Chapter 22

Maybe I was being a bit too carefree.

I didn’t know anything about the feeling of hatred.

I knew fear. I knew disgust. I knew anger. I knew contempt. But hatred? I didn’t know it.

I just deluded myself into thinking I did.

This was the first time I faced hatred so vivid it felt like it was trying to claw out my heart, so persistent it seemed like it wanted to gouge out my eyes.

The looks I got when I stepped out of the carriage were just the disgust of third parties who’d heard of my infamy.

But this? This was the gaze of someone directly involved.

A murderous intent, silent yet ferocious, roared like it was about to suffocate me.

—

“Hmm. He seems to be looking this way. Are you perhaps acquainted with Princess Ha-shal-leur?”

“…I don’t know him.”

Calix tapped his chin with his finger, asking me with a somewhat awkward expression.

I quietly denied it.

It was the entrance exam, so I couldn’t be sure, but I definitely hadn’t seen a character like that in the main game.

So, was he just someone destined to fail?

No, the man’s aura was anything but ordinary.

The unrefined, raw killing intent and the violent pressure radiating from his entire body felt even more intense than Damien, the protagonist.

“Then perhaps it’s a personal grudge… His eyes seem to carry a deep resentment. If that young man passes, you’re in for a rough time.”

“Right? He looks like he’s about to charge at me any second.”

Calix nodded solemnly, his expression slightly stiffened, perhaps out of concern for me.

A rough time, huh? Yeah, probably.

Just looking at him, it’s obvious he’s itching to hurl that axe at me.

My nerves, sharpened by the man’s hostility, made my right arm twitch as if urging me to draw my sword immediately.

“Ha, you don’t know him? Interesting. He seems to know you pretty well, though.”

Freide sneered mockingly.

“Well, perpetrators tend to forget. For you non-humans, it’s just another day, right? That guy and I might actually get along.”

“The Ka`har are now recognized as a quasi-human race by the Empire. I heard the Pale Moon Duchy follows the Empire’s will well, but seeing you, I guess that’s not entirely true?”

“……”

Freide, having no retort, closed her mouth with a displeased expression.

Let’s not pay too much attention to her.

If she crosses the line, I can always challenge her to a duel later. But for now, fighting her would only worsen my image.

Right now, I need to focus on Damien’s side.

I need to gauge the protagonist’s strength and the skill of that Dainian who clearly has it out for me.

I should assess both sides.

—

“Where are you looking? Your opponent is me.”

Damien spoke calmly to the Dainian youth.

It seemed the youth’s focus on me rather than him had irked Damien, as his grip on the greatsword tightened.

The Dainian youth, who had been glaring at me, clenched his teeth, shut his eyes tightly, and turned his head.

“Right… Not yet. Not yet…!”

His voice was low, as if he was forcing himself to swallow his anger.

The youth then bowed his head solemnly to Damien in apology.

“…My apologies. You’re right. A warrior must focus on the enemy before them.”

With that, the youth picked up the axe he had been leaning on and took a combat stance.

“My name is Knut. Knut, son of Sven. State your name, enemy.”

“Damien.”

Damien brought his left hand to the hilt of his sword, gripping it firmly with both hands, and lowered his stance.

With a thunderous roar, the greatsword and axe clashed violently.

—

The successive, storm-like roars shook the walls of the examination hall.

The clash of rare talents in the entrance exam had the excited audience waving their arms in a frenzy.

The greatsword tore through the air with an ear-splitting sound, while the axe shook the earth with each strike.

Overwhelmed by their battle, the other examinees forgot their own fights and stared blankly at the spectacle.

Damien’s attacks were like a raging whirlwind.

Swinging the massive greatsword with wild, exaggerated motions, each strike was heavy and filled with gaps.

Yet, the sheer ferocity and the overwhelming pressure of the greatsword’s wind force filled those gaps, turning each reckless strike into a barely coherent swordsmanship.

On the other hand, Knut’s fighting style was a stark contrast to Damien’s.

Gripping his axe firmly with both hands, he carefully observed his opponent’s attacks, blocking what he could and rolling on the ground to evade what he couldn’t.

He never attacked recklessly, always waiting to counterattack after dodging his opponent’s strikes.

Despite his rough appearance, his fighting style was remarkably calm and calculated.

“Haaaaah!”

