Ch.22Is This Supposed to be Entrance Exam

I may have been thinking a bit too carelessly.

After all, I knew nothing about the emotion called hatred.

I knew fear. I knew disgust. I knew anger. I knew contempt. But hatred, I did not know.

I had merely deluded myself into thinking I did.

This was the first time I directly faced hatred so vivid it seemed to clutch at my heart, so persistent it seemed to dig into my eyes.

The gazes I saw when I got off the carriage were merely the disgust of third parties who had heard of my infamy.

But that—that was the eye of someone directly involved.

A murderous intent that seemed to stop my breath was silently, yet violently, roaring.

—-

“Hmm. He seems to be looking this way. Are you perhaps acquainted with Lord Haschal?”

“…I don’t know him.”

Kalix asked me while tapping his chin with his finger, looking somewhat displeased.

I denied it quietly.

Since this was an entrance exam, I couldn’t be certain, but I had never seen such a character in the main game.

Did that mean he would fail anyway?

No, that thought didn’t seem right given the man’s unusual aura.

The unrefined, rough murderous intent and the violent pressure emanating from his entire body revealed a weightiness even more intense than Demian, the protagonist.

“Then perhaps it’s a racial grudge… Those eyes show deep Karma. If that young man passes, you’ll have quite a hard time.”

“Indeed. He looks like he might charge at us any moment, doesn’t he?”

Kalix nodded deeply with a serious attitude.

Whether he was worried about me or not, his eyes had hardened slightly.

Hard time, indeed.

It was obvious that he was desperate to throw that axe in my direction.

My sharpened nerves responded to the man’s hostility, making my right arm twitch slightly as if urging me to draw my sword.

“Ha, you don’t know him? Interesting. He seems to know you quite well.”

Frider snorted and sneered.

“Well, I suppose the perpetrator wouldn’t remember. It must be everyday life for you Aishan people. I think that man and I might get along well.”

“Ka’har are now recognized as a quasi-human race by the Empire. I heard the Duchy of Faelrun follows the Empire’s will well, but looking at you, that doesn’t seem to be entirely true?”

“……”

Having nothing to refute, Frider closed his mouth with a displeased expression.

I should ignore him.

If he crosses the line, I can challenge him to a duel later. But for now, fighting would only worsen my image.

What I needed to focus on now was where Demian was.

I needed to confirm both the protagonist’s abilities and the skills of that Dane who was clearly hostile toward me.

I needed to check both sides.

—-

“Where are you looking? I should be your opponent.”

Demian calmly murmured toward the Dane youth.

The young man’s behavior of focusing elsewhere despite having Demian in front of him seemed to irritate him, as his right arm holding the greatsword tensed.

The Dane youth who had been glaring at me gritted his teeth, closed his eyes tightly, and turned his head.

“Right… not yet. Not yet…!”

His voice was low and suppressed, as if forcibly swallowing something.

The youth turned toward Demian and apologized with a solemn bow.

“…I apologize. Yes, a warrior should first focus on the enemy before him.”

After finishing his words, the youth picked up the axe he had been holding with both hands and assumed a combat stance.

“My name is Knut. Son of Sven, Knut. State your name, enemy.”

“Demian.”

Demian brought his left hand to the sword hilt, firmly gripping the greatsword with both hands, and lowered his stance.

With a thunderous sound of kicking the ground, the greatsword and axe collided fiercely.

—-

A series of storm-like roars shook the walls of the examination hall.

The spectators, excited by the clash of rarely seen skilled fighters in the entrance exam, waved their arms and cheered enthusiastically.

The greatsword cut through the air with an ear-splitting sound, and the descending axe shook the earth.

Perhaps overwhelmed by their battle, other examinees forgot their own fights and stared blankly at them.

Demian’s attacks were like a raging whirlwind.

Heavy sword strikes that swung fiercely in rotation, as if being controlled by the weight of the massive greatsword.

They were clearly exaggerated movements full of openings.

Nevertheless, the fierce momentum that made it difficult to approach and the pressure from the heavy greatsword filled those gaps, barely establishing each reckless strike as a form of swordsmanship.

In contrast, Knut’s fighting style was quite different from Demian’s.

With the axe firmly gripped in both hands, he observed his opponent’s attacks with careful eyes, blocking what he could and rolling on the ground to avoid what he couldn’t.

Without rashly attacking first, his strategy was to evade the opponent’s attack and then counter in the opening.

