With a loud bang, the knight charged towards me like a silver bullet. Before the shockwave could echo, he was already in front of me.
His fist was tearing through the air.
But it was inadequate.
I leaned back slightly, and my hand began to wrap around the punching arm that barely missed me.
I had hardly enough time to utter a small sound of surprise.
But that brief moment became his last act of defiance.
With a thud, the knight who had been thrown with full force could not withstand the impact and flew up.
The wide-open eyes of the knight testified to his pain. He could not even let out a proper scream as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Two knights rushed towards me next.
It seemed they finally realized that they couldn’t challenge me unarmed. They attempted to subdue me with their sheathed swords.
But close-quarters combat utilizing weapons was my specialty.
My sword sheath struck like lightning and wedged itself between their crossing blades. I blocked their intricate combination like a stone wedged between gears.
While they were flustered, I drew my blade from the fixed sheath.
A swordsman facing a real sword naturally became more tense.
The knights, who had deemed a response impossible, looked at me with eyes filled with terror. I could easily sever their necks with just a swing of my sword.
Of course, I wouldn’t do such a thing.
Taking advantage of their confusion, I kicked the sheath that was wedged between their swords.
Both knights’ swords were knocked away together. Seizing that moment of shock, I thrust the blunt end of the sword handle into the nape of one knight.
With a solid impact, the handle of the sword transferred my strength into a jarring blow.
The knight who took the hit had his focus abruptly shaken, and soon, his form began to collapse.
“Y-You bastard!”
After screaming in a last-ditch effort, the final knight swung down his sword.
He overlooked the fact that I was also wielding a sword.
I was not a push-over to simply take that strike.
Clang! The blade collided with the sheath, creating sparks that flew into the void. At that moment, the sheath that had been spinning in the sky began its descent.
My hand snatched the sheath.
As another sword came flying at me, I once again parried it with the sheath. I rotated it as if to embed it into the knight’s side.
With a dull thud, the sheath buried itself into the knight’s temple.
It didn’t take long for him to fall.
The sounds of the two knights collapsing tickled my ears. It seemed my skill was beyond expectation, as the eyes of the squatting knights were wide open.
Of course, they couldn’t have known.
Only Miltram was aware that I had risen to Expert.
And that dark priest was nowhere to be found at the moment.
There was no way my true skills would have become known.
I was able to easily subdue the knights by capitalizing on their surprise.
“What, what kind of third-year student at the Academy….”
After brushing off the frequently heard question, I began to walk with steady steps.
Now there was no one to block the path between me and Senior Elsi.
At most, there was just one knight who had missed my shoulder and was only just regaining his senses.
“This is dishonorable, Prince Percus!”
Ignoring his shout, I gently patted the head of Senior Elsi, who was looking up at me with tearful eyes.
It was a long-awaited reward.
“Are you okay, Senior Elsi?”
“…Ugh!”
Senior Elsi could no longer hold back her tears and burst into sobs.
A single tear rolled down. She pressed her hat down tightly, gripping its brim as though to squeeze out the stress.
Was she really reluctant about the engagement?
After all, the other party was a young and promising scion from a noble family; Senior Elsi did have a unique taste.
I couldn’t help but chuckle lightly.
“I-I definitely…ugh, I-I don’t want to…”
“Of course, it was a joke.”
Naturally, it wasn’t a joke at that time, but in the moment, my mouth didn’t reveal the truth.
I was almost mumbling to the point that I might have conveyed the sincerity I was hiding.
“Why would I not want to date Senior Elsi? You dressed so beautifully for it.”
As I said this with a wry smile, Senior Elsi eventually burst into tears again.
It seemed the emotional wound was quite deep.
After all, she had courageously proposed, only to be met with such a cold rejection.
Senior Elsi was a woman too.
The sight of her, shedding tears, was adorably heart-wrenching. I smiled faintly and tried to comfort her.
Who exactly was the jerk that made this cute girl cry?
While I clicked my tongue inwardly, I turned my head. There was still one knight raising his voice vigorously.
“I will formally protest to the Percus Family! How can an unrelated outsider…”
“There is a connection.”
However, that shout was immediately silenced by my nonchalant response.
The knight stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.
‘There is a connection? You?’
His questioning gaze was palpably incredulous, so I gave a wry smile and gently pulled Senior Elsi’s shoulder closer to me.
As Senior Elsi went “Huh?” her head nestled into my embrace.
“…Senior Elsi and I are, ‘special partners.’”
It was indeed a desperate measure.
Among aristocratic families, a fundamental unspoken rule existed regardless of the Empire or the Kingdom.
“Never interfere with another family’s matters.”
This code, having a very long tradition, was difficult to disregard.
However, I was currently obstructing Senior Elsi’s marital path despite this unspoken rule.