Damien, using his greatsword as a pivot, leaped and spun vertically, bringing his sword down like a thunderbolt.

Sensing he couldn’t block it, Knut rolled to the side to evade.

– BOOM!

The greatsword slammed into the ground, sending rock fragments flying with a deafening roar.

—

Rolling on the ground…

Knut swung his axe with full force, and Damien blocked it with the flat of his greatsword.

Even though it was a clash of wood against wood, the sound that rang out was as if steel had collided.

The weapons, unable to withstand the impact of the collision, scattered splinters like screams, revealing their metal skeletons.

The two men paid no heed and continued their battle.

Damien charged forward, thrusting his sword, but Knut twisted the axe handle as if rotating it, deflecting the attack.

Damien’s body swayed heavily.

He barely managed to dodge the axe blade aimed at his head by hastily raising his greatsword.

*Clang!*

The axe blade scraped against the sword’s surface, emitting a rough, dissonant sound.

Damien leaped back to create distance, and as he brought his sword down, Knut’s axe met it in a diagonal upward strike.

*Crash!*

The greatsword, having missed its mark, embedded itself halfway into the ground, causing Damien’s body to momentarily freeze.

Seizing the opportunity, Knut swung his axe, but Damien grabbed the hilt of his sword, spun around to evade, and kicked Knut in the torso.

“Ugh…!”

Knut staggered back a few steps, regaining his stance, while Damien pulled his greatsword out and raised it again.

By now, the wooden parts of both men’s weapons had completely shattered, leaving them with what were essentially steel bludgeons.

—

“They’re… fighting well.”

I muttered with a mix of admiration and awkwardness as I watched their battle.

Damien, being the original protagonist and destined to become a hero, was expected to be strong. But this Knut guy was showing strength comparable to, if not surpassing, Damien.

Though both were weaker than Nigel.

“Indeed, both are quite skilled. They’re already among the stronger candidates by knight standards. If we can recruit just those two this year, it would be a success.”

“Recruit both? If they keep fighting like that, won’t one of them be eliminated?”

I thought the entrance exam being a duel meant only the winner would pass. So, I was really hoping Damien would win.

“Ah, you didn’t know? Well, you are a special admission student, so it makes sense. The academy’s entrance exam is decided through two duels. A single duel would mean the luckier one always passes. While luck is part of skill, that wouldn’t be a fair way to select true talent.”

Calix nodded with satisfaction as he watched the two men fight.

“Those who achieve two wins pass. Those with one win and one loss are left to the examiners’ discretion, and only those who lose both are eliminated. There were opinions that at least three duels were necessary, but that would take too much time.”

I see. That explanation made a strange amount of sense. So even if Knut loses here, as long as his next match isn’t terribly unlucky, he’s practically guaranteed to pass.

I felt like sighing.

—

“So, who do you think will win?”

Asha asked with sparkling eyes.

Well, who would win? Damien is the protagonist, so he should pull through, right?

“Hmm, probably Damien? His attacking momentum is much more intense.”

“…Knut.”

As if to counter my words, Freide muttered under her breath.

“Hmm… Indeed, from what I see, the young man Knut seems more likely to win. Their skills are similar, but the lad with the greatsword has been making overly large movements. He’ll likely run out of stamina soon.”

Calix agreed with Freide.

Looking closely, Damien’s shoulders were indeed trembling slightly.

A headache was coming on. The original protagonist’s first appearance being a loss to a character who didn’t even exist in the original story…

This must be because of me, right?

If a Dainian who wasn’t in the original suddenly showed up at the academy, the only plausible reason would be the rumors about the Ka`har’s admission.

I was already feeling the story twisting, and it worried me for what was to come.

“Wow! Look at that! They’re going for a one-hit finish!”

Asha’s excited voice drew my attention back to the arena.

—

Damien, with his greatsword lowered, and Knut, with his axe raised high, were both gathering their full strength.

As if entranced by their aura, the arena fell into a momentary silence.

The next moment, the two clashed.

“Haaaah!”

“Bølberg, yeeeargh!”

With fierce shouts, Damien charged forward, and Knut, as if responding, called upon the name of the warrior god and brought his axe down.

*Crash!*

With a deafening explosion that shook the ceiling, the greatsword shattered into two pieces, flying into the air.

—