Episode 17

A collapsed table, a cake overturned on the floor, and a man who had planted his face squarely into it.

My vision went white with dizziness. What was I supposed to do? I hadn’t let go of the cane for this to happen!

I hurriedly apologized.

“I-I’m sorry……! I didn’t know you were putting strength into it! I couldn’t feel any force at all…….”

Only after I said it did I realize I had dealt the count a second blow.

This damned mouth of mine! Biting my lip hard, I tried to approach him, but Reuden grabbed me.

He was looking at me with his brow deeply furrowed. Realizing what that expression meant, I quickly made an excuse.

“I didn’t cause trouble because I wanted to! I’ll listen to the nagging later…….”

“Hold out your hand.”

“Huh?”

His words were so out of place in this situation that I asked back, and he sighed as he took my hand. It was the hand that had been holding the cane just a moment ago.

Why was he doing this? Strangely enough, instead of showering me with a lecture, he examined my hand closely. As if checking whether something was there or not…….

“Wh-why?”

“It’s fine. Fortunately, it looks all right.”

What?

Fortunately, it looks all right?

Fortunately, it looks all right?

“Did you just worry about me…….”

“Not at all. More importantly, are you going to keep causing trouble?”

As expected, his nagging began. Feeling a little wronged, I immediately lowered my brows.

“Sheesh, do you think I did it because I wanted to? I only let go because you told me to.”

“Then why did you interfere in the first place?”

“What? I saved you, and you can’t even say thank you!”

Reuden fell silent, then muttered quietly with a displeased look.

“I could have handled it myself.”

That was when it happened.

A chilling sensation crawled over my back like insects. I turned my head reflexively and saw Count Sirius charging toward me like a beast, cane in hand.

The cane in his hand approached with a brutality unlike before. If it had looked like nothing more than a cane just moments ago, now it looked like a weapon.

To be honest, I wasn’t scared. After all, I had just lightly caught the cane that man had swung. Even if a weakling like him hit me, it probably wouldn’t hurt.

There was just one thing I found strange.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the pitch-black jewel set into the handle of the cane.

That was odd. The only thing about that jewel that could be considered unusual was the fact that it was black, as if it swallowed every trace of light.

Why was it stealing my gaze like this…….

Beyond the strangely captivating jewel, I caught a glimpse of the count’s face, twisted viciously. It might have been my imagination, but something like scales had sprouted on his cheek.

What is that?

At that moment, the cane I had thought had stopped lunged toward me. And when I saw a faint, wavering light inside the pitch-black jewel, I sensed it instinctively.

Ah, this time is different. If I get hit this time…… I’ll be hurt……!

But it was already too late. All I could do was shrink back. So I squeezed my eyes shut, curled in on myself, and waited for the pain that would strike me.

Thwack.

At last, a dull sound dug into my ears.

But instead of the pain that should have shot through my body, I felt warmth. Finding that strange, I cautiously opened my eyes and saw two things.

One, for some reason, Reuden was shielding me.

Two, I could see a stranger’s back.

A very broad back, a uniform both ornate and restrained, and hair as black as the black jewel I had seen just moments ago.

“How strange. Wasn’t this banquet supposed to be for our knight order? Why does it feel like someone else is the main character?”

The voice that flowed out next did not belong to a stranger. Unlike yesterday, it was low and cold, but familiar.

‘Daiwen?’

What, did he take the hit for me?

“S-Sir Fergus.”

“His Majesty personally opened this banquet for our Hugo Knight Order……. Is it really appropriate to cause such a disturbance here?”

Daiwen indifferently swept a hand over his temple and flicked it away. Then, with a splatter, dark red liquid struck the floor.

‘Good heavens, blood?’

Startled, I pulled out of Reuden’s arms and went to Daiwen’s side. Perhaps the cane had torn his skin; his forehead and temple were soaked in blood.

Guilt, confusion, and bewilderment mixed together in a mess.

Why on earth? Why would Daiwen Fergus, of all people, take a hit for me?

Daiwen completely ignored me as I hovered nearby and stared coldly only at the count.

The count’s face turned not merely white, but blue. It felt strange to see him, a noble, frightened of Daiwen, a knight.

“Besides, this.”

Daiwen took the cane from the man’s hand as if it were his own. The man stared at him with a restless expression, like a child whose candy had been taken away.

“I watched because I couldn’t believe it……. But as expected, it’s made from dragon bone.”

Dragon bone?

Suddenly, I recalled the Hugo Knight Order report that had been mixed in by mistake a week ago.

Daiwen smiled faintly and examined the cane closely. Then, in that state, he abruptly called out in a loud voice.

“Hezard!”

What came from his mouth was someone’s name. Before long, someone pushed through the people gathered around and approached.

A rough gait and small scars scattered across his face. I could tell at once that he was not a noble, but a knight of the Hugo Knight Order.

“Keep this stored separately.”

“N-no! That is…….”

When Daiwen gave the order to the bear-like knight, the count jumped in alarm and grabbed Daiwen’s arm. Daiwen shook off the man’s hand with a firm gesture and smiled.

For some reason, the smile spreading across his face was terrifying. Count Sirius must have felt the same, because his body stiffened rigidly again.

“Did you just tell me no? This is quite the amusing situation.”

“…….”

“Dragon bone, hide, teeth……. You are aware that anything and everything that comes from a dead dragon is distributed by us, are you not?”

“…….”

“Among them, dragon bone is a prohibited item that we do not distribute. Pure dragon mana dwells in it, so it would be a serious problem if it fell into human hands.”

