Rinea and the knight were just about to cross their swords when…

「I really hope your friend doesn’t suffer any serious injuries.」

「Are you threatening us?」

「Of course not. I just want His Majesty to see the reality of the situation.」

「If the student gets hurt, you will have to take responsibility.」

「If that happens, of course I will sincerely apologize. I will tell His Majesty that, unfortunately, my knight must have been unable to hold back his strength sufficiently since she was weaker than he had expected. I will then explain that, to be a knight, a greater amount of strength is necessary and share my opinion that knights should only be men. Any women that wish to protect the royal family should aim to be magicians instead.」

As Rutum told us this, Rinea attacked her opponent, but the knight easily parried her attack and, with a nudge of his hand, ripped her sword out of her arms, sending it flying to the ground. Rinea gritted her teeth to bear the pain in her arms, and picked up her sword to continue the fight.

「I wonder how long she will be able to hold on for.」

「You…」

「After this, she might never be able to pick up a sword again.」

「I’m going to stop the match!」

Shia said and started to make her way towards the stage.

「Will you be able to get there before my knight gets in an actual attack? I wonder who’s quicker.」

Shia stopped dead in her tracks.

「If somebody tries to approach them during the match… I think you understand why that would be a bad idea.」

Rutum continued and looked at Shia with that twisted smile of his.

I wanted to smack the smile off his face so badly. Would it be okay if I actually did it? Eleanora-san would probably get in trouble for it…

Mu, mu, mu, mu… this was so annoying. If only I could release my anger somehow…

I whispered to Fina and Shuri to let go of my uniform, and to stand behind me, so that I could be free to make a move at any time.

「Why don’t we make a deal? If you accept the engagement to my son, I will order the knight to stop. How about that?」

「Do you think I would allow such a ridiculous bargain?」

「Perhaps your daughter sees it differently?」

Eleanora-san rejected Rutum’s demand outright, but Shia looked conflicted as she watched her friend in pain.

I took a quick look back at the match. The knight looked as if he was about to be hit by Rinea’s attack but then he forcefully moved his sword. His strong thrust clashed against Rinea’s sword, and swept it aside easily. The knight then swung his sword downwards, forcing Rinea to block his strike with her own sword. He continued to swing his sword again and again, leaving Rinea in a lot of pain as she tried her best to block it, eventually losing the grip on her sword. Not wanting to give up, she picked her sword while gritting her teeth, and stood up to face him again.

This time, the knight didn’t waste time, and used brute force to tackle her down.

「I will fight on her behalf!」

Shia shouted at Rutum.

「I just have to win, right?」

「Fu, fu, fu. I know that you are an excellent student, but there is no way you can win against a trained knight.」

「I can’t know until I try!」

「Shia, I won’t allow this!」

「Mother…」

Hmm…

If Shia used magic against a melee opponent, she had a chance to win as long as she kept her distance. Still, the moment the knight reached her, she would be done for.

「Alright, how about we agree on this? If Lady Shia wins, then I won’t do anything to that girl aiming to become a knight. However, if Lady Shia loses, she will have to marry my son.」

「That…」

「Oh, and how about pairing my youngest son with your younger sister, Lady Noa? Don’t you think it would be wonderful to have both sisters marry into the family?」

When Noa heard her name mentioned by Rutum, she shivered noticeably.

This conversation was heading in a very bad direction.

Just a bit more, and I wouldn’t be able to hold myself back anymore.

「If I win against that knight, will you stop trying to prevent women from becoming knights?」

「Shia!」

Eleanora-san yelled at her, exasperated.

「Sure, I can agree to that. However, if you lose, you will have to marry my son.」

「You can’t do this.」

Elenora-san tried to stop Shia from going through with it.

「Mother…」

「Then, how about I fight for you, instead?」

「Yuna-san?」

At this point, I could no longer let this guy get off easily. He was trying to force both Shia and Noa into marriage, so he had to pay.

「And, who are you, young lady? This is a discussion between the Forscheroze and Roland families. I would prefer for outsiders to keep out of it.」

I naturally ignored his remark.

「In that case, what would happen if I walked down to the arena and wiped out all those precious knights of yours?」

「You have a good sense of humor, young lady.」

I was pretty serious, though.

「Still, we’re discussing matters of potential marriages here. I don’t have the time to play silly games with you. Lady Shia, if you don’t hurry, the girl will lose, and at that point, the deal will be off.」

「Yu-Yuna-san. Would you really fight on my behalf?」

Shia looked at me with a serious expression.

「I don’t think I can win against a knight myself. However, if you fought in my place…」

Did that mean that she wanted to let me fight, having her as the wager?

「Please help me!」

Shia requested with a bow.

I had no problem fighting on her behalf as long as she was okay with it.

I couldn’t even imagine Shia having to marry the child of a man like Rutum. What was more, he was even trying to drag Noa into it.

If Shia married that man’s son, Crimonia would become this man’s property.

My home was in Crimonia. My shop was in Crimonia. The orphans lived in Crimonia. I wasn’t going to let a man like that do what he wanted there. Crimonia was my town!

Still, to fight with someone’s future in my hands… If it was something that could be undone then I would be fine with it, but marriage wasn’t something easy to cancel.

I looked at Eleanora-san, unsure of what to do.

「You can’t… I won’t let you wager both your lives.」

「Mother…」

「What if I put something on the line instead?」

「And what might that be?」

「If Yuna-chan loses, I will step down from my position. I’m sure that would please you greatly, to remove an eyesore like me from standing next to His Majesty.」

Eleanora-san put forward her own offer and surprised Rutum for the first time.

「Do I have your word that you won’t take back what you just said?」

「Yes, I will promise you I will do it if Yuna-chan loses.」

「Fufu. Great, it’s set then. Still, are you sure about betting your position on the performance of a little girl?」

「Well, even if she loses, I will just have to return to the town where my husband is. However, what will you wager if she wins? Will you agree to step down from your position, perhaps? That should make it much easier for us to raise female knights.」

「Fufufu! Hah, fine, I will agree to that. Make sure you keep your promise!」

「The same goes for you.」

Rutum couldn’t hold back his laughter after that.

The whole situation has become rather out of hand if I had to say.

「Lotas!」

Rutum shouted at the knight who was still battling Rinea, and he stopped his attacks.

Shia looked very relieved when she saw that the battle had stopped.

「Well then, since I can’t trust your verbal promise, I will ask His Majesty to be our witness.」

Rutum sent us another nasty smile before walking to the king.

「Yuna-chan, I’m sorry for dragging you into this. Rutum has a lot of influence in the court, and I didn’t know what else I could do.」

Eleanora-san apologized to me the moment he was out of sight.

「I don’t mind it at all, but how far can I go?」

「Go as far as you would like. Even if he wins, I will just lose my job, so you don’t have to worry about it too much. I will be able to return to Crimonia and help Cliff in that case.」

「Yuna-san, please don’t let that happen. I will be left all alone in the capital if you do.」

Shia asked with a sad expression very much in contrast to the optimistic Eleanora-san.

「I just have to make sure I win, then.」

I said and smiled at Shia to reassure her.

Since I had to win, I decided to take Eleanora-san’s words seriously and go all out.

「Just don’t let your guard down. The knights are all very good fighters.」

Of course I would be careful. Without my Bear Suit, my