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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 272: Ready for the Challenge

Six days had passed since the dinner party with Rick and the others.

Finally, the day I had been eagerly awaiting—the duel with Mejina—had arrived.

In the time leading up to this day, several changes had occurred at the academy.

First of all, Shudo, who had been unconscious since the dungeon practice, woke up three days ago and was apparently asked by the teachers to explain the situation.

Honestly, I never expected him to be unconscious for such a long time from that little damage, but it seems he had significantly grown both mentally and in his stats after waking up.

This is just my guess, but during the time he was out cold, he must have stabilized his damaged magical organs and grown physically, muscularly, and bone-wise, and perhaps there was something that helped him grow into a hero-worthy mindset.

Secondly, there’s the matter of Shudo’s class change.

This is still in the proposal stage, but since Shudo has become a hero, it seems there wasn’t much left for him to learn in his current class.

He was originally excelling in swordsmanship since entering the academy, but being chosen by the holy sword meant he could only be taught theory from then on.

However, since the hero is expected to excel in physical prowess, there’s a plan to transfer him to Class S, focusing on swordsmanship and magic while teaching just enough theory as needed.

Well, for me who knows the past, this is practically a given, so when I go to class in the future, I’ll have to face him whether I like it or not.

The third change is regarding Sephiria. It seems the Holy Country’s higher-ups quickly reported the birth of the hero, and she told me they instructed her to guide the hero as part of her duties.

Since we had already discussed what to do about monitoring Shudo during the entrance exam, it was settled that she would stay close by him.

The fourth change was the rumors spreading through the academy.

Currently, there are two main rumors circulating, both revolving around the hero Shudo.

One is a bright rumor praising the birth of the hero, while the other is one that criticizes me for harming him.

However, even in criticism, it’s not like anyone’s saying it directly to my face; it felt more like exaggerated stories circulating in the shadows.

Well, I’m not interested in that since I’ve gone through similar experiences countless times in the past, so I’ll not act on it directly.

And finally, the fifth change is that Shudo now looks at me with clear hostility.

After waking up, I happened to pass by him in the hallway while he was surrounded by other students, and the moment he saw me, he glared at me without even attempting to hide his feelings.

No matter how much he glares, I don’t care, but the sheer openness of his animosity was so amusing that I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation.

So while there have been various changes in these past few days, none of that really mattered to me; what is important is today.

“Phew. Finally, I can go head-to-head with the academy director.”

That’s right. Today is the day I’ve been waiting for—a showdown with the academy director.

In the days leading up to this, I skipped classes to fine-tune my magic and martial arts, thoroughly completing my final preparations, and my heart raced from the moment I got up this morning.

Knock knock knock.

“Come in.”

I paused in front of the academy director’s office and knocked on the door, receiving Mejina’s familiar voice in response.

“Excuse me.”

After saying that, I opened the door and walked in, where I found Mejina waiting at the door, fully prepared.

“Welcome back, dear. Dinner? A bath? Or shall we have a little chat?”

“…………”

However, her demeanor wasn’t the usual regal presence; instead, it radiated a childlike air laced with mockery.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh? You don’t know this bit?”

“I don’t.”

“Hmmm. Back in the day, this kind of banter about a husband’s infidelity was all the rage… cough. Were you really unaware?”

“I’ll say it again. I don’t know.”

As Mejina said, even if this was a classic line used to confront cheating husbands, it was irrelevant to my parents, so I had indeed never seen or heard of such a thing.

“Let’s put the jokes aside for now…”

“Ah, you’re such a spoilsport.”

“Today, we’re going to spar, right?”

“Of course! Look, I even donned my nostalgic gear for this.”

As she said this, posing with both hands on her hips, her outfit was indeed the same deep-slit black dress she always wore, but the magical circulation was extraordinary, making it clear that her attire was leagues above common gear.

“Why are you in a dress?”

“Just a hobby. Also, I want to look stylish even in battle, which is a girl’s sentiment.”

“Is that so?”

Whether it’s due to her confidence as a strong fighter or she thinks I’m not worth taking seriously, it was hard to tell what Mejina was thinking, but it rubbed me the wrong way a bit.

“So, are we doing this here?”

“Of course not. If we did, the academy would be gone in a heartbeat. I’ll change the location, so follow me.”

Saying that, Mejina opened a large window in the director’s office and leaped out using flying magic.

“Please tell me you can fly, right?”

“Of course I can!”

I stepped onto the window frame and jumped down, using flying magic to stand right in front of her.

“Fufu. Then let’s see if you can keep up!”

With a teasing smile, Mejina vanished in an instant.

“Ugh. I’ve thought this for a while, but that girl is a bit childish.”

Though her age is unclear, she did mention that the last hero selection happened about 150 years ago, so it stands to reason she must be at least over 150 years old.

“Well, they say that sane people don’t live that long. I guess she’s one of those.”

With those words in mind, I poured more magic into my flying spell to catch up with her, moving faster than her from that spot.

After following her for a while, we crossed the skies over Minerva, a coastal city to the south, and continued flying over the sea, eventually stopping in the middle of a vast ocean with a lone small island.

“Is this spot good?”

“Where is this?”

“Who knows? I just flew at random, so I’m not sure. But I figured if we’re here, we can use as much magic as we want without collateral damage, right?”

“True enough. That lone island seems uninhabited, and there doesn’t appear to be any boats nearby.”

I used detection magic to check a radius of about 50 km, and while there were monster presences, there were none of people.

“Now that that’s settled, let’s start. Any specific rules?”

“Well, there aren’t any specific rules, but if we don’t set some, this could go on until someone dies.”

“That seems fair. While I probably won’t die, you might throw your life away, so I should probably make the basic calls, and the duel ends when one of us calls for surrender. How does that sound?”

“Sure, that works.”

It’s rare for someone to look down on me like this while being aware of my abilities, but honestly, I’m not even sure I can beat Mejina right now.

“But it still irritates me to be looked down on like this.”

“Fufu. Alright then, I’m here to play with you. Show me everything you’ve got, Lewis. And if you lose, you’re marrying me.”

“I’m not getting married, but I guarantee you won’t be bored!”

I feel like Mejina has been mocking me since we met today, but there’s no point in worrying about that now.

“Alright, let’s give it our all!”

As I said this with a smirk, I unleashed my silver magic.

And so, I finally began my battle with Mejina, the one known as the strongest in the Ruzenia Empire.

 

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