“You made that weird bet again? Guys really like that kind of thing…”

“Archiond especially seems to love betting.”

Luca’s group was gathered for lunch.

Luca explained how he ended up making another bet with Archiond, and Milia wore an exasperated expression.

“You could just refuse to take his challenges.”

“A man should never run from a challenge that’s offered to him.”

“… Sometimes at moments like this I remember that you’re still a boy.”

Milia shook her head. At her words, Luca shrugged his shoulders and glanced over at Isella.

“I haven’t trained long, but this time I think I can use swordsmanship. Are you planning to use swordsmanship too?”

“It wouldn’t make any sense to use swordsmanship against someone who’s only learned for about a month. I’ll just stick to the basics.”

“Then should I also fight with just the basics?”

Isella shook her head at Luca’s question.

“Go ahead and try using swordsmanship. I’m curious just how amazing your swordsmanship is.”

“I can’t say I’ve mastered it yet, but I guess it’ll be fine.”

Watching Luca nod, Milia asked,

“So, what’s the bet this time?”

“Meal.”

“A meal?”

Milia tilted her head at the word “meal.”

Luca responded indifferently.

“If I win, at least treat me to a month’s worth of allowance in meals.”

“Heh….”

Milia gave a halfhearted reaction, as if she wasn’t interested at all.

Ottbo, who had almost finished his meal, chimed in.

“Milia, you’re not that interested in this exam, are you?”

“Yeah. I already showed my skills in the midterm, and right now building my own faction is more important. Isella probably won’t get that high of a score this time, either.”

“Is that so?”

Seeing Luca’s disappointed look, Isella replied with a fierce face.

“I have gotten permission from milady, so I plan to get serious for the department-wide exam. Don’t worry.”

“… That sounds promising.”

It seemed the department-wide test wouldn’t be boring.

***

Two more weeks passed.

It had been a bustling two weeks, filled with studying for exams, swordsmanship practice, and training for celestial wings liberation.

And the exams arrived.

“I won’t lose this time.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Luca exchanged a light greeting with Brace, burning with competitive spirit, as the tests began.

The third day ended quickly. But then, on the eagerly-awaited fourth day, something unexpected happened.

“Hmm…”

In this bracket too, Luca could only meet Isella if he reached the finals.

But Brace had to face Isella even before the finals. Not in the semifinals, but in the quarterfinals.

“… That’s disappointing.”

Luca had thought he’d get to fight Brace again, but with the brackets drawn this way, that wasn’t going to happen.

“Match over! The winner is Isella!”

“No way…”

As expected, Isella beat Brace.

Clicking his tongue, Luca once again stormed through the rounds right to the finals—using only basic swordsmanship, of course.

And then he reached the finals. Naturally, his opponent was Isella.

“Ready!”

The two of them stood facing each other. Both of their eyes burned with anticipation.

“I’m looking forward to your swordsmanship.”

“It won’t be easy.”

Isella’s fighting spirit was lit, and Luca was excited to showcase his new swordsmanship.

The crowd cheered as they watched the two.

“Let’s go, it’s a revenge match!”

“Isella! This time you’re going to win!”

“You’ll win again, right? Luca Traverse!”

Amid the audience’s hot cheers, the two drew their swords, paused for a moment, and then charged at each other at the starting signal.

“Start!”

Whish!

The two dashed toward each other like the wind. And the moment their swords touched—

Slice.

“?”

“…?”

Luca’s blade was cleanly sliced off.

Both of them froze in the unprecedented situation. The excited crowd was no different.

“W-what?”

“Luca Traverse lost? His blade was cut?”

“Yeah, right! Did Luca Traverse fail to block the sword slash by mistake…?”

While the audience buzzed in confusion, the judge glanced at both of them for their reaction.

Isella was bewildered, Luca’s face flushed bright red.

― Are you crazy? How did you even get hit by that?

Luca couldn’t say anything in response to the rebuke from the Luca Traverse within him.

The reason for his loss was simple.

Luca still wasn’t familiar enough to blend the basics into the swordsmanship Kryphi had created.

That’s why he failed to block Isella’s sword slash, which she’d only used lightly as a check.

Isella glanced at him.

“….”

“….”

Seeing him still lost for words, she snickered.

“Next time, make sure you learn a bit more swordsmanship before you come back.”

“….”

“Match, match over! The winner is Isella!”

This match ended all too easily.

***

After finals ended, the report cards came out.

Fortunately, because Isella’s scores were low in other exams, Luca managed to keep his first place in the first-year Swordsmanship Department.

However, there were some who came up to tease him mercilessly.

“Luca! I heard you lost to Isella? That’s too bad~”

“Still, first place in the Swordsmanship Department is amazing! Even if you lost to Isella.”

“… You two. Were you always this close?”

Milia and Archiond.

The two weren’t really close friends, but at this moment, they were united in merrily teasing him.

Luca replied curtly, but they kept smiling broadly.

“By the way, Ottbo was unexpected. I thought his ranking would go down this time, but he’s still first!”

“Haha….”

“I even recruited Maios to try beating Ottbo, but it’s too bad.”

Thinking there was no way he’d beat Ottbo, they had recruited Maios Magara, who was second in the first-year Magic Department during the last exam, but Maios was second again this time.

