"Alright, let's go over the rules. The commander of your team is Tida, and if Tida is judged unable to continue fighting, I win. If even one of your students lands a meaningful hit on me, you win. I won't use attack magic or weapons. You can use magic and weapons to your heart's content."
"Are you really sure those rules are fine? And also, about Tenma-san's equipment..."
Under these rules, at worst only Tida would end up injured, which worked better for both me and the royal family. Tida himself was fine with that arrangement, but what he was separately worried about was my equipment.
As the rules stated, the students each carried their weapons and were dressed as though they were about to delve into a dungeon, while I, on the other hand, had no weapons and wore no armor.
"Something wrong?"
"No, well... is that outfit okay?"
"Ah, I suppose I should at least take off my jacket. Well, I won't be getting hit by any attacks, but if it gets dirty from all the dust, it'll be a hassle to clean before the party."
When I took off my jacket and handed it to Jean-san the referee, both Tida and Jean-san wore exasperated expressions. Behind Tida, Amy gave a wry smile, while the other students wore irritated looks.
"Tenma, dial back the provocation a bit... Alright, both sides, distance yourselves! Begin!"
Jean-san gave the signal to start, but I didn't move from where I stood — instead, I did squats and stretched my Achilles tendons.
"I'll give you the first move, so just say the word~"
Whether the provocation worked or not, all the students except Tida and Amy launched their magic at once. And as if they intended to settle things right here, each of them fired off their spells at full power without restraint.
After the students' magic had continued for a while, Jean-san suddenly—
"The match is over! Winner: Tenma!"
He declared my victory.
"Alright, good work, everyone."
The students, already confused at being declared losers so suddenly, were even more startled to hear my voice coming from—
behind—
them.
As for me, the one surprising the students — I had my arms slung around Amy and Tida's shoulders, and was gently clasping both of their necks.
"Attacking with maximum firepower against an opponent who's showing composure isn't a bad strategy, but... this time, it was a misstep. Your win condition was to land any hit on Tenma, and your loss condition was for Tida to be taken out. The first thing you should have thought about was fortifying Tida's defense."
Jean, who had been observing the whole thing as the referee, was giving the students a thorough debriefing. The students were listening seriously too, partly because Jean was one of the Royal Guard — but...
"Tenma, how long do we have to stay like this?"
"Well, until Jean's done talking, I suppose? If the students can't accept the loss, there's a chance the battle could continue. Oh, as long as the target Tida is here, that's fine — Amy, you can go listen in. Jean's used to instructing newcomers and the like, so you should be able to hear something useful."
"Okay!"
Amy answered brightly and trotted off to hear what Jean had to say.
"The only one who managed to react to Tenma's movements in this match was Amy alone. Mind you, she did well to interpose herself between Tida and Tenma, but she couldn't resist and ended up neutralized alongside her. Still, considering the gap in ability, managing to intercept Tenma's surprise attack at all was impressive."
Jean also praised Amy's performance. True, the fact that she'd been around me for a long time and could read my actions to some degree certainly played a part, but even accounting for that, it was solid work.
"In comparison, the rest of you were far too hasty. If you fire off that many spells, you'll lose sight of the target in the dust clouds, and the noise makes it hard to coordinate. Tenma exploited that, erasing his presence and flying at low altitude to go after Tida. If you had at least positioned Tida in the center and stationed at least three people around her on guard, you could have put up more resistance. I understand that landing a hit on Tenma would give you something to brag about to everyone around you... but Tenma has a rather nasty personality. He knew that full well, and he kept provoking you on purpose."
Jean was right, of course. I did it expecting they'd move exactly as I predicted once I provoked them enough, but... I wish he wouldn't make me sound so terrible.
"Well, don't feel too bad about being in the palm of Tenma's hand. After all, the fact that Tenma went to such lengths means he was teaching you that this kind of fighting style exists, and at the same time, he considered you worthy opponents to fight seriously. And Tenma — I think it's about time you dispelled that spell?"
"Right."
