Chapter 27 (2/2)

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“Then, I beg you.”

Ahead of us was Palmira, holding her naked blade in one hand, and Rupert, looking terribly unmotivated with a meter-long wooden sword resting against his shoulder.

“You said that yesterday too, Polly.”

A ring of keenly interested soldiers already surrounded them, leaving them enough s.p.a.ce to move around.

The sun had set a long time ago, but the area was illuminated by lanterns to excess, the two figures casting several shadows on the ground. Basically, the peanut gallery got a good view.

Of course, since we came to satisfy our own curiosity, we were the same.

“If it’s the sword, Vyde or Commander Leopard can do it, you know? Teaching’s not my thing.”

“You’re the one for me.”

Palmira’s frank words sent a resounding ‘Ooohhh’ through the crowd.

Well, subtract the sword, add in a blush, and that might’ve been the normal response.

But instead, Palmira stood at the ready, full of determination. I’d gotten used to it recently, so it didn’t bother me, but facing off against Rupert with a nasty glint in her eye, she even seemed to radiate bloodl.u.s.t.

Only, it’s kinda sad: given her actual appearance, all I could see was Rupert bullying a child.

“Well, if you’re gonna go that far, I don’t have much of a choice, do I? I’m ready anytime, Palmira.”

Rupert faced Palmira, still holding the wooden sword in one hand. The air around them grew heavy.

“…Hey, how strong is Rupert?”

I whispered to Leon, watching the two motionless figures. Leon, who’d been watching them with admiration, suddenly snapped back to reality and crossed his arms.

“Hmmm, well… I haven’t gauged Miss Palmira’s strength, but if I had to say, he’s strong enough that I can’t guarantee Miss Palmira will make it through unscathed.”

It seemed that even Leon had confidence in Rupert’s strength.

Because Aira looked worried upon hearing those words, his expression turned complicated.

But Palmira was twenty years old. She was probably the strongest out of the three of us. I wanted her to kick a.s.s.

“Oh, isn’t that the Princess?”

When I silently cheered Palmira on from the back of the ring, one of the nearby soldiers noticed and called out to me.

And like that, it seemed to travel through the crowd: ‘It’s the Princess.’ ‘It’s true.’ ‘The Princess, it’s the Princess.’ ‘Oh? Even Lord Leon’s here.’ And so on. The sound of murmuring spread outward.

…What’s that? ‘Princess’? Who in the world could they possibly be talking about?

…I don’t know why I even try. Alright, so I’m already being treated like a princess…? Come to think of it, Rupert did say something like [Everyone on the estate knows about it].

“Ha–!”

While I was sulking, Palmira lunged at Rupert.

I had a feeling that in the middle of the ‘Princess’ stuff, Rupert’s focus s.h.i.+fted over here for a moment. And she seized it.

A step into a sideways sweep with the sword in one hand. She aimed for the right side of Rupert’s abdomen.

Ooh, nice arc. Rupert had his sword in his right hand too, so it would be hard for him to intercept her.

“–Hm!”

Hard, but without seeming to ward off her sword, Rupert backstepped out of danger.

However, it seemed Palmira had read this far too, and she thrust her sword forward. She swung her left hand.

Before I could finish my thought — ‘Huh?’ — I realized that it held a dagger.

My dagger. Which reminds me, I never got it back. But does Palmira see it as something she received from me? That’s really nice, but — .

Anyway, that dagger also headed for his right abdomen. Considering the height difference, I had the impression that aiming for anything above the neck would be a lost cause to begin with.

But from her opponent’s perspective, that made it easy to identify her target, which only put her at a disadvantage.

As I expected, Rupert was able to avoid her easily with a turn of his body.

“Rrruah–!”

But from there, Palmira attacked yet again. As if to hide, her evaded left hand and upper torso twisted toward the ground.

A moment later, Palmira’s leg lashed upward like a whip. Target: Rupert’s head, or possibly his collarbone.

I breathed in sharply. It was a clever combo. Diverting her opponent’s attention to the right abdomen, setting up the illusion that she could only aim for the midbody, and then a kick from overhead… There was no avoiding this. Unconsciously, I gulped and clenched my two fists tightly.

“Oops, whoa.”

And yet, the kick I considered the finisher of a perfect combo, Rupert body-blocked it with ease.

When he avoided her attack, he’d fallen back. But in tandem with Palmira unleas.h.i.+ng her kick, he moved forward and caught her.

Palmira’s spin focused on her foot as the point of action. How do you stop a spin? …Pin the axis.

As a result, a bewildered Palmira got swept into a princess carry by Rupert.

Seeing that somehow reminded me of something.

“Hey, don’t tell me — isn’t that your sure-kill move?”

Back when I jumped at Leon, I’d also ended up like that before I knew it. Feeling a trace of kins.h.i.+p with Palmira, I fixed Leon with my stare.

“How could it be? It’s a coincidence, of course. A coincidence.”

Leon laughed. Judging from the lack of dry humor, his smile was the real thing for once.

Rupert instructed Palmira fairly precisely after that, his voice unenthusiastic. How to move the body, where and how to step, and the like.

In my opinion, Rupert’s fighting style was probably a good match for Palmira. No doubt she chose him because she knew that herself.

I didn’t have to ask why she was doing things like this.

Palmira being Palmira, she found something to do, and then devoted all her effort to it.

And that made her genuinely happy.

Footnotes

1. 部隊は馬車４台を含んで、行軍の関係上縦に伸びているが、当然配置があるのだろう ↵

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