080

Upon her return to the academy, Rozalin heard the rumors about her duel with Sordian.

The rumors were so widespread that not only the instructors and students, but even the villagers outside the academy knew about it.

It was because Sordian was surprisingly well-connected.

“Our security team’s youngest is a bit of a looker, you know.”

As Hati said, Sordian had a noble air about him.

With a height of about 180cm and long, flowing red hair like a lion’s mane, one would believe him to be a nobleman of the Empire.

His eyes were sharp like an eagle’s, and his overall physique was balanced and sturdy, exuding the feel of a cold, handsome man that would make the hearts of many women flutter.

Even the scar and eyepatch across one of his eyes made Sordian’s atmosphere somewhat decadent and wild.

However, unlike his appearance, Sordian’s personality was easygoing.

He used a semi-formal tone and was good at responding to conversations.

He also often brought up topics himself.

“Above all, he’s a bit of a loser, as a man.”

“Is that what’s charming?”

“The charm lies in the fact that he seems perfect, but has a clumsy side and a clear weakness.”

At the words of a woman she was close to in the village, Rozalin questioned, “Is that so?”

To her, Sordian was just the youngest who couldn't even awaken his aura.

‘Is this a side effect of regression?’

Since regressing, she had developed a habit of distinguishing between important and unimportant people.

People like Cassian or Pan were important.

Other than that, even if people were talented, they didn't stick in her mind.

Perhaps it was because of her experience of letting go of thousands, tens of thousands of talented people while she was in the position of Grand Marshal.

‘Apart from that, it has to be someone of Teacher Cassian’s level…’

As Rozalin was organizing her thoughts, the woman who had brought up Sordian’s story gently poked her in the side.

“So how devastatingly are you going to win?”

“Didn’t you like Sordian?”

“Hey. There’s a certain charm to a man like that when he’s down and out.”

It was a world she didn't want to know more about.

“They say aura is really strong. Are you going to use it to make him submit in one go?”

“Who knows?”

Rozalin’s reaction was lukewarm.

The woman tried to gauge Rozalin’s reaction a few more times, but each time, Rozalin just brushed off the answer without any particular reaction.

Her expression wasn’t particularly excited or amused either.

It was a different atmosphere from the usual mischievous image of Rozalin.

It wasn't because she didn’t fit the woman’s taste.

It was because her reaction was similar even when other people brought up the same topic.

Only Hati, who had served by Rozalin’s side for a long time, understood her feelings.

“Are you going to fight seriously?”

“He said he would.”

“Kindness can be a disease. Why are you so nosy? Haven’t you always accepted every duel and fight from anyone who wanted to fight?”

“You know that feeling.”

The longer the fight with the demons dragged on, the more talented people died first.

They wanted their names to be remembered for even a little longer.

So they found a way.

It was a duel with Rozalin.

The First Sword of the Military.

The second-best swordsman in all of humanity after Pan.

They thought that she would survive until the end in the fight against the demons.

So they requested a duel and were remembered by Rozalin.

Perhaps it was because those memories were too many that she had started to forget people.

“What are you going to do about the aura?”

“I won’t use it on the sword. Only on the sword.”

“You know that’s cheating too, right? He won’t know anything.”

The sharpened physical senses after awakening mana had increased her talent as a swordsman by two, no, three times.

She and Hati, who had fought under the druid’s magic, were a bit faster to adapt.

Still, it was clear that the students at the academy who used aura would soon see their skills grow exponentially under the influence of mana.

“I’ll also re-establish the hierarchy before that.”

And so, the day of the duel dawned.

* * *

Sordian wet his lips with his tongue.

But because his tongue itself was dry, he could only feel the rough texture of his lips.

‘I’m really nervous.’

He didn't know how long it had been since he was this nervous.

He didn't think he was this nervous even when he was taking the entrance exam for the Empire’s Royal Knights.

“You remember, right?”

Cassian spoke to him from his side.

In contrast to him, he looked very relaxed.

He had no choice but to be.

For the past ten days, Teacher Cassian had discovered 120 sword paths that could come from Rozalin’s Vürhelm swordsmanship.

