Chapter 63

The school year has ended, and summer vacation has begun.

First up is an inter-school practice match for the kendo club. It's a practice match with the top school in the city, the Royal Central High School. Jack, the ace of the second year, is really pumped up. Since this is the first inter-school match, we start by carefully going over the rules. Our Flora Academy, being a school for knights and nobles, practices a refined noble sword technique. In contrast, the sword techniques of the city school are designed for fighting monsters, wild animals, and bandits, making them quite rough. It's almost like a battle between soldiers and hunters.

Even if you drop your sword, it's okay to run and pick it up again. If you admit defeat just because you dropped your sword, you'd die in a fight with a monster. It's different from a noble's match. Since we are students, there are no thrusts, and we use wooden swords. There are also spears and dual-wielding short swords, so the city style isn't limited to long swords.

Victory is determined by landing an effective strike on the opponent's armor. Both sides, being students, don't want to get hurt, so that's a common ground.

In the end, it was a close win. We managed to maintain our dignity as nobles, but we were somewhat helped by the cheap armor of the opponents. The noble sword techniques, with their precise sword movements, had a slight edge over the city school's relentless and indiscriminate attacks. Sword techniques may seem like anything goes, but there are actually not that many effective sword strokes. The more refined sword techniques, developed over a long time, are more sophisticated and ultimately faster than the self-taught techniques of amateurs.

"Wow, they're strong! Amateur sword techniques can be scary when pushed to the limit. It was close!"

"Yeah, if we had the same training, I probably would have lost."

When I said that, Jack, who had barely won, naturally became unhappy.

"Thanks for the objective evaluation. What do I need to improve?"

"Don't be fooled by showy moves."

"Yeah... There were a lot of feints to create openings."

Perhaps the losing players learned a lesson. If we continue to be arrogant just because we are nobles, we'll easily lose. The sword techniques of commoners have improved, and we're almost being overtaken. The students who came to cheer, expecting a crushing victory, might have realized that things weren't going well.

The art club submitted watercolors, sketches, and drawings to the city competition, but all of them were rejected. The judges were ruthless. This is a competition for professionals and serious students who want to make a living from art, so the level is different. It's not just a hobby for nobles. There's nothing we can do about it.

The music competition. We didn't even make it past the preliminary rounds. The students from the commoner schools were better. "We were satisfied with such simple songs," the music club members were uniformly shocked after seeing the performances from other schools. It was a stark reminder of the difference in levels. Even if you learn music, only one in a thousand can make a living from it. It's a tough world. Nobles gather on weekends to play clumsy string quartets, exchange compliments, and then drink tea. It's a world of elegance, but the commoners are serious about competing. The goal is to understand reality. That was my purpose, and it had a significant effect. Perhaps it was a bit too much...

The art club and the music club lost confidence and had a negative impact. I hope they don't become frogs in a well.

So, the events planned for the summer vacation ended quickly. We had more free time than expected.

On the other hand, in terms of being naive and like frogs in a well, we are no different. This is a major weakness for me and Cerea. The game's forced power we fear. There's a possibility that it might show its teeth, leading to Cerea's exile and my downfall.

Therefore, we need to have the ability to live on our own. We decided to do some practical training. I had been thinking about doing this for a while.

"Are we going to run away together?"

"Yes."

I had been petitioning my father, the king, since before the summer vacation. Cerea and I talked to His Majesty in his office.

"Run away... I've never heard of reporting to your parents before running away. What exactly do you want to do?"

Surprised, even His Majesty became casual.

"We are royalty. We might lose our status, or be defeated in battle, or have to flee during a revolution. We want to develop the life skills to live as commoners in such a situation."

"You should stand firm and fight to the end. As a royal, you should die with dignity, protecting the people's lives by offering your own head. That is the duty of a king."

"I understand that. But if we happen to survive peacefully, would it be fitting for the royal family to starve or die on the streets? Would it be right to not allow our wives and children to escape? Besides, living incognito as commoners and experiencing governance from the perspective of the people is a valuable social education that we can only get as students. Please allow us for three weeks."

"You're talking nonsense... Are you serious?"

"Yes."

Cerea and I bowed our heads.

"Frankly, I don't understand why such a situation would arise. Cerea, will you have to suffer even more?"

"It's fine, Father. I've always wanted to live like this with Shin. I'm happy to accompany him as his wife."

When Cerea called him "Father," even my father was momentarily flustered.

In the end, we somehow got permission. Of course, we also got permission from Cerea's Collette family. The Duke of Collette, who visited the summer residence to see Cerea, said something like "Do your best" and seemed to be looking forward to it...

The night before the departure, Cerea and I carefully chose our belongings and packed them into two backpacks.

"I'm excited!"

"I might not be able to sleep from excitement!"

We went to sleep early in the palace. In the early morning, before the sun rose, we dressed in ordinary, unremarkable commoner clothes, put on our backpacks, and slipped out of the palace through a hidden passage.

We have been performing public duties as prince and princess, and our achievements have been recognized, so we receive a proper annual salary from the national treasury. Since we haven't used it at all, we have a considerable amount of savings. As commoners, we could probably manage for a few years without working, but for this trip, we prepared about two months' worth of gold coins.

