The Seventh Prince Runs Away from Awkward Situations Chapter 93

The interior of the building, rising high unlike the scenery of Lucha Village where small houses were clustered together, possessed a unique splendor matching its height.

A roar of anger that did not suit that affluence rang through the temple's prayer room.

"How much money did I pay you, yet you can't handle that single thing!"

"We, we are sorry, Priest."

The apology of the two men, who bowed their heads as if apologetic, could not silence the priest's rage.

"Are you saying you came back without being able to lay a finger on just one mere Lucha participant? Or was that guy also a monster you two couldn't handle?"

At his question, the two hurriedly shook their heads.

"N-No. We didn't even see a single hair of that black-haired brat."

"Then who on earth was it!"

"It was a guy with yellow eyes. Because that guy appeared suddenly, we were busy running away."

At the answer of the two, the priest frowned.

He was a young guy who seemed to have a similar physique to the old man named Jing.

He was a guy who lost by forfeit every time, but he wasn't an opponent who looked easy at a glance.

Fleeing was an excellent choice.

Because if they were caught in his hands, it would have been inevitable that the mastermind would be revealed.

If that happened, there was no meaning in sending people to resolve it quietly.

Even so, the appropriate response could not soothe the priest's anger that the goal was not achieved.

"Useless things......!"

Knock knock.

What stopped his movement, just as he was about to start throwing a fit, was a quiet but forceful knocking sound.

Since the people who would visit the room at this hour were fixed, the priest obediently stopped what he was doing.

"Get lost now."

At his order, the two men, heaving sighs of relief, quickly opened the door and went out of the room.

A sneer hung on the priest's face as he confirmed the huge silhouette entering after they left.

"Look who it is. Isn't it the most pitiful and most stone-like Idan in the village."

At his welcome mixed with ridicule, Idan bowed his head deeply.

"It seems ordering me wasn't enough for you."

Idan said while gesturing with his eyes at the door the men had left through.

"Don't act presumptuous and just do what you were told properly."

At his blunt answer, Idan nodded.

"I can do better than them."

"What are you saying you can do better?"

At the priest's question asking back, Idan nodded.

At Idan's answer, a gleam appeared in the priest's eyes.

At his gaze telling him to continue, Idan bit his lip once and slowly opened his mouth.

"I too can do dirty work. So...... please do not touch Ria."

***

"Let's stop here for today."

Looking down at us who had fallen from exhaustion, Jing spoke refreshingly.

The sun that dyed the dawn sky was crossing the horizon before we knew it.

The last training before the match had ended.

Although the disastrous result that neither Ria nor I could touch a single hair of Jing during that time was regrettable.

"Just once. Let's do it just one last time, Jing."

Perhaps it wasn't enough to end with just regret for Ria, as she shot her body up and spoke.

However, Jing firmly shook his head.

"We have done everything we can during this time. Now letting the body rest fully is more important."

"But......."

Ria trailed off as if her anxiety wouldn't go away.

If someone asked how the training of the past two days was, Ria, who had become completely tattered in just two days, and my gloves could answer instead.

However, the person herself seemed to think that was still far from enough.

"C-Can't we do just a little more? You said training is never enough no matter how much you do."

At her appearance of being unable to back down easily, Jing sent a rescue request with his eyes to me, who was lying on the floor, as if he was troubled.

Normally I would have ignored it pretending not to know, but right now I also wanted to rest a bit.

"Ria, wouldn't you need to buy new gloves."

"Gloves?"

At my lethargic advice, Ria looked down at her own gloves.

Her gloves, which protected her fists that had been fiercely striking the sandbag for two days, had the knuckle parts torn.

"Right, there won't be time to buy gloves tomorrow morning. Why don't you go out and buy a new pair of gloves now."

As if it worked out well, Jing urged Ria.

However, Ria shook her head as if it was no big deal.

"This much is fine."

"What are you saying? If you keep using equipment like that, you will hurt your hands."

