BSS 47

Chapter 47

Something white and ragged smacked straight into my face.

It stung quite a bit—and more than that, it was extremely unpleasant.

What fell to the ground with a soft thuk was a white training glove. No matter how I looked at it, this development meant only one thing.

And the fact that the one who threw it was Leo made it even more obvious.

“A duel!”

He actually looked healthier than usual today.

“Let’s fight fair and square for the right to participate!”

“Hey, kid. This is something knights do.”

“I’m going to be a knight when I grow up!”

“Even if you will be, I’m not a knight, remember?”

“……Anyway! It’s a duel!”

Throwing a glove was a very old and formal way of requesting a duel—typically a dignified ritual conducted between knights.

But throwing a glove at a young girl’s face like this was just plain rude.

Not that that brat ever saw me as a lady anyway.

Should I be happy about that? Or offended?

“Haa. What a pain.”

Leo’s ridiculous challenge looked nothing more than childish nonsense to me.

So I simply lifted my foot and gently stepped on the glove he had thrown as I walked past.

Leo’s face twisted as if he had been stepped on, and he quickly chased after me.

“Hey! I said let’s fight!”

“No.”

“If you’re not scared, then don’t run!”

“Sorry, but I’m not in the mood to play with kids today. Go bother someone else.”

It was too early, and my mood was too low to humor him.

I was sleep-deprived and starving after mana training.

I ignored the annoying fly and headed toward the cafeteria—but then Leo grabbed my shoulder tightly from behind and refused to let go.

Tch. For a little brat, he had a good grip. Must be because of the combat club.

Brushing him off wasn’t working, so I grimaced and reluctantly met his eyes.

Directly. And forcibly.

“Ginny Crowell! What you’re doing right now is an insult to me!”

“And what you’re doing isn’t?”

“That’s…! That’s because you keep ignoring me!”

“Then learn to accept getting ignored. Goodbye.”

I wanted to walk away coolly, but his hand was still glued to my shoulder. Damn it.

【Master.】

Leo jumped in shock when Rai suddenly appeared and coiled tightly around his hand.

“Wh–what is this?!”

【Master, what should I do with this brat?】

“Aaaagh! It’s a snake?!”

He screamed and tried to rip Rai off, but if Rai could overpower even Kenta—a beast of raw muscle—there was no way a small kid like Leo could pry him off.

Right. I had just come up with the perfect way to get rid of Leo.

Fight strength with strength!

“You know… my snake says he wants to play with you.”

“What?!”

“His name is Rai, by the way.”

“Why would I care about that?! Get it off!”

Being overpowered by something weaker than you is a very unpleasant feeling. He could enjoy a taste of it.

“Beat him first. Then maybe I’ll consider your duel.”

“Eeek! Ee-eeek!”

“Hohoho! If you can’t even handle my pet snake, you can forget about fighting me. Good luck!”

“H–hey! Wait! You little—!”

Leaving annoying Leo to Rai, I skipped happily into the cafeteria.

If you’re late, all the good food disappears—so I had to hurry. Busy, busy!

It had been a while since I’d seen such a luxurious breakfast spread, and it was heavenly.

It felt a little empty without Rai at my waist like usual, but having peace and quiet during a meal wasn’t bad either.

I chose veal steak for breakfast and began cutting it neatly and lovingly.

I had just swept up a bite of steak and brought it to my mouth when—

“Ginny Crowell!”

Tch. They say even a dog shouldn’t be bothered while eating. This cafeteria must be cursed.

I looked up to see Leo, accompanied by the Knight Commander and Instructor Dinnel. What a tattletale.

I popped the steak into my mouth, chewing slowly as they approached.

The Knight Commander wore a meaningful smile, like he had some scheme in mind. Typical unpleasant man.

“We’ve been looking for you.”

“Why?”

“You’re always either eating or sleeping. Ah! Or causing problems.”

Excuse me? I train too!

“I didn’t know you were so interested in me.”

“You catch my attention in the worst possible ways, brat.”

