Chapter 219
The radiant red aura of Arterion.
Vargan’s unbelievable massive amount of mana and his Familiars.
The fight between the two has been going on for quite a while, and the audience buzzed, each evaluating their power.
Most opinions varied, but it could be summarized concisely.
“Is this really a fight among students?”
No matter how you slice it, the competition level is way over the top.
A new Hero, no… definitely something beyond that.
No one watching could deny it.
Edina, the Student Council President of Rikeion, the incredibly talented Arha who’s growing like a weed, and Gaba, who faced Arterion head-on.
Even Heigel, the Chancellor at the pinnacle of Rikeion.
Their talent and effort poured into reaching this point left everyone in awe.
“Arterion. They called it the Reincarnation of the Sword God. I thought it was just hype, but I guess not.”
Even at the end, a first-year student is sporting a red aura, stepping even into a realm of transcendence?
Historically, how many individuals have actually reached that level?
Arterion is like an unstoppable runaway train.
An impatient but straightforward genius dashing at full speed along the proper tracks.
The prince of the Ocel Kingdom, Arterion.
And….
“Well done, Vargan! As expected of my student—!!”
The loud voice comes from Paula, a professor at Academia, straining her shoulders with excitement. She smirked at the male professor, who was shaking in disbelief.
“Hohoho, they say it’s the Reincarnation of the Sword God, but it seems that’s not true at all, huh, Professor Fergio?”
“Professor Paula! Don’t spew nonsense just because your mouth’s wide open!”
“Oh my, could it be that you’re upset with me because your beloved prince of the Student Council was embarrassed? What a laugh!”
“Huh! Is that a socket for a gourd? That was a very slight difference! And how can a so-called professor be biased toward a student? I wonder if you even have a brain…!”
“Oh my, oh my, are you really telling me that, Professor? Everyone knows you only have eyes for the members of the Student Council!”
“What nonsense are you spouting…!”
“Anyway, Professor, you better listen up this time!”
Paula interrupted Fergio’s words.
She didn’t back down against him, who had never looked favorably upon Vargan.
“I only recognize three geniuses!”
“What do you mean all of a sudden?”
“Isn’t this just because you keep praising Arterion as the future Sword God?! Just shut up and listen for once!”
“No way, that fool is really pushing it…!”
Fergio wanted to argue back, but Paula’s momentum was just too high at the moment.
Paula held up three fingers.
“First, we have Gulemashia, the Chancellor and the master of us all at Academia. There’s no need to say he’s a genius, right? You have to agree with that!”
“Well… I suppose that’s true, but…”
“Next up is Alicia. Professor, you’ve seen her growth record, haven’t you? A student who’s barely held a sword for a year is using a red aura. There’s no precedent for that in any history books!”
“Y-yeah, but…!”
“And lastly, we have Vargan. Having personally taught him, I can assure you of his abilities. So why don’t you recognize Vargan? Even if you favor Arterion, this is pushing it too far!”
The top student at Academia, Vargan.
The second-best, Arterion.
This image had been maintained since the enrollment day.
Even if actual academic performance changes over time, everyone still has those rankings deeply engraved in their minds.
That’s why Fergio found himself disliking Vargan even more.
He thought Vargan was blocking Arterion’s path.
Paula used this opportunity to vent all her pent-up frustrations. As she addressed them one by one, her emotions got heated.
Noticing Paula’s escalating tone, Fergio glanced around, trying to calm her down.
He himself had raised his voice for a moment but remembered there were too many eyes on them.
“Okay, okay, I get it! I’ll stop arguing, so let’s just sit down…!”
“Hmph! Now you understand? Don’t ever ignore me again!”
With Paula taking her seat, their argument somewhat settled down.
However, the word “genius” that she had mentioned echoed in Heigel’s mind.
‘Genius… is he really a genius?’
Heigel stared blankly, trying to etch the interior of the arena into his memory again.
Arterion’s outstanding achievements compared to others his age.
The golden-haired boy lay on the arena floor.
His heart raced, making his body convulse, and all around, the Flame of Corruption blazed.
Skilled medical personnel rushed in to assess his condition and extract the Flame of Corruption.
At this rate, they couldn’t even move him on a stretcher.
With some singed skin torn away, emergency care treatments were underway to regulate his body temperature.
Vargan, watching this unfold, had also taken significant damage, but it didn’t compare to Arterion’s state.
Rejecting the medical team’s assistance, he summoned a unicorn-like Familiar and swiftly regained all his conditions.
As he completed his self-healing effortlessly and perfectly, the medical staff was left clueless about what to do next.
When Vargan gestured to the medical team to treat Arterion, they found themselves reluctantly complying with the order.
Vargan put his eye patch back on and leaned on his cane.
Thud—.
Vargan descended from the arena.
His Familiars also vanished in a puff of smoke.
Meanwhile, the water spirit Naias was sticking closely to Arterion, seeming like it wanted to say something.
The spirit tilted its head, feigning curiosity, but it was clearly in a mocking tone.
“Should I tell my master that there’s no fourth place?”
“…….”
Arterion, showing almost no emotional change, gave a slight smile at Naias’s jibe.
It was both ridiculous and utterly pathetic considering the current situation.
It was both absurd and miserable due to the current situation.
Above all, however, the greatest reason was probably the sense of ‘relief.’
“Well… I’m counting on you.”
Genius.
A being with inherently outstanding abilities compared to others.
