Chapter 78

Chapter : 78

Amadeus descended into Agares’s body in the Academy dining hall.

Today was a weekend with no classes, but the dining hall still provided food for students who remained at the Academy or found it troublesome to go far away.

Bishot and Jefrin were also eating there, and the fact that Jefrin was present was immensely fortunate.

Agares had been holding his utensils when he stopped, sat still, and began emitting an evil aura.

It was not only the openings such as his nose and eyes. Even his pores were billowing black smoke, so there was no way it could not draw attention.

The students eating around him stared at Agares with strange looks, and Jefrin also rested a hand on the hilt of his sword and watched him closely.

Thanks to that, he reacted the moment Amadeus descended and blocked him.

CRASH—!

Amadeus slammed both fists down on the table where the food had been set with all his strength.

The impact sent the food floating into the air, and plates fell to the floor and shattered. With the sound of shattering glass, Amadeus kicked the table away and stood.

He drew the sword at his waist and roared.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!”

Black smoke streamed from his mouth. He immediately tried to approach the nearby students, but Jefrin stopped him.

Since he had already been prepared, his response was swift. He instantly drew his sword and ran at Agares.

He stepped onto a dining table, leapt, and brought his sword down on Agares from above. It was a blow packed tightly with his body weight, but Agares sent Jefrin flying with the strength of only one arm.

THUD—!

Jefrin, who had been knocked into the wall, hurriedly got up. Once again, he pointed his sword at Agares. He drew his attention so the other students could evacuate, but as for the dining hall building, he had no reason to care about that.

Under Agares’s attacks, pillars collapsed, windowpanes shattered, and dining tables flew. The cooks, forced to abandon their cooking and evacuate from the kitchen, left the building to catch fire, and students screamed amid the chaos.

Bishot also mixed in among the students and fled, leaving Jefrin behind.

Rather than stay pointlessly beside him and get in the way, this would let Jefrin swing his sword with a clearer mind. She moved to a safe distance and watched them.

Jefrin slowly retreated. He shifted locations and received Agares’s sword as little as possible.

Bishot’s heart tightened at the thought of what would happen if Jefrin was injured, or if something went wrong and he died.

It was in the middle of that that Raphael appeared.

He ran in from afar and stepped between Agares and Jefrin. Bishot doubted her own eyes.

Why him? For what?

At first, she suspected Raphael might be helping Agares kill Jefrin.

After all, it was famous that Agares and Raphael were friendly, and recently, Raphael and Jefrin’s relationship had been close to the worst possible.

Using this opportunity to kill Jefrin was absolutely something Raphael would do.

“This makes no sense....”

That was not it. Raphael supported Jefrin and pressured Agares. Even while protecting himself, whenever Jefrin was in danger, he charged at Agares like a madman.

CRACK.

Bishot curled her hand into a fist. Her fingernails, which had grown longer than usual because she had been too distracted lately, dug into her flesh.

She had known that Raphael had changed after entering the Academy.

Perhaps because he had matured a little, he could distinguish between the side of himself he could show others and the side he must not show, and he worked to obtain many things.

But Bishot had considered all of that to be for Raphael’s own success.

Had he not been the man who had approached her in the first place to raise his status? She had considered it only a change in method.

‘Perhaps that may not be the case.’

Amazingly, it seemed Raphael’s nature itself had changed. There was nothing he could gain by helping Jefrin now.

Rather, helping Agares would benefit him more. It would preserve his friendship with the Grand Duke and let him remove Jefrin, who was in his way.

Why did he abandon that and help Jefrin?

There was only one reason. Because he valued human life.

No, perhaps there might also have been some other reason Bishot did not know. Revising her evaluation of Raphael based on this incident alone would be hasty. But one thing was clear: she had received help from Raphael.

That evening, after hesitating several times, Bishot went to find Raphael.

---

While I was tearing into fried chicken with Ian, someone knocked on the door.

I thought Agares might have returned after having his body treated, but I froze when I heard the voice. The owner of the voice was Bishot.

When I flinched, Ian signaled with his eyes, asking what I was going to do.

“Wait a moment. I will go out and meet her.”

“Just talk here. The chicken will get cold.”

“Eat first. I will be right back.”

I washed my hands and went outside. Bishot was waiting in front of the door. She had always recoiled from conversations unrelated to the main point, and she greeted me with her eyes.

“Why? What is it?”

“I came to thank you for what happened during the day. You helped Jefrin, did you not?”

“I helped Jefrin. I did not help you. I did not help him because of you either. You do not need to thank me.”

