Chapter 82

Chapter : 82

“Anyone who saw this would share my opinion.”

“Then you will have to exclude one person from that. I do not.”

Bishot closed her mouth.

Lately, she had often moved recklessly, without thinking about what came before or after, simply as her emotions led her.

No matter what she said, Agares would not even pretend to listen. Persuading him was impossible.

She should step back.

There was no reason to create another uncomfortable relationship at the Academy for nothing.

But if she left, what would happen to that man? Would he die merely because he had passed by and scratched Agares’s skin with a piece of paper?

Just imagining it felt unpleasant. Was that really all right? This was not right.

Agares felt stifled when Bishot did not withdraw and hesitated while choosing her words. He put strength into his eyes, glared at Bishot, and said,

“Look. I know exactly what you are thinking. I know very well why you are doing this too. But I dislike troublesome things, you see, so I cannot explain one by one why that is wrong and what you do not understand. So if you want to watch, keep watching. I will do what I have to do.”

Agares sliced the attacker’s skin thinly.

He carefully peeled away flesh in thin strips so not too much blood would pour out. The attacker screamed, and Bishot squeezed her eyes shut.

She endured the urge to retch.

Helplessness.

Bishot felt her hands and feet tremble. The reality that a person was dying in pain before her eyes while she could do nothing twisted her insides.

When Bishot glared at him, Agares grinned. He subtly met her eyes.

“Fortunately, I am an unattached man. Is that not fortunate?”

Agares continued speaking despite Bishot ignoring him and kept moving the knife.

“That was a joke. Is there any need to react like that? You are rather stiff.”

“Is this fun?”

She had experienced countless times that crying solved nothing, yet whenever her emotions grew intense, moisture still filled her eyes.

Bishot pressed her teeth hard into her lip and held back her tears.

“You can joke while cutting open a person’s skin. That is impressive. As they say, there is no smoke without fire, so perhaps the rumors surrounding Your Grace were not entirely nonsense.”

“How amusing. Say more.”

Agares listened to Bishot’s criticism while cutting open the attacker’s skin, torturing him, and asking several questions.

The attacker realized that no one would help him no matter how much he screamed, and he answered obediently.

---

I heard Agares’s story and tilted my head.

“So you killed someone again?”

“No, no. That is not the point of my story. I am saying this was the first time I had ever seen a young lady watch me tear flesh apart so well. She was bold. It was also the first time a young lady grew that angry at me.”

Agares said something unrelated so he would not have to focus on that matter.

“More importantly, is this not a serious problem? You do not know who might attack next.”

“No, it will be fine. Most attacks will not be a problem. What I am wearing costs more than double what you imagine. Unless several decent bastards attack all at once, I will be fine.”

I pointed with my finger at the back of Agares’s hand, where he had been wounded this time.

The scab had already formed and fallen off, leaving only a mark that showed there had once been a wound, but blood had still been drawn, and yet he was chattering away quite well.

“There is no need for you to remain at the Academy while taking such risks, is there? What can you gain from the Academy?”

“Hmm.... I suppose what you mean by that is that I should return to my territory. If I look closely, you keep trying to drive me away. What about me is so unsatisfactory to you?”

After saying that, Agares rubbed his chin with his hand. As if he had realized something, he let out an “ah.”

“Come to think of it, yes. That was how it was.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I understand why you suddenly want to drive me away. You used to chase after that young lady because you liked her, did you not?”

“Pardon?”

I controlled my expression with all my might, pretending not to be flustered, but the muscles in my face kept twitching.

I knew Agares had probably investigated me. It was in his nature, and he had the ability to do it, so it was perfectly plausible.

He knew more than I had expected.

“What are you talking about?”

Agares held his stomach and shook his shoulders.

“It must be an embarrassing past. I completely understand you pretending not to know. Yes, you must be anxious right now, must you not? Well, if you think a charming man like me might become your romantic rival, it is natural to feel burdened. I understand why you want to push me away as soon as possible.”

“That is not it.”

“Haha, yes, of course it is not. Of course not.”

I was about to deny every bit of nonsense he was spouting, then closed my mouth.

I thought this might actually be a good thing.

The priority was making him lose interest in Bishot.

“Yes, that is right. In truth, I like her.”

Agares shook his whole body and laughed as though he might fall over. He laughed for quite a while, then barely calmed down and nodded.

