CHAPTER 10
“……Well.”
“I was challenging Iqua to a sparring match.”
“A sparring match?”
I answered in Iqua’s place, since he seemed hesitant.
Eloise asked again in a tone that still showed not the slightest bit of curiosity or interest.
His completely flat voice made it feel like I was talking to a robot.
He looked down at us without even blinking once.
Does this man even eat food?
I wondered if he might actually be a robot that secretly consumed something like fuel and moved using that as its power source.
“Yes. If I win, I get to take swordsmanship lessons with Iqua from my uncle!”
“I never agreed to that!”
I put one hand on my hip and pointed straight ahead with my index finger.
It was the pose of a certain child detective, but it had become my signature pose now.
Iqua practically jumped as he denied it.
“You and Iqua sparring…….”
“…….”
Eloise’s cold eyes turned toward me.
Then he remained silent for a while, apparently lost in thought.
Eloise seemed to be seriously considering something.
Oh. He’s thinking about whether Iqua and I can actually have a sparring match, right?
I looked up at Eloise with sparkling eyes.
My gaze was filled with boundless confidence and possibility.
Eloise looked at me like that, then shifted only his eyes toward Bernardo before speaking.
“Hey, brother. There’s nothing wrong with your daughter’s head, is there?”
“…….”
Bernardo pressed his lips tightly together.
Deny it! Deny it!
Eloise hadn’t been thinking about whether to allow Iqua and me to fight at all.
He had been questioning my intelligence!
Damn it!
Judging by Eloise’s reaction, it seemed like the sparring match was already out of the question, and I began to feel disappointed.
Do I have to find another way?
But when he saw my disappointed expression, Bernardo stared down at me for a moment before saying,
“Well…… I don’t see why not. For entertainment.”
“……!”
I hadn’t expected Bernardo to take my side, so I was slightly surprised.
I looked up at him with moved, admiring eyes.
Could it be……? Has the human version of animal therapy—no, baby therapy—already started working?!
But despite Bernardo’s persuasion, Eloise still seemed skeptical.
“The outcome is already decided. It would just be a waste of time.”
“Are you saying you’re afraid Iqua might lose?”
“There is no way Iqua will lose.”
“You’re quite confident, Eloise. Then why don’t we make a bet?”
“A bet?”
Eloise merely moved his eyes to look at Bernardo.
Bernardo spread both arms toward Eloise and said,
“Yes. If my daughter wins, I’ll take the development rights for the waterways of the Sias River in your territory.”
“……I don’t see anything worth accepting.”
Eloise answered firmly and turned to leave.
But Bernardo spoke once again.
“And if my daughter loses, I’ll give you the exclusive rights to the siege weapons currently being developed at the workshops under my authority. How about it?”
“Hmm.”
I didn’t know what siege weapons were, but a glimmer of interest suddenly appeared in Eloise’s eyes.
As I listened to the conversation smoothly turning into a bet, my expression gradually hardened.
……For a moment, I thought Bernardo had arranged the match because he was worried I would be disappointed.
Of course not!
Adults were getting involved in a filthy battle over interests in what was supposed to be a children’s fight!
At first, I thought he might be making the bet just to fulfill my wish, but judging from the conversation, that clearly wasn’t the case.
This Bernardo guy could probably be dropped in the middle of a desert and still manage not to starve to death.
“Fine. I’ll allow it. If Iqua loses, I’ll let him take swordsmanship lessons with you from now on.”
“That’s very kind of you.”
After briefly considering it, Eloise readily gave his permission, unlike before.
I didn’t know what exactly the exclusive rights to siege weapons meant, but if even Eloise had immediately taken the bait, it must have been an incredibly valuable privilege.
Bernardo went to the armory in the corner of the training grounds and brought back a wooden sword.
Then he knelt on one knee in front of me, met my eyes, and said,
“The development rights to the waterways are at stake. Isollet, judging by how confident you are, I assume you’re confident that you can win somehow.”
“…….”
“Hmm? You seem dissatisfied. I went as far as to put the exclusive rights to the siege weapons on the line just to arrange this match for you. It’s a considerable loss for me. I expected you to be a little happier.”
“…….”
I puffed out my cheeks sulkily.
Then I formed a circle with my thumb and index finger, making the shape of a coin, and conveyed my thoughts to Bernardo with my eyes.
We haven’t talked about this yet!
Even though we were father and daughter, we weren’t close enough yet for me to do such a huge favor for free, and Bernardo and I had only known each other for two days. I certainly didn’t owe him that much.
