Ch.3939. After the Midterm Exams

After lunch break ended, the next practical exam, the dueling, began.

Actually, I hadn’t given much thought to the previous exams, but dueling was even less of a concern. After all, it would play out exactly like the entrance exam.

Dodge all attacks, and if parrying is possible, deflect them.

Within the context of dueling, my abilities were ridiculously overpowered.

I did try using the magic tool Frang gave me, but it proved completely ineffective against the upper-class students.

Since they perceived my attacks as trivial, they seemed to feel I was mocking them, which only served to irritate them.

On top of that, Celia had become so overwhelmingly powerful that the duels lacked both purpose and entertainment value, so I wasn’t particularly interested.

The only duel worth watching was Lilith’s. Seeing her growth was as satisfying as watching a well-developed character shine in a cutscene.

Her attacks exploited openings with movements incomparably faster than before.

While other upper-class students had certainly grown as well, they were nowhere near Lilith’s level.

I thought Lilith would finish her duels without incident, but then an expected variable emerged.

“Let’s have one final match against me.”

Lowell Soulriver, the future Sword Master.

He’s a character with excellent skills but maintains a low profile, like a hidden master.

He lacks presence… and doesn’t have much significance in the original story.

If you dig deeper, you’ll find he accomplishes quite a lot, but he’s somewhat removed from the main storyline. He’s the type you rarely encounter if you follow the standard story progression.

It was quite unusual for someone like him to step forward, but I had somewhat anticipated it.

He probably thought this was a reasonable approach to close the gap he’d just noticed between himself and Lilith.

Of course, he’s acting this way because he has confidence in his abilities.

That’s why he doesn’t even glance at me or Celia, focusing instead on Lilith, whom he considers worth challenging.

And the result was, naturally…

“Damn it!”

“Ow, ow, Professor! I need healing over here!”

“Wait your turn, Lilith. I need to treat the one with broken ribs first.”

Lilith won overwhelmingly.

At first, she seemed to be pushed back by Lowell’s swift sword strikes, but at some point, she started taking shallow hits while closing the distance, then finished him with a holy punch.

Her courage is impressive, even with a healing professor standing by.

“You, I’ll definitely catch up to you, so be prepared.”

Perhaps because of that display, Lilith seems to have been chosen as his rival… but that’s not really my business.

After that, the exams concluded without any major incidents.

The gap in abilities was quite evident, but that’s because Celia and Lilith are special cases right now. In truth, it was clear that the others were growing rapidly as well.

Especially Harold, whom I hadn’t paid much attention to since the entrance exam and had almost completely forgotten about.

He seemed to have developed an interest in equipment crafting, switching between weapons he had made himself throughout his duels.

While he wasn’t yet at the level of changing weapons fluidly during combat, it was impressive that he had already become proficient with multiple weapons.

In the end, he still fell to my dodging and parrying… saying it like that makes me sound like I’m bullying newcomers.

Don’t misunderstand. Harold’s total stats are probably overwhelmingly higher now. I was merely exercising self-defense.

“Right, Celia?”

“What?”

“Just agree with me.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

Even Celia acknowledges it. Case closed.

///

After the midterms ended, Celia and I visited Professor Reina to get permission slips for leaving campus.

Since Celia had already arranged for approval in advance, we only needed to pick up the certification documents and could leave right away.

After midterms, students are given holidays as a reward for their hard work. Though it’s only three days, it overlaps with the weekend, making it a decent period of rest.

And during that time, I need to visit the Imperial Palace. That’s why we got the permission slips.

We’re departing tomorrow morning, so we got them in advance, but now that I have it, it feels quite burdensome.

“Hehe, finally tomorrow, isn’t it?”

Celia is all smiles, clearly delighted. How nice to be so carefree.

After receiving our permission slips, we had quite a bit of time left, so as usual, I ended up being dragged around by Celia. Eventually, we arrived at the academy’s café.

I don’t usually visit cafés often, but since being pulled along by Celia, I’ve become a frequent visitor. I’m practically a regular now.

Though everything from coffee to desserts was quite expensive, I didn’t mind since I wasn’t short on money.

As for Celia, being a princess, she probably wouldn’t even notice such expenses.

“Ludion, I just noticed your hair needs some trimming.”

After placing our orders and sitting down, Celia stared at me and made that comment.

Touching my hair, I realized it had indeed become quite shaggy.

Since coming here, I hadn’t even thought about maintaining it, let alone actually doing so. If Celia was mentioning it, I probably should trim it soon.

But come to think of it, Celia doesn’t seem to have changed much at all.

Her hair is a noticeably bright blonde.

Moreover, with such a sculpted face, even a slight increase in hair volume would be immediately noticeable, yet there’s no sign of that.

