Chapter 42 – Indeterminate Polyhedron (1)
Sina was hesitant, but raised her wooden sword in the end. She was not the type to give up before even trying, just because she had a low chance of winning. Even if she had to end up with her left arm broken as well, she wouldn’t turn down this spar.
Kamil raised her sword high, ready to pin Sina. Such a stance wasn’t commonly seen, but to those that made speed their weapon, it would be extremely familiar.
Sina waited for Kamil to attack first; she was unable to attack first with her limping leg.
Kamil breathed out a long and exasperated sigh, then charged at Sina as fast as lightning.
At that moment, Sina’s vision blurred.
Thak! Thwack!
“Stop!” Ethan yelled at the same time as a short sound of impact.
Both Sina and Kamil’s eyes widened with surprise. Kamil’s attack was blocked by Sina’s wooden sword. At the same time, Kamil’s attack was fast and heavy, causing Sina to drop her wooden sword with unbearable pain in her wrist.
“You saw that, Kamil? She can even withstand your attack.”
“...You’re right,” Kamil answered.
“Sina, Kamil is well known for her speedy attacks among our knight order. It’s very impressive that you were able to withstand her attack.”
“Yes. It’s an honor, Sir,” Sina answered with a bitter smile. She knew how pathetic her display really was. Kamil’s attack didn’t feel as fast as Ethan made it out to be, which made it clear that Kamil went easy on her. But Sina couldn’t even handle Kamil going easy on her, and ended up dropping her sword.
The only image that came into Sina’s mind when she heard ‘speedy attack’ was the moment when Juan charged toward her.
“Focus on recovery for now, and come find us later if you plan to continue honing your swordsmanship,” Ethan offered.
“Pardon?”
“Our knight order happens to have a vacancy for a Templar at the moment, although we have yet to retrieve the equipment.”
Sina initially couldn’t understand Ethan’s words, but soon realized that Ethan had offered her a spot among the Templars of the Order of the White Crow. It was an overwhelming offer to simply consider as a kind act or a joke.
“Well, we’ll get going now. See you next time.”
Sina waved at them dumbfoundedly. She felt drained.
Meanwhile, Ethan quickly erased the mischievous expression on his face when he was alone with Kamil. His fast steps up the hill with a serious look showed just how shaken he was.
“Kamil. Was your attack earlier serious?” Ethan questioned.
“Captain, Sina is a Knight of Honor. I would never go easy on her, even if she was injured.”
Ethan heavily nodded at Kamil’s words. Kamil’s attacks toward Sina were so fast that even Ethan would find them difficult to block. However, Sina had immediately blocked two attacks in a row with ease, and she didn’t even realize that she had done so.
“Sina Solvane. I seem to have some impression of this name,” Ethan muttered after pondering for a while.
“Have you met her before?”
“No. I had just come across her name while going through papers while I was looking for Celim’s replacement. Back then, she had good skills considering that she was aiming to become a Templar within the Holy City of Torra, but I remember her not being good enough to actually join the ranks of the Templars. Just what does one have to experience to reach that level in such a short amount of time?”
“It’s certainly no ordinary experience, and neither is she an ordinary talent.”
“We need to get her to join the ranks of the Templars in our knight order no matter what. Kamil, support her as much as we can for a proper recovery. She will definitely be better than punks like Arwain,” Ethan determinedly said.
“Yes, Captain. I’ll be meeting the Bishop soon, so I’ll ask for help with the treatment.”
“We will be needing lots of talented individuals, so we have to hurry. Sina is already impressive, but just imagine how amazing she would be with both hands,” Ethan said as he walked up the hill.
A large city came into his view; it was Hiveden, the lawless city.
***
“How has Juan been? I figured that he wouldn’t be the type to stay put in his room.”
Two days had passed. Heretia had been busy ever since the morning in preparation to attend Earl Henborn’s banquet.
As Heretia asked, curious as to why there hadn’t been any updates on Juan’s condition, the younger of Heretia’s guards, who had been in charge of keeping an eye on Juan, put on a concerned look.
“Don’t tell me that you took your eyes off him.”
“No, my lady. However, I did forget about him for a while… after all, he hasn’t left his room at all.”
“What?”
“Um, never mind leaving his room, he didn’t even ask for a bath or food, so I was thinking that I got an easy job. Oh, but he didn’t run away. He was lying down on his bed whenever I opened the door, so I just assumed that he was tired…”
“You idiot! Why are you telling me this just now!” Heretia yelled as she kicked the young man in the shin. She stopped putting on makeup and ran to Juan’s room in haste.
‘He did seem like he was not used to such a luxurious tavern, but he didn’t even eat?’
Heretia felt that it would be quite frustrating if Juan got sick or suddenly died in his bed at such a time. She charged into Juan’s room without even knocking.
“Juan!”
“Yes, let’s go.”
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What Heretia encountered was Juan calmly answering her, rather than his corpse. Juan was standing beside the bed and getting ready to leave, looking exactly the same as the time Heretia had first met him.
Heretia took her eyes off Juan, who seemed neither starved nor sick, and glared at the young guard beside her. The guard seemed dumbfounded, but Heretia decided to focus on something more practical.
“Are you going to attend the banquet looking like that?” Heretia asked.
“Why?”
Juan’s appearance was close to that of a refugee. He wouldn’t be particularly noticeable in the lawless city of Hiveden, but Heretia couldn’t bring him to the banquet of a nobleman looking the way he currently did.
