Ch.106106. The Successor of the Summer Window

The exchange program was fundamentally designed with the main purpose of promoting harmony between academies.

Since academies naturally had strong military inclinations, they tended to operate in a closed manner, which became a factor in heightening tensions between nations.

The reason was simple. When viewed from the outside, academies with military orientations operating in such a closed manner appeared as if they were preparing for war at any moment.

With each country gathering talented individuals for military education, they couldn’t help but be wary of one another. Added to this was the speculation that they might suddenly declare war and deploy academy cadets.

Thus, the Academy Exchange Program was created with the ulterior motive of easing continental war tensions. While officially it was about learning the cultures of other academies, the true intention was to reduce continental war tensions and promote peace.

That intention worked quite well.

Just as modern society has Olympic truces, the leaders of each nation agreed that during the Academy Exchange Program, no wars or conflicts would occur.

This was to prevent the continent from being devastated by frequent wars.

Of course, there were always cases where someone broke the agreement, but it was true that the exchange program had become a significant deterrent. Regardless of the reason, if a conflict arose during the exchange program, united national-level sanctions would be imposed.

Perhaps that’s why in Tactical Combat, this exchange program part was the only peaceful segment in the main scenario after the tutorial where you couldn’t get a game over.

Gilbert was well aware of this, so he had a relaxed mindset when he saw the notification that the main story was starting. However, his peaceful daily life was being disrupted because of one particular person.

“Successor of the Winter Sword! Face me in battle!”

“Who is that?”

“I heard she’s the next successor of the Summer Spear.”

“That tiny kid?”

“I heard she’s actually an adult despite her appearance.”

“That makes sense.”

“What a weirdo.”

Gilbert rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache from the cadets’ comments all around him.

He thought the atmosphere wasn’t bad until he gave her the honey jelly, but something had upset her, and now she was following him everywhere, loudly demanding a duel.

At first, he thought she was just energized after receiving the honey jelly. Since she was someone who loved food, she might have misunderstood his gesture of giving her honey jelly as encouragement.

But after she stuck to him all day long whining about settling things, he realized something had gone wrong.

Especially after seeing her eyes blazing with anger, he realized it wasn’t Edel who had misunderstood, but Gilbert himself.

What is it? I didn’t do anything that should have bothered her.

Gilbert pondered seriously.

Edel had a fiery personality despite her small stature, perhaps due to her childhood spent on the streets. She was known for never letting go of anyone who upset her, regardless of who they were.

So he had tried his best not to upset Edel, but this time he felt somewhat wronged.

After all, his meeting with Edel had lasted less than ten minutes, and they hadn’t even had a lengthy conversation.

All he had done was give her the honey jelly he had and pat her head…

Wait, could that be it?

Gilbert’s expression suddenly crumpled.

Although he had said nothing came to mind, Gilbert, who had conquered all of Edel’s romance routes, could guess the misguided reason.

Edel had such a fiery temperament and childish personality that when she fixated on something, she tended to overinterpret it, which was a major flaw.

Here, Gilbert’s actions toward Edel were giving her honey jelly and patting her head.

For Edel, who considered herself a mature woman, she would definitely think he was a strange man who suddenly patted a lady’s head.

And she would have thought about the reason and come to one conclusion.

Giving food.

Patting the head.

That means treating her like a child!

A simple, highly exaggerated three-part logic.

Now understanding why Edel was so furious, Gilbert sighed.

He never imagined he would feel the same emotions he felt when conquering Edel’s romance route before.

Gilbert lamented his fate, experiencing once again the embarrassing emotions he thought he’d never feel after achieving that achievement.

Things had been going smoothly for a while, but it seemed like the universe was just saving up trouble for this moment.

Still, now that he knew the reason, there was some room for optimism.

At least he was already familiar with how to handle the situation.

“Edel Revaice.”

“Ha! Now you’re finally responding? Is this how the next successor of the Winter Sword treats a lady?”

“Next successor of the Summer Spear. This is not the stage for us.”

“Huh…”

Unlike his previous indifference, Gilbert spoke with an excessively formal tone, causing Edel’s eyes to widen.

