episode_0132

-Chae-aeng!!

“…I-I lost.”

“The winner! Ethan Richard Blackwood!”

“Ethan! Ethan! Ethan!”

“Ethan of the twin swords! It’s Ethan of the twin swords!!”

After the evaluation match between me and Luke ended, Ethan and Natalie’s match took place two days later.

It was quite a fierce battle, but when Ethan’s twin swords deflected Natalie’s estoc and claimed victory, the cheers of the spectators echoed throughout the stadium.

Having already seen the two face off in Harold’s class several times, the result seemed almost inevitable to me.

“In terms of compatibility and skill, Ethan has the upper hand over Natalie.”

When Ethan and Natalie faced each other, Ethan’s win rate felt like about 80% to me.

Natalie, whose specialty was quick and precise attacks targeting vulnerabilities, had a good win rate against opponents like her with a blunt sword like the estoc. However, when facing Ethan, who wielded twin swords, there were hardly any openings for Natalie to exploit.

Ethan probably targeted that weakness when he chose Natalie as his final opponent, and he emerged victorious as expected.

“Woo! Master Ethan! I bow to you!! Please accept my bow!!”

“Hey, hey! To the side, to the side!”

“Huh? To the side…? Woo?! Y-Your, your engagement…!”

“…No, I’m not really Ethan’s fiancée…”

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Lillies! That wasn’t my intention!”

One enthusiastic supporter of Ethan quickly changed direction and ran away when she noticed me looking at her.

And then, other students who had witnessed the scene began whispering among themselves about me and Ethan.

Why are they doing this again? It’s really unfair this time.

“…No matter how I think about it, this doesn’t seem like Lillies at all.”

Where did Lillies Rosewood, who was once treated with sympathy and compassion wherever she went due to her status as Ethan’s sex slave in the original work, disappear to?

Of course, I never intended to become Ethan’s sex slave just to receive a little sympathy, but it was still hard to understand why I was constantly being mistaken for some strange woman.

Rumors were even circulating that I had actually stolen the dagger that the princess had given to Luke as a gift after the last match.

I didn’t steal it. I’ll return it when we meet later.

Right now, I’m unable to visit the church due to ongoing treatment for my injuries.

Lost in thought, I absentmindedly gazed at the stadium, only to see Karahm and another student’s match ending quickly.

“The winner, Karahm Reginald August!”

Seeing that the opposing student had completely disappeared without a trace, it seemed like they had unintentionally activated a death prevention spell due to their inability to control their strength. The stadium itself looked as if it had been split in half like an earthquake had occurred.

If we were to judge solely based on physical strength, excluding swordsmanship and magic, that guy would probably be closer to a giant than a hero.

By the way, as a senior, Gethmjoshegiwat had the right to choose his opponent first, but instead of selecting Ethan or Natalie, he chose to face an extra student ranked fifth and easily claimed victory.

While Gethmjoshegiwat had a slightly higher win rate in mock battles against Ethan, the margin was so small that there was a possibility of the results being reversed, and the other participants were not guaranteed to win 100% according to his standards. Especially when facing Karahm, who often struggled against his brute strength.

Surely, for him, who was determined to secure the top spot in the Swordsmanship Department and maintain his position as the top student, facing off against Edan and the rest of the evaluation team in a preliminary match seemed daunting, so he ultimately shifted his goal to becoming the 5th ranked student.

Nevertheless, he had to maintain his position as the top student in the Swordsmanship Department for the next semester to smoothly navigate the second half of the year.

“Edan should be coming out soon, and I should start heading down as well.”

With Edan’s evaluation match now over, he had to prepare to return to the dormitory.

Since the final grades would only be released a few days before the start of the next semester, there was no reason to stay at school any longer. With Edan’s evaluation match being the last, their first semester at the academy had come to an end.

It was time to return to the Blackwood Manor after a long time.

***

Aurelia Church, Luminoir Academy branch.

The building, which always exuded a quiet and reverent atmosphere, was bustling with the voices of busy priests and aspiring priests during the busiest time of the semester – the evaluation match period.

“Next patient in Room 11! Cause of death: severed from head to toe!”

“Hurry, move them to a private room and protect each internal organ! Finish the treatment before the death prevention spell wears off!”

“Who in their right mind would activate a death prevention spell after cutting someone in half?! Are they insane?!”

“Just a few days ago, there was a lunatic who exploded their entire body with a massive magical structure, so cutting someone in half is relatively mild.”

With students receiving treatment for both minor and major injuries from the end-of-semester evaluation matches, the injuries of students being transferred via death prevention spells were severe.

Students with all kinds of injuries, to the point of being stabbed in the neck or heart, were being transferred via death prevention spells.

Two days ago, Luke, who had been transferred to the academy church via a death prevention spell, was now starting to recover from his injuries.

Although his mind was as complicated as ever, he couldn’t help but wonder, “What will become of me now?”

It was good that he had chosen Rilis as his opponent in the evaluation match due to his petty desire for revenge. Up until then, he had no doubt that he would win.

Even though he was in the non-combat department of the Magic Department, he was a skilled knight certified enough to guard the Seraphine Princess.

Despite being in the combat department, he was able to defeat the palace knights who were twice or three times his age in sparring matches with his dual daggers and stilettos.