There was no justification to uphold this in the usual way.
Thus, the means I could resort to were limited. Reluctantly, I had to endure a sacrifice myself.
What I sacrificed was the ‘truth.’
“Sp-Special relationship…?”
The knight’s voice trembled as if he could not believe it.
His face had turned pale. He shot a desperate glance at Elsi.
Eyes wishing for her to deny my claim.
In aristocratic engagements, the condition of fidelity was typically included.
If there were a lover, additional arrangements would be essential. Hence, it was the same as being unable to take Senior Elsi away right now.
From the outset, what I said was a lie. The Rainelle Clan could not possibly have prior knowledge of Senior Elsi’s ‘partner.’
Soon, fortunes began to waver.
Unlike the knight, who was plunged into despair, the students who observed the scene gasped and whistled.
Their burst of applause conveyed their feelings.
In particular, several girls screamed excitedly, causing quite a commotion.
Stories of romance traditionally captivated both young and old alike.
What happened today was bound to spread throughout the Academy soon. It was a pity many students had gone home for break, but it was still a success.
The speed at which rumors spread among the nobility was beyond imagination.
And the more our romantic story between Senior Elsi and I was viewed as romantic, the more Count Rainelle could not ignore the situation.
He would certainly be able to endure being seen as the cold-hearted person who tore apart the two lovers so in love.
But the real issue was the fact that Senior Elsi and I were, indeed, sharing a passionate love.
She was a noble lady genuinely in love with someone else. Logically, there was no reason for an aristocratic family to pay a high price to take her away.
It was an obvious miscalculation.
Count Rainelle would have to wrack his brains to come up with a new marriage offer for a while. Of course, it was uncertain whether he would be able to secure a satisfactory match.
However, one thing weighing on my mind was Senior Elsi.
The hardships Count Rainelle would face would soon become problems Senior Elsi would face as well.
Even if Senior Elsi fell in love with someone in the future, what happened today might linger for a long time.
Explaining the situation and clearing up misunderstandings would be the best course of action.
In the end, the sword would have to fall upon Senior Elsi.
Everyone’s eyes were on her. Though the feelings held in those gazes differed, they all shared the anticipation of waiting for her answer.
Even I was.
Please, Senior Elsi. Please catch on.
But suddenly, nestled in my embrace, Senior Elsi was frozen as if time had stopped.
After a long wait, responses finally began to return from Senior Elsi.
Her face gradually reddened until it was so bright it felt as if smoke would burst forth.
Senior Elsi began to stammer, making incomprehensible sounds.
“I-I, I?! I-I am… th-that’s not possible! Uh, huh?”
Just listening, I could keenly feel that Senior Elsi was not in her right mind.
The corners of my mouth, which had been confidently smiling, were quivering.
I had already been embarrassed, but I was worried that the plans wouldn’t go awry in the end.
In response to my heartfelt worry, Senior Elsi soon gasped.
“…Ah, ah! That’s right!”
In the end, she realized it.
I was almost moved to tears. Senior Elsi soon sported a proud expression in my embrace and said to the knight from the Rainelle Clan.
“That’s right, ‘special relationship.’”
With a thud, the knight, unable to endure the harsh reality, knelt.
His empty gaze staring blankly at the ground was filled with deep despair.
In contrast, the gathered onlookers in front of the dormitory responded with even louder cheers. A bitter smile crept onto my face.
Yes, it was a necessary measure to protect Senior Elsi.
Just as I thought that and was about to let out a sigh of relief.
“I-I…serve Ian as my master!”
At that bold declaration, silence descended momentarily.
The knight, who had been staring hopelessly at the floor, slowly raised his head. In his eyes was a swirling mix of shock and fear.
Distrust.
The same went for the onlookers.
Dozens of pairs of eyes widened in disbelief. It was an unimaginably outrageous statement.
While Senior Elsi had called me ‘master’ before, it could have been dismissed at that time since we immediately ran away, preventing gossip.
The thought that Senior Elsi wouldn’t do such a thing caused everyone to brush it off as nonsensical.
But the situation now was different.
Everyone’s attention was focused, and right in front of them, Senior Elsi had boldly declared it.
That Ian Percus was the master of Elsi Rainelle.
Even I was wide-eyed, repeatedly opening and closing my lips.
My mind went blank.
Seeing no one respond, Senior Elsi, feeling as if she had made a mistake, grew restless.
Flustered, she awkwardly bumped her head against my chest as if to prove her words.
Then she said one more thing.
“…Woof?”
It was over.
My face felt hot, and Senior Elsi’s declaration would soon spread like wildfire.
And that expectation was quickly confirmed.
The event had already reached the ears of the Lady Virgin Saint shortly after.
