Chapter 227
Chapter 227
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 227
Chapter Title: Karandis Poseus
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After a sudden training session that had been arranged right after their picnic near Raheln Academy's mountain...
The results of the training were far more disastrous than anyone had imagined.
And the reason was none other than a certain pair of siblings.
Originally, the victory condition was supposed to be descending the mountain before sunset.
But the siblings had chosen to shoot down their opponents instead.
They dove into battle without a moment's hesitation, and as a result, they had taken out members of the Lion Squad.
Krash had shot down a first-year Lion Squad member.
Charlotte had taken out a second-year.
Having utterly crushed everyone, the two leisurely made their way down the mountain and soon encountered the waiting Martial Arts Department and Theology Department students.
The moment the Theology students saw that, they hurriedly began climbing the mountain.
To treat the members the siblings had crushed.
"You really went and did a number on them."
Astria looked at Krash with eyes full of dismay as she gazed at the injured.
The first-years Krash had demolished were all bedridden.
But even Krash had no choice in the matter.
The Three Luminous Ones who followed Charlotte weren't just superior in skill—they were on another level in tenacity as well.
They had truly burned themselves alive, charging at Krash until the very end.
Even with both legs shattered, the honor-bound vice-captain Kromoshu had propped himself up on a stone pillar like something out of a nightmare.
That's why Krash couldn't hold back either.
His opponents were going all out, so he had to match them.
"Besides, it wasn't just me."
Krash included Charlotte in the mess with a slightly sheepish expression.
The first-years were certainly a mess, but the second-years weren't much better off.
Especially Karandis—her condition was the worst.
Her bones and muscles had been smashed, and she'd kept moving, so there were multiple twisted areas.
It was so bad that they had to reassemble her bones just to treat her.
"She's tougher than she looks."
Just as Krash was shocked by Karandis's state, Charlotte sidled up and passed along those words before leaving.
Krash was more surprised by Charlotte's comment than Karandis's injuries.
After all, it was incredibly rare for Charlotte to praise anyone.
'What the hell did she do?'
As Krash looked over at Karandis, Haring—who had recovered relatively quickly—approached her side.
"...He fought until the very end."
Haring touched his wounded arm as he gazed at Karandis.
Haring had seen Karandis right up until he'd lost consciousness.
By the time everyone else had retired.
Karandis's fist held no strength left, but it had definitely reached Charlotte.
Watching that, Haring clenched his fists tight.
Because in that moment, Karandis's tenacity had surpassed his own.
And that sight reminded him of Krash.
"To stay by Krash's side, Karandis is putting in that much effort."
"..."
Krash turned to look at Karandis.
In Krash's memories, Karandis was just one of the people chasing after Arthur's heels.
And for pretty superficial reasons at that—which was why she'd once been treated coldly by Abella, the Red Witch, who truly loved Arthur with all her heart.
But even then, Krash remembered her tenacity.
"I've never once regretted the efforts I've made to become Lord Arthur's wife."
Even in the face of Arthur's cold rejection, her eyes had shone brightly as she said it.
"So I'll love Lord Arthur with everything I have until the end. That's who I am."
Even if it meant never being chosen, she had given her all.
'What was Karandis's end like?'
Krash couldn't recall Karandis's final moments.
It was only natural.
She hadn't been part of the Generation of the Sky back then.
Her skills were decent enough, but the path she pursued differed from the one she chased now.
'She was aiming to become the King of Poseus, right?'
Training to join the Generation of the Sky would make reaching the Poseus throne difficult.
It wasn't that she lacked talent, but compared to the Generation of the Sky, hers fell short in reality.
So Karandis couldn't pursue both.
She had to choose: strive to become the King of Poseus,
or strive to join the Generation of the Sky.
She could barely reach one by devoting her life and everything to it.
So she gave up on the Generation of the Sky.
Because what Arthur wanted wasn't a Karandis in the Generation of the Sky,
but a Karandis who ascended the Poseus throne.
Even that failed when Poseus, weakened by the war against the World Erosion Beings, fell to the Worst Fiend.
Her end must have come on the day the Poseus Kingdom crumbled.
Krash never saw her after that.
'If the Poseus Kingdom hadn't fallen...'
Maybe she really would have become its king.
Krash looked at Karandis again.
She was a mess from her injuries, but thanks to Astria, her treatment was finally complete. She was sleeping peacefully, letting out soft breaths.
Unlike back then, when she'd striven to become Poseus's king just to be chosen by Arthur,
now she was desperately honing her skills with everything she had.
She was even keeping up with Haring's training—which rivaled Krash's own in intensity—so Krash knew full well how hard she was working.
And Krash knew exactly who was behind this new direction of hers.
It was him.
Karandis wanted to stay by Krash's side.
To that end, she was tempering herself relentlessly.
She had subtly realized that the person Krash wanted was someone strong enough for the Generation of the Sky.
Even if her efforts stemmed from superficial motives,
to her, it was love. It was sincere.
"K-Krash... sir."
At that moment, Karandis opened her eyes.
The instant their gazes met, she broke into a bright smile.
"I landed a punch on Lady Charlotte, you know."
And she proudly boasted about her feat.
Her slightly smug expression was just like the usual Karandis.
Could anyone hate a person like this?
At the very least, Krash didn't dislike her.
If anything, he rather liked her.
Karandis might have sensed that subtly and was changing because of it.
