You Can Have It
An elegant training ground carpeted in fresh green grass.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three men's spears carved through the air without rest.
Crack!
"Your footwork is open."
"Ah… that one was a bit close."
"Close? Not even close, Third."
They were the sons of the Helbridge family — Aqua, Rotea, and Frua. Brothers whose bond ran so deep it was rare to find anywhere, they had gathered as always to drill their spear techniques.
"Did the ancestors protect your head for you?"
Smack!
"Aagh! Brother, go easy!"
"You should've dodged better."
In the middle of their roughhousing—
Soft footsteps.
At that faint sound, the noisy training ground fell silent in an instant. They knew who it was from the footsteps alone.
"Brothers?"
A sweet girl's voice. The brothers immediately flung their spears aside and ran to her.
"Celia!"
"What brings you here!"
"You came because you missed this brother of yours!"
First son, second son, third son. Born late among these dark, burly men, Celia had been raised as their precious treasure, doted on endlessly by her older brothers. Of course, ever since puberty hit, she'd grown as haughty as a cat and found them thoroughly annoying — but from the brothers' perspective, no matter how prickly their little sister got, she was simply adorable.
Celia recoiled at the brothers charging toward her en masse.
"You smell like sweat!"
"Haha, we were training, so it can't be helped…?"
The brothers' faces froze mid-smile, hardening like statues.
…Their little sister's appearance was anything but ordinary.
"H-hm. How do I look…?"
Celia asked, spinning around with a face flushed deep red.
A pure white bow blouse. A gathered skirt with frills at the hem, cinched at the waist with a thin belt for accent. Above her carefully color-matched ankle boots, her smooth calves were bare. An expensive hairpin with a deer ornament sat in her hair, and the faint scent of lily of the valley drifted from her.
It was a complete contrast to the Celia who always dressed like a martial artist, seeking only comfortable clothes. The brothers were left speechless.
This was… the outfit of a girl who'd dressed up to the nines.
"I said, how do I look!"
"A-ah, no, what is this…"
"…Don't tell me?"
"No way…"
Even as they stammered, the brothers felt goosebumps rise all over their bodies at the thought slowly lifting its head. Suddenly, the face of the boy staying here flashed through their minds.
Frustrated beyond patience, Celia delivered the finishing blow.
"Does it look decent to a guy?!"
"……!!!"
The brothers' jaws dropped in unison.
Monday.
Aria, who had come to visit him while he recovered. And the cadets who had fallen into the demonic realm — it was the time when they finished their treatment and rest and returned to the academy.
Leon, however, decided to recuperate at the Helbridge estate for about a week before returning to Elprime Academy. Of course, after receiving a priest's healing arts several times, his external wounds had long since mended. But the aftermath of severe internal injuries still lingered.
The price of using the dark-form sword techniques of the Jecheon Sword Style — forbidden for a reason — was truly enormous. Even after gulping down the Helbridge family's finest spiritual medicines and potions like water, his mana circuits still hadn't fully recovered. In this condition, even if he returned to the academy, he wouldn't be able to handle the training. The exams were still more than a month away, so there was no need to rush.
Billy's side should be quiet for a while too.
No matter how much of an unlucky man Billy was, it wasn't plausible that he'd get hit with consecutive disasters right after going through a catastrophe of this scale.
Though applying logic to that Billy guy is pretty ridiculous in itself.
Thinking about Billy's misfortune, a sudden question rose in Leon's mind. It was certain that this world he'd been reincarnated into wasn't simply a novel. Over nearly a year, Leon had clearly felt that this place was a world made of living, breathing people — not text on the internet, but a world that strictly operated on cause and effect.
Thinking about that, the things Billy experienced were almost absurd. In terms of probability, he couldn't even guess how many decimal places you'd have to go down. When reading it as a novel, events happening around the protagonist wasn't strange — but experiencing it in reality was excessively bizarre. As if someone was deliberately messing with him…
Having thought that far, Leon let out a dry laugh. His imagination had gotten a bit carried away.
There are people who've been struck by lightning seven times and lived, so whatever.
Shaking off his thoughts, Leon rose with his creaking body. He was recuperating, but he had no intention of just lying in bed resting.
Since I've come all the way to the west, I should look around outside a bit.
For Leon's personality, boredom was practically torture. After washing up, Leon strapped the Heaven-Shattering Sword to his waist and prepared to go out.
That was when—
"Leon!"
"……?"
Bang!
Celia burst through the door with force. Her skirt hem and hair fluttered in the excited breeze.
"Let's go out!"
Thinking the timing was perfect, Leon nodded readily.
Leon left the inner castle with Celia and entered the city. Being near the ducal estate, it was a bustling city no less lively than Elaim. The main avenue of clean stone pavement was packed with shops, restaurants, and crowds of people.
