RLPE Chapter 34

Armin seemed quite satisfied with my lip service.

“Do you like it?”

What difference did it make whether I liked his medal? But for the sake of courtesy, I played along.

“Of course. It’s shiny, heavy… looks like it’s worth a lot. Since it’s a family honor, you should display it nicely next to the Baltazar.”

“Balthazar.”

“Whatever. You don’t use that thing anymore, right?”

I had convinced him to stop using that old sword, arguing that keeping it in use was more of a cultural preservation issue than anything else.

I wiped off the medal, now covered in my fingerprints, and handed it back to him. But instead of taking it, Armin said something unexpected.

“Keep it.”

“What?”

“It’s yours.”

“Excuse me?”

“You said you liked it.”

He spoke gruffly, avoiding my gaze, which only made him more suspicious. I immediately rejected his offer.

“No, thank you!”

Why on earth was he trying to give me this precious family honor? And more importantly, what was he expecting in return?

I quickly set the medal down on the table and slid it back toward him. It skidded with a whoosh and bumped against his arm. Armin frowned.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why?’ Why would I take this?”

“You said you liked it.”

“Liking something doesn’t mean I have to own it.”

“It does.”

“Not for me! Even if I like something, I don’t take it just because I can. Besides, I didn’t win this medal—you did. It’s something to pass down in your family. Why would I…?”

“I won it, so I can do whatever I want with it. Just take it.”

The atmosphere had definitely shifted. With a light flick of his wrist, Armin slid the medal back toward me. Horrified, I quickly pushed it right back.

“No! I told you, I’m fine!”

And I hastily added,

“Besides, you should at least show it to the Duke and Duchess! I thought you were so filial when you said you wanted to make an extra sword knot for your father, but I see now that was all nonsense.”

“Nonsense… what?”

“Ah! Forget it. I’m not taking it, so don’t try again. I’m not the type to disrespect my elders! Goodness, imagine how happy your parents will be when they hear about this. I can already picture the Duchess beaming with pride! You should keep it safe in your pocket before you lose it.”

“…Huh?”

After several rounds of back-and-forth, I finally managed to shove the medal back onto Armin. Honestly, I had no clue why he was so insistent on giving it to me in the first place. Now, he was glaring at me with obvious dissatisfaction, while I purposefully avoided his gaze. A tense silence settled between us.

Just then, as if on cue, the food began arriving.

“Wow! This looks amazing. Right? Eat up! I’ll treat you to celebrate your win!”

If we kept up this standoff, I was bound to get indigestion. I had no idea why my refusal to take the medal had rubbed him the wrong way, but all I could do now was hope he’d get over it. With that in mind, I forced the most natural-looking smile I could muster.

* * *

The food was delicious. However, after finishing my meal, I felt uncomfortably full. The reason? Armin, who stubbornly insisted on giving me the medal over and over again. I had to repeatedly refuse, trying to pacify him the whole time.

‘Unbelievable. Seriously, what’s his deal?’

At this rate, anyone would think he had entered the swordsmanship competition just to gift me the medal.

After finishing dessert, I paid the bill. Since this was a newly popular restaurant and I had agreed to pay for all five servings, the total came out to quite a sum. But compared to my current financial situation, it wasn’t an amount I couldn’t afford.

Throughout the entire meal, Armin looked unusually serious—ever since he realized that I absolutely wasn’t going to accept the medal.

Honestly, I wanted to just say our goodbyes and go home to rest. But… leaving things like this felt like it would make things awkward later. Now that he had become Sasha’s friend, I didn’t want to be on bad terms with him.

“Um… Armin.”

“What?”

He responded in a slightly dejected tone.

Ah, this is making me feel guilty. He looked so downcast—this tall, handsome man who had probably never looked so discouraged before—that I almost gave in and asked for the medal after all.

“Are you heading home now?”

I barely managed to swallow my words and asked something else instead. Even to my own ears, my tone sounded like I wasn’t ready to part ways just yet. Though, truthfully, I wanted nothing more than to go home and collapse into bed.

I glanced around the bustling street.

“It’s not often we come all the way out here. Is there anything you want to buy?”

Armin looked at me, as if trying to decipher my words. His expression was still slightly stiff, likely because of the unresolved medal situation.

