A Quiet Peace, and Lana's Departure
After the duel ended and Anne left, Lana and I were alone again, just as we always were. We proceeded with the treatment as usual.
“Your insides are a bit rough.”
During the treatment, Lana spoke up.
“It looks like you used your mana quite violently during the duel.”
At those words, I felt a small pang of guilt inside. In truth, it was the aftermath of Dragon’s Blood, but… well, that was beside the point.
During the few days I had holed up in the dormitory right after the duel, I had done everything I could to recover my body. The reason I went to such lengths was simple: I didn’t want Lana to find out how badly my condition had deteriorated.
I was the one receiving treatment from her. If, in that position, I went and did something reckless and got myself hurt? There was no way it would feel good for Lana, who was treating me. Especially since I wasn’t even paying a fair price for it—I was purely on the receiving end of her goodwill.
That was why I had done my best to recover as much as possible… but it seemed I couldn’t fool Lana’s eyes after all.
“…….”
What should I even say? Should I apologize first? As I hesitated—
“Fortunately, there wasn’t any major damage, and I’ve finished treating all of it.”
Lana spoke first.
“…Thank you.”
In the end, those were the only words I could manage.
Thankfully, Lana didn’t press me any further about it. However, instead—
“I wish I could have treated you right away……”
She said it in a voice clearly laced with regret.
Hearing that, I felt a warm tightness in my chest and replied,
“It was obvious things would get noisy for a while.”
When I told her I would need some time before receiving treatment again, I had properly explained the reason as well. Since Lana was sharp, I figured she would immediately guess why. Still, just in case my intentions weren’t conveyed clearly, I made sure to be thorough. There shouldn’t have been any misunderstandings.
“Indeed… it was quite the commotion, wasn’t it?”
Lana nodded.
Just as she said, the public’s perception had flowed exactly as I had predicted. On my way here, I had discreetly checked, and right now the academy was buzzing with all sorts of rumors about me. The fact that Anne had come looking for me today could probably be attributed to the influence of those rumors as well.
‘…….’
I glanced at Lana, reading her expression. Most people were suspicious of me, but it seemed Lana was an exception. Did that mean she trusted me that much? I didn’t know the exact reason, but deep down, I hoped that was it.
It was then.
“You’re amazing.”
“Pardon?”
Lana suddenly said something rather out of the blue. When I blinked in confusion, unable to grasp her meaning—
“The duel.”
She added the explanation.
‘Ah.’
Only then did I realize what she was referring to.
“To be honest… I didn’t expect you to win so overwhelmingly, Sir Kyle.”
“Ah… I see.”
Well, that was only natural. Anyone would have thought the same. There probably wasn’t a single person who didn’t. In fact, if someone had expected me to win, I would have been more surprised.
After all, the conditions of the duel had been overwhelmingly unfavorable to me. The moment the terms were made public, everyone had predicted my defeat. And seeing Sebastian and me standing on the dueling ground had turned that prediction into certainty. The difference in equipment was simply too vast.
Sebastian, clad in Eclipse—one of the empire’s most renowned artifacts—and me, wearing nothing special at all. It would have been strange for anyone to think I could win. Let alone an overwhelming victory? There was no way they could have imagined it. At least, not without knowing I had drunk Dragon’s Blood.
‘…No, that’s not quite right.’
Even if that fact had been revealed, it was likely people’s expectations wouldn’t have changed all that much. Dragon’s Blood was indeed a powerful potion, but its effects weren’t at a truly cheat-like level. While the amplification of strength and mana it provided was certainly impressive, it still had limits.
Just because someone drank Dragon’s Blood didn’t mean they could overwhelmingly defeat Sebastian while he wore a family head’s exclusive artifact. No, even simply winning would have been difficult. Perhaps only someone on Bellad’s level would have around a forty percent chance of victory.
Because the power of Dragon’s Blood was purely amplification, it was meaningless without a solid base of strength to begin with. And controlling the amplified power and mana as perfectly as I had? Even if I said so myself, it was an incredibly difficult feat. Naturally impossible for someone at the student level, and even for the academy’s professors… well, probably not. It was simply not something an ordinary person could do.
“Sir Kyle… you were far stronger than I expected.”
