Chapter 43

Thank you for the bookmarks and ratings. They are a great encouragement for my writing.

The night after I made it to the top eight and everyone else did the next day, I was having dinner with my parents.

“I heard it, Mary. You made it to the top eight in the tournament, didn’t you? I didn’t really want you to participate in something so dangerous, but I’m proud of you. You’re truly our daughter.”

“Ah… Thank you, Father.”

Father brought up the tournament, and while I thanked him, I didn’t really want to expand on the topic, so I didn’t show any signs of wanting to talk more. However, Father, who didn’t seem to care about my silence, continued speaking as if he had something he wanted to say.

“So, we’ve decided to go watch the matches at the arena tomorrow.”

“Eh! But, Father, you have work—”

Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, I tried to change his mind by bringing up his work.

“It’s fine. That’s not something a child should worry about. I’ve made sure to be able to attend your matches.”

With a hearty laugh, Father, who was clearly determined to go, made me realize that it was too late to change his mind. I quickly finished my meal and wandered back to my room.

“It’s over. There’s no place to run anymore.”

As soon as I returned to my room, I sat on the bed and hung my head.

“That’s right. We can’t deliberately lose in front of your parents, who are so excited. Besides, the plan to be disqualified by being late for the match is no longer an option.”

Tytte, who had followed me to the room, continued with a regretful tone.

“What should we do?”

I grabbed Tytte’s shoulder, ready to shake her, but she seemed to sense it and stepped back.

“Hey, why are you running away?”

“Cough… More importantly, what are we going to do now, Miss?”

Tytte, who avoided my glare, changed the subject.

“Why did it turn out like this? I planned to avoid drawing attention, but nothing went as planned.”

“Maybe the plan itself was the problem?”

Tytte, who listened to my complaint, snapped her fingers.

“What do you mean? Is there something wrong with my plan?”

“No, no, perhaps the mistake was in making a plan at all? Usually, you panic during matches and do unpredictable things, but by planning, you ended up being calm and composed, which is the opposite of what we wanted.”

Tytte’s words made me realize something significant. Indeed, by focusing on following a script, I had managed to handle situations that would normally have caused me to panic.

“What a disaster… The script has backfired.”

“Why not just go with the flow for the next match? You’re bound to panic and do something ridiculous, leading to a loss.”

(Hmm? I think I heard something I shouldn’t have, but I’ll let it slide for now.)

I pondered Tytte’s suggestion and nodded.

“You’re right! If I just go with the flow, I’ll lose quickly. Plus, I won’t do anything strange that might cause misunderstandings.”

“That’s right! You have such a fragile mentality, so you’re likely to do something laughable and self-destruct.”

I pinched Tytte’s cheeks to stop her from saying such rude things.

“You’re the one who says such rude things.”

“Ow, ow, ow… Miss, please…”

I pinched her cheeks for a while before letting go, feeling relieved, and went to bed, ready for the next day’s match.

---

The next day.

The number of spectators had increased dramatically as the venue changed to the arena. The tournament at the arena lasted two days, with the first day being the preliminary matches and the second day the semifinals and finals. The school seemed to want to make these two days a grand event, so they had canceled classes, and students flocked to the arena, increasing the number of spectators.

“There are so many people.”

“Yes, there are.”

Before the assembly time, I sneaked a peek at the arena, and Tytte echoed my thoughts.

“I shouldn’t have come to look. Seeing the crowd has made me more nervous.”

“But if you stayed in the locker room, you might have imagined things and felt even more pressured.”

“……”

(As expected of Tytte, she really understands me after all these years.)

I looked at the maid behind me, feeling impressed, when more familiar faces approached from behind. It was Zaha and Safina.

“Ah! Miss Mary!”

Safina, noticing me, ran over happily.

(Yes, yes, she’s so cute, like a puppy.)

I greeted her with a smile and patted her fluffy hair.

“Did you come to check out the venue too?”

“Yes.”

“It’s unusual for you to come and observe. You usually hide somewhere and show up late for the matches.”

As I played with Safina, Zaha approached with a surprised look and made a slip of the tongue. I gave him a silent nudge with the hilt of my sword while still smiling at Safina.

“What’s wrong, Zaha?”

Safina, who had moved away from me, looked at Zaha, who was holding his side and trembling, with a puzzled expression.

“Hey… We have a match coming up… Don’t give me any damage.”

After a few minutes, he returned to his usual self, and I looked at him with a half-lidded eye, without apologizing.

“It’s a good handicap for your opponent. You’re too overwhelming, you know.”

As I said, Zaha and Safina had become standout performers among the freshmen. Their matches had been one-sided victories. However, both of them were guaranteed to meet in the semifinals after winning their next matches. The fact that one of these two top performers wouldn’t make it to the finals made me a bit sad.

“If you win your next match, you two will face each other in the semifinals before the finals.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Safina, but I’m the one who will fight Miss Mary in the finals.”

“No, the one who will fight Miss Mary in the finals is… me.”

Zaha said confidently, and Safina, though hesitant, countered.

(Haha, Safina is speaking up. I’m happy. But…)

“Why are you assuming I’ll make it to the finals?”

““Huh?””

They looked at me as if I was saying something strange.

(Stop it, don’t look at me with those eyes that assume I’ll definitely make it to the finals! It hurts my heart! I’ll feel bad if I lose!)

Feeling a bit guilty, I averted my gaze. Then, the official announced that the match was about to start, and I realized the reality of the upcoming tournament.

(This time, I’ll lose!)

With renewed determination, I returned to the locker room.

Thank you for reading this far.