Chapter 122

She’s light.

And fast.

With just two light steps on the ground, she was already right in front of Allen.

“Wha—?!”

A startled Allen couldn’t even react properly and let out a gasp.

That idiot, you can’t let your guard down for even a second in front of the Princess.

I frowned.

It was already too late for me to help.

Just as Allen was about to be finished off in an instant,

An ice wall was erected just in time in front of Allen.

It was Elaine’s magic.

“Fall back, Allen!”

I shouted immediately.

Allen reflexively jumped back at my shout.

Almost simultaneously,

Crash!

The ice wall shattered instantly, and the wooden sword pierced through where Allen had been.

“Gasp!”

Allen exhaled in shock.

He realized that if he hadn’t moved immediately upon hearing my warning, he would have been finished.

“Cowardice.”

Riviera said, filling the air with Magic Arrows, making an unexpected comment.

“What?”

Princess Oscar looked puzzled.

…I was puzzled too.

“Targeting the weak is not the way of the strong, according to the books.”

A line that a righteous protagonist might say, but why was it coming from you, a current executive of an evil organization?

It was so absurd that I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What?”

Princess Oscar widened her eyes.

Then she burst into laughter.

“Haha, you’re quite amusing.”

Anyway, well done, Riviera.

Thanks to you buying time, Allen managed to escape here.

…But why are you sticking so close to me?

Are you trying to get us both killed?

“Hey, get away from me. Do you want to get taken out in one shot?”

“Uh, sorry. I feel more at ease next to you, leader…”

“…”

Don’t say weird things.

It’s mentally exhausting.

Anyway, Allen kept his distance.

Much better now.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere on the other side was tense.

Elaine had both fire and ice magic floating simultaneously.

But the conversation was calm.

“You know that, quite impressive for a junior.”

“Haha, your way of speaking is quite unique.”

“It’s not unique.”

…Does that word mean the opposite in her head?

“Huh? That’s a bit…”

“Anyway, I won’t tolerate any more cowardice.”

Riviera suddenly accelerated the conversation.

…Was she upset because she wasn’t agreed with?

“Take this.”

Finally, the bombardment began.

The Magic Arrows floating in the air rained down on Princess Oscar.

Princess Oscar leaped forward.

But Magic Arrows with altered trajectories were also coming at her there.

“Ah, I see.”

With a faint smile, Princess Oscar swung her sword.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Her sword was as light as ever.

So light it felt weightless.

But with that light swordplay, the thick Magic Arrows aiming at her vanished as if erased by a rubber.

‘As expected, she’s incredibly skilled.’

Softness overcoming strength.

I had never seen anyone utilize it as well as the Princess.

It was the essence and core of her martial skills.

“Oh.”

Riviera blinked in admiration, seeing such swordsmanship for the first time.

“Then, here I go.”

Princess Oscar used her footwork to approach Allen again.

‘I see.’

I understood her psychology.

The human tendency to do more of what they’re told not to.

“Ah!”

Allen, startled, took a defensive stance, but Elaine intervened again.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The Fireballs she had prepared bombarded indiscriminately.

Princess Oscar had no choice but to leap back.

Ice shards and Magic Arrows attacked her.

Her jade-colored eyes sparkled.

“Nice.”

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Princess Oscar’s sword drew beautiful and elegant lines in the air.

It looked like a sword dance.

And soon.

The magic that had filled the surroundings vanished without a trace.

“This can’t be…”

Elaine was momentarily taken aback by the unbelievable skill.

The Princess didn’t miss that moment.

“Run!”

I reacted immediately.

Princess Oscar had confirmed Allen as her first target.

To use that, I needed to keep Allen alive as long as possible.

“Ah!”

Hearing my shout, Allen snapped back to reality and fled in the opposite direction.

But.

‘Damn, am I too late?’

The distance between Princess Oscar and Allen had significantly narrowed.

Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem, but for the Princess…

“Tch.”

I quickly made a decision.

I boldly intervened and attacked the Princess.

But she was faster, throwing her sword.

Whoosh.

The seemingly lightly thrown sword flew like an arrow.

“Behind you! Behind!”

I warned, but it was too late.

Thud.

The flying sword lightly tapped Allen’s back.

At that moment.

“Ahhh!”

Allen’s body was flung forward as if caught in a typhoon.

No need to look.

He was already out.

Keeping a weakling alive in a fight against the Princess was indeed too much.

Thud.

Meanwhile, the sword I had swung was caught by Princess Oscar.

“Only three left now.”

“You have one left.”

“Haha, there are many interesting folks among the second-years.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It is a compliment. So, I’ll take your sword as a token of thanks.”

As if she had planned it from the start, she smoothly pulled my sword out.

Hey, you can’t just take that without permission!

Feeling irritated, I spoke in a disgruntled tone.

“Don’t the royals have any sense of honor?”

“It’s a trade. Take that one.”

The Princess smiled and pointed to the sword she had thrown.

She wanted me to pick it up?

Does she think I’m a beggar?

But it seemed she wasn’t planning to give it nicely either.

