin.
“Hey, young master! That’s dirty fighting!”
“Ahaha! How can you call something dirty when teaching real combat?”
“Oh, smooth talker.”
“While we’re at it, Sol! Cheer for me a little, will you—waaagh! Instructor, that was dirty!”
“What’s dirty! Your mouth called for my fist!”
How childish. I buried my face in my hands.
Meanwhile, Roll-bun retreated, but the other girls hovered nearby, itching to question me further.
“How did you two meet? Where’s his townhouse?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, you’re close. You must know. Is he really the next marquis?”
“Maybe his grandfather will wake up one day and renounce his title out of life’s futility.”
“…”
Only later did I realize I had no obligation to answer at all. Still, rambling nonsense worked fine—they shut up immediately.
By then, it seemed the fight had ended below. …Though calling it a “fight” might be unfair to Brother.
“Well, well… Young master, you sure know how to win dirty.”
“But isn’t that today’s lesson? Surviving unfair fights?”
“True. Honestly, I doubt you even need lessons, but a promise is a promise.”
Grumbling, my brother picked up a fresh practice sword.
Kai glanced around the stands, found me, and waved with a grin. Watching him, I realized how he’d managed to land that hit earlier.
That rascal had thrown his shoe at Brother. No wonder Brother was grumbling.
With the panting noble boys in the background, Brother and Kai now faced each other for a true spar.
The ladies looked rather bored.
Normally, this would’ve been the fun part—cheering for sweaty young noblemen, sharing snacks, exchanging handkerchiefs… all those sweet little moments.
But with only one boy left standing, no one dared act rashly. The only one bold enough to try would be Pasta, the leader of the ladies’ group. Anyone else approaching Kai would surely be dismissed by her as “overstepping.”
…But just as I thought that, someone leaned in to whisper.
“Sol, I want some private time with young master Lafrande. Can you arrange it?”
The one boldly asking me this… was Roll-bun girl.
Where on earth did she scrape up that kind of nerve?
