Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 77 - By Your Side

"Hell yeah! Let's go for another round!"

Brigitte raised an eyebrow as she regarded Medrauta with a curious gaze. "The hell happened to you? I've been brushing it off for the past few days, but it's almost been a week and you've still got that disgusting grin on your face."

"Disgusting?" Medrauta laughed. "Ahh, get fucked, Brig. You don't know a thing."

"...Did you and Lady Viviane, uh... do it?"

Medrauta squinted at Brigitte. "Do what?"

"You know? A little bedroom rodeo? Tusslin' in the sheets? Bounc—Ouch!" Brigitte winced as Medrauta flicked her on the forehead hard enough to leave a bright red mark.

"H-Hell no! What are you even saying, Brig!?" Medrauta retorted, her cheeks slightly red from the mere thought of it. While she'd been rather proactive in her advances with Viviane, she hadn't actually thought that they'd go that far. Not yet, at least.

The two of them were conducting yet another training session for the knights. It'd been nearly a week after Medrauta's duel with Leticia, and thanks to her regained resolve, Leticia had ended up joining the sessions as well. While she'd been recommended to Eirlys as a trustworthy knight who could temporarily join the ranks of the academy guard knights, the senior knight would rather wait for a bit longer to confirm Leticia's mental stability before making any decisions.

Because of that, the black-haired knight participated in the sessions not as an instructor like Medrauta and Brigitte but as a trainee despite her skills and newfound strength that slowly approached even Medrauta's. Even so, Leticia didn't mind. She was glad for the opportunity to spar against her peers again.

"Y'know, now that I think about it, it's not just you that's been weird, Medrauta." Brigitte remarked as she observed Leticia performing a sword drill flawlessly. "Leticia's been actin' hella weird too. The same kind of weird that you're going through."

"Dunno what you're talkin' about, Brig. Maybe you're just jealous."

"Jealous?" Brigitte's brow furrowed. "Jealous of what? That I'm not a meathead like the two of you?"

"First off, Leticia isn't a meathead. She actually enjoys reading when she's with Lady Rosaline. Second, I'm very proud of being a meathead, you know? There's a certain beauty about not needing to worry about all that complicated logistics or whatever shit and just whacking people."

Brigitte shook her head in amazement. She simply couldn't comprehend how Medrauta had even passed her tactics classes back when they were still in session. "Yeah, alright. Guess I just gotta get used to your newfound cheeriness, huh? That said, it's not exactly a bad thing."

Medrauta just shrugged. "Nothing really happened, Brig. Viviane and I just ended up having a talk and... I don't feel as angry anymore. I mean, I still want to find Amelia and make her pay for what she did, but it's not like that's the only thing on my mind anymore."

"Yeah... Truth be told, I was a little worried whenever I saw you spar. Wasn't 'till you started wearing that goofy ass grin that you went back to being normal."

"...Normal, huh? Well, glad to hear it." Medrauta smiled and clapped Brigitte on the shoulder. "By the way, where's Mel and Esme? We were s'posed to get a bout of jousting in after this and I don't think Mel'd miss that for the world."

Brigitte shrugged. "No clue. Maybe she's with Lady Jocelyn? The two've been—"

"Medrauta! Medrauta!" A singsong voice carried itself through the air, its owner skipping toward Medrauta and Brigitte as if she were a little girl in a field of flowers. Even from a cursory glance, the enormous smile on her face combined with the carefree sparkles in her gray eyes conveyed the unfathomable vacuousness of her mind.