Chapter 9 - The Banquet (3)
'No, there's no way.'
Thinking so, I averted my gaze again.
It was true that Argon was walking in my direction.
But it wasn't like I was the only one in this area.
It was possible he might just pass by.
So, like the others, I tried not to pay him any mind.
If I stared at him and our eyes happened to meet, interest that wasn't there before was bound to arise.
"What's wrong all of a sudden?"
When I turned my head, Roen asked with a puzzled expression.
I smiled nonchalantly and put the cake in my mouth.
"It's nothing. Just saying this cake is delicious."
"Hmph~ Is it that good?"
She also picked up the same kind of cake she had given me and put it in her mouth.
"Wow! It's really delicious."
Roen exclaimed in admiration and quickly finished off the remaining cake on her plate.
Even while that was happening, my attention was entirely focused on Argon.
No matter how much I decided not to mind him, his footsteps grew closer and closer as time passed.
It was difficult to ignore the sound as well.
'Why on earth?'
At this point, I couldn't shake the question.
In the first place, I had no connection whatsoever with the Philhart family, let alone Argon.
Why on earth was that guy approaching me?
Thud—
Before long, the footsteps were right nearby.
Now it couldn't be helped.
I turned my head toward Argon.
It wasn't like I had committed a crime, so there was no reason to hide.
Thud—
'Huh?'
But contrary to my expectation, Argon passed me by without even a glance.
As if he hadn't come to meet me.
"You there."
My relief was brief.
Argon's steps suddenly stopped, and a deep voice followed.
'Of course…'
Our eyes met.
It seemed what Argon wanted was a 'coincidence'.
Not that he came to meet me, but that he just happened to run into me while passing by.
But whatever the case, for me, nothing much changed.
"Are you speaking to me."
I answered, holding my head high with confidence.
To that, Argon neither confirmed nor denied.
He slowly scanned my entire body, then furrowed his brow and opened his mouth.
"You possess quite a peculiar mana."
"..."
I couldn't offer any reply.
It wasn't that I was doing it on purpose.
It was just that I couldn't understand what he was talking about.
In the meantime, Argon turned his body and started walking somewhere again.
"Roen?"
Coming to my senses, I turned my gaze to Roen.
She had a somewhat dazed look on her face.
"Uh, huh?"
"What were you thinking about to be so spaced out?"
"Me? When was I?"
Roen smiled brightly as if to ask when she had ever done that and put down her empty plate.
She naturally picked up another plate with cake on it and asked me.
"By the way, who were you talking to just now?"
"Who do you mean, it was Argon Phil…"
I turned my head in the direction Argon had walked, but he was already gone.
"Argon Philhart? Pfft! What nonsense are you talking about? There's no way he would suddenly come to the 2nd floor, right?"
"…What?"
"Did you have a dream in the meantime or something?"
At Roen's reaction, a hollow laugh escaped me in disbelief.
She didn't remember the fact that Argon had come and gone.
No, perhaps she hadn't even perceived it at all.
In other words, it meant that Argon had used magic on her.
Considering the bizarre phenomenon I felt when he first appeared, it probably wasn't just Roen who was affected by the magic, but everyone in this place.
'What on earth was that…'
And all he did after causing such a scene was leave an incomprehensible remark to me, someone he had never met before.
I felt like I could understand why Argon was called the Unknown Mage.
'Peculiar mana.'
I slowly replayed his words.
In truth, peculiar or not, I had no mana in the first place.
What was in my body instead of mana was only Aura.
Making his words even harder to understand…
'Wait, don't tell me.'
Suddenly, a possibility flashed through my mind.
If this was true, I might not need to hide my Aura anymore.
***
Inside a private lounge within the banquet hall.
"Why are we suddenly here?"
Roen asked me with a bewildered expression.
I answered her while locking the entrance we came through.
"I have a favor to ask you."
"H-here?"
At that, Roen flinched slightly and looked around.
Besides the two of us, there was no one else in the lounge.
In fact, it couldn't be otherwise, because I had asked her to show me a place where we could be alone in the first place.
"Wh-wh-what is it, the favor…?"
Perhaps because of that, she seemed to have jumped to a strange conclusion.
I first corrected that.
"It's not the kind of weird favor you're thinking of, so you don't have to back away. I don't even see you as a woman in the first place."
"Wh-what did I think!"
"If you didn't, then fine. Anyway, stop moving away and come over here."
She, who had already backed away three steps, came toward me again with a suspicious look on her face.
I held both my arms up to reassure her.
"If you're really anxious, I'll stay like this. I'm just trying to ask one really simple favor."
"Pfft. No, it's fine, you can put your hands down. I know you're not that kind of person. I was just teasing a little."
Roen straightened her hunched body and smiled slightly.
Well, if she had been that worried, she wouldn't have followed me here in the first place.
"…But what you added on at the end before, were you serious?"
"Hm?"
"That you don't even see me as a woman. …Am I that unattractive?"
"No, that's not what I meant, it's just…"
I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence.
Of course, she wasn't unattractive as a woman.
No, it would be more correct to say she was quite attractive.
Internally, I didn't know her well yet, but at least externally, that was the case.
However, there was one big problem between her and me.
'What can I do, you're just too young.'
