**Chapter 98**
—
On his way to the training grounds for the swordsmanship lecture exam, Arthur thought to himself.
*“Two years? Three years? Since our last rematch?”*
It didn’t feel like it had been that long, but the feeling was still strangely new.
Naturally so—because the Arthur who had once crossed swords with Elin Leverkusen and the Arthur of now were completely different.
*“Back then I had just returned to the past… all I had were the gnome and the undine.”*
Even those two spirits had only been of the lowest rank at the time.
So, when he sparred with Elin Leverkusen, Arthur had resorted to one trick.
He had given up his body to claim her neck.
*“Of course, I didn’t actually cut her throat… but still. Thinking back, what a crude way that was.”*
Charging headlong into a thrusting wooden sword?
Even now, recalling it felt like madness.
*“I won’t need to do anything that crazy this time.”*
He would probably win easily.
To be honest, he was confident even if he went up against Norse, the professor teaching swordsmanship. Against Elin, there was no comparison.
*“So this means I’m starting off with an A+ right away?”*
Arthur’s lips curled as he struggled to suppress his excitement.
That was when a familiar voice rang from afar.
“Arthur Bayern!”
Turning his head, he saw Leon, panting as he ran over.
Tilting his head, Arthur asked,
“What’s going on, Your Highness?”
“What do you mean, what’s going on? I came to talk with you.”
“With me? About what?”
Catching his breath, Leon’s eyes sharpened.
“What in the world did you do last weekend?”
“…Last weekend?”
“I told you! Because of you the entire underworld is in chaos right now! Not just the Seven Sovereigns and the pirates—every faction is watching you!”
Arthur shrugged at his words.
“I killed them.”
“…Killed who?”
“Some nameless pirates, and Balans of the Seven Sovereigns.”
“….”
Leon’s jaw dropped.
Watching, Arthur let out a laugh.
*“Good heavens… can a person really look this stupid?”*
He had always been scatterbrained, but now his face looked almost grotesque.
Leon finally pulled himself together, stammering as he muttered.
“Setting aside the pirates… you killed Balans, one of the Seven Sovereigns?”
“Is that really so surprising?”
“Of course it is, man!!”
“…?”
“O-one of the Seven Sovereigns is at least the level of a court mage, and you’re saying *you* killed him!”
Arthur shrugged again.
“I’m aware of that too, you know?”
“Then how can you be so calm about it!”
“What, should I be jumping around in shock?”
“….”
Leon clamped his mouth shut. After some thought, he clapped his hands together.
“Well… you’ve got a point.”
“Right? So don’t make such a fuss, Your Highness. In a way, I only killed one wanted criminal.”
Leon’s eyes went wide with genuine shock.
*“No matter how I look at it… I just can’t understand the way this guy thinks.”*
Meanwhile, Arthur continued walking toward the training grounds.
Leon, snapping back to his senses, hurried after him.
“Ugh! Why are you following me around!”
“Of course I’m following you! There’s so much I need to hear from you!”
“I’m not telling you anything!”
“Then I’ll make you! This time I’ll find some way to drag it out of you!”
Bickering like that, they arrived at the training grounds.
The students already gathered blinked in surprise when they saw Arthur and Leon walk in together.
“What the… is that combo supposed to be?”
“The bottom-ranked guy and… the repeat flunker?”
“That’s a weird pairing.”
Leon Madrid was the most infamous dropout at Arcane University.
Seven consecutive failures—a legendary record in the school’s history.
And Arthur Bayern was a “flunker” of a different kind in swordsmanship.
In Professor Norse’s test, he had ranked dead last.
*“Our class’s worst swordsman and the campus’s legendary dropout, together…”*
*“Guess losers flock together, huh?”*
*“But considering their status, they’re hardly the kind of people who should be like that…”*
Just then, Professor Norse appeared behind Arthur.
“Quiet, all of you!”
At his shout, the students shut their mouths, and Arthur and Leon stopped bickering to look his way.
Norse’s eyes swept the class, and he frowned.
“…You there.”
Leon stood up confidently.
“Yes, Professor!”
“You’re not even enrolled in this class. Why are you here?”
“To observe, sir.”
“…Observe?”
“Yes! If you’ll permit it, I’d like to watch the duels!”
Norse blinked, about to scold him, when another voice rang through the hall.
“…Apologies for being late, Professor.”
All heads turned toward the source.
“…Huh?”
“W-was that Elin Leverkusen?”
“No way… is that really her?”
The students’ mouths dropped open.
At the entrance stood Elin Leverkusen—her appearance closer to that of a “shut-in wreck.”
But what shocked them wasn’t her appearance.
Whooosh—!
A raw aura surged from her entire body.
Unrefined mana erupted like countless sharp spears stabbing outward.
“…!”
The more circles a student had attained, the stronger their reaction to that force—so shock was inevitable.
*“W-what did she do to herself?”*
*“That’s not three circles… it’s four.”*
*“My god… Four Circles at seventeen?”*
Genius among geniuses.
The title fit Elin Leverkusen perfectly now.
Even Professor Norse was not immune to amazement.
*“What… level is that supposed to be?”*
He had taught countless students and even produced seven-circle sword wielders, yet he had never seen a talent like this.
*“Four Circles at seventeen… if she grows properly, she could even become a Sword Master.”*
Holan Leverkusen—the Empire’s famed “Lion of the North.”
To say she was nearing his level was no exaggeration.
