Chapter 191
While Vargan was chatting with Heigel…
Alicia was still sparring with Arterion at the Training Ground.
Just a moment ago, Arha had interrupted their flow, but now they were back on track… until a new distraction loomed nearby.
“This is annoying.”
Arterion couldn’t help but notice Gaba, who was staring intently at Alicia from a corner.
In his hand, Gaba held a single white rose, probably found from who knows where.
For some reason, seeing that made Arterion wish Arha was around instead.
Although Arha had wandered off to find something else to occupy her attention.
“They’re staying here for three more days, huh?”
He heard that aside from the Chancellor and a few Professors, the Student Council and Staff Members of Rikeion weren’t leaving just yet. They had matters to discuss beyond just the Final Exam.
“……”
Alicia too seemed unable to ignore Gaba completely, trying to focus yet occasionally aware of him.
As he detected a tremor in his sword that needed to be steady, Arterion spoke up.
“Your presence is disrupting my training, so why don’t you go somewhere else?”
For some reason, his tone came off as rather irritable.
Gaba raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased with Arterion’s comment.
“Who’s been the real nuisance since the beginning? Just because you’re a Prince, does that give you the right to monopolize beautiful women?”
Gaba took a step closer, gently waving the white rose with a sly grin.
His already sharp gaze narrowed even further.
Arterion sheathed his sword with a soft whoosh, the Golden Knight’s fluidity making no sound at all.
With calm eyes, his voice flowed steadily but held a weight to it.
“What was your intent in saying that?”
“Intent? Well… I just want some time alone with the beautiful flower that is Alicia, but I can’t because of someone. Is that the answer you wanted to hear?”
Gaba chuckled lightly. They were now so close that just a couple more steps would bring him face-to-face with Alicia.
As Arterion frowned instead of responding, Gaba continued.
“Isn’t it a bit too much for someone who isn’t even the master, like Vargan, to cling on for so long? If it’s a servant’s relationship, I could understand, but I hear you two have nothing to do with each other. Or are you…?”
Standing right in front of Arterion, Gaba waved his hand as if to emphasize his words.
“Are you two in some kind of relationship?”
Despite being certain that wasn’t the case, Gaba provoked Arterion deliberately.
“…This is unpleasant.”
Arterion bit back, clearly irked.
Gaba was convinced he’d hit the nail on the head regarding Arterion’s feelings for Alicia.
‘It’s already a headache being tied to the Schugenhartz family, but to think I’d have a Prince as a competitor! I suppose beautiful flowers attract a swarm of bees.’
Gaba internally grimaced but didn’t let it show. Instead, he pushed back harder.
Soon enough, wouldn’t there be a perfect opportunity to flaunt his skills?
“Unpleasant? What are you going to do about it? Sorry, but unlike Arha, I’m not planning on throwing a tantrum and fighting.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The Final Exam. It’s a tournament format, right? In other words, if you survive until the end, you’ll get to meet again eventually, won’t you?”
“Right. The format is a tournament. In other words, if you survive until the end, it means you’ll meet again someday, right?”
Gaba threw out the bait, and Arterion didn’t back down either. It was a battle of wills with no room for compromise.
Gaba pulled out a pair of white gloves from under his coat, slipped one onto his hand, and lightly jabbed Arterion in the chest with his fist.
Normally, one would throw down the gloves to signal a duel, but Arterion easily understood the intention was a challenge.
Gaba’s somewhat rude behavior was to gauge Arterion’s cumbersome reaction and create this situation.
“Arterion, I challenge you to a duel. Let’s see who truly deserves to be with Lady Alicia!”
“…….”
Arterion didn’t provide a suitable response, but his expression was endlessly serious.
Without needing to express it, it was clear that Arterion also had the will to compete.
Gaba grinned with confidence.
As a martial artist, he always shined in duels, especially one-on-one matches. He had no doubts that he wouldn’t back down even against a prince.
“Wait, how did the conversation turn to this? I don’t understand what’s happening right now…!”
“Beautiful one, worry not. This is merely a battle of pride between males. I assure you, I won’t create a situation for you to fret about.”
“Uh? Gaba, why is Arterion not saying anything… Ah!”
Alicia was taken aback by Gaba’s sudden action, and so was Arterion.
Gaba knelt down, took Alicia’s delicate hand, and kissed the back of it.
Alicia’s eyes widened in surprise at this unprecedented event, while Gaba smoothly offered her a single rose and stood back up.
Then, he conveyed his feelings without distortion.
“Alicia, I have fallen for you as if drawn by fate. I know my actions may seem hasty, but I cannot live contrary to my heart.”
“…Gaba.”
“You don’t need to say anything now. On the day I stand before you with confidence, then I shall hear your answer.”
“…….”
With those words, Gaba stepped back.
Left behind in the training ground was a stunned Alicia and a single white rose.
