Chapter 19

***

There was only one person who stood out among the candidates.

The red iris over his white face was folded into a thin half-moon shape.

The faint smile on his lips. The motion of his fingers in the air beside his folded arms was elaborate.

The answer was easy to find.

The only way to control an animal’s body at will, without even touching it, was through magic.

Filina quickly looked up at the instructor.

Any act of interfering with another student during an examination would result in immediate disqualification and would be punished accordingly.

If the instructor was someone who cared so much about the school rules of the academy, he would not easily overlook the wizard’s current actions.

Filina immediately moved in the direction where he was.

“Kekkkkkk!”

She heard the strange loud squeal of the boar.

“Hey, isn’t that boar weird?”

“I’ve been feeling it too for a while now. They seem to be on a different level than the ones I’ve seen before.”

As she approached where the instructor was, she saw a group of candidates nearby, exchanging suspicious looks.

Filina looked at the instructor with furrowed brows.

She and even the other students knew that something was wrong with the boars, but the instructor’s face didn’t change a bit.

Filina’s feet, which were hurriedly walking towards him, slowed down and immediately stopped.

An empty laugh came out of her mouth.

The instructor was now deliberately leaving it alone.

Even though he knew that Leon’s exam was strange.

Filina bit her lower lip.

This was unfair. The test was not fair at all, as it differentiated Leon from the other students.

Glaring at the instructor, Filina turned to the other side. She thought it would be faster to stop that wizard’s hand directly.

Leon simply used his sword to block the boar that was attacking him. The sharp fang hit the blade.

His body was being pushed backwards more and more. Leon felt a faint cramp in the hand holding the sword.

He saw a small flash of light around the boar’s fang. The light that shone at regular intervals infused it with enormous power.

The more it did, the more it added a bright blue streak to Leon’s arm that was holding the sword.

“That guy is really……”

Filina gritted her teeth and swore. She wanted to run to the man right away and grab him by the neck.

At that moment, a sharp sound echoed from inside the performance hall.

People were also looking at Leon with wide eyes, as if startled.

Clank!

The sound of something falling rang.

Filina stopped walking and turned her head.

Her pupils flickered wildly as if she couldn’t believe the sight.

The longsword that Leon was holding couldn’t withstand the fierce force of the boar and ended up breaking. And he had managed to prevent the boar with the rest of it.

The fragments of the sword at his feet reflected in the sunlight, causing a glittering radiance

She couldn’t believe it.

How could it break so easily?

How much Leon cherished it……

It was the last thing that Leon’s father had left him before he passed away.

Filina averted her gaze angrily.

The wizard was also looking at Leon with a satisfied look on his face. Filina ran straight to him.

Perhaps he heard Filina’s footsteps, for the man turned to her and gave her a suspicious look. Whether he did or not, Filina immediately reached out and grabbed the man by his collar.

She then pushed and knocked him down.

“Ugh…”

The candidates around them quickly stepped aside.

Filina forcefully shook off his hand that was grabbing her back, she grabbed his collar, and screamed again.

“You b*st*rd!”

The man’s red eyes stared at her, and he immediately said in exasperation.

“What is it so sudden?”

“Do you know how important that sword is to Leon?”

His brow furrowed at the sound of Filina’s angry voice, and he dropped his gaze, his lips twitching as if he finally understood the situation.

“Do you know that man?”

“That’s not for you to know, but you need to break the spell right now!”

At Filina’s angry voice, he tilted his head and spoke plainly.

“Why would I do that? It’s getting interesting.”

“What are you talking about……!”

The red eyed man burst out laughing.

Oh, by the way, it’s the first time I’ve been attacked by a woman like this.”

Filina spoke coldly, ignoring his words.

“If you interfere with other students taking their exams, it will be considered cheating and you will be investigated. And do you know how big a crime it would be if someone gets injured?”

“Well I don’t know.”

Filina bit her lip at his ignorant reply.

“Are you kidding me? Hurry up and break the spell. Did Leon ever do anything wrong to you? You’ve never done that to anyone else, so why are you being so mean to Leon?”

When Filina tugged on his chest and shouted, the man raised his upper body. (*He was lying on the floor with Filina on top of him.”

His sudden movement surprised Filina and she tried to back away.

But the wizard quickly wrapped his hand around her and pulled her face closer to his.

“Do you want to know why I’m doing this?”

He whispered quietly in Filina’s ear.

“Because that man took my first place.”

“…What?”

Filina slipped out of his arms with a gasp as she stared at him. She could see he smiled cheekily at her.

So this man talking about the fitness test that’s already over? About how Leon was ahead of him in the 1,000m race?

A sneer of disgust escaped her lips.

This man held grudges more than she thought.

