A Failed Knight Who Went to the Academy To Get Married

028 Rondo for the Meddlers

Last night.

Barbara had never dreamed things would escalate so much.

When Cat said, ‘Let’s torment that apothecary fellow with this flash bomb,’

Barbara simply thought the kid had forgotten it on the desk.

So, Barbara had picked it up instead.

Of course, she never intended to throw it herself.

But swept up in the heated moment without realizing,

She couldn’t resist the impulse as she passed by the store.

It was only after the store was engulfed in flames that she realized what she had done.

“What have I… What have I done…”

Even the sight of Train, horribly injured, made my vision go white.

If that clerk hadn’t used all sorts of magic and medicine to save Train,

I might have heard that he could have died.

…Anyway, putting out the fire was the priority, so she started to move quickly.

“Fire! Someone call the knights! Those who can use magic, help with the firefighting!”

Fortunately, the flames were brought under control sooner than expected.

After that, Barbara thought about turning herself in.

But the person she faced was the worst possible one.

“Lisbeth… the truth is, I’m the one who did it.”

“What?”

Lacking the courage to speak directly to the knights, she confessed everything to Lisbeth.

Lisbeth, who had been silently listening to her story for a while,

seemed to have no intention of reporting Barbara to the knights.

“If you’re prosecuted for this, you’ll be expelled from the academy.”

“I did something wrong, so it’s only right.”

“You wanted to become a knight and pay off all your family’s debts, didn’t you?”

“…….”

“There’s no helping it. Leave everything to me.”

In the end, Lisbeth acted without a word of discussion with Barbara.

She fabricated evidence to make herself look like the culprit, and since it was obvious that Train would take action, she imprisoned him.

Even going so far as to deliberately play the villain so he wouldn’t notice.

“Lisbeth! This isn’t what I wanted!”

“Be quiet. You just need to follow me.”

“But still-“

“Please. This is for me, not you.”

Barbara had hoped that Lisbeth would report her.

No, she wished that someone, anyone, would reprimand her.

…But in the end, she was left unable to do this or that, and the trouble ensued.

“I’m leaving first, you muscle-brained fool!”

“If you really get caught, you’ll die!”

As Train and Elizabeth jumped out the window, Barbara and the clerk were left awkwardly alone in the room.

“Uh… I mean…”

“Let’s chase after them.”

“Yes!”

Eventually, Barbara also leaped out the window belatedly, following the clerk.

While running together, Barbara took a deep breath and confessed to the clerk.

“I’m sorry! The truth is, I’m the culprit!”

“Is that so?”

“I… I never meant to go that far…”

“It wasn’t you who kidnapped Train, it was Duchess Elizabeth, right?”

“Well, I’m not completely uninvolved but…”

“If you pay for the store’s reconstruction and Train’s medical expenses, I’ll forgive you.”

“Really?! Thank you!”

“Of course, if Train had been more seriously injured, I wouldn’t have let it slide just like that.”

Only then did Barbara’s heart feel lighter.

It should have been like this from the start.

…At that moment, an odd question popped into Barbara’s head.

‘Come to think of it, why does this clerk care so much about Trine?’

She had felt something was off before,

but when Trine got hurt and the clerk almost cried out loud…

And then, this clerk… somehow, he looked familiar.

Surely, when Trine took the mock exam for the knight’s order,

he was summoned as the opponent Trine feared the most…

“Are, are you the person Trine fears the most in the world?!”

Barbara blurted out without realizing.

Then the store clerk squinted at Barbara and asked,

“What did you say?”

“Oh, nothing at all!”

“Trine is most afraid of me?”

“No! You must have heard wrong!”

“When did she ever say such a thing?”

A tremendous murderous intent made Barbara break out in a cold sweat.

This woman.

She was several times angrier than when Barbara had confessed to the crime.

“It’s not important right now, is it?”

“…Explain it to me properly later.”

Eventually, they were barely able to catch up with Train and Lisbeth.

The situation was more chaotic than expected.

“If I win, I’m the culprit!”

“Fine! Then if I win, I’m the culprit!”

The atmosphere was tense, as if a battle could start at any moment.

And already, a crowd of residents had gathered around.

“Oh my, what’s all this commotion?”

“Weren’t those two said to be the strongest in the academy?”

“This duel looks like it’ll be quite the show?”

For some reason, even Princess Shia was mingled among the spectators.

“Good luck to both! Just don’t get too rough!”

Barbara groaned, holding her head.

“How did it come to this…”

The clerk muttered, frowning from the side.

“Why is that fool trying to fight with his injured body?”

Soon, the duel began amidst the surrounding cheers.

“I will definitely avenge my defeat from the captain’s match!”

“Don’t cry when you lose!”

…The fight, which was expected to be fierce, turned out to be ridiculously comical.

Traine merely dodged Lirbet’s sword in an ugly fashion.

Even moving seemed to pain his back, as he twisted his body grotesquely.

Lizbet seemed aware of it, as she kept attacking only from the front,

Deliberately pausing between sword strikes.

Unable to bear it any longer, the onlookers began to jeer.