And.
“…….”
Silently, deeply enraged was the Golden Knight, Arterion.
*
In the artificial forest set up in the Academia.
On one side, Liam and Kaiman were training.
Emily had brought their early dinner and laid out a picnic mat. Initially, she only prepared food for Liam, but felt it was a bit unfair, so made some for Kaiman too.
“Tada!”
Emily proudly opened the cover of the basket.
Sandwiches with sliced bread, various vegetables, and thin ham were neatly cut and ready to eat.
Liam praised her with an encouraging tone.
“Oh, that looks delicious!”
“Right? Even I think this one turned out especially well.”
“But what’s gotten into you to start preparing lunch recently?”
“Uh? Oh, just… because?”
Emily tried to brush it off.
She felt embarrassed to admit she was motivated after seeing Alicia diligently working on cooking for Vargan.
“Hurry and try it, Liam!”
Emily picked up a sandwich and handed it to Liam.
Liam accepted it gratefully. A subtle atmosphere and laughter flowed between them.
Meanwhile, Kaiman was grumbling.
“Seriously. What’s the big deal about a bunch of bread scraps? It doesn’t seem that hard to me.”
He voiced his discontent, thinking Emily had interrupted their training.
“…What did you just say? I came all the way here to make sandwiches for you, and you call it bread scraps?”
“I’d rather swing my sword one more time instead of wasting time making those. Haven’t you been surpassed recently? If you’re supposed to be a leader, shouldn’t you work harder instead of being so slow to improve?”
“I’m just doing this in my spare time! You’re babbling without knowing anything!”
“Spare time? Sure seems like there’s a lot of time to waste on your level.”
Emily and Kaiman bickered.
Kaiman, who only thought about fighting strong opponents and getting stronger, couldn’t understand Emily at all.
‘What kind of guts does she have acting like that when she doesn’t have talent like Alicia….’
“Why are you doing that…?”
Moreover, Kaiman, who couldn’t relate at all to lukewarm emotions like romance, had his scarred eyebrows stiffly raised.
In a bid to prevent their argument from escalating, Liam quickly threw out a new topic.
“Uh, by the way, Kaiman. I’ve noticed the training intensity has been really ramped up lately. Is there a special reason for that?”
“Hyung, what are you talking about? Of course, it’s because of the final exams.”
Fortunately, Kaiman picked up on Liam’s topic and plopped down on the floor to continue speaking.
“My archenemy is coming for the final exam, so I have to prepare.”
“Archenemy?”
“You know, that guy named Finn who keeps trying to show off to the captain.”
“Oh… right, he said he would come back to take the final exam even though he’s on leave?”
Liam didn’t know much about Finn.
He couldn’t even remember if he was mentioned in the novels he read since he was just a forgettable side character.
All he knew was that he was in the same group as Vargan during the first semester and had entered school as the bottom of the class.
And that he left somewhere to gain some talent was about the extent of his knowledge.
Aside from struggling in the Class Battle, Finn really didn’t stand out in class.
As Liam was pondering about Finn, Kaiman spoke up with a grumbling tone.
“I don’t know if he’s already dead, but if he’s alive, he must have gotten pretty strong, right? I can’t risk losing to someone like him.”
“…Seems like you care about Finn a lot?”
“Caring? No way! It’s just a worst-case scenario. Just a worst-case scenario.”
Kaiman snapped as he reached for the basket and randomly grabbed sandwiches to devour.
He was eating so rapidly that Emily, who was dumbfounded by the sight, finished all the food before she could even get angry.
“Now I’m a bit full. Liam, just finish that one piece you’re holding and let’s resume training…”
“Hey—! You idiot!”
Emily’s eyes were watery from rage. She grabbed his collar and shook him, but Kaiman just calmly patted his belly, claiming it was a good meal.
“It was quite tasty.”
“I’m going to kill you!”
“Calm down, Emily! Look, there’s still one piece left!”
Liam hurriedly drew attention, taking a big bite of the bread.
Mumbling as if this was the most delicious food in the world, he exaggeratedly reacted.
“Wow, this is so delicious! Thank you so much, Emily! Your cooking suits my taste the best…!”
Surprisingly, Emily’s grip began to loosen as another emotion, a rosy hue, started to rise up.
“Really…?”
“Of course! Why would I lie?”
“……”
Emily completely released her grip on Kaiman.
Her head lowered slightly, and her embarrassed right foot shyly kicked the ground with the tip of her shoe.
“Well, that’s a relief.”
“Geez.”
Kaiman, rubbing his neck, wasn’t too thrilled, but he didn’t feel the need to say more.
Just as it seemed like the brewing conflict was about to wrap up peacefully, Arha appeared.
“You’re Liam, right?”
Everyone was caught off guard by her sudden entrance, but Liam quickly assessed the situation and replied calmly.