“If you can take it.”

Whoosh.

The Princess swung her sword.

Luckily, knowing her nature, I had already prepared for a surprise attack.

As she spoke suspiciously, I had already half-rolled backward.

Roll, roll.

(TLN: dude playing dark souls)

I dodged the Princess’s strike in a rather undignified manner.

Against her, there was no room for pride.

“What?”

Princess Oscar widened her eyes.

She seemed genuinely surprised.

It appeared she hadn’t expected someone like me to evade her attack.

“Did you dodge in advance? How did you read that? Do I have some habit I’m not aware of?”

The Princess tilted her head repeatedly in confusion.

It seemed that my preemptive dodge had thrown her into a mental loop.

There was no reason for me to answer her.

I didn’t have the luxury to do so either.

Whoosh!

Flames rose high around Princess Oscar, trapping her like a prison of fire.

It was Elaine’s Fire Wall.

I immediately moved towards where the Princess’s sword had fallen.

Thud.

For the first time, I held the Princess’s sword.

It was just an ordinary wooden sword, but it felt like a treasured weapon in my hand.

…Is this why famous people’s belongings sell for so much?

Anyway, I stood up with a new sense of determination.

An intense battle was already raging on the other side.

A clash of monsters.

It didn’t look like there was any room for someone like me to intervene.

In that case.

‘This is good.’

I quickly assessed the situation and took action.

Ignoring the battle, I ran forward.

Breaking through the rear that the Princess was guarding.

Just doing that would hurt her pride.

How would she react?

I kept running, watching the Princess’s reaction closely.

* * *

“Huh? Letting him go just like that isn’t good.”

Princess Oscar rolled her jade-colored eyes.

She seemed to be contemplating.

“That’s the junior’s problem.”

Riviera said bluntly, launching a large lightning spear at the Princess.

It seemed Riviera had completely changed her tactics.

After realizing that spamming weak magic was too easily countered, she switched to heavy, powerful magic.

Despite the mana restriction preventing her from using truly powerful spells.

The change in combat style was intended to make the Princess exert more effort.

Zap!

“You’re so harsh.”

Whoosh.

Princess Oscar swung her sword at the lightning spear.

But unlike before, she couldn’t erase the magic completely.

Thunk.

The lightning spear was deflected and returned to Riviera.

This showed that Riviera’s new tactic was somewhat effective.

However.

The lightning spear’s color had noticeably faded.

It had clearly taken damage from the sword strike.

“Impressive.”

Riviera acknowledged.

The Princess’s martial skills were astonishing enough to earn recognition from the notorious Blood Witch.

Whoosh!

A wave of flames surged towards the Princess.

Swoosh!

Ice shards fell as well.

“Ah, I have no choice.”

Princess Oscar’s eyes flashed.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Her sword drew elegant lines in the air again.

But this time, something was different.

Every time her sword cut through the air, the space seemed to ripple strangely.

‘What is this…?’

‘Hmm?’

Elaine and Riviera’s faces were filled with confusion.

Screeech!

With a bizarre noise, the wave of flames and the rain of ice were sliced to pieces and vanished.

Exactly as many times as the Princess had swung her sword.

“No way?!”

Elaine gasped in shock.

“Huh?”

Even Riviera seemed quite surprised.

Elaine’s magic wasn’t something that should disappear so easily.

Especially not in pieces.

“I’m sweating.”

Princess Oscar wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

What she had just performed was one of her special techniques.

A sword that cuts through space.

Known as “Spatial Slash.”

Normally, it wasn’t a technique to be used under mana restrictions, but her exceptional control allowed her to pull it off.

“A monster.”

Riviera’s evaluation of the Princess rose even higher.

“Oh my, what are you saying to a cute girl like me?”

Despite saying such things, it didn’t feel out of place coming from her, likely due to her doll-like beauty.

The Princess continued with a mysterious smile.

“You seem to be hiding something significant as well, senior.”

A sharp observation.

It wasn’t a definitive one, but it showed how keen her perception was.

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

Riviera’s response made the Princess chuckle.

“Well, alright. I’ve decided. I’ll leave that senior to my comrades. It hurts my pride, but I don’t want to split my focus right now.”

Princess Oscar made an uncharacteristic decision.

It could mean the fight was too challenging to afford distractions, or that it was too interesting to be bothered with trivial matters.

Or both.

‘Stay calm.’

Elaine bit her lip, trying to steady herself.

The Princess’s unexpected strength had momentarily shaken her, but the opponent was still just one person.

Though she appeared composed, the Princess would mentally tire first.

“Shall we continue?”

Princess Oscar moved again.

* * *

‘She’s not coming?’

I paused and looked back.

Indeed, there was no sign of the Princess following me.

“She must be busy.”

I chuckled.

Not a bad situation.

They might think I couldn’t do much alone, but…

“A single stone can create cracks.”

The first-years were focused on the battle above.

They trusted the Princess to guard the rear.

If the rear was breached and even one person caused trouble, it would irritate and distract them.

“Alright.”

I drew my bow.

And quickly approached.