“I’m really sorry!” I once again bowed my head deeply as we arrived at the Flames’ Mansion.
“Really now. It’s all right. I was planning on going either way,” Luna said as if it was no big deal, elegantly sitting down on the sofa in the room and inspecting her own fingertips. I was relieved, but with my position as her knight, I couldn’t just leave it at that.
“B-but my lady, I heard that the training camp will be rather harsh for the ladies from St. Ferris’…”
It was a training camp held jointly by our two schools. Its contents more or less amounted to spending three days (or two nights) in the ‘Forest of the Divine Beast’.
As such, it was clear as day that it was going to be quite harsh for someone like Luna, who usually lived without a single inconvenience. Apparently, the participation rate among students from Ferris’ Girls’ hardly managed to break through 50%.
“Fufu… you don’t need to think so hard about it. Just think of it as camping. I’ve never gone before. Camping, I mean. I’m looking forward to it.” the Solitary Moon said, smiling elegantly.
I was unsure what to say about that.
We had to lead self-sufficient lives in the forest, so she had a point about it being like going camping. And I could see why she would be looking forward to it, what with her never having had a similar experience before.
However…
“Yunooooooooo”
An impact shook my body as the devilcrashed into my back and then began climbing up it. I ignored her and turned towards Luna.
“But my lady, dat fwowesht”
“Ahahaha” laughed the devil as she pinched my cheeks and stuck a finger up my nostril, making me decide to do an exorcism.
“Lady Eris, I must apologise, but I wiww pwaw uid oo laer sho ib oo cood shtop dis”
Eriiiiis!!
“Eris, I am currently having an important conversation with Yuno. You can play around with him later.” Luna said slightly triumphantly for some reason, sending a shiver down my spine, which reminded me of the devil stuck to my back, whom I decided to prise off my back and hold her in my arms like a kid.
““……””
…Huh? What?
The room had turned silent for some reason.
Luna’s face was strangely tense, and the devil in my arms had seemed to quieten down, albeit grinning.
“…So then? What was it you wanted to say?” Luna’s question cut through the silence.
“Well, my lady, even if you are fine with going, I cannot help but think that Argos-sama wouldn’t allow it…”
Nearly half of all students from Ferris’ Girls’ who weren’t participating had cited ‘parents’ concerns’ as their reason.
I could see why. There aren’t any parents who would deliberately send their cute daughters to a harsh training camp. Especially so with nobles.
‘So why don’t they just do away with the training camp entirely?’ I found myself thinking, but apparently it was recognized as an important extracurricular activity for developing the ability to survive on one’s own in case of emergencies.
“That won’t be a problem. Father might object, but I’ve already told mother that I fully intend on going.”
…In other words, if her mother said yes already, her father’s opinion counted for nothing.
It seemed like Char-sama was at the top of the pecking order in the family with Argos-sama coming only second.
…So wait? Who was the head of the family again?
“Yuno where are you going?” Eris asked with round eyes.
“We might be going to a training camp in the forest as part of school.”
“It’s not ‘might’, we will be going.” Luna declared, overriding what I had said, causing the devil Eris’ eyes to glitter suspiciously.
“Eeh! Not fair! I want to go too!” Eris said, putting her hands on my arm and leaning in close.
You’re close, too close, in fact.
“Eerm… Eris, I’m afraid that’s out of the question. This training camp is for our schools’ students. They won’t allow you to participate–”
“But Yuno you want to go with me too don’t you? Don’t you?”
…Cute… nonono!
What a cunning attack. She changed her expression to emphasise her cuteness to the maximum as she said ‘Don’t you?’…!
What pulled me back to my senses were Luna’s ice-cold eyes and strangely ominous smile.
“Eris, please go somewhere else for a while. You’re bothering us.” Luna said slightly unhappily, and Eris puffed up her cheeks in opposition.
“It’s not fair that only you get to go! Even though you usually always say you won’t go to things like these because they’re so bothersome!”
“…Not really. This training camp isn’t anything special. I neither have nor need a reason to participate other than wanting to learn, do I?”
“Is that trueee? That’s very suspiciousss?”
…What the. For a moment there, I felt like she had managed to corner Luna of all people.
“…Um, my lady, I could still ask Mr. Soleil,” I said, making Luna’s expression turn even more displeased.
“…What now? Do you have a problem with having to go with me?”
“No, that’s not it at all…”
Simply put, this was my mistake. I had been the one to declare my participation without asking Luna first.
I had, of course, been excited about such a fun-sounding event as a training camp, but now that I knew the truth, I felt rather embarrassed by my choice.
“…I’ve already said it many times, but don’t fret over it. Although, I would like to use this chance to ask you to stop trying to peek inside our school.”
…Why that?
“I haven’t told you this before, but I can see you very well from where I sit during class.”
…I think I’ll stop trying to peek inside.
“……And… you think it won’t be fun with me there?”
Her gaze shook a little with worry.
…Ah, I see. I made her worry about that.
“That is not the case at all, my lady. I am happy I will be able to attend the training camp with you. It’s just…”
The training camp was rather dangerous.
“It’s just?” Luna echoed, staring fixedly at me.
“The Forest of the Divine Beast is well-known for being the home to a lot of magic beasts. Although, that is one of the reasons it was chosen as the site of the training camp, but…”
A joint training camp in a forest full of low-rank monsters like goblins. We students from the Magic Knight Academy could deal with that, but the narrative changed completely when we factored in the noble young ladies.
I couldn’t just decide that there was no danger involved.
“What now? You were worried about something like that? Then there’s no problem,” Luna said, dismissing my worries as ‘something like that’ while she played with her beautiful silvery-white hair with a graceful smile on her face.
“I mean–” her purple eyes stared straight at me, full of confidence, “– you’ll be protecting me.”
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