—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
With many listening ears around, Chrom suggested they move, and the two arranged to meet again in the evening.
The meeting place was a restaurant near the academy.
Instead of the usual rectangular sign bearing only the shop’s name, a colorful one with a comical chicken and egg hung overhead, drawing the eye to the lone person beneath it.
A brown ponytail.
Compared to Lyla, who was relatively tall for a woman, her build was small and slender, her clothes emphasizing mobility.
Swords, spears, daggers, gauntlets.
At a glance, the collection of weapons seemed chaotic and overly dramatic for everyday wear, but they appeared as natural as a part of her body, perhaps due to the girl’s unique aura.
Lyla was the first to greet Regret, who was looking down at her from the top of the restaurant’s steps.
“Hello. Come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve faced each other and greeted like this. I am Lyla Everblaze Barhardt.”
Her elegant gesture, accompanied by a faint smile, was enough to make one feel as if they were not in a remote alley of a shopping district, but invited to a magnificent ballroom.
Even Regret, who had spent a harsh childhood as a street orphan and considered noble etiquette nothing more than empty formalities, couldn’t help but let out a small gasp of admiration.
Regret smirked, the corner of her mouth curling up as she replied.
“Regret.”
It was an excessively short reply for an imperial princess who carried the blood of the emperor, even if her place in the line of succession was far down the list.
The corner of Lyla’s eye twitched.
Regret added.
“Sorry, but I don’t have a long name to say, and I can’t do that polite way of talking. They don’t teach that at the academy.”
—I’m a commoner with no family name and not well-educated, so I don’t know the etiquette of high-ranking people. But wasn’t it your country that recruited people based on their fighting skills, regardless of formalities? If you have a complaint, why don’t you go and tell the Emperor?
It was an attitude that could easily be taken as a provocation, but Lyla was no ordinary person either.
“You don’t have to worry about it. It’s a trivial matter between fellow students of the same academy, and I can’t possibly find fault with someone who has come out to greet me like this.”
—You think I’m scared to fight without our titles? By the way, I’m the invited guest and you seem to be the one guiding me, so why don’t you just do your job?
Sparks flew between the two.
Their lives, their ways of thinking, were polar opposites.
Moreover, it was inevitable that two people with strong pride in their abilities and a competitive spirit, albeit in different ways, would clash like this.
“…”
“…”
Just as a few seconds of silence passed,
“Oh? What are you two doing, not coming in? The food is ready.”
With a voice like tinkling bells, Fiore Midas peeked her head out from the restaurant’s main entrance.
“I worked hard with Oppa to make it, and it turned out quite well. Now, come in quickly before it gets cold!”
The sight of the bluish-silver-haired girl smiling brightly and saying, ‘Come on, come on, quickly!’ made the two of them feel the tension leave their shoulders.
They suddenly felt foolish for what they were doing.
The two, who entered the restaurant in a slightly deflated mood, did not know.
That the boy with the golden monocle had roughly predicted this situation and had deliberately sent Regret to greet Lyla, thinking it would be less tiring for them to let off some steam outside rather than having a war of nerves inside the restaurant.
If the two of them had known that, regardless of their past grudges, they might have teamed up to kill the con artist first.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
It was a bit lacking to be described as a feast of delicacies, but.
Lyla was slightly surprised by the sight of the food, which was much more colorful than what was sold in most restaurants, filling the table.
“Did you two really make all of this?”
Chrom shrugged.
“We left the basic preparation to the shop owner and just added the finishing touches and a few special ingredients. And even then, Fiore did most of it.”
“The ingredients were unusual, so it was quite fun.”
“Anyway, let’s eat first and talk later. It’ll be faster to explain that way.”
What did he mean by ‘eating would make the explanation faster’?
Feeling a slight sense of doubt, Lyla turned her gaze to a dish in front of her.
A salad of crumbled cheese, bite-sized tomatoes, and green vegetables.
The black powder scattered in between looked similar to pepper, but she could barely smell it.
‘…Not bad.’
It wasn’t good enough to be called exceptionally delicious, but it wasn’t bad enough to warrant a negative review either.
For Lyla, whose palate was quite refined due to her living environment, if she felt this way, it must be excellent for a typical restaurant dish.
“Is it to your liking?”
At Fiore’s question, Lyla nodded.
“Yes, it’s wonderful.”
“Wow, I’m so glad. I was so worried about disappointing the princess since we were serving you.”