Therefore, even though he was a top student in the Magic Department, he never thought he would lose in a battle against himself in the evaluation match.

But the result of his complacency and approach to the match was a clear defeat.

It was an overwhelming defeat to the point where the death prevention spell had to be activated.

It was a devastating defeat that made even excuses seem pointless.

“There was no opening.”

It seemed as if his opponent knew all of his skills in advance, and the countermeasures to each of his attacks were executed as if they were a matter of course.

From the start, he had prepared to counter his dual dagger attacks by using a hidden sword.

He had inflicted a wound on his left arm with a magical arrow after blocking his vision with a blurred light as soon as the distance widened.

He had planned to block his long-range attacks with a vision shield from the beginning. He had even seen through his last resort, the ambush.

Throughout the match, he displayed an overwhelming difference in skill level that could only be described as a one-sided fight.

Rather, it felt as if Lilith was looking at him with enough attention to notice.

“If she had intended to finish me off from the start, she could have done so in less than a minute.”

When he was hit by the first blurry light and targeted his jugular with a magic arrow, it wasn’t a match that would last that long.

Even though he was capable of triple casting, the only thing the woman aimed for was his left forearm.

A mage with that level of skill wouldn’t have missed the attack. Most likely, she deliberately only grazed him enough to show the clear difference in their abilities.

As a result, he suffered a devastating defeat, struck by a massive magical structure whose name he couldn’t even discern.

Luke, who had rashly picked a fight out of resentment without properly assessing his opponent, paid a harsh price for his actions.

“What would you like me to say to the princess?”

Rather than a guard, he was now in such a pitiful state that he could be called a house-guard dog.

Undoubtedly, even Princess Seraphine must have been disappointed.

Not only would he no longer be able to stay by her side as her guard, but he might even find himself yearning for a position as a full-time maid.

Perhaps, due to his arrogant behavior, he might even be completely abandoned by her…

“…Sigh.”

Tears that he had been holding back welled up in Luke’s eyes.

He had put in so much effort to stand by Princess Seraphine’s side.

For the past five years, since the day he swore allegiance to her, he had made bone-deep efforts to protect and guard her position by her side.

The thought that all of it might be scattered like mist with one mistake and defeat filled him with sorrow and even fear.

Whether she knew or not about Luke’s feelings, Seraphine’s voice from outside the sickroom seemed to press down on him like a weight.

-Knock, knock.

“Luke, how is your condition?”

“…!”

“May I come in? I think we need to talk about the future.”

Talking about the future meant she was probably going to discuss cutting him off from his position as her guard.

Losing his position as a maid of a duke to a mere guard was nothing but insignificant and unnecessary to her.

Although he wanted to turn her away without a response and stay as her servant for a little longer, he replied with a trembling voice, “Yes, yes… You may come in, Princess Seraphine…”

With a trembling voice, Luke called out Princess Seraphine’s name in response.

Not responding to Seraphine’s voice would have been a disloyal and inadequate action on his part.

-Creak.

As the door opened and Seraphine entered, Luke quietly lowered his gaze.

At this moment, she couldn’t even meet her master’s eyes.

Ignoring her master’s advice and engaging in an evaluation match with Lilith was bad enough, but ultimately, he suffered a humiliating defeat along with a severe injury.

“Luke, is your injury getting better?”

“Thanks to you, Princess, I’m fine now…”

“Did the priests mention any precautions? Did they say anything about resting for a few days and not moving the injured area?”

“They said I should stay at the church for about four days to treat the injured area.”

“Hmm, is that so? So, does that mean you won’t be able to perform your guard duties for those four days?”

“…!!!”

It was a mistake.

The moment he indirectly mentioned that he wouldn’t be able to guard the princess for four days, he practically mentioned the reason why he would be dismissed by her.

He should have said two days, not four.

No, I should have said that I can move right now.

Luke Cruella, who was trying to get up quickly from the bed to pick up the slip of the tongue he blurted out in a moment of surprise.

To her surprise, the response from Serafin was something Luke had never expected.

“Oh, no, Princess Serafin! It’s not for a few days, but for…”

“The provincial village tour that was supposed to start as soon as the summer vacation began will now start in a few days.”

“…What?”

“A person of your caliber cannot travel around the imperial province without an escort. Isn’t that right, Luke?”

“U-um, are you referring to me as the escort, Princess Serafin?”

“Well, did you want to quit your job, Luke?”

“Oh, no! That’s not it! I didn’t mean it that way…!”

Still confused by the meaning of Serafin’s words, Luke made another mistake.

Serafin didn’t pay much attention to Luke’s slip of the tongue and reassured her to prevent any panic about losing her position.

“Relax, Luke. I never had any intention of firing you from the beginning.”

“R-really…? Princess…?”

“I’ve always said, Luke. I have a temperament that can’t be settled without a competent person nearby.”

“P-princess…”

“Get well soon, Luke.”

“Y-yes…!”

With a final wish for Luke’s speedy recovery, Princess Serafin left the hospital room to attend to the rest of her schedule at the academy.

In the now empty academy church infirmary room, only one girl with gray hair was unable to hold back her tears, though the meaning behind those tears had changed significantly from just a moment ago.