Chapter 16 — The Manliness Ranking

Quite a few days had passed since Fie and her group had become friends with Queen.

As Fie entered one of the dormitory’s lounges, she became aware of a large number of squires in a group, seemingly discussing one thing or another while looking at a piece of paper pasted on the lounge’s wall. Gormus, Slad, and even Remie were in the crowd, and a generally jovial atmosphere filled the air.

“What is it, what is it? What are you looking at!”

Unable to rein in her interest, Fie jumped into the crowd as well.

“Hmm? Oh, this is nothing to do with you, Heath.”

“Yeah, this kinda thing is kinda pointless to you.”

“You shouldn’t pay it too much heed.”

However, the crowd gave Fie a particularly cold reception. To be exact, it was as if they did not notice her at all.

Upon hearing that only she herself would be excluded, Fie puffed out her cheeks, sulking.

“What? So am I the only one who can’t be in on this?”

Fie promptly decided to take out her frustrations on Gormus’ cheeks, which were conveniently nearby.

“Ow! I didn’t say anything at all!”

“Shut it! You were guilty the moment you tried to exclude me!”

“Ugh, all right, all right! If you want to look at it so badly, go ahead!”

Panicking at the sight of the rampaging Fie, one of the squires quickly handed her a piece of paper.

Taking it, Fie read its contents. On the paper were the names of various squires in the northern dormitory, with numbers listed next to them. At the very top of the paper was what seemed to be a title.

“The... M-Man... liness Ranking...?”

“Yeah, the Manliness Ranking.”

She tilted her head to one side as she read the paper’s title, and the other squires promptly offered an explanation.

“It’s a ranking to decide which of the squires in the northern dormitory is the most manly.”

“So, the guy with the top rank is the manliest squire in the whole dorm.”

“So this affair doesn’t concern you at all, Heath.”

Upon hearing those words, however, Fie was instead motivated to prove them wrong. She had confidence in her ability to be adequately manly.

Pounding her chest, Fie made an announcement to the group.

“There is no knight in this vast kingdom who is more manly than I am! Even Captain Yore and Sir Parwick are second to me!”

“Eh...?”

“Nah...”

“No such thing...”

Although she had announced her statement in such a loud voice, the crowd hardly seemed convinced. Fie, too, was aware that her boast bordered on the ridiculous.

Fie was annoyed at being left out, but she felt that she had a good reason to say what she did. As of late, the maidservants had slowly begun to approach her. As such, Fie believed, without a single doubt, that she was manly in some way.

“Regardless, I will participate, and prove to you all how manly I am!”

“Are you sure? The lowest ranked squire gets a penalty...”

“Also, I’m the lowest ranked right now...” Remie said. He slumped his shoulders, his eyes glistening.

Perhaps it was only natural that Remie’s soft personality and cute looks afflicted him with an unfortunately low rank. Even Fie felt that she would easily win over Remie in terms of ranking.

“Yeah, I probably won’t lose to Remie anyway, so I can participate without any worries!”

“So heartless...!” Visibly shaken by Fie’s words, Remie was left behind by the crowd, who now congregated around Fie instead.

Recognizing Fie’s desire to participate, the squires responsible for explaining the event to Fie suddenly adopted supposedly manly poses, folding their arms and speaking in deliberately low voices to Fie.

“All right, we get it. Heath is going to participate in the 4th manliness ranking match of the northern dorm. Everyone fine with that?”

“Yeah!”

“No problem!”

“I’m down for that!”

And so, with adequately manly responses from each of the squires, Fie’s entry into the northern dormitory’s manliness contest was acknowledged.

“Well then, I will explain the rules,” one of the squires said.

The contest apparently had rules. Taking a seat on one of the lounge’s chairs, Fie listened to the squire’s explanation.

“The time for the contest is approximately one and a half months. First, all participants have five hundred points. Within this period, those who do manly things will be awarded with more points. The one with the most points is the manliest man.”

“I get it.”

It was a simple explanation for a simple set of rules. In other words, although it was a contest amongst individuals, the squires of the northern dormitory as a whole offer their opinions for the supposed manliness of each squire’s actions.

The squire who had explained the rules to Fie now handed her a new piece of paper. It appeared to be a different paper, with something other than rankings written on it.

