chapter_0166

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
166

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
166

The moment I received Frey’s
sword with my shield, my body was pushed back.

Wait a minute. That thing
rippling over Frey’s sword right now…

Aura?!

Frey, you ridiculously
talented prodigy!

No matter how gifted you are,
reaching that level in the first semester of first grade at the
Academy is just too much!

According to Grandpa, it seems
like she barely dipped her toes into it without even realising, but
that doesn’t change the fact that it’s harder to handle now.

Every time my shield, made
with divine energy, clashed with Frey’s sword, the impact
reverberated through my arms.

That’s dangerous.

I’m not yet skilled at
handling divine energy.

I pride myself on being able
to perform most common priest-level divine magic, but that’s it.
Nothing more, nothing less.

I’m compensating for my lack
of skill with the overflowing divine energy unique to an Apostle, but
there’s a limit to that too.

It means my shield, created
with divine energy, isn’t that sturdy.

Until now, I supplemented my
shield’s deficiencies with my shield technique, but with Frey using
Aura, that’s becoming burdensome.

If I succeed in [Parrying],
there’s no problem, but whenever I fail, cracks form in the divine
energy making up my shield.

Because of that, I’ve been
focusing on moving my shield, which naturally puts me on the
defensive.

This is different from when I
intentionally hid behind my shield according to Grandpa’s strategies
before.

Right now, I’m being pushed
back by Frey.

‘There’s no real monster
like her!’

‘Well, that’s true but!’

Right now, Frey has
unintentionally manifested something close to an Aura.

Naturally, she doesn’t know
how to handle it or control it. She’s just burning her mana like
fuel and rampaging wildly.

So, once the mana runs out and
she hits her limit, the victory will be mine.

Endurance is what I do best.

After all, I’m a Tank.

When I deliberately tried to
hide behind my shield, Frey raised her eyebrows slightly.

She’s sparred with me every
day since entering Soul Academy.

She must have realised what
I’m trying to do instantly.

But what can you do about it?

There’s no way you’ll
break through my shield…

“Are you hiding behind your
shield again? Coward.”

What? This girl is
unbelievable.

I felt a fleeting rush of
anger in my head but quickly calmed myself down.

Anger is of no use in this
situation. However, the brief hesitation caused by anger became a
problem.

Before I knew it, Frey’s
sword had reached right in front of me.

I urgently raised my shield
according to what the [Iron Wall] technique taught me, but my will
was not in it.

[Parrying] didn’t activate,
and the shield of divine energy that was already slowly crumbling
shattered completely.

Frey’s sword stopped just
before my neck.

The surrounding silence.

Frey’s heavy breathing.

The clear blade reflects the
sunlight.

My face reflected in it.

Everything testified to the
obvious.

“I’ve lost.”

Ah, I let my head get heated
and moved recklessly, and I ended up losing.

Now, every time I call Frey a
sloppy swordsman, the backlash will hit me. I’ve turned into a
super sloppy loser who lost to someone I called sloppy.

‘You allowed it too,
Grandpa!’

‘Grandpa?! What are you
saying?!’

As I was chatting with Grandpa
in the face of an unexpected defeat, Anton approached to conclude the
sparring.

The result was obvious to
anyone who saw it, and I had no intention of denying it.

If Frey hadn’t awakened her
Aura, I might have won! But that won’t make the sword in front of me
disappear, right?

A loss is a loss.

As I quietly waited for
Anton’s declaration, Frey blocked his approach.

“Wait. It’s not over yet.”

“Lady Kent? What do you
mean? The sparring is already…”

“Lucy didn’t give it her
all.”

Frey said that and then looked
back at me.

“Lucy, do you still think
I’m a sloppy swordsman?”

“Pfft. Puhaha.”

I burst out laughing, despite
the sword right by my neck.

Puhaha. So that’s what you
were aiming for, Frey?

Even after winning, she didn’t
feel satisfied.

Frey’s goal wasn’t just to win
against me.

She wanted me to go all out.

She wanted me to acknowledge
that she was someone standing right beside me. I’m not sure what it
is about me that Frey likes.

I don’t understand why she,
who should be indifferent and emotionless, is looking at me with such
passionate eyes.

But you know what? Regardless
of that, I’m already in a position where I’ve lost once, right? I
should fulfil what the victor desires.

“Trash Professor♡ Can you
get lost since you’re in the way?♡”

“Hmm. If both of you agree,
then. I understand.”

After Anton withdrew, I
silently recited several divine magic incantations.

With that, my physical
abilities increased to an incomparable extent.

Then, I enveloped my entire
body with divine energy.

At first, I was clumsy at
handling it.

Even now, I can’t say I’m
skilled, but it’s nothing compared to a while ago.

There’s no way I wouldn’t grow
after training hard for hours every night until Grandpa was
satisfied.