First, we went to the stagecoach station. Our destination was the second largest city in the kingdom, Merpearl, next to the capital. We boarded a reserved eight-passenger stagecoach with other travelers and set off early in the morning. We were part of a convoy of twelve stagecoaches guarded by adventurer hunters. We chatted with an elderly couple who were visiting their son and new grandchild.

"You should show your parents their grandchild soon," they said, making us blush.

We arrived in the evening and stayed at a cheap inn. We couldn't stay in a honeymoon suite, so we rented a small room with two beds. We slept in sleeping bags on the beds...

The next morning, we started looking for jobs. I had a job I wanted to try: cook. Since childhood, I often went to the kitchen and helped with peeling vegetables and other tasks. At first, everyone was flustered, but they gradually got used to it and always gave me something to do when I visited. The kitchen was one of the few places I could go as a child in the palace.

I can also take care of horses, but I wouldn't be as good as professionals, and it's unlikely that anyone would hire me for just two to three weeks. Going hunting as a hunter is out of the question. I have the skills to hunt in the royal hunting grounds, but it's impossible to register as a hunter without revealing my identity.

We looked at job postings at restaurants and cafes, looking for places that would hire us as apprentices for a short term...

We found a good place at a run-down restaurant. They were hiring waitresses, kitchen apprentices, and dishwashers. We went inside and met the owner.

"You're young! Are you a couple?"

"Yes, my name is Sindler, and this is Cereanne. We would like to work here while we stay in this town."

"My wife just had a baby, and I'm short-handed. I'd be happy if you could start today! Can you start right away?"

"Yes, please!"

We were surprised to meet the elderly couple we had traveled with on the stagecoach! The son and daughter-in-law they were visiting were the owners of this restaurant!

Thanks to the owner's introduction, we were able to rent a cheap shared apartment for a month's rent in advance and commute to work from there. The furniture was just a bed and a desk. We didn't have futons, so we bought two sleeping bags from a tool shop and started work in the afternoon.

I did dishwashing and plating, while Cerea was a waitress. Cerea was surprised at how well she could take orders with a notepad. She was perfect at handling money transactions with customers. She never made mistakes with orders or change, thanks to her experience at the maid café during the school festival last year.

"You can read and write and do calculations quickly, yet you're a waitress? What a waste! There are so many other jobs you could do!"

Cerea, being a cute waitress, was becoming popular.

"Shin, you have a talent for plating! Your presentation is so elegant!"

I was also praised. After all, I had been eating the best meals prepared by the palace's top chefs every day.

The restaurant stayed open until late at night, serving alcohol. The working hours were long—commoners work this much...

Cerea and I study late into the night, but this was the first time we had done the same thing all day. The 9 PM bell rang, and the orders finally stopped.

"Since it's your first day, you can go home now. Come back at 10 AM tomorrow."

We were exhausted and tried to sleep in the narrow bed with no futons, but we realized a major mistake: we had forgotten to buy pillows.

There was nothing we could do. For tonight, Cerea slept with her head on my arm. She looked so cute sleeping soundly...

The next morning, we went to the bathhouse we were told about and took a morning bath. Soaking in the large tub seemed to ease our fatigue. It was preparation for the day ahead...

Girls take a long time in the bath, so I had to wait for Cerea at the exit. There was nothing I could do about it.

We went back to the room, changed, and bought a long pillow that we could both sleep on from a bedding store before going to work at the restaurant. Before the restaurant opened at 11 AM, we helped with water fetching, ingredient preparation, and peeling vegetables.

The owner's wife came out and greeted us. We thanked her for her help. We also got to see the newborn baby, who was tiny and cute. Cerea held the baby, let the baby grab her finger, and was very happy.

I gradually got used to the work and was given the task of cutting vegetables by the third day. I had experience cooking with the children at the orphanage, so I could do this. The children live together and take turns cooking. I often cooked with them.

"What can you cook, Shin?"

"Potato stew, hamburgers, warm vegetables, salad, omelet, grilled meat..."

"Let's try a bit harder."

"Okay..."

I tried making spaghetti with meat sauce. The next day, I made pork in tomato sauce, meatball cream stew, and roasted chicken. My repertoire gradually expanded. I was trained by the owner during the quiet periods between lunch and dinner. I took notes on the recipes in my notebook.

"Shin, you learn quickly. When I was young, I had to steal techniques from my master, so it took a long time to learn anything."

It's great to be of help. The owner often went to see his baby when he had a moment to spare. They were a happy couple, and it was heartwarming to watch.

During this time, there was nothing romantic between Cerea and me. We were both so exhausted that we fell asleep immediately...

In the first week, we finally had a day off. We received our pay the day before.

"I'll pay you a week's salary in advance. Use this to explore the city a bit."

We received five gold coins!

We worked our hardest for a week and only got this much! But we were provided with meals, so it was understandable. We understood the sorrow of commoner part-time workers without specialized skills.

Next: "63. The Church Wedding"