The First Letter (5)
The two, a man and a woman, stood with their swords, paying no heed to the whispers and chatter in the background. Professor Derek accepted the sudden request for a duel with a wide grin on his face.
It was on the condition of not using a true sword, but that alone was enough to clearly show the difference in skill. A good craftsman never blames his tools.
Of course, it was not without interference. It was because a beautiful girl with dark hair neatly tied behind her back broke in.
She immediately slapped Ian on the back with her palm. A look of irritation was visible to anyone who saw her face, as she hurled curses..
“Hey hey hey! Fuck, are you crazy?! That, Lady Yurdina? I think Ian oppa is out of his mind....”
“Celine, fear not. I’ll be fine.”
“No, what the hell is wrong with you!?”
The black-haired girl screamed like that, but the man’s expression didn’t change at all. Seria was a little envious of that.
It must have been a blessing to have someone who truly cares about you. It would have been nice if he accepted the advice coming from such a precious friend.
Unfortunately, Ian seemed unwilling to accept the advice of his close friend. So now he and Seria are alone, facing each other with a sword in hand.
I was confident. Seria gave up everything except the sword. That’s how she managed to achieve all of her results.
The degree of diligence differed from someone who trained in a drunken state. It was natural. For her, the sword was like a matter of survival.
So Seria didn’t doubt her victory. However, there was one thing that bothered her.
That strange sword she saw this morning.
Recalling the memories of that time, Seria’s grip on the wooden hilt naturally tightened. Tension flashed in her calm eyes.
Was it really a mistake? At that time, Seria was overwhelmed by his sword for a while. No matter how much Ian looked like a pathetic senior who drank alcohol, this place was the ‘Leaf Academy.’
Everyone had at least one ace in the hole. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to survive in the academy.
Seria’s sapphire-like eyes were lit with a cautious spark. Her gaze scanned Ian’s every nook and cranny.
He had a composed attitude. A comfortable posture without even having pulled out his sword from its scabbard. He almost seemed like he would yawn in boredom.
Grinding her teeth, Seria had to calm her rage once more.
After all, it was a battle between two swordsmen, two knights. There was such a thing as the minimum etiquette one should show to their opponent. Although she had said some rude words unintentionally, she didn’t remember showing an attitude of ignoring others in a duel.
Her eyes turned cold. She gripped the hilt and took a stance as if she was about to charge at him.
If your opponent has an ace in the hole, the best move is only one.
Destroying the opponent before he can use it.
Fortunately, Seria had an incredible leg strength that, enhanced with magic, was capable of overwhelming the opponent with her explosive speed as soon as the duel started..
Her long experience of fighting with beasts gave her such an answer. Her muscles tightened.
Professor Derek glanced at Ian, who had not even unsheathed his sword yet, and then heaved a deep sigh. It was a look that already showed the result.
He seemed to think that Ian was bluffing, wanting to save his face as a senior. However, he was not kind enough to give advice to students who couldn’t distinguish between courage and arrogance.
Everything is learned through the body. Following that belief, he immediately announced the start of Duel.
“Well then, let’s start!”
And the next moment, heavy reverberation echoed through the training hall,
The space was compressed, along with a cracking noise. As the landscape flowed just like a torrent, the surrounding was reduced into vibrant trajectories.
The bang that follows when breaking through the sound barrier.
It was the moment when her tightened muscles flung Seria’s body like an arrow. Seria was already in front of Ian’s face in an instant. The slash of the blunt wooden sword was on the verge of being locked on the man’s neck.
Even if the blade wasn’t sharp, if you were to allow a blow on a vital point, it could lead to serious injury. So Seria was thinking of turning the sword to his stomach at the last moment.
Until an unpleasant click of the tongue, an unpleasant squeaking noise, passed her ear.
It was a lightning bolt. The man’s wooden sword instantly slashed and diverted Seria’s sword.
Her center of gravity swayed as she faltered.
Grab-
Her body was pulled forward.
The man was holding her sword’s blade in his palm without a moment of hesitation.
It was possible that his palm would be torn. But he was controlling the flow of power in such a way that it didn’t happen. Soon afterwards, he flung her away.
After being flung away, the figure of the girl rolled to the ground. She saw what had happened, but couldn’t understand it at all
Seria looked up at the sky with her back to the floor, blinking her eyes.
He shouldn’t have any hope of winning.
In terms of strength and magical power, she was ahead. She even took the initiative. But somehow, it was she who was rolling on the floor.
At the sight of something that was not bound to common sense, murmurs and laughter echoed in the surrounding.
Those who were surprised, those who were amused, and those who were laughing at her.
Everyone seemed to think that this resulted from her carelessness. And soon, Seria began to believe that too.
It shouldn’t be like this. Why is my sword being defeated so easily?
She devoted her whole life to the path of swords. She never touched wine. Even though she was a genius, she never stopped working harder.
Only then would she be able to defeat the shadow that had cast over her for her entire life. ‘Yurdina’s Brightest Sun’, the Golden Lion, the guardian of the North, her enemy and her step-sister.
“Do you want to continue?”
An indifferent voice struck Seria’s ears like thunder. Hearing that, Seria came to her senses and immediately got up while grinding her teeth.
She staggered a bit, probably due to the impact caused by rolling on the ground, but she was still fine. Because she hasn’t let go of her sword yet.
The deep blue eyes turned to Ian once again. She walked back to the position opposite to him before she knew it.
