I Became The Academy’s Narrow-Eyes

< Chapter 6: The obvious man, the shameless man >

“Stop!”

Mardon, a city nobleman who was rescued by the protagonist, approached her with a large entourage of guards and escorts, with a stern expression on his face.

The heroine greeted him politely.

“I’m sorry. I missed him.”

“What? You’re apologizing… Ah! You’re talking about the suspicious person! Please don’t apologize! You saved me, and that alone is a debt that’s hard to repay. How on earth can I repay you?”

“I just did what I had to do, so don’t worry about it too much.”

“Haha, how could I not worry about that! Oh, I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier!”

As expected, Mardon, a nobleman who wielded considerable influence in Arienne, was showing the utmost courtesy to her.

Drin was not just a mere savior of his life.

Upon seeing Drin’s exceptional ability, appearance, and atmosphere, Mardon immediately recognized that she was not an ordinary person.

He judged that she was a person who was worth putting forth effort to establish a relationship with.

“I am Drin of the Lebringer family.”

“!!!”

Mardon’s eyes sparkled.

He had expected her to be a remarkable person, but he never imagined she would be a daughter of the Lebringer family, and especially Drin Lebringer, who was famous for her talent, which was one of the greatest in Lebringer’s history.

To think that the person who had saved his life in a moment of crisis was such a tremendous figure!

It was truly a heaven-sent opportunity.

An opportunity that no one else could have to establish a connection with the Lebringer family.

He couldn’t let it slip away.

Mardon tried his best to please Drin and win her favor by paying close attention to her.

“Is that so?”

“Ah, hahaha… Yes, that’s right.”

However, Mardon’s resolution did not last long. As he continued his conversation with Drin, his expression became increasingly awkward and tense.

Drin just treated him as she would anyone else, naturally and without any special treatment.

As a result, he felt a wall between himself and Drin, just like how others normally treated her due to the status of the Lebringer family and Drin’s unique atmosphere.

Drin was used to it, so she didn’t pay much attention to it.

Mardon, who was previously lively and talkative, had completely shut up by now. To wrap up the conversation, Drin opened her mouth this time.

“There is a possibility that the assassin may attack again. Do you need my help?”

“What? Oh. No, it’s okay!”

This was the chance Mardon had been longing for to make contact with the Lebringer family, but he firmly declined.

He couldn’t handle a relationship with Drin right now. It was also true that he didn’t need her help.

“That situation just now was their last chance to kill me without any harm. They know that too, so they won’t send another assassin for a while.”

“Then…”

It seemed that he knew who had ordered the assassination from his attitude. Mardon, who noticed this, grinned.

“It’s my older sister.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a family matter, and a shameful one at that. We would prefer to keep it hidden, but it wouldn’t be proper to keep it from you. There was a misunderstanding between my sister and me regarding inheritance issues. I went to a remote place with only one guard today to clear up that misunderstanding. It seems to have ended up like this.”

He spoke with a bitter expression, not anger, although he had almost been assassinated by his own family.

“Thanks to you, however, I now have a chance to talk again.”

“Do you really think it’s worth trying to talk at this point?”

“She’s the only remaining blood relative I have. I’m partly to blame for the misunderstanding, and at this point, my sister must be ready to hear me out.”

Drin’s faith in her intuition had weakened due to the recent incident with the man.

The signal her intuition had sent her just before Mardon was attacked. Was that really intuition, or just her aversion to the dishonorable act of assassination?

After all, assassinations of a noble were often intertwined with political relationships, so had she approached it too hastily?

However, seeing Mardon now revealed that she had been mistaken.

Her intuition led her down the right path again, as she looked at Mardon and nodded satisfactorily.

“I hope you accomplish what you desire.”

“I hope you too, Drin, can achieve what you came here for. If there is ever anything you need help with in this city, do not hesitate to come to the Mardon of house Duden. I cannot say for certain whether the Lebringer house will ever need the help of an outsider, but if you do, we will not hesitate to answer.”

“Thank you for your word.”

Drin replied with a faint smile on her lips.

As soon as she arrived in Arienne, she faced an overwhelming problem that made her question her own confidence, but it was resolved in this way.

