Ch.246246. The Taste of Blue (2)

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The position of secretary in Elphante’s student council, despite its seemingly mild title, has historically been filled by some of the most combative individuals among the student body.

This makes sense, as the position oversees all student-related affairs at Elphante, where all kinds of high nobles frequently come and go.

When you’re directly entangled with either these people’s children or the individuals themselves, you inevitably develop thick skin and a strong backbone, whether you like it or not.

Of course, even so, there are plenty of people that the current secretary, Beatrix, finds difficult to deal with.

“…I sincerely welcome your visit to Elphante, Count Nicholas.”

She opened with those words, wearing a flawlessly smooth smile.

However, the reputation surrounding this man creates an even more bizarre impression in contrast to his appearance.

The Butcher.

The man who has killed more lives than anyone else in the Empire.

He’s essentially the person most responsible for the virtual disappearance of non-humans from this country.

“We will do our best to ensure you experience no inconvenience during your stay—”

“Where is Darwood Campbell?”

“…”

Beatrix, whose smile nearly cracked, struggled to maintain her expression as she responded.

“…Forgive my impertinence, Count, but disclosing student information carelessly would violate school regulations.”

“Is that so.”

Upon hearing this, Count Nicholas tilted his head expressionlessly.

“How strange. When I inquired with the faculty, they told me to ask the student council.”

Hearing this, Beatrix inwardly cursed.

‘As if they couldn’t understand…’

Their response was essentially a rejection.

Passing the matter to the student council, which was directly under the principal’s protection, was their way of saying they couldn’t handle this person themselves and were begging her to send him away.

“…Perhaps they directed you here because the authority lies with us. But I’m truly sorry to say that I cannot accommodate your request.”

“Is that so.”

Once again, that flat response came out nonchalantly.

“I understand. Then there’s nothing to be done.”

At first glance, it seemed like he was accepting the refusal and backing down, but Beatrix suddenly felt an ominous chill running down her spine.

Count Nicholas’s next words explained that sensation.

“I’ll find him myself and make contact using my Elder Council authority, since Elphante appears unwilling to cooperate.”

“…”

This statement meant that while he could clearly see Elphante was hiding the student from him,

He didn’t care and would charge ahead to achieve what he wanted anyway.

‘…This crazy bastard…!’

Beatrix thought as she held her head.

She simply couldn’t bear the oncoming headache.

“…Count.”

She then opened her mouth in a slightly lowered voice.

“Elphante is an Imperial Academy under the protection of Principal Atalante.”

Count Nicholas tilted his head expressionlessly again.

“And?”

“…”

This goddamn man.

He understood perfectly well but still had to…!

Beatrix gritted her teeth inwardly.

It certainly wasn’t something she should say as a student, but she had no choice.

“…If you commit acts that violate school regulations, we will have no choice but to impose sanctions.”

It was a statement that invoked not just the principal’s authority but the Emperor’s as well.

Yet the response that followed remained unflinchingly direct.

“That sounds fine.”

There was even what appeared to be a smile on his face.

“…Pardon?”

“Try to stop me if you can. I’m curious to see how far you can go.”

While Beatrix’s expression momentarily went blank,

“I need to see that man. Regardless of what you say.”

With those words, Count Nicholas promptly left the student council room.

His footsteps were so brisk that even the other council members watching nervously nearby were left dumbfounded.

“…S-senior…”

Long after Count Nicholas had left the room,

One of the junior members finally regained their senses and spoke with a trembling voice.

“Did that person just say he’d rather fight the Emperor and the Principal than not see this Darwood person…?”

“…”

You don’t need me to explain what you already understand.

My head is already hurting enough.

●

Let me state something obvious.

Riru is absolutely not an opponent to be taken lightly.

Though the “Spirit Realm Access” event—something close to a final enhancement—hasn’t happened yet, her current state is still terrifying.

Master-level martial arts, magical power, the “Crushing” ability from the Blue Demon, and even incomplete future sight.

While I’ve now got decent specs for a fight, she’s still an opponent who could kill me if I make one wrong move.

As I was thinking this while looking at Riru across the training ground, she suddenly spoke.

“You learned martial arts from the old hag, didn’t you?”

“…Yes?”

Well, rather than learned, I just consumed it as a skill.

“And you know how to use magic too.”

“…Yes?”

That too was something I just consumed.

“And on top of that, you can use some bizarre abilities related to that demon thing or whatever.”

“…”

That too was something I consumed through the sigil given by the Grey Demon.

[This bastard really got stronger without any conscience…]

“…”

Why. What.

I had to do whatever it took to avoid immediate death, so I have no shame about it.

As I was thinking this, Riru, who had been listing these things, let out a deep sigh.

“I’ve been thinking.”

Riru muttered those words.

Since it was an awkward statement to respond to, I just stood there blankly. Then she continued muttering.

“Fighting is the only thing I’m good at, but lately I keep feeling like you’ve gotten so strong that you’ve left me far behind.”

That’s… certainly something she would feel.

From the perspective of someone who dedicates most of their daily life to training, the gap must seem unreasonable.

“And if I leave you alone, you keep attracting all sorts of strange people from everywhere.”

“…”

“And none of them are nobodies—a hero, the continent’s greatest assassin, a wizard registered with the Demonic Spire, the Emperor of the Empire…”

“…”

“Are you telling me to compete, or not to? No matter what, you should at least provide fair conditions so I can be motivated to jump in…”

“Riru…?”

