[Tayte’s Reward]

The night of the day the mock battle was held.

With my win, I was eligible to receive Tayte’s reward.

Apparently, if Raul hadn’t gone berserk in the previous mock battle, she would have given it to me that day, as she already had had it ready. But this meant she had fully believed I would win, right…?

And now, after dinner, I was supposed to receive the reward at last, but…

“—So, why can’t I leave the room?”

“Meow~… Marina and Rebecca told me to keep you in the room until they give the signal, so…”

…I was currently being monitored by a troubled-faced Priim, whose ears were twitching.

We were in the building between the men’s dormitory and the women’s dormitory, and it had a library and training room that opened until lights out. The lounge where I did my homework with Tayte previously was in this building too. Incidentally, we were in a room called the free room (students only) that could be used freely as long as you had applied for permission in advance. Its size was about the same as the dormitory rooms for commoner students.

“In any case, please wait here.”

“But if I order, you’d step aside, right?”

“Meow?!” Priim’s tail straightened with a jolt.

Although she was a halfling, her appearance was completely similar to cat-beastfolks, and just like them, her reactions were very easy to understand.

“Don’t worry, I won’t give you such an order. I’ll wait here expectantly,” I said with a smile.

“Meow~” Priim released a sigh (?) of relief.

The reason they didn’t want me to leave the room—Priim’s earlier words had hinted at it.

Most likely, Marina and Rebecca were helping out with the reward Tayte was preparing for me.

Still… Tayte’s reward for me, huh. The wording easily evoked images of lewd stuff in my mind, but with Tayte being as pure as she was, that was unlikely. I promptly throw my imagination as far as could be.

It seemed that it would take some more time, so I sat down on a chair and looked back on the events of the day.

The second mock battle… it was safe to say that it had ended with an ideal result.

I had defeated the Protagonist Raul.

And like in the original storyline, the Holy Knight Klaus had acknowledged Raul’s true skills and took him in as a disciple, and Ms. Teixeira had got the chance to ask for his help regarding research on the Demon Sword. The way our classmates and teachers saw him had changed, too.

No complaints there.

That was the best result I could hope for.

――However, it also left some points of concern.

Which was, Barrett’s deeds of match-fixing.

Barrett had apparently been forcing Raul to ‘lose on purpose’.

Looking at it from another perspective, it could be taken as proof that Barrett was afraid of Raul’s strength.

Barrett was strong.

He was born superior.

However, the original Barrett had no intention to go beyond that, he was sitting on his laurels.

He did not use his power for others, nor did he acknowledge them. He merely utilized his power for his own sake.

So, what if… he had foreseen the possibility of Raul growing into someone that could threaten him? What if, that was the reason he had threatened Raul to keep losing on purpose? Barrett and Raul—thinking normally, everyone would say that the former had an absolute advantage over the latter. However, Barrett himself had possibly foreseen a future in which he would be defeated by Raul.

Well, to be fair, in the original storyline, everything that he possessed ended up being robbed by Raul, so it could be said that his prediction was pretty much accurate.

But anyway, there were still many sides of Barrett that were a mystery to me, in spite of having shared his memories, so… I had to be extra careful going forward.

“Sorry for the wait.”

Just as I finished thinking, Marina and Rebecca entered the room.

Between them, there was Tayte.

In her hand… a basket?

A nice scent was drifting from it; could it be—

“I-I tried to make some muffins. If you’d like…”

With that, Tayte held out the basket.

Inside I found freshly baked fruit muffins.

So this was the reward…. Tayte’s handmade muffins!!

“W-wow… they look so much more appetizing than the ones sold at stores!” I exclaimed.

“Lady Tayte has been practicing cooking, you know?” Marina said.

“Cooking?”

To think Tayte, being a noble, would cook.

Normally, there was no need for nobles to cook by themselves because they had servants in their mansions. But come to think of it… Tayte’s house was of a commoner background originally. It was said that they earned their current status as a reward for their achievements of having supported the country since its founding.

“B-back home, my mother occasionally cooks for me… and usually, I practice by following her example…” Tayte explained with a bright red face.

It appeared the House of Ehrenberg truly originated from a commoner background. The reason why its people loved it so much must be because it was such a homely House.

“Now, Young Master Barrett! Please give it a try!”

“These muffins are filled with Lady Tayte’s feelings!”

Marina and Rebecca, meanwhile, were excited. Too excited, in fact.

“A-alright…”

The maids’ gazes were giving me pressure, but these muffins were made specially by Tayte for me. Let’s eat it right away. The taste was—

“Goood! It’s extremely good, Tayte!”

“Really?!”

It wasn’t just an empty compliment; it truly tasted good.

A smile bloomed across Tayte’s face.

I got to eat such delicious food, and on top of that, it was accompanied by Tayte’s smile… for this, I would subjugate even a dragon.

While enjoying the reward from Tayte, I made plans for the next event, the date with Tayte—though, before that, I had to think of ways to achieve my goal of clearing up my relationships with other women, even if little.