The students didn't seem to have noticed the spell I'd cast right at the start of the match. Tida hadn't noticed either, and she turned to face me from close range with a look of surprise.
"Even during a match, it's probably a good idea to stay aware of changes in your surroundings."
When I dispelled the spell, cheers immediately flooded in from the audience seats. The spell I'd used was a wind spell that prevented the students from hearing the audience's voices. This way, they wouldn't know I was circling around them based on what the crowd was saying. Beyond that, I'd also been using wind magic to deflect the students' spells and spread the dust clouds over a wider area.
Now that the students understood what spell I'd used, and thanks to Jean's follow-up explanation, their eyes shifted from the hostile looks they'd had before the match to ones tinged with respect.
"Just so you know, the biggest problem this time was Tida. She couldn't issue proper orders, and on top of that, she was neutralized without even managing to attack."
I said this in a harsh whisper, loud enough for only Tida to hear, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. But if she had properly devised a strategy before the match started, drilled it into the students, or called out to calm them when they were falling for my provocations, they could have fought much more competently. Even setting that aside, Tida was their leader — and when the team suffered a crushing defeat, the responsibility fell on the leader, Tida.
"Someday, you might end up leading knights onto the battlefield — you can't rule that out. Maybe you should discuss what happened today with the King, Caesar-sama, and Lyle."
The King and Caesar-sama during their student days might have also considered what it would be like to command troops on the battlefield, and since Lyle has actually done so before, Tida would probably hear some useful insights from him.
As a finishing touch while releasing her, I ruffled Tida's hair, and she brushed my hand away with an embarrassed look.
"Lady Tida, Tenma! We need you both over here, or we can't wrap things up!"
It seemed that Jean had finished talking at some point, and they were waiting on us.
I jogged over, accepted the victory declaration once more, shook hands with the students, and then returned to the prep room that had been arranged for me. There, I was greeted by Maria-sama and Caesar-sama, who looked satisfied, waiting in front of the room. They seemed pleased that we had finished the match without hurting any of the students. And then, for an entirely different reason, I was thanked.
"As for the party, we've decided to push back the start time a bit. You're probably not tired, but you'd do well to pass the time in this room. If you go back out now, the students and their associates might surround you."
"That's right. It's one thing if it's just the people who were originally in that room, but students and associates from other rooms might come to look as well. Merlin is being entertained by that person, so you can rest easy and stay put."
When I wondered where the King had gotten to, I was told he was keeping grandpa company. Apparently, grandpa had wanted to come over here too, but since he would likely be followed by someone once he started moving, he reluctantly stayed behind. The reason the King was the one entertaining grandpa was that, while grandpa was somewhat reserved around Maria-sama and Caesar-sama, the King had served as his tutor in the past and grandpa could relax around him. Though apparently, that same sense of ease applied to Maria-sama and Caesar-sama as well.
So they had left the King behind as a kind of bug-repellent and came here just the two of them. And after this, they would be heading to where Tida and the others were. The reason they came to me first was that — well, they wanted it to look like the future king had come to apologize and express gratitude for pressuring me into the match...
This match had been proposed by nobles of the Reformist Faction, yet Caesar-sama, who was only supposed to have asked the favor, ended up bowing his head to me. That meant the Reformist Faction now owed me a debt. At the very least, the nobles of the Royalist and Neutral Factions — everyone outside the Reformists — would certainly see it that way. And perhaps even some within the Reformist Faction itself would start thinking the same.
"Well, since they made their move, we have to strike back."
"Simply returning the favor is too mild, isn't it? We should take this opportunity to trim the Reformists' power a little more... don't you think?"
Caesar-sama and Maria-sama both wore matching wicked grins. Sure enough, Caesar-sama was less like the King and more like Maria-sama.
"Well, that's our department, so Tenma, don't worry about it and just rest. When the party start time draws near, we'll send one of the Royal Guards to come fetch you."
With that, Caesar-sama and Maria-sama headed back to the prep room they had been in.
"Even if they say I can rest... I've got nothing to do, so I'm just bored..."
It was better than being swarmed by students or turned into a spectacle, but being bored was only marginally preferable. If I had known it would come to this, I should have brought something to kill time with. For the record, Slarin and the others were on guard duty at the mansion, and Raiden seemed to hate sitting still inside the Dimension Bag, so he had shut down his activity for the time being. The only Magic Bag I had with me contained just the carriage, and while there might be something inside it, there was no room in here to pull a carriage out. I also had the bracelet-type Magic Bag the gods had given me — it was invisible to others, but properly strapped to my wrist — though it only held weapons and food, so there was nothing in it for passing the time.
"If someone happened to notice I'm carrying weapons, it could cause trouble for Caesar-sama and the others..."
With my Search ability, it was unlikely that anyone would casually peek inside the room, but no risk was always better than any risk.
For all these reasons, it probably wouldn't help much with killing time, but just as I was about to prepare some snacks, I noticed someone approaching. At first I thought one of the Royal Guards had come to summon me, but since the person was suppressing their presence and trying not to make a footstep sound, I determined they were not a Royal Guard. Well, the moment I made that judgment, my Search revealed their identity, but... since it looked like this might actually kill some time, I decided to suppress my own presence near the door and wait for my visitor.
"This should be the room... Huh?"
"Wah!"
"Waaaaah!"
Quietly opening the door and stepping inside—
Luna—
—I startled her from behind, and she let out a scream even louder than I'd expected.
"H-ha... haah... goodness! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
After Luna finished scolding me for a good while, she spotted the snacks I was preparing with her sharp eyes and took a seat.
"Luna, are you sure you should be here?"
"I'm sure! Mom dragged me into her work right before your match!"
Curious about what Lady Isabella's work involved, I asked her about it, and apparently it was a round of formal visits. She'd been dragged along to make polite conversation and exchange information with nobles of the Royalist Faction and friendly houses, and to keep a watchful eye on hostile ones. It seemed the match had started partway through, causing a temporary pause, and before it could resume, she'd slipped away by pretending to head back to her classroom.
"Still, I'm impressed you managed to sneak snacks and juice in here."
"Well, it's not impossible if you really try to hide them. But now that you've eaten some, Luna, you're an accomplice too."
Perhaps it was the word "accomplice" that appealed to her sense of doing something a little naughty, because Luna nodded happily while reaching for a new snack. It probably wouldn't be a big deal even if we got caught, but enjoying a little snack with a side of thrill now and then might not be so bad.
"Oh right, Amy-chan seems to be really popular"
"even"
"with the dumb boys. She's smart, good at magic, and even though she's a commoner-born disciple of yours, there are guys in my year chasing after her too."
Most of the idiotic boys Luna was referring to were newly enfeoffed nobles at baron rank or below, or poor nobles who figured that if they could make Amy a concubine or a mistress, they'd gain a connection to me and Albert.
"They're aiming for a total upset, but the fact that she wouldn't be the main wife really says it all about their prospects, doesn't it~... Anyway, it's a big topic among the girls! And the 'prospects' part gets replaced with things like 'sincerity,' 'magnanimity,' or 'charm'!"
She said "among the girls," which probably meant girls she knew or girls in her year, but even so, their reputation had to be pretty terrible.
"Girls are scary, huh."
"There are those who approach you with money on their mind, so you have to be careful."
Apparently, students who were on decent terms with each other shared this kind of information.
"So how do you find out about boys with good reputations?"
"Hmm... Either a closer friend tells you, or you gather the info yourself, I think."
Luna didn't seem particularly interested in the details about boys with good reputations—she said she only needed to know enough to tell they weren't bad students. Still, while she'd never gathered information herself, she said she knew how, and told me there were broadly two methods.
"The first is 'the money method'... meaning you pay someone who looks like they'd sell information, or hire someone who could gather it for you. The second is 'the legwork method'... essentially stalking."
"Yep. With the second method, if things go well, you might get info that only you know about... but there are a lot of cases where you get caught in the middle of gathering it, and it turns into a problem."
With the first method, if you used a professional or someone trustworthy, you might be able to play dumb even if you were caught. But the stalking method was a crime or something close to it. If the person you had feelings for found out, it would be a fatal blunder.
"Come to think of it, Lion and the others were stalked once before..."
I muttered those words with a vague sense of nostalgia, but apparently it was enough to pique Luna's interest, and I ended up having to tell her the story. Well, since the stalking had been caused by Lion's cowardice, it was basically a funny anecdote, so there shouldn't be any problem. If anything, it might take Lion's image down a notch... but among the academy students, Lion's episodes of cowardice were apparently fairly well-known, so it might actually go over well. At the very least, Luna was laughing as she listened, but it wasn't the kind of laugh that mocked him, so it didn't feel like things had taken a bad turn.
"Someone should be coming along soon, I think... Luna, you came here because you were worried about me, right?"
"Hmm? That too, but the biggest reason is to get away from Mother."
Telling the truth to someone's face like that seemed questionable, but it probably meant we knew each other well enough that she felt comfortable doing so. Still, this time around I thought she could've at least lied while nodding along... I folded my hands in prayer toward Luna in my mind. Because—
"Kh... kufh!"
There was someone outside the room, peeking in to see how things were going. More than one, in fact. The one who couldn't hold back their laughter was the person at the center—the King. When the King opened the door, the group of people who had been eavesdropping behind it were revealed, and Luna froze in shock.
The King was grinning, but beside him, Isabella was watching Luna with a blank expression, and several royal guards behind them—Jean and the others—were looking off in random directions, minding their own business.
"A-Ah! Big brother, I made a mistake! Wrong, wrong! I only came because I was worried about you, and it just ended up looking like I was running away from Mother!"
Luna hurriedly tried to tell us that what she'd said earlier had just been a slip of the tongue, but the excuse was so forced that not a single person believed her. Well, Luna was so desperately persistent in making her excuses that in the end, even Isabella seemed to give up. However, as a condition, she demanded that Luna "casually let those around you know that you went to check on him because you were worried about him." By doing this, the plan was to emphasize that the royal family felt guilty even though it was the Reformist Faction that had proposed it, thereby manipulating public perception. In truth, I hardly cared at all, apparently, but by painting the Reformist Faction as the villains, they could win over the others as allies. I was being used as the core of that strategy, and as compensation for that, they would pressure the other nobles by implying something along the lines of "If you push him too hard, the royal family's approval and the people's opinion of you might drop"... or so I was told.
"Well, it's a trick you could only pull off thanks to how popular Tenma is with the people!"
"That's right! Grandfather wouldn't be able to pull that off, would he!"
The King laughed at Luna's words, though the joke apparently stung a little, because he roughly ruffled Luna's hair as he did so.
"Your Majesty, it is nearly time, so perhaps it would be best to return to the waiting room."
Jean's reminder seemed to jog the King and the others' memory of why they were in this room in the first place, and they hurried back to the waiting room in a slight flurry. On the way, Isabella grabbed Luna by the arm, the King secured a few snacks he hadn't finished and ate them as they walked.
"Oh, Tenma. You're a little late, aren't you?"
"Sorry about that, Maria-sama. I got more worked up than I expected, so I was chatting with Luna to calm my nerves."
At my words, Luna nodded repeatedly. Maria-sama saw that and seemed to realize the real reason Luna had been with me, but she deliberately chose not to bring it up. Instead, she said,
"I see. Luna must have had a rough time too. Well, among the royal family, Luna is very close to Tenma, so she's a perfect conversation partner."
She said this in a voice loud enough for the Reformists in the waiting room to hear, praising Luna. She also kept subtly twisting the knife — apologizing for not being able to refuse while casually making it clear that this was the Reformists' responsibility, among other pointed remarks. And then,
"Everyone, the party preparations are complete. Please make your way to the venue in order."
The party had begun.