Chapter 109:
A year had passed, and the skills of the participants had improved significantly, as the classrooms had changed. Fritz and Noel had also grown.
Noel’s elegant swordsmanship had gained power, and Fritz’s orthodox swordsmanship had gained finesse.
No one could stand against Fritz and Noel, no matter how hard they tried. They defeated their opponents one after another and reached the top of the bracket.
Coincidentally, just like last year, Fritz and Noel were at the very end of the bracket, so they met in the final round, the stage to determine the winner.
Sue, who had watched every match from beginning to end, slowly called out the name of the man standing next to her, as she watched them prepare for the final.
“Master Acrea.”
“What is it?”
His voice, low and languid, as if he was sleepy, still flowed gently into her ears. Sue deliberately asked a question with a predetermined answer.
“Master Fritz will win again this year, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
A voice like a doll’s, like a music box’s, always the same. Always the same answer. But frustratingly, it was always a reassuring answer.
Even if his tone was indifferent, his voice had the power to convince.
“Do you remember? You asked if there would ever be a day when he loses.”
But today, she couldn’t be reassured by his voice. Today, she wanted to deny him. The desire welled up inside her, from the tips of her toes. She clenched her trembling fists.
“I think that day is today.”
It was simple.
She just wanted to see the person who always won, as if it were a given, taste defeat, even just once.
It didn’t matter if it was because of effort, talent, or status.
Sue Byron just wanted to see Shina Fritz lose to someone nameless.
***
“A prayer to God, an oath to the empire.”
It was the same as last year.
The match began the moment the judge’s sword cut through the air.
Noel moved first. His specialty was to strike quickly and land a blow. But Fritz blocked it. The clashing of their swords echoed throughout the training ground.
Fritz’s fierce swordsmanship had a clear principle. Even in the midst of the fight, Fritz was genuinely impressed by Raines Noel’s swordsmanship, which he saw through his green eyes.
‘So this is the swordsmanship of the man Yuna Vava is so protective of.’
He was dodging his attacks like a slippery eel and only using attacks that were difficult for him to avoid.
Fritz stepped back to regroup.
It was definitely a struggle. He remembered fighting Raines Noel last year. He hadn’t even remembered his name then, but he remembered the chill he had felt at the tip of his sword.
But Shina Fritz didn’t give up and steeled his resolve. I will win, no matter what.
That was what he was born to do.
His swordsmanship, flowing smoothly like ripples, was aimed at Fritz’s vital points. But Fritz blocked it again. He struck down with the back of his sword, his concentration focused on the tip of his blade.
But the result wasn’t the same as last year. Noel didn’t drop his sword. His hand was numb, but he endured it. Because he was enjoying wielding a sword.
Raines Noel raised his sword. His dry lips parted, his tongue darting out.
Fritz’s body was still bent low, having used all his strength to strike down Noel’s sword.
His mind was clear.
Nothing came to Noel’s mind, as he was about to defeat Shina Fritz with his favorite swordsmanship.
His pathetic friend’s red eyes, the encouraging voice telling him he could do anything. They were real, but they felt like illusions at that moment.
Until the moment he struck down at Shina Fritz with both hands on the hilt of his sword, the only person he loved was himself, Raines Noel.
***
Everyone watched in shock as Shina Fritz collapsed to the ground. It had seemed like Fritz’s defeat was an impossibility within the small world of the Full Bloom academy.
But it wasn’t. The spectators cheered wildly for Noel, who was raising his sword.
As she realized that all those cheers were for Raines Noel, a thrill ran through her body.
Sue slowly unclenched her fists. Her palms were drenched in sweat.
Raines Noel stood in the middle of the training ground, basking in the overwhelming praise.
As he raised his sword high in the air, acknowledging his victory, a faint smile appeared on Sue’s face.
“I’m glad…”
That he had come to love swordsmanship, that he had come to love himself. That he wasn’t unhappy because of her.
She was truly glad.
Fritz, who had fallen to the ground, dusted himself off and stood up. He shook hands with Noel, then walked away towards the back of the training ground.
Noel had won, and Fritz had lost.
