Ch.213Side Story: Summer Festival – 6

I had actually anticipated this to some extent from our first duel.

Even setting aside the initial attack, the fact that he approached at a speed impossible to perceive and knocked me unconscious with a single flick to the forehead—despite my being fully prepared for a counterattack—was certainly no fluke.

Considering the various rumors circulating among the nobility, His Highness the Crown Prince’s strangely doting attitude, and Priscilla’s clingy behavior, it was something I could have reasonably deduced.

Like how he supposedly threatened at the entrance ceremony to dominate as the top student for all three years, trampling other students like insects.

Or how the Sword Saint allegedly visited the academy, kneeling and tearfully begging to take him as a disciple.

Or even how Bellium Academy supposedly offered to let him graduate early after completing just the first semester of his first year.

While the countless rumors surrounding Mira Crate might be greatly exaggerated, they couldn’t be entirely baseless. At least, that’s what Aihenhart thought.

But.

—CLANG!

What part was exaggeration and what part was truth?

‘What the hell is this?!’

Aihenhart shuddered as he watched his rapier being deflected by mere bare hands and continued his attack.

Despite dozens of exchanges, he hadn’t landed a single hit. Mira Crate was skillfully deflecting the rapier and occasionally launching counterattacks.

‘Is this even possible?!’

The parts Aihenhart had dismissed as exaggeration or lies in his mind were rapidly diminishing. And with them, his confidence.

So it was true that the future head of House Agnes, the Empire’s one and only Saint, the Light Warrior chosen by the Holy Sword, the Sword Saint’s personal disciple, and even the Crown Prince had formed a club together.

It was also true that Tower Masters and Grand Mages had been mobilized to help create the artificial dungeon for this festival.

Even the claim that Tower Masters lived and died by Mira Crate’s words was true. This fact had been directly conveyed by House Renitus’s mage, who had connections with the Mage Association.

“Kyaaah!”

The price for letting fear hold him back was devastating. Aihenhart let out a girlish scream as his body was lifted into the air before crashing face-first onto the ground.

The mere passing of a fist by his side had created an impact that felt like his body was being crushed. Where the flick had missed, there was a crater deep enough to fit half a calf.

The magic device on his wrist didn’t even register such a powerful attack. It was absurd. To think that such destructive power from mere air pressure hadn’t even reached 1% of capacity.

‘What kind of monster is this?’

He felt strength draining from his body. Being clever enough to have maintained the top position at Laila Academy for three years, Aihenhart had just realized how vast the gap truly was.

His hand holding the rapier trembled. The difference in their builds suddenly felt extraordinarily pronounced. Though it was probably changed by an artifact to hide his true identity, that hardly mattered.

What mattered was that, despite his promise to the Hero, he couldn’t think of any way to win.

After I created a small crater in the ground with a slightly missed punch, Aihenhart seemed to have lost half his fighting spirit. There was no point in dragging this out any longer—it wouldn’t benefit either of us.

I infused mana into my fist. Seeing this, Aihenhart flinched and momentarily faltered. That was the end. Realizing his mistake, he closed his eyes instead of trying anything else.

I approached right in front of him and, instead of swinging my fist, just lightly tapped his forehead with a soft “thunk.”

“…?”

Expecting to lose consciousness like before, Aihenhart had been trembling with his neck tensed. He cautiously opened one eye, then the other. His bewildered gaze turned toward me.

“…Aren’t you going to continue?”

“Why would I? You’ve already lost.”

Aihenhart, standing there dazed, finally lowered his rapier completely. The pointed tip faced the ground. Then, as if something suddenly occurred to him, he looked up.

“So you’re letting me go—”

“Ah, that’s not possible.”

“Huh?”

A confused sound escaped his slightly parted lips. He probably imagined an ending like the free duels scheduled for the day after tomorrow—checking each other’s skills and parting on good terms.

Unfortunately, given my role, that wasn’t possible.

I expanded my detection magic to its limits. Far away, I could sense Aihenhart’s teammates—who had, in his words, “strategically dispersed”—no longer retreating but lingering in place.

Whether it was an independent action or something agreed upon with Aihenhart, they hadn’t fled too far. They were probably wary of being picked off one by one, but had they chosen that option, they could have protected their points for a while longer.

A magic circle formed on my left hand. Mana rapidly drained, changing the number displayed on my magic device, but it was still far from reaching even 1%.