"It's really fine! It has been torn since this morning."

At Ria's nonchalant answer, Jing looked at her without a word for a moment.

Precious rest time ending while insisting on our own stubbornness wasn't what I wanted.

I mean, I have something to test tonight while avoiding the eyes of the two as well.

I slowly raised my body.

"If you don't need them, it can't be helped. Jing, I will go down and buy some new gloves."

"Lan-nim, you are going to buy gloves too?"

Jing's gaze lingered on my gloves that were still perfectly fine.

Although they had signs of use, there wasn't a single torn corner.

"Is something strange?"

"No. No, it isn't. You will need one more for spare."

Leaving him answering while hurriedly shaking his head, I turned my head to Ria.

"Since Ria said she wouldn't go, I have no choice but to go alone."

"The only place that sells leather gloves in the village is the place Jinger's father runs."

Ria muttered worriedly.

She stopped begging for training and looked at Jing.

"Wouldn't it be better for Jing to go together. Since Lan is in the same group as me, he might take his anger out on him even if he's a customer."

It's not that he might, he definitely will.

Thinking back to the last meeting, his love for his son seemed quite extreme, so he didn't seem like he would obediently sell gloves to Ria's colleague who knocked out three of his son's front teeth.

Ria's gaze looking at me as a figure needing a guardian's protection wasn't entirely comfortable, but, well, isn't the important thing that she gave up on training.

While I put the unpleasantness behind me, Jing shook off all the dust stuck to his clothes during training and threw on his robe.

"Miss Ria, don't be like that and let's go together. As expected, it would be good for you to get a pair of gloves too."

At his words, Ria hurriedly shook her head.

"No, I am fine."

"I am buying. Thanks to you, I was able to participate in the Lucha Competition, but I feel I haven't been able to express my gratitude enough during this time."

When Jing said this much, Ria's eyes wavered as if she was conflicted.

However, Jing took the lead without listening to her answer as if he didn't have a refusal in mind in the first place.

I tapped the shoulder of Ria who couldn't easily take a step.

"Let's go. Jing lacks a sense of money, so if we leave him like that, he will just buy the most expensive thing in the shop and get ripped off heavily."

At my urging, Ria eventually moved her feet slowly.

Checking her following behind, I followed behind Jing.

Swallowing the words that we might see an interesting spectacle if we go now.

***

When we, who had only been going back and forth between the lodging's backyard and the 2nd floor, appeared, the gazes of people walking on the street focused on us.

The main characters of interest were mostly Jing and Ria.

And there was also one person occasionally receiving gazes of fear.

"Do you know that we are going to buy gloves?"

At my question, Ratel's pupils turned toward me.

"Is there something troubling if you get caught?"

What would be troubling for me is going to buy a single pair of gloves.

I just asked because it wasn't like him to follow along to buy leather gloves with hand skin that wouldn't get a single scratch even if he fought with bare fists.

Well, if it was for surveillance, I didn't have much to say either.

"Right, wasting time is freedom."

At my answer, the corners of the guy's eyes went up.

"Doesn't the thought occur that that attitude of having lost all fear grows my suspicion."

"You should speak correctly. What grows your suspicion is not my attitude but your fear."

Perhaps I really touched his temper this time, as a cold fire rose in the guy's eyes.

"You seem quite convinced that I cannot kill you."

The guy glared at me with a force as if to teach me right now that it was my delusion.

But right now, I wasn't particularly afraid.

Because like Ratel said, right now I had conviction.

That the guy couldn't kill me.

"It's troubling if you come out like this. If you won't stop the threats, I have a thought too."

At my retort, the corner of the guy's mouth twisted.

"I'm curious. What that thought is."

I looked straight at the guy provoking me as if telling me to try it.

"I'm going to tell Jing."

"What?"

Perhaps this was an unexpected remark, as the guy made a deflated sound unlike him.

