Chivalry of a Failed Knight Vol. 2

“N-No, I guess I wouldn’t.” Ikki couldn’t just push her away like that.

“Ikkiiiii!” Stella whispered in protest.

“It’s not my fault! I can’t say no to that face!” he replied.

“Do you get it now?” Shizuku asked, interrupting their quiet discussion. “This is consensual brother-sister affection. I think outsiders should keep their mouths shut, Stella.”

“I-I’m not an outsider!”

“Really? What makes you say that?”

“W-Well…”

“Don’t give me any of that ‘servant’ nonsense. It would be absurd for a servant to complain about every little thing her master’s little sister does. For example, the people of your country are essentially your parents’ servants; does that make them your servants, too? Of course it doesn’t. But I bet they’re oh-so-courteous to you. Do all Vermillions only think logically when it’s convenient?”

“No… Rgh!” Stella seemed to want to retort Shizuku’s violent assault, but she stopped herself.

Ikki knew what she wanted to say: their relationship had changed on that night one month ago. More than mere roommates, they were a couple. Stella was a princess, however; they could hardly go around telling anyone and everyone about it.

Ikki knew that as well, so he agreed to keep it a secret between them. But any woman could hardly bear to stand and watch her lover’s little sister—a sister that loved him as more than just a brother—clinging to him like that. Stella was no exception, but all she could do was watch in silence.

Shizuku shot a bored glance at her.

“Spoilsport.”

“You say something, Shizuku?”

“Nothing, Big Brother. Sorry. Let’s get going.”

“Ugh.” Stella glared at Ikki spitefully as Shizuku started to drag him away. He could see tiny tears forming in the corner of her eyes. It was kind of cute.

“Uuuugh! Grrrrr!”

Is she growling?!

“H-Hey, Shizuku. Maybe we shouldn’t be walking around school arm-in-arm like this. I mean, we’re high schoolers.”

Realizing the danger he was in, Ikki started to pull himself away from his sister.

“Okay,” she said disappointedly and released him. “I don’t want my big brother to hate me, after all.”

“C’mon, Shizuku. I couldn’t hate you.”

He could deny that easily; who could hate such a loving little sister? No matter what, he would always love her. Shizuku smiled, a little embarrassed.

“Thank you, Big Brother. But…” she started to whisper, loud enough for only Ikki to hear. “If you’re too gentle, you might never be able to make the next step.”

Ikki could tell that Shizuku had already seen through their ruse.

Never make the next step, huh?

Maybe that was true, after all. In the month since he and Stella had started dating, their relationship hadn’t progressed at all. In fact, it almost seemed to have deteriorated. They were secret lovers, after all, so Ikki had to be more conscious than ever of his interactions with Stella.

He wanted to be closer to her, to feel her, and he was ready to take that next step. However, due to his lack of relationship experience, he never knew when to broach the subject, much less how.

What would I even say? Should I sit her down for a heart-to-heart? Or should I just bring it up casually and act like it’s no big deal? I have no idea what to do.

To make matters worse, Stella was equally hopeless. The two of them were up a creek without a paddle, and their canoe wasn’t going to last long.

Maybe Shizuku was right. As the man, I should be more proactive. But what if I come on too strong and push Stella away? That thought always kept him away from being aggressive, and as a result, Ikki and Stella hadn’t so much as touched each other that whole month. Ugh. I’d at least like to kiss her sometime soon.

They were dating, but the distance between them seemed greater than ever before.

◆◆◆

“Oh, look.”

“It’s the Crimson Princess! Lorelei and the Worst One are with her, too.”

“Man, those three really are larger than life, huh?”

“Don’t act like you know anything about them. You’re right about the girls, but the Worst One is just a Rank F who got lucky a few times.”

“You don’t honestly still believe that, do you?”

“Didn’t you hear? Vermillion and Kurogane fought the fourth- and third-best students in the school today. Y’know, those student council guys? And get this: they both won.”

“Seriously? Then the only ones left above them are the Blutrote Dame and the student council pres, right?”

“Those two are the strongest in the school, no contest. Still, the Crimson Princess and the Worst One have come this far already, so they’re shoo-ins for the Seven Stars unless they get crap luck. Lorelei is on a nine-win streak too.”

“This year’s new kids are something else, huh? That tall guy with Lorelei is a first-year too, right? He’s pretty tough.”

“Don’t call her ‘that guy’! Do you even know Lady Nagi’s nickname?! She’s the Black Rose! Have you ever heard a cooler name than that?!”

“Yeah, that’s right! I can’t believe you’d call her ‘that guy’! What’s wrong with you?!”

“O-Oh, sorry.”

“There are so many promising knights this year, even if they’re all newbies. Maybe this is the year we take the Seven Stars!”

The four of them could feel countless stares on them as they walked down the path between the fifth training field and the main school building. It was pretty normal for them to be noticed, though; the list of potential candidates kept getting smaller, yet they were all undefeated in the month since the start of the selection battles.

Of them, the one getting the most attention was Ikki. Beginning with The Hunter, the Worst One brushed off insurmountable odds in every single battle, his forward charge sending shockwaves throughout the entirety of Hagun Academy. At first, the students thought the sight of his victory was so unrealistic that they had trouble accepting it as the truth, but after he’d racked up nine wins, they could no longer deny it. Those who had called him an impostor a mere month ago were forced to change their tune.

Nearly every knight recognized his unorthodox strength, even if they were bewildered by it. Many of them even believed he could make it to the very top. Taking note of this, Stella chuckled.

