“… Igar?”

Archiond’s face was demanding an explanation.

However, there was no sense of reproach or anger.

It was pure curiosity.

Luca’s company was the same.

Win or loss aside, they wanted to understand the circumstances behind all this.

“……”

Igar had also fallen silent after hiccuping, as if he’d been seriously shocked.

Luca marveled at that.

“Is it because you can’t beat Ottbo, so you wanted to draw attention at least this way? If that’s the case, I admit it. You really are…”

“Hehey, Luca. Stop it. Why are you teasing the kid like that? I’m sure he has his reasons.”

Archiond gently smiled as he stopped Luca.

At his words, Igar looked even more withdrawn.

At that moment, Milia, who had been looking quietly at the scorecard, seemed to notice something and spoke up.

“… Did you only get a passing score in the basic physical exam?”

“?”

At that, Igar nodded with an unsatisfied expression.

“Y-yeah, but the basic physical test is considered across the whole year, so it’s not really reflected in the score…”

“It doesn’t matter if the scores are close, but Ottbo got a perfect score in the basic physical exam. If you think of the difference between the perfect and passing score, that explains the point gap.”

“O-Ottbo got a perfect score?!”

Igar looked flustered at the mention of a perfect score in the basic physical exam.

Ottbo scratched his cheek.

“Haha, it just sort of happened.”

“Even being 8th place, the gap with 1st is only 2.4 points. There are so many outstanding students in the first year this time, so the scores ended up split awkwardly. Considering that, the rankings aren’t really incomprehensible.”

“… Really…”

Now that they looked, aside from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, everyone else’s place seemed to be determined by barely a fraction of a point.

Thanks to Milia’s explanation, everyone finally seemed to understand.

An awkward silence soon followed.

“…”

“…”

“….”

During the silence, Luca spoke indifferently.

“How regrettable. And to think I was going to face off against someone like this.”

“?!”

“Hehey. Luca. I didn’t think it’d turn out this way either.”

Seeing Archiond shrug, Igar bit his lip.

“Archiond, are you looking down on me, too?”

“Hm… I told you time and again to train your basic physical strength, but you ignored me, didn’t you, Igar? Because of that, even I, who entered the bet for your sake, ended up getting dragged down. Don’t you think I have the right to be at least a little upset?”

“T-that’s…”

Igar faltered at his words.

Archiond kept his usual cheerful smile as he continued.

“All the other S-class students take their basic physical classes seriously. I told you to train for the sake of your health. But what did you say? ‘You hate it because it takes away from magic practice?’ In the end, I wanted to make you both vice-representative and representative assistants, and even I got put in a tough spot. So is it so unpleasant?”

“….”

Igar closed his mouth.

Though Archiond was smiling, it was clear he was quite upset.

Watching the conversation, Ottbo quietly whispered to Luca.

“Did you feel the same way when I said stuff like that?”

“I definitely wanted to give you a good thrashing.”

“A-ah… No, I didn’t really think that far…”

Ottbo was flustered by Luca’s blunt words, but after a moment’s thought, he slowly nodded.

“… Yeah. Maybe I would.”

At that moment, Archiond beamed at them.

He was holding a sheet of paper.

“Anyway, we lost the bet, so we have to keep our promise. All three of us will pledge, on our honor, to support you whenever you need us. I’ve already prepared an imperial-certified oath.”

“W-what, Archiond?!”

An imperial-certified oath.

In contracts between nobles, it carried absolute power.

If you signed such an oath and didn’t uphold it, you’d lose your title.

Igar’s eyes widened—he obviously hadn’t expected this.

Archiond held out the oath to him.

“What? Surely you’re not thinking of breaking your promise?”

“….”

While Igar was speechless, Brace, who was standing next to him, took the oath and signed it first.

Igar was once again taken aback by Brace’ action.

“B-Brace?!”

“A loss is a loss.”

