First, I answered briefly.
Then, as if it were nothing, I continued.
“It had been so long since I last saw Marsha, and she was so adorable that I wanted to spend a little time on a date with her.”
&
I turned my gaze toward my father very naturally.
“That is why I was late. I apologize, Father.”
The moment those words left my mouth, Marsha’s face flushed red in an instant.
It seemed I had answered far more boldly than she had expected.
Only then did I turn my gaze fully toward Father and lower my head slightly.
Father looked at me for a moment, then faintly lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Well done.”
It was a short remark.
But it was enough.
I had apologized to Father,
and Father had accepted it.
With that brief exchange alone, it became clear once more who the master of this place was.
The center of this dining table had to be the Signal family.
At that moment.
A chilling sensation brushed down my spine.
When I raised my head, I saw Roderick.
A smile still hung at the corners of his mouth, but his eyes were not smiling.
His narrowed gaze slowly swept over me.
Assessment,
calculation,
and reclassification.
He had clearly seen me as an immature boy who had happened to get involved in the iron ore contract.
Not anymore.
That look in his eyes.
He was beginning to see me as an enemy.
It was a mistake.
I was not ready yet.
Right now, it was far more advantageous for me to hide my abilities, appear inexperienced, and slowly read the board.
So I was about to open my mouth.
To laugh lightly, take a step back,
and act a little like a foolish brat.
But.
For some reason, I stopped at that moment.
Yes.
Avoiding this was the right choice.
That was the ideal choice.
But why was it?
My head did not lower, and I calmly met his gaze.
Though it felt as if something sticky and razor-sharp were brushing against the nape of my neck,
I did not look away in the end.
A brief silence.
“Krk... Hahaha!”
Roderick burst into loud laughter.
“Drevan! Unlike you, I never imagined your son would be so dependable! Why haven’t you been bragging about him all this time!?”
He wrapped it in laughter, but there were still thorns hidden within.
“So that is why you hesitated when I suggested marrying him to my daughter, was it? Hahaha.”
Father replied.
Lightly, but with perfect precision.
At that one remark, the corner of Roderick’s mouth stiffened ever so slightly, and Father did not miss that opening.
“Now, now.”
Father calmly raised a hand.
“The food will lose its taste if it gets cold, so let us eat.”
Originally, those words should have been Roderick’s to say first.
All the more so if he had intended to pull the shaken flow back to his side.
Perhaps that was why.
The faces of the two men as they began their meal formed a strange contrast.
Father, who naturally looked after Mother, seemed no different from usual,
but the satisfaction beneath his indifferent expression could not be hidden.
This had to become natural from now on.
The mere Rin family.
At the very least, a family like the Rin family should not be enough to stand against us.
***
Cedric, who had been staying in his room, was in a rather foul mood.
“Seeing that bastard hold his head high and run his mouth even in front of our father made me want to tear him apart.”
Cedric smiled crookedly.
“You said you’d go in person and put him in his place again, didn’t you? So? Did it go well?”
“I don’t know. It’s annoying.”
Marsha answered bluntly.
“Until not long ago, he used to listen to me just fine...”
At those words, Cedric laughed low and raised the corner of his mouth.
“But why didn’t you deny it when he called it a date?”
Marsha’s expression stiffened for an instant.
“Don’t tell me it was actually true?”
“Are you insane?”
Marsha immediately snapped back.
“There’s no way I’d like an ordinary guy like that.”
“What’s with you? Why are you getting so worked up?”
Cedric snorted.
“If someone saw you, they’d think you really liked him.”
“It’s because saying things like that puts me in a bad mood.”
Cedric nodded as if it were nothing.
“Well, true. Who would like a guy with an ordinary face, no ability, and no charm?”
Marsha’s lips moved slightly for a moment.
“Charm...”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Just then, Cedric’s gaze turned toward the window.
The training ground was mostly hidden by the wall, but through a gap, he caught sight of someone running.
It was Rayon.
“Oho.”
Cedric’s eyes narrowed.