Wow, starting a fight openly like that. Fine. Thanks to him, he could now be my enemy for life.

“Ginny.”

Combat instructor Dinnel wasn’t someone I liked either.

Now that I thought about it, all three people here were people I disliked.

“When an adult talks to you, don’t just roll your eyes—answer.”

“What?”

“First, remove that snake from Leo. It almost broke his arm when we tried pulling it off! What kind of snake has that much strength?!”

【It seems the two of them are angry because they couldn’t pull me off.】

【Can’t blame them.】

Men with mediocre strength really did get their pride hurt over the smallest things.

Is that what half-baked strength does to people?

The Knight Commander, the instructor, and Leo—all of them looked like idiots to me.

Three grown men ganging up on one little girl. Charming.

“Rai.”

At a small nod from me, Rai uncoiled and zipped back to my shoulder.

The three men glared at us, clearly frustrated.

Probably because something so easy was too hard for them.

“Sticking a snake on your friend—are you crazy?”

“He didn’t get bitten, did he?”

“Do you have any idea how dangerous snakes are?!”

“Rai won’t attack without my permission. Unless someone points a sword or fist at me. Leo kept picking a fight first. He was the one threatening me.”

“You really never lose a single argument, do you?”

I hate losing.

“If you want to scold someone, scold Leo. I didn’t want a duel—he keeps pushing for it. That’s not knightly conduct, is it?”

“Of course not! But abandoning a kid with a snake isn’t exactly honorable either!”

“Yeah!”

“Oh, you like talking about honor.”

I muttered quickly and clicked my tongue. The two noisy men trembled with indignation. Nice.

Three grown men cornering one young girl wasn’t exactly honorable either.

Funny how they never think about their actions.

“Rai is practically a part of me. As long as I’m not in danger, he’s harmless. The world is dangerous—I’m not.”

“I know your specialty is wordplay. You really don’t lose.”

While they kept grumbling, the Knight Commander shoved Leo—still rubbing his wrist—toward me.

“Ginny Crowell. I have a proposal for you.”

“I’m eating. Can you say it later? You people really have no manners.”

“There you go again, trying to slip away like an eel!”

“It’s not like I’m obligated to stay.”

“……Ginny Crowell!”

Whenever they lose an argument, they yell. Every time.

The Knight Commander ground his teeth, looking like he wanted to punch me.

He clearly disliked me. Well, the feeling was mutual.

“Fine. Since I’m the only civilized person here, I’ll compromise. What’s your proposal?”

I put down my knife and fork—an invitation for him to speak—and Instructor Dinnel jumped in immediately.

“Leo said you don’t want the representative team position.”

【Master! I overheard something. These guys are planning something very sneaky!】

A plan?

Rai slithered up my shoulder and whispered in my ear, even though he talked directly into my mind anyway.

Humans like them never imagined that a snake could understand everything and report it all to me.

Rai relayed everything he heard in detail.

【They’re planning to pin everything on you.】

【Pin what?】

【Those two are definitely going to be punished for losing you before. But if you get labeled as a serious problem child—an uncontrollable troublemaker—they can shift the blame onto you.】

【Hmm. Go on.】

【They want to paint you as the kind of kid who refuses her representative position and causes trouble—so your disappearance earlier can all be blamed on your own carelessness. They dump all the responsibility on you to save themselves. Big picture and all that.】

【So they want to make me look bad so they can cover their own asses.】

That was their “plan”? How stupid. My expression immediately soured.

【And that brat Leo? He calls the Knight Commander “uncle”! Apparently they’re related.】

Ah. That explained everything.

Rai was an excellent informant—he exposed everything I didn’t know.

His voice being audible only to me was both a weakness and a huge strength.

Sometimes I forgot he was my loyal spirit.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Answering what?”

“I heard you don’t want the representative position.”

“I don’t, but since it’s assigned from above, I’ll do it anyway. Isn’t that a citizen’s duty?”

“……That’s not what I heard.”