Brace answered indifferently, without a hint of regret.

Archiond chuckled as he also signed his name.

“Alright, I’ve signed, too.”

Archiond glanced at Igar.

Igar hesitated, but eventually squeezed his eyes shut and signed the oath.

“Ugh… Here.”

“Okay. Here you go, Luca.”

Archiond handed it to Luca and winked as he whispered,

“I’ll be sure to keep the other promise, too.”

“… Huh. Interesting.”

Luca smirked as he took the oath and turned away.

“I’ll say a word to Teacher Kirius. Anyway, I don’t really care what those who lost to us do, but it’s no trouble to show a little favor to someone who’ll take care of annoying errands for us.”

“Really? Thank you, Luca!”

Archiond grinned broadly at Luca’s words, but behind him, Igar was still biting his lip.

‘Damn it. That bastard.’

His eyes were burning with hatred.

‘I’ll make him pay for this humiliation someday.’

There are always those who don’t know how to be grateful for kindness.

* * *

Bogus: Pasmo Thier?

Bogus: She didn’t come back after the temporary break.

Bogus: I have no idea what happened after that.

“….”

Luca’s face remained expressionless as he read Bogus’s reply.

Watching him, Bella tilted her head.

“Master, why are you looking so down?”

“…tsk.”

Bella could immediately read his mood just from his indifferent face.

Luca simply clicked his tongue in response, saying nothing.

At that, Bella touched her cheek with a finger.

“Hmm… You’ve been visiting the tea house frequently these days—could it be related to that?”

“….”

“Come to think of it, I heard Miss Pasmo Thier is a regular at that tea house. Did something happen between you and her?”

As she spoke gently, Luca pouted his lips.

“Why are you asking if you already know everything?”

“Fufufu.”

Bella gave a small laugh and handed something over to him.

“I’m not sure if this will help, but this is the location of the mansion where Miss Pasmo Thier is staying. Oh, it’s not some sort of secret information—it’s publicly available, so I didn’t get it through any shady underground route.”

Luca accepted it with a click of his tongue.

“What am I supposed to do with this? Are you telling me to go find her?”

“No way. The Thier duchy isn’t somewhere you can just pop over to in a day or two. I just thought you might want to send her a letter or something.”

“A letter?”

Luca didn’t have Pasmo Thier’s communication code.

He wasn’t sure if she was deliberately keeping it from him, or if she just hadn’t had a chance to tell him yet.

“Hmmm.”

At the mention of a letter, Luca had a somewhat troubled expression.

‘I’ve never written a letter in my life.’

Forget Luca Traverse’s life—even in modern times, he’d never had occasion to write a letter.

But right now, the only option seemed to be to send a letter.

Seeing him ponder, Bella suddenly seemed to remember something.

“Oh, and unlike in the Hernan Empire, in the Lamata Empire I heard that sending letters between friendly nobles is very important.”

“Huh… Makes sense. They don’t rely on magic as much as we do here.”

It wasn’t that Lamata’s technology lagged behind, they simply didn’t favor it.

It seemed they were wary of a mindset obsessed with solving everything by magic.

Bella thought aloud again.

“Also, I heard that especially among young people, using birds to deliver letters is the height of romance.”

“… Birds?”

At the word bird, Luca glanced at Whistle, who was sitting by the window.

Sensing his gaze, Whistle turned her head to look at Luca.

“Pii?”

“….”

He had a method in front of him that was not only ‘romantic’ but would deliver the letter faster than any other bird.

Listening to Whistle’s whistle-like cry, Luca maintained an unconcerned expression and clicked his tongue.

“Well, alright. Let’s try writing a letter, then.”

“Hehe. Should I help you?”

“No need.”

Showing the content of the letter to Bella was just too embarrassing.

* * *

The garden of Pasmo Thier, decorated with bright flowers.

Pasmo Thier was having tea there.

Only, unlike usual, it was quiet, with no humming.