Despite the rough fierceness suggested by his appearance, his fighting style was incredibly calm.

“Haaaah!”

Using the greatsword as an axis, Demian jumped and rotated vertically, bringing down his sword with lightning speed.

Sensing it was an attack he couldn’t block, Knut rolled sideways to avoid it.

-Kuuung!

The greatsword that struck the ground erupted with a roar, spewing rock fragments.

Knut, who had rolled on the ground, swung his axe with that momentum, and Demian blocked it with the flat of his greatsword.

Despite being wood against wood, a steel-like collision sound echoed.

Unable to withstand the impact of the clash, the weapons screamed and scattered wooden fragments, revealing their metal frames inside.

The two men continued fighting, undeterred.

Demian’s thrust, launched while charging forward, was deflected by Knut who twisted the axe handle as if rotating it.

Demian’s body staggered greatly.

He barely avoided the axe blade aiming for his head by hastily retrieving his greatsword.

-Kagagak!

The axe blade scraped against the sword’s surface, producing a harsh dissonance.

The tip of the sword, plunging down after a great leap to create distance, was met by the axe blade swinging upward diagonally.

-Kwaaang!

With the greatsword half-buried in the ground after being deflected, Demian’s body momentarily stopped.

Seizing that opening, Knut swung his axe, but Demian avoided it by rotating while holding the sword hilt and kicked Knut in the torso.

“Kuk..!”

Knut, who staggered back two or three steps, regained his stance, and Demian, who pulled out his greatsword, raised his sword again.

By now, the wooden parts of both men’s weapons had fallen off, leaving them with what were essentially steel clubs.

—-

“They’re… fighting well.”

I muttered with a mixture of admiration and perplexity as I watched their battle.

Demian was the original protagonist and destined to become a hero, so that was understandable.

But that Dane called Knut was also displaying strength comparable to, or perhaps even exceeding, Demian’s.

Both were weaker than Nigel, though.

“Indeed, both have excellent martial skills. They’re already among the stronger knights by current standards. This year’s recruitment would be successful even if we only accepted those two.”

“Accept both? If they fight like that, won’t one of them fail?”

I thought the entrance exam being a duel meant only the winner would pass.

That’s why I was hoping Demian would win.

“Oh, you don’t know? Well, as a special admission student, I suppose you wouldn’t. The academy’s entrance exam consists of two duels. If it were just one duel, those with good luck in matchups would automatically pass. While luck is part of skill, that wouldn’t allow us to select proper talents, would it?”

Kalix nodded repeatedly with satisfaction as he watched the two men fight.

“Those who achieve 2 wins pass. Those with 1 win and 1 loss are left to the examiners’ discretion, and only those who don’t win even once fail. There were opinions that at least 3 duels would be needed, but that would take too much time.”

I see. It was a strangely reasonable explanation.

So even if that Dane called Knut loses here, unless his next matchup is exceptionally bad, his acceptance is practically guaranteed.

It made me want to sigh.

“So, who do you think will win?”

Asha asked with sparkling eyes.

Yes, who would win? Since Demian is the protagonist, would he still win?

“Well, maybe Demian? His attacking momentum is much more intense.”

“…Knut.”

As if to contradict my words, Frider muttered.

“Hmm… indeed, this humble one also thinks Knut will win. While their skills are similar, the young man with the greatsword’s movements are all too large. He’ll soon run out of stamina.”

Kalix agreed with Frider.

Looking closely, Demian’s shoulders were indeed trembling slightly.

I had a headache. To think the original protagonist’s first appearance would be a defeat by a character who didn’t even appear in the original.

It must be because of me.

If a Dane who wasn’t in the original suddenly came to the academy, the only reason would be the rumor of a Ka’har’s admission.

I was already worried about how the story was twisting from the beginning.

“Wow! Look at that. They seem to be trying to decide the match with one blow!”

At Asha’s exclamation, I looked down at the arena again.

Demian with his drooping greatsword and Knut with his raised axe were building up momentum with all their might.

As if absorbed in their momentum, the arena fell into momentary silence.

The next moment, the two clashed simultaneously.

“Haaaah-!”

“Volbeeeerg!”

Demian kicked the ground with a fierce shout, and in response, Knut called out the name of the warrior god and brought down his axe.

-Kwaaang!

With a thunderous sound that shook the ceiling, the greatsword, broken into two pieces, flew into the air.