I couldn’t grant him that wish, but at the very least, he should go home in a good mood. Otherwise, how was he supposed to enjoy his victory celebration back at the duchy? For the sake of peace in the ducal household, I decided to make a small sacrifice.

“Actually, I made some money today.” I declared grandly.

“Money?”

“Oh… I had a good dream this morning, and for some reason, I had a feeling you would win. So I placed a bet on the final match, and the payout was quite generous. Look at this.”

I showed him the heavy pouch of gold coins in my bag. Armin’s expression began to ease a little. He was truly an unpredictable person. I had no idea what part of this conversation had managed to lift his mood.

“You had a feeling I would win?”

“Well, you’re the most skilled swordsman I know…”

“Back then, you asked me if I was really that strong, didn’t you?”

Ugh. So he does hold grudges.

“I told you back then too, it was just a misunderstanding! I was eating a cookie, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. And?”

“Huh? And what?”

“You said you had a feeling I would win.”

“Oh… Right. Because you’re the best swordsman I know…”

That was honestly the whole reason. But since Armin was staring at me, clearly expecting more, I had to think quickly for something else to add.

“And loyalty! It was about loyalty. Loyalty between friends.”

“…Friends?”

Armin repeated the word.

“Yes! Of course. We’re friends, aren’t we? You’re friends with Sasha, friends with me, friends with Lewin, and friends with Abyss. We’re all friends! It’s only natural to believe in and support your friends.”

“…Friends.”

Armin stared at the medal in his hand with a strange expression, as if something had left a bitter taste in his mouth. After a moment, he silently put the medal into his pocket. When he finally looked up again, whatever complicated emotions had been there before were gone, replaced by pure determination.

“So, how much did you make?”

The unexpected question caught me off guard.

“Huh?”

Armin ran a hand through his hair and clarified.

“How much did you win because of me?”

His voice carried a subtle sharpness, almost like he was suppressing some kind of frustration.

‘How am I supposed to answer that? It’s my money—why would he have a share in it?’

Still, under his intense gaze, I reluctantly opened my bag and started counting.

“Uh… About 40 gold?”

After paying for the five-person meal at the restaurant, I had around 30 gold left.

“I see. And how much of that is my share?”

“Your… share?”

“You won that money thanks to me. So how much of it belongs to me?”

There was definitely some kind of unspoken resentment laced in his voice.

Unsure of what to do, I placed 10 gold in his hand. A vein on his forehead twitched. Oh, was that not enough?

I hesitated and placed another 5 gold in his palm. His frown deepened.

Okay, okay—maybe I was being a little stingy…

With a firm resolve, I took out another 5 gold and added it to the pile in his hand.

“That’s it! I can’t give you any more. I’ve already given you more than 50% of the profit. You should be satisfied.”

I had already paid for dinner, and now I was sharing the winnings—surely, that was more than enough!

“So you’re really giving this to me?”

“Yes! Take it, it’s yours! Seriously, they say rich people are the stingiest. If you keep this up, the ducal family is going to become even wealthier.”

I grumbled, annoyed. But Armin didn’t back down. Instead, he smirked slightly and said,

“You should be grateful to me.”

“…What?”

“You placed a bet and made this much profit, so you should be grateful to me.”

I was utterly dumbfounded. Who even says stuff like this? But Armin was completely serious and refused to back down.

Why should I be grateful when I was the one who placed the bet with my money? But arguing with him would get me nowhere, so I decided to just say what he wanted to hear.

“Of course! So, so grateful. Oh, I could cry from how thankful I am.”

“Then pay me back.”

“Huh? Pay you back for what?!”

“Your gratitude. Repay it today.”

He was practically a bandit—just one without a sword. A ridiculously handsome bandit, but still a bandit.

Having already extorted my money, he now insisted that I show my gratitude properly.

Our bickering in the middle of the street quickly started to attract attention. In the end, I was the first to surrender under the weight of people’s stares.

“Fine! I’ll do it. Is that what you want? Just tell me what I have to do, okay?”

“You’re not going home until we spend all of this today.”

…What?

Was he serious? Judging by the determined, almost vengeful look in his eyes, he absolutely was.

What on earth had gotten into him today?!