Lyla laughed at how cute Fiore looked, puffing out her chest.
She was a girl with a considerable talent for disarming others.
It would be quite scary if she was doing it intentionally.
Lyla looked around.
Regret seemed to like the thinly sliced meat that appeared to have been marinated in a pinkish sauce, as she kept eating it, and next to her, Chrom was nibbling at all the dishes, taking only one bite of each.
Lyla was beginning to feel a little bewildered, wondering if this was really just a simple meal, but a slight sense of unease washed over her.
A very subtle change, like a single drop of water being added to a huge bathtub, that no one but Lyla, with her extremely high mana control, would have noticed.
‘…My mana, it increased?’
Lyla instinctively looked at Chrom, but Chrom only gave a meaningful smile.
‘Let’s talk in detail after eating, it’ll be faster that way.’
Finally understanding the true meaning of what Chrom had said, Lyla quietly focused on her meal.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the table was cleared, Lyla asked bluntly.
“Do you all consume something like that every day?”
Chrom smiled playfully.
“Eating the same thing all the time gets boring. I may not look for it, but I like new challenges, so I’m trying various things.”
Lyla knew about the existence of special ingredients that could increase a user’s mana capacity by consuming them, and she had even taken them a few times.
But that was all.
The Empire, with its vast territory and immense power, had collected the secret techniques of various countries and, in the same way, had various know-hows on how to improve innate mana capacity, but most of them had the disadvantage of having extremely difficult preparation methods or requiring rare ingredients.
The supply could not keep up with the demand.
And now the boy in front of her said this.
He possessed means to improve mana that others did not know.
And not just one, but several.
“…I see, that’s amazing.”
The simple words, lacking in colorful adjectives, were for that very reason all the more sincere.
It wasn’t that desperate for Lyla, who was born with monstrous mana, but it was information that could earn her a huge reward if she reported it to the Empire.
But she had been surprised a little too quickly.
“A ring that improves mana control. A throne that allows one to see a thousand miles away. A mana stone that doubles the power of a specific attribute spell, or conversely, reduces the mana consumption.”
“Those sound like imaginary magic tools from a storybook.”
“What if they’re not imaginary?”
“…Are you serious?”
Lyla glared at Chrom.
At the sight of her opponent, who didn’t even blink at her fierce expression, which would have surprised those who knew her usual gentle demeanor, Lyla’s fingertips trembled faintly.
“I don’t have them right now. But I know when and where I can get them.”
“In the world, that’s called an empty promise.”
“Yes, but I think I’ve shown enough cards to increase its credibility.”
Leaning back comfortably in his chair, Chrom continued.
“Honestly, food that increases mana capacity probably isn’t of great value to you, Lyla-nim. But I have various other cards, and I’m confident that among them, there are items that will be attractive enough for you. It’s just that I need your ability to obtain them.”
“Then, what do I have to pay as a price?”
Chrom replied.
“You, Lyla-nim.”
At the blunt answer, Lyla frowned for a moment and then sighed.
“I don’t want to cut down a fellow student for high treason, Chrom.”
“Hmm, excuse me. That was a bit crude.”
Chrom continued.
“I want your abilities, Lyla-nim. You can help me in situations like the last dungeon trip, and there will be plenty of other things to work on in the future.”
“I can’t help you every time you want. I have my own circumstances.”
“That’s a matter of course. It’s enough if you lend a hand when you have the capacity. I’ll pay you well enough.”
As he said that, Chrom handed a small note to Lyla.
“What’s this?”
“It’s one of the secret methods I know for improving mana. I chose one with relatively easy-to-obtain ingredients and one that doesn’t attract attention. I can’t invite you to every meal, after all.”
“…What’s the request?”
“I need an instructor. In the last assignment and in this dungeon trip, I felt the need to raise the level of the people around me.”
“Alright. I accept.”
At the surprisingly clean and immediate answer, this time it was Chrom who widened his eyes.
“Are you sure? It might be inconvenient for you in many ways if word gets out that you’re hanging out with our group.”
Lyla looked at Chrom as if he were absurd.
“Is that something the person who has been sticking to me like glue in every class should say?”
“Well, I just thought I’d snatch up an empty seat that no one was occupying anyway.”
“Then a reputation that no one even wants to sit next to won’t change much even if it’s slightly tarnished.”
Lyla stood up.
Chrom saw her off.
That was enough.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