And among them, he had refined a defensive stance that could block five sets of fatal sword paths.

It was a defensive stance that was also possible with his own short sword.

“If we just do what we prepared, we can last for 10 minutes.”

The goal was not to win.

10 minutes.

To prove something by enduring it.

‘What?’

He hadn't awakened his aura even while training.

Now, he felt like he didn’t know what he was swinging his sword for anymore.

“Go.”

But strangely enough, Cassian, knowing his anguish, didn’t seem to care.

It was different from pretending not to know.

Even though he was the one who had created aura, he looked as if he didn't care about aura at all.

“Waaaaah—!”

When he turned his head, he heard cheers from outside the training ground.

Today, there were quite a few guests at Akarind Academy’s training ground.

The duel, which was held after school when classes were over, was held like a village festival, accepting outside guests.

The students also gathered in small groups to watch, and the villagers gathered as many as the students.

And beyond that, there she was.

‘Rozalin Vürhelm.’

She was standing in a proper stance with her sword.

It was just a standing stance, but just from that, he felt like a well-honed sword was aimed at him.

‘It must be because of those eyes.’

Blue eyes looking at him seriously, with all the playfulness gone.

Those eyes, though silent, seemed to be asking endless questions.

Because he hated her gaze, because he had no answer.

A mix of two reasons made him draw his sword.

Sreung.

Today’s duel was to be held with real swords.

Both Sordian and Rozalin were past the level of using wooden swords for duels.

The two swords were aimed at each other.

And for a moment, Rozalin’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

It was because she seemed to know exactly what Sordian’s stance meant.

‘A lot of my sword paths are blocked.’

She didn't know how far he had grasped her swordsmanship, but even though he was holding just a small short sword, most of her attack paths were blocked.

In addition to that, the problem was not the sword.

The tip of Sordian’s sword swayed gently, and in accordance with that movement, the center line of Sordian’s body swayed from side to side.

Wrists, feet, eyes, shoulders.

He could feel that every single movement was calculated.

If the short sword’s movement was to block, the dispersion of the center line was a movement to scatter and deflect.

Rozalin’s sword, which had been watching the scene, slowly stood erect in the center of Rozalin’s body.

From behind the cold blade.

Rozalin smiled.

“…Here I come.”

Rozalin’s body seemed to disappear as it sank down.

It wasn't Vürhelm’s sword style, which thrust a powerful sword honestly from a proper stance.

It was her own swordsmanship, a mix of the fighting styles of the warriors of the Great Forest and the desert barbarians of the north.

A sword path that bent round like a whip shot up from below, like a bird snatching its prey.

‘Where!’

But Sordian was prepared for even that.

The moment her body disappeared, the short sword in Sordian’s hand spun around.

The sword, held in a reverse grip, deflected Rozalin’s blade, which was coming in with a trajectory.

Clang!

With a clear sound, sparks flew between the two swords.

Sordian pulled the short sword close and blocked with his hand between the sword’s surface and his body.

Pang!

Almost simultaneously, Rozalin’s sword, which came in like a consecutive strike, struck his short sword three times.

Each and every one was a powerful attack aimed at his heart, lungs, or organs.

“If you get hit, you die!”

“We have Yuria!”

He felt like he would die if he was stabbed in the heart, Yuria or not.

However, instead of voicing such complaints, Sordian used the elasticity from his ankles to his chest to forcibly twist his body’s trajectory.

Sordian’s body, which shot out like a rubber band, caught Rozalin’s side as she had just soared up.

The short sword in Sordian’s hand was thrust out as if it had been shot.

Thud!

Rozalin raised her sword with only the strength of her arm.

‘It was a blind spot.’

The attack just now was one of the few special moves he had prepared.

But to block it without even seeing it, she was on a different level.

‘Is it because of mana?’

He remembered how kids like Pan and Bridget had been making a fuss recently, saying their hearing and vision had become sharper.

‘Damn aura.’

It doesn't just make you better at swordsmanship, it changes you as a person.

It’s an absurd power.

So he was even angrier.

