Ch.7877. Not-So-Ordinary Daily Life (2)

# 77. Not-So-Ordinary Daily Life (2)

Chris, who was focused on the duel, asked Reina.

“Noona? Did he just call her ‘noona’?”

“Yeah, I heard it too. Looks like he changed how he addresses her.”

“Wow… now the real thing begins…”

On the arena, the two of them began a proper duel from that moment.

She relentlessly pressured Albert based on her overwhelming magical power.

However, he perfectly blocked all her attacks and occasionally found tiny openings to thrust his sword through.

Students watching this unbelievable scene showed various reactions.

“Wow… he’s actually holding his own against the Imperial Princess?”

“Isn’t he the real monster here? He’s two years younger too.”

“Either way, they’re both insanely good.”

“I thought the Princess would win easily… but that’s not the case…”

The fight was far more intense than they had expected.

Thanks to Albert’s overwhelming destructive power, her once absolute defense gradually crumbled.

And due to her judgment and monstrous magical power, Albert’s specialty—his quick movements—had considerably slowed down.

Their respective strengths clashed, weakening each other’s advantages, and Rachel simply watched the scene in admiration.

“Amazing…”

But then, an unfamiliar and cold voice came from behind Rachel.

“Truly impressive…”

Startled by the mysterious voice behind her, Rachel quickly turned around.

However, there was no one in the direction she was looking.

“What was that…?”

Rachel stared quietly at the empty space where no one could be seen.

***

-Clang! Boom!-

Even though I could break through that ice wall in two strikes, she was still an insurmountable wall.

I had threatened her quite a few times, but ultimately all my attempts were blocked, and my stamina was wearing down.

I asked her, who still maintained a relaxed expression.

“You have quite the stamina, don’t you?”

“I’ve just been standing still, what do you mean…”

In a battle against a mage, I had no choice but to approach first.

Otherwise, I would be immediately exposed to her magic.

And an absolute defense mage… it was too overpowered.

‘At this rate, I’ll lose without much trouble…’

Honestly, stamina wasn’t the issue, but vitality was.

Because of the penalty, I needed to end this quickly anyway.

‘I should be able to use that, right? Considering who my opponent is…’

She also seemed to be secretly anticipating when I would bring it out, and soon revealed her thoughts.

“You can use that thing from before. The one that blocked the sun.”

“Then I won’t hold back.”

I once again filled the sword, which was the abyss itself, with the abyss.

-Woong!-

The sword, emitting a malevolent energy, was craving for prey just like before.

Looking at the energy revealing its hunger to me, I said.

“This time, be satisfied with just magical power.”

“Excuse me?”

“I was talking to this friend.”

Hearing that, she looked at me incredulously as I said.

“This might be a bit dangerous.”

Then I slashed the air with the sword.

-Swoosh!-

With a fierce wind sound, the abyssal slash approached her.

At a considerably fast speed, no less.

“Ugh…!”

She immediately responded to the slash by raising an ice wall in front of her.

-Ssssk!-

But the ice walls were helplessly absorbed upon contact with the slash.

Seeing that it even absorbed walls made of [Ice Magic], it seemed to absorb anything made of magical power.

“W-What is this?”

She couldn’t hide her bewilderment at the abyss, and I admired the pitch-black object returning to me after completing its task.

‘Looking at that still… gives me a strange feeling.’

For some reason, it felt like seeing another version of myself.

It was quite eerie, but in its own way, not unpleasant.

“It’s my abyss. Please think of it as another me.”

“That’s a bit…”

“Here I come again.”

This time, I charged at her while holding the sword filled with the abyss.

Numerous spells flew at me from all directions, but they weren’t a problem at all.

‘Eat well.’

The abyss began to feast on those spells as if it had been waiting for this moment.

Her magic couldn’t even leave bones in front of my abyss.

I gradually approached her that way, and finally reached right in front of her.

-Swoosh!-

Then, a large ice wall shot up from beneath my feet, but that couldn’t stop me.

I easily shattered the ice wall and swung my sword toward her.

Of course, I had withdrawn the abyss just in case.

My sword targeted her, but she used [Haste] to quickly turn her body and dodge my strike.

“I’m screwed…”

Her judgment created a huge opening for me, and she didn’t miss it.

She lightly grabbed my shoulder, which was now in an indefensible position, and whispered softly.

“[Absolute Zero].”

With that whisper, a dry and cold sensation enveloped my entire body.

At that moment, my whole body froze, and I found myself trapped in a large block of ice.

She looked at me, unable to move even a finger, and smiled.

“Looks like I won.”

I tried to fill the sword with the abyss.

Since I was currently inside magic, if I could just fill it with the abyss, I could escape easily.

Unfortunately, my hand wasn’t directly touching the sword; I must have dropped it in surprise the moment I was trapped in ice.

Therefore, filling the sword with the abyss was impossible.

While I was flustered by this fact, she said.

“I really… almost lost. If your hand had been touching the sword right now, I would have truly lost.”

As she said, I would have won if only they had been touching.

If only they had been touching.

But in the end, my hand and sword weren’t touching, and soon after, Gloria declared her victory, ending the match.

“The winner of this combat is Elizabeth Michael, third-year Class A student. Congratulations.”

As Gloria finished speaking, she finally released her skill, and I was finally free.

“That’s quite disappointing… I almost had it…”

“You’re still far from it, but you’re really growing day by day. Is this the dignity of a veteran?”

“Just now, Your Highness was more of a veteran than me.”

Using the agility that momentarily spiked with [Haste], she moved very meticulously, if only slightly, and that judgment changed the outcome.

She was definitely too proficient in close combat for a mage, and she said bashfully.

“A veteran is… thank you…”

“Both students certainly possess overwhelming power that doesn’t match their age.”

I couldn’t help but feel good about such high praise.

Gloria wasn’t usually one to give compliments.

Then Gloria asked me about my future career.

“Albert, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

“I want to join the Special Forces.”

“As expected… Have you ever considered applying to the Knights Order?”

“I’ll think about it.”

Originally, even if I joined the Knights Order, I could still participate in wars with her, so it didn’t matter much.

But the Special Forces, where I could spend more time with her, was slightly better.

And the Knights Order didn’t particularly have any merit for me.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Your thoughts seem very firm.”

“Of course.”

I had no complaints about the job of Special Forces itself.

As long as I wasn’t dispatched elsewhere, I could see her almost all the time, and there were quite a few days off, so I had plenty of my own time.

Honestly, it was almost a perfect job for me.

‘Of course, when it gets tough, it’s extremely tough…’

But if she was by my side, I could endure that and more.

I looked at her beside me and said.

“I don’t want to be apart anymore.”

Gloria clicked her tongue and scolded us.

“Tsk… save the romance for break time, will you?”

“Understood…”

Gloria seemed to envy us.

But I couldn’t understand why at all.

‘With that face, why…?’

was my first thought.

Gloria was quite popular due to her beautiful appearance and glamorous figure.

Moreover, being an elf, which is rare these days, made her even more so.

Despite her popularity, Gloria didn’t have a boyfriend, even though she could have one immediately if she wanted.

‘And yet she’s criticizing us…’

While I was thinking that, she, who seemed to be thinking something not too different from me, said in a small voice.

“Come to the library today too. I have something to tell you…”

She naturally left the arena after saying those words.

I could somewhat guess what she wanted to talk about, but I couldn’t help but think:

‘Does she think I wouldn’t come?’

I had been showing up at the library almost every day since joining her party.

As I was watching her leave the arena, Chris approached me from behind.

“What did she just say?”

“Nothing.”

“I see…”