With all the preparations
done, I took out the dwarven-shield from my inventory and pulled
Ruel’s Mace out of my pocket.

This is my current power.

“Come at me♡ You sloppy
trash♡”

“Okay.”

With a smile on her lips, Frey
rushed at me, unleashing her magic power.

The Mithril Shield I’m holding
is solid.

It’s unmoved even by a sword
swung with considerable sincerity by Karl.

Even if Frey uses something
akin to Aura, there’s no way she could smash this shield, right?
Knowing that, I pushed forward with my shield, deflecting Frey’s
sword.

Each time her sword struck the
shield, I felt the impact, but that was all. It wasn’t enough to stop
my advance.

Previously, I had been pushed
back due to the inadequacy of my shield, not because I lacked
physical ability.

Seeing my steadfastness, Frey
tried to change her strategy and retreat, but I didn’t allow it.

As she began to step back, I
swiftly conjured a wall using divine magic to block her path.

Normally, this is used for
defence, but it can also be adapted for situations like this.

Realising her retreat was cut
off, Frey frowned and instead charged forward.

Was she thinking that if she
couldn’t retreat, she could break through head-on?

That might have worked against
the old me, but not the current me.

I focused on her sword, which
traced a blue path with its imbued magic.

I moved my shield first, and
then [Iron Wall] followed in sync.

My judgement and [Iron Wall]’s
response were perfectly aligned.

The moment Frey’s sword hit my
shield, [Parrying] activated, greatly reducing her sword’s force.

It allowed me to push her
sword away with my shield.

A shield with mass and power
is, in itself, an excellent blunt weapon.

With a thud, Frey, struck
while holding her sword, staggered and retreated. Even amidst the
shock, she quickly regained her composure, but by then, I had already
closed the distance, slipping into Frey’s personal space.

We were so close, we could
almost feel each other’s breath.

This was not the range for a
sword.

Nor was it the range for a
mace.

It was the range for hands.

Smiling at the bewildered look
in Frey’s eyes, I grabbed her by the collar.

She struggled desperately, but
she couldn’t escape my grasp.

I lifted Frey and was about to
slam her to the ground… but stopped.

After all, this was just a
sparring match.

There was no need to
completely demolish her, right?

I halted just before she hit
the ground, allowing Frey to land lightly. She looked at me blankly,
then raised both hands in surrender.

“I lost. As expected, Lucy
is strong.”

I thought she might be a
little frustrated, but Frey’s expression remained as indifferent as
always.

It seems it will take more
time to see this emotionless person truly explode with resentment.

‘Good job, Frey.’

“It wasn’t bad. Foolish
Swordsman.”

“…Huh? Fool?”

I couldn’t respond to Frey’s
question.The person most surprised by what I said was none other than
myself.

Foolish Swordsman?!

What? Why did her title
suddenly change?!

Was it always possible for
these to change?!

I thought once it was set, it
was forever!

But this wasn’t bad
information.

It meant that even those
nicknames I couldn’t possibly say out loud now might change someday.

It’s understandable,
considering [Mesugaki] skill often stirs up trouble and conflict!

Think about how much trouble I
was in when I called Arthur the Pitiful Prince!

And imagine what would happen
if I started calling Cecil the Idiot Prince in the future!

That’s horrible!

But if it’s possible to change
how I address people, that’s a different story.

I don’t even want to call
others by their names. Just having nicknames we can laugh off is
enough.

Take Joy, for instance.
Calling her the Airhead Lady isn’t a big deal.

Honestly, calling an airhead
an airhead is kind of cute!

If I could make others’
nicknames at that level, for sure.

‘If you’re sorry, don’t say
it. Grandpa.’

Grandpa, could you please not
touch sensitive areas?

I’m busy generating hopeful
thoughts right now. Do you really need to add in your two cents?

Just let me enjoy my happy
daydreams.

And really, isn’t Foolish
Swordsman kind of cute?

‘Did that happen?’

Ah, that was a dark time. Was
it when Sloppy Pervert Armadi strengthened the [Mesugaki] Skill?

…Hmm. That might have just
been Sloppy Armadi messing with me.

Still, this means that title
changes aren’t always for the better.

Sigh.

While I was inwardly sighing
at the sudden turn of events, Frey, who had already stood up, grabbed
my arm.

“Lucy. Lucy. One more
time.”

‘What?’

“What are you saying,
Foolish Swordsman?”

“…Tell me I didn’t hear
it wrong. Foolish, not Sloppy.”

Did she think I was
acknowledging her? Frey seemed satisfied with being called the
Foolish Swordsman instead of Sloppy.

Whether she was aware of it or
not, she couldn’t hide the slight curl at the corner of her mouth,
which showed just how happy she was.

Sigh.
Fine, if you’re happy, then let’s consider it a good thing.

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