A Duel Gone Mad
The battle between the two grew increasingly fierce. It was only natural—their skills were perfectly matched. They're fighting well. I watched them with my chin propped in my hand, chewing on a strip of jerky.
Yet as the duel stretched on, Ditrua slowly began to seize the upper hand. The reason was the madness lurking inside her. That madness would surface in her blade from time to time, and each time it did, she pulled ahead.
In truth, her swordsmanship and that madness did not harmonize at all. The royal family's style had been refined over hundreds of years—perhaps even longer. There was simply no room for the chaos of madness to intrude. As a result, every time Ditrua used a move entangled with it, the technique's perfection slipped a little.
To Rilke, however, those attacks were deeply unsettling. Because the strikes that revealed her madness were nothing less than suicidal techniques aimed at mutual destruction.
Of course, that was only in name; they weren't truly meant to take a life. Still, they were not the kind of blows one should unleash in a place like this.
This is for real! It wasn't even an important exam like midterms—just a simple class-placement test. And yet she was resorting to moves like that! Rilke had no reason to entertain mutual destruction, so she rejected every last one.
But she was still clumsy at exercising her right to refuse. Though her swordsmanship seemed seasoned and worldly, she was only seventeen. She simply lacked experience dealing with such attacks.
Thanks to that, the advantages steadily piled up for Ditrua, and naturally she took the lead.
She thinks that because she's a princess I won't meet those attacks head-on!
Rilke's deep-rooted fury toward the privileged class flared up once more. No matter that this was a legitimate duel during class and they might not hold her officially accountable. No matter that outstanding healing mages stood by, ready to mend any injury in moments. Ditrua was a princess of the realm. There was no way she could inflict a serious wound without consequences.
The enemy before her eyes was clearly counting on exactly that.
How arrogant do you have to be to act like this?
Rilke ground her teeth. Her misunderstanding of Ditrua deepened, and her own losing position grew darker by the second.
They say madness is contagious. Rilke, too, began to lose her reason little by little.
Fine. I'll take it.
She could not accept defeat. Being helplessly crushed by power was even more unacceptable.
Half out of her mind, Rilke decided to answer Ditrua's gambit with a counter-gambit of her own. The princess's risky play was met by a sword that now moved differently than before. Gradually her attacks became lethal to her opponent—and to herself.
And as time passed, the intensity only sharpened. Her blade, honed to its absolute limit. If things continued, the outcome was obvious: either Ditrua's wrist would fly off and Rilke's heart would be run through, or only Ditrua's wrist would be severed. Neither was a wound that could be easily treated.
"Stop."
A blur appeared before the eyes of the two combatants lost in battle. A woman in black clothes now stood between them.
"Why not take it easy?"
The two crossed swords were halted effortlessly by a single blade.
Rilke could not tear her eyes from the woman who had appeared so suddenly.
"Ditrua."
At the unidentified woman's words, Ditrua obediently withdrew her sword.
"It looked entertaining, but this isn't something you should be using here, is it?"
"I'm sorry, teacher."
It was a completely different voice from the madness-filled tone earlier. It was the same clear voice that had read the freshman declaration.
"Ditrua. For the remainder of this exam, I forbid you from dueling any other students. No objections, I trust?"
"None."
"Well, the test time is nearly over anyway…."
Her golden eyes now turned to Rilke.
"Sorry. I really should have stepped in sooner. The two of you were so interesting to watch that I was late to stop it."
"Uh… ah, yes…."
Rilke accepted the apology awkwardly. She stared at the woman—Altair—who had begun scolding Ditrua.
Who exactly is she?
Rilke knew she herself was far from complete, yet she carried considerable pride in her skill. Her opponent was someone of equal caliber. Their clash had been a literal bloodbath, two thoroughly sharpened blades colliding with everything they had.
To stop something like that so easily…
Swallowing hard, she asked the still-lecturing Altair.
"You're still a child…."
"Um… are you a professor, by any chance?"
At those words Altair turned and met her gaze.
"Not a professor yet. Just an instructor."
Rilke's face hardened. A mere instructor, not even a professor, possessed this level of strength. Just what kind of place was Delphiana Academy?
And only then did her senses finally begin to function properly.
What is this overwhelming pressure…?
It was undoubtedly emanating from the instructor herself. The moment she tried to measure it, a bell rang somewhere.
Already?
Rilke and Ditrua's eyes widened. The class assignment test had ended.
Marius kept his ears wide open, waiting for news of an accident in Zone E. But the report he longed for never arrived.
This is impossible.
He had released more than enough fairly powerful monsters! How could there have been no incident? He could not understand it at all.
