After the match, Fee and the others were getting ready to leave when a knight with blond hair that was slicked back with a lot of hair product appeared on his knees.
“I have caused you a great deal of trouble by manipulating the distribution of dormitory pupils for personal reasons and by planning to give the East dormitory an advantage in the sword tournament. I’m very sorry!”
Even though his hair should have been tidily swept back with the amount of product used, for some reason his hair was a bit disheveled at the moment.
Next to him, even Torocco was on his knees.
“I apologize to you as well. I was the one who escalated the situation by continuing to be lax because of our friendship. It was my fault, and Carnegies’, that we caused you so much trouble. I’m sorry about that.”
Fee and the other boys panicked at the sight of him.
“It’s not like you caused us any trouble, right!”
“Yes, yes! I mean, when the boys from the east dormitory came, we were taken aback, but all it amounted to was a little quarrel.”
“Yeah, it’s not unusual to talk smack before a match.”
“We’re not unhappy with the dormitory arrangements.”
To be honest, Luca and Rizal had been a bit annoying, however not only Carnegies but even Torocco had apologized. So the boys from the northern dormitory decided not to say anything.
“I’m sorry …… you guys ……. I’m really sorry …….” Having received kind words rather than abuse from the north dormitory, Carnegies, still on his knees, bent over and began to cry.
Although they had only seen him making a fuss from a distance, he acted like a demon had just descended upon him.
Although this was the same Carnegies who had attempted to win the Northeast Swordsmanship Tournament by cheating in the first place, Fee and the others didn’t feel that they had been wronged enough for him get down on his knees and apologize.
They had all been hyped up for the event and enjoyed it for what it was.
And so, they felt troubled by the apology.
The boys in the north dormitory looked at each other. They all nodded and said.
“Look up, Sir Carnegies.”
“We’re very happy to be in the North Dormitory, you know.”
“We’ve made friends and we have a good time every day.”
“I’m grateful to Torocco for choosing us, and I don’t hold it against Carnegies.”
“So you really haven’t done anything wrong.”
Carnegies finally looked up at those words.
His face was covered with tears, and his hair was so rumpled that they couldn’t bring themselves to be angry.
“You boys… ……”
In place of Carnegies who was too overcome with emotion to say anything, Torocco spoke in a soothing voice.
“Thank you. I was a little busy and didn’t get to see you much, but I’m really glad you joined the Knights of Auster and the North Dormitory. Carnegies and I will be punished in due course. I don’t know what will happen, but I hope to be able to share the knightly life with you again someday. Well then, Carnegies, let’s go.”
“Oh. ……”
With that, Torocco and Carnegies left.
Then, as Fee and the others left the stadium, they bumped into the members of the East Dormitory. Even though Carnegies wasn’t there, they all seemed to have a calm look on their faces.
Maybe that was their nature. Carnegies felt like he had instigated them, but it seemed they were just doing what they wanted.
Luca ruffled his hair and said in his usual rakish manner.
“You guys really got me this time. I’ve learned my lesson. I’m glad I got to have a match with you guys. I’ll get my revenge next year, though.”
Luca was still trying to look cool, but he didn’t bring his face unnecessarily close to his opponents or act condescending.
He especially seemed to be keeping his distance from Fee. It seemed he was rather traumatized by her.
“Although I am a genius, but it seems that I was mistaken in the direction of my efforts. Next year, I’ll work hard and show you what a genius I really am.” Rizal was as confident as ever, still calling himself a genius.
But neither Luca nor Rizal made fun of their opponents anymore.
After the tournament was over, perhaps because the feeling of rivalry had mellowed, the two sides mingled and chatted.
Before the tournament, they had been at odds with each other, but now they shared the common ground of belonging to the same dojo, the same knight corps, and the same nobility.
Fee, who had no particular connections in this country, decided to try talking to her opponent, Luca.
“Just… wait… Can you please not come any closer to ……?”
He forbad her to come within two meters of him. Fee took a step closer, crossing within the distance.
