It’s a different type of glare than before, the type that pushes straight pressure.
“No, it’s nothing.”
I hurriedly waved my hand to end the conversation.
Well, I don’t think it is.
Asking a royalty, “Are you being jealous?” ——Yes, I can’t complain if I’m being rude to some people.
So I diverted the conversation.
“However, it’s difficult to deal with a King’s race.”
“Hou?”
“I have to think about the king’s status, his position, his honor, and so on.”
It was mainly about that righteous bandit thing.
I usually have to behave with the king’s position in mind, but I had to be even more careful about the story the king said about the righteous bandits.
To be honest, the hardship is nothing compared to what I had to deal with before.
It’s like a sigh of relief.
“……”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Lina? You look like a pigeon that got hit by a peashooter.”
“His Majesty’s …… honor”
“Yeah? Ah, well. That’s what I think”
“Indeed, that’s what you think”
Immediately after she mumbled, Lina dexterously twitched the corners of her mouth and said, “Ni”
I had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, an incredibly bad feeling.
“As His Majesty’s instructor, you can’t afford to lose to a common swordsman, right.”
“Well…… that’s right. ――Wait, no way”
“Thanks, that was a good hint.”
Lina looked extremely happy, unlike at the time she came.
She simply turns around and tries to walk away.
“Wa,wait a minute. What are you going to do?”
“Fufu, I’m going to find my shishou now”
“No way! You’re going to have me challenge your master?”
“I would never do that; it would be disrespectful to His Majesty.”
When I was relieved to hear Lina’s words.
“His Majesty’s master ――right, he just request for a peerage. My shishou is amazing, super amazing, so amazing that he should be given a peerage―― it’s just that. Then”
“Then?”
“His Majesty will say, 『Sensei, you should meet Lina’s master in a match. 』”
“Ah!”
I understand that feeling a little.
When you have the same toy and the other person brags about how great “the one they have” is, you get pissed off.
“So with that said, please polish your skills”
Lina said so and walked away with a cheery look on her face.
I was crestfallen.
It would have been much better if she had said, “Please wait for your punishment”.
Lina will surely bring a pretty good expert.
Lina is the one who wants to see me in my seriousness.
As an instructor, I bet she will bring the strongest swordsman she knows to see me in my seriousness, since I myself can’t lose in a contest held in front of the King.
And when I beat him, the king would be delighted ―― my reputation will go up again.
“Hah…… the mouth is the source of disasters ……”
With my casual remark backfiring.
I would sigh deeply at the fact that I was about to get another evaluation.