A Failed Knight Who Went to the Academy To Get Married

024 The Struggle for Equality

The male students, chased out of the store, returned straight to the classroom.

Since the female students were still there,

a meeting naturally began on the spot.

Elisabeth stood in front of the lectern and said,

“That Quartz Pharmacy, ever since the owner changed, seems to be selling to academy officials at triple the price.”

The academy students and instructors had often frequented the Quartz Pharmacy.

There was a frequent need for medicinal herbs for classes or to treat injuries after training.

The problem was that it was the only pharmacy around the academy.

Barbara wrinkled her face and muttered.

“How deeply must one be in the money to do such a thing.”

“It doesn’t seem to be about the money. It looks like they’re selling it to the villagers for half the price.”

At that, Jeez sprang up and exclaimed.

“Regardless, this is clear discrimination! Let’s appeal to everyone at the academy and start a boycott.”

The other students nodded in agreement.

Even Cat and Muscle subtly joined in to support.

Only Train had a displeased look as he spoke to everyone.

“Can’t we just leave it be? The academy will negotiate on its own later.”

Then, Prince Shiran glanced at Train and said.

“Why do you keep subtly taking the side of that shop clerk?”

“Because of you all, I ended up being hated even more. I don’t want to be disliked anymore.”

“You’re not thinking of switching from Shia to that shop clerk, are you?”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

While Prince Shiran glared at Train for a moment,

Lisbeth cleared her throat and spoke again.

“Let’s go ask for cooperation from the other class leaders right now. Since it’s vacation, they might all leave if we’re late.”

***

That evening, it seemed most of the Knight Academy students were headed to the Quartz Pharmacy.

Meanwhile, Train stayed behind in the dormitory, practicing his spells.

“Tiny, sturdy, and adorable bird, carry my words on your wings.”

Then, a messenger bird appeared on Train’s palm.

However, it was inexplicably seriously overweight.

Despite its vigorous flapping, it couldn’t take off.

Cat, who had been sitting on Train’s bed, fell backwards laughing loudly.

“You’re really bad at this! You’re the first master I’ve seen struggle so much with a mere magic bird!”

Then Muscle, looking on from the side, said to Train with pity.

“Nobody’s perfect.”

Train deactivated the bird summoning and collapsed onto his desk.

“Do I really have no talent for magic?”

The magic power had been rapidly depleting ever since the wolf bite,

But even before that, learning magic was incredibly slow.

After five years of effort, all I had mastered was a single spell sword incantation.

Then Cat rose up again and said,

“It’s not that you lack talent. Rather, there’s something odd about your magic circuit.”

“Odd in what way?”

“The amount of magic power you possess is incredibly small, yet the faucet through which it flows is too large.”

“That’s an easy analogy to grasp.”

“It might also be due to your overuse of magic potions.”

At that, Train flinched for a moment.

Now that I think about it, the store clerk had said something similar.

“Isn’t there a way to properly control that faucet?”

“Practice is the only answer. But thanks to that, you can easily cast that difficult spell sword, right?”

It was hardly comforting.

After five years of practice, what I couldn’t achieve then, there’s no way I could do it now.

Traine took a moment to rest and poured tea from the teapot on the table into three paper cups.

“Let’s drink this together; it looks like a fine tea.”

“Tea, from you? That’s quite unbecoming.”

Traine ignored Cat’s remark and brought the paper cup to his lips.

The tea leaves recommended by the clerk at Quartz Pharmacy earlier.

They said it slightly accelerates magic recovery, but I doubt it makes much difference…

Cat sniffed at the paper cup, bringing it close to his nose.

“Isn’t this Eclaire tea? You’re having the good stuff. Doesn’t a box cost around ten gold coins?”

Traine spat out the tea he was drinking.

“How much did you say?”

“Damn right… Ten gold coins. Didn’t you know?”

“No way! I got this for thirty silver coins!”

“What? Where?”

“From Quartz Pharmacy.”

At that, Cat sprang up, opened the box, and examined the tea leaves as he spoke.

“It doesn’t seem fake… Did that guy really sell this for so cheap?”

“Yeah…”

“Do you think that clerk has a crush on you?”

Traine’s body stiffened for a moment, but

soon he laughed as if he had heard a funny joke and replied.

“What nonsense are you talking about? This mess is because he dislikes me.”

Muscle crossed his arms and said,

“No. Maybe he said that to Cat out of jealousy towards Princess Shia.”

“No no no, that’s impossible, we’ve just met.”

“You should slowly start to realize how popular you are.”

Then Cat, taking liberties, pressed down on Traine’s head with her hand and said,

“If you compile the newspaper articles, you’re like the devoted class president of the journalism department, the knight who saved Princess Shia, right?”

Traine clicked his tongue and muttered,

“Someday I really should barge into that newspaper office.”

“Anyway, it means that Quartz Pharmacy guy is a fan of yours, after all.”

At those words, Train wore a dumbfounded expression.

What should he do if that clerk really did have a crush on him?

As if the headache from Princess Sia’s issue wasn’t enough.

Should he just keep his distance, or would it be better to stay on friendly terms?

That’s when Hwaran spoke to Train again.

‘Didn’t you notice?’

“What all of a sudden?”

‘…It’s nothing. It’s probably better for you to figure it out on your own.’

Train mulled over Hwaran’s words for a moment,

then suddenly, as if he had made up his mind, he sprang from his seat.

“I’ll go back and thank them properly, pay what’s owed. It could’ve just been a miscalculation.”

“What a pushover.”

