***
Not knowing the external circumstances, we were wracking our brains trying to figure out what to do with those innocent, helpless seven-year-old children who couldn’t possibly comprehend anything.
“Calm down for now, Cherrya. Getting angry won’t solve anything. Let’s think of a solution.”
“…. Huh, okay.”
I took a deep breath, rubbing my stiff neck. Once I managed to calm my anger to some extent, those who had been sneaking around behind Enoch somehow found their way out again.
“Sorry, Cherrya…”
“Don’t be angry.”
“Yeah, we were pestering Olivia to go in together. It’s our fault.”
Seeing them apologize one by one, it seemed the children were aware of their situation.
The sight of them, like scolded puppies, offering apologies, softened my resolve, and I couldn’t bring myself to be harsh till the end. I sighed.
“It’s dangerous here, so it’s best if we go back for now.”
Still, I resolved not to be friends with those kids. I looked at Enoch with determination.
“What should we do?”
“How about handing over the safety of the lady Balmore to Osric Balmore?”
I raised my eyebrows at Enoch’s suggestion.
“No way. How can he compete in a hunting competition with all those things hanging around? To be honest, you and I are just fighting over our pride, but for him that’s the future at stake.”
“……….!”
Olivia nodded vigorously with a worried expression at my words.
Looking at Enoch with earnest eyes, it seemed like she sincerely wanted to prevent harm to her brother.
‘If that’s the case, they shouldn’t have come here in the first place.’
I felt another surge of anger, but reminding myself that they were only seven years old, I clenched my teeth.
Enoch, also seven, seemed so mature that it was easy to forget that these kids represented the seven-year-olds among the nobility.
Since they had everything they wanted, they might have acted recklessly in a moment of impulse.
“Let’s just take all three of us out. We can exit through the secret passage they sneaked in from.”
This time, Enoch nodded at my suggestion.
“It’s easy for us to get caught because all the attention is focused on us. Plus, when the hunting competition gets underway, they say they patrol more thoroughly to prevent the game from escaping from the forest.”
“Ugh…”
Enoch and I looked at the three frozen figures with cold, indifferent eyes.
“Since you came here on your own, you figure out how to leave…”
Look at those faces, now on the verge of tears, as I muttered.
“Guess it won’t work after all.”
What to do now? Despite pondering this way and that, there was no clear solution, and I found myself wanting to cry in this frustrating situation.
“This is all your fault, Enoch.”
Annoyed, I tousled my hair with my hand, sheathed my sword, and strapped it securely to my waist.
Enoch might be the most handsome among our peers or whatever, but I didn’t expect her to go this far. I decided to consider this an opportunity to learn many things.
“I’ll abstain. They’re my friends, after all. I should take responsibility and bring them back.”
If I couldn’t make a significant impact at the hunting tournament, not only would my parents be disappointed, but my grandfather would be too. However, leaving those kids alone would mean being kicked out of the house.
They said Emblem’s sword shines the brightest when protecting the weak and guarding one’s own people.
So, shouldn’t I also act in line with the motto?
“Let’s go. I’ll take you to the exit, and when we’re there, tell the patrolling knights you got lost while playing.”
“Cherrya…”
The small puppies looked at me with eyes full of emotion. It wasn’t cute at all.
“Instead, don’t ever involve Enoch and me in your schemes again, got it?”
“….Yeah, got it.”
“Isn’t the response rather unsatisfactory?”
“GOT IT!”
I firmly secured promises from the other two, including Olivia. If I could be forever liberated from these troublemakers, I wouldn’t mind surrendering at this point.
It was disappointing because Enoch, who was trying to live with Aunt Diana anyway, didn’t seem to be happy even if he had won, but there was nothing to be depressed about.
Later, if I secretly tell my mom, dad, and grandpa about the reason for my abstention, they will all praise me.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait!”
As I tried to lead the three puppies away, Enoch urgently grabbed my wrist.
He had a complicated expression.
“If you abstain, I also…”
“Hey, you said it yourself. All eyes are on us. If it’s just me, maybe I wouldn’t be noticed, but if both of us move together, there’s a real chance of getting caught.”
I quickly pulled my wrist from Enoch’s grasp.
It’s because I’m conscious of those three pairs of eyes, waiting for a moment to express gratitude to me, and resisting the urge to whine about holding hands with Enoch too.
Despite the determined look in their eyes, I felt there was something missing – that their didn’t cling to me and cry like before.
I continued to gaze at Enoch, who still seemed perplexed by my abstain declaration. I knew what he was worried about.
Since the Grays are known for their obsession with defeating the Emblem, if he were win through my abstain, Jade Gray probably wouldn’t acknowledge it.
“You don’t have to worry about what you’re concerned about.”
“……!”
“What your grandfather promised you was that if you win the hunting competition, he’ll bring Aunt Diana back. It’s not about defeating Emblem like me.”
“But my grandfather mentioned winning, and that…”
“Your grandfather is not only a knight but also a great politician. Do you understand how crucial every word from a politician is?”
The big guy I chased in my past life also got into a terrible situation with me because of a word he said without thinking.
I still felt relieved when I thought about the trouble he had gone through because he couldn’t pick up the words that were bitten by the mad dog of the violent unit.
The same was true for politicians who resembled each other and the only thing left was corruption, but Jade Gray was rumored to be the only upstanding politician left in this era.
If he were to utter such words, their significance would undoubtedly be on a different level compared to that scoundrel from my previous life.
“Just do as your grandfather says and win.”
Enoch bit his lip. To push him, I was about to leave as planned.
“I’ll go now, so use the remaining time wisely…”
I wanted to say it. I wanted to encourage him to try.
But my words, upon encountering something head-on, found something incomplete and swallowed it back down my throat.
“C-Cherrya… What’s that?”
Olivia trembled, noticing the same thing as me. I could provide an answer to her question.
I never expected to witness what I learned from knightly books so quickly, but there it was.
“…A low-level monster. A stag-horned boar,”
Enoch, who learned the same things as me, answered Olivia in my place.
The low-level demon, resembling a pig with antlers like a deer, was a creature occasionally found in forested areas.
Its power wasn’t significant, but its sharp antlers were as hard as iron, capable of piercing through most shields.
Moreover, it charged blindly when attacking, supposedly feeling no pain in that moment.
“We were told the low-level demons were all taken care of, so why…”
I bit my lip and drew the sword I had sheathed back into my hand.
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