Chapter 37 : Half Articles (3)

“I’m Luna Grace, newly transferred to the Imperial Knights!”

I, who had shown outstanding achievements among the local knights, was assigned to the Imperial Knights not long after becoming a knight.

At that time, my hair was short, and my expression was full of bright energy.

I greeted ambitiously, but no one acknowledged my greeting.

The Imperial Knights were a gathering of those who only looked to climb higher among knights. Each one tried to outdo the others, so to them, I was just another competitor.

No one tried to talk to me, and they didn’t even look my way.

It’s a pity for them, but I’m not the type to enjoy that kind of loneliness.

In the dining hall, I took a bowl and sat down at a table where the knights were gathered.

“Excuse me. Can I eat with you?”

“…”

It was a table of knights with three, maybe four years more experience than me.

Everyone at that table looked at me, a newcomer doing something crazy.

They all had uncomfortable expressions, but no one said anything to me.

I wasn’t trying to join their conversation—I just sat next to them and ate.

And the next day, and the day after that, I sat next to them and ate.

They didn’t show any particular reaction for days, thinking I’d give up on my own if they kept ignoring me.

That lasted until just before a month had passed.

“Hey, newbie!”

One of them called me for the first time.

“Yes, senior!”

“What are you up to…?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you keep sticking to us!”

“Because I want to get close!”

At the innocent answer from the blonde girl, everyone exchanged looks of disbelief.

“You’re the most senior here, so you must be the strongest, right?”

“…Well, that’s right.”

He cleared his throat and agreed with my words.

“You idiot. Can’t you see she’s obviously flattering us?”

A female knight smacked her colleague on the back of the head and glared at me.

“Newbie. I guess you thought sticking to us would get you something, but this place is strictly based on performance. There’s no use in trying to be friendly…”

“Just leave it, Cecil.”

“She’s getting on my nerves, Julius!”

The man who stopped the woman was named Julius.

“The fact that you showed interest in us means you’re quite confident in your skills, newbie?”

He took off one of his gloves and threw it toward me.

“…!”

I caught it with both hands and immediately understood the situation.

This was a duel challenge.

By taking the glove, I had accepted it.

People around us began whispering.

“Julius is dueling?”

“It looks like he’s really angry.”

Julius looked at me with a condescending smile.

“So, what will you do? I’ll understand if you withdraw from the duel now. As a senior.”

I hesitated, fiddling with the glove in my hands.

He must be strong—much stronger than someone like me.

“Okay. I’ll learn a lesson, Senior.”

“…”

The room seemed to freeze.

Someone behind me dropped their fork, and the smile on Julius’s face disappeared.

“…Are you serious, newbie?”

“Yes. And, my name is…”

“…Come to the training ground at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

He didn’t even look at me as he left the dining hall.

“Are you crazy? Do you know who he is, and you’re challenging him?”

“…Yes?”

“It’s that Julius. The princess’s escort knight. There’s no one in the Imperial Knights better at swordsmanship than Julius.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. I don’t know if you’ll even survive.”

At 7 a.m. the next morning, I arrived at the training ground as promised.

Holding a sword, I stood facing him.

“The one who bleeds first loses. Of course, whether you live or die is another matter.”

“Yes!”

The weapon I chose was a two-handed longsword.

He chose the same weapon.

As the spectators watched, the duel began.

The moment it started, he rushed at me with lightning speed and slashed horizontally.

“…!”

It was a fight that was embarrassing to call a duel—I was just blocking repeatedly.

“Where did yesterday’s confidence go, newbie?”

After a series of relentless attacks, my sword was finally knocked out of my hands and flew far away, embedding itself in the ground.

“I lost!”

Just before his blade touched my body, I declared defeat.

“…Tsk.”

Julius looked at me like I was a bug and sheathed his sword.

“…As expected, you’re strong, Senior.”

“Why didn’t you use magic?”

As if angry that I hadn’t given my all, he glared at me.

“I don’t have a Mark, so I can’t use it.”

“What? You entered the Imperial Knights without even a Mark?”

Julius looked at me with contempt.

“You’re just a brat who can’t even use magic. There’s no value in dealing with you.”

“…”

He left the training ground, leaving only the laughter and ridicule of the other knights behind.

The next day in the dining hall, I appeared in front of them again, my hands wrapped in bandages.

“Excuse me, can I eat with you?”

“……”

Everyone stopped eating and looked at me.

“It’s curry today? I like this.”

“What are you thinking, coming here again…?”

“Why? There’s no rule saying I can’t eat with you just because I lost the duel, is there?”

“…This b*tch…”

Another glove flew toward me.

“Tomorrow at 7 a.m. Training ground.”

This time, without even asking if I’d refuse, he left the dining hall.

“I lost!”

Just before his sword touched me, I shouted.

This time, I’d brought a one-handed sword instead of a longsword.

Learning from the last duel, where the weight of the longsword made it hard to defend, I switched to a lighter weapon.

“Pick up your sword! Finish it…!”

“Senior won.”

“This…!”

His colleagues stopped him as he rushed at me, looking like he wanted to kill me.

“Hold on, Julius. You already knew she was crazy.”

“…Huu.”

Julius roughly shook off his colleagues’ hands and left.

…I can attack, but now defense is the problem…

After that, for several weeks, I didn’t appear in front of them.

Julius and his colleagues seemed to be letting go of their anger toward me.

“That crazy b*tch hasn’t been coming lately, huh?”

“She must be embarrassed after being beaten by Julius twice.”

Contrary to their expectations, I appeared in front of them again.

“Excuse me, can I eat with you?”

“She’s back!”

“…”

I was expecting Julius to challenge me to another duel, but he just left without even looking at me.

“Um… It seems Senior Julius doesn’t have an appetite.”

As I continued eating nonchalantly, Cecil, the female knight, threw a glove at me.

“It seems I need to discipline you thoroughly, newbie.”

“It’s Luna!”

“Whatever. Follow me!”

The two experiences of facing Julius gave me a surprising advantage in duels with other knights, and I easily won the following challenges.

“Grace, let’s do it with me!”

“Hey, I’m supposed to duel her this week!”

At some point, dueling with Luna Grace became an event within the Knights.

Of course, I was able to continue such activities thanks to the healing magic of the Imperial Monastery, which neatly healed all but fatal injuries.

As time passed, to the point where a year had gone by, there were few who didn’t know my name.

“Haap!”

My blow, aimed at the gap, sent my opponent’s weapon flying.

“Amazing, Miss Grace…!”

“Senior’s magic was also excellent.”

I shook hands with him and ended the duel.

A saber of moderate length and a one-handed shield—it was the result of finding the equipment that suited me best after countless mock battles.

“I didn’t realize it when your hair was short, but you’re quite a beauty, Miss Grace.”

“Is that so? Thank you for the compliment!”

168 wins, 11 draws, 17 losses.

That was the record I’d set during the 200 or so duels I’d fought so far.

It was no exaggeration to say it was the most wins by an active knight of Armonia.

And then there was the undefeated Julius.

His record was a clean 27 wins, with no losses or draws.

In the five years since he’d become a knight, he’d never been defeated in a duel.

However, Julius never came to fight me again.

Whenever I smiled and greeted him, he always avoided my gaze, as if there was no value in dealing with me.

That autumn, when it seemed the duel with him would never happen, surprising news arrived.

“The emperor said that among the Knights, he would grant the qualification to serve as the princess’s escort knight.”

While eating, I heard the news from a fellow knight.

“Give up. It’s obvious Julius will get it again this year.”

“Can’t Julius get tired of it and step aside?”

“You’ve got big dreams.”

Princess Isabel.

I’d seen her several times at annual palace events.

Just her presence at those events was enough to show she was a beauty who captivated the hearts of many men.

“You never know. Should I close my eyes and try once?”

“Don’t. Unless you want to die without getting married.”

Many knights were excited and worried after hearing the rumors.

For a whopping four years, the position of the princess’s escort had been Julius’s.

It was a position awarded to the best knight through competition, but Julius had held it for four years as if it were his birthright.

“Miss Grace, how about you participate?”

“…Me?”

“Yes. Everyone here except Julius has lost to you at least once, right?”

“Hey! I was a draw!”

Despite my colleagues’ dissuasion, I firmly expressed my intention to participate.

It had been a year since I’d last fought him.

As long as we didn’t meet in the finals, even if I won, I could gracefully lose in the next match.

But as reality often goes, ominous premonitions have a way of coming true.

The bracket placed Julius and me in the finals.

Due to the news of his participation, many knights who thought themselves strong voluntarily withdrew, and I reached the finals without fighting a few matches due to byes.

I could hear the audience murmuring.

“Who did you bet on?”

“Julius, of course. Luna Grace is strong… but she can’t use magic.”

“Hey. Have you ever seen Julius use magic during a duel? He knows his opponent can’t use magic, so he won’t use it out of pride.”

The duel began with the imperial family and the audience watching.

The start was, of course, his signature wide horizontal slash.

But unlike last time, I deflected his attack with my shield and pressed the offensive.

He didn’t allow attacks easily.

Using a wide longsword, he attacked and defended simultaneously, maintaining control of the fight.

The Julius who had taunted me incessantly during our last two matches was now silent, fully focused on the fight.

Just that alone told me I’d reached a level where I could compete with him.

The fight ended when I sacrificed my shield and broke his longsword.

The blade of the broken longsword grazed my cheek, drawing blood, while my sword was aimed straight at Julius’s neck.

In a split second, he created a sphere of flame with his free hand and launched it at my sword, deflecting the blade and creating distance between us.

The trumpet sounded, signaling the end of the match.

“Stop!”

He was the one whose weapon had broken, but I was the one who bled first.

People would later say that in terms of swordsmanship, Luna Grace had won. But if magic was included, Julius had won.

The result was my defeat, as I’d bled first according to the rules.

“…You’re strong, Senior Julius.”

“Remember today’s result well, Luna Grace.”

I offered him a handshake, and he took it, saying,

“You, who are inherently defective, will never catch up to me.”

To others, it might have looked like a heartwarming scene, but it was clearly a low blow.

As a result, I lost the match, but I caught the emperor’s eye and was given the opportunity to be selected as one of the knights of the Spirit Master Academy.

And now, a year has passed since that day.

The atmosphere between us was quite different from back then, but the person standing in front of me was still that Julius.

“I never thought you were the knight of this Spirit Master brat…! And to come here to commit suicide together, what tremendous loyalty!”

In the pouring rain, I glared at him, sword in hand.

Saya, whose mouth was covered by him, seemed to be trying to tell me something.

“For a subordinate, your gaze is quite aggressive, Luna Grace.”

“Subordinate? Maybe before. Not now.”

“…Well, I could let you die like a dog, but I’ll give you a chance to fight with swords, for old times’ sake. Everyone, step back!”

He drew a massive longsword from the scabbard at his waist.

“If you fight thinking of the old days, you’ll get hurt badly, Grace.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The flames flowing through Julius’s longsword illuminated the two of us as we prepared to duel.

The person standing in front of me wasn’t the proud Julius of old, but a murderer who would use any means necessary to win.