Chapter 6 - A Win is a Win

"M-Maid?!"

Ishia stumbled back, covering her face with her arm. She made an incredulous expression, then cleared her throat once or twice before pointing at me.

"Do, do you know who I am?"

I nodded vaguely. I know. I know well. Daughter of the Magic Association President. A prodigy in dark magic. A raw gem who will grow into a great magician in the future.

I probably know you better than you think.

"....."

As I nodded, Ishia seemed to be thinking deeply about something, putting her hand on her chin and grunting.

Probably in her head right now:

— M-Maid? The one I know? No way? It can't be?

— No, no, even if it is, I just need to win, right? There's no way I'd lose to such trash.

— If I win, I'll clean up the trash, as the daughter of the Magic Association President, I need to prevent someone like this from becoming a hero...

Her thoughts are probably going something like that. There's no premise of her losing anywhere.

That's because Ishia is a magician born with the greatest talent on earth. To the extent that she's never experienced defeat before. In fact, her first defeat is in her fight with Kim Taehyun.

"Alright. But don't think you can weasel out of dropping out. Our association will make sure of it."

That's a bit... How did you know I was planning to weasel out if I lost? Did you use mind reading? What about my plan to end it like a shonen manga by saying something like "My spirit is still unbroken" after losing?

"S-Sure. Haha."

I couldn't say "Cancel—!!" now after saying that, so I reluctantly nodded.

If I win, it's paradise; if I lose, it's hell. Well, even if I win, it's not exactly paradise.

The sword handle became damp with cold sweat. The sword might slip due to my already lacking grip strength.

"Are you done talking? If you're ready, go to your positions."

At Shinkiha's words, I walked to a spot a little away from Ishia. The sweat wouldn't stop.

Calm down, me. Take deep breaths. It's Lamaze breathing. Ha ha hoo. Ha ha hoo.

"That's not the breathing method you're supposed to do~ Are you an idiot?"

Ignoring the damn blonde's words from outside, I composed myself with deep breaths. Maybe it was just my imagination, but feeling my body become calmer, I thought about how to win.

There's no strategy, but there is a gambling move. It's my unique magic 「Magic Eye」 that I drew and Ishia's habit.

Ishia's first attack is a grace attack.

A sample attack thrown to be dodged, a showy magic to show the gap between herself and her opponent.

It's arrogance stemming from her backing and innate talent, but right now, that attack is crucial.

It's simple. I'll use the strike she throws.

How to use it—

"Begin!"

Before my thoughts could finish, at Shinkiha's voice that rang out, magic power began to concentrate in Ishia's hand.

"Darkness."

Just one word. An extremely short first verse chant, without even drawing a magic circle. Nevertheless, the orb of darkness that came from her hand was of a size that couldn't be ignored.

A size that could easily swallow three adult men.

The orb flew towards me. As expected, it was slow according to her habit. Extremely slow.

The speed of a child who just learned to walk. Slow enough to dodge by walking.

Looking at Ishia who deployed the magic, she's watching this way with her arms crossed. She's not thinking of deploying any other magic, just looking this way with an arrogant face.

With an expression like [Let's see if you can dodge], it annoyed me as much as Raphael. Who added such a setting? Even though it was me, I didn't think any further and gripped the sword I was holding tightly.

[Entering combat stance, unique magic 「Magic Eye」 activates.]

Along with the blue window appearing in mid-air, my vision changes dramatically.

Once again, the blue thing, no, mana, undulates. Some undulate, some stop and rotate, and some draw arcs.

In this scenery where you can't find any rules no matter how hard you look, only the orb made of magic power has a rule. Mana revolves around a certain point in the orb.

"Let's do this."

I roughly understood. The goblin I cut during the physical examination. The hologram created by magical engineering, in other words, magic.

It was the same. Mana rotated around a point. And when I touched the flow, it disappeared.

What can be inferred from this is that when you touch the blue thing (mana), the magic disappears.

It's not certain. That's why it's a gamble.

But gambling is better than apologizing to Raphael.

I lowered my head and looked down at my body. Trembling arms and legs, palms that won't stop sweating like a waterfall, a sword too heavy to lift.

I have to cut that orb with this damn body.

The orb approaches. It approaches slowly, but with each approach, the pressure feels like it might crush me.

