◇

"Hoo, the one they call Silver Valkyrie of the Battlefield is playing together with a kid huh?"

The people who are intruding this precious lady Ringrande"s swordsmans.h.i.+p cla.s.sroom are three knights wearing white armors. They"re subordinates of s.h.i.+ga kingdom king, the holy knights, and also; the elderly man, and the humorous yet handsome young man have [s.h.i.+ga Eight Sword] t.i.tles. The humorous handsome young man is called Sharlick s.h.i.+ga. The third prince of s.h.i.+ga kingdom.

By the way, by kid, did he mean me?

"Prince Sharlick, isn"t it impolite to intrude on other people"s house even if he"s your retainer?"
"Ringrande, you"re too stiff. Heya, little brother of viscount s.h.i.+men--."
"Toruma. Your highness."

Toruma supplemented the prince who was hesitating.
Ossan can read this kind of atmosphere huh. In a way, he"s really like a n.o.ble.
Without looking excited, the prince says, "Sorry to intrude.", and Toruma also allow him like it"s natural.

Nevertheless, I know that he has a business with lady Ringrande, but what are these guys coming here for?

"I have some businesses with Ringrande. You guys, step away."

He said it like a request, but that was an order alright.

"Your highness, I"m sorry, but this is my house, and she is my cousin. Even if it"s your highness, it"ll be better if you avoid being alone together with an unmarried woman."
"Fuhn, what"s wrong with fiancees being alone together."
"Our engagement should have been canceled since seven years ago."

Well then, I want to get away from this complicated spot, I wonder what I should do.

"Your highness, you should stop with the troublesome talks, and just do it like this."

The holy knight boy who have been looking like a mischievous kid since earlier draws his sword and comes to me while slas.h.i.+ng it.
What"s with this guy?　Is his head alright?

His rus.h.i.+ng speed is fast, but compared to lady Ringrande, his swordsmans.h.i.+p is full of holes.

"Oh you"re drawing your sword in front of his highness, it"s fine to label you as a rebel then right."

What kind of logic is that. Hair-splitting-ly bad false accusation.
Since he uses a mithril alloy sword known for its hardness, I avoid his attack without blocking with the fairy sword. However, the boy continues attacking relentlessly.

Is he a battle maniac?

"Oyo?　That mithril sword isn"t only for show eh. Aha, can you block this?"

The boy releases an consecutive attacks technique like tornado.
Is this a fighting game.

I will look too conspicuous if I avoid that, so I receive it with my sword and pretend to be blown back. Lady Karina and Hayunsan call out my name with worry. Arisa probably understands since my health hasn"t decreased, and Nana doesn"t seem to worry from the beginning. They really trust me~. They really trust me, right?

Lady Karina literally jumps with Raka"s power and holds me on her arms.
OH! f.u.ka, f.u.ka.

"Hee, you can use physical reinforcement too eh? If you pick up his sword, I"d be your opponent you know?"

I stop lady Karina"s hand that"s going to pick my sword. She cannot win.

"You can"t, Karin-sama(.)"

Meanwhile, Toruma is doing his best trying to stop the prince. He"s quite weak-willed, but work hard.

"Your highness, he"s a retainer of baron Muno, and a n.o.ble who holds peerage. Can you please stop the man over there?"
"Hou, serving that cursed territory, he must"ve been quite broke."

Huh?　I get slightly angry from the line just now. I might be quite fond of baron Muno and his retainers if I say so myself. Arisa looks quite offended, but as expected, the opponent is too bad, she can"t intervene.

"I won"t forgive you for insulting our territory, even if you"re the prince. I"ll make you take back that word, even if I have to risk my life."
"Fuhn, are you trying to gain favor of that kid and join the rank of n.o.ble? Women should just stay in the home raise the children you"ve birthed obediently."

Lady Karina has told me that she has never partic.i.p.ated in the upper society even once, so that"s probably why he doesn"t know her. It seems he"s thinking that she"s the wife or a mistress of the retainer of baron Muno, in other word, a worthless n.o.ble, not his daughter. It"s pitiful.

"I am the second daughter of baron Muno, Karina desuwa. There"s no reason to treat me like a maidservant you know?"

Lady Karina stands up in front of the prince while she puts her hands on her waist, firmly facing to the front and glares at him.
I stand up while patting my head who has fallen to the ground.

The opponent is a prince, the right thing to do here is to withdraw.

"I cannot remain silent since my master"s house is insulted. Even if you"re a prince, I"ll have you retract your words earlier."

Huh~?
Even though the right thing to do was to wait carefully. I lined up side-by-side with lady Karina, and said such words. It must have been the influence of this teenage body. I"ll leave it at that.
At minimum, I"m discreet enough to leave the sword in the sheath. I"m certain to become the target of punishment if I face my sword toward the royal family.

"Karindono, our winning percentage is limitlessly zero understand?"
"Raksan, there are times when a woman must not withdraw."

The two are heating up?　However, you shouldn"t confront him physically since he"s a royal family okay.

"As ever, you think women are only tools for giving birth to children."

Lady Ringrande says so in a voice shaking with anger while cutting herself between lady Karina and the prince.
Toruma comes and claps Karina"s shoulder. Her feet are trembling. She was really forcing herself.

