Chapter 32
“Haah…”
The patrolling guard couldn’t hold back his sleepiness and yawned.
It had been a few years since he started this route, which was meant to be patrolled in pairs.
Recently, due to the chaos caused by the monster attack on the day of the entrance ceremony, the academy had fallen into great disarray. Because of that, security was tightened even more, doubling the number of guards from two to four. Among them were skilled personnel, including former adventurers.
Unless a horde of monsters were to invade or a user of a unique ability appeared, there shouldn’t be any issues, or so the guards thought.
“Hmm?”
One guard nudged his colleague with his elbow. When the other turned his head as if to ask what was going on, he pointed with his chin toward a particular direction.
“What’s that?”
“What on earth… huh?”
The guard frowned. It was puzzling how he hadn’t noticed someone walking towards them from close by up until now.
A boy, dressed in tattered rags with black hair and a child-like physique, was approaching. Even with a mask on, his good looks were evident, though there was no sign of magic power or strength emanating from him.
“Who’s that kid?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing! What do you think he is?”
The mask obscured his face, making it difficult to gauge his age, but by his shape and attire, he seemed to be around the height and build of an academy student.
“Isn’t he just a simple beggar? Look at his clothes.”
“Seems that way. No way he could be an academy student. Let’s hurry up and chase him off.”
Before long, the academy students would be heading home, and it was about time for the guards to change shifts, so the guard wanted to get this annoying matter over with quickly. He approached the boy.
“Please stop for a moment. This is a restricted area for the general public.”
“…”
“Are you affiliated with the academy? If so, please show me your access permit.”
Speaking courteously, he was accustomed to handling the odd visitors who stumbled in without realizing it. However, the boy stood there silently, as if he didn’t hear the guard at all.
“I’ll say this one more time. This is a restricted area. If you have permission to enter, please present your access permit.”
Still no answer. It seemed the boy was deliberately ignoring him, attempting to sidestep and proceed.
The guard’s eyebrow twitched. It seemed like he was being disregarded by a mute beggar who looked much younger than him. Following the manual, if there was no response after the third time, he needed to subdue and detain the individual. Holding back the urge to curse, he was just about to issue his final warning when—
“Let go.”
“What?”
“I said let go.”
“… What the heck? You, come with me for a second.”
“Don’t interfere with me.”
The boy quietly placed his index finger against the guard’s forehead. Then came a sharp <Thwack!> followed by a thud.
“Uh…?”
The seated guard stared in shock at his suddenly downed colleague. His vision turned crimson, and when he rubbed his fingers across his face, blood came off. The floor was soaked in a dark red hue, and the eyes of the comrade he had just seen as a fellow guard rolled around.
“What the hell are you?!”
Two nearby guards rushed toward the masked boy. The last remaining guard, frozen in place, could only watch as the two met their demise.
The guard, who had been frozen in shock, finally glanced at the boy, who was now looking his way, and at that moment, he started to grasp the situation.
A scream couldn’t escape. When one was too overwhelmed or scared, their voice would typically freeze.
“……!……?!”
The guard began to run away. A silent scream erupted within him. He needed to alert the staff about this situation as quickly as possible.
As he passed through the entrance and was almost within sight of the academy, he felt the world tilt slowly. It was as if the sky and the ground were turning upside down, the scenery spinning around in one direction.
‘What is happening…’
In his vision, filled with questions, a familiar yet strange sight came into view. It was the upper body of a person—his own upper body.
Though it was all too familiar, it felt strange.
He had never seen his body from this angle before, nor would he ever see a body without a neck.
As his vision faded, he watched the doll strolling calmly ahead of him before he was slain.
*
“Chop! Crack! Swish!”
“Tsk…”
It was unmistakably sharp; there was no other way to describe it. Attacks came from unexpected angles, with thrusts that each felt sharp and threatening.
“Are you not going to attack?”
Clang! Clang!
It was a flurry of stabs that were hard to follow with the eyes. To retaliate, he needed to break the flow.
“Haap!”
I swung my sword wide to create distance between Siel and me.
Whoosh!
However, Siel effortlessly dodged my attack, leaning back. Since my weight had never shifted forward, she easily avoided my blow with a simple movement.
“You can’t catch me with that kind of movement.”
Once again, Siel’s rapid stabs came rushing toward me.
‘Damn it.’
Clink!
“!”
I tried to conserve my energy, but without using the Insight Eye, it was tough to last even a minute. I managed to read the trajectory of her flurry of attacks and defended perfectly. Siel, without a trace of panic, drew her sword again to strike.
“You won’t catch me twice.”
I stepped in before her next thrust, closing the distance.
“Now you’re gonna feel it!”
As I lunged in, I went for a devastating diagonal slash.
“You’ve changed your fighting style.”
But Siel’s expression remained entirely unphased.
This was the worst!
At the moment of my perfect strike, it felt like I got the blade just right, yet all I felt was the stabbing pain from my chest to my abdomen.
“Did you think my swordsmanship only has thrusts?”
… So she could channel the attack after deflecting my blow—the level of combat awareness she had was remarkable.
The rumors she was from the three great clans were no exaggeration.
She was not an opponent that one could defeat by simply holding back.
Right now, I was surely weaker than Siel.
‘If I were to use that…’ But I’d resolved to never use it again.
“Then, I guess I’ll fight like I always do.”