On it was a column for names, and next to it, a section for one to write a reason for nominating said name. The two sections were separated by a clean line.

“When you want to award points to someone, use this paper. Although you don’t necessarily have to write a reason for awarding points, in most cases, it is best to do so.”

“Why?”

“Because the act of giving points is in and of itself a manly thing. So, if you have a manly reason for doing it, you may even receive points from everyone.”

Fie suddenly understood the principle behind this contest, coming to terms with it relatively quickly. Granting points to another was also a strategic maneuver.

Fie, however, had a question of the squire. “Can you give yourself points?” If she could do that, then she could easily avoid the penalty in question.

“There are no rules against it. However, that is seen as an un-manly thing. If you do this, no one else will give you points, which also means that you will never make it to the top.”

“Giving yourself points just because you’re afraid of the penalty is the very antithesis of manliness.”

“Giving someone else points even if there is a penalty — now THAT is a manly thing to do.”

“I see...” said the squire standing next to the one who had been explaining the rules, a proud look on his face.

To begin with, Fie thought that the rules were full of holes. However, the youths involved did not seem to see any issue with this.

“You can also give away the points that you had received from others to someone else.”

“Give away? Why would anyone do that?” Fie thought that it was pointless to just give away her points — after all, such an act was of no merit to her whatsoever.

“You don’t get it, huh. You see, giving points to someone else is also a very manly thing to do. Even if you lose points in this contest, you can anticipate receiving points for doing that in the next one.”

“In fact, giving away all your points and dropping all the way to the bottom, and then trying again the next round... That’s a manly thing!”

“I... see...”

(Isn’t that just being an idiot?)

Fie figured that this was something that only made sense to the boys.

“As expected, no one gave me points for anything, so I’m the lowest ranked right now...” Such was the situation Remie had found himself in.

Although the squires had mentioned the possibility of giving away all their points, no one had actually done it.

“Well no, you staying at the bottom for all three sessions is quite a manly thing to do. I’ll give you ten points.”

“Yeah... the fact that you can keep going in the face of a hopeless situation is admirable. I’ll also give Remie ten points.”

In a bid to comfort the sad Remie, several squires wrote his name in their point-awarding papers.

“Th-Thank you...”

Thanking his fellow squires, Remie’s eyes brimmed with tears, overwhelmed by the compassion he had been shown.

It would seem that Remie had at least managed to escape being ranked the lowest for the fourth consecutive time.

“On another note, the top scoring squire for the last three contests was Zerius.”

“Having been at the top for the past three contests, it seems like he’s going for a big score for this fourth contest.”

Although that name was often brought up amongst the maidservants in their discussions, Zerius himself was currently not in the lounge.

“In any case, that guy’s manliness isn’t something to be underestimated.”

Looking around, Fie found the other squires nodding and folding their arms, some gritting their teeth.

“Yeah, I have no choice but to admit that guy’s manliness.” Even Gormus stood with his arms folded, nodding with a strange look of admiration on his face.

“That guy... He’s manly even when he’s just drinking milk. It’s insane...”

“If you’re gonna go there, I would even say that his way of tying his laces is manly, too.”

“Against that guy and that guy alone, I feel like I can’t possibly win.”

“Since Zerius is always at the top spot, some guys have even been saying that it makes more sense to make the second position the top spot.”

“He’s the embodiment of manliness.”

The squires were filled with nothing but praise for Zerius.

As expected, his name was the topmost entry in the ranking sheet Fie had been handed.

Zerius, who was famous to a point that even Fie knew of him, was apparently the absolute king of the manliness rankings.

This seemed to be a given — after all, this squire by the name of Zerius was supposedly so manly, if the other squires were to be believed.

He would undoubtedly be an insurmountable wall to Fie, who was also aiming for the top.

Upon closer inspection, Fie found that Gormus was ranked 5th. Gees didn’t do too badly himself, coming in behind Gormus at 6th. Slad was ranked somewhat highly as well, at 12th.

Amidst the names listed, a familiar one jumped out at Fie.

“Queen...”

Upon saying his name, a certain squire standing behind Fie began to shiver.

“Why did you go off and do this yourself without telling me anything?”

Queen’s name was listed on the previous contest’s rankings, too. It seemed that he was ranked 22nd.