“Stay right there. I’ll get my maids right away.”
Not long after, Juan walked out to the tavern’s hallway with a dissatisfied look. Juan felt as if the last hour had been nothing but torture after being bathed, getting his hair washed, being perfumed, and having his skin cared for. Juan wasn’t used to such an uncomfortable experience; back when he was the emperor, the servants immediately bowed their heads at even the slightest show of discomfort from him.
‘I guess there was one person I did experience this with… Harmon.’
Juan recalled an experience of being forcibly grabbed by Harmon and having his hair brushed before he had to give a public speech. The only difference this time, the experience was a hundred times more annoying.
In many ways, Juan seemed to be getting entangled with the Helwin family. He thought he had been much more at peace when he had to fight in the colosseum or when he fought against Arwain.
“Are you satisfied now?” Juan said with a frown, wearing the clothes that Heretia bought for him.
From the moment Juan appeared, the maids whispered nonstop about something with their mouth covered with their hands. Heretia’s pupils shook for a moment, but soon surveyed Juan’s body from head to toe. She seemed utterly satisfied.
“It’s perfect! I knew that I had a good sense of fashion.”
Juan was wearing a black suit-like uniform. He hadn’t been measured, yet Heretia knew his exact height and size. Juan’s long bobbed hair was oiled and neatly combed. Heretia approached Juan to get a closer look.
“I did have faith in my good eyes, but I didn’t think I was this good… people would think of you as a great noble if you had a lighter hair color. All women in the empire might end up falling for you once you grow taller.”
Juan looked back at Heretia with a disgusted look, but Heretia clapped her hand with disregard.
“Great! Keep that look on your face as long as possible. The more violent you look, the more noble ladies will go crazy over your rarity. Well-tamed beasts ought to be popular.”
Juan gave up on taking his anger out on Heretia. She reminded him of Harmon; Neither of them looked back when trying to achieve their goals.
“...Must you really do this?”
“It’s better than looking like a beggar. Plus, it helps to win Earl Henborn over since he likes fancy things, not to mention that this will also be saving face for me.”
Juan thought attending the banquet was a cheap price to pay back his debt to Harmon at first. But after experiencing all this, he started to think otherwise.
Heretia finally attached a fancy ornamental sword to Juan’s waist as a cherry on top.
“What is this?”
“The noble ladies’ taste. Everyone is limited to only one guard at the banquet.”
***
Unlike other lawless areas in Hiveden, Earl Henborn’s mansion was located on a highland in the north. His mansion was filled with clean and fancy buildings, spacious parks with neatly maintained trees, and closely monitored security personnel.
In reality, this place was filled with the leaders of the dark organizations that controlled Hiveden, the nobles who colluded with them, and the merchants who made money off of the fraudulent practices. Such people were gathered together to enjoy the banquet in front of Juan’s eyes.
“Oh my, look at him.”
“Wow, huh? I’ve never seen such dark hair before…”
“Where did that boy come from…”
Just as Heretia had expected, Juan caught everyone’s eyes in the banquet as soon as he appeared. The nobles couldn’t take their eyes off Juan while whispering to each other nonstop.
Meanwhile, Juan found such attention uncomfortable. He even thought being forced into taking a bath and getting his nails done was better than this.
Juan could see a few others that were in the same situation as him.
They all had black hair, but it was lighter or mixed with a different color. None of them was younger than Juan, nor did any of them have black eyes to go with their black hair. Juan even felt jealous gazes being cast toward himself as he had stolen all attention of the banquet.
‘Are they serious?’
Juan was speechless at their jealous gazes. His only mission was to behave well and stay put until Heretia was done with her business as she had told him. Fortunately, Juan had quite a few banquet experiences.
Heretia acted in an elegant manner regardless of the jealous gazes toward her. However, the party organizer couldn’t leave someone who hogged all the attention of the party alone. Shortly after, Earl Henborn approached Heretia.
“Lady Helwin! Thank you for attending my banquet. I welcome you!,” Earl Henborn welcomed Heretia.
“It’s a splendid banquet you hold, Earl Henborn. Much fancier than the ones you see within the capital.”
“Well, there are lots of old-fashioned pigs within the capital. Anyway, you have brought along a magnificent boy with you. He seems to be a good breed.”
Juan slightly raised his eyebrows at the Earl’s words. He got a rough idea of what the leaders of the empire thought of the Demi-Humans or any others that come from outside the empire, calling humans a ‘breed.’
“It did take me a long time to train him, but he has a good nature,” Heretia answered.
“I can already tell that the Helwin family has excellent eyes at a glance. I bet he will be mentioned in my banquets for a while. If there is a chance, I would really appreciate it if you could allow me to crossbreed him with one of mine. I will pay you as much as you want for his sperm. I would really like to have one like him myself.”
Heretia placed her hand over Juan’s hand, as she noticed that he had placed his hand on the ornamental sword. Earl Henborn was yet to notice his subtle movement.
“It would be an honor, but he is still a young boy. I will let you know if I get the chance in the future.”
“I will be looking forward.to hearing from you. Please do enjoy the banquet,” Earl Henborn said.
As Earl Henborn bowed politely and tried to leave, Heretia slightly covered her mouth with a teacup.
Earl Henborn paused for a moment since he couldn’t leave without a lady’s reply. It was also an unspoken message implying there was something more to talk about.
“Now that I think about it, I have heard that the Earl has also acquired quite a valuable item recently.”
Earl Henborn’s eyes narrowed.
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