"I said I'm going to tell Jing."

Ratel, who confirmed he hadn't heard wrong, burst into a hollow laugh this time.

"Did you think that would work, seriously?"

The guy asked as if he had heard the most pathetic sound in the world.

"I think it will work. Seeing how you can't say you'll kill me when Jing is next to us."

At my answer, the bastard's face hardened noticeably.

It was quite a big change for a guy whose emotional fluctuations were hard to find.

I captured the rare appearance in my eyes to my heart's content and turned my head forward.

This was a confirmation and a bit of revenge.

A confirmation of the relationship between Jing and the guy who had a meeting different from the original work, and revenge for annoying me.

Because that bastard kept forfeiting, I ended up doing martial arts training that wasn't in my destiny.

I walked ahead leaving behind the guy who still couldn't relax his stiff expression.

Go ahead and worry to your heart's content.

Even in the original work, that bastard can't accept himself giving affection to Jing for quite a long time.

What the guy should worry about now was that kind of problem.

Not worrying about the 7th Prince who suddenly intruded.

***

When I caught up to Jing and Ria, the two had already arrived in front of the leather shop.

Jinger's father recognized Ria from outside the shop and rushed out grinding his teeth.

"Ria!!!"

He screamed a roar of anger and pointed his finger at Ria.

I felt people's gazes focusing on the commotion.

"I, I'm sorry. Mister!"

Ria, who became a spectacle in an instant, apologized reflexively.

Jing frowned at that appearance.

"No, Miss Ria, there is no need to apologize. Since it was just a fair and square match."

"What is what? There's no way that thing won fair and square! She must have used some dirty trick again!"

"What dirty trick?"

The one who asked the last question was me.

"W-What dirty trick......."

He stammered as he couldn't have thought that far.

"The temple priests already concluded it. That Jinger lost to Ria. When you say that is wrong, you must have grounds worthy of that."

At my question, Jinger's father flinched.

However, checking the gathered people, he soon regained his confidence as if he thought everyone around was on his side.

"She has a dirty record of getting caught trying to deceive the temple before too. This time she just got lucky."

"The temple's judgment was wrong?"

When I summarized his claim, the man's face turned pale.

"Wh-Who said they were wrong! I'm just saying that thing deceived them more thoroughly this time!"

I don't know what the difference is, but he hurriedly corrected my words while looking around, seemingly terrified.

Watching his struggle, I tilted my head to the side.

"Then between this year and 3 years ago, we can't know when the temple was deceived."

"What is this guy saying right now? She failed 3 years ago, and succeeded this year."

"Then that means the people of the temple are all idiots."

"Wh, What?"

This time the man jumped up as if having a convulsion.

"L-Look at this blasphemous guy! Did everyone hear?! What this guy is saying right now......!"

He raised his voice to drag other people in this time too.

However, in this kind of dogfight, I also tended to have a quite high winning rate.

Looking around at the people gathering little by little, I put a bit more strength into my neck.

And I spoke loudly so that all the people surrounding us could hear clearly.

"You said it just now. That the priests are all idiots."

You seem not to know well, but in this kind of fight, the side that gets scared loses.

"Look at this crazy guy! When did I say such a thing!"

"You said the temple people were all deceived by Ria. Then isn't it one of the two? Either Ria is smart enough to deceive everyone, or the temple people are stupid enough to be deceived by Ria."

"That is of course because Ria is cunning......."

"Then you, who noticed Ria's trickery, mean you are wiser than the priests of the temple."

"......."

Perhaps he couldn't bring himself to say that was so, as he shut his mouth.

Although his dissatisfaction-filled eyes were full of will not to admit either side.

As the man who was causing a commotion became quiet, the buzzing sound of the people who had gathered inside the shop also subsided little by little.

I raised my head, looked around the faces of the villagers, and slowly opened my mouth.

"If it's neither of the two, then maybe the whole village just enjoyed bullying one person too much."