FSW Chapter 23

It was definitely summer. The blazing sun was harsh, but the real problem was the scorched ground radiating heat. Nishina knew they hadn't even started proper training yet, but she shamelessly grabbed his wrist and pulled them both into the shade beneath the trees.

No one would blame her for being lazy for just one day. He wasn't a strict teacher to begin with—if anything, he existed on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from strict.

Having docilely allowed himself to be led, Lavis sat beside her as Nishina pulled over the basket she'd prepared. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she quickly hid the basket behind her back. Not that it concealed anything—he'd already seen it—but there was something she needed to say before giving him the cream puffs.

Nishina pulled her toes completely into the shadow and began.

"Oh, I heard the news! There was an evaluation recently, wasn't there..."

She'd actually wanted to complain a little—why didn't you tell me?—but she could already picture his flustered face, so she decided against it. Instead of raising her eyebrows, Nishina smiled brightly and continued.

"It was conducted in one-on-one sparring format, right? Who won this year?"

She asked mischievously despite already knowing the answer, and he couldn't hide his troubled expression as he averted his gaze.

She'd thought this before, but he seemed uncomfortable discussing anything related to himself. When she asked for his opinion, she'd get answers from some universal standpoint instead. In all the time they'd spent together, he'd never once brought up his own story.

This situation was the same. She hadn't even known he'd been in the evaluation period until Hilton told her. So Nishina wanted to hear the news from his own lips. That's why she asked a question she already knew the answer to.

"That is... I won, but..."

His voice was small, as if embarrassed to say it himself. By the end, it was barely audible. Nevertheless, Nishina caught every word and clapped her palms together, genuinely delighted.

"As expected of my teacher!"

Her sparkling eyes fixed on him. Nishina raised her thumbs, sparing no admiration—how amazing, how incredible.

"That 'Sir Hilton' praised Lavi so much! He said your swordsmanship was leagues beyond your fellow apprentices—like heaven and earth! I felt so proud!"

Despite being the one learning from him, she shot him looks of pride. If he wouldn't hate it, she'd hang enormous banners all over the palace. Though she couldn't actually do it, knowing full well how mortified he'd be.

As she embellished Hilton's praise with extra flourish, his embarrassment apparently exceeded its limit—he ducked his head completely. Nishina watched even that with fond satisfaction before slowly closing her mouth. She worried that if she praised him any more, his flushed face might actually burst.

Instead, Nishina decided to ask him directly what she'd been curious about.

"So what was the prize?"

"...It's only an evaluation, not an official tournament, so there's no prize."

"Nothing at all?"

At Nishina's surprised question, he calmly confirmed it. In the knights' mounted tournaments they occasionally held for entertainment, the winner received tremendous prizes. Especially if sponsored by the imperial family—not just prize money, but sometimes territory or even national treasures.

Of course, this was just an apprentice competition, so she didn't expect such grand prizes, but at least a short vacation, or a medal, or some modest prize money...

"For apprentice knights, a high ranking itself is a great honor."

Lavis added the explanation.

It wasn't wrong. Even if they weren't official knights yet, winning in the Imperial Knight Order was a great honor. Not just the first-place ranking itself, but also the possibility of catching the Emperor's eye. Still! A tournament with no prize at all. It felt lacking. Especially because it was him who'd won.

'No, if it's lacking, I'll just give him something!'

Nishina quickly changed her mind.

"Then I should give you a prize!"

She might be his student, but she was still a proper member of the imperial family. If there was something he wanted, she'd give it to him even if she had to empty out every last coin of her personal allowance.

Determined, Nishina clenched her fist. The cream puffs she'd brought with congratulations were a magnificent work with the pâtissier's soul poured into them, but they were today's snack—not enough to count as a gift.

"Is there anything you want?"

"I'm all right."

That damned phrase—I'm all right!

Should she forcibly ban it? While Nishina seriously considered this, he seemed to interpret her serious expression differently and was even waving his hands in refusal. This was the second rejection just today, and Nishina's cheeks puffed up with displeasure.

"There has to be at least one thing!"

"I'm really all ri—"

"Even a dessert is fine, so think carefully!"

When she pressed him with rare, strong-willed insistence, he sheepishly lowered his hands. Then he seemed to ponder for a long while. The silence stretched, but Nishina patiently waited.

Eventually, as if something had occurred to him, he hesitated before shyly ducking his head. His fine hair slipped down with gravity. The silver strands, looking as if pearl powder had been sprinkled over them, glittered in the light. Before she knew it, Nishina had placed her hand on top and gently stroked his head.

'Is this right?'

She was uncertain even as she did it, but seeing him stay still, it must have been the correct answer. Looking down at him as he docilely entrusted his head to her, Nishina bit her lip hard.

'No, is it even legal for a person to be this adorable?'

She barely swallowed the internal scream, forcibly suppressing the urge to ruffle his hair with both hands. She knew now that her worries about sexual harassment and all that had been completely mistaken, but she'd still been careful about physical contact since then.