Reasons provided by his peers for awarding Queen points included: “Being an idiot is also a manly thing;” “He reminds me of my dad, sticking around Heath every day;” and relatively plain comments, such as, “He’s strong.”

Although he had transferred in after Fie, he had participated in the rankings, even keeping it a secret from her.

The dark-skinned youth uncomfortably fidgeted as the smaller boy (girl) stared at him, panicking as he responded.

“No, uh, well... I thought you wouldn’t be interested in this sort of thing... I mean...”

Sensing danger in his words should he be allowed to continue, Fie promptly silenced Queen with a hard stare.

To Queen, Fie was a woman. As such, it would be logical to think that she would not be interested in participating in something like a “manliness contest.”

However, Fie did not understand Queen’s intentions.

“Are you saying that such a fun event has no place in it for me...?”

Queen’s excuse seemed to have struck a nerve with Fie. Her stare intensified, her eyes boring into Queen.

“I’ll punish you later.”

An open announcement from Fie.

“Okay...”

And then, Queen’s shoulders slumped as well.

That evening, Fie ran into a group of squires who were leaving the castle, apparently bound for the downtown shopping districts. Fie joined them upon their invitation.

“Yeah, sure.” Fie smiled and called out to Queen. “Queen, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

As Fie beckoned to Queen with her hand, the other squire was soon walking closely behind.

To those who lived in the northern dormitory, this was a sight they were already used to. No one found it strange or had anything in particular to say about it. In fact, if they had to invite either Queen or Heath, most squires preferred to invite Heath.

Upon reaching the general assembly grounds before the castle’s northern gates, Fie’s group came across some squires they did not know.

Gormus, Slad, and Remie were present as well. Gees, however, had recently injured his leg. As such, he would not be able to walk for some time.

“Seems like everyone’s here.”

It was a relatively large group of eleven squires.

“Well, let’s go.” Slad motioned to leave through the gates when a knight platoon showed up, making their way back into the castle.

Amongst them were Crow and Orbel.

“Hey! You all heading out to town?”

“Yes!”

“We’re going downtown!”

The squires answered Crow’s cheerfully casual greeting with one of their own.

Crow was, after all, a well-known figure within the Royal Knights. As Crow had originally climbed to knighthood after a period of time as a squire, he had been originally assigned to the 1st before making the transfer to the 18th Knights. Even now, Crow actively helped out with the tasks of other platoons.

Due to Crow being relatively famous, his junior squires often had chances to talk to him as well. Not to mention the fact that Fie lived in the northern dormitory. As such, the other squires often had opportunities to speak with Crow whenever he came looking for Fie.

“Don’t come back too late, you hear? Also, take care of Heath! Be careful that he doesn’t wander off or something!”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m some kid!” Fie seemed irritated at being treated like a child by Crow before her peers, and narrowed her eyes at him.

Queen, who had been standing next to Fie all this time, was also adequately excited by Crow’s appearance. Although the knight he admired most was Yore, he had a healthy amount of respect for Crow as well.

Fie, however, thought Queen was simply being fickle.

However, many squires looked up to Crow — so it was not too strange for them to be happy to see him. Although he had a womanizing side to him, he cleaned up well, and often looked out for his juniors. With that in mind, it was perhaps difficult to not admire Crow in at least some capacity.

In addition, the squires paid attention to Crow’s talk about his womanizing ways even if it turned their faces red. Fie assumed that men probably viewed relentless flirting as a positive thing.

After exchanging some words with the other knights present, Fie and her friends finally set off towards the downtown shopping districts.

“Well, see you then.” Smiling, Crow waved as he saw his juniors set off.

Orbel, too, had written a neat “have fun” on his portable board, raising it to the squires as they left.

“Wow... Sir Crow is definitely cool,” Slad said, with seemingly bottomless excitement at meeting Crow.

Queen, who was also flushed with excitement at having met one of his respected seniors, nodded vigorously.

Although he got along well with everyone, Queen generally did not talk very much. He only spoke when necessary, such as when he had first transferred in. Queen did, however, speak when spoken to, offering responses when he deemed it to be necessary.

It seemed like he was the type of person to think about what he had to say before he actually said it.