*
Watching the utterly one-sided battle between the two, Shia looked on with a worried expression.
“Nova…”
Shia glanced sideways, keeping an eye on Stella, who was sitting next to her.
Sure enough, she noticed Stella gripping her hands so tightly that the veins were popping, fidgeting in her seat.
“It’s okay, Stella! Nova can definitely win!”
Hearing that, Lucid, who was sitting behind them, scoffed and said:
“Do you really think that kid, Nova, will win? After witnessing that scene?”
“That’s…!”
Shia struggled to respond to the assumption that it was obvious he would win.
After all, in the current situation, anyone could see that he was being overwhelmingly overpowered.
Nova was covered in wounds while Siel remained pristine, not a single scratch on her.
Even a child could clearly see how this match was going.
“I don’t care…”
At Shia’s quiet comment, both she and Lucid fell silent.
“I really don’t care, so just give up quickly…”
Shia realized the truth about Stella: whether Nova won or lost, it didn’t seem to matter to her at all.
With every wound that appeared on Nova’s body, Stella visibly flinched.
‘She just hates seeing Nova get hurt…’
It was a serious thing, but it wasn’t a life-or-death duel, and if they utilized the academy facilities, he’d heal up quickly.
If it was an attack that posed a life-threatening risk, a barrier would activate.
In that regard, Shia felt Stella was being a bit overly protective of Nova.
‘Well, of course, it’s only natural not to want to see someone you like being hurt…’
Even Shia didn’t want to see her friend bleeding like that.
“Maybe he should just surrender…”
When her inner wish for surrender arose, Nova’s demeanor suddenly changed.
“Hmm? What’s he up to?”
Crack!
Everyone in the sparring hall was unable to hide their surprise at Nova’s sudden action.
He hadn’t just drawn his sword—he’d broken it in half!
“What does that mean, Nova? Is it a forfeit?”
In response to Amelia’s question, Nova smirked and said,
“Forfeiting? This is just the beginning.”
After saying that, he used ice magic to craft a handle from the broken blade and struck a pose.
The one who reacted to that was none other than Scarlet.
“That’s my stance?”
“Alright, round two begins!”
With those words, Nova rapidly closed the distance to Siel.
“No matter how many times you come, it doesn’t matter. No matter what tricks you try, especially not with that ridiculous instant replication…?”
Clang!
Once again, the flurry of rapid thrusts came soaring toward me. Naturally, I expected him to deflect the dagger and stab Nova in the chest. But the double daggers effectively blocked Siel’s blinding-speed rapier.
“Finally caught you.”
With a chilling smile, Nova executed a forward kick at Siel.
Whack!
Siel defended even that effort with a kick of her own.
However, for the first time, the poker face she always maintained began to crack.
“I thought you’d be able to block that too.”
“Ugh!”
Boom!
Having dropped the dagger, Nova aimed his palm at Siel’s abdomen and released it.
Seeing this, Shia gasped in disbelief.
“… Even my long-range attack?!”
Siel’s doll was knocked back violently as she lost her hold on the rapier.
Determined not to miss the golden opportunity, Nova charged ahead, gripping the remaining dagger tightly.
“Chop! Icicle Vortex!”
A fierce ice storm erupted from Siel’s palm.
The blizzard roared as it swept away everything in its path.
“… Where did he go?”
Siel looked around, but there was no trace of Nova anywhere.
Swoosh—
Suddenly looking up, her gaze fixed on the dagger imbued with water energy that was shimmering in the air.
Those chilling red eyes were locked onto Siel.
“…”
“It’s my victory, Siel.”
Tytal Clash!
Boom!
With a mighty surge of water, the surroundings were enveloped in smoke.
As the smoke cleared, the sight that met the audience’s eyes was of Siel lying on her back and Nova standing beside her, a dagger embedded in the ground.
“Winner of Match 4: Nova!”
The students were at a loss for words, staring in shock at the unexpected scene. Amidst it all, Shia shouted joyfully.
“He did it! He won! I told you he would, Stella…?”
However, Stella—the one everyone thought would be thrilled—wore an expression completely different from Shia’s expectations.
She gazed in disbelief, as if it were utterly impossible, staring blankly at the audience.
“Stella? Of course, it’s surprising that Nova won, but there’s no need for such a face…”
Yet no matter how much Shia chattered, Stella gave no signs of hearing.
“Stella! Why are you suddenly heading towards the sparring hall?”
“He’s off again. Can’t he stay still for a moment?”
*
No way that’s possible. But it definitely happened…
Why? It could never happen!
Before I knew it, I found myself obstructing Nova, who was walking toward the audience.
“Whoa, what’s this? Did you come out to greet me? You didn’t have to do that.”
With a bright smile, I couldn’t respond to that face with my usual cheer.
I grabbed Nova’s arm and dragged him to a secluded area where no one could see us.
“Hey. Where’s Stella off to now?”
“Be quiet.”
Once we were out of sight, I pushed Nova against the wall and forced his mouth open.
“Why…?”
“Hmm?”
“Why—are you…”
“Ah, you’re asking why I was able to win against her? Don’t you think you’re underestimating me too much?”
“Why… do you even have that ability?”
That was impossible! Those crimson pupils, the precise movements reminiscent of a mirror.
It was undoubtedly a ‘Copy’ ability—a power Nova could never possess.
That was because it was one of the powers I had in my previous life!
“What the hell is your true identity?!”