As she said that, Lana stared at me intently. Maybe it was my imagination, but her eyes seemed to sparkle. Those beautiful eyes felt just a little burdensome to me right now.
Because the performance I had shown in the duel wasn’t achieved through pure strength—it was the result of borrowing the power of Dragon’s Blood.
So when I couldn’t come up with a proper response and could only awkwardly avert my gaze—
“You really are amazing. Among people close to our age, the only one I’ve seen with this level of skill besides Julia is you.”
Lana’s words reached my ears.
At that, I fell into brief thought. What if it had been Julia instead of me? The question had crossed my mind.
‘…There’s no need to even think about it.’
However, the conclusion came almost instantly.
If it had been Julia, she would have defeated Sebastian far more easily than I had. Unlike me, she wouldn’t have needed to borrow the power of something like Dragon’s Blood.
Although I couldn’t accurately gauge Julia’s level, the very fact that I couldn’t was proof of how far above me she stood. Thanks to possessing Kyle’s body, my overall level had been forcibly lowered, but my eye for skill remained intact. That was why I could still roughly estimate a martial artist’s ability just by watching them. I could easily judge those at the student level, and even the professors were within my range of discernment.
Yet I couldn’t read Julia’s level at all. There was only one thing that could mean.
Julia was a martial artist on a completely different plane from me.
Of course, that was based on this body’s standards. If I had been in Gunter’s body before I died, things might have been different. Still, even taking that into account, there was no denying how exceptional Julia’s level was.
Not only were her raw specs outstanding, but her technique and sense were unrivaled. If it had been Julia, she could have crushed Sebastian without difficulty. And unlike me, she wouldn’t have needed to rely on something like Dragon’s Blood.
“You’re giving me too much credit. I’m nowhere near the level of Saintess Julia.”
It wasn’t humility. It was my honest feeling.
“Mm… Julia is a bit… special, after all.”
This time, even Lana couldn’t deny my words. She would know better than anyone. No—she probably understood Julia’s uniqueness better than anyone else.
“Anyway, I hope this means you won’t have to go through any more trouble, Sir Kyle.”
As the conversation drew to a close, Lana suddenly said that.
Hearing her words, I realized something. Lana was still worrying about the whole situation. She probably thought that the hostility I had earned from Ernen and Sebastian—and the fact that I had ultimately dueled Sebastian—was all because of her.
I wanted to deny it immediately. That it wasn’t true. But I doubted Lana would simply nod and accept it if I did.
So instead, I simply said,
“It will be that way.”
It wasn’t just hopeful speculation. In reality, the chances were very high.
From the moment I was appointed as an Honorary Monk, applying any internal or external pressure to harm me had become virtually impossible. Moreover, by winning this duel so overwhelmingly, I had proven my own martial prowess. On top of that, I had utterly crushed Sebastian, who had dared to challenge me. Unless someone was truly fearless, they wouldn’t even think of touching me now.
Even Ernen no longer had any means to deal with me. Therefore, the things Lana was worried about would no longer come to pass.
And just as I had predicted, the situation unfolded exactly that way.
After that, no one bothered me anymore. Even Ernen, who must have been grinding his teeth in fury, stayed quiet. As for Sebastian, he didn’t even show his face. Furthermore, the strange rumors that had sprung up because of the duel soon died down as well.
The evidence for those rumors was weak, and above all, the fact that I was an Honorary Monk carried significant weight. No matter what, I was a distinguished guest of the Church. There was no way anyone could openly spread baseless, malicious rumors about someone like me.
Of course, there was nothing I could do about people whispering behind my back, but at least such rumors no longer circulated openly. There were still quite a few people who looked at me with doubtful eyes, perhaps still questioning my true skill, but not a single one of them dared to pick a fight with me over it.
It was only natural. After all, Sebastian—the academy’s, no, the entire grade’s top fighter—had been miserably defeated even after borrowing the power of an artifact. What kind of insane person would pick a fight with me after seeing that?
Even those famous for having terrible personalities, or those confident in their own strength, couldn’t hold their heads high in front of me anymore.
If there was one problem, it was that even the professors’ gazes had become rather unsettling… but that was a trivial matter.
Time passed peacefully like that, and finally, the day came for Lana to leave the academy.