I call out to her with slight cold sweat as she mutters with unfocused eyes.

What’s suddenly wrong with you? It’s scary.

And as she continued dropping these words, she sighed deeply again and raised her head.

“…Well, whatever.”

Riru lifted her head with an awkward expression and scratched her head as she took her stance.

“Anyway, this is all I can do.”

The attack came instantly in the next moment.

“…!”

We had fought once before, but her speed, which was insanely fast even then, feels several times faster now.

[Crisis situation detected.]

[Determining that the opponent intends to severely injure you.]

[Applying skill: Desperate Situation at A-rank.]

[Activating ‘Skill: Swordsman’s Focus’!]

Along with the familiar window that appears during every crisis, combined with the skill I instantly activated, everything around me suddenly slows down.

In the past, this made even Riru’s movements appear somewhat slower, but now they’ve only slowed down enough for me to react with enhanced vision.

That’s how much faster she’s become.

‘How much have you been training…!’

Just seeing this momentum explains her appearance.

Her speed is noticeably faster compared to the Crimson Night incident. To grow this much in such a short time, I can only imagine what level of training she must have undergone.

“…Hup!”

One breath.

In the time it takes to inhale, more than 10 consecutive attacks are exchanged.

I defend against a sweeping low kick by slightly lifting my leg, deflect a series of punches coming from my blind spot by rolling my shoulder, and catch a high kick that flows out smoothly as her fist retracts.

With each exchange, a deafening sound of air being torn echoes in all directions. The tiles on the training room floor shift, the walls vibrate, and even the ceiling shakes slightly.

“-Whew.”

And as I exhale, Riru, whose leg I’ve caught, uses that same captured leg to support her body and pulls herself up.

She suspends her body in mid-air. As if using my hand as a lever to jump into the sky.

“Wow…!”

Someone in the audience let out such an exclamation at the graceful movement.

With a motion that seems to defy the laws of physics, Riru leaps up and then uses her heel as a club to strike down at where I am.

I release her leg and sidestep. Her leg embeds itself where I just stood, shattering the training ground floor completely.

Then a lull.

We both take our stances at a slight distance from each other.

“…”

“…”

The people who came to watch around us can only gape with their mouths open, unable to say anything.

“…I’ve heard that everyone in the Exorcism Department is a monster, but…”

“To this extent…?”

“Neither of them seems to have broken a sweat…”

Voices filled with emotions beyond surprise—approaching disbelief—spread around us.

Just 1 second.

An exchange that was closer to a warm-up.

And with just that, the surrounding environment is already in tatters.

“…This is supposed to be a fight between students?”

“…Life sucks.”

“What have we been working for all this time…?”

“…”

Somehow it seems we’ve had the side effect of breaking the spirits of the diligent students around us.

I understand though.

As it was described in the game, the competition between superhumans in Savior Rising consists of acrobatic fights that take place in less than milliseconds.

Though we don’t match the level of monsters with adult titles, Riru with her natural talent and I with my shameless skill consumption can at least imitate it.

The very person who created such a spectacle was stroking her hair with a dissatisfied expression.

“…You.”

Riru opened her mouth with narrowed eyes.

“Why aren’t you attacking?”

“…”

“You’re just deflecting. No matter what our relationship is, this is a duel. If you treat it like a joke, I won’t go easy on you.”

“…”

Instead of responding to Riru’s words, I swallow my sentence internally.

‘…No matter what, I don’t want to hurt you.’

Instead of answering that way, I just give a bitter smile.

If I were to say this straightforwardly, I can’t predict what this blunt person might do.

“…Hmm.”

Seeing my silent response, Riru’s eyes narrowed.

“So this level is nothing to you, right?”

With those words.

Blue magical energy begins to rise from her body in streams.

“Then, shall I get serious?”

[Crisis situation detected.]

[Determining this to be a direct threat to life.]

[Applying skill: Desperate Situation at EX-rank.]

“…!”

No.

This crazy person…!

“…Wait. Just wait.”

I open my mouth while cold sweat runs down my back.

“What.”

“Like you said, Riru, this is a duel. But if you bring out an ability that can pulverize someone with just a touch…!”

“I’m doing this because I don’t think I can beat you without it, so what.”

“…No, why go that far…?”

Even for a duel, isn’t that going a bit too far?

That was the question I meant to ask, but.

“…”

Riru was silent for a moment.

Then she steadied her breath. She seemed to find it extremely difficult to speak.

“…Riru?”

“I too…”

As I cautiously called out to her, Riru finally spoke with a reddened face.

Her voice carried shame, embarrassment, but also an unwavering determination that refused to back down.

“I too, want to eat you…!”

“…”

“B-being constantly overtaken by others…! I also want to try something sticky and rich, what’s wrong with that! Got a problem!”

“…”

Good heavens.

She’s declaring this in front of everyone?

Indeed, in the audience, people who heard this are looking dumbfounded.

“…What kind of relationship do those two have?”

“As expected of Elphante’s greatest playboy, legendary trash, historic womanizer…”

“…”

There seems to be some strange slander mixed in there.

[At this point, just let her eat you once, man.]

“…”

[When someone’s charging at you that desperately, it’s petty to be stingy about something that won’t even wear out…]

I’m going to kill you someday.

Even if you’re a ghost, I’ll somehow revive you just to make you a ghost again. Got it?

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