“Heeheehee.” She laughed with ease, but Luca stepped back with cold sweat on his face.
Then this soon developed into a chase between Fee and Luca.
Kerio and Lemier were meeting in the far corner of the large group.
“You got me this time,” he said. “Next year, if we meet again, we’ll have to have a rematch for today.”
“Yes! I’m going to train harder so that we can fight on even terms next year!”
The two of them nodded at each other.
And then Persil approached Queen.
“Queen. I’m going to rethink my strategies and abilities so that I can beat you the next time you demonstrate the power of friendship. Let’s fight again sometime.”
“Okay…sure..” Queen nodded at Persil’s words, blushing a bit delicately at the mention of the power of friendship.
They talked for a while with the boys from the east dormitory, as two of them played chase, and then they parted ways and Fee and the others headed home.
They had won the tournament and were no longer on bad terms with the boys from the east dormitory. Fee was feeling satisfied, but then she recalled a small complaint.
“Now that I think about it, I wasn’t able to watch most of the matches. I wish I could have seen everyone’s battles.”
It was the end of the last match when she finally came back from receiving Instructor Hislo’s lecture.
She’d rushed to cheer Queen on, but the match was over soon after.
“I heard that Gormus and Lemier were both really cool. I wish I could have seen them.” She said.
“Well, my match was so predictable that you didn’t need to watch it.” Gormus said wryly.
“I got a draw, but it makes me happy to hear that.” Lemier smiled happily.
“But I saw Queen’s last attack. He was so cool. Did you hear me cheering, Queen?” Fee looked up at Queen, who was walking next to her, and asked.
“Oh, …… eh, …… ugh, …… yeah.” The reply was somewhat incomprehensible. It made Fee pout a little.
“If you didn’t hear me, there’s no need to hide it. Everyone else was cheering for you, too.”
“I heard you ……! I heard you !”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, …….”
When Queen nodded, Fee smiled and said, “Okay then.”
She didn’t get to watch much of the game, but she was able to cheer on her friends, and Fee decided that was good enough for her. But she thought that Queen was a bit too shy. He should be more proud of himself after such a great performance.
As she walked along, she saw York’s figure out of the corner of her eye.
Fee immediately ran towards him.
“Captain! Did you see my match?” Fee came over to York, asking him if he had watched the game, which was obvious since he was in the bleachers.
“Yes, I saw the match. Although you lost, it was a great one-move victory. But next time you should know the rules and plan your strategy properly.”
The captain’s hand came down on Fee’s head as he praised her. He gently stroked her golden hair.
Fee’s eyes widened in surprise. But she soon surrendered to the pleasant sensation.
“Heehee!”
Then, after parting from the captain, who seemed to still have work to do, Fee ran back to the boys in the north dormitory.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “I should have introduced you to the captain, Queen. Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay.” At Fee’s words, Queen shook his head.
York used to be all that Queen would talk about, but not recently. Still, she thought that she should have them meet sooner or later.
When she looked around, she saw that everyone seemed to be in high spirits.
It was one thing to be excited about winning, but this felt a bit different.
When she asked Queen about it, she was told that Torocco had given money to Gormus and that they were going to go out for an after-party.
“Oh, how exciting! You’re coming too, right?” She said.
“Yes.”
It’s been about half a year since she joined the north dormitory. A lot of things had happened, but even Queen had become an established member of the north dormitory.
When they spoke to the cafeteria staff, it seemed that they had already been informed and they sent the boys off to have fun. Fee and the other boys took off to the downtown area, looking happy.
After that, Carnegies and Torocco were both ordered to serve six months on campaign duty and receive a pay cut, but the knights collected signatures and submitted them, and the campaign duty was reduced to three months.
It seemed that knights originally from the north dorms also participated in the signing. Both Torocco and Carnegies were surprisingly well-liked by the graduates who had become knights.
Fee and her friends, of course, also signed the petition.
Snow Day Translations 