A hollow chuckle escaped Krash's lips.
Arthur had never accepted Karandis until the end.
Maybe Arthur had known all along that she would never reach the Poseus throne.
Poseus was one of the first kingdoms to fall to the Worst Fiend, after all.
So Arthur hadn't invested much in her.
Even knowing that, she'd tried to become queen just to stay by his side.
But what about now?
To stay by Krash's side—not Arthur's.
In this cycle, she was working harder than anyone.
Even though Krash himself hadn't shown her much attention this time either.
For a brief moment, an image flashed in Krash's mind:
Karandis picking up her sword to defend a crumbling Poseus.
In theatrical terms, a minor role no one acknowledged.
Yet that minor role had taken up her sword again—forgotten in her pursuit of the crown—to stand against the Worst Fiend and protect Poseus, all to become the protagonist.
Karandis Poseus was that kind of person.
Krash regretted not witnessing that scene, if only for a moment.
Her final moments as Karandis must have been more brilliant than anyone's.
Krash's hand slowly rose.
Before he knew it, that hand was gently stroking Karandis's head.
Karandis froze for a second, unable to process the situation as real.
Then she stared at him blankly, her face following the motion of his stroking hand.
"Good job."
There was none of the polite speech Krash usually used with her.
But Karandis understood what that meant—her eyes slowly widened.
Krash's face, meeting hers, wore an incredibly gentle smile.
Realizing it was the same expression he often showed others, Karandis panicked visibly.
Suddenly, her healthy skin tone flushed bright red.
"Uh, ah, u-um."
She sputtered like a malfunctioning machine.
Then she slowly pulled the blanket up over her face.
It couldn't be helped.
This feeling was a first for her.
Even though she was usually bold enough to do daring things, today she couldn't bring herself to look at Krash's face.
Her heart was fluttering wildly in a way she'd never felt before.
Oblivious to that, Krash withdrew his hand from her head.
Stroking a princess's head might be lese-majeste, but he felt this much was right.
"Rest up."
Krash turned to leave the infirmary so she could recover.
As Haring followed behind him, he glanced at Karandis, who had now pulled the blanket all the way over her head.
Haring knew exactly what kind of reaction this was.
"...A rival."
He recalled the conversation he'd had with Karandis not long ago.
The women gathered disproportionately around Krash.
And now, Karandis was definitely one of them.
She'd make for a formidable opponent going forward.
With those thoughts, Haring left the infirmary.
Determined not to stop here himself.
After the training, one change came over the Lion Squad.
Their training schedule became even more brutal than before.
The reason was simple.
Getting thrashed so thoroughly by those siblings pissed them off.
Before their respect for Charlotte and Krash, they were martial artists first.
Losing naturally burned them up, and that fire poured into their training.
As a result, a strange rumor began circulating around Raheln Academy lately.
The Lion Squad members were shuffling into the cafeteria looking like beggars, scarfing down food, and leaving.
It sounded like some ghost story,
but the other student squads, with an inter-squad match coming up soon, couldn't just ignore it.
"The Lion Squad's training harder?"
And of course, Sigrin Epania was included among them.
The Third Imperial Princess of the Epania Empire, leader of the White Poplar Squad.
She frowned at the news, already nursing a headache from trying to wrangle the uncooperative Generation of the Sky members.
The black-haired one of her snake twin confidants, Tai Popoa, bowed her head as she delivered the report.
"Yes. After coming back from that picnic up the mountain with a bunch of injuries, their training has gotten way more intense."
"...Picnic?"
Sigrin frowned.
There was nothing special about the mountain they'd gone to for a picnic.
What had happened to fire them up like this?
'The Lion Squad wasn't the type to band together like that.'
Charlotte was so free-spirited that she pretty much left the Lion Squad to their own devices.
As a result, they weren't exactly tightly knit internally.
Hard to unite when the leader had no interest in leading.
But according to the report, they'd suddenly tightened ranks.
'The Three Luminous Ones are there.'
They'd always gotten along well and had followed Charlotte in the past too.
But even so, without Charlotte, the first-years' power favored the White Poplar Squad.
Sigrin had actively recruited them, after all.
The White Poplar Squad had the highest concentration of Generation of the Sky members among the student groups.
'The problem is the second-years.'
The second-years had an unusual number of Generation of the Sky members thanks to Krash.
It was safe to say all the top forces among the second-years had gathered in the Lion Squad.
Sigrin had pulled in some second-years too,
but they fell short of the Lion Squad's.
On top of that, the fake Arthur was in the Lion Squad's second-years.
Looked like he'd joined to gather intel.
Even so, once in the Lion Squad, he wouldn't slack off.
"Tch."
She clicked her tongue in annoyance.
For a fleeting moment, Mary crossed her mind.
Everything else aside, her combat power had been reliable.
If she'd been around, the second-years wouldn't have been so hopelessly outmatched.
A hint of regret flickered in her eyes.
But she quickly dismissed the thought.
She knew Mary's weaknesses all too well.
'Whatever. I've found a replacement anyway.'
Sigrin turned to look out the window.
"Glen's coming back tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
She smiled at the response from the white snake, Tai Popoa.
The ultimate spear she'd crafted to replace Mary.
It was time to unveil it.
'If the second-years are lacking, just make up for it.'
The inter-squad match would be the White Poplar Squad's victory, no question.