After lunch break, the next practical exam, the duel, began.
In fact, I didn’t care much about the previous exams either, but the duel was even less interesting. In the end, it was exactly like the entrance exam.
Dodge all attacks, and if there’s a parry, deflect it.
Within the context of the duel, my abilities were ridiculously overpowered.
I had tried using the magic tool that Fran gave me, but it didn’t work on the advanced class students at all.
They probably felt that my attacks were insignificant, so it ended up just annoying them.
Moreover, Seria had become so overwhelmingly strong that it wasn’t fun either to participate or watch her fight.
The only duel worth watching was Lilith’s, and seeing her progress was like watching a well-developed character in action scenes—it gave a kind of satisfaction.
Her attacks, which exploited openings with unprecedented speed, were impressive.
Other students from the advanced class had grown as well, but compared to Lilith, they were still far behind.
So, I thought Lilith would finish her duel without much trouble, but an unexpected variable came up.
“Let’s have a final match, just the two of us.”
Lowell Soulriver, the future Swordmaster.
He was a skilled fighter, but he had a reclusive, low-profile character.
He didn’t really stand out… and his role in the story wasn’t that big.
If you look closely, he had many moments of action, but he was often outside the main storyline.
He wasn’t someone you’d see often if the story followed the usual path.
It was rare for someone like him to step forward, but I had expected this to some extent.
To close the gap I felt earlier with Lilith, this approach seemed logical to him.
Of course, he was confident enough in his skills to act this way.
So, he probably thought he could compete with Lilith, ignoring me and Seria.
And the result, of course, was…
“Dammit!”
“Ah, professor! Please heal me!”
“Wait, Lilith. I need to treat the guy with broken ribs first.”
It was a decisive victory for Lilith.
At first, Lowell seemed to be pushed back by her rapid sword swings, but eventually, he started absorbing shallow attacks and closed in, finishing with a Saintess punch.
Even though a healing professor was waiting in the back, her courage was remarkable.
“You, I’ll catch up to you, so be prepared.”
Maybe because of her performance, it seemed like Lilith had been chosen as a rival… but that wasn’t really my concern.
After that, the exam ended without any big incidents.
Although some gaps were revealed, that was because Seria and Lilith were special cases. In fact, it was clear that others were growing quickly too.
In particular, Harold, who I hadn’t paid attention to much since the entrance exam, had been progressing rapidly.
He seemed to have gotten interested in weapon crafting, and he kept changing the weapons he made during his duels.
Although he wasn’t at the level of switching weapons mid-fight yet, his skill in handling multiple weapons was impressive.
In the end, he was still defeated by my evasion and parries, but saying it like this makes me sound like someone bullying a newbie.
Don’t misunderstand. Harold’s overall abilities are probably much higher now. I was just acting in self-defense.
“Right, Seria?”
“What?”
“Just agree with me.”
“Okay, you’re right.”
Seria also acknowledged it. No guilt, victory!
After the midterm exams, Seria and I went to see Professor Reina to get an outing pass.
Since Seria had already asked for the approval in advance, we just received the confirmation and left immediately.
After the midterms, we were given a short holiday as a reward for the hard work, and although it was only three days, it coincided with the weekend, so it was a decent break.
And during that time, I had to go to the royal palace. The outing pass was for that purpose.
I was leaving tomorrow morning, and after receiving the pass, it felt quite burdensome.
“Hehe, finally tomorrow.”
Seria was grinning happily. She must be excited.
After receiving the pass, we had quite a bit of time left, so as usual, I was dragged around by Seria. After wandering around, we ended up at the academy café.
I didn’t visit cafés often, but after being dragged around by Seria, I started going there quite frequently. Thanks to that, I became a regular.
Although everything—coffee and desserts—was expensive, I wasn’t short on money, so it wasn’t a burden.
Seria, being a princess, probably didn’t even feel the money slipping away.
“Rudion. Now that I look at you, your hair really needs some work.”
After placing our orders and sitting down, Seria, who had been staring at me, suddenly said that.
I touched my hair, and it was indeed quite messy.
Since I came here, I hadn’t been paying attention to grooming at all, but since Seria mentioned it, I figured it was time to tidy up.
But thinking about it, Seria hadn’t changed much.
Her hair was a noticeable golden color, a bright shade, and her face was so sculpted that any change in her hair would be immediately noticeable, but it didn’t seem to be the case at all.
It didn’t even look longer… I hadn’t noticed in the game, but it seemed strange that Seria’s hair hadn’t grown like mine.
As if reading my thoughts, the corners of Seria’s eyes curled slightly.
“I take care of my hair every day. I was taught that self-care is important.”
“So, what you’re saying is, I’m a failure because I don’t take care of myself, right?”
“You know that’s not what I meant. You’re just trying to tease me, but it doesn’t work anymore.”
I had teased her so much that I had reached a point where most of my usual repertoire no longer worked.
Realizing my intentions, Seria shot me a playful glare. Perhaps it was because her original expression was cold, but it felt rather sharp.
Though she was always kind to me and usually smiled, making her seem approachable, her overall impression was one of someone difficult to get close to.
Her clear blue eyes, which were usually refreshing, felt cold in this context, and when she sat there expressionless, it was hard to even talk to her.
Of course, knowing her introverted nature, and having grown used to spending time together, I didn’t think much about it anymore.
Seria must have realized that, which is why she restrained herself and gave me that glare.
After the drinks and desserts I ordered arrived, I brought them over, only to find that Lilith had somehow taken a seat.
“What’s this?”
“It’s Lilith.”
“No… Did you think she didn’t know that? Hey, Rudion! Don’t taint Seria with weird things!”
Lilith, not understanding the inside joke Seria and I always played, scolded me.
Seria, unfazed, continued talking.
“She stopped by for a coffee and decided to say hello when she saw me.”
“Is she staying to eat?”
“No, she’s taking it with her. She wants to review the mistakes from her test today.”
“She’s working hard.”
Though it seemed somewhat pointless, considering she failed the written exam, I didn’t bring it up.
I put the drinks and desserts down and sat down.
Since Lilith had taken the seat across from Seria, I ended up sitting next to her.
That meant I was now facing Lilith. Perhaps it was because we had just talked about hair, but I found myself looking her over.
Her silver hair wasn’t too long nor too short. It seemed to have grown a bit longer than when I first saw her, meaning she didn’t maintain it as strictly as Seria did.
“What are you staring at? Hey, Seria, aren’t you managing your boyfriend?”
“Oh, we’re not dating yet…!”
“Ah, still. So you’re saying you’ll date eventually?”
Though she acted like a carefree, front-line fighter type of person, she was, after all, a saintess.
Of course, she fought like a fighter and did belong to the close-combat role, but still, she was a saintess.
I heard that she still occasionally wore the saintess robes and appeared at religious events, but she seemed too shy to ever brag about it.
I’d seen the illustrations from the game a few times, so I knew exactly what she looked like. Honestly, she looked amazing in those robes.
Though she’d never admit it, Lilith in saintess robes truly looked like a benevolent saint.
Her face was slightly round, and her black eyes, lacking in vitality, only added to her mysterious aura. This would only increase her standing as a saintess over time.
If she gained even more status, she might end up being dragged around for all sorts of things on her days off.
“Ah, my coffee’s here. I’m off. Seria! Good luck!”
“Why do you tell me to ‘good luck’? No need to mention it… I’m fine, really.”
Lilith made a last remark, grabbed her coffee, and left.
Lately, things between Lilith and Seria always felt like this.
When Lilith teased Seria, Seria would shy away, unable to react strongly, and I would just watch from the side.
For me, having already heard about Seria’s feelings and choosing to maintain the status quo, it was an awkward flow.
Knowing that, Seria let out a small sigh.
“Sigh, Rudion. Don’t feel pressured by Lilith’s words. I’m really okay with it.”
It was so sweet of her that I almost thought, “Should I just date her?” Of course, I knew better than to act on it.
We continued to enjoy the drinks and desserts, with me still sitting next to Seria.
When Lilith left, the seat across from us was empty again, but it felt a bit awkward to change seats suddenly.
“Things have been quiet with the rifts lately. I was kind of looking forward to following up on them.”
“It’s normal for them to appear sporadically. By the way, how long has it been since you last went to the student council?”
“I stopped by briefly four days ago. I haven’t been since. It’s still early; should we go after we finish this?”
After chatting for a bit, we decided on our next stop.
I had to send a message to the student council in advance.
[Rudion: We’re coming to visit.]
[Alkine: Didn’t I tell you the student council isn’t a place for visitors?]
Having gotten permission, I felt at ease about it.
“But this is too sweet, I can’t eat it.”
“Is that so? I actually prefer things a little sweeter than this.”
Seria took care of all the overly sweet desserts that I almost couldn’t finish.
There was quite a bit, but when you think about it, it seemed like her main food was dessert, not actual meals.
At least we could leave the café without any food waste.