“Yes, I know that well too. But you helped him even though I was there, did you not? As you know, Jefrin follows me. If I ask him, he tries to do anything for me. So the fact that he is alive is something that could clash with you.”

“I know. So what?”

“Thank you for helping Jefrin even while taking that risk. I wanted to say it, at least. Thank you.”

I shrugged.

I had been fine while sitting down, but after standing and walking for even a moment, my head spun. Even after drinking so much with Agares, my tolerance had not increased at all compared to before. I had only drunk a little beer, yet my vision spun.

“I said I did not do it for you, so I do not really know how to take that. But if you are grateful, then give me a bit of a break.”

“Are you referring to the things you did to me?”

“Yes. Can you not do anything about that?”

If alcohol had not been in my system, I would not have spoken so recklessly, like a child throwing a tantrum. But surprisingly, that seemed to work better.

“Understood. I will overlook the matter of you deliberately setting fire to my territory on my birthday. I will forget that incident too.”

“Uh....”

“But do not even dream of anything else.”

“Uh, uh....”

Had there been something like that in the original?

There had been few descriptions of Bishot’s childhood, so if it was the distant past, an incident like that could have existed. There was no reason for her to lie here, so if she said it had happened, then it had happened.

However, Bishot saw my expression and continued.

“Understood. You seem to think that is not enough. Yes, since you did a great thing, I will add one more. I will also forget that you bribed my maid and had my life monitored.”

Bishot’s eyes as she spoke were fierce. It seemed that while searching her memories for something she could forgive, she had recalled the past.

The emotions she had felt then naturally came along as well.

“I am sorry. Thank you.”

“Yes. Then that is all for today. Rest well.”

After reaching that agreement with me, Bishot returned to her dormitory.

Before returning to my room, I sat down where I stood. It felt as though the alcohol cleared from my system all at once. My vision flashed.

Is this real?

I had given up, thinking that repairing my relationship with Bishot had become impossible. But now that I looked at it, perhaps it was not entirely impossible after all. Would it work if I saved Jefrin’s life about ten more times?

Smiling broadly, I returned to my room.

Ian had stopped eating both the beer and the chicken and was waiting for me. He cursed at me with his eyes and spoke.

“Something good must have happened. Your expression is bright.”

“Yes. Something like that.”

“What is it, for you to smile like that?”

“You would not understand even if I told you.”

“You were on bad terms with her, were you not? Why, did you make up?”

“We did not properly make up, but we made up a little. About one-fifth?”

We tore into the chicken again.

Fried chicken was still fried chicken even after it had gone cold, so it tasted good.

---

“Today, I am going to work you even harder, yet you look thrilled. Did something happen?”

“Nothing special.”

“Come on, that is not the expression of someone who has nothing special going on. Can you not even tell me? What is it?”

“It is nothing.”

When one suffered enough, one could feel happy from the mere absence of pain. That was exactly how I felt now. A clue had appeared for the problem that had been tormenting my head so much. That alone made me feel good, and smiles kept slipping out.

I had made up with Bishot by about one-fifth.

I did not know everything Raphael had done, but it probably was not larger than what I had already estimated.

“Then let us run again.”

Thinking about what had happened with Bishot made even Katarina’s torture-like training feel bearable. In truth, when I came here in the morning, I had wavered deep down. Should I quit this? This is really too painful. I may not even have to fight Jefrin anymore.

Barely driving away that weakness, I came out to the drill ground. Bishot might change her words again later. I still had to prepare for that time.

With Sword Master as my goal, I abused my body to the limit with Katarina. When evening approached, Katarina spoke.

“I am getting married.”

“Pardon?”

“I just wanted to tell you in advance. This year, I will marry Gilbert and leave on a trip.”

It seemed she was informing me in advance that she would not be able to look after my swordsmanship during that period. I wanted to ask when it was and how long it would be, but I spoke the words that had to come first.

“Congratulations.”

“Yes. Because of that, I have been in a good mood lately too.”

Katarina’s fame was so great that there was no one in the Empire who did not know her, but in truth, her income was not very large. The only money that came in regularly was the salary she received from the Academy. On top of that, because she was a commoner and had no territory, she might even have less wealth than I did.

I had received a great deal from her. I wanted to do something for her under the pretext of this wedding, but Katarina, who had a severe old-fashioned streak, would probably dislike it.

“Where do you intend to hold the ceremony?”

“At the church in my hometown.”

“I will come to see it.”

“Of course you have to come. I will check whether you came or not.”

“Hahaha. Yes.”