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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Raise the Stakes a Little
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Raise the stakes a bit.
As I introduced Laura as my fiancée, Kiara—as expected—threw a complete fit.
"Fiancée?! How could you keep something this important from your big sis?!"
"I definitely sent an invitation, but there was no reply—"
"As if I'd ignore an invitation from you! Don't talk nonsense!"
Kiara furrowed her brow, truly looking like she hadn't received it.
But the standoff ended with testimony from the attendant standing behind her.
"It was you who didn't check it, miss."
"Me? Really? Why?"
"You said your head hurt from lessons and put off checking letters. It was mixed in among them."
"Ah..."
Kiara realized her mistake and shrank back sheepishly.
But when she saw my 'I knew it' expression, she switched faces again and brazenly declared,
"Well, that could happen! Can't be helped, so I'll forgive you!"
"Forgiveness is something I should be—"
"Anyway, that means this Lady Laura here is like my little sister, right?"
"Yes?"
Caught off guard as the arrow suddenly turned to her, Laura reflexively made a 'What on earth are you talking about?' face.
But I thought it sounded pretty good.
'Kiara sticking by Laura's side? Not a bad idea.'
The conversation had veered a bit off track—but
our original topic had been countermeasures for the incident from earlier.
There hadn't been any real physical threat to Laura—but
it seemed to have shaken her mentally quite a bit.
Still, I couldn't stick by Laura's side forever.
I had my own things to do.
'I can't drag her around the academy with me the whole time I'm enrolled...'
Besides, if Laura kept clinging to me, when would she ever meet other guys?
But if Kiara hung out with her, all those issues would be solved.
Same gender probably made it easier to open up, and no one would bat an eye at them sticking together.
Having thought it through, I spoke to Kiara, who was busy teasing the flustered Laura.
"Little sister... I'm glad you see it that way. Kiara, can you accompany Laura for a while?"
"Huh? Accompany her? Well, I was planning to get to know my new little sister better anyway, but... did something happen?"
"Just a minor thing."
I explained the earlier incident to Kiara, who nodded as she listened.
"Well, our Laura is so pretty, stuff like that was bound to happen! But you handled it?"
"I just brought out my wicked fiancée."
"Hmmm, the guy who barely writes to his big sis... treating his fiancée like a treasure now that you're engaged?"
"You don't even read them."
"I do read them! This was just a one-time slip-up!"
Putting on a playfully aggrieved face like that, Kiara then smiled and said,
"Got it. So, Laura, shall we go bond like girls do?"
"Yes? Wait, hold on, Leonardo? I just met her today— Eek, don't drag me! What kind of strength...!"
Without even letting her finish, Kiara dragged Laura off somewhere.
I quietly saw off Laura's retreating figure.
'Sorry, Laura.'
But it couldn't be helped. That was the best I could do.
And Kiara was more caring and thoughtful than she let on, so it'd be fine.
Probably...
Having safely resolved my fiancée's worries like that, I stood up from my seat.
'Then I'll get to my own business.'
Before enrolling in the academy, for safety's sake, my goal had been
making allies!
I couldn't predict what might happen if I didn't watch over Laura—but
without allies to help me, I couldn't stop threats even if I knew about them.
So no matter what, I had to secure some useful allies here.
'I've trained enough to protect myself...'
But in a pinch, I needed to be able to call on someone for help.
I would absolutely graduate from this academy safely!
With that resolute determination, I set off toward my goal.
My target was a salon established within the academy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
As I'd mentioned before, I hadn't made my official debut in high society yet.
First reason: I'd only just come of age.
Second: The Dominica family and the word 'socializing' didn't mix well.
Everyone in the family had rock-bottom social skills.
Plus, with our lofty family prestige, there was no need to meet random people.
Why bother meeting worthless trash?
Just win over a few high-status nobles with wide connections, and that was enough.
And no need to hold salons just to meet a handful of people.
Under that utterly efficient logic, the Dominica family neither hosted nor attended salons.
But separate from family tradition, I'd visited salons a few times myself—for some of my hobbies.
Swordsmanship, which I'd diligently practiced since childhood, was one of them.