However, even though Queen did not speak very much, he often wore his heart on his sleeve — mainly through his expressions. As everyone more or less understood what he was thinking about from his facial expressions alone, it wasn’t exactly hard to communicate with Queen. So the squires couldn’t figure out if Queen’s silence was a good or bad thing.

“I also want to be strong and popular like Sir Crow!”

“Nah... It’s impossible for you.”

The group of squires were fully engaged in their talk of the exploits of Sir Crow.

“I would prefer to be strong like Sir Orbel.” Gormus expressed his respect for Orbel amongst the squires.

“Ho, so Gormus admires Sir Orbel...”

Although many squires and knights admired Crow, the conversation had somehow leapt to Sir Orbel, of whom even Fie was fond of.

“Yeah, he’s really something. If we are talking power, he’s probably the strongest in the Royal Knights, without question. Sir Orbel is also fast, and has superior technique. He is able to use a variety of equipment, and it is fitting that I would admire him the most.”

It was indeed true that Gormus’ body shape was similar to Orbel’s. However, the biggest difference between Gormus and Orbel was their faces — although Gormus looked like a ruffian, Orbel had a particularly gentle face.

The squires seemed to admire a variety of knights. Fie, however, admired Captain Yore the most — even though she knew that she could not possibly aspire to be anything like him. As such, Fie’s goals were relatively more realistic than most of the other squires’.

“For me, it would be Sir Cain.”

“Sir Cain?”

“Who is that?”

Faced with a flurry of questions, Fie started answering them to the best of her ability.

“Well, you know, he’s the one who’s always hiding in the treetops. He’s always hiding his mouth for some reason, and he’s really nice. You know?”

“Hiding in the treetops?”

“He hides his face?”

“Is he really a knight?”

It would seem that Fie’s fellow squires did not know of Sir Cain at all, even though Yore, Crow, Orbel, and Parwick were all reasonably famous.

“Ugh... Well, he’s really cool you know...” Sulking at her fellow squire’s reactions, Fie puffed out her cheeks, vowing to one day tell her friends all about Sir Cain.

The squires continued their discussions as they headed off in the direction of the downtown districts, the streets now bathed in the hues of sunset.

As it was not rare for squires to be seen in or near the downtown district, shopkeepers who recognized members of Fie’s group waved cheerfully.

Of the squires present, about 30% were of noble birth, while the remainder largely hailed from peasant backgrounds. It was also worth mentioning that there was the odd squire from Teornoah — in this case, it was Fie.

On the subject of Fie’s friends, Queen and Remie were both of noble birth. Gormus, Slad, and Gees on the other hand, hailed from peasant ancestry.

Perhaps it was because of their sheer numbers, but squires in large groups were a common sight in the downtown district. As squires were given an equal amount of pay, even those of noble birth were used to mingling with their peers.

Upon becoming functioning adults like Crow, their salaries increased and their range of activity summarily grew, allowing them to visit a wider variety of shops — some adult in nature.

However, the group that had set out from the castle today was straying from their usual path. Fie, noticing this, questioned the group’s motives. She had assumed that they were simply buying something from the downtown districts, but it would appear that she was mistaken.

“Hey, where are we going?”

Hearing her question, one of the squires offered Fie an answer.

“Oh, we didn’t mention? We’re all going to the sauna today.”

“It’s lonely just bathing every day, isn’t it?”

“There’s a new sauna in town and it’s cheaper than the others, so we all want to go and check it out.”

A sauna...

Fie understood that saunas were places filled with steam, where people had to remove their clothing to enter so as to be able to freely sweat, removing impurities from their bodies.

Of course, this also meant that Fie would have to enter said sauna with her peers.

Upon hearing that the group’s aim was a sauna, Fie was faced with a conundrum.

Naturally, this was a problem for her. If she went to the sauna with the other squires, they would instantly find out that she was a woman.

Fie became aware of her failings in assuming that she was simply being invited on a shopping trip. She had to do something about the situation immediately.

(I’ll use Queen as a reason and casually walk away...)

With that thought in mind, Fie turned to face Queen, only to find him pale-faced, his mouth once again gaping in a series of creative shapes. He was pivoting his head from left to right in a total state of panic — if anything, he looked extremely suspicious.

Fie found it strange that Queen was more nervous than she was about their predicament. He was losing his cool in the face of such a situation, and started mumbling audibly, unsure of what to do.