“Perfect timing. I had an amusing idea. Let’s go.”
Cedric quickly left the room and headed for the training ground,
and after hesitating for a moment, Marsha followed after him.
***
The training ground.
“Why? What are you going to do?”
Marsha frowned.
“Don’t tell me you’re actually going to hit him?”
Cedric grinned.
“I’m just going to help him remember his childhood a little.”
“Don’t go too far.”
Cedric turned his head.
“What?”
Marsha avoided his gaze for a moment, then muttered.
“We’re... not children anymore.”
Cedric looked at her for a moment as if he did not understand, then laughed again.
“What, you think I’d actually kill him?”
Cedric, smiling unpleasantly, stepped in front of me as I was running.
“What are you doing?”
“Running.”
“Pfft.”
Cedric laughed as if he found it absurd.
“Don’t tell me you’re trying to become a knight.”
I tried to pass him without answering.
But Cedric moved one step again and blocked my path.
Hah.
How annoying.
“No.”
After answering shortly and dryly,
I moved to the side and started running again.
This time, Cedric did not bother stopping me.
He seemed to be waiting, as if to see just how long I could last.
But then.
One lap.
Two laps.
Three laps.
When I continued running at roughly the same pace even past ten laps, Cedric’s expression slowly began to stiffen.
In the end, he blocked my path again.
“You bastard, did you lie to me?”
“Haa... haa...”
I looked at him while breathing roughly.
“What are you talking about?”
“You can run like this, but you’re not preparing to become a knight?”
“I said I’m not.”
I caught my breath.
“Move. I need to run more.”
Cedric grinned.
“How about I teach you instead?”
His gaze twisted openly.
“I’m a knight candidate, you know. Learning from me would be much more helpful.”
His intention was obvious.
Not training.
Humiliation.
I looked at him for a moment and calmed my rough breathing.
“Hoo. This brings back old memories.”
“Right?”
Cedric smirked.
“I taught you back then too.”
I knew this would happen.
“Back then, you pretended to be a knight and knocked me down.”
A sigh escaped me.
“Fine. Teach me.”
I held out my hand.
“What do I have to do?”
“Good! Great!”
Cedric, looking excited, picked up two wooden swords from one side of the training ground.
Then he tossed one of them toward me.
I picked up the wooden sword that had fallen to the ground.
“I’ll learn well.”
The corner of Cedric’s mouth twisted.
Immediately after that.
He charged straight in without hesitation.
There was no teaching.
From the very beginning, he had only one goal.
Assault.
Even so, he was fast.
Considering he was seventeen, he was nimble enough that the title of knight candidate was not wasted on him.
He closed the distance in an instant, then brought the wooden sword down hard over my head.
Whoosh.
I watched the falling wooden sword.
***
I had thought all my life that I had no talent.
That I was ordinary, lacked confidence,
and was always someone who lagged behind others.
For nearly fifty years.
I still did not know whether I truly had talent.
But at least one thing was clear.
Over that long stretch of time, something had continued to accumulate inside me.
Whether that was talent,
or experience.
Perhaps I had only finally opened my eyes after a long life of self-deprecation.
Because to endure a miserable life, it had been easier to tear myself down.
But just before I died, I realized.
I was not dull.
I had simply noticed it far too late.
No.
Now, it was not too late.
Yes.
The wooden sword falling toward me now.
That fairly quick strike looked far too clear.
To be precise, I had seen it even before that.
The shoulder before it moved.
The tension in the wrist before strength was applied.
The direction of the toes as the weight shifted.
Its trajectory was already plainly visible.
I tilted my head ever so slightly.
The wind raised by the wooden sword brushed my hair,
and the arc of the wooden sword as it came crashing down looked unbelievably slow.
A horizontal slash followed immediately.
I lowered my body half a beat faster.
The sound of it cutting through empty air brushed past my ear.
“You, you bastard!”
Cedric’s face contorted.
As if he could not believe I had dodged his attack,
panic and rage rose on his face all at once.
At the same time, he put more strength into it.
