亚洲欧美中文日韩Aⅴ

“Soricks, is it okay if it’s not necessarily during the Founding Festival?” (1)

“What?”

I stared into his green eyes seriously before spitting out what I had to say word by word with force.

“As long as it’s not on the day of the Founding Festival, I can help you.”

The beautiful female lead who left the academy to come see the festival and the Crown Prince who visited the streets undercover. These two people would meet during the Founding Festival.

“Since I’ve been receiving help all this time. I want to help Soricks too.”

Before he became a tyrant, the Crown Prince had already accepted Rusbella into this heart. He remembered who she was when she returned to the Empire with her lover.

It was also because of this first meeting between them that he let her stay in the Empire during her escape in the first place.

I had to see that for myself.

And to do that, I had to carry out a preliminary survey of the area. Fortunately, Penne was not around. He would have immediately prevented me from going because it was dangerous. Penne was one of the people who pleaded with me not to attend banquets right away. How could I not understand his heart?

“Of course, pipio! I’ll show you around the capital!”

Soricks flashed a refreshing smile. He patted my head tenderly. Next to him, Meta clicked his tongue before shaking his head. He then murmured lowly.

“You’re lucky the duke is not here today.”

After that, the men of the patrol troops gathered in a circle at the training grounds to discuss a variety of topics. Be it battalion formations or records of their patrols. I was already at the training grounds but I was not allowed to hear most of it because it was about work.

“Then, Soricks, the place you’ll be taking pipio to is…”

I was going to follow Soricks’ lead.

“She will be with Soricks for one day, me for another and Ferronel for another as well?”

Then, Soricks, with his self-proclaimed skills in investigation, and Ferronel showed their visibly happy expressions.

“Absolutely! I agree to this, extremely agree!”

Originally, another female templar was supposed to play my role.

“Why would that guy hold a woman’s hand like that?”

“Leave it alone. It’s kind of the same anyways.”

The problem was that these templars were virgins. They have never been close to having a relationship because their hands had always been holding a sword.

It did not feel too bad seeing many people squabbling over my safety.

“Well, I’ll see you in four days then. Then, please come in casual clothes.”

“Yes, I know.”

“The streets in the city center will be dirtier than that of the palace so if you wear clothes that are too nice, you’ll have no choice but to throw them away in the end.”

“Yes. I’ll see you then.”

The rest of the patrol troops as well as their Commander Chosone greeted me. (2) When I turned around, I noticed the trees at the perimeters of the training grounds shaking. I spotted the navy blue hair that reminded me of the early evening sky.

“Lord…”

Ray? Come to think of it, I had told him I would get off work early. Did he come all the way here to pick me up after waiting for me at the carriage stop?

Lord Ray, who saw me, then frowned slightly when we made eye contact.

“I’m here to pick you up.”

Just then.

Woosh–!

Clouds of dust flew about before a giant sword flew above me. Lord Ray quickly took a step back. I turned my head around in surprise. Then, I faced Lord Chosone who had a sword in his hands.

“Who is this?”

He had an unusual expression on his face.

“Is it perhaps someone who owes me something from last time?”

The Commander of the patrols smiled coolly. Lord Ray then replied bluntly.

“If you ask me who I am, one more time, I will blow you away again.”

“Of course! I’ve been searching for you so fervently. Ray Aquita!”

Lord Ray blocked the greatsword with his scabbard. Lord Ray frowned. He looked like he did not want to be in this situation.

“I had been wondering where the promising knight from the Central Palace had disappeared to after getting kicked out. Then, he appeared again. Do you know how sad I was to find out he had disappeared again afterwards?”

Lord Ray pushed the sword away lightly.

“I can already tell from the Central Palace but cheeky inferiors still exist.”

“I don’t really like it when men come onto me.”

“Then, in order to find you, should I let this old body of mine lead the way as it continues to be attracted to you?”

I blinked as I stared at their confrontation.

‘Find him?’

There was only one person Lord Chosone would be looking for when so many around him would sing songs of admiration for him. The man who defeated Lord Chosone with one strike (It was not one strike but that was what the people who witnessed it said) before suddenly disappearing.

“Meta, is that the kid, I mean, knight, you were talking about last time?”

“Ah? I think so.”

I stared at the troops. They all had expressions of interest on their faces.

“Look at the Commander’s reaction. How could he not recognise the man who knocked him over?”

Meta pointed his finger towards the two of them.

He also added that the Commander’s pride had been shattered that day.

‘Well, I think I should stop them.’

Lord Chosone’s sword which was imbued with divinity was devastating its surrounding area. Be it the ground, or the trees around him, everything was in a mess. If I were to get between them, I would only get myself killed. Lord Ray was focused on blocking and avoiding his swings.

“Soricks.”

“Yes?”

“That’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

“Ah, don’t worry. The Commander will control his strength considering the person he’s up against is only a human. Look.”

Clang–!

“… It is?”

“Well… The Commander must have had a lot of stress piling up within him. Hahahaha.”

“…..”

Honestly, the flower of such a fantasy world would be fierce battles made up of swords and magic. I would have to fold here.

I liked heroes but I did not want to watch their battles live while all I got fed was dirt. For the sake of the health of my lungs and the forest’s safety, I would have to stop this fight.

“Ray.”