'To hone swordsmanship, you need to cross blades with various people.'
Swordsmanship at salons?
It might sound odd at first.
In the modern world, salons conjure images of curly-haired nobles enjoying drinks and music while chatting.
But the salons here, centered around these gatherings, weren't just that.
Drinks and music? Sure.
Giggling and bonding? Of course.
But the true essence of these salons was—
'This.'
I opened the salon door, looked inside, and smiled.
At a glance, it looked utterly chaotic.
Some played instruments silently.
Others madly painted as inspiration struck.
Someone chugged booze in the corner, while two men nearby heatedly debated, faces flushed.
In the salon, countless nobles immersed themselves in their own interests.
Hardly paying attention to what others around them were doing.
So, to sum it up in one word:
'Total mess.'
A space where nobles shared their not-so-refined hobbies.
That was this salon's reality.
And in a place like this, my status wouldn't get in the way.
As I stepped inside, a few sent glances and murmured.
"What, did I drink too much? Why's the Dominica crest here?"
"They said he enrolled this year... guess it's true."
But only those near the entrance reacted like that.
Even they quickly lost interest in me and returned to their own pursuits.
Salons were where nobles gathered to bond.
So here, they set aside rigid status etiquette.
Not that decorum vanished entirely—but
flaunting authority based on rank didn't fly.
Not even for one of the empire's three grand duchies.
That was the unspoken rule here.
Freed from those fearful stares, I calmly surveyed the salon.
I'd come for this freewheeling atmosphere, sure—but
mainly to find someone likely to be here.
'He's gotta be... Ah, there he is.'
I spotted my target right away.
In the freestyling salon, one spot drew a big crowd.
At its center, a blue-haired man was playing chess.
Each move he made drew murmurs from the spectators.
And just as I arrived, his match ended.
"Checkmate. Game over."
"Ah! W-Wait! One move—no, two...!"
"No take-backs in betting chess. Mind stepping aside for the next player?"
"Grrgh...! Fine, I lost!"
"Yes, good game."
With his opponent's concession, the man flashed a bright salesman smile and swept up the gold coins on the table.
The crowd gasped and whispered among themselves.
"Reton didn't even lay a hand on him! How many games is this now?"
"He's taken on pretty much everyone here who fancies themselves at chess."
"A real super rookie. This'll stir up the salon chess scene."
The blue-haired man basked in the anticipation and interest.
His name: Nicholas Dignity.
Famous for raking in gold through all sorts of bets, earning the moniker [Wizard of Wagers].
Rumor had it, losers paid in magic instead of gold sometimes.
He was a skilled mage, so plenty challenged him hoping to snag some spells.
'No idea why a mage is scraping gold through bets—but'
that wasn't important to me.
What mattered: He was obsessed with earning money, and I was obsessed with my safety.
His magic would bump my safety up a notch.
But I couldn't just flash a money pouch here.
He was a free mage who hired out to no one.
The only way to get his magic was beating him at his own bets.
'Such a hassle.'
Annoying, but no big deal.
If that's what he wanted, I'd play along.
I sat across from him at the table.
The spectators hushed at the new challenger's arrival.
A few recognized me and looked shocked, but thankfully, the mood didn't sour.
Just curious stares instead.
Nicholas, counting his pouch of gold, noticed me sitting opposite and spoke.
"I don't play for free. Minimum one gold coin. Beat me, and I'll pay out magic equal to your stake. Those are the rules—sound good?"
"One gold coin, huh."
Pretty steep for betting chess in a place like this, not a real salon.
But way too cheap for the Dominica family's third son's debut bet.
I stared at him—he was still smiling like a salesman, silently pressuring 'no money, beat it'—
Thud!
and dropped a heavy money pouch on the table.
As it spilled open, revealing a two-digit stack of gold coins.
An amount wildly mismatched for betting chess. The crowd went silent, Nicholas's smile froze—
and I said in a low voice,
"Too low. Raise the stakes a bit."
"Ha... haha..."
Nicholas gave a dry smile at the gold.
He glanced conflictedly between me and the pouch, then—
"Fine! Let's do it!"
—flashed a grin utterly different from before and accepted the bet.
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