“Heheh. Good to see that those idiots finally recognize Ikki’s strength.”

“But of course. My big brother is the loveliest man in all the world. It’s honestly appalling how long it took them to see it, but a lot has changed in the past month. So many people are coming to his lunchtime lectures now.”

“You’ve got that right. I still can’t believe that even some third-years showed up.”

Ikki’s lunchtime lectures were a result of his classmates constantly begging him for martial arts lessons. He agreed, but it wasn’t just swordsmanship he taught them. He also showed them how to handle shortswords, lances, and even bows.

Being well-versed in all sorts of martial arts after teaching himself how to use every weapon imaginable—all for the sake of predicting his enemies’ actions—it was a class that only Ikki himself could teach. He knew that the only weapon he’d mastered was the sword, however, and since his students weren’t quite ready to learn advanced techniques to begin with, his lectures only covered the basics of the basics.

The lectures started off with only a few of his classmates, but as Ikki became more popular, Hagun’s students seemed to be swept up in some sort of martial arts fever. It became more than just his classmates; students from every year started coming to watch him.

He had thought things would die down if he left them alone, but onlookers had been flooding in for a week, and the situation didn’t seem to show any signs of improving. With the way things were progressing, he couldn’t keep ignoring it. It was such a major change that it was hard to believe only a month had passed

“But that’s not even the biggest change these days,” Ikki told them.

“What would you say it is, then, Big Brother?”

“Well, I think I have some sort of stalker.”

“Whaaaat?!” Stella and Shizuku both screamed hysterically.

“A-A-A stalker?! You mean like those guys who follow you around all day, go into your room uninvited, and send you razors in the mail?!”

Stella was shocked, but Shizuku didn’t miss the chance to correct her.

“Stalkers only put the razor blade in the mail, Stella. Nobody would put the whole thing in there.”

“Maybe they’re trying to help you with your hygiene,” Alice joked. “Quite the kind stalker.”

“Jeez, shut up, will you?! They just forgot to take the blade out, okay?!” Stella couldn’t hide her embarrassment. “Whatever, that doesn’t even matter right now!”

“You’re right. Big Brother, could you tell us more?”

“I first noticed it about a week ago,” Ikki began. “Ever since then, I’ve had this feeling like someone’s staring at me from behind, day in and day out. I bet you’ve noticed it, too, Alice.”

“I did,” she confirmed, “but since you seemed to be trying to ignore it, I kept my mouth shut. Figured I’d let you deal with it.”

“I thought the problem would go away by itself, but they don’t seem too intent on giving up any time soon.”

“Have you done anything to make any enemies?”

“Eh, not really.”

Ikki couldn’t find any reasonable answers to Alice’s question. They didn’t seem to have any ill intent, though, so it was unlikely to be a grudge.

“Maybe they’re in love with you, then?” Stella suggested.

“That’s not unlikely.” Alice nodded in agreement. “I’d bet there are more lovestruck stalkers out there than there are hateful ones, anyway.”

“Big Brother is a popular knight, especially among girls. Maybe he made eye contact with someone who was watching him from afar and they thought he was interested in them. Or perhaps a fan ran up to talk to him and thought their conversation meant more than it actually did. There are endless possibilities, really.”

“Ikki is pretty bad at dealing with the ladies,” Alice teased.

“Definitely. If someone asked for a handshake, he’d do it in a heartbeat. He’s pretty much at his fans’ mercy.” Ikki smiled wryly at Stella’s criticism.

The three of them were right, though. Ikki’s mild-mannered personality and soft face drew girls in. Lately, students were coming to his matches for no reason other than to cheer for him, and he just didn’t know how to deal with them. He wasn’t like Shizuku or Alice; he didn’t have it in him to mercilessly reject his fans, but he didn’t know where to draw the line with accepting their requests either.

Unable to ignore those who took time out of their lives to support him, Ikki would stop and talk to anyone who asked, even shaking their hands if they wanted. It wasn’t rare for him to be late to class because he kept stopping to talk to girls. Maybe he was giving them the wrong idea, after all.

That was Stella’s opinion, at least, but Ikki wasn’t so sure. Their presence lacked malice, but it also seemed to lack love or any other warm feelings. It almost felt like he was simply being photographed.

“I’ll accept girls idolizing my big brother, but to lay their filthy hands on him is going too far. The only solution is torture.”

“What are you going to do with that feather duster, Shizuku?” Stella asked.

“I’m going to catch them and tickle-torture them, of course.”

“That’s a surprisingly cute torture method. How unlike you.”

“I’m going to tickle their eyeballs.”

“Scary,” Ikki, Stella, and Alice all said in unison.

“Well, at this point, we’re pretty much just speculating. I’ll figure it out after I have a chat with them myself,” Ikki said, turning back in the direction they had just come from.

“Ikki, are they still…?”

“Yeah. They’ve been following me since my morning jog.”

They had been observing Ikki for a full week, sticking to him like glue. He could feel their gaze coming from a thicket along the paved path, so he took a deep breath and yelled at them.

“Hey, you, I know you’re in there. Wanna tell me why you’re following me everywhere?”

“Hyah?!”

A girl sprung out of the thicket like a frightened animal.

Even if she wasn’t malicious, following someone around all day just wasn’t normal. Ikki was prepared for some sort of vile snake to slither out, but the stalker’s true identity was, surprisingly, a polite-looking, tidy, black-haired young woman. In each hand she held a tree branch, as if trying to use some clichéd method of blending in with the brush.