The more I listened to Daiwen, the more complicated my thoughts became. So, in other words, that man’s cane was made from dragon bone, a prohibited item?

That meant the count had either stolen the cane or obtained it through some black market.

“It’s not as if you personally hunted a dragon and carved it yourself. Perhaps recently…….”

Daiwen suddenly stopped speaking. His bloodstained face was chilling despite the smile spread across it.

“Well, whatever. In any case, it is certainly made from dragon bone, so we will be confiscating it.”

“N-no! You can’t! What do you mean dragon bone…….”

“Look here, Count. Do you know something?”

Daiwen cut off the count, who had gone pale and was waving both hands, then bent at the waist to meet the count’s eyes.

Just then, the blood running down his face dripped onto the count’s cheek. The deathly pale face and the line of blood trailing down it stood in stark contrast.

“You do not have the right to stop me. Just quietly.”

“…….”

“Get dragged away. Don’t ruin the mood.”

Daiwen straightened back up and jerked his chin toward the knight holding the cane. The knight silently grabbed the count’s arm and led him away as if dragging luggage.

I thought the count would immediately struggle and resist, but far from resisting, he merely stared at Daiwen with a devastated expression.

And so, with Count Sirius making a hollow exit, the disturbance was settled for the moment. The nobles who had been openly watching soon lost interest and began attending to their own affairs.

Meanwhile, I stood there blankly, still unable to shake off my shock.

Dragon bone? That wasn’t any of my business, so fine.

Count Sirius had held a grudge and tried to harm me? It was absurd, but fine, that too.

The reason I was still dumbfounded was……

‘To think that Daiwen Fergus would take a hit in my place.’

I couldn’t understand it.

He was clearly the person who had killed Renee Blair. And yet, far from killing me, he took a hit for me like this? Was it flowing differently from the original because I hadn’t died at Daiwen’s hands yesterday?

‘Maybe that’s it.’

“Are you all right?”

Startled by the sudden voice, I shifted my gaze and saw Daiwen, who had treated me like I didn’t exist until a moment ago, smiling.

He was still chilling, covered in blood as he was, but it was a smile that looked, at a glance, innocent and guileless.

Was I overthinking it if his face looked like he wanted to be praised?

Daiwen slowly tilted his head to the side.

“What’s wrong? Too surprised to speak? Or are you hurt?”

“……Why did you take the hit for me?”

“Hm?”

“No, more importantly, are you all right? Why did you let that hit you instead of dodging? You’re a knight.”

A Dragon Slayer, at that!

He stared blankly at me for a moment, then let out a low “Ah,” and wiped away the blood flowing down with his hand. He had been wearing gloves yesterday, but today he wasn’t, so the blood smeared over his pale fingers.

“I didn’t dodge because I’m not feeling well. It was a bother. More importantly, you really have changed a lot, haven’t you? You’re like a different person. Even worrying about someone.”

“What?”

“Sir Fergus.”

Just as Daiwen’s narrowed violet eyes gave off a meaningful glint, Reden called him and came to my side.

Was it just my imagination? Reden’s eyes, as they turned toward Daiwen, seemed to reveal a sharp edge, as though he was on guard.

Anastasia’s face overlapped with Reden’s.

Come to think of it, Anastasia hadn’t seemed to like Daiwen either. What had this man been doing to earn the dislike not only of the heroine, but of Reden as well?

“Marquis Blair. It’s been a while.”

“We met yesterday, did we not?”

“Even so, Miss Renee collapsed yesterday, so we couldn’t exactly have a proper conversation, could we?”

Listening to their conversation, goosebumps rose on my skin. How did that Daiwen bastard know I had collapsed? And what? Miss Renee?

Reden’s gaze turned to me for the briefest moment, then shifted back to Daiwen.

“It seems the two of you became close without my knowing.”

“What? No!”

At Reden’s out-of-nowhere remark, I immediately waved my hands and denied it. I felt Daiwen’s gaze on me at once, and for some reason, fear crept in, so I quietly hid behind Reden’s back.

“You call each other by name when you’re not close?”

“Well, we’re not close, but since yesterday, we’ve become the kind of people who speak casually to each other.”

“You’re not close, yet you speak casually and call each other by name……”

“What? Am I not allowed to call her by name?”

Daiwen asked with an incredulous expression. Just then, perhaps because blood had gotten into his eye, he squinted one eye and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe around it.

But whether the handkerchief wasn’t made of an absorbent material, instead of wiping away the blood, it only dirtied his forehead further. He clicked his tongue so softly it was barely audible.

Anyway, judging by how much blood was still flowing even though he’d been wiping it away with his hand, the wound seemed fairly large……

It wasn’t my fault, but the fact remained that he had taken the hit in my place, so I felt uneasy. Even though he was the one who killed me in the original—no. The one who killed Renee Blair.

“Sir, you should see a physician first. There is an infirmary beyond that corridor, so let us go.”

“Rather than going all that way, I’d like the marquis to treat me. You’re an excellent mage, are you not?”

“My apologies, but I do not use magic carelessly.”

Reden flatly refused and silently pointed down the corridor. At that, Daiwen acted shamelessly.

“Wow, how cruel. Between us, couldn’t you use it a little carelessly?”

“What sort of relationship do we have that you would say that?”

“Mm…… A personal one?”

“You are in no condition for jokes. In any case, Sir Fergus.”

When Reden changed the subject, Daiwen’s face visibly grew weary. As if he knew what Reden was about to ask.

“How is it that Count Sirius has a dragon bone?”