Translator: Nox

Chapter 48

Alice hardened her face and stepped towards Bread. She spoke in a stiff tone.

“Apologize for the insulting remarks you made to Fatima, right now.”

“Who are you again? How dare you interrupt your seniors? This bitch or that bitch, only those who don’t know their place gather together. Won’t you move?”

Bread glared and raised his hand. Alice looked at him with disgust.

“To be respected, superiors must show a superior attitude. I wonder how someone like you became a Military Cadet. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

“What? Is this girl crazy, talking back so sharply… Get lost instead of talking nonsense!”

Bread waved his hand irritably. Instead of being pushed away, Alice simply blocked his arm. Bread’s face, his arm blocked, turned red with anger, almost black. Fatima quietly stepped forward and tugged at Alice’s collar.

“Cadet Alice, it’s okay. Ignore him and let’s do our work.”

“I have no intention of avoiding injustice, Fatima.”

“It’s not that I’m scared, it’s that I’m disgusted. Let’s go.”

“You bitches!”

Bread finally exploded at the words Alice and Fatima exchanged right in front of him. He was so angry that he tried to draw his sword. But his hand, gripping the sword hilt, couldn’t move. Eki, who had approached unnoticed, was pressing down on Bread’s sword hilt.

“Senior. It’s been a while, and you’re still the same.”

Eki, standing close to him, spoke quietly.

“I clearly told you to watch your mouth.”

“You…!”

Bread gritted his teeth and put strength into the hand gripping the hilt. But he couldn’t overcome the force of the small hand wearing the lace glove. The sword only trembled, unable to come out of its sheath. Bread’s club members nearby saw the scene and burst into laughter.

“Hey, hey, Bread, even if you’re considerate of a lady, there’s no need to put on such a show, is there?”

“He’s not really too weak to draw it, is he?”

“Do you like ladies?”

“Seeing a woman in a skirt for the first time in a Military Academy full of guys, he must be going crazy. Leave him alone.”

Crude words were exchanged. Baraha had said there was a club full of idiots. Just when his head was aching with the complicated situation and realization, seeing such pathetic and simple guys made him laugh, even feel refreshed. Eki twisted up the corner of her lips.

“What are you going to do with the sword? Don’t you remember what I told you before? You could be expelled if you draw your sword wrongly.”

She whispered to Bread, who was struggling to draw his sword. Bread glared at her with fierce eyes. Eki smiled brightly and suddenly let go.

Then the sword was drawn forcefully. It was such a ridiculous sight that laughter erupted among the surrounding Cadets. Bread pointed the sword at Eki.

“You, you…”

The tip of the sword trembled. Behind Eki, Alice drew her sword. Fatima groaned. Eki spoke with a smiling face.

“Has the wound you got from me last time healed? Seeing you act like this, it seems you’ve forgotten my warning.”

“Stepped on…?”

“What, did they fight before?”

“Bread, did you lose to a lady?”

Bread’s club members mocked her words. Although public opinion within the Military Academy had long since turned, they were a minority who didn’t acknowledge Ekinesia’s skills. They even said that the results of the freshman Ranking match, not the overall Ranking match, were nothing special.

At the ridicule of his club members, Bread shouted with a reddened face.

“Lose my ass, that bitch cowardly hit me from behind, damn it!”

“Oh my, would you like to do it properly then?”

Eki retorted as if she had been waiting for it. And then she took off the glove on her left hand and threw it at Bread’s feet.

“I formally challenge you to a duel, Bread… I’m sorry, I forgot your last name. It doesn’t seem worth remembering. Anyway, Senior Bread. If I win, kneel down and apologize to Fatima.”

He had walked right into it when she was already feeling troubled. She could give a warning and relieve some stress. Bread’s complexion paled as if Eki’s feelings were showing on her face. He was soon ashamed that he was scared, so he raised his voice even louder.

“Ha, look at the way you talk to your senior? I accept the duel. I’ll correct your manners right here, you arrogant bitch. If I win, you’ll be my slave for three days. I’ll teach you how to treat your superiors properly.”

The condition he offered was dirty. Murmurs spread among the other Cadets watching near the training ground. Before a flustered Fatima could stop her, Eki nodded.

“Do as you please. Who’s the witness?”

“This guy.”

Bread pointed to one of the club members next to him. It wasn’t a fair witness, but again, Eki didn’t hesitate to answer. She raised the cheap sword she had bought after abandoning it during the Monster subjugation and replied.

“Okay. Shall we start then?”

The hastily appointed witness came to the center between them. The declaration of the duel was recited. Cadets crowded towards the training ground to see even a little closer.

And beyond those Cadets, Rosalyn Princess Diasante, with her red hair neatly twisted up, appeared. Dressed in a perfect lady’s attire like Ekinesia, she approached the training ground with a leisurely stroll, but with a firm purpose.