As Norse marveled, Elin’s gaze turned—and met Arthur’s.
He blinked once, then smiled warmly.
“…Hmph.”
At that smile, Elin let out a small chuckle of her own, before walking to an empty seat.
Beside Arthur, Leon whispered while watching her.
“…Doesn’t look easy, does it?”
“What?”
“She’s Four Circles! Her realm is at Four Circles!”
Arthur nodded calmly.
“Yeah. Until three days ago.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“There are… such things.”
Giving that cryptic answer, Arthur looked toward Professor Norse.
Just then, Norse, having finished regarding Elin, raised his voice.
“We’ll begin the exam immediately!”
“….”
“The rules are simple. Use all the strength you can muster, and defeat your opponent!”
“…!”
“This was announced beforehand, so I expect you’re all prepared. Let’s begin right away!”
At his words, the students swallowed nervously.
Norse’s sharp gaze swept them.
“The first match: Elin Leverkusen…”
“…!”
“…versus Arthur Bayern. Step forward.”
Elin rose and strode confidently to the center.
“Hmph… first up, huh? I like it.”
Arthur also stood and walked forward.
Facing each other, the two took the wooden swords Norse handed them.
“….”
They studied each other briefly. Then Elin spoke.
“This time… I won’t lose, Arthur.”
Arthur smiled.
“Really? Hm… I’ll look forward to it, Elin.”
“Still so smug?”
“Once you take up a blade, you can’t afford to be anything but calm. If you’re not, it means you’re one step away from death.”
Elin’s eyes widened slightly.
“…Then right now, calm is the last thing you should be. Because you’re the one who’s going to lose.”
Arthur didn’t answer.
Nor did Elin expect him to. She steadied her breath.
*“Did I provoke him too much?”*
For a moment she worried, but shook her head.
*“No… if I don’t, I’ll just get nervous and won’t be able to fight at my best.”*
The man who had first defeated her.
The man who had shocked her.
*“Three years ago… that was just luck, I can tell myself.”*
Her carelessness, and Arthur Bayern’s reckless gamble—together, it had seemed like fortune.
*“But that strike I saw back then?”*
That single blow Arthur had shown during the first swordsmanship test—it had never left her mind.
*“That wasn’t luck. A strike like that can’t be born of luck.”*
Sharpness concealed within softness.
That flowing blow had reminded her of her grandfather, Holan Leverkusen’s sword.
Because of that, she had shut herself away in seclusion to train.
Because she could not afford to lose to Arthur Bayern again.
*“I need an overwhelming gap. One that no ‘wild card’ could overturn.”*
Through relentless training, she had finally broken through her limits.
Whoooom—!
From Three Circles to Four.
She had reached the very threshold of wielding sword aura.
*“…Yes. At this level, there’s no way I can lose.”*
Elin’s lips curved in a confident smile.
*“At this level… no matter what happens, I’ll defeat Arthur.”*
And then she would finally act on what she had long resolved.
*“To confess my heart to Arthur…”*
Just then, Professor Norse declared,
“Begin the exam!”
Elin raised her wooden sword.
Arthur raised his as well.
“….”
The air grew heavy with tension; the students swallowed hard.
Studying Arthur, Elin’s eyes flashed.
*“Now!”*
With that decision, her body shot forward.
“…!”
At her explosive speed, Norse and the students instinctively gaped.
At that moment, Arthur’s sword moved.
Elin, about to strike, faltered in shock.
“…What?”
And with that, the world went black.
Through her fading sight, she caught one last image—Arthur Bayern smiling at her.
That was the final memory Elin had of the duel.
—
—
A heavy silence settled over the arena.
“…?”
Everyone stared, mouths agape, at Elin Leverkusen collapsed on the ground.
“Elin… lost?”
And not after a long and hard-fought duel. With a single blow.
Arthur Bayern’s first strike had dropped her instantly.
“…Huh?”
“W-what just happened?”
“Did she trip over her own feet?”
“Th-that must be it? No… no, it wasn’t that.”
In the midst of the murmurs, Elin’s wooden sword slipped from her grasp.
Craack—!
And as though waiting, it split cleanly in two.
Gasps erupted.
“….”
A broken sword. Proof that the defeat had not been by chance, but by overwhelming skill.
At that realization, belated exclamations burst among the students.
“Oh my god…”
“C-crazy!! Arthur Bayern really won!?”
“Wow… what did we just witness?”
“Has anything like this ever happened in Arcane University’s history…?”
The training hall erupted in chaos.
Meanwhile, Professor Norse muttered, still dazed.
*“…What… just happened?”*
Arthur Bayern.
Until now, just an ordinary, unremarkable student in swordsmanship lectures.
True, he had shown a strange strike in the very first test, but he wasn’t considered a genius.
And yet now—whatever had happened—he had become something beyond comprehension.
Elin Leverkusen, dropped in a single exchange.
An impossible strike, one even Norse’s eyes had struggled to follow.
And beneath it all, a faint current of mana he could sense.
Norse, truly shaken, found himself at a loss for words.
Then Arthur turned his head.
“Professor, who’s the victor?”
“…!”
Snapped out of his shock, Norse looked at Arthur.
His eyes were calm, steady, without a trace of doubt.
*“He was certain of this victory all along.”*
Realizing that, Norse declared,
“The victor… Arthur Bayern.”
Arthur’s lips curled upward.
“In the duel between Elin Leverkusen and Arthur Bayern—the winner is Arthur Bayern.”
—
