Ch.212Side Story: Summer Festival – 5

The confrontation between Leonha, who felt guilty for teasing Eichenhart about her embarrassing past from their first meeting, and Eichenhart, who was ashamed of that past, unfolded quite intensely.

The largest magical device at the top was broadcasting their duel, and most spectators were watching the fight between Leonha and Eichenhart. This was especially true for Laila Academy.

Even though Leonha was limiting her power, the fact that the Light Hero was fiercely battling their academy’s top student seemed to make them quite proud.

“Haaaaaah!”

With a powerful shout, the rapier flashed multiple times. When the holy sword blocked all the thrusts, the deflected slashes created several human-sized craters in the nearby ground.

The exchange of attacks and defenses gained momentum. When the mana flickering on the blades began to look like rivers, exclamations of amazement erupted from all around. Though she had fainted with one hit earlier, she truly was a woman of exceptional basic skill.

“…!”

As if sensing something, Leonha quickly moved away. A small hole appeared in the rock right behind her. The hole immediately exploded, shattering the large rock beyond recognition.

Eichenhart, momentarily withdrawing her rapier, let out an exclamation of admiration.

“As expected of the Hero. If you weren’t limiting your power, someone like me would have been knocked out long ago.”

“Um… thank you for the compliment?”

“I’d like to request even brief guidance from you, but… this is a battlefield. Sadly, one of us is destined to fall. The moment of destiny approaches.”

Isn’t she embarrassed saying such things herself?

Leonha seemed to share my sentiment, responding with an awkward smile, but everyone else besides us two was genuinely enthusiastic about Eichenhart.

Well, the name of House Renitus carries tremendous weight in the Empire, so it’s understandable. Especially when the next head of House Renitus is fighting on equal terms with the Hero.

“So, I’ll stake everything I have.”

Eichenhart, who had briefly withdrawn her rapier, brought it to her chest and held the blade vertically. An enormous amount of mana flowed from her body and began to concentrate in the rapier.

The awkward smile disappeared from Leonha’s face. Similarly, a light like the sun itself melted down began to rise from the holy sword. It meant she would face her opponent seriously.

Eichenhart, holding her rapier, gave a slight bow.

“So you’re going to face me seriously. I appreciate the courtesy, Hero.”

“Yes. I made a mistake at the beginning. I should face you properly now.”

“…eek.”

Eichenhart’s lips moved slightly as if she’d been unexpectedly struck.

Leonha probably genuinely thinks she did something wrong. She hadn’t intended to do it, but after losing the bet, she unintentionally touched a sore spot.

So she was apologizing, but how Eichenhart would take that apology was another matter. The mana rising from the rapier intensified, fueled by her reddened cheeks.

The flow of mana that had been swirling around converged into one, and the tip of the sword pointed at Leonha.

—Flow Style 1: Raging River.

Eichenhart’s body shot forward like a spring. Leonha drew upon her divine power and swung the holy sword. In an instant, the rapier and holy sword crossed each other.

—KWAAAAAANG!

Blue light and golden light exploded.

“…”

“…”

When the light cleared, there was the rapier that had grazed Leonha’s cheek and the holy sword that had reached near Eichenhart’s neck. Both were unable to move as their blades were blocked by each other.

—Divine power or mana exceeding the permitted limit has been detected.

A warning sound rang from the magical device worn on her wrist. It meant that she had used mana beyond the permitted limit to block the attack and counterattack, resulting in Leonha’s defeat.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

“Renitus! Renitus!”

Thunderous cheers and applause erupted from the audience, centered around Laila Academy’s officials. After all, she had defeated the Hero, regardless of whether her power was limited or not.

Leonha, withdrawing her holy sword, awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“Congratulations, you’ve won.”

“Thank you. It was truly an excellent fight, Hero. It was an honor to face you like this.”

Eichenhart, also withdrawing her rapier, lifted her skirt slightly and crossed her legs, bowing to show respect. She’s certainly a person of proper character for a duke’s daughter.

On the scoreboard, Eichenhart’s team shot up to first place. It was natural since Leonha had been assigned the highest score.

“You don’t seem worried about the score.”

“You mean the final monster that comes to the top team? Thank you for your concern, but I’ll politely accept just your sentiment. I’m confident I can defeat whoever comes.”

“Ah…”

Leonha showed another awkward smile. Being the one who knew she was the final monster, she couldn’t help it.

“Besides, it’s only 1%, right? Director Erestica wouldn’t have set an unreasonable figure. She would have made it challenging but doable if one gives their all. So even if someone stronger than my confidence comes, I have no intention of giving up without a fight.”

Leonha nodded with eyes that seemed to be looking at a slightly lacking but kind younger sibling, exchanged final greetings with Eichenhart, and disappeared somewhere through a dimensional gate.

Soon, someone sat down beside me. I turned to look. It was Leonha with a few beads of sweat on her neck.

“So, was I right?”

“Yeah. She really came to me first.”

Leonha gave an embarrassed smile and snuggled up close. Our shoulders touched. I could smell a sweet fragrance mixed with a hint of sweat.

“What are you going to do? Will you defeat her?”

While we were watching Eichenhart together through a magical device, Leonha suddenly asked.

“Well, I’m still thinking about it, but even if I defeat her, I’ll probably do it in a way that preserves her pride. Like I did with you.”

If she had acted arrogantly, relying solely on her position as the next head of the ducal house, I would have mercilessly crushed her.

But the Eichenhart Renitus I saw had only pride befitting her skill, and even setting aside her position as a duke’s daughter, she was quite a decent woman.

It pricked my conscience to treat such a person carelessly.

“I thought so too. Mira, you and I think alike—”

Leonha, who was about to turn to me, paused. Because we were so close that our shoulders were touching, her face was right in front of mine.

