Chapter 15. 7. No, That's Not It (3)
Lumian wandered aimlessly through the ballroom for a while.
His eyes trembled anxiously, and his gait was awkward. He looked like a child who had lost his parents.
If there was one thing Lumian had going for him, it was that he had finally come to his senses, albeit belatedly.
And he had thought about doing something on his own.
'Let me try, even if I'm alone!'
Yeah, fuck it.
He had already demonstrated his ability once at the clothing store.
Of course, there was a world of difference between choosing clothes and speaking to a woman, but that didn't mean he could conclude he would fail.
'I've seen knights approach ladies a few times before.'
He hadn't observed closely because it was cringeworthy, but a few scenes came back to him vaguely like old paintings.
'How did that slick knight guy do it back then... Right, first he put on a smile that made the other person comfortable.'
Lumian smiled.
He tried to create a soft and relaxed atmosphere, but he was far from achieving that. Anyone could see it was the awkward smile of someone visiting a ballroom for the first time.
But surprisingly, it worked.
The sight of an inexperienced young man with clearly limited social experience, trying his hardest, drew some attention. It was because he looked cute.
A few older ladies covering their mouths with fans and smiling caught Lumian's eye.
His confidence rose slightly.
'Am I... actually working?'
It seemed so. The soft smile appeared to be effective.
Though it was merely a misunderstanding, at least in the current situation, it brought about a decent effect. His rigid, tense body became more relaxed, as if oiled.
'Okay. Next is... approach near the lady I want and naturally strike up a conversation. Damn, naturally? Naturally...'
Once again, he borrowed from that slick knight guy. Right, that was it. The guy had definitely used compliments to break the ice in conversation.
After complimenting something he guessed the woman had put effort into, he would take advantage of the lowered guard to talk about various simple topics.
And when the atmosphere ripened, he would ask for a dance first. And the lady would shyly smile and nod.
"Huu."
Lumian took a deep breath.
He could feel his heart racing from excitement. He thought if it got any worse, it might burst.
But he had to do it.
Lumian lightly tapped his cheek and looked at a lady standing alone near a pillar.
She had a voluptuous figure that was exactly his type. With his trademark awkward smile, he slowly approached her.
As the distance closed, the lady turned her head toward him. Swish—he felt her eyes scanning him in an instant. The faint smile that appeared afterward planted even more confidence in Lumian.
'Good, first impression is a pass! Now I just need to compliment naturally!'
There was a noticeable detail.
A brilliant sapphire necklace descending along her white neck. Surely purchased for today. Complimenting that would at least not bring a bad reaction.
Lumian looked at the gem nestled in the valley of her V-neck dress and spoke gentlemanly.
"Beautiful breasts."
"...."
"....?"
"No... what did you just say...?"
"Uh..."
'Damn! I said it wrong!'
He was originally going to say 'Beautiful sapphire necklace.'
But to look at the necklace, his gaze naturally went downward, and the voluminous breasts caught his eye, making him think 'nice breasts' at the same time.
'The two thoughts got mixed up and came out reversed!'
A terrible disaster.
Lumian lost his mind.
He apologized with a flustered expression.
"No, that's, I mean... I made a slip of the tongue..."
"A slip of the tongue?"
"Yes! A slip of the tongue... Ah! Of course, saying the lady's breasts are beautiful isn't the mistake, I mean, it's true that the lady's breasts are very beautiful, but what I originally meant to say was the necklace... no, I didn't mean to say this..."
"...."
The woman looked at Lumian, who was babbling in confusion, with an absurd expression.
Fortunately, he looked young—if a greasy middle-aged man with a mustache had done this, she would have screamed immediately.
She stood with her arms crossed, watching to see how far this ridiculous man would spout nonsense.
However, there was someone else besides her who was paying attention to Lumian's mistake.
Tanya Eloyse.
A third-year knight student at Tarajan Academy, she had a bewildered expression watching Lumian's disgrace.
'What is he doing!'
Though she was always busy with sword training, Tanya occasionally attended events like this.
Because there was no better place than a ball to mingle with talents from other departments.
With great ambition for success, she thought expanding her network was just as important as honing her skills, and even now, she was surveying the ballroom for this purpose.
It was inevitable that Lumian would catch Tanya's eye.
A second-year student suddenly making a name for himself.
He was a junior whose first impression she had quite liked, and she was thinking of greeting him warmly.
'How could he say such rude things...'
But she couldn't.
Watching Lumian approach a lady with awkward steps and spout nonsense, her mind became extremely confused.
Wait, the E-class junior had definitely said he had a gentle personality?
Until last year, that aspect was so pronounced it almost seemed weak and pathetic, but from this year, he had changed to someone who worked silently and diligently, with a hint of determination.