It doesn’t seem any longer either… In the game, I just accepted it without question, but now that my own hair is growing visibly, it’s strange that Celia’s remains unchanged.

As if reading my thoughts, the corners of Celia’s eyes curved slightly.

“I maintain it daily. I was taught that self-care is important.”

“So you’re saying I’m uncultured because I don’t practice essential self-care?”

“You know that’s not what I meant, yet you’re still trying to tease me. That doesn’t work on me anymore.”

I’ve teased her so much that she’s become immune to most of my repertoire.

Celia glared at me playfully after realizing my intention, but since her original character was on the cold side, it came across as quite intimidating.

She’s affectionate toward me now and almost always smiling, which softens her impression, but objectively speaking, her appearance is rather unapproachable.

Her clear blue eyes only seem cold within her features, so if she were sitting expressionless, it would be difficult to even approach her.

Of course, knowing her introverted nature and having grown accustomed to being around her, I no longer think much about that aspect.

Celia probably realized this, which is why she deliberately gave me that glare.

When our ordered drinks and desserts arrived and I brought them to the table, Lilith was somehow sitting there.

“What’s this?”

“It’s Lilith.”

“No… do you think he asked because he didn’t know that? Hey! Ludion! Stop teaching Celia weird things!”

Lilith, not understanding the joke exchange that Celia and I always have, unnecessarily scolded me.

Celia ignored her and continued speaking.

“She says she dropped by for coffee and saw us, so she came to say hello.”

“Are you going to eat with us?”

“No, I’m taking mine to go. I want to review what I got wrong on today’s exam.”

“You’re working hard.”

Considering she still failed the theory exam despite all that effort, it seemed rather pointless, but I decided not to mention that.

I put down the drinks and desserts I’d brought and took a seat.

Since Lilith had taken my original seat across from Celia, I sat next to Celia instead.

This put me facing Lilith… perhaps because we’d just been talking about hair, I found myself examining her appearance.

Silver hair that was neither long nor short.

It seemed slightly longer than when I first saw her, suggesting she doesn’t maintain it as rigorously as Celia does.

“Why are you staring like that? Hey, Celia, aren’t you managing your boyfriend?”

“H-he’s not my boyfriend yet…!”

“Well, well. ‘Yet,’ she says. So you’re planning to date eventually?”

Judging by her behavior, she seems like the straightforward close-combat type you’d find in any party, but appearances aside, she’s a holy maiden.

Of course, she does fight like a martial artist, so she is a close-combat type… but still, she’s a holy maiden.

I heard she still occasionally appears at religious events wearing her holy maiden outfit, but she’s too embarrassed to boast about it to anyone.

I’ve seen her appearance many times in game illustrations, so I know exactly what she looks like… and honestly, it suits her incredibly well.

Though she’d never admit it, Lilith in her holy maiden outfit truly embodies the image of a benevolent saint.

Her slightly upturned face and somewhat subdued black eyes add a mysterious quality… Thanks to this, her position as a holy maiden must be growing stronger by the day.

If her position grows any stronger, won’t she end up being dragged to all sorts of places during holidays without getting any rest?

“Ah, my coffee’s ready. I’ll be going! Celia! Hang in there!”

“Hang in there with what… Never mind. I’d rather not know, so you don’t need to tell me…”

Lilith made such remarks until the end, then left with her coffee.

This is how Lilith and Celia have been lately.

Lilith teases Celia, who can’t respond assertively and gets embarrassed, while I watch from the side.

From my perspective, having heard about Celia’s feelings long ago and chosen to maintain the status quo, it was an uncomfortable dynamic.

Knowing this, Celia let out a small sigh.

“Sigh, Ludion. Please don’t feel pressured by what Lilith says. I’m really fine with things as they are.”

She’s so kind that I almost want to just start dating her. Of course, I can’t do that.

Afterward, we enjoyed our drinks and desserts. I remained seated next to Celia.

Though Lilith’s departure had freed up the seat across from us, suddenly changing seats seemed awkward.

“The Rifts have been quiet lately. I was kind of looking forward to following you into one.”

“They’re supposed to appear only occasionally. Come to think of it, how long has it been since we visited the Student Council?”

“I briefly stopped by four days ago. It’s still early, so after we finish eating, shall we go there?”

As we chatted about various things, our next destination was decided.

The Student Council… I should send a message in advance.

[Ludion: We’re coming over to hang out.]

[Alkine: Didn’t I clearly state that the Student Council is not a place for hanging out?]

Well, that’s as good as permission. We can go without worry.

“But this is too sweet for me to finish.”

“Is it? I actually prefer things even sweeter than this.”

Celia finished all the overly sweet dessert that I was about to leave.

It was quite a large portion too. Sometimes I think her main diet consists of desserts rather than actual meals.

Thanks to her, we were able to leave the café without any food waste.