Ch.8887. Raid (3)

# 87. Ambush (3)

At some point, I found myself asking her with a confident expression as she came down to the arena with her team members.

“How was it?”

“The level was quite high, and you didn’t go easy on them, did you?”

“I usually do go easy, but today I just wanted to dampen their confidence a bit.”

While some confidence is necessary, there’s always too much of a good thing, and this time it went too far.

‘Was it because other teams were watching…?’

Anyway, it was somehow excessive today.

She approached Reina, who was heading somewhere with a bewildered expression.

“Where are you going?”

“Um… well… that…”

For some reason, Reina always seemed intimidated by her.

Of course, this time she was clearly acting that way for a different reason.

“If it’s about what you said earlier, it’s fine. Reina was just joking, and more importantly, Albert isn’t someone who would be defeated so easily.”

“Yes…”

Though it didn’t seem like what she said earlier was meant as a joke…

‘Let’s just move on…’

Nothing good would come from pressing the issue.

It would only make an already awkward relationship even more awkward.

“Albert, don’t deliberately take hits or go easy on them, understood?”

“Yes, I understand.”

I felt quite pleased that she was concerned about me, and I couldn’t help but smile.

However, Elin and Rachel didn’t seem too happy about my expression.

“What’s so funny?”

“Seriously.”

“Why are you two always like this with me?”

While Elin had always been that way, Rachel had become quite prickly since my first date with her.

“Because it’s sickening how you brag on social media, that’s why.”

“I just hate seeing it.”

I had indeed been occasionally posting pictures with her on social media since then.

“You look at my social media?”

Hearing my question, Rachel became quite flustered and denied it.

“No!! It’s not like that, it just shows up when I log in!”

“Ah…”

“It doesn’t show up for me…”

When Elin muttered that, Rachel glared at her with eyes burning like her own magic.

Elin avoided her gaze and spoke to me, and I also answered while avoiding Rachel’s intense stare.

“Right… it just pops up automatically without having to look for it…”

“Really? Then you might have seen it by chance…”

Rachel seemed to have a charisma that mentally overwhelmed others, just like her.

I’d always felt it, but seeing that look after so long made it feel strangely fresh again.

Having heard what she wanted to hear, Rachel smiled brightly and said:

“So is it our turn now?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Upon hearing her words, Elin, Eve, and Rachel immediately prepared for battle, while those of us who had just finished sparring went up to the spectator seats to watch their match, just as they had done for us earlier.

‘But… with that combination, they definitely can’t win…’

Those three were ranged fighters, and she was like a natural predator to such opponents.

It was clear that they wouldn’t stand a chance if she fought as usual.

Both in terms of mana stats and skill ranks, she was far superior to Elin or Rachel.

Of course, she knew this fact better than I did, and would have already prepared a more effective training method.

“Come at me.”

As she said this, she pointed her [Ice Magic] sword at them.

‘As expected, it turned out like this…’

Just like when she fought Elin in the survival match, she was wielding a sword for close combat.

However, her approach was different from mine.

I would push opponents to their limits to help them improve their situational judgment and overcome their inevitable weakness in close combat.

But she seemed to be using her distinctive defensive capabilities to teach them ‘how to hit.’

As evidence, she was only blocking their attacks with her ice sword and ice walls, without launching any attacks of her own.

“There’s definitely a difference.”

While the difference in instructors was a factor, fundamentally, what she and I considered important was also different.

She and I each had strengths in defense and offense respectively, but paradoxically, I emphasized defense while she emphasized offense.

‘The best offense is defense, and the best defense is offense, huh…’

There was still much to learn from her.

As I was thinking this, Reina quietly expressed her admiration.

“She blocks everything even with so many attacks coming at her…”

It was true that her magic couldn’t be penetrated by spells at Elin’s or Rachel’s level yet.

The strength of skills is directly proportional to their rank and the user’s stats.

Magic stats for magical skills, strength stats for physical ones.

The higher the rank and stats, the stronger the skill becomes.