Jabbing Queen in the waist before anyone else could notice, Fie commanded him to be quiet, in a voice as small as she could muster.

Fie stared at Queen, visually instructing him to not panic. Although Queen was still rapidly sweating and had his eyes open a bit larger than they usually were, he was in much better shape than his absolutely panicked state a short while ago.

Fie had succeeded in calming down Queen — for now, at the very least.

From her observations of Queen’s prior state, it became very clear to Fie that she could not depend on him to escape. As he was very much an honest and straightforward person, he was not much of a help in situations like these, where the ability to lie was a prerequisite.

Now that Queen had calmed down more or less, Fie decided that she had to somehow escape on her own instead.

Realistically speaking, Fie really did not wish to enter a sauna. She herself had been in saunas several times before in her life. Although she agreed that saunas felt better and aided in relaxation, she could simply go on her own at a later date. In fact, she probably would not mind going with Queen.

“Oh, yeah... actually, there was a book I wanted. Can we stop by the bookstore?” one of the squires said, looking in the general direction of said bookstore.

“Oh, sure. We still have time anyway.”

It was currently 5:00 PM.

Although squires did not exactly have a curfew, they had been instructed to not return at too late of a time to their dormitories. If possible, they were to return before 9:00 PM, as that would be when the dormitory canteens closed.

Unlike most of the downtown district’s roads, the side road they had taken was not tiled. The squires soon entered an alleyway flanked by rickety-looking wooden houses.

Although it was visually similar to the dangerous district that Fie had seen during her assignment with Conrad, the atmosphere here was markedly different. Lively sounds of conversation and children playing could be heard from within the dwellings, in addition to the voices of shopkeepers advertising their wares occasionally mixed in. It was a bright place, full of life.

This was where Slad and Gees had been born.

Although those born here were used to it, a cursory look of the locale revealed a complex tapestry of unmarked streets and paths. Steadily, the group advanced through the area.

Although they were mostly used to the larger parts of the downtown district thanks to their regular excursions, Fie and Queen, not used to the back roads, stuck close to Remie instead.

The path twisted and turned, ending in a small footpath leading to an old, wooden bookstore.

The products on sale were old, dog-eared books, and simple-looking books made of basic adhesives and paper. To be precise, they were closer to booklets than actual bound books. These simple booklets were something between newspapers and actual bound books, and the children of the downtown district lovingly referred to them as “magazines.”

Although these magazines were not updated as quickly as the news was, they were popular amongst the young for the kind of information they provided.

The old books were located all the way at the back of the shop, with the front dedicated to displaying magazines.

The shopkeeper was an old man with stark white hair.

“Oh, here it is, this is it! This one right here.”

The squire who had suggested that they go by the bookstore in the first place quickly made his rounds amongst the magazines, happily picking one out.

“You and your silly magazines again. You should really pick up an actual book sometime.”

“What? You displayed it in front of your store, right? I also brought my fellow squires to this shop in the middle of nowhere selling nothing but old books. You should thank me sometime, you know?”

Such was the exchange between the soft-spoken owner and the squire, the latter sticking out his tongue to express his distaste.

It seemed like the shopkeeper was familiar with the downtown-born squires.

“Oh, welcome to my humble shop. It is small and only has old books for sale, but please, take a look around.”

Upon seeing that some squires were of noble birth, the old shopkeeper suddenly changed his attitude, warmly welcoming them into his store.

The shopkeeper had apparently mistaken Fie for a noble as well, although she was a self-declared Teornoah immigrant.

However, none of the squires sought to correct him, and neither did Fie. After all, while she wasn’t exactly nobility, she was something close to it.

“Hmph, we are the regular customers here, and yet we’re treated totally differently.”

“It is true that I only sell old books. Those who only read trashy magazines are not my customers!”

“Oh shut it! If it wasn’t for these magazines you wouldn’t be able to keep your shutters open!”

Although they seemed to be somewhat mean to each other, the squires understood that this was proof of the shopkeeper being familiar with his regulars. Before long, everyone had split up, browsing the books on display.

Although the squires did not realize it, this was the kind of place that exposed their individual preferences.

Slad and the other downtown-born squires were primarily reading the magazines. The other peasant-born squires also behaved in the same way.

Remie and Queen, however, headed to a shelf lined with old books. It would seem like the two had received a good education.