I had called him softly but he caught my eyes as if it was a dream.

“Oho. Where do you think you’re looking!”

He quickly returned to his word. I glared at him with my mouth open.

‘Hurry and do something.’

I could hear the sounds of Lord Ray retreating and just when I was wondering what he was going to do, he drew his sword.

“Hahaha. Are you finally getting into it?”

“You’re also getting old. The momentum I saw on the battlefield is long gone. Your sword is too easy to dodge.”

“Hmph! What a cheeky kid.”

“That’s not good. Can’t you see? Are you sure someone is watching?”

Lord Chosone, who was weaker, retreated first.

“Ha! How funny, then I’ll make it so you can’t avoid it!”

At a glance, I could tell the white light surrounding his drooping sword looked unusual. Soricks then jumped up before pulling out his sword. Was it going to be a lethal move? Was it!

Clang–

A roar filled the space. I slowly opened my eyes. Only two swords remained glistening after the thick cloud of smoke subsided. The one who held his opponent’s neck with his sword murmured softly.

“I’m sorry but, my girl asked me to. Since it’s too bothersome, she asked me to finish it quickly.”

I stood there frozen as if I had been nailed to the ground while staring at Lord Ray lowering his sword. Excuse me, I was just trying to ask him to move further from me…

“… That’s crazy. A non-templar defeated a templar?”

Someone whispered.

“I already told you. He’sthe real deal.”

Ferronel was the one who went on to speak. He was a templar so he could gauge the powers of other templars. And Lord Ray managed to prove himself even though he had no divinity.

“Impossible… People who can beat templars exist?”

Lord Ray put his sword away before walking this way.

“Shall we…”

I quickly cut him off before he used honourifics.

“Are you asking me to go?”

Lord Ray stayed quiet for a moment before nodding. He had gotten a rough guess of what was going on.

I wondered if he did not find the troops’ gazes uncomfortable. If I had to pick all the knights I knew who only went his way, he would be in the top 3.

“Let’s go.”

“Alright. Good idea. Let’s hurry and go back. Hurry.”

To be honest, I did not expect Lord Ray to win. It was because of him that my position amongst them was getting stranger. I led Lord Ray away from their curious gazes. At this moment when I was still hiding my identity, I still did not know what would happen if Lord Ray was to make a mistake and slip on even one word. As I slowly dragged him away, I smiled with a calm expression on my face.

“Well, uhm, pipio? Who’s that guy? Do you know each other? I thought he had been talking to pipio.”

“Uh, well, Soricks. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“What do you mean you’ll tell him later, no, tell him. You can just say it now.”

“Keep it down.”

I tapped on Lord Ray as a warning.

“Alright. We’ll hear your story later. Go ahead.”

Fortunately, Lord Chosone helped me.

“Yes. I’ll see you next time! Let’s go, Ray!”

Just when the Lord was about to smile, I quickly turned him around which allowed him to whip around and carry me in his arms. I stared at him while being hugging him. He then whispered to me.

“This way will be faster. You’re walking too slow.”

For some reason, he looked like he was having fun.

“… You showed up on purpose, didn’t you?’

“How can that be?”

“Yeah. I can tell that it is very much so from your voice.”

It was strange. I kept repeating the scene I had just seen in my head. Was he so great he could win against even a seasoned knight? It felt like I just saw my friend, who would often drink cheap alcohol with me before throwing up all their sorrow, getting off a rolls-royce.

“I was surprised. Since when could you hear my voice in your ear?”

“Enough. Let me go.”

“I do not want to.”

“What kind of escort acts like this?”

He smirked.

“Because you were walking too slow.”

“……”

“It’ll be nice if you continue walking slowly in the future as well.”

It was no use trying to push someone who had no intentions of changing. I gave up cleanly. I grumbled about how he did not listen to a word I said. He simply walked quietly, pretending he did not hear a thing.

***

The night was dyed by silver and clear moonlight. Dressed in simple clothes, I quietly walked out of my room before exiting the palace.

‘I wonder if they’re asleep.’

As I walked towards the back door, I could hear footsteps in the distance.

“Princess, these days there are ghosts in the palace every night!”

The ghost that Hannah was talking about while trembling was actually me. It looked like this was how my nightly walks to meet Amor had been interpreted.

I turned around before heading for the front door. The reason why I was going out today was not because of Amor.

The dark garden greeted me once I left the main gate. Of course, my entire surroundings were quiet. I was worried if I could see what was ahead of me but it was not that dark because the stars were high up in the sky and the moon was very bright.

When I looked up, I could see acacia flowers were shyly revealing their white appearance under the moonlight.

Suaaa–

A gust of wind blew.

At the same time, I could smell something warm. I noticed something foreign amidst the scent of flowers.

‘… Metal?’

A huge shadow was casted over the garden. I stared at it carefully. What looked like a mass of darkness was actually a man who had collapsed on the ground.

I raised my head again. The moonlight managed to illuminate the fluttering hair of the figure in front of me. I could clearly see the dark navy colour.

T/N:

(1): Should be Founding Festival. If you ever see Foundation Festival, it’s a mistake so please help me point it out if you spot it.

(2): Chosone is the commander and Meta is the Vice-commander. Sorry if I did not make it clear because sometimes I forget T.T