Chapter 373

“Hmm hmm~ hm~”

“… …”

“Hmph~ hmm hmm~”

“Brother.”

Diana called out to Karas, who was joyfully humming a tune beside her.

Currently, Karas had laid out a mat on the ground, looking very much like he was having a picnic.

On the mat were some simple snacks that didn’t quite match Diana’s taste.

“What’s up? Got something to say?”

“I have plenty to say. So much that it’s a problem.”

“Hmph. Then let’s start with the most pressing question.”

Diana opened her mouth to speak but promptly closed it. She needed to think carefully.

She really wanted to ask why she had been brought along, considering they were supposed to be enemies.

Originally, Diana had little interest in the exam, wandering around with a few others.

But suddenly, Karas had popped up and dragged her here, to a hill away from Windmill Village.

When she asked why he brought her, the answer was quite something.

“If you want to watch that barbarian, can’t you do it alone?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Then why did you bring me?”

“Because I was bored?”

“You jerk…”

For a moment, Diana almost blurted out a curse, but she managed to hold it back.

She had grown tired of the inconsiderate nature of her brother, the Crown Prince Karas.

Thanks to that chaotic personality, she had managed to survive so far.

But sometimes, this kind of recklessness could just make a person mad.

That said, she couldn’t just lash out. If she did it wrong, who knows what would happen?

Even if he’s a wreck of a brother, her twin brother Leo had disappeared, so it was better to keep quiet.

“…Enough with the jokes; I’d like a proper answer, please. We’re enemies for this exam, remember? Enemies.”

“Huh? I didn’t think you’d care about the exam?”

“That’s true, but how do the professors see us? You need to be careful too.”

Diana was never one to be overly concerned about her academy life or grades.

After all, she had been forcibly enrolled, and thanks to her position as a princess, she lacked for nothing.

The same went for Karas, but he was an assistant. He could lose that position at any moment.

Though all the interest was focused on Sivar, Karas was not without attention either.

“I’ll probably just get a few demerit points. But I don’t mind, little sister.”

“Then why did you bring me here? And…”

Diana turned her gaze away. In fact, there weren’t just two of them here.

Next to Karas, there was a round something surrounded by a shield.

It was a protective spell that activated when students got knocked out or had their bracelets torn off.

In other words, someone was inside there. She already knew who it was.

[Hey! How much time has passed?]

A woman’s clear voice was heard from within the round shield.

Even with all sides blocked, the sound from inside was clear. Diana recognized the voice.

“Is that Tartar Princess inside there? Why did you bring her?”

“There’s a saying in the East: it’s better to get hit first.”

“What does that mean?”

“If you’re going to get hit while running away, it’s better to take the hit first.”

“???”

Diana’s expression twisted further into confusion at the utterly incomprehensible words.

She looked like someone who just heard a ridiculous story. This was a common reaction whenever she talked to Karas.

[Are you ignoring me?! I’ll punch you in the face when I get out of here! You coward!]

“Um…”

“Forget it.”

“Yes.”

Someone inside the shield was throwing a fit, but at Karas’s command, Diana decided to ignore it.

More importantly, there was a crucial question that needed to be addressed. The same question she had asked first.

“So why did you bring me here…”

“Can you see that village over there? The one with the turning windmill.”

Diana looked in the direction Karas was pointing.

True to his words, the windmill prominent village caught her eyes.

What’s so interesting about that? Diana blinked in confusion.

“Soon, something very interesting will happen. Most likely thanks to Sivar.”

“…You just said that a moment ago.”

“I brought you to see that power with your own eyes. Have you ever seen Sivar exert his power?”

“Um…”

Diana thought hard after hearing Karas’s question.

The more she mulled it over, the more the answer was ‘no.’ She had never directly witnessed Sivar’s might.

She had seen fragments during the last attack of the Squirrel Spirit, but that wasn’t enough.

But would she get to see any power for being here? Diana felt rather doubtful.

More than that, there was one thing she couldn’t understand.

“Why are you so invested in him?”

“What do you mean?”

“That uncultured barbarian. Just because he’s out of the wild doesn’t mean he’s not barbaric.”

It wasn’t Karas who reacted heatedly to Diana’s critique, but someone else.

[Are you done talking? You must be Karas’s sibling, right? Sivar is smarter than you! Show him what a real barbarian is?!]

“… …”

Diana looked at the round shield in disbelief.

She was sure the one being insulted was Sivar, so why was Kara throwing such a fit?

She couldn’t comprehend, but before long, Karas’s answer came back.

“Cultured… well, maybe he lacks proper culture. It’s only been a year since he’s started.”

“That’s true?”

“But the ability to judge right and wrong is a separate skill.”

“Huh?”

Diana blinked. The ability to judge right from wrong was separate? What did that mean?

While Diana was deep in thought, Karas popped open a can of food he had prepared.

Inside was some delicious-looking pineapple.

Karas picked one out and popped it into his mouth. Quite a down-to-earth sight for a Crown Prince.

“I’m not asking whether it’s morally right or wrong. There’s no perfect morality in this world. Unless it’s a twisted morality painted over evil.”

“… …”

“Was it when Sivar first arrived at the academy? I heard he caused a few incidents, but he was very obedient to the headmaster.”

“Well, the headmaster is a Sword Saint.”

“Only the headmaster is a Sword Saint. Other students are much weaker than Sivar. Much weaker.”

Karas retorted and turned to Karak, the ball next to him.

“You agree, don’t you? I heard you were beaten up by Sivar in a duel.”

[He was absurdly strong.]

Kara agreed with that statement. During the duel, Karak had stood no chance.

He had managed to land a few hits with some tricks, but that was it. He lost due to the overwhelming skill difference.

“Yet Sivar chose coexistence instead of forcing his power. Even though he lived in the brutal survival of the wild. Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“Well, I’m not really sure…”

“His awareness is abnormally quick. It’s as if he entered the wild after living in civilization.”

If Sivar had heard that, he would have been taken aback. That’s how keen Karas was about Sivar’s essence.

But Sivar was currently in Windmill Village. Even if he wanted to know, he couldn’t.

“Especially his relationships are very good. Most people around him send him goodwill and favor.”

[It’s because Sivar is kind. He’s also worried about getting caught by bad people.]

“Kind, huh… that’s part of it. He has decisiveness and the power to back it up.”

“What does that have to do with why you’re interested in him?”

Diana couldn’t understand. She didn’t know if they were the weird ones, or if she was the odd one. The people around her were too strange for her to judge objectively.

“How about I make a bet?”

[What kind of bet?]

“A bet on whether Sivar will ask for the treasure after the exam.”

[I bet he’ll throw a fit for sure.]

“Hmph. I was thinking the same thing.”

“… …”

No one here was normal.

‘I want to drop out.’

Even though she wanted to, Diana felt frustrated that she couldn’t.