According to the Lanchester’s Law, when forces of equal ability fight each other, the side with greater numbers will always win.
Both Kail and Viktor were well aware of this fact. Thus, Kail assumed that in order to defeat him, he would have to ambush from somewhere or secretly aim for his main base—such was his thought.
Kail did not do so. He charged forward with twenty soldiers armed with swords. At this moment, the emotion Viktor felt was akin to the bafflement one feels upon meeting someone incredibly stupid.
‘What is he doing…? With such a difference in troop numbers, doesn’t he realize that even having knights on our side won’t turn the tide…?’
Amidst Viktor’s bewilderment, Kail, leading the charge of the soldiers, felt an immense frustration with his own body. The weight of the armor he wore and the sword he carried made him feel weary, already gasping for breath after running merely dozens of meters.
The aura that once granted him transcendent vitality was gone, as was the physique honed over more than a decade. All that remained was the swordsmanship he had trained in his entire life.
That was enough.
“Stop him!”
At Viktor’s command, the soldiers who had been prepared thrust their spears simultaneously. Their movements were as precise and instantaneous as a machine, making it seem impossible for even beasts like tigers or lions to easily overcome them.
Kail was different. Kail stabbed his sword into the gaps between the spears, immediately disrupting their balance. A path just wide enough for him opened up, and slipping through the gap, Kail swiftly beheaded a soldier.
Swish-! Amidst the fountain of blood splattering across fifty soldiers, Kail smirked as he gazed at Viktor issuing orders from afar.
“—Wait.”
He swung his sword. One soldier fell.
He swung his sword again. Three soldiers rolled on the ground.
In the past, it was said that if one could face three armed soldiers alone without aura or anything else, they would be called a Swordmaster.
Then what should we call Kail now—charging into dozens of soldiers armed with only a sword?
Watching this absurd scene, Viktor realized a shocking truth. Every time Kail swung his sword, a soldier lost their life. Since the blade swung once per second—it wouldn’t take even a minute for his entire force to be annihilated.
“This can’t be happening!”
Perhaps thinking that the soldiers’ combat abilities weren’t that high, Viktor hastily thrust his spear towards the enemy troops.
However, the enemy soldier who lightly parried Viktor’s thrust turned the spear back towards him, injuring his hand. With a weak cry of “Hiiick-!” Viktor dropped the spear and retreated.
Since this was an illusion, no pain was felt, but ironically, the inability to move his hand without pain was even more terrifying.
“What are you doing?”
“Eh, Eek-!”
While Viktor was momentarily distracted, Kail slaughtered all thirty of his soldiers, wiping the blood off his sword as he looked down at Viktor trembling in fear.
Seeing him shiver in terror, Kail didn’t feel the urge to torment him further and simply swung his sword to sever his neck.
Thirty-one in total. It took 1 minute and 38 seconds to cut down all the troops.
Viktor, whose forces were completely annihilated in less than 100 seconds, earned nicknames like “the cadet who can’t boil instant noodles” or “the premature cadet.”
* * *
The Academy is a prodigy training facility created by the Empire, and this institution hosts not only commoners but also numerous renowned nobles.
Thanks to this, the Academy boasts facilities superior to any in the Empire, and its dining hall was praised by Prince Yuri during his time there as being better than the Imperial Palace.
Today was the first meal in the dining hall. I stood in line, my heart pounding, waiting for my turn to be served.
“Kail.”
As I stood in line, Yuri suddenly jumped over the queue from afar and chased me to stand behind me. Standing next to me as if nothing was wrong, she casually joined the line.
Even though she’s a noble and my fiancée, I couldn’t tolerate cutting in line, so I firmly spoke up.
“Yuri, no matter how noble you are, cutting in line—”
“There, how much for this spot? What’s the price?”
“Ah, huh? …Thank you!”
But before I could say anything about her cutting in line, Yuri handed money to the cadet behind her and swapped places.
The cadet who received the money grinned widely and happily returned to the very back of the line, while Yuri shrugged as if to say, “No problem now, right?”
“Why?”
“For reference, how much did you give him?”
“100,000 cash.”
“That amount is crazy…”
Roughly converted to Korean won, it meant she paid 100,000 won for this spot. With that amount, she could’ve bought two front-row spots—but I guess she’s just dumb. Not that it’s my place to judge.
However, whether it was due to her duchess-like composure or simply a lack of financial sense, Yuri clung to me with an unperturbed expression.
“Kail, who was that girl earlier?”
“That girl? Who?”
“The blonde girl who was sticking close to you.”
Upon hearing Yuri’s words, I belatedly recalled the entrance ceremony. Ariah, whom I became friendly with during the ceremony. Yuri must have seen us sticking together unusually close.
At the time, Yuri had been waiting at the front of the auditorium to deliver the representative oath, so she hadn’t been able to approach me. After the ceremony ended, we moved to our respective classrooms, leaving no time to ask about it.
Never imagining that she’d still be hung up on that incident, I scratched my cheek and explained.
“She’s just a girl sitting next to me.”
“And you were sticking that close to her?”
“Was I?”
“…Kail, I don’t intend to interfere with you talking to or befriending other girls. But—”
Yuri stared at me with sparkling eyes.
“Don’t forget that you’re the son-in-law of the Grace Dukedom. Your fiancée is me.”
“…O, oh.”
The pressure of a buxom woman makes even the toughest guys uneasy……!
As a voice echoed in my head, I hesitated briefly before quickly turning around and picking up the two trays that had appeared before us.
“The food’s here, let’s go!”
Grabbing her tray, I hurriedly moved to another spot, and Yuri, staring daggers at the back of my head, soon followed.
After finding a moderately empty seat and starting to eat, I realized the rumors about the Academy cafeteria were true.
“Wow—.”
“…Hmm, mmhm.”
Yuri, who had been about to say something, promptly closed her mouth and buried her face in her tray. Her strong appetite seemed unchanged from when she was young.
Casually—I passed today’s dessert to her. Upon seeing it, Yuri hesitated for a moment, looking between me and the dessert, then cautiously took it.
“…Thanks.”
“No problem. Enjoy it.”
“Yeah.”
As I watched Yuri happily devour the dessert after finishing her meal in no time, I sensed someone approaching me.
A presence I had felt once before. My body remembered it, but my mind couldn’t quite recall this alien sensation. Glancing over, a handsome blonde guy with a slick appearance stood beside me.
Tilting my head slightly as I stared at him, I soon recognized a familiar face.
“Bellion!”
“Indeed—it is you, Kail?”
“Hahaha! Did you enroll in the Academy too?”
“Yeah. Even royalty has to attend, whether they want to or not.”
“Is that so? Well, sit down, sit down!”
As Bellion sat beside me, Yuri, who had been blissfully munching on her dessert, suddenly choked and started coughing.
Handing her a glass of water, Yuri gulped it down quickly before exhaling heavily.
“Phew… Your Highness.”
“What’s with you, Yuri? Why so formal? Aren’t we friends?”
“Yes…we are.”
“Then why the honorifics? Be casual. Look at him.”
Bellion pointed at me as he saw Yuri struggling awkwardly.
“He’s been casual with me since the first time we met. You should do the same.”
“I’ll…try.”
“Good. Nice to meet you.”
Reuniting with Bellion, we began catching up on the years we missed. We talked about what happened after his last birthday party, the various things we experienced, and so on.
“By the way, Bellion, what department are you in?”
“Me? I’m in the Arts Department.”
“Oh, really? I know someone there. Ariah…”
As we chatted away, Bellion naturally assessed Kail’s level. Though he was still an Aura User, the royal aura breathing techniques and magic power refinement methods he had learned allowed him to do so.
‘…Can’t see it?’
Five years ago, Bellion could feel the intense aura flowing within Kail’s body. Though his body was still young, the aura coursing through him was no less impressive than that of the imperial knights.
If that was the case five years ago, Bellion firmly believed that Kail must have become even more extraordinary now, after five more years.
Yet strangely, Bellion couldn’t sense even a trace of aura from Kail. It was as if he were someone who had never trained in aura.
Considering the impossibility of this scenario, Bellion cautiously asked Kail.
“Kail, have you ever…been in some kind of accident?”
“Huh? What accident?”
“Like getting severely injured or nearly dying?”
“Nope.”
Hearing this, Bellion looked at him incredulously. But no matter how hard he tried, Kail couldn’t recall any near-death incidents.
This made it unlikely that Kail had lost his aura. Moreover—his attendant had mentioned that Kail received a perfect score in Gawein’s practical exam, something no one in history had ever achieved.
It was highly likely that he still possessed that overwhelming strength.
“Come to think of it—there was some talk about you causing trouble in class today.”
“Eh? Me?”
“Yeah. Something about…a guy who can’t even boil instant noodles?”
“Oh, that wasn’t me—it was—”
Listening to Kail’s subsequent tales of valor, Bellion became certain.
Kail hadn’t lost his aura.
Rather, Bellion had become unable to read Kail’s aura.
And there was only one possible explanation for this.
‘No way.’
There was a saying that whatever remains after eliminating the impossible must be the truth, no matter how unbelievable. Yet Bellion found it hard to accept this possibility.
‘Master…?’
The idea that his friend had reached the Master level was utterly unbelievable.
How could it be…
“Hahaha!”
Looking at Kail’s pure and clueless expression, it was hard to believe he was hiding the fact that he was such a formidable fighter.
‘No way…’