Just as Filina was about to say something, she heard the instructor shouting from the performance hall.

“Good job, examinee 082! You’ve passed the third practical exam!”

It seemed that he had finally broken the spell.

Filina ignored the man who looked at her as if he was having fun and stood up.

“What is it? Have you finished? I’m sad, you should have attacked me some more.”

The man, who was staring at Filina getting up, muttered as he lay down on the floor again.

“You’re the first woman to ever treat me so roughly. I think I’ll fall in love.”

‘Should I step on it….’ (*it=his private part)

Filina somehow managed to get past the man.

She ran toward the performance hall, pushing past the crowd of candidates.

She saw Leon walking slowly out of the examination hall. He had a broken blade in his hand.

Filina’s expression darkened and sank as she watched him.

She was upset.

The fact that something so precious had been broken by someone else’s prank.

She quietly followed Leon’s shadow.

‘What should I say?’

The truth was, she had no intention of having anything to do with Leon again, but that didn’t mean she could just ignore the broken sword and pretend she didn’t know about it.

“Excuse me….”

As she continued to walk up to Leon, she gently spoke.

The black masked face slowly turned to her. Deep dark eyes looked down at Filina.

She averted his gaze with an awkward expression and spoke.

“There’s a blacksmith I know who makes swords very well. I’d be happy to introduce you to him if you’d like.”

Of course, it wasn’t someone she knew directly.

It was the words she spat out after learning that Enoch had visited the blacksmith in person the other day to take care of his sword.

According to his words, he was the best maker of swords in the Alvar Empire, although his prices were a bit high.

So she was sure that he would be able to put Leon’s broken sword back together again.

“Thank you for your kind offer, but I will have to decline.”

Leon’s firm voice made her open her mouth as if she couldn’t understand.

“Specifications don’t work at times like this. The sword is broken. Isn’t it precious?”

It didn’t matter that Leon looked at her strangely.

It was just frustrating.

She wanted to help him, but she didn’t know what to do.

“Of course, I understand that we just met and can’t be trusted, but I think you should try to fix it. It’s a place that my escort knight used to go. I’ll give you the location, so you can go there and decide.”

The price might be a bit high for him as a commoner, but some of that money could be given to the blacksmith in advance.

“You can fix it cheaply if you mention my family’s name. So don’t feel burdened. ………”

“No thanks.”

Leon spat out in a calm voice, cutting her off mid-sentence.

“I don’t know why you’re so concerned about me, but I really am fine. The sword is not as important as you said, young lady.”

“…It’s not important?”

Filina laughed in vain, repeating his words quietly.

‘Who are you lying to? I’m the one who knows you the best.……’

She lowered her head and bit her lips.

‘I knew it.’

She knew that Leon never talked about himself to strangers.

Furthermore, he just met her today.

‘Why am I upset even though I know that?’

‘If I could just see you smile, I would be satisfied with that.’

‘I don’t know why I keep getting greedy.’

“Okay.”

After a short answer, Filina turned around immediately. It was because she couldn’t guarantee what she would say if she stood in front of him longer.

She could feel Leon’s eyes staring at her back, but she deliberately ignored them.

And so the examinations were all over.

The final successful candidates could not be confirmed until a week later

Filina returned to the Debussy’s residence with a tired look on her face.

“Sister.”

The first person to greet her was Bruno.

She recited lightly as she walked past him.

“Thank you for the potions.”

It was a late thank you. It couldn’t be helped, as the test took place shortly after he had gotten the potion from the Magic Tower.

“Are you injured?”

Bruno asked as he followed Filina.

Fillina, who was walking to her bedroom, stopped and looked back at Bruno.

“Why do you think that?”

He tilted his head with a funny look on his face.

Watching him silently, Filina wondered how long Bruno had been looking at her so tenderly.

If the story was true, he should have hated Filina very much.

It was how much Bruno hated her for being so mean to Ariel.

Filina had never been nice to Ariel.

Even recently, she left Ariel alone in the carriage as she stepped out for the first time into the social scene. She also gave her a bouquet of flowers that came in Filina’s name and deliberately teased her, and more than once she had left the table when Ariel came to eat at the saw table.

Each time Bruno seemed very angry towards Filina, but that was all. As soon as she turned around, his tenacious gaze followed her.

“We’ll talk tomorrow. I’m tired.”

Bruno nodded reluctantly at Filina’s heavy voice. She turned around.

His gaze followed Filina’s footsteps relentlessly.

The day went by quickly.

In the early morning, Filina heard the voice of the maid looking for her.

It was because a guest had arrived.

After she finished dressing up, she took troublesome steps.

Soon an absurd laugh escaped Filina’s lips. It was for an unexpected person who was sitting proudly in the parlor.