Remie seemed to have a variety of hobbies, and spent his time reading everything from fiction to cookbooks. Queen, however, mainly stuck to fiction of knightly characters.

Gormus, interestingly, read both magazines and books. Of the books that caught his interest, many of them involved war history, or the basics of training one’s body.

Although Fie did not have any special interests of her own, she decided to seek out books that Captain Yore and the rest of the 18th Knights had recommended.

After about thirty minutes of browsing and speaking with the shopkeeper, the only ones who bought books in the end were the squire who first spoke with the shopkeeper, Slad, and Remie.

Although they felt somewhat embarrassed, the old shopkeeper did not seem to mind, and saw them off with a smile. Squires were apparently welcome at his establishment.

“What did you buy?”

Remie showed Fie a book on embroidery in response to her question. It was a natural purchase for Remie, who, although embarrassed while buying it, did enjoy making soft toys in his free time.

(I guess he’ll be last in the manliness ranking this time around, too.)

The magazine that Slad had purchased was apparently filled with action stories. It struck Fie that there were many of such magazines in Slad’s room. Although the magazines were of simple construction and would often end up crumpled and creased, Slad was careful in his reading, preserving many old magazines for future reading on his shelves.

“Is that interesting?”

“Yeah, it’s really good. Do you want me to lend you the very first one?”

“Yes, that’d be great.”

As for the magazine purchased by the squire who had first spoken to the shopkeeper...

“What even is this...?”

“A magazine detailing the occult beliefs of various kingdoms and countries!”

Strange-looking fonts seemed to jump out of the pages of the magazine that the squire held.

“Doubts arise in the death of the Prince of Tomash! This is not an accident, but an assassination!”

“The horror around the corner! What is the identify of the Barusumashuto Man!”

“The ghost of an unloved concubine of the King, shut away in a back pavilion, walks and haunts the streets of the capital every night!”

A cursory look was enough to discern that the stories listed within were of questionable credibility and origin. However, the squire continued reading through said magazine with a sparkle in his eyes.

“Oh, this is amazing! Confirmed sightings of a large creature living in Borden Lake!”

“Ohhh, that thing in the rumors?!”

“Wait there’s more — they’re gonna c-c-catch it! They have a plan to catch it!”

“Yeah, they seem to be searching for people to fill positions in the retrieval crew. One of their members is the legendary beast tamer, Zarvicess!”

“Ooooohhh! I want to be a part of it too!”

Peeking at the magazine in his hands, Fie could not help but feel that the squires were caught up in nothing but rumors and lies. She met their enthusiasm with an exasperated stare, and finally began to understand how the soft-spoken shopkeeper felt about these “magazines.”

Fie eventually found herself approaching the sauna without any good plan.

The problem before her was very much present and intact. At this rate, she would end up entering the sauna with everyone else.

Even Queen seemed to be at the end of his wits.

“What’s wrong, Queen? You’ve been fidgeting for a while now. Do you like saunas that much? Hah!”

“Uh... Yeah...” Queen could only answer Slad’s cheerful banter with a pale-faced nod.

Although the squires in their group were all somewhat dull, if Queen was seen by someone with sharp senses, like Sir Conrad, he would have been found out immediately.

As the group continued to advance, the squires finally made out a chimney in the distance, smoke rising steadily from its spout — they had finally made it to the sauna.

It was a large, wood-based building, and seemed to be able to house a large amount of people.

The sauna had two entrances — one for men, the other for women. A large signboard hung above each entrance. Apparently the sauna was split in half, each half for its intended audience. However, this did not benefit Fie in the slightest.

The group had finally reached the front of the sauna.

“Huh. We’re finally here.”

“I’m looking forward to it!”

The squires all had relaxed expressions, already getting into the appropriate mood for the occasion.

Meanwhile, Fie desperately searched for some way to avoid entering the sauna.

Although she had considered pretending to be sick, she realized that it would be far too troublesome to see the entire act through. It would also be difficult to suddenly pretend to have some sort of urgent matter to attend to.

At that moment, a young boy and his mother passed them by, walking into the women’s only section of the sauna.

Upon seeing that, a squire within the group was apparently struck with some sort of idea and suddenly turned to Fie.

