Chapter 141 - The Day of the Exchange Meeting (3)

“……Pleta-sunbaenim?”

One of the seven protagonists of Arche. ‘Pilgrim of the Lowest Place’, Pleta Templeton.

I turned my head toward the direction the voice came from and answered.

“Oh, just as I thought. Your impression is noticeable even from afar.”

And where my eyes landed, there was Pleta, as always. Her brown hair was tied up, no different from usual, and her blue eyes reflected in the glasses she favored.

The only thing different from her usual self was perhaps the plain black dress she wore, but considering her high title of Master Knight and her social standing… I felt her attire was quite modest.

Well, I couldn't deny that it was a look befitting her, who held the noble moniker of ‘Pilgrim of the Lowest Place’.

“It’s been a while. I knew you would come.”

I continued the conversation that way. Well, it was a given. When the Exchange Meeting event occurred, even if it didn't, the Exchange Meeting was an important event from Pleta’s perspective.

“By the way, you recognized me without even looking back? Did my voice become familiar to you when we talked before?”

“Well……”

Just as Pleta said, the fact that I could accurately pinpoint the owner of the voice as soon as I heard it was, in a way, quite strange.

And for a good reason; the time she and I had spoken was a brief moment that didn't even amount to an hour.

However, as I said before, I could read her identity in one ear, and the reason was the peculiar atmosphere I felt from her voice.

An atmosphere that had the magic to reassure people, somehow comforting.

At first glance, it seemed similar to what Serene as a person possessed, but it felt like it gave off a more approachable impression.

This was an element that proved the ‘life with people’ Pleta had lived until now. It meant that it came from experience.

A life of saving people while wandering the frontiers, despite being in a position to live a comfortable life in the capital.

When I thought about things like that… I couldn't help but feel a sense of respect.

“……An acquaintance of yours?”

While we were talking like that, Yuna, from beside me, glanced at Pleta and whispered to me.

“Ah…… She is a senior knight I got to know during the last joint grade evaluation. She is a current Master Knight.”

“Oooh……”

Upon hearing that, Yuna looked towards Pleta with eyes that were half nervous and half in awe, while making a gesture like a small animal.

“……”

Pleta, whose eyes met Yuna's, showed surprisingly little reaction. She just maintained her silence.

Well, it was an expected reaction. There was a reason.

“Ah, hello, sunbaenim! My name is Yuna! I’m in the same Combat Department as this guy!”

Unbefitting of her elegant dress and meticulously done makeup, Yuna greeted Pleta in a somewhat stiff tone, perhaps due to nervousness.

“……Haha.”

It was an immature sight enough to make me let out a dry laugh, but that was Yuna's charm.

I just smiled slightly.

And Pleta's response to that greeting was…….

“……What, she’s cute.”

Pleta just muttered that blankly. As if she had lost her mind for a moment.

Hmm. Come to think of it, there was one thing I didn't mention. About a characteristic that Pleta possessed.

I talked about how she left a comfortable life behind to jump into the front lines for people, how she's a hero who has the power to reassure people… but Pleta also had her own goofy side.

And that was the fact that she had a soft spot for cute and pretty girls.

***

“Pardon? Sunbaenim?”

“Ah, it's nothing, junior. My name is Pleta Templeton. So you were the commoner student who's been making a name for herself at the academy recently?”

Yuna asked back for a moment as if puzzled by that reaction, but Pleta skillfully changed the subject.

“……There was talk like that?”

“Huhu, a commoner student who is active in the top ranks isn't common. It's a great achievement.”

“Hehe……”

As expected, Yuna, who was a sucker for compliments, couldn't maintain the previous topic and was completely won over.

I thought she might get scammed big time one day for being so easy, but…….

‘Well, whatever.’

This was better than being so nervous at a place like this that she couldn't say a word or interact with anyone else.

“I’m also a commoner. In that sense, I feel a sense of kinship, and I like it.”

“You too, sunbaenim? But your last name is……”

“I received this recently.”

“Wow……”

I stood quietly watching their conversation and let out a sigh of relief.

“Huuu……”

It seemed that Pleta revealing her origin had built a bit more inner intimacy, and it looked like they were getting along well in many ways.

And as I was standing there.

“Oh my, look at me. To think I kept going on like this without any sense when we came together.”

“Pardon……?”

Pleta looked back and forth between me and Yuna with a pleased smile, then said those words. Yuna was clearly flustered by her words.

It seemed like she was thinking something strange… but anyway, that wasn't it. In fact, I was even relieved.

“……It’s alright. Rather, may I ask you for a favor?”

“A favor?”

Furthermore, I decided to ask Pleta for one more favor.

-I must be in the hall first, so when you arrive, come find my room before anything else. I’ll leave the location.

That was what Regina had told me yesterday. To come to her room first when I arrived at the venue.

The thing was, I happened to have joined up with Yuna, which was a bit of a concern.