To meet the standards of Heigel, only those extreme minorities like Gulemashia or Arterion should be placed in that category.
And among those, now—
‘To think that he would be in such a state while undergoing trials… It seems my eyes have deceived me.’
Heigel quietly added Vargan’s name to the list.
Schugenharz Troa Vargan.
I can guarantee that he is currently the most powerful student across all grades of Rikeion and Academia.
*
Alicia sprinted with urgency alongside Erica.
At the end of the hallway, they saw Vargan emerging with a cane.
“Young Master…!”
Alicia almost reflexively tried to call out to him but stopped.
That’s because Arterion was being hurriedly carried out on a stretcher from behind Vargan.
Surrounded by medical staff, he pushed past Vargan and moved ahead.
Erica seemed oblivious to Arterion, rushing towards Vargan, but Alicia couldn’t do the same.
The condition of Arterion was too devastating to overlook.
Thankfully, the match had ended midway; otherwise, it could have turned irreversible.
“…….”
Though a short time, Alicia had learned a lot from Arterion.
When their eyes met, she gracefully bent her waist in respect.
“You’ve worked hard. It was a match with lots to learn.”
After uttering those words, Alicia dashed back toward Vargan.
Arterion unconsciously watched her with his eyes.
Upon reaching Vargan, she first checked him over and then tried to assist him along with Erica.
“I’m fine. Just let both of you handle it to that extent.”
“B-but Young Master…!”
“Schugenharz. What are you saying after such a big fight!”
Vargan waved them off, expressing a firm refusal.
The two remained at a loss.
And Arterion felt a strangely bitter emotion.
“…….”
He turned his gaze upward, staring at the moving ceiling.
The commotion in his ears gradually faded away.
If only, at this moment, he wished he couldn’t hear her voice.
Closing his eyes, he tried to normalize his mana within…
“Wow, Prince…!”
A man with an overly dramatic tone.
Because of him, Arterion’s eyes shot open once more.
Two figures appeared where an empty ceiling should have been.
Palon, who looked like he was about to burst into tears, and Lauga, silently holding back tears while worrying about Arterion.
“This isn’t the time! Lauga! We can’t delay because of us. We have to transport the Prince as quickly as possible!”
Palon, Arterion’s loyal follower, pointed out their wrongdoing.
Lauga nodded in agreement and stepped aside, unable to speak lest she burst into tears.
Their appearance filled what should have been a moment of silence with noise.
Yet, that noise was not an unwelcome distraction but, in fact, the opposite.
For the two people worried about him, and for himself,
Arterion whispered softly enough to be heard only up close.
“…I’m sorry for everything.”
“I’m sorry for everything that has happened.”
Not overly elaborate, but certainly lacking in many details.
Basic words like exactly, what, and how were all omitted.
Yet, to Fallon and Lauga, the omission held a deeper meaning.
“Wow, Prince… Prince!”
“Ugh…!”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Fallon kept repeating “Prince” as if buffering.
Lauga struggled to hold back tears, trying to stifle the sounds escaping her hands.
That brief apology was more than enough for them, and then some.
“F-Fallon…! I will serve Prince Arterion faithfully for life! To us, you are our only leader!”
“I-I feel the same…!”
The two teared up as they followed the transferred Arterion.
Arterion took a moment to close his eyes, reflecting on how oblivious he had been to them.
*
After all the tournament schedules were concluded.
Night fell, and the night of the exchange meeting arrived.
“Oh, you got dressed quickly this time!”
Emily, adorned in a red dress matching her hair color.
After checking herself for any last oddities, she remarked.
“With some help, but it’s not my first time, you know. What do you think, Liam?”
“You look great.”
“Could you put a little more soul into it?”
“So beautiful. The most beautiful in the world.”
“No, no need to overdo it….”
Emily tried to pretend otherwise, but a bashful smile broke out. The tips of her ears blushing red matched the color of her dress.
Intent on returning what she received, Emily scanned Liam from head to toe and nodded.
“You look cool too. Not the coolest in the world, though.”
“I know. Sorry for looking so ordinary.”
“Nothing to apologize for, really.”
“Still, all the way to the end.”
The two exchanged playful jokes.
The background was familiar from renting dresses and suits, but the banter was completely different.
Emily recalled memories from the past.
“Speaking of which, I remember the welcome party from the school season.”
“Yeah. It’s similar yet vastly different.”
“What’s different exactly?”
With a look in her eyes as if expecting something, Emily moved closer to Liam and subtly brushed their hands together.
In response, Liam quickly lifted his hand and cleared his throat, turning his head away.
“Ahem. Well… there’s that.”
“What? That’s it?”
“It’s not boring, it’s cautious.”
“How long are you going to be cautious…? I won’t wait long.”
Not pleased with the response, Emily turned away, stepping ahead.
Liam, blushing, scratched the back of his head while staring at the walls of the hallway.
‘This isn’t easy. Was it always this difficult?’
Liam reminisced about the time before the novel.
Back in school, he would awkwardly initiate conversations just to get close to the girl he secretly liked… huh?
Suddenly, an unsettling realization dawned on him.
‘That can’t be… right? This… shouldn’t be like this…?’
He couldn’t remember.
Like a chapter ripped from a book, a sudden void appeared between the lines.
He couldn’t recall his “name” from his original world.
As time stretched in the novel, confusion about the past often surfaced, but never had sensations been wiped clean like this.
Could it be just a momentary thing? Or perhaps…
While reminiscing, an unknown unease crawled up his spine.
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