“Hey, wouldn’t Heath be able to enter the women’s sauna? I’ve heard that boys up to 11 can get in.”

Indeed, it was true that Fie’s height was roughly similar to an 11-year-old boy’s.

In other words, if Fie had acted as a boy of a younger age, she would be able to make it into the women’s only part of the sauna. That was the idea that struck the squire in question — although he was mainly saying it as a dare, on account of Fie’s feminine features.

“Hey hey, peeking is bad.”

“No no no. He would be heading in right from the front. It isn’t peeking at all. Actually, isn’t it manly for a guy to just walk into the women’s only sauna just like that?” said the squire who suggested the idea to begin with, a hint of humor in his voice.

However, Fie answered that squire’s suggestion with a serious expression, eventually meeting his eyes with her own.

“Hmm. I guess so. I’ll go do it.”

“Eh...?” Time seemed to stop.

Gormus, Slad, and all the other squires could only stare at Fie, the confusion evident on their faces.

Leaving the stunned boys behind, Fie took off her jacket with a serious expression, handing it to one of the squires.

“I definitely can’t try to go in wearing a squire’s jacket. Hold onto it for me. Well then, I’ll be off.” With that, Fie steadily walked towards the female-only side of the sauna.

“H-Hey!”

Turning around, Fie silenced the panicking Gormus, raising a single finger to her lips. Her expression did not carry the slightest hint of humor.

Don’t make a sound. The squires clearly heard Fie’s unspoken words.

The squires thought about charging after Heath into the women’s only sauna. However, they would be easily caught. All of them knew how much of a risk that would be.

The women’s sauna.

It was the mythical door to a forbidden Eden — the door that every youth had admired, but yet could never be allowed to set foot in. A dangerous paradise.

However, as of a few moments ago, one of their own, by the name of Heath, had calmly begun walking towards those doors.

Looking at their surroundings, the squires realized that it would be a bad idea to cause any kind of fuss — a really bad idea.

However, if they did not stop him, would something even worse happen...? The resulting chaos had caused the squires to stop frozen in place. Heath, however, continued walking.

To the women’s only sauna door.

Naturally making her way towards the door without a single hint of discomfort, Heath promptly opened the door and stepped in. The squires could no longer see Heath — he was gone.

Into the mythical women’s only sauna...

With the exception of one person, the other squires were all sweating and staring, gaping at what had just transpired before their very eyes.

Their heartbeats collectively sped up. They were mentally preparing themselves for the impact of what had just happened, and the huge fuss that was undoubtedly soon about to occur.

However, the night remained silent.

To the squires, if one of them had entered the women’s only sauna, it would be a huge event — one enough to shake the very foundations of their world.

However, Heath had disappeared beyond those doors... And nothing happened. Nothing happened.

Time continued to pass — and around them, the evening continued to flow, unaware of everything that was happening at this point in time.

“He... He went in...?!”

“That guy... is he serious...?”

“He just... walked in...”

It was like they were witnessing a collective hallucination.

However, what they had seen was undoubtedly the reality, and truth. Heath had walked into the women’s only sauna.

Calmly, from the front entrance. Without the slightest hint of panic or discomfort.

The fact that nothing had happened meant that Heath had successfully infiltrated the sauna.

The squires quickly turned their eyes away from the doors after being greeted with several suspicious stares by passers-by. They had almost gone from honorable squires to perverts.

In the end, none of the squires headed to the men’s saunas, instead staying where they were, looking at each other intensely.

They stared around, searching for a squire of a particularly small build.

And then they realized — that amongst them, the squire of a particularly small build, who was just around a short while ago... was gone.

Therefore, what they had just seen was undoubtedly, unquestionably, very much real...

Leaving the other squires behind, Fie made her way to the women’s only sauna.

Having taken off the squire’s jacket, Fie was now dressed in a simple black tee-shirt and long white pants.

By impression alone, Fie was either a boy with a girlish face, or a girl with a boyish style.

To passers-by, since Fie was heading towards the women’s only sauna, they naturally assumed that Fie was a woman. No one questioned her actions.

In reality, Fie was, in fact, a girl dressed in boyish attire. It would only be natural that she would enter the part of the sauna appropriate for her gender.

Fie opened the doors to the women’s only sauna and entered calmly.

Upon entering, she was greeted with the reception desk, after which was the changing room.