“…May mercy and tolerance be with the victor, submission and humility with the defeated, and may honor and justice dwell in the sword. Arse Sebatiel.”

In a formal duel, after the declaration, they greet each other, and the witness places the swords between them before removing them, starting with the pre-arranged side, usually the challenger’s first attack.

Bread greeted. Standing with his heels together, he raised his sword, lightly kissed the guard, and lowered the tip. It was in accordance with the Imperial Knight’s etiquette, but there was no elegant feeling like when Alice did it, due to his angry, mocking expression and contemptuous attitude.

Ekinesia held the hem of her dress and performed a lady’s greeting, bending and straightening her knees.

One of Bread’s club members whistled mockingly. But the surrounding Cadets no longer showed an uncomfortable reaction to her greeting like before. They had become accustomed to her eccentricities in the meantime. They were more interested in the swordsmanship Eki would display.

“You said you hadn’t seen her before, right? Watch closely, it’ll be helpful just to see it.”

“Is she that good?”

“In terms of swordsmanship alone, she seemed like she wouldn’t lose to the Knights. During the freshman Ranking match, it ended quickly except for Alice Winterbell, so we couldn’t see it properly, but I hope we can see it properly this time.”

Rosalyn Diasante, who had arrived at the evergreen fence of the training ground, heard the Cadets whispering right in front of her. She quietly rolled her light green eyes, then moved her steps little by little to secure a spot where she could see the inside well.

The Cadets, who were distracted by the inside of the training ground, didn’t realize that the Princess, rumored to be the commander’s fiancée, was behind them.

The duel began. Bread disregarded etiquette and launched a preemptive strike. Ekinesia avoided his attack simply by slightly twisting her upper body. Bread’s sword slipped through the fluttering lace and cut through the air. As the attack missed, flaws were exposed throughout his body.

Ekinesia’s sword rushed into one of the flaws in an instant. The sword was thrust towards his eyes. Trying to block it, his sword was passing her and cutting through the air, and it was too fast to dodge.

Bread closed his eyes without realizing it. Then her sword changed direction and playfully cut only the very end of his hair next to his temple.

“Wow, did you see that?”

“To stab the sword at that speed and change the target before it touches. How?”

“Her elbow didn’t move at all. It’s the snap of her wrist.”

“No, it’s from the shoulder. If you turn the direction with only the wrist, the tip of the sword will shake. The elbow remains the same to maintain speed and power.”

Everyone in this place, except for Rosalyn Diasante, was a Military Cadet of Ajenka. They were dissecting the duel in front of them as if they were debating. Princess Diasante stood in the shade of the evergreen tree, her eyes fixed on Ekinesia, listening intently to the surrounding stories.

Some of Bread’s cut hair fluttered down. Bread realized he had closed his eyes and his face turned red. Eki smiled. It was a smile that seemed to ask if he was scared.

Bread, realizing what her expression meant, stepped forward with a reddened face and swung his sword. A heavy blow. The sound of cutting through the wind.

Ekinesia simply moved one step to get out of that range very easily, and as soon as Bread’s sword passed close, she came back in again.

The hem of her dress fluttered and swayed with the movement, and a white lace petticoat was slightly visible underneath. Feet in blue satin shoes stepped lightly. The movement of retreating and returning was light and even felt rhythmic, making it seem like she was waltzing.

The sword was extended with a hand movement like presenting a fan. Unlike her gentle attitude, her blade savagely lunged at her opponent. Bread, whose upper body was empty due to swinging the sword with a large motion, had no way to block it this time either.

At the moment when he thought he would be stabbed without fail, Eki’s sword playfully cut only Bread’s collar as before. The shirt flap of the front was cut and opened. Not a single wound remained on the skin visible through the opened flap.

“Wow… She accurately cut only the collar. It’s not a loose shirt, but a tight one.”

“Isn’t it just a coincidence?”

“Idiot, look ahead. She just did the same thing to his stomach. Without even scratching the skin.”

“That’s creepy. Can she control that?”

“She seems to be able to. A senior who went on a subjugation said she’s a monster, and she really is.”

Rosalyn Diasante was ignorant of swords. So, she realized how amazing the skill Ekinesia was showing was only after hearing the Cadets talking.

But even for her, who knew nothing, one thing was certain. Ekinesia Roaz’s appearance wielding a sword was very beautiful.

To her, who only thought of sweat and dirt when it came to sparring or duels, Ekinesia’s duel felt like a scene from a ballroom.

‘Hmm…’

Rosalyn became more and more focused. She crossed her arms and looked ahead. She admired Ekinesia’s sword like she admired a work of art, just like when she looked at Yuriene.

The duel flowed in a way that was not enough to be described as one-sided. It didn’t take long for Bread’s face, which had been filled with anger at the beginning, to change to shame, then to a denial of reality, and finally to be filled with fear.