Whew, the breath Leonha unconsciously exhaled touched my lips and dispersed. Mine would be doing the same to her. I could see her previously white cheeks gradually turning red.

“Um, Mi-Mira. It’s a bit… too… close… could you… move away…?”

But despite saying it was close and asking me to move away, her throat moved slightly with a gulp. Her flushed cheeks came closer and closer. And her slightly protruding lips also—

—WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!!!!!

A scream mixed with half joy and half shock shook the entire Colosseum. Startled, Leonha hurriedly moved away. Then she kept fanning herself, saying, “Why, why is it so hot?!”

Wondering what had happened, I looked at the magical device.

Priscilla was walking proudly out of flames that engulfed everything around her.

The time for me to appear as the hidden boss came quite quickly. Perhaps because there were many eyes watching, everyone was actively hunting bosses.

Most of the students who took on the role of bosses were defeated without significantly reducing scores.

At least Priscilla had burned three teams completely, relegating them to the bottom ranks together, but she eventually had to withdraw after exceeding the mana limit while fighting Eichenhart, giving up points.

Naturally, expectations for Eichenhart soared to the skies.

[The final monster has been activated.]

As I arrived at the event location through the dimensional gate, a narration echoed in the air.

Befitting a hidden boss, I wore a mask to hide my identity, and used a transformation necklace to slightly alter my body shape. Finally, I put on a robe that covered my entire body and pulled a hat down low, then loosened up my hands.

‘Let’s see.’

I checked the location with the magical device. As the director had said, it only showed the location of the currently first-ranked team. Eichenhart was standing still in one place, not moving.

As if she was waiting for me.

Then it’s only proper to oblige. When I went to the place marked with a red dot, Eichenhart was waiting for me with her rapier, as expected.

“You must be the student taking on the role of the final monster. Nice to meet you. I am Eichenhart Renitus, the next head of House Renitus and the top third-year student at Laila Academy. And you are?”

“If I intended to reveal my identity, I wouldn’t have come looking like this.”

A perfectly modulated voice came out. It was a noise-filled voice commonly used in broadcasts when reenacting criminals.

“That’s true. I expected as much, but I was hoping anyway. I’m curious about something—are you really that strong? Strong enough to have your mana output so heavily restricted against me?”

“Talking about it won’t really make you feel it.”

“That’s true. Actions speak louder than words. I like you too.”

As Eichenhart infused mana into her rapier, the other team members scattered and began to flee.

“Running away?”

“I’d appreciate it if you called it strategic dispersal. According to Director Erestica’s explanation, you’re obviously an extraordinary powerhouse, so this is a strategy to prevent our scores from being reduced by getting caught up in our fight.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

I clenched and unclenched my fists a few times. Watching me, Eichenhart tilted her head.

“You don’t have a weapon?”

“This is my second time, and I think this will be enough.”

When I made a motion as if striking down with my fist, Eichenhart’s eyes, which had been frozen for a moment, widened.

“Where has the Guild Master gone?”

“I don’t know either. He left his position with instructions to refrain from contacting him unless it’s truly urgent.”

“Sigh… I see. Understood.”

Kang Yuna sighed. Seeing this, the secretary slightly raised his eyes.

“Is it urgent? If so, we can activate the emergency contact network. But you’ll need to properly explain the reason.”

“No, it’s not that… it’s the kind of incident that would normally be reported immediately, but I’m not sure if it’s truly urgent.”

“What kind of incident? I’ve been given authority to handle most matters as the proxy, so let me hear it.”

At those words, the bag tied around Kang Yuna’s waist opened. Several documents were taken out from inside.

“You know the S-class gate that appeared in Busan recently, the one said to contain a humanoid boss?”

In fact, it wasn’t just humanoid—it was practically human in appearance.

Brown hair, sky-blue eyes (though only one), and flowing clothes reminiscent of a yukata.

That’s why there was a lot of debate. Some wondered if it was actually human.

“Yes. There was. They say it was a very unusual boss.”

When an S-class gate opened in the middle of the city, creating a major emergency, the Eternal Guild was also on high alert, but inside was just one boss that closely resembled a human woman.

One that was strong enough to subdue an A-class hunter squad from the Eternal Guild without inflicting a single injury, and then send them out.

Considering that subduing is several times harder than killing, and making the subdued party come out without a single injury is even more difficult, this boss possessed a truly monstrous level of strength.

“I received a report that the decision was to watch and wait since it doesn’t seem hostile to humans, but has something gone wrong since then?”

“I only received this report today, but apparently for the past few days, that boss has been used as a sparring partner for A-class hunters.”

“A sparring partner?”

“Yes. The fact that no matter how much they attack, they only get subdued and come out unharmed has spread…”

The secretary’s face contorted. Are they walking around with their livers exposed? Are they so bored that they’re using an S-class gate boss as a sparring partner?

“They’re thoroughly insane. But what else? If that were all, you wouldn’t have needed to debate whether to call the Guild Master.”

“Yes, there’s more. The youngest son of the Yeomhwa Guild’s Guild Master… he made advances on the boss… and was killed, his entire body cut into pieces…”

“Haah…”

The secretary sighed deeply and quietly grabbed the back of his neck. Kang Yuna also continued, furrowing her brow and pressing it repeatedly.

“According to the hunter who recovered the body, even a master kimchi maker with 60 years of tradition couldn’t cut something so perfectly square.”

“…I understand. Please continue.”

“And the Yeomhwa Guild Master, whose son was killed, went in alone seeking revenge and came out in the same condition just an hour ago.”

The secretary’s hand was unconsciously fiddling with the emergency call button in his inner pocket.