For Gilbert, it was cringe-inducing to speak this way, but amusingly, Edel thought this manner of speech was mature.

What on earth did Dia teach this kid?

Gilbert inwardly cursed her mentor, Dia.

“Our duel should take place on a fitting stage.”

“I understand the intention of the Winter Sword’s successor. The Summer Spear’s successor, Edel Vaice, will eagerly await that moment.”

When Gilbert addressed her in a noble manner, Edel, who had been acting childishly, suddenly transformed into a refined lady, slightly lifting and dropping her skirt.

In short, if Edel’s misunderstanding was about being treated like a child, the solution was to do the opposite.

It had taken quite some effort to figure this out, and he never dreamed he would have to use this knowledge again.

“Then, this young lady will eagerly await the duel with you, successor of the Winter Sword.”

*wink*

Was that Edel’s signature fatal pose #1?

Blinking her right eye, Edel winked at him, then left with graceful steps.

Only when she was out of sight could Gilbert finally let out a long sigh.

“Hahaha. So even the great Gilbert has someone he can’t handle?”

“Brynhild, is that you?”

Raising his tired eyes, he saw Brynhild laughing uproariously.

Gilbert thought this might be the heartiest laugh she’d had since coming to the academy.

“Whew. I can’t remember the last time I laughed like this.”

“It’s just a headache for me.”

“But she’s quite cute, isn’t she? The famous next successor of the Summer Spear being such a tiny thing and acting all grown-up despite her appearance.”

Brynhild, who had been standing with her arms crossed, uncrossed them and naturally stood beside Gilbert.

Gilbert tensed slightly, remembering her recent proclamation about “marriage by abduction.”

“No need to be nervous. I’ve decided to stop shouting about marriage by abduction.”

“Have you grown up?”

“I just gave up because it doesn’t make sense to abduct someone stronger than me. It wasn’t my style to begin with.”

You seemed pretty serious about it though?

Gilbert swallowed the words that had risen to his throat. It was to avoid creating unnecessary trouble.

“So what brings you here?”

“A duel. Lately, no one’s been challenging me.”

The flood of duel requests that came in when Brynhild first transferred had suddenly stopped at some point. This was because Brynhild had accepted every challenge and thoroughly crushed her opponents, causing people to stop challenging her recklessly.

After all, facing her, the great warrior of the Sigurd clan, required more than mediocre skills, and the initial duel requests were meant to drive her out.

The top-tier cadets who could actually duel with her had little interest in such matters, so naturally, the challenges thrown at Brynhild gradually disappeared.

In the end, if she wanted to duel, she had to make the request herself, and since she wanted to face the strongest cadet she knew, she naturally sought out Gilbert.

“I see. Alright. Let’s go to the dueling grounds.”

“I’m curious why you’re agreeing so readily. Could it be you’re interested in becoming my husband?”

Brynhild looked Gilbert over with a bewitching gaze that couldn’t be compared to Edel’s signature fatal pose #1.

Male cadets passing by inadvertently bent their waists upon seeing her gaze.

Yet Gilbert, who was the actual recipient of that gaze, headed to the dueling grounds with an indifferent expression.

Seeing this, Brynhild smirked and followed behind him.

***

As the breeze brushing against their noses began to turn cold, the day of the exchange program dawned.

Cadets from distant foreign academies crossed the gates of Demeia Academy, renowned throughout the continent, and marveled.

This was the place known as the continent’s finest academy.

Though they had pride in their own academies, there was something indescribable flowing through Demeia Academy.

Perhaps it was because war heroes who had disciplined the continent held professorships here.

Or perhaps it was because there was someone called the Sword Saint, despite being a woman.

– So this is Demeia Academy.

– This is where my future begins…

– Is the Sword Saint really here?

Some were genuinely amazed by Demeia Academy itself.

Others envisioned their rosy futures.

And some thought of their idols.

They each felt an indescribable thrill for their own reasons.

And among those many individuals…

“Is this where the next successors of the Four Seasons’ Weapon Arts gather?”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

There were also those who would inherit the Four Seasons’ Weapon Arts.