Chapter 61: Proposal

[Name three people you were close to during your school days.]

Marina’s face tensed at this question – a simple task for some during their school days, but as challenging as solving a millennium problem for others.

‘There’s no way I can answer that.’

I knew her past.

Before the semester began, Marina, despite being the daughter of a marquis, was too shy to host a social gathering like Jessica did.

At the start of term, while everyone exchanged greetings and bonded, Marina sat alone in a corner, reading a book, unable to join the conversations.

By the end of term, when everyone was caught up in the festival spirit and looking forward to the upcoming ball, she didn’t participate in either, instead studying alone in her room.

After three years of isolation, she achieved the remarkable feat of becoming an Archwizard at 23.

Becoming an Archwizard gave her confidence and the ability to hold her own in front of others.

Perhaps as a reaction to living quietly for three years… no, her entire life, she transformed both her appearance and behavior to be more flamboyant. Yet, as if the world was conspiring against her, she still couldn’t make any friends.

“Headmaster, why aren’t you saying anything? Someone who doesn’t know might think I asked you to name thirty friends, not three.”

“I-I’m thinking! Just be quiet for a moment!”

Did she start stuttering because memories of her school days, when no one paid attention to her, came flooding back?

To grate on her nerves even more, I continued without pause:

“If it takes this much thought, you must have an incredible number of friends, Headmaster. I’m really curious what names you’ll come up with.”

The more I spoke, the more hostile Marina’s expression became. But it didn’t last long. Soon her face regained composure, and a look of inspiration dawned.

What brilliant idea had she come up with?

As I gazed at Marina with anticipation, her response was truly disappointing.

“Ahem. Before naming anyone, I believe we should first discuss the definition of friendship. We need to clearly distinguish where friendship begins and where it ends…”

“Haah…”

I was disappointed.

To think that after all that contemplation, she’d come up with the kind of answer only friendless people spout.

I’m not popular, so I don’t know for sure, but for popular people, friends aren’t such a big deal that they need to ponder the definition.

For them, friends are just people who naturally became close at some point.

Or maybe not.

“Headmaster, I’m truly disappointed. Someone who responds to a request for three friends’ names with that kind of answer can’t possibly have any friends.”

“N-no! I…”

“Forget it. You were planning to muddy the waters with talk of definitions and then name people who aren’t really your friends, weren’t you?”

That must have hit the mark, as Marina couldn’t say another word and hung her head low.

As expected, unlike me, who deliberately avoids making friends to live like a noble wolf, wary of human ties, she was the type who wanted friends but couldn’t make them.

“That manners class or whatever… I should just go, right? I’ll go, so stop making such ugly excuses. It’s too pitiful to watch anymore.”

“……”

“Well then, I need to practice my swordsmanship, so I’ll be going now. There are too many books, so I’ll just leave them and come back for them tomorrow.”

With those final words, I left the classroom, leaving Marina and the unconscious Jessica behind.

“Sob…!”

Just before closing the door, I thought I heard someone sobbing, but it must have been my imagination.

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Raei  Translations
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“Ugh…!”

As I stopped, leaning against the wall due to a sudden abdominal pain, Nana stepped forward from behind, trying to cover my body with her large cloak.

“Nana, it’s not like that. You don’t need to cover me.”

I was just startled by the sudden pain, but it had already passed, and there was no sign of the magic wearing off.

The pain that struck suddenly wasn’t much, so I stood up straight, adjusting my posture with Nana’s support.

“Phew…”

“Your Highness… are you really alright?”

“I’m sorry… but that ended yesterday, so you don’t need to worry so much.”

I took out a handkerchief from my pocket to wipe away the cold sweat running down my cheek and spoke to Nana, who was gripping my arm.

“Sometimes my stomach hurts after it’s over. I’m really fine now, so you can let go.”

“Yes… But please tell me immediately if you feel it might happen again.”

“Yes, thank you as always…”

Putting strength back into my legs, Nana and I headed for the special training ground prepared for the Knight Department students in S-class.

The reason I, a Magic Department student, was visiting this place was obviously to meet my fiancée, Rain.

That day, although there were circumstances, I had turned her away at the door without even letting her inside. As the owner of the house, I needed to apologize in person.

“Your condition isn’t very good. Wouldn’t it be better to send a letter separately later?”

“No, I was the one who was rude first, so I want to apologize to Rain in person. …She is my fiancée, after all.”

At those words, Nana showed signs of disapproval, though I couldn’t quite tell what she found objectionable.

Nana was wearing a helmet that completely covered her face, but after spending so much time together, I could read her major emotional changes.

‘Nana doesn’t seem to think much of Rain… or is that just my imagination?’

Even if I asked directly, Nana would probably refuse to answer, saying how could she evaluate her master’s companion.