Fie adjusted her hair the moment she entered, taking care to fluff out the side layers that framed her face. Although Fie had cut most of her hair off, the framing that her side bangs had offered changed her facial image drastically.

Any traces of boyishness left Fie’s face, and she looked a lot more girlish.

The hair that framed Fie’s face had two styles to it. The hairstyle that Fie regularly sported made use of a shorter layer that did not reach past her face, and this served to make her look boyish. Other than that, however, she also kept thin, but long strands of hair, usually blending them into the back of her neck, hiding them from view.

As these longer strands were usually held in place by a braiding technique, Fie only had to undo that to easily change her appearance.

Fie had learned this from Conrad, and cut her hair in such a way for use in certain situations. She only had to run her fingers through her hair a few times in the right directions to once again restore her girlish appearance.

The lady at the reception, not noticing anything wrong with Fie at all, handed her a towel after receiving the entry fee.

Even in the changing room, no one made any sort of fuss.

This much was natural — no one would fuss over a girl entering a women’s only sauna.

Removing her clothing, Fie washed away the sweat she had worked up during her training sessions with a light stream of water, and then proceeded to enjoy her time in the sauna.

She entered the sauna without rousing suspicion from anyone. It was hot and sweaty — a truly enjoyable experience.

Upon slowly enjoying her time in the sauna, washing away her sweat, arranging her hair and finally leaving the sauna...

Fie was greeted by the sight of her fellow squires, who had been waiting for her outside for some time.

Fie could tell by their glistening hair that they, too, had entered the sauna eventually. In fact, she might have spent a bit too long inside simply because of how enjoyable it was.

Fie felt slightly sorry for the other squires, who were looking around in an evidently suspicious manner, occasionally glancing in the direction of the women’s only sauna. Their faces were somewhat red.

“Kept you waiting, huh?”

Fie hastened her footsteps, returning to the group of squires, as if nothing special at all had happened. The other squires could only stare at Fie, their mouths agape. Although Queen alone understood the circumstances of the situation, a skirting glance from Fie was more than enough to encourage his silence.

Queen, for his part, nodded obediently.

After retrieving her jacket from the squire whom she had entrusted it to, Fie was bombarded with questions.

“D-Did you really go in...?!”

“Th-The women’s only sauna...!”

“Yeah, I enjoyed it. Sorry I’m late.”

The usage of the word “enjoy” seemed to collectively cause the other squires to blush, some gulping.

Fie did enjoy her time spent in the relaxing, sweat-inducing steam. However, the other squires evidently had a very different impression.

For a while, the squires looked at each other in silence — said silence was finally broken by a panicked question.

“S-So... H-How was it...? Heath...! H-How was the... w-women’s only sauna...?!”

Fie was finally aware of the intent behind the squire’s question, and for a while, stood in silence.

Finally, Fie grinned theatrically and placed a single finger on her chin, all the while looking at her fellow squires.

In that instant, the other squires understood.

That today, one of their own, by the name of Heath, had reached unseen heights never reached before by any others of their number.

In reality, Fie had just entered the women’s sauna in an unremarkably ordinary way.

She was also not interested in what the other squires had wanted to see, instead slowly enjoying her time in the sauna.

However, to youths their age, Fie was a man who had reached a world yet unknown to them.

Even Queen, who knew of her circumstances, only slightly blushed and looked away, an exasperated expression on his face. Just to be sure, Fie once again silenced her friend with a quick look.

The squires’ dreams of the forbidden women’s sauna only served to fuel a formidable sense of respect and fear in their comrade — who had now apparently evolved into a being on another plane of existence.

“Well then, let’s go home.”

Having fully enjoyed herself at the sauna, Fie casually motioned to return to the royal castle, fully aware of the stares of admiration trained on her back.

After that day, Fie received more than 2000 points from the squires who were present during the sauna event, propelling her to second place in the manliness ranking contest.

Although her position was still a far cry from Zerius’ 4000 points, her sudden ascent had become a topic of conversation between the northern dormitory.

The squires involved, however, all left their reasons for awarding said points blank — and no matter how much they were pressed, they did not reveal their reasons.

As a result, the other squires of the northern dormitory collectively assumed that Heath had once again utilized one underhanded method or another — at least, that was how the rumor went.