‘But… the difference is too great…’

As I mentioned earlier, her ranks and stats were overwhelmingly high.

That’s why this situation was unfolding.

Chris, watching this scene, spoke to me with a confident expression that made me wonder why he was so sure of himself.

“The gap seems even bigger there than it was with us.”

“But they’re absolutely stronger than you guys. It just looks that way because of the matchup.”

“Come on~ After beating us like that… Sometimes you need to offer a carrot too.”

While Chris had a point, speaking so bluntly made me not want to give him one.

“For a ‘carrot,’ our match ended in barely a minute today, didn’t it?”

“…You’re so cold.”

“Even if you guys went over there, nothing would change.”

The only person who might have even a slight chance was Reina, but that possibility wouldn’t even reach 1%.

‘It would be fortunate if she could even activate [Stealth]…’

There was a much higher chance that the match would end before she could even activate [Stealth].

“What if I went?”

“Wow… I’ll give you credit for confidence…”

“I can’t win?”

“Stop getting ahead of yourself, disciple.”

Chris had been showing insane confidence since his awakening.

‘Maybe he was better before awakening…’

Despite getting hit repeatedly during our sparring, Chris still couldn’t come to his senses.

“Then can you win?”

“Well… I’m not sure about that either…”

“Why are you so timid with your skills?”

“Because of who the opponent is.”

As strong as I was, she was equally strong, and she was growing just as much as I was.

And the fact remained that I had lost to her last time, albeit narrowly, so my assessment was unavoidable.

“You seem to underestimate yourself while highly valuing the princess…”

At least Chris considered my feelings and didn’t use the word ‘overestimate’ for her.

“Because she deserves it.”

I might indeed be overestimating her.

But she had always shown herself to be even more impressive than my assessment, and that was true now as well.

The fact that her growth rate was similar to mine—who had the cheat-like trait of being a ‘Regressor’ with overwhelming combat experience—was extraordinary in itself.

“Just as you believe in the god Gabriel, I believe in her, like a deity.”

“Now that you mention it, it really does feel that way…”

As Chris said, I praised, believed in, and worshipped her.

Just like a religious believer.

And in fact, the results manifested as a skill, just like with other believers.

[Absolute Loyalty]

This skill appeared when I acknowledged her as my lord.

Ironically, among her other subordinates who were like me, not a single one possessed this skill.

That fact made me think:

‘Do they not believe in the Empress? Or am I the strange one…?’

But I didn’t think too deeply about it.

I didn’t have the luxury to do so, and I had the mindset that I just needed to do well myself, which remains true to this day.

As their match, which lasted much longer than ours, came to an end, Chris asked me:

“But why do you believe in her so much?”

That question didn’t require much thought.

What reason does a soldier need to believe in their sovereign?

Because they’re competent? Because they’re strong? While those could be reasons, they’re not the fundamental one.

The fundamental reason is…

“Because she’s the one who will be our lord.”

Lord—to be honest, that alone is sufficient.

Soldiers should be absolutely loyal to their lord and believe in them based on that fact alone.

That’s how you win wars.

A soldier who doesn’t believe in their lord is worse than useless.

At least, that’s what I think.

“That’s really simple. I thought it would be some grand reason…”

“From the perspective of ‘believing,’ that alone is more than enough.”

“Is that so…?”

“Let’s go down now.”

Having confirmed that the match was over, we went down to the arena where they were.

There, they were catching their breath and resting after consuming a considerable amount of mana. Elin, who noticed us first, asked me:

“…How was it?”

“What?”

“My tremendously improved… skills.”

“Uh… you did well…”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t watch, you jerk?”

Since I actually hadn’t watched Elin much, I couldn’t deny it in good conscience.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to watch… I had my own circumstances, you could say…”

“…I’ll deal with you later.”

Seeing Elin’s sullen expression made me feel quite sorry.

I approached her, who was giving feedback to Rachel despite having received such attacks without showing any signs of fatigue, unlike the others who were struggling from the aftermath of the match.

“Sister, you really emphasize offense, don’t you?”