"Your highness, the person you"ve falsely accused is the hero of the Muno city defensive war. Moreover, he"s defeated the demon that"s appeared in Gururian city, and currently stays in this dukedom capital as the duke Oyugock"s guest of honor. Putting aside your highness, I think it would trouble the people over there."

s.h.i.+fting the blame from the prince to the battle maniac boy huh.
The prince wouldn"t back down if he was criticized after all.

"Fuhn, it can"t be helped, I suppose I"ll leave it here. It"d be troubling if the available forces decreased before the demon lord awakens.
Right, was it Toruma?　The only capital is the royal capital. Calling Oyugock city a capital is a blasphemy somewhat."

The prince leaves while firing such parting shot.

I didn"t think that Toruma would be the one who restored peace to this place.
Nevertheless, I"m worried with the way that prince is speaking as if the demon lord will be revived here for certain. Don"t tell me, the mastermind behind the [Wings of Liberty] isn"t the third prince, is he?

◇

"Is that prince going to partic.i.p.ate in the martial arts tournament too?"
"No, that"s not it--you"re doing well after getting that attack."
"I had a magic potion in my pocket just at the right time."

I wave the empty bottle to deceive her.
Toruma answers my question.

"I think his highness is going to attend the wedding ceremony of Rin"s little brother, Tisrad, that is to be held after the tournament ends."

Tisrad is a grandchild of duke Oyugock, he"s going to marry the daughter of marquis Elett it seems. The next duke is going to be the father of lady Ringrande, and the next one after that seems to be Tisrad"s turn. It seem she has also gone home in order to attend this wedding.

"There"s also a rumor that his majesty will also attend this ceremony."
"Torumniisan, that"s a confidential matter. Please don"t spread it around too much."

The maid recommends me to change my tattered clothes to new ones, so I leave from here.

Still, the development is progressing by leaps and bounds.

The settled matters are, [The third prince, Shalrick, wants to make lady Ringrande his bride.], [Lady Ringrande does not want that.], [The little brother of lady Ringrande is going to get married], I guess.
The unsettled matters are, [The king might come for the wedding ceremony.], [The third prince and his companions might be certain that the demon lord would appear in the dukedom capital.]

It"s scary if a different demon lord appears during the wedding ceremony.

When I"m going to leave Toruma"s residence after changing clothes, lady Ringrande calls out to me.

"You"re better than I"ve thought. Come to the castle if you want to become stronger. I"ll give you some lessons while I"m in the dukedom capital."

I"d be glad to receive her lessons, but I hate to do it in a conspicuous place like the castle.

"I"ll say this just in case, it"s not like I"ve recognized your relations.h.i.+p with Sera alright?"

Like I said, it"s a misunderstanding.
When I"ve exhausted myself telling her that it"s a "Misunderstanding", she gets angry instead, "What are you dissatisfied with Sera with".  What an incoherent person.

Arisa secretly says, "A tsundere has come", is this tsundere?

◇

"I won"t forgive him."
"That"s right. It"s good that he"s the third prince."
"You"re right~ That"s the silver lining."

It seems that lady Karina who"s being indignant cannot comprehend Arisa"s and my words.

"See, if that became the king of this era, it"d be hard to live in this kingdom."
"When that happen, I have no choice but to move to Saga empire."

To help improve lady Karina"s mood a bit, Arisa and me are joking around for a bit.

"Y, you can"t desuwa. Satou is father"s retainer, so you mustn"t leave."

Lady Karina presses on me as if shaken, speaking  worryingly. Close. Lady Karina, you"re close. If you"re this close, various things will hit--

Nana"s breast are great, but lady Karina"s volumes are extraordinary. I"m dangerously almost get adrift.

"Kick."

We"ve been havng a conversation on the courtyard of earl Walgock"s mansion, but Mia appears out of nowhere and kicks me. She forcibly puts herself between lady Karina and me, opening some distances.

I tell lady Karina, "The thing about Saga empire is just a joke.", while patting Mia"s head. I think she says something like, "Is, is that so, then it"s fine desuwa", while blus.h.i.+ng for a bit.

◇

In the evening of this day, I get entangled with the grumblings of lady Karina and her maids about the matter with the prince. Someone from the maid trope has brought liquor so I keep Arisa and the others away. I don"t want to repeat that tragedy again.

Liza has been dispatched as the watchdog, she"s partic.i.p.ating in the drinking bout together with me. Liza certainly doesn"t get hangover, but she goes to sleep instead. She"s sleeping in a beautiful posture while sitting even now.

The two younger maids are smashed, they"re sleeping on my laps. Lady Karina"s gazes look scary.

"Satou! You should be gentler with me desuwa."
"That"s right, chevalier-sama should make a rice porridge for me."

This is why drunkards are.
Lady Karina and Pina are only saying what they want to say each. They probably won"t remember what they"ve said themselves tomorrow.

Raka wisely keeps silent.
I was going to follow its exemplar, but the two were hanging on each of my sides while saying, "Hey, are you listening?", and, "Does chevalier-sama prefer flat chest or kyonyuu, which is it!" One side feels too good, I"m not able to push them away.

Let"s decline any invitation for drinking bout from tomorrow on.
Since the drunk Lady Karina is erotic, it"s a bit hard to get entangled like this.

Let"s make the rice porridge as the main gentle menu for the breakfast tomorrow.