Chapter 18

Out of nowhere, I hear the sound of a trumpet. I wondered if the popping sound was fireworks. The air was somewhat buoyant and the crowd showed that the day was special.

The knights who had been staying at the fort had returned to the headquarters yesterday, and they were going to form the ranks for this triumphal parade. The vice commander, Fagany-san, was at the top, followed by the prince and his fiancée. The captain will ride in the roofless carriage of the palace with a woman as his partner, and will formally announce her as his fiancée in the central square of the city, according to the information I got from the popular press.

The town square and the main streets would already be filled with people to watch the parade.

My store is located on the outskirts of the city, or almost outside. I open the window and feel the faint residue of the festival flowing through the air.

“Maruno, should we leave now?”

“Uh, yeah.”

I turned around to see Sumuno tucking a small knife into his clothes. When I turned to look at him, I smiled and said, “Don’t bring anything big.”

“You can’t take a big weapon with you. You can’t just kill someone. In any case, we don’t want to make a scene and have Maruno miss the parade.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry for everything.”

“I’m really sorry! I’m going to charge you a lot of money later! Remember that.”

Sumuno patted me on the head and laughed.

“Let’s go!”

We’re going out to break up the Knights’ parade.

The moment I opened the door to my house, Sumuno scowled.

“There are some people here. ……”

“Are we already stranded here?”

“Yeah. I guess they don’t want us to get too close to the parade. Let’s run.”

“What the hell?”

Sumuno took me by the hand and we ran towards the main street of the city. But to be honest, my motor skills are not good, so I’m sorry to say that I was very slow. Even so, I managed to desperately turn the corner of the nearest house, when Sumuno gave a small cluck of his tongue.

“‘Maruno!”

“Wow!”

As I was pushed back and trudged along, something passed over my head. Something bounced off my head. I heard the sound of something bouncing off the ground. I’m not sure what to make of it.

“Hiiii…….”

“Keep your head down.”

With that said, Sumuno stood in the alley with me behind me.

“So cool …”

“Stupid!”

As soon as he said that, he kicked the ground. In a moment, he jumped out of the alley and mercilessly kneed his opponent in the abdomen and dropped a hand sword on his neck. In the event you’re not sure what you’re looking for, there are a number of things you can do.

I’m not sure what to do.

He heard his opponent’s voice, which could not be described as a scream, and he was slammed right into the wall and collapsed.

“Let’s go.”

I started running silently.

“There were at least one or two more of those guys back there. Why didn’t you touch them?”

“Oh, yeah?

“…… Come on, Maruno, you’re really weak.”

For me, it was after an all-out sprint. I’m sorry, I’m out of breath! I stared at Sumuno, but did not stop my legs. The main street was just around the corner, and it was filled with people. As we weaved through the people, Sumuno and I walked quickly. Our final destination was the central square.

“It’s not as if they are going to attack out of the blue because that might stop the parade. I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear that.

“Yes, that’s right. ……”

As I walked along, catching my breath, I was grabbed by the arm and pulled back, covering my mouth and eyes.

I’m not sure what to say.

The first time I saw him, he had one arm and then several more, and I could feel several people gathering around me. My muffled cries seemed to melt and disappear into the hustle and bustle of the city. Fear suddenly creeps up on me, and as I squeezed my eyes shut, my restraints suddenly loosened. The light returned to my vision.

“Maruno! Sorry!”

“Ha, ha..”

Sumuno pulls his arm loosely and goes through the place as if nothing had happened. Some of the people who gathered around me crouched down on the spot and others quickly fled to scatter

“Thanks..”

“I’m sorry, I let my guard down. I didn’t think they’d try to kidnap me so brazenly. ……”

Under Sumuno’s pained gaze, I finally noticed some marks on my arms.

“It’s okay. We’ll talk about this later! I have to go.”

“…… Right.”

I raised my head and looked ahead, “Maruno-kun! I’m not sure what to do.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. You’ve come to see the parade, right? I heard from my husband.”

“Mari-san!”

It was Rikan’s wife who came out. She was two years older than Rikan and a well-known beauty in town.

” I’ve come to see you too~ Rikan has a stall over there when he earns money. If you can afford it later, why don’t you stop by?’

“Oh, yes. I will.

When I nodded, Mari told me happily in a hushed voice.

“I heard that! I’ve heard about your tragic love affair with the Knight-Captain of your dreams!”

“Huh?”

When I froze, my face heating up at the horrible words, Mari-san slapped me on the shoulder.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine because everyone in town is cheering for Maruno-kun! Leave it to me! Oh, I’m sorry I held you back. The central square? You should go that way.”

When I thanked her with a smile that had been pulled back by the momentum, she pushed me back and said, “Good luck! He called out to me.

Sumuno, who had been in the air, quickly pulled on my arm.

“Is that Rikan’s wife?

“Yes.”

“Well, that woman Is fine with Rikan?

“Yeah, I think so.”

As I walked along, giggling, I heard trumpets sounding high in the sky all over the city. I looked up.

The parade has started. ……

Sumuno nodded lightly and quickened his pace, “Let’s hurry.” But we had underestimated the number of people.

