In Victor's tent, Vivienne wiped the fragrant sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, her cheeks flushed from moving about.
The scene taking place before them would have broken who knew how many Knights Errant's hearts. Miss Vivienne de Tabris, the most beautiful lady-in-waiting of the Toussaint court, was actually helping a young man arrange his tent.
"Can this be opened?" she asked, pointing at a thick chest on the ground.
The witcher was assembling the Undvik Armor onto an armor stand. He glanced sideways at it. "Yes. Inside should be the 'Umbrella' banners and surcoats. Help me take them out and decorate the place."
"All right! No problem, leave it to me!" Miss de Tabris clenched both fists and agreed with a smiling face.
As for the harmonious way the two of them were getting along, Angoulême, who was cleaning nearby with a rag, remained wooden-faced and had nothing to say... According to the leader's rules for dealing with people, when both parties were women, a generous heart took priority over an open mind, and when both were open-minded, good looks received priority care. Thus, in the current tent, she belonged to the very bottom of the food chain.
"Where did I just get to?" Vivienne's cheerful voice was like a lark singing. "Oh, right. This year is my first time hosting the knightly tournament. I'm actually quite nervous. Although the seniors all say there's nothing to worry about, I still don't like seeing people seriously injured!"
"Will many people be seriously injured?" Finding a topic to join in, Angoulême asked curiously.
"According to the usual practice from past years, there won't be too few. Accidentally falling from a horse during the riding trial, or being wounded by a stray crossbow bolt during the shooting trial, those are not rare situations. And during the formal duels, it is even more common for people to fail to hold back.
"The defending champion, Rainfarn, was like that. Last year, he cut off the previous champion's hand to win..." At this point, Vivienne looked very unhappy. "Many people said that final strike was actually unnecessary, but no one could do anything about it!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Accidentally falling from a horse and being wounded by a stray crossbow bolt already sound dangerous at every step, and in the end people casually lose hands and feet too! With that kind of ruthlessness, Vic will be in danger. You should know he trained hard for half a month just to get a good result."
Hearing Angoulême's words, Vivienne pursed her lips. "Mm... since that is the case, I'll go check the preliminary match list later and arrange some knights with good character and reputations, but terrible skill, as Victor's opponents! I can't do anything about the rematches. Those are decided by random draw. Of course, I believe that with his swordsmanship, unless he truly wins all the way to the end and challenges the champion Rainfarn, it shouldn't be too dangerous!"
Using an innocent face to say unpleasant things, this child was definitely naturally dark.
Setting the helmet straight so it did not tilt, the witcher turned around and said with righteous severity, "You must not do that. I, Victor Corion, will win fair and square! I came to participate in this tournament today with only three demands. Fairness! Fairness! And still damn fairness!"
When he scolded them, it was as though the light of righteousness shone behind him. Vivienne could not help feeling ashamed and lifted her skirt in a curtsy. "I'm sorry. I was only speaking nonsense just now..."
Angoulême remained wooden-faced and offered no comment, as if she had not heard Victor's rebuke.
Just at this awkward moment, a voice came from outside the tent. It was Guillaume de Launfal. "Vic, there are some things I would like to discuss with you and ask your opinion on. Is now convenient?"
"No problem. I'll put on a coat and come out." The young man agreed, then stared impartially at the two girls. "Remember, don't get involved in crooked tricks! A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. If it isn't fair and square, then it has no meaning."
After saying this, Victor lifted the tent flap and left with Guillaume, who had come to visit. As soon as he had gone out the front, Angoulême made a face at the entrance behind him.
Seeing her performance, Vivienne laughed despite herself. "There's no need to feel wronged on my behalf. What he said was actually right. What I suggested counts as cheating, so I deserved to be scolded. He truly is a knight of noble character!"
Being told this by her little companion, Angoulême nearly choked on a huge complaint and almost laughed herself to death. "You fool, he tricked you! He really is a 'fair and square' knight.
"The problem is that in the dictionary of his hometown, Bell Town, the definition of fair and square is extremely broad, so broad you wouldn't dare believe it! The real reason he scolded you just now was only one thing, this kind of cheating is too easy to discover and would affect his glorious image."
"Hahahaha, he helped me with something, and I'm very grateful to him, but we aren't in that kind of intimate relationship. We're more like siblings. So you don't need to smear him like that!"
"I'm not smearing him!" Angoulême felt wronged. Was it really that hard to save a friend who had taken the wrong path? What I have is the real younger-sister position, yours is only the honorary kind. You have to understand, you are now deep in danger. Once you turn eighteen, the consequences will be unimaginable!
"I'm telling you, I have proof. The proof is that he just changed the name he swears by. Now it has nothing to do with first love. He's changed it to swearing on his grandfather's honor."
"So what? Swearing on one's grandfather's honor is very normal!"
"Not at all. He was adopted. His grandmother never married at all!"
"..."
After hearing this, Vivienne first froze, then looked at Angoulême with an absurd expression. A moment later, once she confirmed it was true, she burst into laughter and pounced on the other girl. The two of them tumbled into a playful scuffle.
...
Victor left the tent and met up with Guillaume. They walked side by side, passing merchants selling horses and blacksmiths selling weapons. The air was filled with the stink of horse dung, but also the fragrance of caramel bread. War cries and neighing horses mixed with the cheers and playful voices of children.
This was practically a large fair, except the performance content was rather bloody, giving the duchy's children a shocking education in advance and planting the seed of longing to become knights.
Without Vivienne nearby to distract him, Guillaume finally appeared clear-headed this time and fulfilled the duties of a host, warmly introducing the various facilities and interesting parts along the way.
The circular arena was not open today. It was undergoing final repairs. Starting tomorrow, some performances would begin there.
After observing the archery contest range and the route for the riding competition in succession, the witcher, accompanied by his guide, passed quickly through more than half the camp. The two of them arrived by the shore of Seidhe Llygad.
Casually picking up a stone and skipping it across the lake, Victor thought that the last time he had played like this had been with Keira by the Sansretour River. After returning to Vizima, he wondered whether she had ever thought of him.
And the time before that should have been with Letho by the Yaruga...
Guillaume's fluffy golden hair was like a poodle's, and his first words were earth-shattering. "Vic, although you are a witcher, I like your character and admire your courage. I sincerely bless the two of you! I beg you, please make Miss Vivienne happy!"
"...You called me out here just to say this?" Pinching the bridge of his nose, Victor looked utterly speechless. He had never planned to do anything to Miss de Tabris at all. She was only fifteen, almost sixteen this year! Why did every single person think she was old enough for that?
Hearing the helplessness in Victor's words, Guillaume instead grew happy. That meant they were not in love?
He scratched his hair. "Ahahahaha, sorry, perhaps I misunderstood. But I really do have a rather serious situation and would like to ask for a witcher's help."
"Then say what you need to say! If you're also starting to care about 'evil' succubi, you know my bank account."
"Stop joking. I'm serious! Please, whatever you do, don't tell anyone what I'm about to say. Usually, I would never be so careless, but I am truly worried about Vivienne's safety!"
Faintly understanding something, Victor blinked and raised his hand to signal him to continue.
Guillaume, the "fool in love," did not look foolish at all when he became serious. "As a young and beautiful presence at court, Vivienne deliberately keeps her distance from others and absolutely will not casually get close to men. So I could only use a few little tricks..."
The witcher chuckled quietly. "Little tricks? Is that in keeping with chivalry?"
The knight waved his arm. "There is no problem with it in war. Love is a war! In any case, not long ago, I hid outside the tailor's she often visits. When Vivienne appeared, I naturally showed myself as well, pretended to bump into her by accident, then suggested escorting her home!
"She nodded and agreed. At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly. I suggested choosing a scenic route, and she agreed too. I started bringing up topics, and by the time we were almost at her home, she was even responding quite a lot..."
"And then suddenly..." Victor listened with great interest.
Guillaume sighed. "And then suddenly, halfway through speaking, she let out a frightening scream, her face flushed red, and she hurriedly fled. As for me, I was completely at a loss. I stood there stunned and didn't chase after her."
Hearing this, as the keeper of secrets for "Vivienne's friend," the witcher fully understood what had happened at the time. The matter was actually very simple, her curse had acted up under the moonlight.
That curse would turn her into a "bird-woman," not as an insult, but purely in terms of appearance. The kind with a beak and feathers.
One could imagine how frightened and helpless an adolescent girl would be when, while walking with Guillaume, she suddenly discovered that feathers were starting to grow from her hands and feet.
Although so far Vivienne had only consulted him under the name of a friend, and Victor had never actually seen her transformed appearance, his memories from his past life were unforgettable, that smooth glimpse of her back when her feathers fell away.
"On several occasions afterward, I tried to approach her and ask what had happened, because I was worried she had encountered trouble. But she began deliberately avoiding me. I noticed that at night, she often walked into the forest. I saw her go to the edge of a pool. Several times, I tried to follow her, but every time, I lost her trail. It felt as though she vanished into thin air."
As Guillaume narrated in detail, Victor could not help coughing twice, inwardly thinking, Sir Knight, do you really have no awareness that you are engaging in stalker behavior?
"Forgive me for taking up your valuable time, but I am certain that scream of hers at the time was unnatural. She needs someone's help!"
Seeing his earnest request, the witcher, who knew perfectly well why Vivienne went into the forest, also had no desire to scold him. Young people were young people. Who had never stood guard at...
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