Side Story - Surpass Marti (1)

This took place while Rudel and the others were hospitalized after the tournament. In the hospital room occupied by the heirs of the Three Dukes, who were having trouble even moving, Rudel, Luecke, and Unias were talking as usual.

“Rudel, why did you give Aleist another chance? If he gets back on his feet, I don’t know whether we’ll be able to beat him next time… Don’t you think it would’ve been better to leave him drowning in his own talent?”

Luecke was referring to how Rudel had stopped the referee from declaring victory when Aleist had collapsed miserably on the ground. Without that, Aleist should have remained broken. That was what Luecke meant, but Rudel’s answer was different.

“You mean back then…? I didn’t really think it through before acting, so that’s hard to answer… But even after thinking about it, I still want Aleist to recover. Because…”

Aleist, the subject of their conversation, had suffered lighter injuries than Rudel and the others and was discharged that very day. Yet right up until the moment he left, he had ultimately been unable to visit the hospital room of the Three Dukes. He wanted to apologize… but for what, exactly? By the time he finished agonizing over it, he was already being discharged.

“Ah, I hate how spineless I am at times like this… But surely I can at least say hello… No, but…”

Aleist paced back and forth in front of the Three Dukes’ hospital room like that while the guards glared at him. Those guards were part of the reason he was too frightened to enter.

Then Izumi arrived to visit them. Carrying a basket of fruit, she gave the guards a light bow, and they immediately stepped aside for her. …By now, she was a familiar face who needed no introduction.

And naturally, Izumi noticed Aleist.

“Hardy? What are you doing in front of the room?”

“Eh? N-No! This is, um…”

(This might be the first time I’ve actually had a proper conversation with one of the romance-event characters. But she’s Rudel’s girlfriend now… That’s it! I’ll ask Izumi for help.)

Aleist approached Izumi and bowed his head.

“I-I want to go inside, but could you come in with me?”

“…I don’t mind, but you could enter by yourself, couldn’t you?”

Izumi looked toward the guards as though seeking confirmation. In response, they nodded. They would naturally allow a classmate in for a visit. And in Aleist’s case, his identity was firmly established, so there was even less reason to worry.

“Thanks!”

Aleist approached the door, only to overhear Rudel and the others talking. His hand stopped just as he was about to open it, and Izumi and the guards peered at him, wondering what was wrong.

From inside the room came their voices.

‘You mean back then…? I didn’t really think it through before acting, so that’s hard to answer… But even after thinking about it, I still want Aleist to recover. Because… it’d be a waste with that much talent, wouldn’t it? Besides, I want to fight Aleist when he’s strong.’

‘That’s just like you. In that case, maybe I’ll fight Aleist again once he’s gotten stronger too.’

‘You too, Unias? Aleist certainly is popular with muscleheads… I suppose I’d be willing to face him in the field of magic.’

Tears welled in Aleist’s eyes at those words. He had looked down on them. He had only ever thought about using them. And yet… the character known as Rudel suddenly felt like an enormous presence to him. At the same time, Aleist himself felt incredibly small…

Izumi and the guards watched Aleist’s expression as they listened to the voices coming from the room. Izumi spoke to him.

“Would you fight Rudel and the others again someday? I’m sure next time you’ll be able to accept the outcome too, Hardy… And thank you. You came because you were worried about them, didn’t you?”

As Izumi comforted him, Aleist wiped away his tears and decided to leave without entering the room. To the puzzled Izumi and guards, he spoke in a trembling voice while still crying.

“I’m pathetic as I am now… Once I’ve become stronger, and I’m no longer ashamed of myself… I’ll come back.”

Izumi more or less understood what he meant, but hesitated over whether to point something out. As she watched Aleist run away, she thought,

‘They won’t still be hospitalized by then.’

…Perhaps Izumi had become quite thoroughly influenced by Rudel herself.

After safely being discharged, Rudel diligently attended the few remaining classes of his second year. Then, one day, he received a letter from Princess Fina saying that she wanted to thank him, but its contents were strange.

She had written, in carefully veiled language, that because she wished to thank him, he should come alone to her room in the girls’ dormitory at night. An ordinary boy receiving such a letter from a princess would undoubtedly have gotten his hopes up. But the recipient was Rudel.

“Boys aren’t allowed in the girls’ dormitory, right? And at night, too… Will I be all right with the dormitory curfew?”

His concerns were completely off target, and even though he recognized there was a problem, he still intended to go. That was Rudel. From his perspective, it would be inappropriate to ignore a summons from a princess… but if only he had consulted someone—Izumi, for example—there would have been no victims that night.

And so, that evening, Rudel arrived at the girls’ dormitory exactly as instructed. He explained the circumstances to the female knights and soldiers guarding the entrance, and they escorted him to the princess’s room. There was a reason security was this lax. It was not because Rudel was the heir to one of the Three Dukes, nor because the princess had ordered it.

