TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 62
Lunchtime at the Academy Training Grounds.
The students, having finished their classes, moved toward the restaurant, talking about what had happened in today’s lessons.
The class content is difficult.
The Professor always spouts nonsense.
The students grumbled, saying the Professor had too high expectations of them.
Among them, a Group of Female Students was chatting with Bright Smiles about girlish topics.
-Senior Mikhail, wasn’t he so cool today?
-Exactly! When he was dueling with the Professor, it was evenly matched. And that moment! When he let out a Deep Sigh and wiped his sweat—how sexy was that? I got scolded by the Professor because I spaced out while staring.
-You were staring way too blatantly.
-Still, I met my Mikhail quota for today!
-Puhaha!
Mikhail quota.
It was a slang term among the female students, who would soothe their eyes, tired from looking at the burly male students of the Swordsmanship Department, by gazing at the handsome Mikhail.
“Sigh…”
Hanna let out a Deep Sigh as she watched those female students.
‘They should focus on their studies…’
Hanna couldn’t blend in with the group.
Hanna passed by the female students and walked toward the Training Grounds. She wanted to swing her sword more, even if it meant skipping her meal.
She wanted to improve her Swordsmanship even further, and Hanna, not wanting to waste meaningless time, was obsessed with practice.
‘I should boast to the Butler…’
Hanna’s goal had shifted in a strange direction.
Hanna was not sociable. She focused more on Swordsmanship than on friendships.
Even before meeting Ricardo, Hanna prioritized Swordsmanship over making friends. Furthermore, being the Youngest to awaken Aura had caused her peers to view her unfavorably.
It was something that always happened.
People being Jealous of those who excel.
Hanna didn’t pay much attention to such gazes.
Instead, she faced another problem.
‘This is driving me crazy. I keep thinking about him…!’
Lately, Hanna’s mind had been filled with thoughts of the Red-Haired Butler. Whether she was swinging her sword or attending class, she couldn’t concentrate because she kept remembering the Butler she had recently met.
-Why do you think you can’t beat Mikhail?
-Miss Hanna, you can do it.
The Butler’s unwavering Faith in her kept coming to her mind.
-Kyaa…! Ah~ I want to see Senior Mikhail again.
The female students were excited.
They were visibly thrilled after hearing the news that Mikhail had awakened Aura and saved them in a Dungeon.
Seeing their excitement, Hanna let out a Deep Sigh.
“Was I like that too…?”
As someone who had liked Mikhail in the past, Hanna didn’t feel pleased seeing their behavior.
Though she hadn’t gone to extremes like picking up a towel he dropped and deciding to cherish it forever, or feeling her heart pound just from seeing Senior Mikhail as the female students did, she had watched him closely from the sidelines.
It wasn’t a feeling of wanting to continue being connected.
She had looked at him with Eyes of Admiration, but Hanna felt she wasn’t much different from them.
‘Ugh…’
Hanna shuddered, her shoulders trembling as goosebumps rose at the thought of her past self.
“I should just practice.”
Because there was nothing better than practice to get rid of idle thoughts.
Hanna silently grabbed her sword and swung it in the deserted Training Grounds.
What would the Butler say if he saw her?
-What are you doing, not eating? You’re going to ruin your health… Isn’t everything we do just to survive? Come quickly. If you don’t, the Young Lady will scold you.
‘That’s what he would say.’
Hanna let out a small laugh but quickly shook her head as if snapping out of it.
‘What’s wrong with me? I’m thinking about him again…!’
Hanna found Ricardo, who persistently occupied her thoughts without permission, infuriating.
Holding her sword, Hanna sank into deep thought.
‘It can’t be love…’
It didn’t feel complete enough to call it love.
He was the one who had freed her from her Sealed Cage.
Wanting to repay his kindness through actions couldn’t be called love.
He had awakened her Aura and was the first person to stand up to her Father, The Empire’s Sole Knight Commander.
‘Benefactor’ would be the right word.
A Father who showed favoritism.
An Older Brother who Neglected her.
An Older Sister who acted like she didn’t exist.
The person who had freed her from the Sealed Cage she had lived in wasn’t Mikhail or the Professor, but the Butler she hadn’t even known.
That’s why he left such a big impression on her.
It felt different from the emotions of love.
Love… was an emotion that hindered her Swordsmanship.
Books described love as a feeling that made one’s heart flutter and tingle upon meeting someone.
A feeling of wanting to see them all the time and be by their side.
For Hanna, it was an emotion hard to grasp.
She wanted to see him every day, but that was because she wanted to repay his kindness. She wanted to stay by his side forever, but even that felt like a part of repaying his tremendous kindness.
For Hanna, who had no experience in relationships, the emotion of love was too difficult.
Her friends were enjoying their Academy lives in romantic hues, either with fiancés or boyfriends, but she was solely focused on Swordsmanship.
Approaching people warmly wasn’t in her nature.
Being blunt and preferring swinging a sword over hanging out, Hanna hadn’t shown interest in relationships.
While lost in meaningless thoughts, standing still in the Training Grounds—
“…Hanna.”
A familiar face appeared before her eyes.
A man with Silver Hair.
The most popular man at the Academy stood before her, holding a Practice Sword.
Hanna, startled by his unexpected appearance, spoke.
“Senior Mikhail.”
Mikhail stood before her, holding his sword.
Mikhail lightly raised his sword. Then he politely asked Hanna.
“Can we duel?”
A duel with Mikhail.
In the past, she would have trembled with excitement and stammered, “W-With me?” But now, the prospect of a duel with Mikhail didn’t bring her joy.
Excluding the Butler, there were also things like the awards ceremony and her confrontations with senior students during Student Council meetings.
She didn’t regret her actions. It was just that seeing his face now felt awkward.
Hanna held her sword with an awkward smile.
“Yes… it’s possible.”
Mikhail nodded and pushed off the ground.
With a “bang,” their Practice Swords clashed powerfully against each other.
Hanna’s sword, which prioritized speed.
Mikhail’s sword, which, though slower, emphasized precise form and full power.
They clashed quickly, but Hanna’s sword touched Mikhail’s Side first.
“Ugh…”
Mikhail furrowed his brows and twisted his body. Hanna’s sword narrowly missed.
Hanna didn’t give Mikhail any openings.
Once toward his neck.
Once toward his Thigh.
And once more toward the Side.
Hanna could clearly see the flaws in Mikhail’s technique. Swordsmanship that was neither focused on defense nor concentrated on attack—just ambiguous.
Hanna clicked her tongue.
‘In the past, this kind of swordsmanship looked impressive.’
It was Swordsmanship without any Killing Power.
Not aimed at Victory, but centered on Subjugation.
Hanna felt a sense of futility in Senior Mikhail’s Swordsmanship, which plainly reflected his considerate nature.
-You’re too focused on the basics. Low. High. Side. Even after ten strikes, my grandmother could predict the next move.
-Isn’t building from the basics what’s important?
-Basics are just that—basics.
The Butler, who had once crushed her pride in Swordsmanship.
Without going easy on her because she was a woman or hitting lightly, he knocked her down, helped her up, and knocked her down again until she found the right Swordsmanship for herself.
And.
-As long as I’m here, you won’t die.
She had even experienced battles where she fought for her life.
The Mikhail Hanna looked at now didn’t evoke such feelings. He wielded a half-hearted Swordsmanship as if waiting for a Hero to appear, using nothing but passive and unassertive techniques, which only bored her.
Mikhail drew upon his Aura.
Mikhail’s golden Aura shimmered faintly like a mirage.
“…”
It was clumsy.
Her Past Self might have been like that, but Senior Mikhail’s Aura neither looked intimidating nor powerful.
Hanna frowned and spoke to Mikhail, feeling like he was sparing his opponent rather than fighting to the fullest.
“Senior, aren’t you going to take this seriously?”
She didn’t want to continue. She had thought that awakening his Aura would make him a decent sparring partner, but….
This wasn’t even the Stick of Love.
Disappointed by Mikhail’s lackluster display, Hanna lowered her sword and spoke.
“I’m done.”
“What…?”
“What are you trying to do? You don’t have the will to win, your attacks lack sharpness… Are you some kind of Guards patrolling the Street? What kind of Swordsman focuses only on Subjugation?”
Fed up with the bland Swordsmanship devoid of any Death’s Aura, Hanna turned her back and left the Training Grounds.
Mikhail stood blankly in place, staring at the Practice Sword in his hand with an empty expression.
***
After class, under a sky dyed with the Sunset.
Hanna gazed vacantly at the crimson Sunset and let out a Deep Sigh.
-It’s a Birthday Gift.
‘I can’t get it out of my head.’
Whenever she saw the Sunset, memories of that day would resurface.
A Sunset painted in red.
The warmth of the Butler, who had stood up to her Father after effortlessly defeating the strongest opponent she had ever encountered and telling her to lay down the sword, still lingered in her memory as though it were yesterday.
“Haa…”
Maybe I should have taken a Leave of Absence.
She missed the Butler.
Hanna looked at the Letter in her hand.
[Histania Rowen]
It was a Letter from her Father.
She didn’t even need to open it to know.
It would say, “Lay Down the Sword because it’s dangerous.”
A Letter she received every time.
Even though she had proven herself, even though she had awakened her Aura faster than her Father, his response was neither recognition nor trust but indifference and pressure, causing Hanna to let out another sigh.
“So annoying.”
She couldn’t help but think of the Butler at times like these.
Others think of their Parents when they’re struggling… but I…
Hanna sighed deeply, rubbed her gaunt face, and stood up.
As she rose while looking at the crimson Sunset.
-Ding.
-A Quest has been triggered.
[Q. What if he hadn’t been there….]
A strange Blue Window appeared before her eyes.