“Sis, you’re here again?”

It was her younger brother, Gremo Thier, who visited her in the garden.

His appearance was quite curious.

Like her, he had blonde hair and a tall frame, but he was so muscular that it was hard to believe he was from an alchemy family.

And though he was supposed to be around Luca’s age—being Pasmo Thier’s sibling—his face seemed surprisingly mature.

Gremo Thier looked at his somewhat gloomy sister with worry.

“Do you want to go back to Hernan Academy?”

“… No, it’s not that.”

“But the way you keep speaking so oddly makes me think it’s true.”

At Gremo Thier’s words, Pasmo Thier sipped her tea.

“I’ve been speaking this way for over a year, so it just comes out naturally now.”

“If that’s the case, fine… But if you want to go back, just say so. I’ll even talk to Father for you.”

“….”

Pasmo Thier glanced at him, then smiled faintly.

“Thank you. But I might be the one to inherit the Thier family. I’d better be careful and follow Father’s wishes.”

“But… I could inherit the Thier family instead.”

Gremo Thier thumped his chest confidently, but Pasmo Thier chuckled and shook her head.

“You can’t use heteromorphic alchemy—how are you going to inherit our family? You should just do as you like.”

“I…”

“I enjoyed myself, in my own way. I learned a lot. I’m satisfied enough.”

Pasmo Thier spoke blandly as she took a sip of tea and looked up at the sky.

The sky was blue and the sunshine dazzling.

Looking at it, Pasmo Thier thought of someone.

“… Hehe. I really am hopeless.”

She gave a wry smile and lowered her head.

Gremo Thier, watching her, hesitated and then spoke.

“Sis, will you go to the party the family is hosting? I heard even the royals are coming.”

“A party?”

At the word party, Pasmo Thier glanced at him but said nothing.

She didn’t seem keen to go.

Piii!

“?”

Just then, a whistle-like bird cry was heard somewhere.

Pasmo Thier looked toward the sound with a puzzled expression.

Then she muttered with a reluctant face,

“Luca…?”

For a moment, it felt like Luca was flying down from the sky.

But when she blinked, the image turned into a bluebird.

Pasmo Thier rubbed her eyes and sighed.

‘Seriously hopeless.’

While she was lost in thought, Gremo Thier, who had been wary of Whistle, suddenly noticed something and widened his eyes.

“Sis, there’s something tied to that bird’s leg.”

“?”

At his words, Pasmo Thier untied the note from Whistle’s leg.

She read it slowly.

“… Fufufu.”

“!”

Pasmo Thier now wore a bright smile, very different from before.

Gremo Thier’s eyes grew round as he watched her.

‘It’s the first time she’s smiled like that since coming back!’

While he was still in shock, Pasmo Thier flicked her hand.

Sarak!

Two flowers from beside her floated over, transforming into paper and pen in her hand.

As she began to write a letter, Pasmo Thier asked,

“Gremo, when is the party being held?”

“Huh? Umm… In about three days?”

“Three days…”

Repeating that to herself, Pasmo Thier smiled broadly.

“I’ll attend.”

At the same time, she finished her letter, folded it small, and tied it to Whistle’s leg.

Then, with a worried look, she addressed Whistle.

“You must have had a hard time coming all this way. Will you be able to get back?”

“Pii!”

Whistle gave a carefree cry, as if to say not to worry, and immediately flew up into the sky and disappeared.

Pasmo Thier watched that for a moment, then turned to Gremo Thier.

“I can’t wait. The party.”

“… Yeah.”

She truly was looking forward to the party.

* * *

Pii……

“I feel like I’m going to die…”

“Well done, Whistle.”

Whistle seemed exhausted from the long-distance flight.

Luca praised his hard work while reading the letter.

After reading it, Luca was silent for a moment, then looked at Bella.

“Bella, get ready to go to the Thier duchy.”

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Poor Whistle…

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep