BBYW Vol. 3 Interlude Part 5 (WN)
Interlude – Royal Martial Tournament
Part 5 – A Cove of Renegades
Even after leaving the arena, Echidna wouldn’t leave me alone: in the end, we went to a restaurant on the main avenue for dinner.
We ordered a relatively gorgeous course and chatted about recent events while drinking wine.
We stayed until closing time, then I escorted Echidna to the horse carriage I had called for in advance.
“Are you going back to the dorm, Dyn? You can stay over if you like…”
I had a room at the academy’s dormitory, while Echidna rented a residence in the capital and attended school from there.
Because of the alcohol, Echidna’s skin — widely exposed by her provocative dress — was a deep pink.
Droplets of sweat lined her breasts: every time she moved, they swayed as if inviting me.
“Very appealing offer, but maybe next time. There’s a full moon out tonight, so I wanted to do some night sky-gazing.”
“Really? You can be pretty romantic sometimes.”
Echidna cocked her head to the side, then disappeared inside the carriage. The House Thunderbird butler accompanying her bowed at me and followed her.
I watched the carriage disappear down the main avenue, then returned inside the restaurant.
“Oh? Did you forget something, sir?”
“Yes, kind of. Don’t mind me.”
The young waiter looked at me with surprise. I waved him away and proceeded to the back of the restaurant.
“S-Sir, you can’t go…”
“Leave him be.”
The young waiter tried to stop me from going inside the staff’s quarters, but an older employee put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.
“B-But that’s the staff room…?”
“You’re new, right? Just forget it.”
Leaving the staff to their conversation, I entered the restaurant manager’s office.
“Hey, how’s the business going?”
“Oh, I have been waiting for you, Sir.”
I entered without even knocking, but the man inside — slicked back hair and black suit — welcomed me politely. He stood from his chair and bowed his head deeply.
The man’s name was Kisaragi: he belonged to the squad of assassins at my service, the “Fangs of Steel” — more precisely, he was one of the commanders of the group.
Kisaragi’s public face was the manager of the restaurant, but his actual role was to gather information for me about the recent movements in the capital.
The staff of the restaurant was mainly composed of “Fangs of Steel” spies and assassins, who secretly kept tabs on the royal palace and central nobles.
“Where are the guys that were tailing us? You caught them, right?”
I threw myself on the sofa and asked, without preambles, about the first order of business on my mind.
Earlier that day, when I left the arena with Echidna, I noticed that a group of men started following us.
I purposely chose crowded streets, so they didn’t try to do anything, but they were clearly suspicious.
“Naturally, young master. I must say I am impressed, though. To notice that they were following you…”
“I don’t think Echidna did, though. Well, she’s not used to being targeted by assassins like I am.”
“As expected of our Master.”
When I noticed the suspicious lot following us, I went to the restaurant managed by the “Fangs of Steel” and secretly gave them instructions to capture and interrogate the stalkers.
I drank with Echidna until closing time just to give them time to finish interrogating the prisoners.
“It appears that they are swordsmen with ties to Marquis Saverne.”
“Saverne…I’ve heard that name somewhere…”
If memory serves me right, the young noble I fought in the tournament mentioned that name. I recalled the noble’s words and snapped my fingers.
“Now I remember…I see, Saverne the Sword Saint.”
House Saverne inherited the title of “Sword Saint” from the time of the first Lamperouge king, for their legendary exploits on the battlefield.
At present, they have the role of official sword instructors of the royal family: the Saverne style was considered the apex of swordsmanship in Lamperouge.
“It’s considered a minor style in the eastern province, so I didn’t really care to listen…so, why is House Saverne following me around, anyway?”
“Actually, Sir…”
Kisaragi sat on the sofa across from me, his expression turning grave.