For an ordinary student, thanks to the magic resistance of the combat uniform and their own magic power, it would end with just minor injuries, but for me, if I get hit by that orb, it's instant death. It's not an exaggeration to say it's the end of someone without magic power.

That's why I was even more tense.

"Calm down."

Calm down, me. Stop. Arms and legs. Stop flowing, waterfall.

It's a simple thing. You just need to bring the sword to an orb moving at the speed of a child walking.

Then the magic will disappear and. Attack while Ishia is surprised. There's nothing difficult about it. Even an elementary school student could do it.

Ha ha hoo. Ha ha hoo. I took deep breaths and waited for the orb.

I hear Ishia clicking her tongue as if I made a stupid choice, and Raphael muttering something like "This idiot doesn't understand even when told."

The orb comes even closer. I adjusted my grip on the sword.

Drawing on all my strength, even strength I don't have, even my milk-drinking strength, I lifted the sword above my waist. Even though only a few seconds had passed, my arms were trembling.

"Here I go."

I charged towards the orb with momentum—

And tripped over my own legs and fell.

＊＊＊

People are bound to have strange experiences as they live.

For example, saying "I feel good today, I think I'll pick up 50,000 won~" and then Shin Saimdang greets you right in front of you.

Or suddenly feeling a chill and stopping, and a bird dropping falls a step in front of you.

Those kinds of experiences. I'm having one of those in real-time right now.

Probably because of the skill, but anyway, I'm having one.

[Conditions met, skill 「Heaven's Blessing(EX)」 activates.]

Along with the blue window, my vision shakes violently. The sword slips out of my already slippery hand and flies away.

What kind of miracle is this! I almost shouted, but my mouth closed at the sight before me.

The sword flies. Very naturally, the sword that touched the orb touched the visible blue thing. Eventually, the flowing mana reversed, and the magic disappeared.

"Huh?"

That's not the end. My body, which was about to fall with a thud, very naturally started to roll. One rotation, two rotations, three rotations.

In the nauseating vision that was shaking wildly, when I came to my senses, what was in front of me was.

A black-haired beauty.

Ishia with a surprised expression. I reached out my arm to try to stop. It was a struggle to prevent a collision accident. But it was rather poison.

My pose changes naturally. I could tell this without even looking.

My hand goes up. A pose with one knee on the ground.

Oh. To put it simply.

It's an uppercut pose. The kinetic energy from rolling gives strength to the pose on its own. My outstretched hand rises up.

Thwack─

With a crisp sound, my fist hit Ishia's chin. What's commonly called a lucky punch. The attack that hit the chin precisely.

Even my weak punch can shake the brain and knock someone out. By the way, I just learned this today.

Ishia, who was hit in the chin by me, fell down like a wooden doll collapsing.

"Huh?"

My surprised voice.

"Huuuh?"

Raphael's even more surprised voice.

"Huuuuuuh??"

Shinkiha's even more surprised voice.

"Huuuuuuuuuh?!"

And the shout of the class students watching me, who were the most surprised, rang in my ears.

I relaxed my pose, looking at Ishia who had fallen with her eyes rolled back.

Well, it wasn't according to plan, right? It was clearly because of the skill, right? There was no will of my own involved at all, right?

"I won."

A win is a win, right?

Life doesn't always go according to plan, they say.

＊＊＊

"H-H-How did you do that?!"

Raphael grabbed my arm as I returned to my seat and asked. I, who had become quite arrogant, didn't even look at her and raised my head high.

"Well, it's the power I've been hiding all along. Do you know about combat compressed muscles? I used that here. Haha. Be in awe of me! The rebellion of the 1028th rank, the pleasant rebellion of the last place!!"

Raphael responded to my words with an "Ooh!" and looked at my body. She seems to be thinking something like 'So this is combat compressed muscles...', but sorry. There's no such thing.

I opened my ears while receiving Raphael's gaze, her eyes shining brightly. I could hear the surrounding students whispering about me.

It would be like that, I guess. The 1028th rank beating a higher rank, it must be an unprecedented event. What rank was Ishia again? 12th? It must have been around that.

I was happily listening to those stories, but.

— How could he knock her out? That's too much.

— He barely won because Ishia went easy on him. That attack just now was clearly a lucky punch, no matter how you look at it.

— Winning by luck and being so proud, what's so good about that?

"..."