“Yeah, I’m Liam. But why….”
“Right, that’s you! But… strange. I don’t feel anything at all.”
Arha circled around Liam, examining him closely. She even got up close to sniff him, reacting as if something wasn’t quite right.
“Are you really Liam? Or is there another person with the same name?”
Intrigued by the Academia itself, Arha evaded Edina’s interference and wandered around gathering information.
Her main focus was on talent and skill.
Thanks to her prying around, she had a general idea of who had shown outstanding achievements and who was remarkable in various fields.
When she asked about talent, most mentioned Alicia and Vargan, but Liam’s name also came up quite frequently.
That was why Arha sought out Liam.
Kaiman, making his fierce impression even fiercer, spoke up.
“What kind of nonsense is this, showing up out of nowhere?”
“Hmm. This rumor is completely wrong. Your talent is at a trash level.”
“Excuse me, are you even listening to me?”
“At least yours is slightly better. But still, it’s all about the same.”
“I’m here, but there.”
Turning her gaze to Kaiman, Arha let out a sigh filled with disappointment.
Kaiman, heated by her blatant disregard, drew his sword.
“You must think you have the right to say something like that? Fine. Let’s see what you’re made of!”
“Are you challenging me? I like fighting strong opponents, but… I’m not really interested in fighting weaklings.”
“You’ll find out as we trade blows!”
Kaiman explosively drew out his mana and coated his sword with his solidly trained aura.
His achievements had significantly increased compared to before entering the Arbol Frutal.
Every day exchanging blows with Liam had spurred rapid growth.
Before swinging his sword, Kaiman observed Arha’s reaction one last time, aware that she would respond if he extended his sword.
Then there was no hesitating. After all, the opponent wasn’t just all talk.
——Swish!
Kaiman swung his sword.
The movements of his muscles, accustomed through long practice, provided optimal strength.
Liam tried to block it. He belatedly reached for his sword, but the situation had already escalated to a critical point.
And the result was in.
“Ugh…!”
It cruelly yet accurately reflected the situation.
Kaiman swung his sword, but right before it could make contact, he was flung back in the opposite direction. His instinct kicked in as he tried to land on the ground.
Suddenly, a tremendous shock hit his abdomen.
Ultimately, he found himself kneeling, coughing and trying to think.
‘Was that… magic? I’ve never seen this kind before…! What just happened to me?’
The one affected couldn’t comprehend the phenomenon at all.
Meanwhile, Liam had captured the scene unfolding before him and knew why.
‘Arha’s specialty—Counter Magic.’
Not just a simple reflection, but a magic that could ‘designate the damage received’ at a ‘desired place’ within a ‘specified time.’
It possessed an incredibly high degree of uniqueness and peculiar strength, much like Erica’s Warp Magic.
Furthermore, the choice of the manifested form of power was Arha’s prerogative.
This time, she seemed to have replaced the characteristic power of Kaiman’s sword with a spell. A truly bizarre and threatening magic.
Feeling the tension, Liam swallowed hard while Arha spat out her boredom.
“Loser.”
“Ugh….”
“He handled it quite well… It seems there aren’t many like that even at the Academia.”
Arha recalled Vargan, who had once thrown a punch at her.
Though hastily formed and lacking in completion, he had definitely attempted Counter Magic.
But it seemed he had anticipated it and mostly nullified the attack while still landing a hit.
Her cheeks still tingled.
Arha rubbed her cheek and gazed up at the sky.
“Will I actually make it through the final exam?”
Soon, her lips curled into a grin as she expressed her anticipation.
“This will be fun.”
*
That night.
Vargan headed towards the dormitory with Erica.
On the way, he bumped into Alicia, who had just finished training with Arterion. She was holding a single white rose.
Vargan snatched the flower and said, “Did you think I’d be happy to receive something like this?”
“N-No! That’s not it…!”
“Enough. You came with some silly thing just when an important moment is approaching.”
Vargan set the rose ablaze with fire.
Perhaps because it was a flower, it burned exceptionally well.
“Oh….”
“Let’s get inside already. We have 10 minutes left.”
Hurrying their steps, the two entered Vargan’s room. He was waiting for the right moment.
“Schugenharz….”
Erica looked worried, her eyes filled with anxiety. Vargan reassured her with comforting words and said the same to Alicia.
Tick-tock.
The second hand passed, and the minute hand followed.
The needles, busy moving, converged into place.
One unified needle heralded midnight.
“……”
Vargan’s sense of smell had become extremely acute. He could discern even the faintest scent of dust.
However, this heightened sense of smell led to a decline in his hearing.
The lips of the two women beside him moved, but the resulting sounds did not reach him.
The faint chirping of birds outside, the sound of a footstep taking a step forward.
All had vanished.
Silence.
Vargan’s world welcomed stillness.
