When I punched Rutum his body flew a couple meters before he landed, twiched, and stopped moving completely.
My sudden action caused the cheering to stop and the audience to go silent.
Umm, he wasn’t dead, right?
Oh, his leg still moved slightly, so he should be fine.
I went up to Rutum and used magic to pour some water over his head.
「What’s going on?!」
I honestly thought it would have been better if he just stayed unconscious, but I had to make him keep his promise to the king.
「What happened, really?」
Rutum scanned the area for a clue before looking at me.
「Were… Were you holding back all along?」
He realized it?
Well, it would have been a problem if they found out that I had won using the power of Bear Hands, so I had held back. Yet, when he had said something so stupid, I had acted before thinking and hit him with all I had.
Could I maybe hit him again to make him forget?
Still, if I hit him too many times, he might even end up forgetting his promise.
「O-of course not.」
I tried to play dumb.
「Fufufufu! So, you were holding back. No wonder Eleanora-dono was willing to stake her own position on this match. It seems that I had made an error in my judgement.」
Rutum said and looked at Eleanora-san who slowly walked over to us.
「I knew you were strong, but this was the first time I’ve actually seen you in action.」
Eleanora-san had only heard about me defeating monsters like the Black Viper, but had never been there to see me do so. She had only watched me fight Shia that one time she had challenged me. Thinking of it like that, she must really trust me, to let me fight in her stead even though she didn’t even know my actual strength.
「I want you to marry my son even more now.」
「I refuse.」
Hadn’t he been aiming for Shia and Noa to begin with? Well, not like I could say that out loud, and I couldn’t just push them under the bus, as I cared about their futures. It was still quite annoying having to deal with his persistent requests, though. For now, I somehow managed to reject his offer, and we headed to speak with the king.
「That was an excellent match; it caused quite a bit of excitement amongst the students.」
「Even so, that doesn’t rectify the fact that I have embarrassed myself in front of you.」
Rutum said and bowed deeply in front of His Majesty.
「Rutum.」
「Yes?」
「Just as you promised, you shall step down from your position as the commanding officer of the Third Chivalric Order. Following that, I will give you a new position. You are to become an instructor at this academy and focus your efforts into raising new knights.」
「Your Majesty?」
「I understand what you believe in. In general, women indeed have less brawn than men. Because of that, it may have been better to only have male knights in the past, but now that we are at peace, I believe it’s fine to train a few female knights as well. Tilia and Flora will need them as their escorts, so I want you to train both men and women to become fine knights to support the royal family. 」
「Your Majesty…」
「Still, make sure not to harm any female knights like you did today, and don’t even think about quitting your post.」
It looked like His Majesty had noticed Rutum’s scheme.
「I understand. I will fulfill your wishes.」
Rutum obediently accepted his king’s orders.
「Good. Also, we can’t let the students’ matches against the knights end like that. Please complete the rest of your duties as the commanding officer today.」
「As you command. Please excuse me.」
Rutum glanced at me but left without saying anything else.
His face was all swollen up but it wasn’t my fault. He was the one antagonizing Shia and Noa, so I had to punch him at least once.
Just as I tried to leave as well, His Majesty called out to me.
「I will be returning to the castle. Eleanora, Yuuna, I’ll have you both come with me.」
「Me too?」
The last day of the school festival had only just begun. There was still plenty of time to look around. Why did I have to leave together with the king?
「Look behind you.」
I turned around and noticed a bunch of students and observers intently watching us.
「Your Majesty, they’re looking at you, are they not?」
「No, they’re looking at you, Yuuna.」
They were?
「If I let you roam free, I can easily see it causing problems. I also have quite a few things to say to you.」