I immediately closed my ears. There's a saying that luck is also a skill. But was the difference in rank too big? It seems these guys can't believe the fact that Ishia was defeated.

I'd react the same way. I was also disliked a bit before this fight.

"Pfft."

"..."

And the one who played a big part in making me disliked is avoiding my gaze. Her shoulders are shaking and her face is turned completely the other way, you're trying not to laugh right now, aren't you?

"Hey."

"Yes? Hehe, sniff. Ah, sniff, yes."

"Never mind. Forget it."

After that, I continued to listen to the words coming in with one ear and let them go, and Raphael, who had been holding it in, finally burst into laughter and rolled on the floor holding her stomach.

Eventually, as Raphael's turn came and she got up on the ring, she said something like "Watch the power of an angel!"

I tried to watch the self-proclaimed highest-ranking angel's skills, but the result was, well.

"I surrender!!!!"

That's how it went.

＊＊＊

Ishia opened her eyes.

What she saw when she opened her eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling. No, it was the infirmary ceiling. As she got up, touching her still dizzy head and still aching chin, a person presumed to be the school nurse came into view.

"There's nothing serious except for mild concussion symptoms. Even if it's a friendly match, you should be careful. I've contacted your parents too."

"Ah. Yes. Thank you."

Ishia answered in a daze. Because she still didn't fully understand her situation.

But memories don't disappear so easily.

Slowly, and gradually, the memories from earlier returned. Her mind, which seemed to be somewhere else, quickly came back.

"Ah."

At first, it was a small sigh. But as the memories became clearer, her complexion turned pale, and her mouth gradually opened.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt somewhere? Does your head hurt?"

The school nurse beside her asked in panic, but Ishia shook her head. Her head did hurt. Like it was about to split. But the cause wasn't the chin she was hit on earlier.

"Ah!!!!!"

As the memories fully returned, a scream escaped from Ishia's mouth. A scream was the least of it. She grabbed her head and shook it violently up and down.

It's embarrassing. It's too embarrassing. If there was a mouse hole, she wanted to hide in it right now. Hide and never come out.

"What's wrong? Does your head hurt a lot? Should we go to the hospital?"

"No! I'm fine! Please let me be alone!!"

When she added "Please!!", the school nurse left, drawing the curtain with a worried face. Saying "You must tell me if it hurts" as she left. She was an example of a good school nurse, but that wasn't important to Ishia right now.

She lost. It wasn't just a loss. She lost in a very unsightly manner.

Not to someone skilled in the top 10 ranks, but to a small fry outside the top 1000 ranks, and moreover, to a trash who didn't even have the mindset of a hero— she was knocked out.

Ishia remembered the moment she was knocked out.

He couldn't even hold the sword properly. Even when he held it, his hands were trembling, and he was so clumsy that he tripped over his own legs.

However, the acrobatics he showed while falling was indescribable.

He threw the sword while falling. The thrown sword hit the magic and the magic dissipated, and then he rolled several times, rushed at her, and knocked her out with an uppercut precisely to the chin.

It was a technique that no ordinary person could possibly do. He even made her let her guard down through acting.

It was a perfect defeat. But it was shameful. The fact that she lost without being able to do anything because she looked down on her opponent and let her guard down, the fact that she lost to someone outside the top 1000 ranks, the fact that she was knocked out by just one punch was too humiliating.

She hoped it hadn't reached other people's ears, but considering Ishia's position, the rumor had probably already spread throughout the school.

Especially if it had reached her father's ears, Ishia felt like she could hang herself right now.

"Lee Sunghoon."

She called the hateful name, but since it was a perfect defeat, she didn't have anything particular to say to him.

"...ng"

Just as she was thinking about her gloomy school life ahead while sobbing.

An infuriating voice played in her head.

— If you lose, become my maid.

"Ah."

Ishia tore at her hair. In her head, not only the infuriating voice but also that man's annoying expression came to mind.

— If you lose, become my maid-d-d-d...

The voice echoing in her head and the face laughing infuriatingly.

"Ah!!!!!!!!!!!"

Ishia screamed while tearing at her hair so hard that her long straight hair might all come out.

Her already ruined school life had been thrown into the gutter. If this reaches father's ears, I—

"What's wrong?! We should go to the hospital after all!!"

"Please!!!"

Ishia's screams didn't stop until the representative sent by her father arrived. In fact, they didn't stop even after he arrived.