I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 71
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“……What was that?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“I could’ve sworn someone just glared at me. Did I offend somebody?”
A chill seemed to run down her spine. Olivia murmured as much, quietly brushing her arms.
As if to confirm her instinct was no false alarm, goosebumps rose across her skin despite the oppressive heat—her forearms pebbled with it.
Bennett clicked his tongue in response.
“You go around making enemies, and then you ask, ‘Did I offend somebody?’ What am I supposed to say to that?”
“Did I make an enemy? But they were the ones who started it.”
“Those types are always the worst. They never think about their own mistakes—just feel sorry for themselves.”
It wasn’t wrong. Olivia nodded in agreement.
“Then it must be those senior members.”
If she’d earned their resentment, there was nothing to be done about it. She’d already prepared herself for that much.
Olivia’s house was old enough to walk alongside the Empire itself from its very founding. What set them apart from other noble families was their deep involvement in the Empire’s commerce.
She’d met countless people from childhood on. Her father, Marquis Kishir, would often sit her on his lap and regale her with endless stories.
“Olive. What do you think is something we must never overlook?”
“Hmm? Isn’t there nothing in the world that should be overlooked, Father?”
“……You’re my daughter, but you certainly are perceptive. Anyway, you can’t overlook everything, but if I had to choose just one thing?”
Marquis Kishir swept her hair back as he asked his cryptic question, watching her tilt her head in confusion, and spoke thus:
“It’s people, my dear.”
“Yes?”
“The hierarchy of birth is clear. But that doesn’t measure a person’s talent.”
“I don’t quite understand.”
“Imagination is something all people share in common. Ideas can come from anywhere, from anyone. And we must learn to use that well.”
Those who look down on people will never achieve greatness. That was Marquis Kishir’s teaching.
Her father, Marquis Kishir, carried Blue Blood deep in his bones and placed great importance on the hierarchy of birth.
Yet that didn’t make him a bad nobleman. He understood clearly the source of his own power.
In any case, Olivia had spent her life adopting such thinking, and over her three years in the Knight’s Faculty, those convictions had only solidified.
“You must never look down on people. That’s obvious, whether noble or commoner.”
“There aren’t many nobles who’d say such things. You’re rather unique.”
“Is that a compliment? Thank you.”
“Yeah. It is.”
Bennett answered halfheartedly. Olivia smiled at him and nodded.
A scene she’d witnessed moments ago drifted back into Olivia’s mind.
Members of another knight brigade hurling insults freely, while their seniors accepted the situation as though it were an everyday occurrence.
“No matter how I think about it, it’s not normal. It’s not like there are no commoner-born knights in other brigades.”
“Hmm? You mean what happened just now?”
“Bennett. Don’t you know anything? The rumors, the whispers……whatever you call them. Even something you might’ve heard from the club?”
It was an offhand question, but Bennett’s eyes sparkled as though he’d been waiting for it, and he leaned in close.
“Why?”
“Because I happen to know something.”
The distance between them shrank considerably.
“See, as you know, the Lux Knight Brigade isn’t exactly popular, right?”
“That’s true.”
“They do accomplish things, but it seems like the kind that can’t be spoken of openly.”
Olivia nodded quietly. They had learned that truth painfully during this assignment.
The work of the Lux Knight Brigade was something no one in the Empire wanted done, yet someone had to do it.
But when they finished their mission, no commendation or honor followed. That massive incident had even been transformed into something else entirely, then forgotten.
Just remembering when she’d heard about it made her feel as though she’d swallowed a stone—her chest heavy and tight.
Bennett lowered his voice to a whisper.
“The thing is, the seniors aren’t even weak, right? Honestly, we could’ve just overpowered those guys.”
“But?”
“But there’s a reason they keep getting disrespected like this.”
Bennett’s eyes gleamed as he spoke. True to his role as vice-captain of the Rumor Club, he was quite enthusiastic about gathering and spreading gossip.
“They’ve never won a single duel.”
“What?”
“Of course, Captain Aiden and the Commander are exceptions. But the rest of the unit……they’ve never won a duel against another brigade. Not even once.”
Those people? Why on earth?
Olivia’s eyes widened in disbelief at this inexplicable revelation.
* * *
After speaking with Sena and several other knights, Bennett’s story proved to be true.
“What? Duels? Um……. It’s true, actually. Our unit members have never beaten another brigade’s knights.”
“But why?”
“Hm? Is there a reason for losing a duel? We must’ve been weaker than them. Frustrating as it is.”
Olivia found this fact so unbelievable that she even went so far as to approach knights she wasn’t particularly close to, desperately asking them to tell her the truth!
“Senior, that’s not right, is it? I must have misheard?”
“Uh, what, what is it?”
“That thing you mentioned. That we’ve never won a duel.”
“Oh……. That? Well, it is true. Not exactly a pleasant topic, though.”
“But why?”
Yet no matter how many times she asked, the answer remained the same.
Unable to accept the successive shocks, Olivia quietly crouched in a corner of the Training Ground. Her green eyes followed the movements of the training unit members, rolling back and forth.
As a result, the members of the Lux Knight Brigade were having a terrible time.
“What’s wrong with her anyway? Does anyone know what’s going on?”
“Is it really so shocking that we don’t win our duels?”
“Mm……She’s a noble, after all. Doesn’t it seem like she’s always lived a life of winning?”
“But why is she watching us like that! It’s not like our performance changes because she’s looking!”
Whoosh.
Now Olivia’s eyes were fixed on Nick and Kunta, who were mid-duel. Her brow furrowed slightly as she stared intently at them.
And the moment she did, Kunta lost his balance and staggered badly.
“Ugh.”
“Kunta. I keep telling you to break that habit. Your body moves one beat too late.”
“I know, I know…….”
He glanced over at Olivia, then shuddered and picked up his sword again.
Everyone present empathized with Kunta’s feeling. Gerard swallowed a sigh and muttered as if lamenting:
“Strangely, with her……. Her expression seems to change before we even make a mistake.”
“……You felt it too?”
“I’m losing my mind. How can she be similar to the Commander in this way too? It’s not just Swordsmanship!”
Olivia stared intently at them as though analyzing them, and whenever something occurred to her, she rapidly scribbled it into the Notebook she’d brought along.
When they’d once asked her about the Notebook’s purpose, Olivia had said clearly:
“When there’s something I don’t understand, I’ve been taught you have to figure out the reason first.”
“Hm?”
“So, Senior. Truly, genuinely, sincerely—there was no falsehood in what you said then, right?”
“What do you……. Surely you don’t mean—duels again? This girl is relentless.”
How could she possibly uncover the reason for any of this?
That part was unclear, but one thing was abundantly certain: something strange had been set in motion.
Those calm, gentle green eyes were glinting in the most peculiar way.
“……I hope Aiden gets back soon.”
Someone please stop her! the unit members thought miserably.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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