It wasn't that Yuna was a hindrance, but fundamentally, Yuna would get extremely nervous and scared whenever she was in front of Regina, and besides, Regina also seemed to have some business, so I judged it was better to go alone.

I explained these circumstances to Pleta and asked her to talk with Yuna for a while and help her adjust to the Exchange Meeting.

Of course, I didn't mention specific details like being summoned by the Princess.

And Pleta's answer to those words was.

“Hm? I’d love to. The purpose of this Exchange Meeting is to have deep conversations with various juniors, isn't it?”

It was truly refreshing. Following Pleta's agreement, Yuna also answered…….

“Well, if you say you have things to do, it can't be helped. And I like being with you too, sunbaenim. It's easier to talk to you than other people.”

Yuna also seemed to have felt a sense of familiarity and comfort with Pleta in a short time.

Perhaps Pleta's unique atmosphere and the sense of kinship from being commoners had an effect.

“Then I will see you in a bit. If you are enjoying yourselves, I will come find you.”

“Don't get sidetracked~”

“I won't.”

As the conversation flowed smoothly, I nodded readily and turned around, after having that exchange with Yuna.

And just as I was about to leave. Something rather unexpected happened.

Ssk-

Pleta came up to me and put her arm around my shoulder.

“……?”

I looked at Pleta and tilted my head. What is it? was the gesture that implied.

And at my gesture, Pleta opened her mouth again.

“Wow, when we talked last time, I thought you'd be popular. You've got quite the knack, don't you? Junior.”

“……What on earth are you talking about.”

“It’s nothing, junior. More importantly, don't be too late. You know it's not gentlemanly to make such a cute girl wait for a long time, right?”

“It’s not like that, but… anyway, I’ll be going.”

“Alright, alright.”

Come to think of it, there was one more aspect of Pleta's character that I had forgotten.

And that was… her meddlesomeness of trying to link everything to romance.

I should have remembered when I heard her talk about misunderstandings last time.

***

The hall where the Exchange Meeting was held was not only wide in area but also quite tall.

It was about six stories high.

The Exchange Meeting was taking place from the 1st to the 3rd floor, and above that were rooms for various purposes.

And one of those purposes was as a waiting room for VIPs.

Step, step.

Yes, I was slowly climbing the stairs to get to the room where Regina, the VIP of VIPs, was.

‘She said the 5th floor, I think.’

Since almost all the attendees were located on the 1st to 3rd floors, there were hardly any people going up and down above that, and only those who worked at the banquet hall could be seen from time to time.

Just as I thought I could catch my breath without running into any familiar faces…….

Tuk, tuk.

I heard the sound of footsteps descending the stairs from in front of me.

I looked up at the sound, but I didn't have any particular thoughts or expectations. It was just a reflexive action of looking because I heard a sound.

Cheok.

However, by the time I looked in that direction, the footsteps had stopped.

And the person who had stopped walking, in the direction I was looking… was someone who was honestly completely out of my expectations.

“……Ah.”

A voice that seemed quite surprised to see me.

The owner of that voice was none other than Theodore Dietrich. I could tell immediately just by looking at his unique, intense red hair and neat appearance.

Above all, we had a bit of a bad history last time.

It was an unexpected encounter, but I wasn't particularly flustered. I had no reason to feel guilty.

“……”

However, Theodore seemed quite flustered.

‘What could he be thinking.’

Was meeting me really that flustering?

-……How long will you tarnish your honor before you are satisfied?

-Are you asking because you don't know? How your usual conduct is. How you behaved in our match today. You should know better.

-Are you not ashamed? Do you even know how many stories of your misdeeds are circulating within the academy?

Having heard such words last time, there was no reaction for me to show first. We were obviously not on friendly enough terms for me to greet him first.

Jeobeok.

I soon started climbing the stairs again without a word.

And then.

“……Excuse me.”

A trembling voice came from behind me. I would know who the owner of that voice was without needing to name them.

Sueuk.

Without answering, I slowly turned my head to look back in the direction the voice came from.

Theodore, who seemed to be choosing his words as if in agony, was still there.

I thought something might happen, but…….

“……It's nothing.”

Surprisingly, nothing much happened. For someone who stopped a person on their way, he just left those words and ran down as if escaping.

‘How anticlimactic.’

It was truly anticlimactic.

Well, perhaps he had his own internal struggles.

If I thought of it that way, it wasn't so bad. Since he was a rising figure in the Crown Prince's Faction… leaving a sense of debt was definitely a plus.

Perhaps the Princess's Faction, and I, could make good use of it in the future.

“……Ha.”

And while I was thinking that, I suddenly found myself letting out a dry laugh.

Did it mean I had come to interpret even these elements politically?

It seemed that spending time with Regina had rubbed off her way of thinking on me. Even though the time we spent together wasn't that long.

“Is it ‘he that touches pitch shall be defiled therewith’?”

I muttered those words and started climbing the stairs again.

To meet the very person who had passed on that tendency to me, the Princess.