“Are these supposed to be the best talents of the Academy?”

“That’s why I said the Academy is just a playground for the nobles.”

“So, all the rumors about Train were false after all.”

Barbara chuckled bitterly at the jeering.

She was aware that the commoners despised the Academy.

Given the fight between those two, such comments were inevitable.

Yet, for some reason, the clerk next to her snapped as if it was his own business.

“All of you know nothing.”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice came from the ground.

‘Anyone, please pick me up!’

Startled, Barbara looked down to find Train’s book, which he always carried, lying there.

The clerk, having heard the voice too, stared intently at the book.

As Barbara cautiously picked up the book, the voice grew louder.

‘Please, throw me back to my master!’

“No, you can’t. Interfering during a duel is a crime.”

“Such a thing doesn’t exist!”

“I’m not a person, I’m just an object!”

“Ugh, I might as well go myself!”

Suddenly, the book began to flutter on its own and flew towards Train.

“Train, sir! Use me!”

But Train swatted the book away with his arm.

“You stay out of this!”

“Are you kidding me?! I flew all this way for you!”

“I told you to stay out!”

“I’ll keep interfering until you use me!”

As Hwaran kept fluttering annoyingly before his eyes, Train finally gave in and caught the book.

“Alright, alright! Lizbeth, sorry, but I’m using it!”

To which Lizbeth replied with a surprisingly cheerful expression.

“It can’t be helped.”

Then Hwaran transformed into a purple magic sword.

A chill suddenly ran down my spine.

Traine gripped his sword.

That was all, but Barbara already knew enough.

The real battle between the academy’s strongest was about to begin.

“Here I go!”

With Traine’s shout, their swords clashed.

A dazzling sword dance without the need for flashy magic.

A loud resonance without a voice.

The air heated without a flame.

It was an incredible sight, even as they silently swung their swords at each other.

It was only natural that the crowd’s reaction changed dramatically.

“What, what is that…”

“They’re both so fast, I can’t even see their hands!”

“Are they really human?”

Barbara smirked.

Barbara had thought the same during the pre-elections.

No, even now, her heart was still tumultuously beating.

…But suddenly, a clerk murmured from the side.

“We’re still far off.”

Without realizing, Barbara retorted.

“What?! That’s still far?”

“…It was just a mutter to myself.”

“You’re stronger than Train, aren’t you?”

“……”

At that moment, Train’s magic sword couldn’t withstand Lizbeth’s heavy strike and shattered.

The magic sword reverted back into a book, and Train collapsed to the ground with a thud.

“Are you okay?!”

Lizbeth rushed to Train.

But she didn’t get too close, keeping her distance,

she asked with a still cautious stance.

“You’re not pretending to be down to launch a surprise attack, are you?”

“No… I just ran out of magical energy during practice earlier.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Fine, it’s a lie. So just stay like that until I recover.”

“Alright! I’ll wait for hours if I have to until you get back up.”

At that point, the clerk finally stepped forward.

“Let’s stop here.”

Then, looking around at the people nearby, he said,

“If a duelist is in danger due to an injury, we can stop the match, right?”

Soon after, grumbles of dissatisfaction could be heard from all around.

“Leave them be! They both want to keep fighting!”

“Right! They still look full of vigor!”

“Miss! You shouldn’t meddle in the nobles’ duel!”

Even Train groaned as he rose from his place.

“Sorry, Yuril. If we stop here, it’s as good as me losing.”

“Take it easy. Do you even realize what condition you’re in?”

Traein forced a smile at Yuril.

“Thanks to your excellent care, I’m moving just fine.”

Yuril glared at Traein without responding for a moment.

Then, out of nowhere, she threw a punch at Traein’s abdomen.

“Ugh!”

Traein eventually passed out and collapsed back onto the road,

“Are you satisfied with this?”

…No one could argue with that statement.

Clearly, the clerk’s actions were illegal.

If taken seriously, it could even warrant a death sentence.

Barbara should have intervened, but as she hesitated in confusion…

Suddenly, Princess Shia stepped forward in front of the clerk.

As she glared at the clerk with a somewhat cold face,

The clerk looked back at her calmly and asked.

“Do you have something you want to say?”

“What is your name?”

“It’s Yuril.”

“So, you’re the one who’s going to be Lord Train’s first wife?”

“…Yes?”

Princess Shia suddenly changed her demeanor and said with a bright smile,

“I’m Shia, I’ll be the second wife. Please take good care of me, sister.”

“Ah, no, what did you just-“

“Shall we move together to treat Lord Train?”

In the end, Yuril reluctantly followed Princess Shia, carrying Train on her back,

and the duel ended inconclusively as the onlookers slowly dispersed.

Lizbeth awkwardly said to Barbara upon returning,

“It must be nice to have a leader as popular as ours.”

“Will it be okay?”

“With Princess Shia here, this incident will surely be wrapped up nicely.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“If Train can be that shameless, he must not be too badly hurt.”

“That’s not the point! Princess Shia is going to see Train again-“

Elizabeth placed her finger on Barbara’s lips with a smile.

“I told you. I’ll just quietly support Train.”