Not disliking it didn't mean permission, after all.

But a prize like this.

This wasn't a prize for him to receive—it was more like a prize he was giving to Nishina.

'I'm certainly delighted. But can something like this really be a prize for him?'

Come to think of it, when Nishina was young and received praise from her tutors, Melissa would stroke her head with pride. Recalling that memory, Nishina finally understood a little. And so, like Melissa in the past, she stroked his head with gentle hands full of fondness.

Well done. Amazing. I'm so proud of you.

As if speaking the words that had delighted her on those days—the words she'd wanted to say to him, too.

The vast space laid with marble was cold. Even though the heat outside the glass windows was sweltering, it felt as if this place alone was cut off from the world. Not for the one-dimensional reason that spirit stones of ice—more precious than magic stones—were placed throughout. Rather, it was the atmosphere weighing down on the ministers.

Even though this was a regular meeting, not an emergency summons like before, tension overflowed from their faces. Given the agenda they'd be discussing today, they couldn't relax.

However, if you had to name the person most uncomfortable in this place, it would undoubtedly be Nishina. Not because of the suffocating atmosphere, nor because of the grave agenda about to be addressed.

She was enduring it without showing any sign, but the chair was so uncomfortable she could die. She'd thought this before—this chair only considered aesthetic elements; you couldn't find even a speck of comfort or ease.

Made exclusively for the imperial family, it had resplendent gold decorations, with the backrest densely studded with jewels. In other words, it was incredibly hard and obtrusive.

The furniture artisan who'd created this disaster clearly hadn't tested the finished product even once. Otherwise, there's no way they'd have offered such a chair to sit on. She even envied the ministers' chairs—plain but with cushioned seats.

No, wait. This might have been the furniture artisan's master plan. If the chair was too comfortable, posture would easily slacken, so this was their deep consideration to never lose dignity... like hell.

Having finally given up finding a comfortable position, Nishina glanced at Aiden. He sat on the opposite side from her with the Emperor between them. Not an ideal position for stealing glances.

Pretending to straighten her back, she glimpsed him from behind. As always, expressionless Aiden sat gazing straight ahead in a flawless, upright posture.

Nishina's gaze lingered around his hands. Fortunately, his hands seemed to have healed cleanly without scars. Only then did she relax and belatedly focus on the meeting.

The ministers sitting across from each other with the long table between them wore clearly anxious expressions. All of them sat with their spines ramrod straight, looking this way.

In the silence, the Emperor slowly began.

"As you all surely suspect, we will reach a conclusion today regarding the Wind Empire matter."

Dargan swept over the ministers with cool eyes. The choice and the responsibility that followed—both were entirely his burden.

Weighing loss and gain, principle and practicality, he finally reached a conclusion.

"After the last meeting, I sent a conciliatory letter offering to increase the grain amount in exchange instead of forest territory, but their demands remained the same. The empire cannot accept this, so we will respond with refusal."

"However, that may become a seed of war..."

"We will not shrink from total war."

His voice was resolute. As if he would permit no argument whatsoever.

Some nobles rebelled against the Emperor's strong move. They were the ones who'd insisted strongly at the previous meeting that they should accept the demands.

"If we can save precious lives of our people with a portion of forest that's practically useless, surely we should choose the latter as a matter of course!"

"Are you now ignoring the empire's foundation? You must know whose blessing allowed us to build wealth in such a favorable environment!"

"It's only a portion, not the whole thing!"

"That portion will become the whole! We should solve our own problems ourselves—why should they bear all the responsibility?"

"You only say that because there's no solution! War is a problem, but what about the immediate magic stone issue? You know there's no alternative if they cut off trade!"

"Enough."

Though a quiet voice, it was sufficient to cut through the rising volume.

The heated ministers shut their mouths tight and quietly took their seats. However, their eyes were still filled with discontent. The Emperor had expected some resistance. There couldn't possibly exist a solution that satisfied everyone. Calmly accepting the burning gazes, the Emperor spoke.

"According to the envoy sent to the Lhaud Kingdom recently, they'll favorably accept trade with the empire. We can secure magic stones from them. Additionally, we'll substitute spirit stones for the shortage."

More than half the magic stones were produced by Wind, but the Lhaud Kingdom also possessed considerable mines. Though located on the complete opposite side of the continent geographically and thus lacking much exchange, according to the envoy sent this time, they'd received confirmation that trade would pose no problems.

If this deal was finalized, it would lift a great burden. However, they didn't easily bend their opinions and pointed out more problems.

"But spirit stones are too expensive for ordinary citizens to purchase."

"We'll release the palace's spirit stones into the market to lower prices, and allow installment payments for cooling-type spirit stones that are in high demand during summer."

The answer came not from the Emperor but from the Prime Minister. Unlike magic stones, spirit stones were semi-permanent goods, so in the long view, it was a profitable expenditure.

Momentarily speechless at the flawless alternative, they soon flushed red. They still seemed unable to give up the safety guaranteed by abandoning the forest versus what they'd lose to war.