episode_0149

Even though Ethan and I had decided to join Seraphine’s student council, it didn’t immediately bring about any major changes in our daily lives.

The student council election period spans approximately two weeks, starting from candidate registration, through the campaign period, and ending with the voting day.

No matter how quickly we start our student council activities, the real busyness kicks in around two weeks later.

And unless something unexpected happens, it was almost a certainty that Seraphine would be elected as the student council president this semester. As someone who was aware of this fact, I didn’t have any reason to worry about the election.

“The basic plotline when the protagonist doesn’t interfere in the election is Seraphine’s victory being confirmed.”

In accordance with Seraphine’s student council election, the protagonist could choose between cooperation, observation, or competition.

Cooperation naturally meant participating in the future student council as a member of the cabinet formed by Seraphine.

Observation meant not participating in the student council’s cabinet or interfering in any way.

And competition meant joining another candidate’s student council or running as a candidate oneself.

“Interfering with Seraphine’s election is only possible through the competition route.”

In other words, unless we used our abilities and connections to cause trouble, Seraphine’s victory in the student council election was inevitable.

In the grand scheme of things, the student council election was merely a way to gauge how many followers one had within the academy.

With the Fourth Prince MacHart not participating in the election, most of the votes would naturally go to Seraphine, the only noble candidate.

It was safe to assume that Seraphine would be elected as the student council president this year and the next. The election in the second semester of the third year would likely bring about some more eventful moments.

So, for now, there was no need for Ethan and me to be involved in the campaign to promote Seraphine’s name, or to manage her candidacy in her absence.

Thinking ahead to the busy two weeks after the student council started, I simply focused on my classes as usual.

For example, like in today’s class.

“….”

“….”

In the suffocating silence, a Sword Master stood facing me, his sword at his waist, waiting for me to enter. It was Harold.

“Come at me whenever you’re ready, Lillis.”

“…Yes.”

With the start of the second semester, Harold’s magic swordsmanship class curriculum had become more structured.

One of the changes was the opportunity for students to engage in practical sword fighting with the Sword Master.

Previously limited to the top four students including the protagonist, Ethan, Caraham, and Natalie, the regular sparring sessions were now open to all students once a month.

Of course, it wasn’t a real battle where our lives were at stake, as there were some handicaps in place.

“If we were to face off in a real battle, my wrist would be sliced off with just a single strike.”

Professor Harold only used pure swordsmanship without magic, while students could use their energy, magic, or any other combat skills to land effective hits. This was the evaluation method for the second semester magic swordsmanship class.

If a regular student managed to land an effective hit on Harold, they would automatically receive an A+.

With this opportunity coming around once a month, each chance had to be carefully considered.

“It’s okay. I’ve seen Harold wield his sword many times before.”

Although not intentionally, after Ethan, the person I had seen wield a sword the most was Harold. While most of what I had observed was when Harold sparred with Ethan, I still had a much better vantage point compared to other students when facing the test.

With a blackwood dagger engraved with the pattern of a double-headed eagle in my left hand, I swiftly moved towards Harold, shaking off my footsteps.

– Pabak!

As I took my first step, the shockwave triggered from my toe helped accelerate my body.

I couldn’t overuse it as it would strain my ankles, but it provided enough assistance to quickly cover a distance of about 5 meters.

Closing the distance in one go, I immediately swung the blackwood dagger in my left hand towards Harold… which was a fake.

– Hwak!

“Disappear!”

Intentionally blocking Harold’s line of sight with a blurry light as I approached him closely enough for his blade to almost touch me.

Am I crazy to engage in close combat with Harold using a dagger and a sword? It’s an absurd idea.

Honestly, my current skill level was barely comparable to Luke in pure close combat. But maybe I was worried that Harold’s stats might be unknown to me, having cleared “Luminor Academy” 24 times in my previous life.

“Magic, pierce the enemy!”

After blocking his sight with a blurry light, I generated a triple-casted magic arrow, which was my full power.

With my current improved accuracy, I could at least hit him with two out of the three arrows.

If I was lucky and all three arrows hit Harold, I might be able to inflict some minor injuries, creating a momentary sense of hope…

– Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!

…Well, I knew it. Harold wouldn’t fall for such tricks.

Even if he blocked his sight, Harold, who could read the flow of magic, wouldn’t be fooled by low-level magic like magic arrows.

I heard the sound of him deflecting the three magic arrows with a single swing of his sword, but I didn’t feel despair.

