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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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I still frequented the private bar.
I had no particular interest in socializing with them, but their conversations often yielded valuable information.
As usual, I sat quietly in a corner, sipping my drink, when someone approached Lucia.
“Russell.”
Edgar Lemnos.
His serious expression caught the attention of the others.
Their chatter subsided as they turned to listen.
“I’m challenging Atlas to a rematch.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I already have his consent. You’re his guarantor, so I thought you should know.”
A rematch? So soon after his defeat? What had changed?
“…What do you want?”
What did he want from Atlas?
Duels were dangerous, a wager of something precious.
Lemnos had used Atlas to get to Lucia, to force her into a duel, breaking his family’s promise.
If he was still harboring a grudge… I wouldn’t stand idly by.
“Nothing…”
His answer was unexpected.
“I don’t want anything from him. I just… want to defeat him, with Lemnos’ swordsmanship. I want everyone to acknowledge Lemnos’ superiority.”
His eyes burned with fierce determination.
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“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
.
.
.
.
.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
.
.
.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
“It’ll be better next time…!”
I screamed at the sky, a series of guttural wails echoing through the Academy grounds.
I felt eyes on me, curious stares from afar.
My cheerful mood from yesterday had vanished.
The new potion… had been useless.
“…There are always… setbacks…”
I was disappointed, but… not surprised.
‘We need more data. After the examination, we’ll analyze the results, restock the ingredients, and try again…!’
I trusted Professor Praha’s words.
Lucia, sensing my mood, spoke hesitantly.
“Atlas… you agreed to a rematch…?”
“…Did I…?”
I vaguely remembered… something…
“I think so…”
“Lemnos seemed… different…”
“If he hasn’t learned his lesson, he deserves another beating. Look, the ship’s arriving.”
My mood was sour, but time marched on.
Today was Andy’s return from the capital.
A small group of students had gathered at the harbor, to welcome the hero who had saved the Academy.
Most were still in class.
These were his most devoted fans… mostly girls, with a few boys scattered among them.
“Are they all waiting for him…?”
“Disgusting.”
I had skipped class to be here.
Lucia had followed me.
Andy appeared on deck, waving, dressed in his Royal Knights uniform.
The crowd erupted in cheers.
He looked… good.
Tall, handsome, blond, in uniform…
“Look at him, grinning like an idiot.”
It was… deserved.
I had passed the burden to him.
His success was… beneficial to me.
But… a part of me… felt… resentful.
He was everything I wasn’t.
Tall, blond, blue-eyed…
Perhaps it was the potion’s failure talking.
I folded my arms, watching him.
Our eyes met.
“Huh?”
He quickly looked away.
“Why is he avoiding me?”
A sense of foreboding washed over me.
Had something happened in the capital?
I’d ask him later.
A chill ran down my spine.
“…Damn it.”
A woman emerged from below deck.
She wore the white uniform of the Royal Knights.
A beautiful knight… at first glance.
Her dark hair, neatly tied back, swayed in the breeze.
Her eyes, dark as midnight, were fixed on me.
On me, and no one else.
My mouth went dry.
I knew who she was.
I took a step back.
A faint smile played on her lips.
Her presence here… could only mean one thing.
“Andy, you traitor!”
“…Atlas? What’s wrong…?”
She touched the hilt of her sword, her eyes still on me.
Five minutes until the ship docked.
I could still escape.
‘But… the growth potion…?’
Professor Praha was still analyzing the cause.
Could I abandon this… this glimmer of hope…?
I could retrieve it later, but… they would be watching me now.
I hesitated.
And then… she moved.
‘Her sword…!’
The hilt… was gone.
Only the empty scabbard remained.
I didn’t need to wonder where it had gone.
She wasn’t waiting for the ship to dock.
I drew my sword.
A whistling sound, something approaching rapidly.
Like a falcon diving for its prey.
It was close.
I raised my sword.
-Clang!
“Oof!”
I was thrown backwards.
“Atlas?!”
Lucia’s surprised face, small and distant.
I was airborne.
Something was embedded in my sword.
I had blocked it with the crossguard, but it was pushing, relentlessly, towards my chest.
A sword.
A cold, hard piece of metal, dragging me through the air.
A bizarre sight.
A sword, flying through the air, with a human attached.
At an alarming speed.
I recognized the hilt.
Her sword.
She had thrown it.
I struggled with the airborne blade, until I crashed into… something…
-Crash!
A cloud of dust and debris erupted around me.
But I was unharmed.
The sword, released from its trajectory, flew high into the air.
I was covered in dirt.
“Ugh! What a greeting!”
I spat out the dirt.
A chilling sensation above me.
I looked up.
She stood there, holding the sword, the same sword that had just impaled my… metaphorical… heart.
She had followed me.
She swung the sword, a blinding light enveloping the blade.
“!!”
No time to react.
I channeled my aura, meeting her attack with my own.
Two blinding lights clashed.
-Crackle…
A ripping sound, as if the air itself was tearing, before the two Aura Blades collided.
An explosion of force, a shockwave rippling outwards.
-Boom…!
The sky seemed to crack, the earth trembled.
A single clash, a magnitude 3.0 earthquake recorded across the island.
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“Damn it! It broke again!”
My sword, reduced to ashes, crumbled in my hand.
It hadn’t even lasted a single blow.
How long could I last, unarmed, against her?
She walked towards me, her uniform pristine, her hair undisturbed by the blast.
Her sword was gone.
It hovered beside her, silently.
Sword Control.
Manipulating a sword with pure will, without magic.
Only one person in the Empire could do that.
Linda Westhaven, Captain of the Royal Knights.
One of my least favorite people.
“Pick it up.”
Another sword fell from the sky.
She had two.
It landed before me.
My old sword.
The one I had received upon joining the Knights.
A clear invitation to fight.
I picked it up.
The black adamantium blade, a rare metal, absorbed the sunlight, a deep, inky darkness.
“Captain. It’s been a while.”
“Not long enough, you troublemaker.”
She attacked, her sword a blur of motion.
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