episode_0051

As soon as Iris mentioned that she had marked someone, a few gasps could be heard.

Some held their breath in anticipation upon hearing that Fiona, the candidate Iris had marked, existed.

The truth remained unknown to all. However, some male students, their eyes burning with determination, still stood firm.

Having a candidate marked could also mean, conversely, that Fiona didn’t have a partner yet.

Amidst this, some female students giggled with interest, finding the situation intriguing.

“Hmm….”

Sian, who was among them, found himself caught up in the intrigue.

Even when she served as a home tutor at the mansion, she rarely ventured outside.

She had never contacted anyone separately through a stitch before.

So, the fact that a man had been marked was unexpected.

“Well….”

She, too, was approaching the age of marriage eligibility.

Given her reputation as a Swordmaster, there would likely be many men eager to propose strategic marriages with her.

“If there are no further questions, let’s begin today’s lesson to prepare for the test,” Iris announced promptly.

Upon her cue, disappointed male and female students began dispersing to prepare for the lesson, swords in hand.

Sian also started to move slowly.

Until he felt a gaze fixed on him from somewhere.

When Sian turned his head to meet the gaze, it was none other than Iris who held it.

Iris gazed back at Sian with a playful smile.

Perplexed, Sian raised an eyebrow and returned her gaze.

“……”

“……”

How many seconds passed in this manner?

“……?”

Noticing Sian’s lack of response, Hedy, sensing something amiss, hesitated as if to speak to him but stopped abruptly.

She had realized that Sian and Iris were locked in a gaze.

“What’s going on…?”

Hedy sensed an odd tension between them.

Glancing at Sian, then at Iris, she alternated between the two.

For some reason, Hedy felt uneasy.

In the midst of this, Iris continued to smile at Sian without making any move.

Feeling awkward, Sian turned away without reciprocating the gaze.

He shifted his focus away and joined the bustling students, leaving Iris to approach the students as if nothing had happened.

Even in such a situation, Hedy couldn’t shake off the uncomfortable feeling.

At first glance, it seemed like nothing, but there appeared to be something between the two.

The unease lingered throughout the swordsmanship class.

—

Thud!

Thud!

Clang!

The dull sound of numerous swords clashing echoed within the martial arts training ground outside.

It was the martial arts training hall.

Students who had finished their lessons gathered eagerly to practice sword duels.

“Hup!”

-Clang!

Each time Hedy swung her sword, she momentarily held her breath and, with a swift movement, parried Sian’s blade using the power of her stance.

Despite blocking the attack, Sian swiftly countered with a flexible move, and the intensity of their duel remained light.

“Ha!”

…Hedy couldn’t shake off the discomfort she had felt since the previous swordsmanship class.

Why did the new swordsmanship instructor stare so intently at Sian?

Sian didn’t seem to notice anything strange about the gaze.

Were they already acquainted with each other?

Rumors had it that he was the Swordmaster of the Brace Kingdom. What could have transpired between such a figure and Sian?

Her mind kept wandering.

Come to think of it, Hedy didn’t know Sian’s background.

Could he be related to the Brace Kingdom in some way?

Was that why he had some connection to Iris, sharing the same hometown?

Unwanted thoughts persisted.

-Clang!

“Oh.”

Hedy missed her mark.

She had mistakenly blocked Sian’s sword, causing the hilt to graze her hand.

It was a mistake that he wouldn’t have made in the first place.

“…Do you have something on your mind?” Si-an asked Hedie with a concerned tone, wiping sweat off his hands.

“No… Well, not really.”

“Lies. Your mind was elsewhere during our sparring.”

Si-an could tell.

Every night, they sparred with Hedie, and not knowing was foolish.

Unlike their usual sparring sessions, Hedie’s sword lacked sharpness this time.

“Are you hurt somewhere?”

“It’s not that.”

“Okay. I don’t know what’s bothering you, but try to resolve it quickly. It will only get harder if it continues.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“The grading exams are approaching.”

