Ch.102102. It’s a Plunder Marriage!

“Did you hear? They say a barbarian is getting special admission to the academy this time.”

“What? A barbarian? How could a barbarian possibly be allowed into our sacred academy? That’s absurd!”

The Demeia Academy, fresh from its break between terms, was suffering from an unexpected outbreak of turmoil.

As soon as the semester began, a notice was posted announcing that a member of the Sigurd clan would be admitted to Demeia Academy under special admission.

The special admission of the Sigurd clan, long-standing enemies of the empire, was bound to cause controversy.

From opinions questioning the purity of intentions behind the admission to many who were uncomfortable with a “barbarian” entering the empire’s most prestigious academy, the reactions were varied but largely negative.

Even though a peace treaty had been signed in the name of the imperial family, the deep emotional divide created by years of conflict with the Sigurd clan could not be easily bridged.

Especially in the Demeia Empire, where looking down on the Sigurd clan was commonplace, this special admission could not be viewed favorably.

From the noble students’ perspective, it was unacceptable to receive education in the same environment as the barbarians they had fought against at the risk of their lives.

The commoner students didn’t view this special admission positively either.

While noble students were semi-forced to attend Demeia Academy to prove their blue blood, this wasn’t the case for commoner students.

For commoner students, admission to Demeia Academy was a stepping stone to turn their lives around and a key to a brilliant future.

The competition for admission was incredibly fierce, beyond imagination, which is why they couldn’t accept someone simply taking a student position as if they were just adding a spoon to a fully set table.

But the decision had already been made by Headmaster Lucas. As mere academy students, they couldn’t overturn that decision.

So they devised a plan: if they couldn’t prevent the special admission, they would make the newcomer leave voluntarily.

When they thought about it, it was simple. If they couldn’t overturn Headmaster Lucas’s decision, they would make the special admission student leave of their own accord.

Amusingly, both noble and commoner students had the same idea. Though they weren’t coordinating with each other, it was the first time in Demeia Academy’s history that these two groups with different social standings found themselves in agreement.

Although they hadn’t realized each other’s intentions, they had achieved the unity the empire had so desired through a common enemy.

If Headmaster Lucas had noticed this, he would have issued a stern rebuke, but everything was proceeding very meticulously.

Blatant, yet secretive.

The sole objective: to make the special admission student withdraw.

The two student groups, self-congratulating their conclusion, firmly resolved to succeed in their plan.

Of course, they would soon realize how foolish their thinking had been shortly after the semester began.

***

“Who’s next?”

One week into the semester.

The students watching the continuous duels maintained their silence.

As soon as the semester started, the students had chosen endless duel requests as a method to force Brynhild to withdraw.

According to Demeia Academy’s rules, while there was a limit to how many duels one person could request, there was no limit to how many duel requests one person could receive—a loophole the students had targeted.

This rule was originally meant to prevent people from targeting only weak opponents to gain points, but the academy hadn’t anticipated it would be used for collective harassment.

Exploiting this contradiction, the students boldly challenged Brynhild.

At first, they thought Brynhild wouldn’t last even a day.

Every person has physical limits, and someone pushed to their limit would naturally feel psychological pressure.

But reality flowed in the opposite direction of the students’ expectations. Even though several top-ranking students had consecutively challenged Brynhild, not a single one had managed to defeat her.

This was the students’ mistake for not knowing she was a great warrior of the Sigurd clan. Rather, Brynhild, who enjoyed such chaotic battles, welcomed the students who came at her.

She accepted all duel requests, saying that even in the empire, there were students with the spirit of warriors, not just dullards.

And now, a week later.

The result was a mountain of students who had been utterly defeated after challenging her to duels.

No matter how promising they were in the empire, their opponent was a great warrior of the Sigurd clan, who valued honorable combat above all else.

They had approached boldly, but after just a few exchanges, the falling students had no choice but to forcibly acknowledge the legitimacy of Brynhild’s special admission.

There was a justifiable reason for her special admission, not just a granted privilege.

“Is there no one else?”

Looking around, Brynhild sighed deeply at the quiet dueling grounds.

At first, she had been happy about the endless duel requests, but she was soon disappointed when crossing swords with them. She had expected much from the empire’s finest talents, but their skills fell far short of her expectations.

Thinking about it, even within her clan, those who could satisfy her expectations were extremely rare, so this result was natural.

It was wrong to expect too much from youngsters who hadn’t even experienced war yet.

But in a way, it couldn’t be helped. For her, the standard for academy students was Gilbert.

He had defeated her, a great warrior, with such ease.

The heart-pounding battle with him had set her expectations for Demeia Academy too high.

If she had thought about it rationally, she would have concluded it was unreasonable.

It seemed that when it came to matters related to Gilbert, Brynhild tended to become a bit emotional.

Eventually, with no more duel challengers, a deflated Brynhild quietly left the dueling grounds. In any case, there was only one person who could satisfy her.

