Chapter 29: Duel (4)

“Wow….”

On my way back to the dormitory, I looked at the bun hair I had picked up with Jessica’s permission.

Despite being cut off for quite some time, the bun hair still retained its spiral shape, making me wonder how it had been set.

‘This much cut off should be fine, right?’

Even with this much cut off, her hair still reached her chest, so Jessica remained the lady with bun hair.

I felt sorry for both Jessica and her bun hair, but for the advancement of Baldo, I needed this bun hair.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen if I sent this along with a letter to Jessica’s father, bearing some meaningful words.

‘Hehe…!! I should send this tomorrow…’

I had planned to send it, but then realized that as a mere student, my letter would never reach the count.

I didn’t even know where to send it, and asking a postman to deliver it to the count wouldn’t work either.

Deciding to think about this later, I gazed at the bun hair and suddenly thought of Jessica, who had said she would challenge me again.

‘She said she’d challenge me every day….’

At first, I thought I’d defeat her again and then call for her father, but that seemed too trivial an end.

As the daughter of the von Grund count family, she surely had connections everywhere.

I planned to impose a non-punishment punishment on her, giving her ten hours of Baldo training for each defeat, thoroughly teaching her Baldo.

Listening to my perfect Baldo theory, she would surely become a proficient Baldo user after about twenty to thirty hours.

Using her connections to spread Baldo, my plan would come to fruition even faster.

‘It’s a perfect plan, even if I say so myself.’

Returning to my room to draft a more detailed Baldo training plan, I found an unfamiliar paper attached to my door.

‘What’s this?’

I took the paper off the door and read it, finding that an unknown person had summoned me somewhere.

‘Peter? Who’s that?’

It was a name I hadn’t heard in the original story. It didn’t seem to be the name of my homeroom teacher either.

Judging by the authoritative tone and the academy seal stamped on the paper, I could only guess it was a teacher from the academy.

[First-year student Ian Barthow from Class G is required to come to the fifth training ground by 18:00 tomorrow.]

-Peter Von Fortress-

‘Ignoring this won’t do any good. I should go check it out.’

Honestly, I didn’t feel like going because the writing gave off a vibe of a strict old man.

But with the original protagonist gone and the second prince now the fifth prince, everything was different.

Since I hadn’t fully grasped who had changed and how, it wouldn’t hurt to interact more with teachers who had many named characters.

Taking the paper inside, I placed it on the desk and drafted the upcoming Baldo training plan for Jessica.

I was so absorbed in the plan that, before I knew it, morning had come.

‘Already morning…?’

Rising from my stiff position, I decorated my desk with one of Jessica’s bun hairs and carried the other as a charm before heading out.

Bun hair symbolized wealth, so carrying it would surely bring me good fortune.

Its spiral shape meant I could wear it like a bracelet, but feeling conscious of people’s gazes, I reluctantly put it in my pocket.

Even when I entered the classroom, no one spoke to me, making it no different from being in my dorm room.

Another lonely day began without talking to anyone or demonstrating Baldo to anyone.

Though I didn’t mind being a loner, not being able to use Baldo on people was slightly dissatisfying.

‘Will Jessica just come today?’

I wouldn’t cut her bun hair this time, so it would be great if she came quickly to face my Baldo.

Her weapon was broken yesterday, so it would take at least a few days to get a new hammer, but I hoped she would come to me as soon as possible.

When the sparring started and no one approached me, I just lay down on the floor to sleep.

“Ian! What are you doing in the middle of sparring?”

“Well? I’m sleepy, so I thought I’d take a nap… Why? Everyone’s going to surrender before the fight anyway.”

The teacher tried to scold me but looked around and closed his mouth.

As I said, even if I lay here, no one dared to step into the magic circle.

So, with the teacher’s permission, I slept inside the magic circle, and when I woke up, it was almost dusk.

“Ugh….”

Inside the training ground, I was alone. The teacher and my classmates had all gone.

Those bastards. In normal class or lunch breaks, they would at least wake up the nerds.

I left the training ground and headed to the fifth training ground, where I found a paper similar to the one I had in my room attached to the door.

Reading the paper, it said the fifth training ground was unavailable today, and I should use another training ground.

