Tradition

“Are you insane?”

Ah... Of course she won’t...

Viviane’s gaze dropped from Medrauta’s, casting her eyes to the ground. Any shred of her earlier courage was completely and utterly gone.

“Even if I said yes, it wouldn’t matter. Lady Viviane, I’m sure you know this already, but traditionally, noble-knight pairs must be of opposite genders.”

“Ah... Yes, that’s right... I—”

Wait... That’s it! If that’s the only reason, then...!

Medrauta stepped back in surprise as Viviane suddenly lurched forward, her eyes sparkling brightly now. W-What the hell’s up with this girl!? It’s like she’s got two personalities!

“Is that the only reason why you won’t become my knight!?”

“Well... It’s not exactly the only reason, but—”

“What else is there!? As the sole daughter of Duke Castellia, I promise I’ll grant your wish if it is within my power!”

Ah. So that was it. The Castellia ducal family was rather famous in the Avalyne Empire. Though they had produced no knights of note within their past few generations, nobles who descended from their bloodline always possessed Crests of astounding powers.

“...It’s not so much my ‘wish.’ Rather, didn’t those girls say that you couldn’t manifest a Crest?”

“Ahaha... So you overheard...”

Medrauta merely shrugged in response. “I may not be able to resonate with a Crest, but I can’t make an oath with a noble who can’t even manifest their Crest. That would be like having...”

That would be like having two cripples on a team. She bit her lip, unable to bear speaking those words. Her pride would not let her.

“It’s... It’s not true!” Viviane exclaimed. “Look!”

Viviane thrust her hand toward Medrauta. There upon the back of her hand was a faint mark in the shape of two crossed chains that formed an ‘X’.

Medrauta took her hand, bringing it closer to herself as she inspected the Crest. “...So you do have a Crest.”

“Y-Yes! It’s just... The ability is... Well...” Viviane’s eyes shifted away, casting her gaze to the ground beside them. “...I don’t think it’s something that any knight would find useful.”

She dared not look Medrauta in the eyes after revealing such a thing. It was natural for a knight to select their noble based on the strength of their Crest. As the academy’s strongest knight, Medrauta should have had the sole prerogative of selecting her noble as she pleased.

“That’s not for you to decide,” Medrauta declared flatly.

Viviane blinked. “H-Huh?”

“It is the knight who determines the worth of a Crest. We’re the ones flinging ourselves at the enemy. All you nobles do is sit back and channel your mana into us after bestowing your Crest.”

“W-We do a little more than that...”

Medrauta didn’t deign to give her a reply.

“A-Anyway, I... My knight already left me weeks ago... I never even got to resonate with them...”

“...I see.”

Truth be told, Medrauta hadn’t expected that at all. As a knight, forming connections with powerful families was indispensable. Even if Viviane’s Crest was really as useless as she claimed, it still would’ve been beneficial for the knight to remain in her service solely for the connections.

If anything, Medrauta had assumed that she was simply having trouble finding a knight thanks to other nobles of similar stations intercepting her offers with their own. It was a common form of bullying amongst the nobles at the academy after all.

“...So why me?”

“E-Eh!? Oh, u-um... Well... It’s a little embarrassing to say, but the Round Table has decided that I will be expelled if I cannot find a knight until the end of the month...”

Medrauta laughed.

“H-Huh!? Dame Medrauta, it’s not funny! My family will be seriously disappointed if this comes to pass!”

“No,” Medrauta grinned. “I meant no offense toward you. I was merely amused at how the world seems to be filled with so many strange coincidences.”

“Hm?”

“Your expulsion at the end of the month, I mean. Y’see, I’ve got something of a similar situation myself. Of course, you know how I’ve lost every match I’ve participated in, yeah?”

Viviane nodded, still unsure of where this was going.

“If I don’t win at least one match before the end of this month, I’m going to be expelled too.”

“...Ah. Dame Medrauta as well...”

“Yeah. And to make matters worse, I’ve been prohibited from switching between lords like I’ve been doing so far,” Medrauta said, her voice laced with evident displeasure.

“I-In that case, please become my knight!”

“Haaah? Didn’t you hear what I just said? I—”

“There’s no problem at all, right!? I’m not a lord! I’m a lady! You just can’t switch between lords, but I’ll bet nothing was said about ladies!”

“That’s a technicality. Besides, it’s not something that needs to be said since I can’t serve a lady in the first place.”

“It’s a technicality, but I’m right! And there’s no rule saying that a female knight cannot serve a lady!”

The corner of Medrauta’s eye twitched in annoyance. She much preferred the meek and quiet Viviane over the current Viviane who was warming to her theme for some reason and somehow growing more courageous by the second.

Seriously, you wouldn’t even be able to tell that they were the same person despite Viviane having been the complete opposite of her current pushy nature mere seconds ago.

“It’s tradition.”

“And traditions aren’t rules!” Viviane puffed out her cheeks. Medrauta hated it, but she couldn’t help but admit that it made the noble girl look cute. Only just a little, though.

“...Alright. Fine. Let’s say we form a pair. Then what? You just told me that your Crest’s ability was trash. This doesn’t sound like it’ll help me at all.”

“Didn’t you say that it was the knight who determined the worth of a Crest?”

Medrauta glared at Viviane, restraining the urge to throttle the smaller girl with all of her willpower. Viviane’s tone had been innocent enough, and her eyes showed no sign of taking a dig at Medrauta. A beautiful golden shade, clear and free of guile.

...Is this woman actually a god damn fox? There’s no way that she’s taking me for a ride, right? ...Right? Medrauta’s lips parted to respond, but Viviane cut in before she could.

“But I mean... You haven’t been able to resonate with a Crest anyway, right? So wouldn’t it be the same?”

Medrauta considered those words for a moment. Viviane was right. In truth, Medrauta’s plan had been to wrangle some poor lord into a match at the last minute and pray that her superior abilities would finally be able to carry her through the bout before her opponent’s Crest began to make a significant impact.

In fact, with any luck, she’d be matched against someone with a Crest that didn’t have too much direct combat ability. That way, she’d be able to have at least some fighting chance instead of being pitted against a pair like Levant and Brigitte.

But that meant... whoever she picked didn’t matter in the first place. In that case...

“My apologies, Lady Viviane. I cannot be your knight.”

...There’s no point in breaking tradition if I’m not getting anything out of it, Medrauta thought.

“A-Ah... I see. ...I thought as much. I apologize for taking up your time then, Dame Medrauta. Have a wonderful... evening.” Viviane’s head lowered as she spoke that last word, her bright golden hair shielding her face from view. With a practiced curtsy and a twirl, she departed.

Yet, despite the grace in Viviane’s gesture of farewell, Medrauta couldn’t help but notice the glistening teardrops resting upon the blades of grass before her, ensnaring the ochre light of the setting sun.