Chapter 41: The First Letter (41)
Chapter 41: The First Letter (41)
With a sharp snap, I lunged forward. It was a split second—a moment in which no one could react.
It felt as if I alone were drifting through frozen time. My hand gripped the hilt of the sword at my waist.
My target was, of course, Senior Elsie, who stood with her back to me. However, a burly man stood like a bulwark beside her.
"Wh-what the hell is this brat...!"
Sensing a sudden presence, he glanced back. Letting out a cry of shock, he immediately moved to block my path. As expected of a fourth-year, his reaction was swift, unlike the common rabble.
However, his mistake was failing to draw his sword from its scabbard.
Slash. A silver streak flashed through the air. Blood sprayed along that line. In an instant, the eyes of the man blocking me went blank with shock.
Before he could even draw his blade, my sword, coated in silver aura, swept across his forearm. It wasn't a deep wound, but it wasn't shallow either.
It was an injury sufficient to neutralize a single swordsman. A scream tore from the man’s throat.
"Aaaargh!"
At the sudden commotion, everyone’s eyes turned toward me. Shoving aside the man who had blocked my path, I surged forward once more.
That was when my eyes met Senior Elsie’s. Her dazed gaze turned toward me, like a predator that had allowed an unimaginable blow to land.
But my sword did not reach her. Two more men stepped in to block my way.
The man on the right was sturdy, while the one on the left was lean. Both, however, shared the commonality of holding unsheathed swords.
The two swung their blades in a cross-pattern. It was a staggered attack; the angle and timing were nothing short of perfect. This was the terror of trained swordsmen.
Even within a mere fraction of a second, they reacted through pure instinct. This was why an ambush required the element of surprise.
I skidded to a halt just before their blades could reach me, channeling the momentum of my charge into my sword and hurling it.
Whoosh! The sword flew with a sharp whistle. Bewilderment flickered in the eyes of the two men.
"Wh-what...!"
The sword’s target was, naturally, Senior Elsie.
Reading the sword's trajectory, the two men hastily retracted their blades. Without needing to coordinate, they both performed an upward slash to deflect the incoming projectile.
And that was the end of it. From my waist, I drew the sidearm I had grown accustomed to.
Thwack! Thwack! Lacerations appeared on the thighs of both men. Blood erupted like a fountain, and with a scream, the two swordsmen’s stances collapsed.
"Guaaargh!"
"Urgh...!"
The time it took for three fourth-years to fall was truly but an instant. My body, pushed by layer upon layer of acceleration, was drifting through a different timeline than the others. Even the screams of the victims seemed to flow in slow motion.
However, I wasn't the only one capable of perceiving that split second.
Waiting for me as I slipped through the gap between the two men was Senior Elsie, who had already completed her high-speed chanting.
Blue mana enveloped her body. It was the Shield magic—one of the basic spells every mage learned, and a crucial one for preserving one's life in an emergency.
This was someone of Senior Elsie’s caliber. No matter how hurriedly she had cast it, its power wouldn't be weak. Even with aura, I had to assume it was impossible to shatter it in a single blow.
That meant I would have to land several effective hits, and that would be more than enough time for the rest of her gang, who were currently standing dazed, to join the fray.
Realizing this, a hint of triumph flickered in Senior Elsie’s eyes.
It was a look of disdain, asking what I could possibly do.
A cruel smile had already formed on her lips. I could see her thoughts clearly—she was wondering how to discipline this insolent junior. Her gaze was innocent yet full of malice, like a child tearing the wings off a dragonfly.
So, without a word, I threw myself forward. Not my sword, but my body.
Thud! The sound of my body colliding with her shield echoed out. I didn't stop there; I forced my body against it, pressing closer and shoving Senior Elsie once more.
A shield only absorbs impacts above a certain threshold. If it resisted every kind of force, the caster wouldn't even be able to breathe. I was treading that fine line.
In the blink of an eye, Senior Elsie was already on the ground. And I was the one pinned on top of her.
"Y-you, you, what do you think you're—Kyaaaaaah!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! My hand axe, coated in silver aura, hammered relentlessly against Senior Elsie’s body. With every strike, a translucent film manifested, sending fragments flying in all directions.
Inside, Senior Elsie could do nothing but weep and scream.
"S-stop! H-help... hic, ugh... Save me! Someone... Kyaaaaaaaaah!"
Crack. That was the final sound.
It was only a temporary shield, after all. Her resistance didn't last long.
Starting from the point where the axe blade was embedded, cracks spiderwebbed across the translucent film. The collapse was irreversible. Soon, with a crystalline shatter, the shield burst into fragments.
It was a beautiful sight. Particles of light scattered in all directions, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. But the face of Senior Elsie, witnessing this scene, was clouded with deep despair.
Her blue eyes, drenched in terror, turned toward me. Reflected in those pupils was me, holding my hand axe high.
Senior Elsie could no longer contain her fear. She wailed like a scream.
"S-stop!"
In that moment, my arm, which had been about to swing the hand axe, came to a dead halt.
Huff, huff. My chest heaved up and down with my ragged breathing. I hadn't realized it while focused on the fight, but I seemed to have overexerted myself. My lungs ached as if they were being wrung out.
