Chapter 409

Clang!

The sharp ring of sword against sword echoed through the air.

Whoosh!

Celia spun, knocking aside Martina’s downward-pressing blade.

The instant Martina lost her balance—

Fwoosh!

Aina lunged in from behind her.

Aina’s thrust shot toward Celia like a flash of light.

But Celia, as if she’d seen it coming, slipped aside with ease.

Then she seized Aina by the wrist and flung her away.

Suspended in midair, Aina stared down at Celia with a blank expression.

In that brief opening, Celia leveled the tip of her sword at Martina.

“Mock battle, over.”

Celia spoke calmly as she withdrew her sword.

Swish!

After a few stylish cuts through the air, she sheathed it with a click and said,

“I agreed to this mock battle because you asked.”

Celia narrowed her eyes at Aina.

“What was the point of asking for it, anyway? For someone who initiated it, your teamwork was awful, wasn’t it?”

Aina met her gaze.

“I haven’t been subdued yet.”

“The mock battle ended the moment Martina was subdued. There’s no reason to continue.”

Celia brushed her hair back.

“Aina, you do realize you can’t beat me on your own, right?”

The three of them had been dueling with pure swordsmanship, without using Aura.

As the great-granddaughter of the Sword Saint, Aina had been called a sword genius since she was young, but Celia—of the direct Zerdinger line—was also known as a prodigy.

The gap between a first-year and a second-year was like heaven and earth.

That was why even in a pure swordsmanship duel, Aina couldn’t defeat Celia.

But Aina didn’t back down.

Celia looked at her and said,

“In the first place, you should’ve saved Martina just now instead of going for me.”

“I wanted to duel you one-on-one, Celia-sunbae-nim.”

“What for?”

“To improve as quickly as possible and earn Leo-sunbae-nim’s acknowledgment.”

‘Leo again.’

Celia sighed.

She already knew about Aina’s strange obsession with Leo.

It became especially blatant whenever Aina pushed herself too hard.

“I won’t ask why you’re so obsessed with getting Leo’s acknowledgment. That’s your personal business.”

“……”

“But if you keep going like this, you’ll never get it.”

“What… do you mean by that?”

“Take what just happened.”

Celia glanced at Martina, who stood behind them with a faintly worried expression.

“When Martina was subdued, you should’ve saved her, not attacked me. Didn’t you learn that in class?”

“……”

Aina clenched her fists.

“If Leo’s standard was simply ‘strength,’ you would’ve earned his acknowledgment long ago.”

Aina had never once lost her position as the top first-year.

‘She’s held onto first place while fending off competitors like Haviden from the Knight Department, Juen from the Magic Department, and even Sasha-nim from the Summoning Department.’

And yet, Leo didn’t acknowledge Aina.

‘Besides, Leo has consistently acknowledged Carr since their first year.’

It wasn’t just because they were friends.

Leo genuinely thought Carr was amazing—someone walking the same path as him, a comrade—even before they became best friends.

At first, Celia hadn’t understood it, but recently she’d started to feel it too.

From the midterms to the recent Aleham incident, Carr’s ability as a supporter—and as a commander who could read the flow of battle—was astounding.

“I asked Leo once. Why he didn’t choose you as his Mentee.”

“……It was because I failed to land an attack on Leo-sunbae-nim back then. But Luke Elda succeeded.”

“Then and now, Luke is no match for you. So why did it turn out that way?”

“That’s……”

Aina’s voice trailed off.

Even now, she couldn’t understand what had happened back then.

“Did you even look at Leo properly at the time?”

Aina’s eyes widened.

“My cousin, Leo Plov—what kind of person is he?”

Aina’s eyes wavered.

“He’s……”

“Are you even seeing me for who I am?”

Aina fell silent at Celia’s words.

“How do you expect to earn Leo’s acknowledgment when you can’t even see what’s around you?”

Aina lowered her head under Celia’s cold words.

Celia took a deep breath.

“What future do you want? What kind of hero do you want to become?”

“……”

Aina didn’t answer.

She just stared at the ground in silence.

Watching her, Celia raked a hand through her hair in frustration.

Celia had done her best for Aina.

And Aina had done her best to follow Celia’s guidance.

But Aina had never once truly seen Celia.

She was only obsessed with earning Leo’s acknowledgment.

Even for the good-natured and generous Celia, this was the limit.

“I don’t know anymore. You don’t need me, right? Fine. You’ll get stronger even without me. You’ll make it through the second semester at Lumene and move on to the next year.”

“La-Lady Celia?”

Martina looked flustered as Celia turned away.

Thump. Thump.

Celia, walking off coldly, stopped.

Then she looked back.

“But you might not be able to keep your position as class representative anymore.”

“……?”

Aina lifted her head, staring at Celia.

“I heard Leo declared it earlier, in front of the other students. That Luke Elda’s goal is a perfect winning streak.”

“A perfect winning streak?”

Aina’s face hardened.

“Yep. The cousin I know isn’t one to make empty boasts, so I guess that means Luke Elda has surpassed you, right?”

