Chapter 43 - Vesteria Kingdom and Elite Guard [6] (1/2)

43. Vesteria Kingdom and Elite Guard [6]

Claude-san’s face was dyed bright red.

「D-Don’t look!」

She cried out while crossing both hands in front of her chest.

「S-Sorry…!」

I came to my senses and immediately turned around.

At the same time she rushed into the bathroom and closed the curtain violently.

(Claude-san is… a woman…?!)

I mistook her for a man because of her appearance and tone.

As I calmed down my beating heart with a deep breath, I heard her quivering voice from behind the curtain.

「Ki-Ki-Kisama…! Why are you in my room…!? Creeping at night into a woman’s bedroom!? I see, is that how you broke Ria-sama!?」

「N-No! That’s not true!」

That misunderstanding is really bad.

I hurriedly denied it immediately.

「Why were you in my room!? Depending on the reason, I’ll hand you over to the Holy Knight!」

「Well, I’m going to go practice-swing, so I thought I’d call out to Claude-san! But no matter how many times I knocked, there was no answer, and when I turned the knob, it just opened.」

「-So you entered a woman’s room without permission?」

…It’s too rude to say to a woman『I thought you were a man.』

Even I know that much.

「…I’m sorry.」

In order not to hurt her feelings, I decided to apologize.

「……」

「……」

Claude-san said no more, and an awkward silence filled the room.

The sound of drops of water dripping from the bathroom, echoed loudly.

Then a little while later, she slowly spoke.

「…Take responsibility.」

「Responsibility…?」

「You saw a woman naked… There is only one way to take responsibility as a man…」

「D-Do you mean…!?」

「Aa, if you’re a man, accept your fate…」Claude-san said, and threw something out from behind the curtain.

It came in contact with the floor and produced a metallic noise.

「T-This is…?」

「It’s a self-defense dagger. Now, commit seppuku.」1

「Se-Seppuku…!?」

I’m really sorry about seeing her naked.

But, isn’t committing seppuku going too far?

「Y-You saw a virgin girl naked! It’s only obvious right! Well, make up for it with your life! Then I’ll forgive you!」

「N-No, err… atoning with my life is a little…」

「There’s no use in arguing ! Come on, cut your belly! I’m going to catch a cold!」

She shouted with a high-pitched voice.

(…This time, it’s my fault that I mistook Claude-san for a man.)

I am completely at fault for humiliating her.

However, I can’t possibly afford to die in this place.

「…E-Excuse me!」

And I rushed out of the room.

「Wha!? Oi, wait!」

After that, I returned to my room directly opposite, and barricaded the door with a chair and a small cabinet.

Tomorrow will be a very important duel for me and Ria.

I can’t go all night without a wink of sleep.

「Yoshi… With this much of a barrier, Claude-san will not be able to enter silently…」

If she tries to open the door by force, it will definitely create a loud noise and I can wake up instantly.

In other words, it is almost impossible to attack me in my sleep.

(With this… I should be able to sleep a little calmly.)

So I laid down on the bed, focusing my nerves towards the door.

Next Morning.

「Good morning, Allen… Are you alright? You’ve got bags under your eyes.」

Ria, who came all this way to wake me up, said so while looking at my face.

「Aa. Good morning, Ria …I had some trouble falling asleep last night.」

In the end, I was worried about Claude-san’s night attack, and I could not get even a wink of sleep..

「But well, staying up all night for one day doesn’t really affect me much. So don’t worry.」

My longest streak of sleeplessness record is 35 days.

The last loop in the prison of time – a record achieved when I was single-mindedly swinging to cut that world.

So, in fact, staying up all night for one day, is no big deal.

「Is that so? It’s alright then, but… don’t push yourself too hard.」

「Aa, thank you.」

As we were having such a conversation in the hallway, the door across from my room slowly opened, and Claude-san appeared.

「…Good morning, Ria-sama.」

「Good morning, Claude …Eh? You didn’t sleep too?」

Looking closer, there were bags under her eyes.

「Yes. I was a little worked up and couldn’t fall asleep.」

…She probably couldn’t sleep due to rage.

「Rather than that, it’s already time for breakfast, Ria-sama. Please come this way. You too. Follow me, filthy pervert worm.」

Saying so, Claude-san glared at me and started walking.

(Filthy pervert worm…)

Apparently, due to the case yesterday, I seem to have gone down one rank from『worm』to『pervert worm』.

■

Afterwards, we had breakfast at the cafeteria and headed for the Great Arena in a carriage.

「Oo, this is amazing…」

One of the Vesteria’s attractions that I heard a little from Ria while we were on the plane – the Great Arena.

It was a huge, stone-built, circular arena.

Although the building is somewhat degraded by wind and rain, it gave of a sense of history and strength.

「There isn’t much time until the commencement of the duel. Quickly come with me.」

As I followed Claude-san, who was walking with quick-steps, we arrived at the contestants’ waiting room.

In the room – there were a variety of weapons, such as a sword, a hatchet, a spear, and a large arsenal of other weapons.

「By rule, weapons are prohibited to be brought into the arena. Therefore, you will have to fight with these weapons prepared by the arena.」

「Understood.」

It seems to be taken into consideration so that the victory or defeat is not influenced by the quality of the weapon.

「Yoshi! I’m going to look for the ideal sword for Allen!」

Thus Ria went to the section where a lot of swords were lined up.

(…She shouldn’t be able to hear us from this distance.)

I didn’t miss this opportunity and spoke to Claude in whispers.