‘Seriously, it’s just a conversation, why block the whole day?’

Wondering who this inconsiderate person could be, I entered and saw a back that looked extremely angry.

‘…Strong.’

Even without seeing him draw his sword or fight, I could feel his strength from the aura emanating from his back.

This old man was likely a Swordmaster at my level or even higher.

In the excitement of meeting a warrior of my caliber for the first time, I forgot the purpose of my visit for a moment until he spoke.

“Are you Ian Barthow?”

Peter seemed to recognize that I had reached the level of a Swordmaster as he widened his eyes.

When I nodded in response to his question, he spoke in a loud voice that seemed like a nickname would echo.

“You seem to have the skills to back up your arrogance. But don’t think that means you can do whatever you want!!”

“What are you talking about….”

From his words, it seemed he intended to lecture me, but what had I done to deserve this?

Not knowing what he was referring to, I frowned slightly and asked,

“Let’s skip the nonsense and get to the point. Why did you call me?”

“What?! Who do you think you’re yelling at, you insolent brat!!”

Why did it feel like talking to an old Korean man, even though this was clearly a fictional world?

Maybe because the author was Korean, I half-expected him to say something like, ‘Don’t you have any respect for your elders?’

“There’s only one deaf old man here, so just speak quietly. Why did you call me?”

“You don’t know why? You dare say that after all the things you’ve done?!”

There had been some unpleasant incidents during sparring, but if he was scolding me for that, I had my own arguments.

Sure, I had scared them, but the students in the Knight Department should not give up fighting just because they might get hurt.

Even though this was a sparring match, not a real battle, their behavior was like abandoning their swords and running away at the sight of an enemy.

“If you’re not defending those who gave up before the fight, and if it’s not about me challenging the teacher for a duel….”

“No, while you’re not blameless, the teacher who avoided the duel and gave you demerits is more at fault.”

“…What?”

I tilted my head in confusion at his unexpected words. If that wasn’t the issue, what else could it be?

“Is it because I beat up those seniors on the entrance ceremony day?”

Wondering if Peter was angry because those three were his students, I asked, but his response was cold.

“Do you think I’d cover for trash that lost 3:1 to a freshman?”

“Then what’s the problem? Surely, it can’t be because I threw some cake at Jessica’s face.”

“……”

When I asked, Peter’s silence and nodding confirmed that I had hit the mark.

“This is ridiculous…. Why are you clinging to something that happened before the academy started?”

“The academy is more than just――.”

A simple educational institution; it’s a place for social connections, blah blah blah. I had heard it so many times, even someone with half a brain would remember it.

I let his annoying words pass through one ear and out the other, glancing at him, noticing the hefty hammer hanging at his waist.

It was similar in size to the one Jessica had. Come to think of it, Viktor had mentioned that warriors who used hammers often learned from the von Grund family.

Realizing why Peter was particularly angry about Jessica, I smiled at the thought that crossed my mind.

“Speaking of Jessica…”

“Hmm?”

Peter stopped speaking and glared at me fiercely at the mention of her name.

Facing his murderous intent, which seemed ready to smash my head at any moment, I continued without flinching.

“Yesterday, Jessica challenged me to a duel.”

“…A duel?”

Unlike the inexperienced Jessica, Peter knew well what a duel entailed.

As soon as he heard the word, a cold sweat ran down Peter’s cheek, imagining the worst scenario.

Seeing this, I smirked and patted the katana at my waist.

“I bashed her head in with this. And…”

I then proudly showed him the rightful trophy I had obtained from the duel.

Peter instantly recognized what it was and, without a word, charged at me.

His attack came so swiftly that I had no choice but to focus solely on defense.

“Ugh!!”

Unable to fully withstand the impact of the hammer, my body was hurled through the training ground door and out.

It was the first time.

The first time I couldn’t counter an opponent’s attack and the first time I was sent flying by a single blow.

‘Thank you, Jessica.’

Thanks to you, I finally have the chance to unleash Baldo on someone stronger than me!!!

I could now test my Baldo against a warrior stronger than myself. How could I not be grateful to Jessica!!!

Thank you so much, Jessica!!!