Ottbo was the first place in the Magic Department—no surprise, given his skill was above first-year level.

Archiond spoke with disappointment.

“Man, that’s too bad. I thought I’d win this time.”

“Brace Avint’s mistake was meeting Isella too soon.”

“Right, at this rate shouldn’t Isella be advancing a year?”

Even though Archiond beat Hav again in this match-up, Brace placed too low in the department-wide exam and couldn’t win.

It was said Brace was so dejected after losing to Isella that he stayed in bed sick for several days.

“Ha… Well, since I lost, I guess I owe a meal. Where do you want to eat?”

Looking at Archiond, who sounded disappointed, Luca answered indifferently.

“One thing before that. Just curious, do you get a sizeable allowance?”

“Haha! That’s a funny joke. Worried about the allowance of the Robette family’s eldest son?”

Seeing his confident response, Luca grinned.

“Is that so.”

“Bring your friends, too! As many as a hundred!”

As Archiond spoke boldly, Ottbo murmured,

“You’ll regret it.”

You should never underestimate Luca’s appetite.

***

This time, four people went out for the meal.

Milia and Isella couldn’t join due to other obligations, and Ottbo, Hav, and Moula joined the meal.

Seeing Luca bring four people, Archiond declared heartily,

“This many? No problem! Let’s go to the most famous restaurant in Havok!”

“Ten Nights?”

At Luca’s question, Archiond smiled brightly.

“If you want, sure! But you need a reservation, so we can’t go today. Is that alright?”

“That’s a hassle, let’s go somewhere else.”

“It might not be as great as Ten Nights, but I’ll take you to another excellent place—the Grand Stein!”

Though it wasn’t a location from the original story, since Archiond recommended it, it must be great.

Including Archiond’s friends, eight of them went to the Grand Stein.

As soon as they saw the place, Hav and Moula flinched.

“… Are we really allowed to go here?”

“Haha! Of course we are!”

It was one of the tallest hotels in Havok, and its restaurant was the Grand Stein.

Archiond, looking at Luca, teased,

“Luca, I heard you eat a lot for someone your size?”

“Who spread that rumor?”

“You’re famous. Anyway, let’s skip the course meal—order whatever you want!”

Luca curled his lips at Archiond’s words.

“I accept your generosity.”

Upon arriving, Luca took a look at the menu and said to the waiter,

“One of everything from here to there.”

“… Excuse me, could you say that again?”

Thinking he’d misheard, the waiter stuttered. Luca replied indifferently,

“One of everything, from here to there.”

“….”

The waiter glanced at Archiond, who was a returning customer.

“Can you eat it all? It’s a problem if there are leftovers.”

Archiond asked gently, but sweat was breaking out on his back.

“Don’t worry. If there’s any left, I’ll cover it all.”

“Haha, alright then.”

Archiond swallowed nervously then told the waiter,

“Do as he says.”

“… Yes, sir.”

The waiter left with the menu, and the room fell quiet.

Some watched Archiond, some looked to Luca. Then Luca spoke.

“Aren’t you all ordering anything?”

“?!”

At those shocking words, everyone’s eyes widened. Brace spoke up,

“… Aren’t we eating together?”

“Then maybe I should order more. Is that alright?”

Archiond’s eyes twitched, and then he smiled brightly.

“Of course!”

“Then it’s fine.”

Quietly, Ottbo approached Archiond and whispered,

“Need a loan?”

“… It’s fine, for now.”

“Alright.”

Ottbo wondered how long Archiond would really be okay.

Soon, the food arrived.

“Wow…”

“Hmm. This place is still as amazing as ever.”

While not as extravagant and beautiful as Ten Nights, the Grand Stein’s food was neat and refined.

Everyone was impressed as the dishes came out in succession.

“Alright, everyone, let’s eat!”

Archiond’s worries faded as he smiled brightly, seeing the astonishing amount of food.

‘No matter how much Luca eats, he can’t possibly finish all this.’

But then Archiond saw—

Clatter.

Luca setting down an empty plate.

“…?”

Less than a minute after the food came out, he’d emptied a plate.

And as soon as everyone realized that, Luca was already cleaning out the last bite from another plate.

“Mmm… mmm….”

“….”

“Mm, this is delicious. One more, please.”

Casually, he ordered more as he started clearing another dish.

Beside him, Ottbo also picked at several dishes in earnest.

The others’ eyes were drawn to the two.

Sensing their stares, Ottbo spoke,

“If you don’t hurry, there’ll be dishes you won’t get to taste.”

“… Th-thank you for the meal!”

The moment he finished, the students started eating frantically.

Luca kept ordering more, so there was never a shortage of food.

After some time, the students gradually put down their chopsticks, tired of eating.

But even then, Luca didn’t slow his pace cleaning out plates.

“One more of these.”

“And this one, too.”

“….”

No matter how much he ate, Luca didn’t stop asking for more.

Watching him, Archiond grew silent. Ottbo approached and whispered,

“Need a loan?”

“… Yeah.”

Even Archiond, who got about as much allowance as Ottbo, found that even spending his entire monthly allowance couldn’t fill Luca’s stomach.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep