Chapter 40
I took a stance.
I lowered my body and spread my legs.
I circulated my mana, froze the ground, and slowed time.
All for one strike. One single thrust.
Ian, too, seemed ready; concentrated mana was trapped in his sword, swirling wildly.
Now it was only a matter of seeing who was stronger.
------!!!!!!
I charged.
I broke through the slowed time and rushed at him at a speed no one could catch.
Ian. I've said it before, but you're truly incredible.
I never thought you'd push me this far.
So I'll show you. Everything I've got.
The strike I'd spent years painstakingly perfecting, one that could pierce through anything.
My finishing move, my ultimate technique.
“Absolute Ice!”
…
El... no, Plia, is charging at me.
Good grief. Whitewolf? I never would've guessed.
Even after becoming a Swordmaster, all I'd done was barely reach the same starting line.
That's unfair.
The strangely blue hair vanished, revealing beautiful jet-black hair.
Good grief. She's ridiculously beautiful.
I can tell. You're giving this everything you've got.
You're trying to show me your limits.
At this point, I have no choice but to admit it.
That I'm in love with you.
So I can't lose.
I swing my sword with all my strength.
For the woman I love. To surpass you and protect you.
I detonate all the mana I've concentrated, increasing its power, then confine the explosion to a small area.
I concentrate even the mana explosion at a single point, multiplying its power several times over.
If I had to give it a name... yeah.
“Noah Break!”
…
The two attacks collided.
-KWA-AAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!!
An enormous explosion erupted as Plia's sword collided with Ian's.
Good grief. Those attacks are ridiculously powerful.
Even I, a Swordmaster, feel my knees weaken at that level of power.
That Plia... I can't even imitate an attack like that. How long is she going to keep believing she's the weakest one around...
Honestly, Plien did a terrible job training her.
And Ian's no slouch, either.
To awaken right there...
The wall to becoming a Swordmaster isn't one you can cross easily.
Countless people devote their entire lives to the sword and still can't cross it.
And he awakens during a spar like this...
The desire to surpass Plia? That's certainly part of it, but the bigger reason is...
‘Young, aren't they.’
Damn right. With resolve like that, it's definitely possible.
…
That was an absurd amount of power...
Without the protective magic barrier, the stands would've been wiped out, too.
Could I have stopped it?
‘Absolutely not. I wouldn't have lasted even a second.’
There's no way I could stop an attack at that level.
What a bunch of monsters.
What the hell is Ian doing, awakening right there? Awakening can't be that easy.
Well... I think I can guess why.
‘Hmph. After going this far, if you make El... no, Plia cry, I'll beat you to death.’
Still, it isn't so bad.
…
Ian's attack was powerful.
Noah Break, huh... What an incredible technique.
Concentrating mana into his sword, detonating it, then concentrating the explosion's force again to double its power...
If I hadn't gone all out, I'd have lost again.
But I'm not letting my guard down anymore.
I've let my guard down too many times, only to get my ass kicked by you.
“Aaaaaah!!!!”
“Haaaaah!!!!”
Squeeze out every last bit of strength! If I'm already at my limit, I'll push past it!
To beat Ian!
…
The clash of our full strength ended before long.
-Clang!
Both our swords shattered, unable to withstand the impact.
A strange silence fell.
Only the two of us remained where the violent storm had passed,
as if the world had stopped for an instant and every sound had vanished.
Fragments of swords drifted through the air.
They looked like starlight, trying to preserve this moment in its memory.
And then, Ian's body toppled over along with them.
“Heave-ho.”
I caught Ian as he pitched forward and held him in my arms.
“Are you okay?”
“…”
Is he unconscious? Well, he'd just awakened and pushed himself to the absolute limit.
It's been a long time since I went all out, too...
“T-the winner has been decided! The victory goes to contestant El... no, Plia Jegen Whitewolf!!”
-Waaaaah!
-She's a grand noble! So she was hiding her identity!
-So the rumors were true!
…Ah. How am I going to clean this up?
No matter how much I like the attention, I don't like it even in a situation like this.
My identity's been completely exposed, so...
Whatever.
More importantly, I focused on Ian in my arms.
He was sleeping peacefully, looking content.
He didn't seem to have any serious external injuries, but his internal injuries looked pretty bad.
I should take him to the infirmary.
As I carried Ian down from the dueling arena, someone who looked like a high-ranking cleric came hurrying over to me.
“Patient! Where's the patient?!”
“H-here.”
What? Why is he so desperate?
He looked like he was here to treat someone on the verge of death... Ah.
“You absorbed raw nature mana! Were you trying to kill yourself?!”
“No, well...”
It was dangerous, sure, but was there any need to put it so harshly?
It all worked out in the end, anyway.
A yellow light flowed from the cleric's hand, and he began healing Ian.
Judging by how quickly he was recovering, the cleric really was high-ranking.
The cleric was healing both the external and internal injuries quickly.
“Phew. I'm glad his internal injuries aren't as bad as I expected. Still, tell him to rest for a week.”
“Ah. Yes.”
“Oh, and congratulations on your victory. Well, I'll be off.”
The cleric said that and walked off again. What an interesting person.
…
When I returned to our seats with the sleeping Ian, Arin was waiting for us.
“Arin.”
“Aah! You fraud!”
“Huh?”
Fraud...?
“You hid the fact that you're a Swordmaster and that you're from the Whitewolf family, so you're a fraud!”
“Uh... I guess?”
“Apologize!”
“Sorry?”
…Is that right?
“So, El... no, Plia. There's something I want to ask you.”
“Hm?”
“We're still friends, right?”
Arin's face was slightly tense as she said that.
What? Was that what she was worried about?
Cute.
She was probably worried that, now that I'd revealed my identity, I'd cut ties with her, too.
Like I'd ever do that.
“Of course we're friends. Did you think I'd cast you aside? That would hurt a little...”
“Aah! Of course not! I only asked because I already knew!”
When I said that with a dejected expression, Arin hurriedly changed her tune.
Hehe. She's just so cute.
“I'm kidding.”
“Aah! You scared me! …More importantly, how long are you going to keep holding him?”
“Oh, right.”
I set Ian down and let him rest his head on my lap.
The floor would be uncomfortable to lie on.
“You...”
“Hm? What is it?”
“It's nothing. More importantly, I've only ever called you El, so suddenly calling you Plia doesn't come naturally.”
“You can keep calling me El, though.”
“Hmph. Forget it. I can't go around calling my friend by the wrong name.”
Oh, I'm touched.
I never thought she'd do so much for me.
“Arin...”
“Aah?! Don't hug me! I can't breathe!”
Hehe.
…
After spending a while playing around with Arin, the ranking competition had ended before I knew it.
The sun was setting, too.
“See you tomorrow, Plia!”
“Sure.”
Tomorrow was the weekend, though...
For the record, Ian still hadn't woken up.
I doubted he'd wake up until tomorrow...
First, I picked Ian up so I could head back to the dorm.
A princess carry... no, a prince carry?
Now that I was holding him like this, he might be kind of cute.
Anyway, I was about to head back to the dorm, but...
A problem came up.
‘Where is Ian's dorm...?’
The men's and women's dormitories were strictly separated, so I had no idea exactly where Ian's dorm was.
And the special dormitory shared by the second- and top-ranked students... wait.
Shared by the second- and top-ranked students?
‘Ian and... living together?!’
Living together!
Living with a man. And Ian, of all people!
…Wait, wait.
Take a deep breath, Plia.
Think about this rationally.
The fact that there's officially a dormitory shared by the second- and top-ranked students means it's an established rule...
I'm just going to share a space with Ian because of that rule, so... there's nothing wrong with...
‘There's no way there's nothing wrong with this!!!’
Ugh...
Of course, the special dormitory is huge, so we can have separate rooms.
Besides, I can refuse.
Even so...
The special dormitory has incredible facilities. Seriously incredible.
They're probably on par with the facilities at my family estate.
It'd be hard to give that up...
Right. It's not like we're sharing a studio apartment; if I think of it as living next door, it's not so bad, is it?
Yeah. That's right. I can't give up those luxurious facilities just because I'm a little embarrassed.
Besides, we've already slept in the same tent, so why worry about it now?
As I kept rationalizing to myself, I found myself inside my own dormitory.
…With Ian in tow.