His attacks grew faster, but in exchange, they became rougher.
The moment his head filled with the thought that someone like me had to be put down in a single blow,
his accuracy instead fell even further.
Rage gnaws away at technique.
This time as well, I twisted my body and let his attack slide past.
“They say every knight possesses exceptional talent of their own.”
“What did you say, you bastard!?”
“You can’t even touch this small talent of mine.”
I briefly caught my breath.
“You’ll have a hard time becoming a knight. Every single knight is a superhuman, after all.”
The moment I finished speaking, I moved in first.
What went out before the wooden sword was my fist.
Thud!
My fist drove accurately into Cedric’s abdomen.
“Kugh!”
At that instant, Cedric’s body folded.
I did not miss the opening created as his balance collapsed.
The wooden sword immediately struck his thigh,
slammed into his arm,
and came down on his shoulder in succession.
Thud, thud, thud!
In the end, Cedric lost his balance and collapsed to the ground.
I lightly aimed the wooden sword at his neck as he tried to rise.
Then I spoke calmly.
“I learned a lesson.”
Looking down at him briefly, I added,
“That doing it that way won’t make you a knight.”
Cedric’s face trembled.
“I-it was luck. You only won by luck.”
I nodded with a calm expression.
“Yes. I was lucky.”
I dropped the wooden sword beside him and turned away.
It was at that moment.
Killing intent erupted behind my back.
“Die!”
“No!”
Cedric’s shout and Marsha’s cry overlapped.
But as if I had already known, my body reacted first.
The moment I turned around, I seized his wrist,
pulled Cedric into my arms, pushed his chest with my shoulder, and twisted his arm.
The instant his balance broke, I threw him down as he was.
Thud!
With a dull sound that seemed to choke off his breath, Cedric’s body slammed into the ground.
“Guh, gugh...!”
For a while, Cedric could not even breathe properly and trembled on the floor,
but I did not look at him any longer.
I simply passed by, then stopped briefly when I brushed past Marsha.
“Marsha.”
“H-huh?”
Marsha’s voice trembled.
Without turning my head, I spoke in a low voice.
“It was because of the handkerchief you gave me when we were little.”
Her eyes shook greatly.
“That I tried not to hate you, even so.”
That was all.
I said nothing more and walked on.
Behind me, I heard the sound of a breath desperately trying to grab hold of something,
but in the end, it could not become words and follow after me.
***
Bang!
“Drevan! What is the meaning of this!”
Drevan, who had been working in his study, slowly raised his head when the door was thrown open roughly,
and his brow narrowed ever so slightly.
“What is all this commotion about?”
“Your son attacked our Cedric!”
A short silence.
Behind Roderick, Cedric appeared.
He was clutching his abdomen, his face badly distorted.
“Cedric. Say it yourself!”
Cedric breathed roughly and forced his mouth open.
“In the training ground... Rayon said he was going to become a knight, so I tried to teach him. But then he suddenly ambushed me...”
Drevan’s gaze narrowed.
“Call Rayon.”
A moment later, I entered the study.
“Is it true that you ambushed Cedric?”
I looked at Cedric and made no effort to hide my dumbfounded expression.
“I was exercising, and Cedric was the one who picked a fight first.”
After briefly catching my breath, I added,
“The same goes for the ambush.”
“That is a lie!”
Roderick shouted angrily.
“My son is a knight candidate! There is no way someone like you could defeat him!”
The air turned cold in an instant.
“See here, Roderick. Since your accounts differ...”
“What do you mean, differ! It’s obvious at a glance! How dare someone like you now...”
Bang!
This time, it was Father.
Drevan’s palm struck the desk.
A clear crack split across the thick solid-wood desk.
In that instant, everyone in the room was forced to close their mouths.
And yet, on Drevan’s face, there was instead a small smile.
“Choose your words carefully.”
His tone was calm.
But at that one remark, the temperature in the room plummeted,
and for a moment, Roderick’s eyes wavered.
I was surprised as well.
Because even I had never seen Father like that before.