‘Good, now, if I can just clear up the misunderstanding with that man, everything will be perfect.‘

Thinking of how to deal with that man, her expression involuntarily grew grim.

However, Drin seemed to be pleased with her expression.

“Have you been waiting for a long time?”

Drin turned around, looking for the man who should have been there, but he was nowhere to be seen.

‘Did he just leave? Without saying anything?‘

There was no reason for him to wait for her, but she couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

He felt afraid of her, and the moment they stepped out of the alley onto a main road, the reason to accompany that scary person vanished.

“…”

Drin felt regret.

What is there to regret about breaking up with that annoying guy who was only going to bother her anyway?

Surely, it’s because she couldn’t change that person’s perception of himself.

Thinking back, he was such a rude guy.

‘He thought I was a robber.’

Drin chuckled and tilted her head.

It was the first time in her life that she had received such treatment.

Yes, that kind of treatment.

Drin recalled the moment she had a conversation with the man.

His light and carefree attitude.

It was completely different from others who always found it difficult to even talk to her.

‘In a way…’

Drin thought.

If she were to make friends in the academy, she would like someone with whom she could have that kind of conversation.

‘Should I go now?’

Feeling no more desire to sightsee, she decided to go take the Academy exam.

“It looks delicious, but what is this?”

At that moment, a strand of words flew and stuck into her ear among the countless noises of people coming and going on the street, but Drin caught it as if she was waiting for that carefree voice that would seem to fly away with the wind, and turned her gaze towards it.

“Haha, you must be new to Arienne if you don’t know what Malk skewers are. If you’re curious, just buy and try it! If it’s not good, we’ll refund you!”

“Wow… what confidence…!”

He was standing in front of the nearby counter.

Drin stood silent about ten steps away from him, as if uninterested in him, and looked around pretending to be surveying the street.

How long has she been waiting like this?

She felt the man approaching.

“Are you done with your conversation with your friend?”

“Hmm?”

She turned her head with a face that showed she didn’t know anything and looked at the man, then made a surprised expression.

“Oh? Are you still here? I thought you left.”

“How can I just leave without even saying goodbye to the kind person who kindly guided me, right? Oh, why are you smiling?”

“Why am I smiling? You went to snack without saying a word, and now you suddenly talk well.”

Drin’s smile seemed to convey a different meaning from what she had said, but the man didn’t bother to point it out.

“Isn’t it strange to interrupt your conversation to talk about going nearby to enjoy some delicious food?”

“Well, that’s certainly true.”

The man took a bite of the skewer in his hand.

While watching him, Drin said.

“Oh, and by the way, that person earlier wasn’t someone I knew.”

“Wasn’t someone you knew?”

“I mentioned that I was chasing after a dangerous person. That person who just left is the assassin who was trying to harm him. I witnessed the assassination attempt and stopped the assassin, and that’s why I was chasing after him.”

Drin casually mentioned her achievement while explaining her situation.

“Aha~ I see.”

“… Is that all?”

“Yes?”

“Ah…nevermind.”

Aam.

The man calmly bit into the skewer in front of Drin, who was already looking a little displeased with the man’s lukewarm reaction.

“…It seems like you’re enjoying it a lot. Especially in front of people.”

“Oh, I just used a bit of strength and suddenly I feel a little queasy.”

“You used strength? All you did was get lost, wasn’t it?”

“What? Oh, right… Ah! When I first met you, then! I was so scared that my whole body was shaking with strength!”

“Oh, I see. Please enjoy it~”

“Don’t you feel hungry too, after running around like that?”

“No, I’m not hungry!”

“Oh really? Well, in that case, I bought this for nothing.”

Only then did Drin notice the skewer in the man’s other hand.

“… Did you buy that for me?”

“That’s right?”

“Why?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you do that for me…”

“Huh? Oh, it’s not that great of a thing. Do you need a reason? Since I bought mine, I just bought yours too.”

“Oh, I see…”

Drin looked at the skewer with a strange expression on his face and was about to take it from the man when he said.

“Well, I can’t help it if you’re not going to eat it.”

Crunch.

“ah.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“… it’s nothing. Please enjoy it.”

You didn’t even finish what you were eating, so why.

Drin pouted and muttered.