“Ahh, I understand. Thinking back on our friendship, I simply cannot become your romantic rival. Hahaha. It does not seem likely to go well, but I will still cheer you on. Try your best.”

That was good enough. I was satisfied.

“So what information did you hear?”

When I tried to change the subject immediately, Agares chuckled and nodded as though he understood.

“Unfortunately, he was someone who knew nothing after all. It will be impossible to catch anything through him.”

“Still, please share what you heard.”

“Very well. It is nothing much, so do not expect too much.”

---

Jefrin had lost to Leo in their recent sparring match. It was because he had not used Sword Aura, and because he had let his guard down, but whatever the case, a loss was a loss.

He had lost again.

On top of that, while cooperating with Raphael against Amadeus, he had become certain. If he fought Raphael now, he would absolutely lose.

What should I do?

When Jefrin first took up the sword, he had not aimed for anyone. He had not wished for a power strong enough to reach the heavens. It was enough to have the strength to protect what he wanted to protect.

That had been how it was.

The problem was that even that seemed difficult. The goal kept rising higher and higher.

He had stopped Amadeus with Raphael’s help. He owed a debt. But apart from that, he needed the strength to face Raphael.

‘It is impossible here. I have to return to the knight order.’

After leaving the knight order and coming to the Academy, he had trained alone.

He had focused only on building strength and correcting his swordsmanship to be closer to the manual.

‘This is not enough.’

If one considered growth alone, returning to the knight order and receiving training was superior.

He had stayed here for Bishot. Because something might happen while he was gone. This worry grew even larger when Agares was attacked inside the Academy.

The Academy was not a completely safe space either.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

He closed his eyes and carefully searched for a method, but failed. So he first put into practice what he could do now.

He reduced his sleep time, and if a lecture had nothing to do with swordsmanship, he skipped it. He trained, and trained. He removed sugar and reddish meat from his diet. He drank nothing but water.

As a result, his body lacked energy. Even before that, his frame had not been large compared to his height, but now his weight fell. He grew thin.

His strength dropped, but his body became that much more agile. It was not a body one could say was necessarily stronger than before, but in its own way, he had found a path.

Before, Jefrin had grown so he could show similar strength against anyone. He had trained so he could win even if he fought Demonic Beasts rather than people.

‘I cannot obtain everything.’

In the original, Jefrin had developed his abilities in various directions so he could face Ian and Agares. Not only the speed that had been his specialty even before entering the Academy, but also power to produce destructive force, and he had polished his technique.

If his opponent was only Raphael, things were different. It was fine if he lacked strength. One swing of a blade was enough to cut through a human body.

Jefrin resolved that even if he lost to others, even if he could not win against Demonic Beasts of similar level, he would absolutely win against fellow swordsmen.

He forgot the memory of taking a blow from Leo. If he used Sword Aura, Leo was not even an opponent. What remained was Raphael. To defeat him, he swung his sword again.

That was when Raphael came and spoke.

“Hey, you owe me a debt.”

Jefrin laughed faintly. He had not expected Raphael to mention that incident so boldly. Raphael spoke like a loan shark who had come to collect.

“Let us call that even, and make one promise with me.”

“What is it?”

“I do not want to fight you. But after thinking about it, I thought perhaps we might not have to fight.”

When Jefrin tilted his head, Raphael continued.

“Let us promise not to fight unless the other person attacks first.”

“I....”

“For you, that includes Bishot. If I do not touch you or her, let us live without worrying about each other. How about it? Is that not fine?”

“If Lady Bishot asks me to kill you....”

“Ignore it. That is the promise. In exchange, if you promise me this, I will not touch Bishot first.”

Raphael tapped the sword at his waist with his hand and urged Jefrin to answer.

“What happens if I do not promise?”

“I will actively defend myself. Hey, you do not need to think too deeply about it. I am just trying to reduce one worry.”

“Yes, all right. Let us do that. Instead, may I ask one favor?”

“What is it?”

“If something happens to Lady Bishot during this semester, could you stop it, as long as it is not too burdensome?”

Jefrin said it without much expectation, but Raphael calmly nodded.

“Yes, I will. But why have you lost so much weight? Are you eating properly?”

“I am eating according to plan.”

“Are you sure? If you look like you are about to starve, come find me. I can at least give you one meal.”