Brynhild headed to where that person would be. Around this time, he was always at the physical training grounds, so even though the academy interior was still unfamiliar to her, she could skillfully find her way there.

On her way to the training grounds, she encountered several students who had challenged her to duels and been utterly defeated.

Their initial spirit was nowhere to be seen as they averted their eyes like frightened puppies. Snorting at the sight, she hurried toward the training grounds.

“Phew…”

Upon entering the training grounds, Brynhild’s expressionless face brightened considerably.

A man with sweat-soaked blonde hair engaged in training that bordered on asceticism caught her eye.

No, calling it asceticism would be an understatement.

While the men of the Sigurd clan were famous for their intense training, in Brynhild’s view, Gilbert’s training was on another level entirely.

Asceticism refers to performing tasks that are difficult for the body to endure. This means doing things that are at least humanly possible.

But most of what Gilbert was doing made one question if it was even possible. Rather than calling it training, it might be more accurate to describe it as torture.

It was a continuous series of bone-crushing exercises, but Brynhild found this aspect even more appealing.

Despite already possessing the skills to defeat her, a great warrior, he wasn’t satisfied and continued to train hard—a trait that was quite attractive to a Sigurd who revered martial arts.

Staring blankly at Gilbert’s training, Brynhild finally came to her senses.

If this were a battlefield, such a careless attitude would have cost her head, but this wasn’t a battlefield—it was the safe academy.

In that case, watching a man of her taste was within acceptable bounds.

This isn’t cowardly at all.

Brynhild nodded to herself.

“Ahem.”

“Hmm…”

She deliberately made her presence known to Gilbert, who was intentionally ignoring her. While it would have been nice to continue watching Gilbert, being passive was far from her character.

“You look impressive even when training. As expected of the man I’ve set my sights on.”

“Sigh… Haven’t you considered that you might be a disturbance?”

“Not at all. Conquest is our way of life.”

Despite his deep sigh, Brynhild grinned.

Literally, the Sigurd people always lived a life of conquest. Born as warriors, they had always lived fiercely and intensely, never obtaining what they wanted easily.

Always struggling, conquering, and living a life like a flame.

That was the Sigurd people, and they considered it the destiny of warriors.

Brynhild had lived her entire life upholding this clan’s way of life, which is why she could stand here now.

“I recommend giving up.”

“That’s my line. Once I’ve made a decision, I must follow through.”

Despite Gilbert’s wall-like attitude, Brynhild waved her left hand dismissively and approached until she was right in front of him.

The distance was so close that she could feel his breath.

With her sensitive sense of smell, Brynhild could detect Gilbert’s strong scent, drenched in sweat.

A feeling that was hard to describe, almost making her head spin slightly.

If she had to put it into words, it was like being drunk and feeling hazy.

Did I always have this preference?

She didn’t particularly have an abnormal fetish for sweat or male scents.

Despite her somewhat rough and straightforward personality, she was normal in this regard. Brynhild could proudly say that much.

Then the problem must be with him, not me.

She couldn’t help but think that way.

She had never worried about this issue before.

Conversely, if she only showed this reaction to Gilbert, it was more reasonable to say that the cause of the problem was the instigator rather than Brynhild herself.

Of course, even that logic was somewhat flawed since it varies depending on the person perceiving it, but Brynhild decided to think in a way that was convenient for her.

With the very comfortable conclusion that everything was because of Gilbert.

As a result, her train of thought began to flow self-centeredly.

She was a proud great warrior of the Sigurd clan. Being a great warrior meant not only representing the tribe but also carrying on the clan’s traditions.

The reason she knew about the life-and-death battle at Bolsungsa and responded to it was to continue the clan’s traditions.

Therefore, Brynhild had a duty to carry on the traditions.

With that thought, she suddenly (or desperately) recalled a very ancient tradition.

Before the birth of the great King Sigurd, in a chaotic era, marriage by abduction was prevalent.

This was a remnant of a time when combat and martial prowess were valued above honor, and even the great King Sigurd, considered the founder of the current Sigurd tribe, was born as a result of marriage by abduction.

She thought it would be right for her to carry out marriage by abduction in the name of upholding tradition.

And the fruit of that love might herald the birth of another great hero.

She made a firm resolution to uphold the tradition.

Of course, she deliberately didn’t recall the clause where King Sigurd strictly prohibited marriage by abduction.

“Your eyes look impure.”

“What? I’m just trying to uphold tradition.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Marriage by abduction!”

Brynhild lunged at Gilbert with half-crazed eyes, as if thinking this was the perfect opportunity while he was exhausted from training.

Whoosh!

“You’re being a nuisance.”

In the past, Brynhild’s intentions might have succeeded. After all, Gilbert’s training method involved squeezing out all the strength from his body.

But the problem was that he was already far beyond the realm of superhuman, with a physical ability score of 93.

After deflecting Brynhild who had charged at him, Gilbert wiped his flowing sweat with a prepared towel and sighed deeply.

He couldn’t understand why the fierce beast-like Brynhild had turned into a cat in heat.