Boy And Opportunity

While Lilim was at the academy to make her report, she also investigated Rudel and the incident. Besides Cattleya’s report and the investigation team’s findings, there were several other things that caught her attention. One of them was the truth behind the rumors… and surprisingly, that matter was resolved much faster than she expected.

After all, her younger sister Milia knew almost everything…

“I don’t really know much about Aleist, but everyone says he’s incredibly strong and the strongest in his year. As for Rudel… he tries hard, even if his efforts sometimes go nowhere or he heads in the wrong direction, but he’s a good person.”

When Lilim asked about the truth of the rumors so she could verify what had been circulating at the royal palace,

“Chlust saved the Princess? That’s not true, Nee-san. He ran away and wasn’t even there. More importantly, if Rudel hadn’t been there, we would’ve ended up as victims…”

The discrepancies made Lilim suspect that the reports had been altered. The more she heard, the more her doubts were resolved.

(It really was Cattleya… Just because she hates him, she went this far!)

However, as the two sisters drank tea, a Senior Knight staggered past the corridor visible from the academy cafeteria, looking half ready to cry. …It was Sophina.

Lilim tried to call out to her, but when Sophina noticed her, she instead broke into a run and fled. Finding that suspicious, Lilim looked in the direction she had come from.

“The infirmary is down this way, isn’t it? Why would a Senior Knight come out of there in tears?”

After thinking for a while, Lilim said goodbye to Milia and headed toward the infirmary. The facility was equipped much like a hospital, and when she stopped a nearby nurse and asked what had happened,

“She came out crying from the room occupied by the three heirs of the Three Dukes!”

Lilim was shocked. Senior Knights were highly skilled warriors and proud shields of the royal palace… If one came out crying, Lilim could only imagine the worst. They might still be children, but there were three young men in that room… As a fellow female knight, anger welled up inside her, and she headed straight toward the room occupied by the heirs of the Three Dukes.

“Excuse me!”

She silenced the guards stationed outside the door with the sheer force of her anger and barged into the room, only to find Rudel standing there alone with a serious expression, deep in thought. He certainly didn’t look like someone who had just done something indecent. Lilim began to wonder if she had misunderstood, but then…

“Ah! L-Lilim-san? W-Why are you here…?”

Rudel noticed her and greeted her somewhat awkwardly. Lilim returned the greeting and immediately felt awkward herself. There was no way she could admit she had stormed into the room because of a misunderstanding. So, hoping to change the subject,

“No, more importantly, is something troubling you?”

She asked exactly what she shouldn’t have.

“W-Well, actually… because of my own lack of skill, the people I know haven’t been able to understand how wonderful this book is…”

The book he held out was, of course, How to Pet a Dragon… Seeing the title, Lilim gave a strained smile. It was the sort of title that made one lose interest before even opening the book, and she had no idea what to say. Then Rudel looked at her and—

“U-Um! Could you let me… pet you just a little? This book really is incredible! I want to prove it!”

Since Lilim had entered the room because of her own misunderstanding, she carelessly thought that much should be harmless. The result was that, just like Sophina, she fled the infirmary half in tears, her long elven ears bright red. Left alone yet again, Rudel wondered,

“So it’s still no good? Maybe I need even more practice?”

Several days after that incident, the royal palace made an unexpected proposal to the academy. In response, the teachers gathered in the conference room early in the morning for a meeting… and the subject was—

“Royalty is coming to the basic-course tournament!? We haven’t prepared anything for that!”

“Apparently they want to see the abilities of Aleist and Chlust-sama, the ones who supposedly saved the Princess… Even so, this is far too sudden.”

“They’ve also said that the winner will receive a reward directly from the King.”

The academy staff discussed the matter with expressions that clearly said, “What a troublesome development…” The Academy Principal considered the proposal for a moment. For royalty to visit the academy so soon after the incident, and at this time of year no less, was highly unusual. Was there something in particular they wanted to see?

Among the possibilities that came to mind, Rudel suddenly occurred to him.

“Hmm. In that case, the academy will remain busy until the third term. I want everyone to make sure there are no oversights in preparing for the tournament… That will be all. Dismissed.”

The teachers around him found the Academy Principal’s surprisingly mild reaction strange. Still, with royalty attending, the tournament absolutely had to succeed. That meant they needed to hurry and begin preparations immediately. The teachers rose from their seats and left the conference room looking busy…

The Academy Principal remained behind alone.

“Will this become an opportunity for him, or another crisis…? If his class manages to advance far enough, perhaps he’ll move closer to what he desires.”

When the Academy Principal first heard about Rudel’s dream of becoming a Dragoon, he had thought that young people ought to have dreams that grand. Even if Rudel failed and became discouraged, he was still young enough to start over and grow from the experience… That was what he had thought then, but now he felt differently.

“I want his dream to come true. If a dream as pure as his is crushed, I don’t think he’ll simply stand back up—he may collapse entirely. And more importantly, after dragging so many people along with him, he cannot simply end by saying, ‘I couldn’t do it.’”

The Academy Principal laughed as he looked through the documents.

Thus, the third-term basic-course year tournament began shaping up to be unlike any held before. The King himself would be attending. Many people who saw opportunity in that fact would try to display their strength. Amid all of them, the Academy Principal looked forward to seeing just how far Rudel could go.

“Did you hear, Rudel!? Apparently royalty is coming to this year’s year tournament… And what’s more! If you win, you’ll receive a reward! We talked it over as a class, and we’ve decided that if we win, we’ll ask them to cancel your graduation!”

Izumi had rushed into Rudel’s infirmary room to tell him the news before anyone else… only to find Basil already there, having told him exactly the same thing.

Luecke and Unias had already been discharged, leaving Rudel alone in the room, yet Basil had still beaten Izumi to it.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I already told him.”

“…I-I see.”

Izumi looked slightly frustrated, but when she saw Rudel’s reaction, she smiled.

“So I still have a chance… I want to keep studying at this academy! I want to compete with Aleist, and with even stronger upperclassmen too. More than anything… if I can stay together with everyone in my class, with everyone who stood up for me… then I’ll aim for victory.”

Rudel rose from the bed with a serious expression. He began removing the bandages wrapped around his body, pulled out his clothes, and tried to leave the room… only for Izumi to hurriedly stop him.

“W-What are you doing!? You need to rest your body right now!”

“It’s fine! I’ve been moving around for the last few days, and I haven’t had any problems. Besides, I don’t want to rest here now and regret it later.”

Watching Rudel, Basil said,

“As expected of Rudel-sama! …However, if you push yourself too hard and ruin your body, you won’t even be able to participate in the tournament. So don’t overdo it. Let’s start with some light exercises to rebuild your stamina.”

She smiled as she firmly warned him. With both of them saying the same thing, even Rudel surely couldn’t push himself too hard. …Probably.

“The basics are important… Should I train myself from the ground up again? Or maybe learn a new finishing move?”

As Rudel pondered the question, Basil spoke to him.

“Rudel-sama, could you make some time during the next long vacation? If you do, I, Basil, can give you the finest training imaginable.”

Something about the way Basil said that struck Izumi as suspicious, but she couldn’t imagine Basil deliberately doing anything that would disadvantage Rudel, so she remained silent. Depending on Rudel’s answer, she fully intended to participate as well.

“Really!? I’m counting on you.”

Rudel answered energetically. Then the three of them boldly tried to walk out of the infirmary together, only to be stopped by the doctor and nurses.