I clenched my fist. Literally, a bolt from the blue struck. KABOOM! A thunderous explosion echoed.

“Huh…?”

Aihenhart’s team’s score was reduced by 10% nine times in succession. As the score reduction warning blared harshly and they suddenly plummeted to the lowest ranks, his face turned pale.

“Just doing my job.”

After that, what was originally planned as a treasure hunt and monster hunt main event transformed into a game of hide-and-seek with everyone trying to avoid me.

The top-ranked team got caught by me and fell to the bottom, then the second-place team, which had benefited from this, became the next to fall to the bottom. This pattern continued until the event ended.

By the time the competition ended, everyone was physically and mentally exhausted, with barely a few dozen points separating the first through sixth places.

“Congratulations.”

“…Thank you.”

The first place still went to Aihenhart’s team. Aihenhart received the award with a half-dazed expression. His teammates looked no different. Seeing their expressions, the Chairman smiled benevolently.

“That’s why I added advice to the rules explanation in your magic devices. I said it would be better to wake the final boss as late as possible.”

“Indeed…”

Aihenhart responded absently, and my name was removed from the free duels scheduled for the day after tomorrow. This was due to Aihenhart’s strong insistence.

Other participants who had briefly sensed my abilities during the mock duel on the eve of the festival vehemently agreed, and since I also thought it would be unfair, I nodded in agreement.

Thus, I was excused from the duel roster due to “personal circumstances” vouched for by none other than Grand Mage Valera. Leona filled my vacant spot.

“Let’s go! Let’s have fun!”

After the main event on Tuesday, we also began to enjoy the festival in earnest from Wednesday. Rosaria urged me from the morning, saying it had been a very long time since she could enjoy something with such a pure heart.

I quietly followed her. That “long time” probably included the seven years she had to spend without me.

“I didn’t know Mira would be such a playboy, changing your appearance to enjoy the festival.”

“…It can’t be helped.”

“I know. I was just joking for once.”

Latina made a V-sign with both hands. Both of us, as well as Rosaria, had changed our appearances using the Transformation Necklace. We also cast perception interference magic.

So people would forget we were even there after a while.

“I worried needlessly about day and night. With this method, we can go anywhere.”

“Indeed.”

“Over here, over here! Hurry, both of you!”

We decided the order by drawing lots. Wednesday was for Rosaria and Latina, Thursday for Priscilla and Elysier, Friday for Leona and Laura, and Saturday for Nika and Erestica.

Rosaria teased me, asking if I felt proud meeting women on a schedule. Honestly, I found the situation so absurd that I couldn’t even refute it.

Well, apart from the teasing, she seemed to understand, having thought about it a lot during those seven years and having witnessed firsthand how difficult it had been living without me.

“I want to try that next.”

“And that one after!”

The combination of Rosaria, who had always been incredibly optimistic by nature, and Latina, who had never enjoyed a festival either in her original world or after returning to Earth, was truly spectacular.

Both of them roamed around the academy all day from morning till evening without getting tired. While that was expected of Rosaria, Latina wasn’t usually one to smile so much.

“Today was fun!”

“Yes. It was extremely enjoyable.”

I quietly marveled at their seemingly inexhaustible energy. The two were chatting away, arms full of souvenirs they had bought, received, or won as prizes from various places.

“Ho, it seems you had a splendid time. We trust you will spend tomorrow with us in the same manner.”

“…”

Naturally, Priscilla and Elysier, who were next in line, ignited a strange sense of competition upon seeing this.

Unfortunately, their burning competitive spirit proved useless. The Eternal Guild’s emergency network was activated, requiring an urgent return to Earth.

“…I shall go and see what this is about first.”

“That’s right.”

Priscilla, who had claimed to have planned everything in advance, pouted with her lips protruding as much as the staff she carried, while Elysier kept fidgeting with the sword at her waist.

This was a relatively mild reaction only because I had agreed to go with them. Otherwise, they would have been ready to strip the soul from whoever activated the emergency network for anything less than a world-ending crisis.

“Why did you call us?”

“An S-class gate has appeared in Busan.”

The secretary, seeing Priscilla and Elysier’s expressions rapidly deteriorating, hastily continued the explanation with prepared materials.

“…That’s the situation.”

When the explanation ended, we had to once again examine the appearance of the “humanoid boss” displayed on the screen.

‘Why is the Sword Saint there?’

Because the humanoid boss that supposedly emerged from the S-class gate unmistakably resembled the Sword Saint.