“Just leave it.”

***

Train immediately headed to the Quartz Pharmacy with Cat and Muscle in tow.

But the atmosphere was simply not right to enter the store.

“Quartz Pharmacy, stop the academy discrimination!”

“Stop it! Stop it!”

“We’ll continue to protest until the prices drop!”

About thirty students, including those from the Knight Academy, were holding pickets and shouting.

Train stood at a distance, muttering to avoid being noticed.

“Should I come back later?”

Just then, a clerk came out of the pharmacy.

In her hand was a small flowerpot,

and seeing this, Cat covered her cat ears with both hands and yelled.

“Cover your ears!”

The clerk pulled out the plant that was in the pot.

Then the roots of the plant that were pulled out began to scream.

“aaah!”

It was a clamorous scream that made one’s heart skip a beat.

Train and Muscle belatedly covered their ears.

At the same time, the students scattered in all directions, panic-stricken.

Only then did the clerk reinsert the plant into the pot and retreat into the store.

Cat, still covering her ears, slumped to the ground, grumbling.

“That damned Mandrake, to be used in such a way…”

Thanks to the dispersing crowd, they could finally enter the store.

Train cautiously opened the door of the shop.

The clerk, brandishing the potted plant threateningly, said,

“Get out, right now.”

“Just a moment! I’m not here to fight.”

“Then what are you here for?”

“Well, I heard that the tea leaves you sold me are actually quite expensive…”

The clerk then silently glared at Train.

Feeling intimidated, Train hesitated before speaking again.

“If you’ve sold them by mistake, I thought I might pay you the proper amount.”

“Let’s just say it was my mistake. Is that all you came to see?”

Then Cat stepped forward in front of Train, demanding an answer.

“Do you actually have a crush on our boss?”

The clerk hastily grabbed the mandrake again.

Because of that, all three in front of him clutched their ears and collapsed to the ground.

“aaargh!”

“Hey, you jerk!”

“uuugh!”

A few seconds later, when the clerk put away the mandrake,

Cat sprang up and grabbed the clerk by the collar.

“Do you really want to die? Will you take responsibility if your eardrums burst?”

“That’s why I told you not to spout such nonsense.”

“Oh, so you want another round?”

Train and Muscle forcibly pulled Cat back, separating her from the clerk.

“Calm down! We didn’t come here to fight!”

“You’re not even a match for that clerk.”

“Let go! I need to settle things with that woman once and for all!”

After setting down the flower pot, the clerk crossed her arms and said,

“Mr. Train, aren’t you managing your assistant properly?”

“I’m sorry… Muscle, could you please take Cat outside for a moment?”

After Muscle forcibly took Cat outside,

Train took a deep breath and said,

“We may have been at fault, but there’s no need for you to provoke us like this.”

“If you just stopped coming to our store, it seems like everything would be resolved.”

“Can’t we just reconcile amicably?”

“I’ll pass on your nonsensical schemes.”

“It’s not a scheme, it’s just-“

“I really don’t want to see you acting like this just because Princess Shia dumped you.”

Train glared intently at the clerk.

It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

If this clerk really is a fan of Train,

and if they’re acting this way because they’re displeased with the annulment from Princess Sia…

Perhaps it’s better to make things clear to this person.

“The annulment with Princess Sia was at my request.”

“…Why?”

“Because I have someone else I’ve dedicated my life to.”

“And who might that be?”

“A friend from back home.”

At those words, the clerk rolled their eyes and muttered under their breath.

“Ran away, yet has the nerve to say that.”

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Just then, Lizbeth burst into the shop.

“Boss! I knew you’d come eventually!”

“Eh… No…”

“You came to negotiate a lower price, didn’t you? If that was the case, you should’ve come with us.”

“Um, I, that’s not what I-“

“Both of you, please leave. It’s time to close the shop.”

The clerk abruptly yanked out the mandrake.

***

Butler Elford encountered some familiar faces on his way back from the market.

“Mr. Train. Miss Lizbett.”

However, for some reason, they didn’t even glance at Butler Elford.

With their ears covered,

they hurriedly fled from Quartz’s pharmacy.

“…Hmm.”

Butler Elford entered Quartz’s pharmacy.

He set down a paper bag brimming with herbs,

and then asked the clerk, who was still holding the mandrake’s pot,

“What happened here?”

“I’ve only chased away the nuisances.”

The clerk tried to answer nonchalantly, but the atmosphere seemed far from it.

For some reason, the clerk’s face was incredibly flushed.

“Could it be that Mr. Train has noticed your true identity, miss?”

With that, the clerk unraveled her headscarf.

Beneath the scarf, enchanted with a perception-inhibiting spell,

Yuril’s long, black hair cascaded down.

“…I heard that it was Train who first requested to break off the engagement with Princess Shia?”

“Is that so?”

“You knew all about it, didn’t you?”

Yuril looked somewhat resentful, to which Elford calmly replied.

“I know nothing at all.”

In truth, Butler Elford had not properly reported to Yuril about Train.

The fact that Princess Shia had unilaterally forced the engagement upon Train.

That Train had not once given his heart to Princess Shia throughout his travels.

Especially since Train had not yet given up on Yuril.

That’s why Yuril had believed that Train’s heart had drifted away.

“…It’s fine. Nothing’s going to change anyway.”

Yuril began to organize the herbs that Elford had bought.

After a moment of hesitation, Butler Elford asked,

“Do you still intend to tell Master Train to give up?”

To which Yuril replied without hesitation,

“Of course.”