Torn Asunder by War, A Sword Saint for Tomorrow X The Knight Wizards!! – Chapter 45

Chapter 45
  Izana, so captivated by the play that she didn’t even notice such a thing, whispers in the dim darkness, keeping her voice down and taking care not to disturb those around her.
  
  “Why can’t gentlemen believe in the one they love and be so troubled by such things?”
  “Men are simple creatures. Please be forgiving.”
  
  “Hmm, is that so for Claude as well?”
  “I do aspire to be free from doubt.”
  
  She clenches her fist, slightly indignant at the nobleman Claudio in the play, but if there isn’t some turmoil here, it won’t lead to the scene at the wedding where he denounces her and breaks off the engagement, or where the bride faints from despair.
  
  However, since I’m usually a little distant from Izana, I’ll remind myself to be careful not to misunderstand her through trivial misunderstandings in our daily lives.
  
  ‘There’s no point in needlessly angering Sariel…’
  
  While the face of the overprotective magician flashes through my mind, the play “Much Ado About Nothing” steadily progresses… and the priest, having doubts about the sudden turn of events at the wedding, consults with the bride, Hero, and devises a plan with everyone.
  
  It’s a strange strategy to make her appear as if she died on the spot to encourage her fiancé to reflect on his actions, but the father, informed of his daughter’s death, flies into a rage and challenges Claudio, the direct cause, to a duel.
  
  Furthermore, Beatrice, in order to protect the honor of her beloved cousin, implores Benedick to kill him, claiming that he has no sense of chastity.
  
  “Ooh, what will become of them?”
  “Well, now…”
  
  Even if she asks me in a whisper, I can’t tell Izana, who is absorbed in the story, so I can only enjoy the play along with her.
  
  Eventually, the play reaches its climax, and the Grand Duke’s foolish younger brother’s （according to Revia） scheme comes to light through the drunken slip of the tongue of one of his subordinates, narrowly averting a pointless duel.
  
  Still, Claudio, pointedly told that “the responsibility for my daughter’s death lies with your lack of judgment,” acknowledges his fault and, visiting the grave of his fiancée to repent, encounters Hero, who should be dead.
  
  Taking advantage of the chaos as the two rush to embrace each other, Benedick, who was accompanying Claudio, also proposes to Beatrice, who was with Hero, and receives her acceptance, and all the turmoil reaches a happy ending.
  
  “Haaw… This is the first time I’ve seen it, but this play is truly wonderful♪”
  “It’s a famous story loved in various countries of the other world.”
  
  “It’s amazing, Sir Shakespeare, the original author… and of course, Mr. Walland, the director and playwright, and all the actors who performed the story.”
  
  The curtain call is taking place on the stage that Izana is praising, and amidst the audience’s generous applause, the actors’ greetings, starting with the minor roles, move on to the four main characters.
  
  Finally, the two pairs of lovers show their affection for each other, and the audience will likely leave the amphitheater with the lingering afterglow of the performance.
  
  The girls who were hiding in the audience are no exception, and as the guards disguised as citizens discreetly surround us and head towards the exit, I hear Revia and the others whispering behind us.
  
  “If I were the bride in the play, I wonder if Otou-sama would challenge someone to a duel… What do you think, Fine?”
  
  “His Majesty? Hmm, it might be possible.”
  “He’d probably get beaten in return.”
  
  “If that happened, my father-in-law would also step forward to avenge his friend.”
  “Fufu, that’s a certainty.”
  
  Inspired by their lively conversation, for some reason, I have a vision of the absurd scene of facing off against the earnest Chief Magician and the muscular Knight Commander… and Izana, perhaps having caught snippets of the girls’ conversation, looks around with a slightly puzzled expression.
  
  “I hear some familiar voices…”
  “No, it must be your imagination.”
  
  I brush it off lightly and invite her to afternoon tea as planned in the dating guide, ignoring the various restaurants around the theater vying for customers, and head towards a somewhat narrow back alley.
  
  After exchanging idle chatter and walking for a while, we find a quietly stylish cafe, its sign reading “Honeycomb.”
  
  Apparently, it’s a well-known place among those in the know, and it usually closes after running out of pastries around noon, but today, Sariel has pulled some strings for us, so it’s reserved for us.
  
  As we head towards a table, smelling the sweet scent of honey, an old man with white hair, dressed as a pastry chef, approaches us and bows deeply.
  
  “Welcome, Knight King. And it’s been a while, Izana-sama.”
  “…Vault!? It’s been a long time.”
  
  “It’s been about seven years since I left the royal kitchen, and you’ve grown so much… no, you’ve become beautiful.”
  
  The old man smiles gently, exchanges a few words with us, and then returns to the kitchen. He brings us Earl Grey tea with milk and sugar, and then a plate of pastries that he likely prepared for our arrival.
  
  It’s a waffle, a Western confectionery made by baking a dough of flour, eggs, milk, and sugar in a grid-shaped mold. When Izana happily cuts into it with a knife, honey-mixed whipped cream spills out from inside.
  
  ‘…Thinking about the location again, the Lizel Knight Kingdom was close to the other world’s Belgium.’
  
  So, it’s a Western-style Belgian waffle rather than an American-style pancake waffle, I think as I sip my unsweetened tea and watch my black-haired companion smile at the sweet treat.