I thought all knights were favorable towards the Swordmaster family, but perhaps there were exceptions.

“This place hasn’t changed at all…”

“Nana, you’re an academy graduate too, right? Do you have any memories of this training ground?”

“No… I’m not without nostalgic feelings, but I don’t have any particular memories. If I had to say, maybe beating up those who called me a giantess?”

“Haha… Nana, you don’t act like that in front of me, but you have quite an aggressive side.”

“Well, I can’t treat Your Highness the same as others. But will she be in the training ground?”

“I’m not sure… If she’s not there, we can’t help it…”

We first went to the girls’ dormitory and asked through Nana if Rain was there, but unfortunately, the answer came back that she hadn’t returned yet.

With no other choice, we came here, the place where Rain was most likely to be, but she might not be here either.

“To think the only place I can guess she might be is the training ground… Have I been too indifferent to Rain all this time?”

“Political marriages are usually like that, so you don’t need to worry. Rain probably doesn’t know Your Highness’s favorite places either.”

“I suppose…”

As we reached the entrance of the training ground while chatting, Nana suddenly stepped forward.

“Nana?”

“Your Highness… There’s someone inside.”

“……”

Seeing Nana’s tense appearance, I could immediately tell that she didn’t just mean someone was inside.

We hadn’t told anyone we were coming here.

It seemed unnatural to think that someone who had been tailing us had gotten ahead and was waiting for us here.

“Nana… does it seem dangerous?”

“…I’m not sure. I sense indiscriminate killing intent, but it’s not directed at us specifically. There’s only one presence in the room to begin with.”

“There’s no smell of blood or anything, right?”

“Yes, there’s a smell of sweat, but no blood. It doesn’t feel like a battle has taken place.”

“Then… what’s going on inside…”

“Maybe they’re just emitting this killing intent while being absorbed in training. It’s not impossible if they’re doing intense image training.”

Even as she said this, Nana didn’t let her guard down as she slowly opened the door.

As the door opened, I felt a wind blowing towards us despite being indoors.

It wasn’t just any wind, but a sharp one that felt like it was pricking our bodies with tiny needles.

Is this the sensation of killing intent that warriors like Nana often speak of?

Hidden behind Nana, I couldn’t see who was inside, but judging from Nana’s stiff back, I could tell there was something unsettling in there.

“Nana… What’s wrong?”

“No… It’s nothing. There’s just a student training inside. Rain… isn’t here.”

“I see…? But who’s inside?”

“Well, I have a guess, but I don’t know them personally… Would you like to see for yourself?”

As Nana stepped aside, I raised my head to look at the man who was monopolizing the training ground.

Despite emitting enough killing intent to put Nana on guard, he was an exceptionally delicate-looking man with long hair tied back, drenched in sweat.

Perhaps disliking his clothes getting soaked with sweat, he had taken off his top, revealing a remarkably well-built physique.

“Ah…”

As I stared at his body in a daze, his body remained still, but suddenly only his ponytail fluttered greatly.

“Nana… What just happened?”

“He drew his sword and sheathed it again at a speed too fast for the eye to see. That’s why his body didn’t move, but his ponytail fluttered from the recoil.”

“I-I see!”

I wasn’t sure why he drew his sword only to sheathe it again, but his current posture and all… it was an incredibly impressive swordsmanship.

“……”

Noticing us watching from the side, he briefly glanced at us before turning his head back and demonstrating that swordsmanship again.

This time, however, perhaps in consideration of me, a novice in swordsmanship, it was only as fast as I could see.

The sword, drawn at the speed of wind, traced a white arc before returning to its scabbard in an elegant posture.

“Wow!”

I almost couldn’t help but applaud, not just exclaim, but managed to hold back.

Having finished his training, he shouldered his jacket and shirt that he had carefully set aside and approached Nana and me.

He no longer exuded the killing intent from earlier, but Nana, still not letting her guard down, stood in front of me as if to block him.

Stopping at some distance, he glanced at Nana before asking me:

“You’re not from the Knight Department, are you? What brings you here?”

“Informal speech…?”

As Nana said this with an angry look, I quickly stepped forward and said:

“Nana! We’re inside the academy, so don’t be offended by informal speech! And I’m sorry for interrupting your training. We came looking for someone, but… your swordsmanship was just so impressive…”

“…What?”

Did something bother him?

With his eyes wide open as if in disbelief, he slowly approached me.

However, he didn’t get far before Nana blocked his path. He leaned to the side to look at me and asked:

“What did you just say? That my Baldo was impressive?!”

“Huh? Oh, well, that…”

I didn’t understand why those words bothered him so much, but I nodded anyway. He then pushed Nana aside with tremendous force, came up to me, grabbed my hand, and said:

“You… Will you marry me?”

“Huh? What, WHAT?!”

What did this person just say to me?!

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