“......Yes, please.”
That resolute voice let out of her grinding teeth. It seemed clear to anyone that Seria was going to take it seriously from now on.
But Ian just nodded his head as if he didn’t care.
It was the attitude of being in absolute control. Seria couldn’t stand it any longer.
Another leap. It was enough to narrow the distance. However, Seria was not foolish enough to repeat her previous failed strategy.
Of course, I want to give up.
Frightened, my trembling body didn’t listen. The muscles groaned. A body that barely moves with magical power. Even the bones weren’t left unharmed.
Many times, I couldn’t control my body and fell over.
Even when my body was in good shape, I wasn’t able to win. There was no way I could win now. Even though she knew it all, Seria got up using the wooden sword as a staff.
The arm holding the wooden sword trembled. Even now, whenever she met the man’s gaze, her blood would freeze. Still, she couldn’t give up.
Because the sword was her life. If she let it go like this and give up.
There would be one more shadow that she wouldn’t be able to remove from her life. she couldn’t stand it.
Seria took a deep breath and raised up her sword, her body tilting and almost faltering, but she still didn’t let go of her sword.
At that display of sheer will, Professor Derek, who was walking to mediate the duel, stopped moving. Anyone would have
If anyone had seen Seria’s blue eyes that were burning cold right now, anyone would.
“Again, uh... Again, please.”
Even with Seria’s determination, only the man was neither surprised nor full of admiration. He only nodded his head a couple of times, as if he already knew.
“...... Indeed. If it’s Seria Yurdina, that’s how it should be.”
And his sword, again without mercy, struck Seria’s body.
Her body flew through the sky and rolled to the floor. It had already happened several times during the duel. However, the difference in this blow was that the accumulation of hits reached the breaking point.
Her blurred consciousness seemed to be about to extinguish itself like a flickering candle. Seria breathed in through her narrowed field of vision and fumbled with her hand, trying to grab the hilt of the sword somehow.
But the sword was too far away, and sleep was too close to her.
However, before she fainted, she heard the man’s voice.
“Since you only dealt with magical beasts, your movements are too straightforward.”
What does it mean?
Her consciousness was engulfed in darkness.
This was the end of the ‘Breaking Yurdina’s Sword Incident’ that shook the academy for the past week.
****
After hearing everything Celine had to say, I had no choice but to remain silent.
The gist of the story was that I had avoided all the Seria’s sword slashes and even counterattacked to the extent she was turned into a living corpse. She said something truly astounding.
She even threw up and told her to get up again after she collapsed?
“...... Are you kidding me?”
“I wish I was joking too. At that time, Ian oppa was like a ruffian.”
I jumped on the spot at Celine’s somber reply. It was such a violent reaction that I forgot that everyone was watching me.
“No, it’s not like a ruffian, it’s just utter trash itself! Who would trash a kid who collapsed and can’t move huh!?”
“Yeah, so guys like Thean are trying to get involved with you.”
Celine looked at me with pity with her arms crossed. It was a look of compassion, as if watching a cat dying on the street with its gut spilled.
She quietly shook her head.
“Are you fine now? Anyway, it’s a crime that Ian oppa committed, so pay for it cleanly. Now that I think about it, how many of your lives will be needed to pay off that crime?”
“No, but I wasn’t in me at that time?!”
I defended myself like that with a frustrated heart, but Celine and I knew that the excuse would never work. Of course, it wouldn’t work even more for Seria.
The situation was more serious than expected. At this rate, even if I were to be killed by Seria, I would have nothing to say.
I moaned, wondering if there was anything useful in what I had just heard.
Then, all of a sudden, the last thing that crossed my mind was the words I uttered.
“...... Hey, what did I say?”
“What?”
Celine, who had put her hands together and prayed for my well-being, tilted her head at my sudden question. However, in an emergency, I put my hands on Celine’s shoulder and pulled her towards me, then raised her chin with my hand.
It was to show my strong will. Then, startled, Celine’s face turned red as she avoided my gaze while fidgeting.
“Wh-Why are you doing this all of a sudden.......”
“In the end. What did I say to Seria who collapsed?”
“That?”
Celine asked back, whether it was because she was troubled by my question or because of my coercion, and immediately agonized over it. After pondering for a moment, she found the answer I was looking for among those unbelievable memories.
“Hey, what was it? You said, ‘Since you only dealt with magical beasts, your movements are too straightforward’.......”
“Yes, that’s it!”
With admiration, I finally let go of the hand that was holding Celine’s shoulder. Celine blushed and hesitatingly stared at me with slightly dissatisfied eyes as I pushed her away.
She asked with a smirk, as if it was ridiculous.
“You know what that means?”
“......No, How could I?”
As if she knew my answer beforehand, Celine shook her head. But contrary to what she thought, I was telling the truth.
“But I have to find out, somehow......,”
Otherwise, I’m destined to die.
It was almost certain that she would apply for the duel once more during today’s lecture. It was an opportunity to overcome her trauma and piece together her shattered pride due to the devastating defeat she suffered back then.
So I didn’t have time now. I had to prepare for the duel with her.
In order to take responsibility for something that he didn’t remember, he desperately racked his brains.
Until morning, I thought it was a normal day, but how the hell did this happen?
I sighed inwardly, but I couldn’t help it.
Seria’s sapphire-like eyes were still giving me a piercing glare.