“Hmph!”

But more important than anger was the duel at hand.

Sordian quickly threw his body and swung his short sword for defense.

Rozalin’s sword was versatile.

Sometimes wild, sometimes noble.

The changed swordsmanship, as if she had two faces on one body, beat him relentlessly.

Among them, Vürhelm’s swordsmanship was absurd.

‘I blocked it!’

He was clearly blocking the opponent’s sword path, but the sword still came in with the momentum of “so what.”

Powerful blows accumulated on his sword and body, like being hit with a heavy fist on a shield.

It was an attack that was impossible to withstand even if he knew and blocked it.

‘Damn.’

His insides were in pain, and he felt like he would lose his breath at any moment.

A disgraceful hissing sound came from his mouth.

It was because his lungs were squeezing out all the air and he couldn't inhale properly.

He didn't know how many times he had rolled on the ground while blocking the sword.

A smaller physique than his own.

A thin body.

And slender limbs.

He was being dominated by such a person.

‘Unreasonable.’

He didn't want to give up.

He had certainly told Cassian that, but thinking about it now, he felt like it might not have been his true feelings.

Yes.

It was a tantrum.

It was annoyance, and a complaint.

He doesn't know why he's swinging the sword?

‘Can’t I just swing it?’

Does there have to be a meaning to swinging a sword?

He didn't know who decided that.

There are people who live because they like swinging the sword and have to live while swinging it.

Not everyone can become the protagonist of this world and fight demons.

While they are fighting demons, who will cook if there are no farmers?

There were people in the world who extended the world’s lifespan just by doing their roles without being revealed.

The same would be true for the sword.

Only when people like him, who have no skill, don't know why they're swinging the sword, are useless, and are incompetent, kneel and fall at the feet of the talented who swing their talented swordsmanship.

Only then would you guys have meaning.

‘Fuck. I don’t want to do that.’

A feeling of nausea welled up from the bottom of his heart.

Unable to even utter the curse, he spat out the saliva and foam that had gathered in his mouth.

He couldn't see well.

As he caught his breath and looked at his body, he saw red bloodstains here and there.

No matter how much he blocked, there were times when his hands lost strength and his concentration scattered.

He seemed to have been injured every time.

‘This is all Cassian’s fault.’

What, if you swing an ideal sword with concentration, you can win?

Easy to say.

He hated the teacher who seemed like he could do it if he tried.

He just hated everything.

Sordian, with his sword in hand, charged at Rozalin without any thought.

The sword that Cassian had refined and created until now was gone, and it was a swordsmanship that relied on instinct.

“Oh.”

Rozalin’s mouth rounded in surprise, and she smiled.

It was a deeper smile than the one she had worn throughout the duel.

Clang!

Rozalin’s sword clashed with Sordian’s and then fell away.

A blue aura was on her sword.

‘Aura?’

If there was aura, his sword should have been cut the moment it clashed.

That means.

Sordian slowly looked at the sword in his hand.

A murky energy, a mix of ash gray and red, was shimmering on his sword.

“Did you find a reason to swing your sword?”

Rozalin asked playfully.

Sordian dropped his sword and lay down on his back.

He felt that it would be enough to have awakened his aura.

“I don’t know about that, but I know that I really hate Teacher Cassian.”

“What did you say, brat?”

Rozalin approached the lying Sordian and struck his forehead with her sword.

With a thud, Sordian fainted.

It was a poor awakening of aura in many ways.

“Does this bastard think he’s all that because he awakened his aura!”

Still, it was a satisfying awakening.

The fainted Sordian was smiling.

The villagers who were watching the fallen Sordian applauded and honored Rozalin and him.

“He’s not dead.”

Rozalin chuckled and waved her hand.

Her gaze turned to Cassian.

He didn't seem particularly surprised, as if he knew this would happen.

‘Because he’s the teacher!’

Rozalin said that and looked around.

The students who had been enjoying the interesting spectacle until now went back to their dormitories with dead-looking faces.

They had no choice.

The exam period was just around the corner.

Spring was ending, and summer.

The final exam period was approaching.