I wasn't the only one who had stopped. Senior Elsie’s gang, who had belatedly snapped out of it and were rushing toward me; Senior Delphine’s group, who had been watching us with stunned expressions; and the hundreds of onlookers—all of them fell silent.
It was a strange stillness. An illusion as if the world had stopped for a moment.
Only when a single drop of sweat rolled down my hair and soaked into the earth did life return to the world.
The signal was Senior Elsie’s sobbing voice.
"Ugh, hic... I, I lost. S-so... hic, please, hic... stop it... hic, waaaaaah...!"
Her crying was loud and long. Her behavior had been like that of a common thug, but her crying was delicate and clear, befitting her doll-like appearance.
Tears pooled in her eyes and fell in droplets. To her, this could only be humiliating.
It wasn't even Senior Delphine; she had been caught from behind and utterly defeated by me, a third-year junior she had looked down upon. I couldn't even imagine how she felt, crying and begging for her life right now.
Only then did the onlookers begin to murmur again. Senior Delphine was still dazed, and Senior Elsie’s gang watched me and the pinned Elsie with hollow eyes.
I took a deep breath to steady myself. My hand gripping the axe was still tense.
Quietly, I whispered.
"Senior Elsie, what did you say just now?"
"Ugh, hic... Wh-what?"
Senior Elsie seemed confused by my sudden question, her tear-streaked blue eyes fixed on me as she asked.
My reflection in those eyes—eyes like a lake on a rainy day—was soaked in sweat and blood, looking quite fierce. I liked it.
"That if Senior Delphine took a liking to you, you'd wait for about a night?"
At my following words, Senior Elsie flinched. Her pupils began to tremble violently. My expression remained unchanged.
Fierce, golden eyes filled with killing intent. That was certainly how I appeared in Senior Elsie’s eyes.
"Th-that was... a-a mistake! Right, there was a misunderstanding!"
"Senior Elsie, you know, don't you? A fight involving a noble's honor is always a duel to the death."
Despite Senior Elsie’s desperate excuses, my arm holding the hand axe showed no sign of lowering. Terror flooded her eyes once more.
Her body shook uncontrollably. Because her frame was so small, her trembling made her look several times more pitiful. The onlookers, having overheard our conversation, also took on panicked expressions.
It was Senior Elsie’s gang who grew frantic. They tried to step toward me, but when I glared at them a few times, they had no choice but to back away.
No matter how fast they were, they couldn't be faster than my hand axe. At that, Senior Elsie became even more desperate.
"S-so... it was a mistake, a mistake! I-I had no intention of defiling your honor..."
However, Senior Elsie’s pleas failed to cause even a ripple in my expression. The fear in her eyes grew even darker. She couldn't even shed tears anymore.
No matter how much honor was at stake, it rarely led to actual murder. This was because it could leave a lasting grudge between families. That was why Senior Elsie had been somewhat relieved.
The naive thought that she only needed to declare her defeat, that she only had to endure a moment of shame.
But she was currently pinned under someone who had hammered a hand axe against her shield as if he were about to split her throat at any second, and who had slashed through her gang with an aura-clad blade without a moment's hesitation. Even she couldn't help but think:
Wait, is he actually going to kill me?
As I raised the hand axe even higher, Senior Elsie curled into a ball and let out a scream.
"I-I was wrong! I'm sorry! I-I won't do it again! P-please save me! Save me! Someone help m—Kyaaaaaah!"
Thud.
The axe blade slammed into the ground right next to Senior Elsie’s head.
A look of relief crossed the faces of the spectators who had been watching me with bated breath. Lupin, who had been poised to rush me at any moment—evidently valuing his sister after all—was the same.
However, this was strictly limited to the onlookers.
Senior Elsie, the one who had actually received the death threat, stared with trembling eyes at the hand axe embedded beside her.
At that cold, sharp edge, an unhideable dread took root in her eyes. "Hiiiie!" she gasped, flailing as she drew in a breath.
Into her ear, I whispered one last time.
"Senior Elsie..."
My eyes flicked toward Lupin. I felt like I had said something similar to her younger brother before.
"...There won't be a next time."
With eyes brimming with tears, Senior Elsie nodded her head desperately. That was enough.
I pulled the hand axe out and returned it to my waist. Then, I stood up, staggering slightly. As I exhaled a long breath, I finally felt like I could breathe a bit easier.
I had done something crazy again today.
If I had prioritized safety, it would have been right to wait until the clash between Senior Delphine and Senior Elsie concluded. Why I was stepping forward so proactively lately was something even I didn't know.
However, I felt refreshed. I spoke to Celine, who was looking back and forth between me and Senior Elsie with stunned eyes.
"Let's go, Celine."
"...Uh, uh? Yeah, r-right!"
Taking the dazed Celine with me, I began to walk.
As I did, Senior Elsie’s gang, who had been blocking my path, and the surrounding onlookers naturally stepped aside to make a way for us.
All I had to do was walk down that path.
However, there was still one person left who could stop me from leaving.
"...Wait."
At that short call, my movement came to a halt.
My weary eyes turned toward my back. There stood a pair of blood-red eyes whose true intentions were impossible to read.
"Would you like to have a chat for a moment?"
That Delphine Yurdina was showing interest in me.