After all, even the magic arrows were just a fake to me.

– Shiiing!

The real attack was the dagger hidden among these magic arrows.

It was the ‘dagger throwing’ technique I learned when facing the demons in Grainstone Village. It was also a technique used by Luke.

Even Harold, who was sensitive to magic, wouldn’t let his guard down if an attack unrelated to magic mixed in.

The blackwood dagger extending from my left hand flew straight towards Harold’s silhouette in the blurry light.

– Kkagaak!

…Once again, there was no chance, just like the other magic arrows, as the dagger hit the sword and bounced off.

‘Not yet, it’s okay.’

If the attack had hit Harold properly just now, it would have been the cleanest and best finish, but hoping that such tricks would be effective against a Sword Master was a shameless act.

In the end, I had to end it by physically colliding with him. So, this time, I took out Seraphine’s dagger from my bosom and rushed towards Harold.

Confirming Harold’s sword path that was just swung in the blurry light, I firmly gripped the dagger in my right hand in reverse and stabbed his thigh…

– Kkaaang!

“Ugh…!”

Yes, I predicted that he would be able to respond up to this point.

Although I was a bit late in dodging the sword, the impact on my hand from blocking his greatsword with a dagger less than 20 centimeters was no joke. I let go of Seraphine’s dagger belatedly, but it seemed that it would take some time for my paralyzed arm to recover.

Still, fortunately, the potion from Lige was still in my bosom, so the last resort was still available. Besides, my real intention was not to land a blow with this attack in the first place.

Charging in without using magic assistance and deliberately closing the distance was not out of regret.

I memorized the magic chain so that I could activate it at any time with my other hand.

– Shwirl!

“…!”

‘I got it…!’

It was a moment where I could confidently guarantee that this time, it would definitely work out in many ways.

I didn’t miss the moment when my magic chain wrapped around Harold’s longsword, and his expression seemed to freeze slightly in confusion.

No matter how skilled a Sword Master he was, fighting without magic or mana was akin to restricting oneself. Especially for someone like Harold, who needed to consciously suppress the mana flowing out of his body, focusing on something else meant that his true strength couldn’t be fully displayed.

Having subdued the Sword Master’s sword, it was now my turn. It was a story of being able to stab the final dagger at least once in a completely empty space.

…And at that moment when I thought I had completely subdued Harold’s sword.

– Shwirl!

“…Huh?”

Contrary to my expectations that I would naturally exclude Harold’s longsword by binding it with the magic chain, it was actually my magic chain that was being pulled towards him with force.

Harold, who was swirling my magic chain in the air like a whirlpool towards his sword, used my magic chain to reverse-wrap around my right wrist holding the dagger.

“Aaah!!”

“Lilith!!”

Since my left wrist holding the dagger was completely subdued, I lost.

My right hand still had a tingling sensation, so I couldn’t even choose to switch hands to hold the sword.

I collapsed to the ground, still tied to the chain I had set.

-Thud.

“I… I lost.”

“Good job, Lilith.”

“…Thank you, Professor.”

“But, it would be good for you to learn to fight while cherishing the hand you have. Even though you fought with three different daggers, you wasted them as if the one you had was disposable. Of course, sometimes it’s useful to follow a new strategy without holding onto regrets, but in your case, you seem to be unable to think of situations where you don’t have to follow the strategy you’ve set in your mind.”

“…Yes.”

“In the next sparring session, I hope to see a better performance than this one. …That way, I can feel more at ease about allowing your relationship with Edan.”

“…What?”

“Next. Martin Chamberner Clinton, come forward.”

While questioning Harold, who was saying something incomprehensible, I picked up the dropped daggers one by one and returned to Edan’s side, sitting next to him.

As soon as I returned to his side, Edan looked at my left wrist with concern and asked worriedly, “Lilith, are you okay? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?”

“I’m fine, Edan. It was just a little pressure, there won’t be any lasting trauma from the battle.”

“If you got hurt when you fell earlier….”

“I only got a little dirt on me that can be cleaned with a cloth, Edan.”

“Well, that’s a relief….”

…What did Harold mean by allowing our relationship? Right now, Edan and I were nothing more or less than a full-time maid and her master.

‘Could it be that if I never win in a sparring session, I should quit as Edan’s full-time maid…?’

…No, that couldn’t be it.

I hoped that Harold wouldn’t be as blocked off as that, and in that moment, I realized the need to take the magic swordsmanship class more seriously this semester.