"I'll show you around. Is there anywhere you want to go?"
Celia, who had lived here her whole life, declared confidently — and thought to herself:
This is my chance, while Aria's gone.
At the academy, Aria was always stuck to Leon's side whenever she got the chance. This was one of the few times she could spend time alone with him. Celia had strongly insisted on staying, claiming her body hadn't fully recovered, against her father's order to return to the academy already.
However — Leon's mind was elsewhere.
"Oh…"
Long, pointed ears. Pure white, elastic skin. A slender figure and a beauty that made one's eyes widen.
The demi-human race — Elves.
Since the Helbridge family maintained amicable relations with the elves of the Great Forest, one could see them fairly often when coming to the west. Leon, who had been an avid reader of fantasy novels in his previous life, watched them with great interest. Elves were also one of the beings he'd really wanted to see after coming to this world.
"Wow, they really are pretty."
Leon muttered quietly. Indeed, elves were elves — every female elf that passed by possessed outstanding beauty. And they didn't all look the same either; each had their own distinct charm…
Thud!
"Aagh!"
His thoughts were cut short by a sharp pain stabbing into his side. Leon turned to Celia with a bewildered face.
"Why'd you hit me all of a sudden??"
"……"
Her violet eyes had gone ice-cold.
"Leon, you seem pretty interested in elves?"
"……Why does that matter?"
Well, he was interested. Leon scratched his head awkwardly.
"……Is that so? Well, I guess. Guys all like elves, don't they."
"……"
Leon, about to say something, clamped his mouth shut. His instincts were sounding the alarm that he should stay quiet right now.
"What about me?"
Celia, who had been glaring at him, asked abruptly.
"What do you me— hmm."
Leon stopped himself from asking back and casually looked Celia over. Slightly flushed cheeks. Clothes that emphasized her feminine side, unlike her usual comfortable pants and shirts. Perfume and soap scent tickling his nose.
…She's pretty?
Since her base looks were outstanding to begin with, even objectively, she looked beautiful all dressed up. However, Leon didn't say that thought out loud. No matter what anyone said, Celia was a martial artist through and through. Knowing she took great pride in being one, if he said she looked like a lovely girl, she'd definitely get upset.
Hmm.
Leon picked an answer she might like.
"You look like you'd be really good at fighting."
"……What?"
He grinned and gave a thumbs-up.
"Wow, I bet you handle a spear amazingly too?"
"……"
At the sight of Leon confidently spouting that nonsense, Celia covered her face with both hands.
…Thinking she still had a long way to go.
"I."
A seething voice flowed out from between the hands covering her face.
"Huh?"
"You think I'm going to give up?"
"…What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Just watch. I'm never going to lose to that big-chested bitch."
"……???"
It was the moment Celia's never-give-up-in-a-fight temperament kicked in once again.
Bang!
The door to Rock's office was flung wide open without any warning.
"……"
However, knowing the identity of the uninvited guest, Rock did not fault her for the rudeness. With eyes sunk in heavy gravity, he received the woman who strode unhesitatingly inside.
"Your Grace."
The woman who had kicked the door open spoke with a bizarre smile on her lips.
"I'll be going to this observation meeting, so take note."
"……"
Rock, who had been steadily gazing at the woman with clear eyes, eventually let out a sigh and nodded.
"…Do so."
Step. Step.
It had been a notification, not a request. The woman was already turning her body and leaving the room without even waiting for the answer.
"Still."
Toward the back of her head, Rock said quietly.
"Still — has your mind not changed?"
At his words reaching her back—
"……"
Halt.
The woman's body stopped as her hand rose to the doorknob.
The next moment.
BANG!!!
Rock's desk shook violently. Documents and shattered wood chips shot into the air. The woman who had dashed over in a flash was slamming both hands down on the desk.
"This damn…!"
Her upper body slowly leaned forward. Pushing her face right up to Rock's nose, she muttered through gritted teeth.
A glossy sheen flickered in her dark crimson eyes. The corners of her mouth, twisted upward, were faintly twitching.
"It's a position you worked so hard to protect… so you should hold onto it nice and long, right? Hmm?"
Rage and hatred. And murderous intent sharp enough to pierce through a body poured onto Rock — but he only looked at her with an unperturbed demeanor.
"……"
"……"
After several seconds of silence—
Whoosh—!
The woman turned her back coldly and left. The quieted office. Only the scattered documents and the desk with deep handprints remained.
"……"
Left alone, Rock slowly closed his eyes.
Tremble.
As if reflecting his troubled heart, his eyelashes trembled roughly like a candle flame in the wind.
…And so time flowed quickly.
The evaluation exam that would decide the first-semester grades of Elprime Academy at a stroke — drew near.