Chapter 16

Noel vs. Knight Captain’s Son Guile (Part 1)

About two weeks had passed since the attempted bombing incident was resolved.

I visited the Royal Knights’ training grounds with Noel. Today, I had an appointment to meet my old school friend, Guile Reveille.

Guile Reveille, the Marquis’s son, is the son of the Knight Captain and a former delinquent. He reformed through our club activities during our school days and is now a respectable Royal Knight. He contributed greatly to solving the attempted bombing incident as a Royal Knight. Incidentally, he was also a character you could pursue in the original game app.

I spotted Guile on the training ground, engaged in a mock battle. Dressed impeccably in his uniform, Guile’s knightly demeanor and skilled swordsmanship were quite impressive.

(Guile… you’ve really straightened out. When we first met, you wore your school uniform sloppily and looked every bit the delinquent. Now you stand tall and proud, quite admirable.)

Watching the reformed former delinquent with the eyes of a proud mother, I marveled at Guile. Next to me, Noel also gazed at Guile, murmuring, “Oh… a former delinquent,” seemingly reading my thoughts.

As the mock battle ended, Guile noticed our gaze and glanced our way. After deeply bowing to his opponent, he walked towards us, wiping the sweat from his brow and greeting us with a rugged smile.

“Yo, Mireille, I’ve been waiting for you. And is that little guy ‘Noel’? she’s really just a kid, huh? Is she really strong?”

“Seriously… aren’t you going to change that way of speaking? You’re a Royal Knight now, so speak more properly.”

“I only talk like this in private. I handle things properly while on duty, so don’t worry. I’m on half-day leave today and just finished up – you guys wait here for a bit.”

As Guile was getting ready, Noel looked at him with a serious expression.

“…Hmm. That man seems quite skilled. I have a feeling this will be a tough battle.”

Hearing the little one speak in such a serious tone was amusing, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh, can you tell just by looking? Guile is really strong, you know? He’s the strongest player in the country.”

“But Noel doesn’t feel like losing. I’ll use every cheat and definitely win.”

Noel said, clenching her tiny fist with determination.

“Noel has been looking forward to today’s match. The Petanque showdown, I won’t lose!”

****

Today, we visited Guile to have a “Petanque Strongest Decider Match” between Noel and Guile.

Petanque is a type of ball game and the great sport that led to Guile’s reformation. As a delinquent student, Guile was forcibly made to join the Petanque club through my guidance and coercion, and he quickly began to excel.

Through the club activities, Guile deepened his trust with his teammates, found purpose in life, and took the first steps toward a proper life. The Petanque club, which was on the verge of being disbanded, became one of the top teams in the country thanks to the genius Petanque player, Guile.

The Petanque Club and Guile had a win-win relationship. And he and I were comrades who both belonged to the Petanque club.

Thanks to that connection, Guile helped me during the commotion of my broken engagement with Judrich and greatly assisted in resolving the attempted bombing incident.

Despite its somewhat cutesy name, petanque is a sport that has significantly contributed to world peace.

Recently, while talking with Guile, I mentioned, “By the way, Noel, who lives with me, is also strong at Petanque.” There was a mini-game in the original app called “Let’s Petanque♪”, and Noel had cheats for Petanque as well.

“Hey, let me challenge this Noel to see who’s stronger.”

And that led us to the present.

****

“Alright, let’s have a one-on-one Tête-à-tête match, Noel. Even if you’re a kid, I won’t go easy on you.”

“Hehe, Noel won’t go easy on you either.”

Using the courtyard of the Royal Knights, Guile and Noel’s Petanque duel began. By the way, the only spectator was me.

The rules of Petanque are simple. Draw a circle about 50 centimeters in diameter, and from within the circle, the first player throws the target ball called the “but”.

Then, both the first and second players take turns throwing metal “Petanque balls” towards the target ball. They continue throwing until they run out of balls, and the player whose ball is closest to the target ball gains an advantage. They repeat this for several sets, and the first to score 13 points wins.

Well, to put it simply, that’s how it goes.

In reality, the throwing techniques and strategies are quite deep, with terms like “portée,” “roulette,” and “tirer,” among others, but I’ll leave those out for now.

“Gnuu. You broke through Noel’s blocking ball…!”

“Haha. Your demi-portée isn’t bad either.”

…Both of them are sweating nicely.

Seeing a Royal Knight and a little girl playing ball together like this is kind of heartwarming.

“Go for it, both of you!”

With a casual cheer, I continued to watch over the Petanque Strongest Decider Match.