What he heard instead was:
She stopped the duel between those two?
Princess Ditrua and Rilke Termore—two freshmen so outstanding they had been competing for first place. That she had casually halted their fight!
And on top of those absurd rumors that she easily overpowered two royal escort knights!
Of course, this incident was trivial compared to that rumor. No matter how exceptional a freshman might be, the gap between them and the royal knight order was obvious. Still, it could lend credence to those ridiculous stories, so he could not feel pleased.
This cannot stand.
Marius's body trembled. He could not let it slide.
After all the preparation I poured in!
He headed straight for the Zone E testing grounds. There had to be some trace left that he could use against her.
I scanned the list of students who had signed up for my lecture.
Four, five… I avoided cancellation.
A sigh of relief escaped me. The minimum of six had been exactly met.
Lucky me.
This was the only course I had opened this semester. If it had been canceled, my allowance would have shrunk. Taking money without doing any work felt a bit awkward anyway.
Well, the academy would have found some task for me one way or another.
I began reading the list more carefully.
These kids aren't right in the head either. Did they not hear the rumors?
Had they really not heard that the instructor with the gloomy aura and strange energy was teaching this class?
Well, that's your good fortune.
If I were them, I would never have signed up. I would have assumed the personality would be nasty and not even glanced at it. But fortunately my personality is extremely gentle. Yes indeed.
The names at the very top were Ditrua and Rilke.
Ditrua I can understand, but Rilke is no ordinary case either.
I had watched the entire confrontation with Ditrua at the testing site—not only the fight itself but the conversation before it. Among the people I had seen in the last five years, Rilke was the second-most insane. The first was, of course, Ditrua.
My chest feels grand just thinking about it.
Both the first- and second-ranked crazies on my personal list would be attending my class. Who knew—perhaps something ridiculous, like the demonic landscape of Rosenburg, would unfold.
The name below Rilke was Clement Sanpier. That name was familiar too.
Was he the one who took first in Group E?
While Ditrua and Rilke clashed in the center, he had snatched first place in a semi-opportunistic fashion. Of course, even opportunistic luck counts as skill. Instead of charging into the center like the two girls, he had circled the outskirts, swiftly hunting large numbers of weak monsters to rack up points. That was a strategy too, and his good fortune was rightfully his. There was no reason to belittle it.
Come to think of it, he shared the same surname as Bastien, the famous top-ranker from the entrance exam.
Must be the twin brother.
He might have lived in his older brother's shadow, but he had proven his potential this time.
Next is…
Everyone below that was a new name to me.
Josef Henriksen… Marku—
Just then someone approached me. It was Hendrik, assigned as my teaching assistant. Of course, he wasn't exclusively mine; he also ran small errands for the other swordsmanship professors. In short, a busy friend. Or, to put it another way, a pitiful kid. He must have a mountain of stress.
"Instructor, Professor Marius asked me to deliver this message."
"Ah, what is it this time."
The test supervision was over, so I thought my work for the day was finished. Suddenly I was being summoned by Marius. He said there would be an urgent announcement regarding today's test.
What nonsense is he planning to spout?
I wasn't sure, but something smelled fishy. An unscheduled emergency announcement. I could sense he was trying to come after me.
But I can't exactly refuse to go.
In a foul mood, I yanked the door open. The kind of person who has to obey when told—that's me.
The moment I stepped inside, the atmosphere seemed to freeze over. I must have been radiating a more murderous aura than usual because of my bad mood.
Good thoughts, nice thoughts, happy thoughts.
The others hadn't done anything wrong, even if it was Marius. I recalled the memory of delicious food I had eaten and the nights I had spent with my master.
Heh. Ah, that went a little too far.
Ahem. Too vulgar. Still, the anger-subduing energy must have thinned, because the atmosphere seemed to relax a fraction.
"What's this about?"
I glared at Marius as I spoke.
"Why don't you sit down first."
He looked at me with clear displeasure. Strangely, the guy didn't seem affected by the curse at all.
He doesn't look that strong.
Someone on Uncle Guillermo's level might appear completely unaffected, but there was no way this guy was at that level. He must have done something. Or maybe his senses were too dull to feel it?
I'll think about that later.
Why had this annoying bastard called me? Well, it would be revealed soon enough.
"Everyone. An unfortunate incident has occurred during this class assignment test."
Everyone my ass. Where did he pick that up? Anyway, his words were surprising enough that the room began to buzz.
"Who was in charge of Zone E?"
He glared at me as he spoke.
Good grief, the audacity. "It's me."
What, again, why—damn it.