Celia smiled brightly.

“I wish you luck, Aina.”

With that, Celia truly left.

“Aina! Make sure you apologize to the young lady next time you see her, okay? I’ll try to persuade her!”

Martina said that to Aina, then hurried after Celia.

Left alone, Aina stared at the ground.

The first-year failure—the weakest of them all—Luke Elda.

His goal was a perfect winning streak?

The image of Luke’s final moments during the Aleham incident flashed through Aina’s mind.

‘I will never lose.’

Aina ground her teeth.

“La-Lady Celia. Are you really going to stop being Aina’s Mentor?”

Celia answered Martina’s urgent question without slowing down.

“What is there to stop? The Mentor-Mentee relationship ends when the first semester ends anyway.”

“……Are you saying you won’t think of Aina as your hubae anymore?”

At that, Celia sighed.

“As long as we’re both students at Lumene, she’s my hubae. The fact that I guided her doesn’t change. She worked hard, and I’m satisfied with that. I’m even grateful to Aina for doing her best when it must’ve been tough.”

“Then why did you say those things? Do you want Aina to lose?”

“……I don’t know about that. But it’s a fact that Aina is conscious of Luke.”

“Because he was chosen by young master Leo?”

“That too. But more than that, it seemed like she has a strange sense of rivalry toward him.”

Martina stared, dumbfounded.

The ones openly aiming for Aina’s position as class representative were Haviden, Juen, and Sasha.

Even if they didn’t show it, everyone assumed Aina would be most wary of them.

But Celia was saying something else entirely—that Aina saw Luke as a rival.

“I don’t think she knows it herself, and even if she did, she wouldn’t admit it.”

Celia shook her head.

“How do you know Aina’s heart so well?”

“Because until last year, I was similar to Aina.”

“Similar to Aina?”

“When I first met Leo, he couldn’t even use Aura. I made a bet with him and lost, and I had to act as his maid for a week.”

“……A maid? You, Lady Celia?”

Martina looked utterly shocked.

“Don’t you dare spread that rumor anywhere.”

Celia shot Martina a narrow-eyed glare.

It was a fact known only to a very small number of Zerdinger family members who had been there.

“After that, Leo learned Aura in an instant and proved he was an All-Class. Honestly, until the beginning of the semester, I looked down on Leo, who’d only just been initiated into Aura, and didn’t even consider him a rival. I tried to ignore it.”

It had been the same for the other students.

“And then, in a flash, I was surpassed.”

Celia’s eyes darkened.

“It felt like my heart was going to break. Before I knew it, Leo was so far ahead that just chasing him was a struggle. It’s still like that now.”

“I see.”

Martina, who had only ever seen Celia’s confident side, couldn’t have imagined she carried worries like that.

“I don’t know whether Luke will really beat Aina. But if she loses to Luke, her spirit might break—especially since she can’t properly see what’s around her. That’s why I wanted to make her conscious of Luke.”

Celia said, looking back toward where Aina no longer could be seen.

“At the very least, if she becomes conscious of Luke Elda and properly sees the path he’s walked… she might stumble, but she’ll be able to get back up and run again. I think this is the last help I can give her as a mentor.”

“My lady.”

Martina looked moved.

Then her expression shifted into confusion.

“But can Luke really beat Aina?”

“Who knows. But it won’t be impossible.”

“Why?”

“……It’s a bit much for me to say it myself, but my cousin is a little… how should I put it?”

After a moment of thought, Celia said,

“He’s a madman, isn’t he?”

“……”

“You can’t torment people that creatively in the name of training unless you’re insane.”

Celia shuddered in disgust.

She was one of the people who had suffered the most at Leo’s hands.

“……Young master Leo’s motto really is terrifying.”

‘You can’t? Haven’t you heard the saying—if you can’t, make it so you can?’

Martina shivered, remembering Leo’s utterly matter-of-fact expression when he said it.

“He put together a special training schedule for this summer vacation.”

“No, that’s horrible.”

The two of them suffered in silence as they recalled the utterly vicious Leo.

—

Waaaaaah!

The first round of the tournament.

From the dueling arena set up in Lumene’s central grand training ground, the sounds of students fighting fiercely roared without pause.

Amid it all, Leo stood in the waiting room for the next duel.

“Can I really do it?”

“Who knows.”

Leo answered calmly as he looked at Luke, who asked in a slightly anxious voice.

“But if you don’t believe in yourself, who will? Believe in what you’ve accomplished so far.”

At Leo’s words, Luke nodded.

“Ah, and you can take off those sealing devices now.”

Luke looked down at the sealing devices on his wrists and ankles.

Then he smiled.

“Yes, but I’ll try my best in this state first.”

Leo let out a small laugh.

A magic screen installed in the waiting room showed the arena.

A match ended, and the next turn came.

“Well, I’m off.”

“Luke.”

“Yes?”

Leo called out as Luke started to leave.

Luke turned back with a puzzled look.

Leo met his eyes and said,

“Go and let them know. Who you are.”

“Yes!”

(T/N : Lets gooooooooo punch his face!!)