Si-an had been feeling a bit nervous lately.

He knew how challenging the grading exams that divided classes were.

They were tests he had faced countless times before being transmigrated into this world.

“Although the first exam involves individual sparring at the professor’s discretion, it won’t be the same from the second one onwards. Those will be truly grueling tests without mercy.”

Before the transmigration, Si-an had assumed he would easily be assigned to Class A based on his abilities when developing his initial character.

But he had been overly confident.

Due to various factors related to the test scale, he was assigned to Class C and his account was deleted immediately.

He remembered the struggle of raising a new character and taking the test again.

“Even though the first exam is at the professor’s discretion, the second and third exams will involve team exploration of restricted areas or sudden challenges. That’s the long-standing tradition of Ariel Academy.”

“…How do you know all this?”

“Just hearsay.”

Since the information Si-an shared with Hedie wasn’t rare or hidden, it was something one could easily learn by asking a senior who had experienced a year ahead.

So Si-an thought it didn’t matter if he divulged such information.

“What are you talking about? You don’t have any friends.”

“……”

But that was a mistake.

Upon reflection, Hedie had been with Si-an for a long time and knew his daily routines.

Apart from meeting Lloyd, Bobby, and Louis for lunch, Hedie had never seen Si-an meeting anyone else.

It was a lie that would soon be exposed.

Hedie’s innocent honesty felt like thousands of needles piercing Si-an’s heart.

“…Anyway, these are things you can easily find out with a little investigation. If you keep practicing swordsmanship without improving your situational awareness, it’ll put you at a disadvantage. Resolve your worries quickly.”

“Got it.”

Soon, Hedie immersed himself back into sparring, and Si-an, satisfied with Hedie’s sharpened skills, wielded his sword alongside him.

However, Hedie’s lingering thoughts had not disappeared entirely.

Where did he find out this information, and how did he start getting involved with other people? Si-an was genuinely curious.

The more he tried to understand Si-an, the more unknowns seemed to pile up.

*

As I gently waved my hand closer, a faint blue light shimmered brightly.

When I moved my hand away, the blue light gradually dimmed and faded.

Magic sword.

After finishing my shower upon returning to the dormitory following my spar with Hedie, I finally had the time to contemplate this.

At first, it was just a casual thought about the magical weapon. However, after the last encounter with Dordom and the reunion with Iris, I couldn’t dismiss lightly the conversation we had before parting ways.

“So, where did you get that sword?”

“Oh, as I mentioned before, this is a magic sword. I found a mana stone while exploring a maze and crafted this magical tool.”

“I sense a strong surge of your magic within the blade… Would it be alright if I examined the sword once?”

“It doesn’t matter… Perhaps Iris’s magic won’t respond.”

“…I see.”

At that moment, Iris examined the magic stone sword with a cautious expression for some reason.

And what she said to me was…

“This might not be a magic stone.”

It was a perplexing statement.

Certainly, it was a magic stone sword processed from the magic stone found in the labyrinth.

Even when I mentioned that, Iris still denied that it was a magic stone.

She explained that typical magic stones should respond to all magic regardless of the user.

“A magic stone that only accepts the magic of the first person who touches it, a stone imbued with such willpower… I have never heard of such a stone existing in the world.”

“Moreover, a function that manipulates and materializes the user’s magic… The only similar cases I can think of are magic swords or holy swords. Could this really be a naturally occurring magic stone from the labyrinth?”

Listening to Iris’s words, I couldn’t help but recall once again.

When playing as Ariel before the possession, I remember that bound items were only of the magic sword type.

Holy swords were out of the question, not appearing in the story.

However, the likelihood of this magic stone sword being a holy sword was slim.

What could its true identity be?

“……”

In any case, it seemed like an item that would attract unnecessary attention if carried openly.

I wrapped the handle of the magic stone sword at my waist with medical bandages, concealing the bluish light.

Then, preparing for the upcoming class, I left the dormitory and headed to the lecture building.