Right, that was definitely what she heard.
That's why Tanya had been planning to visit Lumian again soon, have a meal with him, and suggest he join her club.
But not now.
'For now... put it on hold.'
With such a different appearance from the good first impression she had, Tanya Eloyse put her judgment of Lumian on hold.
She needed to investigate more thoroughly what kind of person he was. Yes, she could make a decision after that.
As she continued these rational thoughts, the words Lumian had spoken suddenly popped into her head.
'Beautiful breasts.'
Flush.
Tanya's face turned bright red as she recalled the earlier conversation.
She turned around abruptly and fanned her face. Even so, her startled heart wouldn't easily calm down.
Tanya glanced back. She saw someone dragging Lumian away.
Turning her head, she thought:
'Anyway, I need to find out more!'
***
"Cheer up."
"...."
"Well, these things happen. Fortunately, she understood it was a mistake too. It'll be fine."
"Haa..."
Lumian let out a deep sigh.
Hearing Theoro's consolation didn't make him feel any better. The shock of the slip of the tongue was that great.
'No, how could I make such a mistake.'
It was natural to be nervous in front of a woman he liked, but this time it was severe.
Saying his inner thoughts instead of what he should have said—and such lewd inner thoughts at that...
If Theoro hadn't rushed over and cleaned up the situation, he might have cried right there.
Thinking about it, gratitude toward Theoro welled up.
Lumian spoke with his head bowed.
"Thank you..."
"No, well... hmm."
Theoro didn't bother consoling him further.
It seemed better to just leave him alone.
Thus, Lumian and Theoro walked dejectedly toward the academy dormitory without a word. Adele couldn't be found, so only the two of them walked the road.
The street was desolate. Lumian, not wanting to run into people, chose a narrow shortcut. Therefore, no one else was visible except for the two of them.
Until Delchi and the other academy students appeared.
"Hey, coming back from the ball?"
"....Boomer."
"Still using that handsome face to seduce women everywhere. Is that appropriate for a knight student? I don't even have enough time to train every day."
"Cut the bullshit, why did you come? Looking for a fight?"
Lumian lifted his head with a blank expression.
Suddenly the surroundings had become noisy, and familiar faces came into view.
The guys keeping watch at both ends of the alley were Delchi and his gang including the freckled one, and the one picking a fight with Theoro Sugarn was Boomer Simpson, known as the strongest in F class.
'I've never actually seen him in person but...'
The original owner of this body was so terrified of him that he couldn't not know.
Since they were in different classes, he didn't do things as severe as Delchi's group, but he remembered often making threatening faces to scare him.
He used to enjoy watching his trembling form.
'What does that matter.'
Lumian didn't have the luxury to care about that guy.
Normally might be different, but in his current mentally exhausted state, he didn't feel like exerting himself.
He didn't particularly want to take out his frustration.
Above all, Boomer Simpson seemed much more interested in Theoro than in him.
"Fighting inside the academy while watching out for the old folks isn't fun, is it?"
"So, you want to fight here?"
"You got it right. Let's have a clean 1-on-1 duel."
"Funny bastard. Is it because you can't beat me in swordsmanship, so you want a fistfight here?"
"What! I just don't want to be interrupted in the middle. Hehehe."
'A guy who's supposed to be a knight aspirant working to protect the king, the people, and the country—he sure knows how to have fun.'
Lumian shook his head.
But he understood to some extent. Challenging someone you had bad blood with to a duel was common in the Zenas Kingdom.
'Sometimes it's actually entertaining to watch.'
But in this shitty situation, he'd pass.
Lumian wanted to return to the dormitory quickly.
He wanted to wash his body with warm water and crawl under the blankets. And forget everything that happened today.
'Even though it's annoying, it would be faster if I stepped in, right?'
He sighed deeply and stepped forward in front of Theoro.
He was really annoyed and didn't want to get involved, but waiting for their duel was even worse.
With a slightly furrowed brow, he was approaching Boomer Simpson when—
"What, it's Lumian, isn't it? A wimpy guy who looks like he doesn't have any balls."
"....!"
"You're not thinking of snitching about today, are you? Well, a guy with no dick might do that. You wait over there. I'll beat this guy and then make you keep your mouth shut."
"...What did you say."
"Hm?"
Boomer Simpson's eyes widened slightly.
Because he didn't expect Lumian to respond to his words.
He let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
"What, this bastard actually talks back..."
"I asked what you just said."
Going beyond responding, now he was interrupting him.
Boomer Simpson stopped smiling. His twisted facial expression spoke for his anger.
But he didn't know.
How much his words had just enraged Lumian Callad, no—Ryan Fromhart, who had lived as a eunuch for decades.
And what consequences that anger would bring.