“Well then, everyone worked hard.”
Ugh.
Hearing that the exam was finally over, I stretched and loosened up my stiff body. We had to watch not just our team’s matches but also the exams of other teams, and honestly, that was harder than the tests themselves.
Next to me were wrappers of snacks and drinks I’d grabbed from the café during breaks, and the kids were sneaking glances at me while I cleaned up.
“I-I’ll take care of it.”
“I brought a trash bag.”
“…Okay.”
I accepted their kindness, but it made me feel a bit uneasy. It felt like I was scaring them into giving me money for no reason.
Sigh, maybe I should’ve eased up.
I felt like I had become a person of interest due to my excessive show of skill, but what could I do? If I flunked the exam, I’d get expelled for poor grades.
“The way the kids treat you has totally changed.”
“Amazing!”
Tana and Eve, who were cleaning up beside me, chimed in. Especially the looks from the professors in each class told me they had quite a good opinion of me.
“You saw how I took down Fenil’s crew all by myself. What’s there to be impressed about?”
“That’s different! There’s Hayun and Ares, plus that hefty May behind you.”
“I-I was a bit envious.”
“Right? If you brought Daniel along, we could’ve just taken a bus.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Eve clammed up, but didn’t say anything else. Since today was just about the exams, I had some time to kill and was thinking about what to do next.
From behind the kids, I spotted Rin striding towards me.
Since we were seated with our classmates to watch the matches, it seemed she had been looking for a chance the whole time.
“Since we have time, should we go to town? There’s a new dessert place that just opened…”
“I’m going to my room!”
“What? Hey, where are you going?”
“D-Daniel?”
I immediately turned and bolted.
I needed to keep my distance from her.
That way, I could find out the exact reason why she became the master of the army. I couldn’t interfere and disrupt the established flow.
‘She’ll probably be persistent in the beginning.’
Eventually, she’d give up and start treating me like I didn’t exist.
“Thank you for today…!”
“Move!”
Grrk!
May blocked my path, and I shoved her aside without a second thought. I could hear her frustrated yell from the floor behind me, but I ignored it.
“Wow.”
As I glanced back, there was Rin, now sprinting full speed towards me. Unlike me, who was at the front of the line, Rin was near the end, but she seemed to have plenty of stamina left.
“That’s just terrifying.”
Her lifeless eyes were chilling, and I even felt a twinge of fear, reminiscent of the time I got stabbed in the heart by someone in black armor in the Forest of the Demon Realm.
Ugh.
That thought made me instinctively check my chest to ensure there were no holes.
Once I entered the dormitory, I sprinted up the stairs two or three steps at a time and locked my door as Rin’s footsteps echoed in the corridor behind me.
“…”
She was right outside the door.
Cold sweat trickled down, but I held my breath as I heard Rin turning away and let out a sigh.
“I feel like the Rin I knew has changed a lot.”
In my past life, Rin was elegant, always kind, and wore a smile that made her approachable.
Because of that kindness even to my timid self, I naturally grew fond of her.
But now, she felt like someone obsessed with me, as if entranced. Did I simply not catch on back then?
“So what do I do now?”
Feeling a bit tired, I thought about taking a nap, flopping onto my bed and shutting my eyes. I ended up falling into a much deeper sleep than expected, waking up about six hours later.
Grrm.
It had turned dark outside, and my stomach rumbled with hunger, but since the cafeteria was already closed, I’d have to settle for dessert at the café.
‘That doesn’t sound appealing.’
Wanting to make something, I realized I had no ingredients, so I stepped outside to head to town. I flinched at the thought that Rin might be waiting out there, but thankfully, she wasn’t.
“I want something with broth. There has to be a place still open.”
If not, I thought about ducking into the tavern for some hot snacks when I spotted a girl with short black hair swinging a sword on the training ground.
“Hayun?”
Hayun, the girl who lost to me in today’s exam, was swinging her sword while deep in thought.
“Is she swinging that sword or lost in thought?”
Swinging her sword didn’t seem very productive for training; she looked too exhausted to be doing either.
“Nonetheless, it’s pretty fascinating to watch.”
She was stuck in limbo; neither here nor there, but my curiosity got the better of me, and I approached her.
The subject was none other than swordsmanship!
It was a style I had never seen before, unlike the typical knightly swordsmanship, and having lived in the Forest of the Demon Realm, I was really intrigued by her movements.
‘Especially the way she swung that thin blade.’
It focused on cutting rather than thrusting. I’d heard it was called a “katana,” and it had its own charm, making me want to give it a try someday.
Of course, I wasn’t considering changing my whole approach to fighting, but I was genuinely curious about the practicality of what looked more like a dance than swordsmanship.
“You’re working really hard, huh?”
The old me would’ve thought talking to a lone girl at night was akin to torture, but the me now was different.
If I had to compare it, I was like an uncle barging in while kids practiced and saying, “Ah, you shouldn’t do that!” making pointless comments.
They’re just kids, after all.
I had no reason to feel awkward, so I didn’t hesitate or pull back.
“Daniel… McClain.”
I thought she wouldn’t mind as I’d once made pies in the cooking practice room for Ares, so I figured there wouldn’t be much resistance.
“…”
“Wait, what?”
Tears began to stream down Hayun’s face, which carried no particular expression.
*
Here lies a truly sorrowful girl.
Both her parents had passed away.
While they were called accident victims, she was convinced they were murdered in a power struggle orchestrated by her uncle.
All she had left was her uncle, who sought ways to either consume her or use her as a pawn, and a book on Eastern swordsmanship left behind by her mother.
Fortunately, the girl had a natural talent for swordsmanship.
Her family noticed this and enrolled her in Aios Academy to hone her skills and rise in the eyes of noble children.
That much was understandable.
So far, so good.
Using her only weapon, the sword, to expand her connections and gain the power to uncover the truth behind her parents’ deaths was her plan.
She had been providing regular reports as well.
But one day, her uncle posed a strange question to her.
“Do you know a boy named Ares?”
Of course, she did.
The handsome blond boy who transferred in as a third-year and was in the same class B as her. He had even defeated Arni Duratan, a student she constantly lost to, in the first exam, which was notable. She had thought about dueling him one day too.
But before she could contemplate why her uncle would be asking about a commoner like Ares, he flashed a greedy smile and said to her:
“Make that boy yours.”
At that moment, it felt like she’d been hit in the head with a hammer.
What the heck did that mean?
But her uncle continued to apply pressure, violently suffocating her.
“Win him over with your sword skills, seduce him with that pretty face, or use that weak body of yours. Just bring him to me by any means necessary.”
“That’s what it means to lean on the filthy blood that runs in you, like your mother did with my brother.”
The regular reports ended there.
Despite feeling shame and disgust, Hayun reluctantly pursued Ares with unwanted advances.
It was laughable.
As she looked at herself awkwardly approaching Ares, surrounded by numerous beautiful girls, she almost cried from how pathetic it felt.
Maybe that’s why…
“My sword has grown dull lately.”
She had received a harsh critique from Arni, her rival, and during today’s second exam, she failed to showcase her abilities, losing in disgraceful fashion.
After the exams, she agonized, swinging her sword for hours until sunset.
But no matter how much she swung, the heavy burden placed upon an 18-year-old girl wouldn’t lighten, and the waves of her emotions grew more intense.
“You’re working really hard, huh?”
Perhaps that was why.
“Daniel… McClain.”
The dam she had desperately kept closed broke under even a slight jolt.
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