The princess already had Senior Knights assigned from the royal palace as her personal guards. In the current situation, the dormitory guards could only assume they themselves were not trusted… and it seemed ridiculous to turn away one of the princess’s guests and risk causing trouble. Let the Senior Knights deal with it! That was the attitude behind their decision.

Rudel entered the princess’s room. Two Senior Knights stood outside the door, while another was inside. The one in the room was Sophina, whom he had met before. He also spotted Mii hiding behind the princess.

“Welcome, Mas—… Rudel-sama.”

(You’re not getting away this time, Master.)

“? Ah, thank you for… (Why does this princess seem kind of scary? Is she hiding something?)”

Fina appeared to be wearing sleepwear, or at least clothes that were easy to move in, making her look different from the female students Rudel usually saw at the academy. Whether that stirred a man’s heart was another matter entirely. Rudel, if anything, found her outfit suspicious. Why was she dressed at night in clothes that looked ready for physical activity…? At night, there was hardly anything to do besides sleep or read a book.

Ignoring Rudel’s suspicions, Fina said,

“The truth is… ever since you saved me, Rudel-sama, I’ve fallen in love with you. Please go out with me!”

“I refuse!”

Rudel rejected her instantly. Sophina and Mii, who happened to be present, were left speechless by both Rudel and Fina’s behavior. Fina was already questionable for confessing with outsiders present, but Rudel had problems of his own for immediately rejecting a princess’s confession without hesitation.

“I-I see… In that case…”

(I thought he’d come up with some excuse to reject me, but he actually did it instantly… As expected of Master. If it were anyone but me, he’d be executed for lèse-majesté. My sister would seriously kill him, so I hope he’s careful, but that’s not the issue! Once a person rejects one request, they should feel reluctant to reject the next one too. And now we get to the real point!)

“Then please take me as your disci—”

“I refuse that too.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The princess’s room fell completely silent. Fina cursed the palace tutor who had taught her negotiation techniques, Mii stared in disbelief at a noble who would reject a princess’s request, and Sophina wondered which of the two she ought to scold first.

“M-May I ask why?”

(If you give me some idiotic reason, I’ll send you straight to the executioner’s block! That was still my first-ever confession, you know! Getting rejected… Damn it, I might actually cry. And he rejected me as a disciple too… My dream of Fluff Heaven!!!)

“The reason…? First, I already have two fiancées. It would be morally unacceptable to ignore them and start dating the princess. Besides, royal engagements are decided by the upper ranks of the kingdom, so there’s nothing I can do about that myself. And I’m still inexperienced. It’s far too early for me to take on a disciple.”

Rudel still had no idea what would happen with his engagements because of the complications surrounding his own situation. But even so, he did not want to act carelessly. …Moreover, as far as Rudel was concerned, both of his fiancées were Dragoons he admired. He could never betray them.

“I see…”

(That was unexpectedly reasonable! I thought he’d have some bizarre reason… How dare Master act all sensible!)

Sophina sighed as she watched the two of them. Then she approached Rudel and scolded him.

“Rudel-dono, that behavior was still disrespectful when addressing royalty. I would ask you to show more consideration in the way you answer.”

“My apologies. (For someone called the Puppet Princess, she seems awfully emotional… Maybe I’m imagining it?)”

While Sophina scolded Rudel, Fina sat on the bed hugging her knees, looking dejected. Mii approached her in concern and gently stroked her head to comfort her, but…

“…”

(Haaah, Mii comforting me is so adorable I’m going to die!!! I wanted to take a little kitten like this to heaven… Wait. Master said he’s still inexperienced… Does that mean something even greater than what I saw before exists!? I have to find out!!!)

“Rudel-sama, are you truly still inexperienced? I would say you already possess considerable skill.”

Wanting confirmation, Fina called out to Rudel while he was still being scolded. In response to her question, Rudel said,

“Yeah. There’s someone I aspire to surpass, but I still haven’t reached his level…”

“Who is it?”

(Someone even Master hasn’t surpassed!? Who is it!!!)

“Marti Wolfgan-sama, the author of How to Pet a Dragon. He was a Dragoon who lived more than a hundred years ago, so he’s no longer alive. A great man who was never properly appreciated until the very end!”

Rudel answered with absolute confidence. As far as Fina was concerned, however, the problem was not the book—it was that the man himself was already dead.

“Oh, how unfortunate.”

(A-A Dragoon from a hundred years ago… Why didn’t those worthless idiots in the leadership recognize him!? If I’d been there, I would’ve honored him as one of Courtois’s great figures! I would’ve created a kingdom of fluff!!! …Wait, dragons aren’t fluffy, are they? Whatever.)

“Rudel-sama… would you allow me to help you improve your technique?”

And thus, the incident in the girls’ dormitory began.