It’s a triumphal parade, so of course, everyone in town will be out to see it. I’m sure the whole town will come out to see the parade. I can only imagine how precious it would be to see the Captain of the knight dressed in formal attire riding in a carriage and waving to the crowd.

I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to do it. I can see that the people around me are getting excited about it as it gets closer and closer. It’s a great way to get to the heart of the city, but I don’t think I could reach it on time.

“What should I do, Sumuno? ……

“Calm down, Maruno.

I’m not sure what to make of this. The only thing that saved me was the fact that nothing was going to get in the way of us in this crowd.

“Maruno!”

His voice echoed loudly in the bustling place. I turned my head in surprise to see Grandma Neri waving at me from the café terrace a short distance away, and I blinked. People around me asked, “Maruno? I blinked. “Maruno?” I heard whispers around me as if they recognized me. What the hell is this? I blushed. As if to urge me on, they all led the way toward Grandma Neri, and I had no choice but to continue on my way. I heard a voice behind me blurt out. Damn you, Sumuno.

“Grandma Neri? What’s going on?’

“I heard about you, Maruno. I heard about your tragic love affair with the Captain”

“…… ah!”

I was so embarrassed that I covered my face with my hands and turned over.

“It’s okay. I’m happy for you, it’s been over a decade of hard work. I’m glad you’re getting your money’s worth.”

“Well, Grandma Neri, it’s not like I’ve had a crush on him for that long, is it?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

She smiled and pointed to a store behind her.

“You’re going to see the Captain, aren’t you? You can go upstairs here. I’ve prepared a special seat for you.”

“What, ……?

“We’re all rooting for you, so good luck. Come on, we don’t have much time.”

I was pushed towards the store. I turned around to see Smuno nodding at me.

“It’s good to see you, Maruno, they love you. I don’t know about you, but let’s just go. We can’t go to the center of the central square anymore.”

The noise suddenly became louder. The parade was almost upon us.

I naturally started to run. As I ran up the stairs of the store, for some reason I could hear voices everywhere telling me to “hang in there” and “don’t lose” and I felt like screaming.

I wanted to scream. What’s going on? Oh, you mean this is the wife network?

When I opened the door with a bang, I found a terrace seat on the second floor. The music of the parade and people’s cheers hit me with a bang. One of the people who had been standing on the railing of the terrace seat turned around and beckoned to me. It was an old man, a fellow tea drinker.

“Maruno-kun, over here.”

“Thank you very much!”

As I ran up to him, I saw the main street spread out below me. People’s enthusiasm, cheers and music were swirling. It was the exact moment the parade was passing.

“Wow. ……”

The glittering carriages and the orderly formation of the knights in their formal attire were adorned with the gorgeous sounds of the musicians. The children along the street were scattering confetti as they frolicked.

Oh, the world where the Captain and I are is so different.

“Maruno!”

Suddenly I heard the urgent voice of Sumuno and turned around to see four or five men running out of the door. Sumuno lightly submerged a couple of them, but some of them slipped through his hands and swung their knives at me.

“Maruno!”

“Grandpa, run!”

At the same time I screamed, the main street was ablaze with color. A brave fanfare rang out.

“Captain……”

The Captain was dressed in formal attire, riding in a carriage with his fiancée next to him. The area around them looked exceptionally bright. The way he escorted the young lady with his hand on her waist was the very embodiment of people’s ideals. As I gulped for breath, the Captain looked up. The moment I saw his purple eyes, I jumped out of my skin as if I were being led.

I climbed up on the railing and shouted as loud as I could.

“Captain!!!”

“You!”

I kicked the railing as hard as I could as the man with the knife loomed in front of me. I kicked the railing as hard as I could as the knife sliced through the air. I’m sure you’ll be able to understand.

“Whaaaaaaat?”

I’m so scared! I never thought that the day would come when I would be flying. Ever since I met the Captain, my world has been spinning in circles.

But…

“Captain..!”

“What? Maruno!”

I fell towards the Captain. You can see the Captain spreading his hands in a great hurry. I’ve never seen a face like that before.

Yes, the Captain still extends his hand to me.

I can do anything to grab his hand.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”

With a crunch, I fell into the Captain’s hands with great force. As expected of the Captain, he caught me and seemed to absorb the impact. Incidentally, what I ended up rolling on was the ground. When did he jump off the carriage? It’s amazing, I don’t really know what happened.

Even so, I clung to the Captain without pause and turned my face to the lady who was supposedly my fiancée. She was, of course, sitting on the carriage with her mouth hanging open in dismay at the sudden turn of events.

I took a breath and squeezed the Captain’s clothes.

“I’m sorry for the suddenness. But this person is mine, so please give up.”

The plaza was silent. The silence continued. All the people seemed to be watching how this was going.

Suddenly, I heard a puff of air near my ear.

“I’m sorry. I’m Maruno’s.”

“It’s …….”

I’m slowly becoming embarrassed now, and when I try to pull myself away, he pulls my face into his hands.

I’m not sure what to do. When I thought, “Oh,” our lips had already overlapped.

A few moments later, a loud cheer echoed through the street. Screaming cheers, applause, confetti.

My eyes flickered.

My ears were burning, and I could feel my body trembling at what I had just done.

Maruno.

The captain, who was also blushing, hugged me.

“I love you.”

I think the words only reached my ears.