Sue looked to her side. Acrea was silently watching the scene, as if he couldn’t believe it.
‘Do you think there will ever be a day when he loses?’
In the hallway of the academy, bathed in the setting sun, Sue had clearly heard the emotion in Acrea’s voice for the first time. She thought it had been a voice close to resignation.
Acrea, noticing her gaze, turned to her.
Their eyes met.
He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t seem angry either. He was just looking at her with a slightly bewildered expression. At least, she couldn’t find any trace of ‘emotionlessness’ on his face right now.
Sue grinned unconsciously.
She looked calm on the outside, but she was incredibly excited. She hadn’t been the one to defeat Fritz, but she felt strangely proud of this situation.
She couldn’t even think of anything to say to him.
Master Fritz actually lost. Isn’t that great?
She couldn’t say that. She didn’t even think that.
But she wanted confirmation, like a child. From the mechanical boy standing in front of her, the boy who was loved by the world, just like Fritz, the boy who, like her, wanted to see someone lose.
Sue Byron wanted confirmation of this moment from his gentle, reassuring voice.
“See? I was right.”
She regretted it later, realizing how rude she had been. She had never been right about anything. Her friend had simply wielded his sword well.
But the illogicality of it all, someone’s anger, someone’s shock, someone’s joy. She could think about all that later. Right now, she had to be happy. She had to be proud.
She could hear the crumbling of the tower of defeat she had built over a lifetime.
***
Noel’s unprecedented victory over Fritz at the Athletics Festival sent shockwaves through Full Bloom for several days. But it was literally only ‘for several days’.
People accepted it surprisingly quickly. It wasn’t their business, after all, and they gradually came to believe that Raines Noel, the most promising knight in the Knights, could indeed defeat Fritz.
Except for one person, for whom it was his business: Shina Fritz.
Fritz, who had tasted defeat for the first time in his life, was initially dazed.
And then, he had apparently gone to the Knights headquarters. He had barged in and challenged Noel to a duel. He had been immediately rejected and kicked out, as he wasn’t a member of the Knights.
After that, he had been focusing on swordsmanship practice, but the frequency had decreased recently, perhaps because Enzhe and Acrea had scolded him.
Fritz had taken first place in the spring evaluation, which had been held before the Athletics Festival. Halo had barely managed to get tenth place, because of noble etiquette.
Halo was probably struggling with the reality of the situation as well. She would probably study etiquette like her life depended on it for the next evaluation.
Sue comfortably observed the protagonists growing in their own ways.
Ah, she wished they would both just keep growing until the end of the story.
Sue smiled with satisfaction at the current results. She had been in a really good mood lately.
‘If things keep going like this, there won’t be any problems at the academy.’
But as soon as she thought that, the bomb exploded somewhere else.
***
“Melaine, I’m so sorry.”
She had felt a sense of foreboding from the moment Enzhe had said she was worried about Melaine and suggested they go see her. Thinking back, Sue should have stopped her.
Enzhe entered the Blue Shark classroom and gently patted Melaine’s back, who was tapping her fingers anxiously.
Melaine’s neck was still bandaged, the injury from the Athletics Festival hadn’t healed yet.
But Enzhe didn’t care about Melaine’s bandaged neck. She was just enjoying her little game.
“Hehe, I heard your engagement with Brother Reeves is broken.”
She was no different from the day she had revealed Melaine’s engagement.
The noisy surroundings, her loud, clear voice, the pink-haired transfer student passing by in the hallway.
Enzhe was deliberately mocking Melaine. And her repeated taunts were proof that she hadn’t been happy about the engagement from the start.
Melaine’s fingers, which had been tapping on her desk, stopped at her piercing words. There was no answer. Everyone knew that silence meant agreement.
The atmosphere froze, even colder than when the engagement had been announced.
Enzhe, as if realizing her mistake, covered her mouth and feigned distress.
“Oh my, I’m sorry. I accidentally said it out loud. I’m so sorry, for such unfortunate news.”
The true master of acting wasn’t Acrea or Sue, it was Enzhe. Everyone pitied her, seeing her teary black eyes.