If you include my past life, my age is a whopping fifty.
In contrast, Roen's age is fifteen.
From her perspective, I might be the same age, but to me, she was practically a late-born daughter.
Would I be crazy enough to see a girl of my daughter's age as a woman?
"Just? Just what?"
But it wasn't something I could say out loud.
I just mumbled something vaguely and changed the subject.
"Anyway, it's something like that. More importantly, about the favor, I'm going to show you something, and I want you to tell me what it looks like."
"…Show me? What?"
Although she had a somewhat displeased expression, thankfully, she didn't seem to want to dig deeper.
I held out my hand in front of her and continued to explain.
"You'll know when you see it. But before you see it, promise me one thing. That you will never tell anyone what you see here."
"Hmm~ That's not too difficult, but."
Roen crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
She continued in a slightly haughty pose.
"Just with words?"
However, she didn't seem very serious.
Rather than seriously weighing the pros and cons, it felt more like she wanted to create a small justification for granting the favor.
"Is there something you want?"
"Umm~."
Perhaps she hadn't thought that far ahead; her deliberation continued for a little while.
In the end, unable to wait any longer, I spoke first.
"If that's the case, then tell me later when you think of something you want. If it's something I can do, I'll grant your favor once too."
"Oh, good!"
Roen readily accepted the proposal.
For her, there was nothing to lose.
"So, what is it you're going to show me? What is it that you're going to this extent for?"
"Hoo… watch closely."
I slowly took a deep breath and moved a part of the Aura in my body.
It followed my will, passed through my arm, and arrived at my hand, and at the moment Roen was fully focused on my hand.
Woooong—
I brought the Aura out above my hand.
"…Huh?"
Red Aura shimmered above my hand.
Roen saw it from quite a close distance and froze with her mouth agape in surprise.
After about 3 seconds had passed like that.
I withdrew the Aura and asked her.
"How was it?"
"..."
Since there was no answer, I felt unnecessarily anxious.
But it was something I had to do at least once anyway.
I steeled my mind and waited for her answer.
And a short while later.
Roen opened her mouth.
"How do you have mana…"
That was exactly the answer I wanted.
***
Fwoong— Thwack!
A mana-imbued fist struck the wooden dummy.
On the outside, it looked like a simple wooden doll, but it was a specially made dummy for the training of mages.
Thus, it was designed to withstand up to 3rd Circle magic, but it was not enough to handle Tiana's attack.
Crumble.
The wooden dummy collapsed powerlessly on the spot.
"Huaah…"
Tiana caught her breath and threw off her gauntlets.
Thud! Thump!
The gauntlets were so heavy that they hit the ground with a loud noise.
"Have some water while you do that."
Just then, a middle-aged woman approached and handed her a glass of water.
The woman's identity was Tiana's mother and the lady of the Bellona family, Jade Bellona.
"Puha! Thank you."
Tiana immediately gulped down the water.
She then headed to a nearby bench, sat down, and asked.
"But you came early, didn't you? There should still be time left until the sparring match starts."
The reason she was training so hard, breaking a sweat, was because she too was participating in the sparring match.
Her father, and even the people of the Philhart great house, were all watching.
She had to become strong to win, no matter what.
"The match-up chart is out."
"…Who is my opponent?"
And more important than this training was the luck of the draw.
In the first place, the sparring at the banquet was not a tournament to determine a final winner, but just an event.
Whether you win or lose, everyone was finished after one match.
That meant that depending on who my sparring opponent was, I could become a winner or a loser.
"Congratulations."
Jade said, handing over the match-up chart with the corners of her mouth raised.
"Hoo…"
Tiana took a deep breath to compose herself, then received the chart.
'Buttner, Pillak, Moreun. …As long as it's not one of those three.'
She earnestly prayed that it wasn't one of those three families, which was as good as a confirmed loss, and slowly scanned the chart.
And not long after, she found the box with Tiana Bellona written on it.
'My opponent is…!'
The other box connected to the one with her name on it.
There, the name of her sparring opponent was written.
"Huh?"
Lael Peron.
At the appearance of a completely unexpected name, Tiana couldn't hide her bewilderment.
"…Is this the kid I think it is?"
"Of course. The Peron family only has that one child, don't they."
"I should be happy about this… right?"
She knew roughly who this person named Lael was.
That he was weak enough to earn the nickname 'the incompetent'.
But because of that, her heart felt a little conflicted.
Putting aside the fact that she could win, she worried it might be too hollow a match.
If that kid were to fall with a single punch, the opportunity to show off the flashy techniques she had prepared for this day would be gone.
"Of course you should be happy!"
At that, Jade said with a bright smile, as if to tell her not to worry.
"Just like when you were facing that dummy, it just means you get to end the duel whenever you want."
Tiana glanced at the broken wooden dummy.
And she recalled her training from a moment ago.
It wasn't a very difficult task for her to destroy it in one blow.
However, she had put it off until the very end.
Otherwise, her training would have ended with a single punch.
"…Aha."
Only then did Tiana understand her mother's intention.
There was certainly no reason not to be happy.
However, if there was one thing that bothered her…
"I feel sorry for that kid named Lael."
She felt a little sorry for him, who would be used as a stepping stone for her success.