I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 74

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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 74
But Olivia was no less of a formidable opponent than Luca. The way she answered his pointed question without a hint of concern proved it.
“Would you mind thinking of it as my effort to internalize the teachings you’ve given me?”
“You really think you’re capable of that?”
“I’ll do my best.”
An awkward spear and shield clashed with surprising sharpness. Of course, only Luca was the one sizing up his opponent; Olivia simply held his gaze steadily, her large eyes wide and guileless.
“Fine. Since you’ve chosen this, don’t come crying about regrets.”
“Of course I won’t. There’s no reason to regret pursuing knowledge.”
“That’s exactly the problem. You’re far too much the noble young lady in every way.”
Now Olivia’s gaze sharpened slightly as well. When her friends joked that she seemed like a “noble lady,” she could brush it off because she sensed affection underneath. But this was different.
Yet Olivia smiled beautifully nonetheless. At that smile, Luca’s face crumpled with irritation.
“Fine. Let’s see you try.”
“Yes, I look forward to it.”
Luca and Olivia faced each other, jaw clenched, their smiles as bright and radiant as sunlight.
Whatever the two of them were thinking, on the surface at least, it seemed like a reasonably peaceful conclusion.
But those watching had different thoughts altogether.
“Olivia’s made up her mind. Luca, you’d better prepare yourself.”
“Luca, that one’s resolved on something serious. I do hope Olivia doesn’t get hurt.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
The two standing side by side spun toward each other. Four pairs of eyes met and tangled.
“Look at her face. Her lips are drawn in a tight line. Her eyes have that sharp look too. You seniors wouldn’t know this, but when Olivia makes that expression, it means she’s sworn to see something through to the end. That girl has never failed once.”
“Then this might be her first. You two seem to be the ones who don’t understand—the most stubborn person in our entire Knight Order is Luca. He’s never failed at anything he’s set out to do.”
“No. This will be Luca’s first failure.”
“What are you saying? Fresh-faced kids. Luca will definitely win this time.”
Crackle.
The sparks that had leaped from Olivia and Luca scattered in another direction.
“Care to make a wager?”
“A wager? Ha, this is ridiculous… Fine. Let’s do it!”
The moment one mission ended, the Lux Knight Brigade erupted into chaos.
* * *
After that day, the atmosphere in the Lux Knight Brigade shifted slightly.
“From here to the end, organize everything from scratch.”
“The entire room?”
“Why? Ah, is it because you’re a noble young lady who doesn’t know how to do such things?”
“Of course not. Ah, these are documents related to the Slums. I’ll get to it.”
The atmosphere where Olivia and Luca were was decidedly sharp. Luca constantly needled Olivia by emphasizing “noble young lady,” while she received his teasing with an unflinching expression, as if utterly unbothered. Such scenes appeared frequently throughout the compound.
“See? I told you Luca would win?”
“Haven’t you learned that people who never show emotion are the most frightening?”
“Let’s see who gives up first.”
The sentiment that started with Panya and Bennett, Sena and Nick spread quickly through the entire Lux Knight Brigade. Because the odds were against them, Panya and Bennett felt a little dejected, but they remained steadfast nonetheless.
Olivia couldn’t possibly lose!
Thanks to this wager, the Brigade’s interior, which had been quiet and empty these past few days, regained its vitality. Watching the standoff between Olivia and Luca became part of the daily routine, with people clustering together to observe.
Bennett caught up with Olivia, who was walking past the gathered seniors with light, graceful steps toward some destination.
“Olivia, what are you up to?”
“I’m heading to the Storage.”
“The Storage? What for?”
“Luca asked me to organize first the rewards he brought back from the Slums mission.”
“Didn’t you do that this morning?”
“Yes. Turns out there’s more than one storage. The Lux Knight Brigade must have many diligent workers.”
After replying so, Olivia smiled and turned toward the Storage.
Panya and Bennett, left behind, watched her receding figure and shook their heads in disbelief.
“She’s really relentless. She was in the Storage all morning, and yet not a single wrinkle on her clothes.”
“I know. She was like that even back in the academy years.”
Just as the two were about to click their tongues and quietly follow after Olivia, they spotted someone already following her—more carefully and discreetly.
Dark gray hair and reddish-brown eyes. Sharp features with a hint of exhaustion, and eyes with thick shadows and upturned corners.
“Isn’t that Luca?”
“Right? What’s he doing there?”
The two, much like Olivia, were the types who couldn’t hold back their curiosity.
They hurried over to Luca. Once he noticed them approaching, he opened his eyes wide, let out a cough, and straightened his posture.
“Ahem, ahem. What are you two doing here?”
“We were about to ask you the same thing!”
“Well, I, that is to say…”
“Were you trying to keep watch on Olivia?”
At that, Luca let out a sigh and nodded.
“So you’re friends with that noble young lady?”
“Yes. We’ve known each other for a long time in the same year.”
“How does she strike you? Noble, right? No matter what she says otherwise.”
“Well… yes, she does seem noble.”
“That’s what I thought.”
A crooked smile crossed Luca’s face. He seemed both displeased and disappointed.
But Bennett, who didn’t read that emotion clearly, grinned and continued his thought.
“But it’s a bit different from what you might be thinking. It’s not because of how she treats people like us that she seems noble.”
“What?”
“The etiquette and bearing ingrained in her body—that’s what makes her seem noble. But she sees us as people. Panya here is a bastard of a fallen noble house, so she’s still noble in some sense, but I’m truly a commoner. The eldest son of a dirt-poor family.”
Bennett found Olivia all the more endearing because of it.
“I was lucky enough to enter the Knight academy thanks to someone’s generous help, but becoming Olivia’s friend was even greater fortune. For the first time, I became a person in the presence of a noble.”
“…A person…”
“You know how it is? Even when you study with crossed swords in the same academy year, the line between statuses doesn’t suddenly or clearly disappear. That tendency existed before Olivia arrived.”
But after Olivia joined, the atmosphere changed.
A person with thin forearms as if she’d never held a sword, who carried an air entirely different from them in every movement—a noble young lady.
And not just any noble, but the youngest daughter of House Kishier.
“Let’s spar.”
“What? Who are you talking to right now?”
“You. Bennett Sanchez.”
“…Me? Why with me?”
“My forearms have grown quite strong now. I can hold a sword, so let’s spar.”
“You’re really going to spar with me? You?”
“Why? Is Olivia Kishier someone who can’t spar with her classmates?”
When she first crossed that line and began to fit in with them, the others couldn’t maintain their stiff distance either. The lines in the Knight academy blurred.
Bennett laughed softly as he recalled that moment.
Meanwhile, Luca’s face was swept by a flood of indescribable emotions.
Bennett thought he understood, just a little—a very, very little—what Luca was feeling.
In fact, Bennett was the person in the Academy who had befriended Olivia the latest. He’d been beaten soundly and lost consciousness for a time, and only after charging at her several more times and being defeated again did he finally come to his senses.
“But you’re a noble young lady.”
“So? Does the fact that I’m Kishier mean you’re not my classmate?”
“Either way, it’s all meaningless the moment we step outside this Academy!”
“Why? Will you not be my friend once we’re out?”
“…What?”
“I asked if you won’t be my friend.”
On the day of that final charge, Olivia stood before Bennett with her breath perfectly steady and spoke those words.

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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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