And if I won, was he planning to sit back and enjoy the benefits of the waterway development rights without giving me anything?
Getting swordsmanship lessons was one thing!
I needed to get something separately from Bernardo!
Although I hadn’t said a word, Bernardo seemed to understand my thoughts.
“Oh,” he said softly.
“If you win, I’ll give you 500 gold coins as your reward.”
“I’ll do my very best, custo—Father!”
I happily snatched the wooden sword Bernardo held out to me.
This was an even better opportunity than I had expected.
Five hundred gold coins was the equivalent of about three years’ wages for an ordinary commoner.
It was enough to buy a small house in the countryside of Hellbaros.
In any case, it was an absurdly large amount to receive simply for winning one childish fight.
Naturally, I couldn’t pass it up.
I had already intended to win, but now I had one more reason to do so.
“I wonder who you take after.”
Seeing me burning with determination, Bernardo sighed and muttered in a complaining tone.
Good grief. Me? Who else would I take after?
At least I’m less calculating than the person who was just weighing the value of waterway development rights against exclusive siege-weapon rights.
Bernardo properly positioned the wooden sword in my hands.
“How to hold a sword is……”
Perhaps he thought I was a complete beginner, because he slowly began explaining how to hold the wooden sword.
“No need.”
But I simply took the sword roughly and returned to my position in the training grounds.
In front of me, Iqua was already standing with a wooden sword in hand, his posture flawless.
This was no longer a children’s fight.
Waterway development, siege weapons—these were business ventures whose scale I couldn’t even begin to understand, but……
What was certain was that this was a contest worth billions in modern currency, with 500 gold coins riding on the outcome!
I looked at Iqua’s pretty yet sharp-looking face standing before me.
Bernardo and Eloise were watching from a distance.
Knowing that the two of them were watching somehow made me nervous.
Actually, from the perspective of the match itself, having them there was much better.
Even if I provoked Iqua into a spar and defeated him, losers rarely fulfilled their promises willingly.
There needed to be some kind of force compelling them to keep their word.
This time, that force was Eloise and Bernardo.
Fortunately, Iqua seemed afraid of the adults in the family, making them the perfect judges for this match.
Besides…… this match was also a subtle battle of pride between the two fathers.
With so many interests at stake, they would both want to win somehow.
……Huh? But why did Bernardo bet on me?
What does he believe in?
Has he ever even seen me use a sword?
Or is it simply because I’m his daughter?
Hmm. I have no idea what he saw in me to make such a huge gamble, but I knew one thing for certain.
I absolutely could not lose.
Anyway, this was a fight I couldn’t afford to lose, but for Iqua, it would be even more impossible to lose.
For me, winning would be nice, but if I lost, I could simply walk away without the 500 gold coins.
Iqua’s situation was different.
With his father—and strict swordsmanship teacher—Eloise watching, what if he lost to a little girl who looked like she might collapse at any moment, let alone someone skilled in swordsmanship?
Bernardo and I had only known each other for two days.
So our relationship was still as thin as wet hanji paper, with no trust established yet that could even be broken……
But if Iqua lost Eloise’s trust, it would take an immeasurably long time to build it back up.
Therefore, Iqua would probably try to finish the match as quickly as possible without making a single mistake.
“Use wooden swords, and the first successful hit will count as an immediate victory.”
“Yes.”
“……All right.”
At Bernardo’s words, we stood facing each other with our wooden swords.
It felt as though I was finally looking Iqua directly in the eyes for the first time.
Iqua stood there holding his sword with a serious expression I had never seen on him before.
I took this opportunity to carefully examine his face.
The wind blew through his straight black hair, making it flutter gently.
His long, narrow eyes without double eyelids, high nose, long eyelashes, and sharp-looking red eyes.
No matter how I looked at him……
Iqua really looked like the type of person I’d want to tease terribly.
Oh, now that I looked closely, his eyebrows resembled mine.
Delighted to have found something we had in common, I stared into Iqua’s eyes and gave him a wink.
“…….”
“……Pfft.”
Iqua frowned sharply as though he had been startled.
……It seemed I had dealt him quite a bit of damage.
Thanks to my wink, Iqua’s composure had been shaken.
Part of it was because I instinctively disliked such a stiff atmosphere, but it had also been somewhat calculated.
If I hadn’t disrupted Iqua’s concentration, I would have been greeting the ground with my face the moment the match began.
……No.
……Actually, I just felt like playing a prank when I saw Iqua.
“…….”
I lowered my head and looked down at the wooden sword.
It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.
I recalled a time when I had been even younger than I was now.
