My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 114

As a result, I ended up sparring with Ivana Nordal.

No matter how noisy Grace was, it was a bit too much to challenge the eldest daughter of the Nordal Ducal family, and since Ivana Nordal kept insisting on sparring with me…

It seems like I was the biggest victim here, but at least the situation had somewhat resolved itself.

“…I’m sorry, Ella.”

“…If you hadn’t apologized, I would have been really mad. Like, seriously.”

“Haha…”

I found myself in a situation where I couldn’t possibly not apologize to Ella.

Originally, it was Grace who was picking a fight with me, but since she couldn’t spar with me because of Ivana, she had to look for other options.

And that option was Ella. I asked Ella, who was sitting next to me in class, to spar… and this is how it came to be.

In truth, Ella had also been hanging out with Karen, so that played a part, but it was undoubtedly more significant since she was sitting right next to me as my friend.

That’s why I was apologizing to Ella like this.

“But are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Facing Lady Nordal… Isn’t it a bit tough?”

“Ah.”

Hmm… It was certainly a situation worth worrying about.

In fact, Nordal was not just famous for her looks, but she was also renowned for her combat skills, being a strong lady from the North.

Honestly, I had heard only rumors, and I didn’t know for sure.

Well… even if they were just rumors, there was enough chatter about her that I figured her skills must be pretty good.

At least, I didn’t think she would be weak.

“Well… I should be fine. It’s not like I’m going to die, right?”

“That’s…”

“More importantly, how do you think Ella will do? Grace… I’m not really sure. She seemed confident in her own skills.”

“Umm… I don’t really know.”

Honestly, we both were in the same boat.

The purpose of a magic spar was likely to confirm these levels. It wasn’t just about learning literature and history at the Academy; we were also learning about magic and combat.

It really would be good to know where we all stood among the Academy students.

“…By the way, watching the sparring is surprisingly fun, isn’t it?”

“Umm… not really for me…”

“Is that so?”

I found it fun.

After all, my spar with Nordal was at the back of the line, so I was just enjoying the sparring of other students without a care in the world.

Why analyze this and that? It was much better to relax and just think about nothing like this.

I was just quietly sitting and watching.

“Hmm…”

Well, it wasn’t super exciting since the kids were only using basic magic, but still?

*

Having finished watching other students spar, it was unfortunately now my turn.

Honestly, I really had no idea why this was happening to me.

“Ha…”

Anyway, it was pretty much the same as during the group assignment exam.

We would be sparring with magic, but no matter how much it was a magic battle, it wouldn’t do to avoid close combat entirely, so we each had to choose a wooden weapon.

There were a lot, like greatswords, sickles, axes, and hammers… but I casually picked a wooden sword of a reasonable length.

“Well, since it’s come to this, I can’t back out now.”

I reassured myself, looking over the length of the wooden sword.

Given the circumstances, it was a bit overwhelming, but a spar was a spar, and it was too late to say I wasn’t going to do it now.

“You can spar for up to 10 minutes, and if you feel overwhelmed at any point, it’s perfectly fine to declare a forfeit. If anyone gets seriously hurt, the spar will be immediately stopped.”

“Okay.”

“Got it.”

“Then it seems we’re both ready, so let’s not delay and start right away.”

Across from me stood Ivana Nordal, wielding a wooden sword that was enormous compared to my height.

With her bright red eyes glaring at me fiercely, I honestly felt a bit scared.

I really had no idea why she was doing this to me, but for now, I decided to focus on the spar.

“Then… begin!”

With that phrase from the Academy instructor, my spar with Nordal began.

I had no idea what she was thinking in challenging me to this spar, but right now, I had no intention of just conceding quietly.

[Basic Magic: Mana Bullet]

I started with a light ranged attack.

I began firing mana bullets at Nordal, who was holding that greatsword. Of course…

-Thunk! Thud!!!

The mana bullets were easily blocked by the greatsword that Nordal was wielding, and after she deflected my shot, she immediately charged toward me.

[Basic Magic: Fireball]

“I can see right through your intentions!”

“Yikes!”

I fired off a larger fireball at Ivana Nordal as she began to run toward me, thinking about my next spell while placing my hand on the ground.

“…!”

[Basic Magic: Earth Wall]

I activated my magic the moment I saw Nordal dodge my fireball to one side.

As mana flowed into it, a solid wall emerged ahead of my hand.

I slightly hidden behind that wall and began preparing my next spell. Since Nordal was bigger than me and wielding a greatsword, a simple close combat was a bit too risky.

Thus, I had to prepare accordingly.

“The sharpening spell could be dangerous.”

I thought back to the group assignment exam when I used the sharpening spell, which was meant to make a blade sharper. It was dangerous as I had severed a mannequin, so I judged it to be too risky.

Therefore, the spell I would use this time would be…

[Intermediate Magic: Hardness Enhancement]

Instead of sharpening the wooden sword, I prepared to make it simply hard and strong.

I needed to withstand the weight and power of her greatsword as much as possible.

Having confirmed that Nordal, who had dodged the previous fireball to the right, was now running to my left just before the earth wall rose, I figured she had begun to run since she thought I would cast another ranged spell.

“…One more time.”

I needed to prepare one more thing here.

While I had used hardness enhancement, I was sure it wouldn’t be enough by itself.

With that certainty, I started preparing a basic spell with one hand.

“Deep breath…!”

Right after forming the magic circle in my hand, Ivana Nordal appeared to my left, slightly away from the earth wall.

Still holding the greatsword as before, she had it pointed down with one hand.

Once she confirmed that I was still hiding behind the earth wall, she switched her stance and began charging directly toward me.

-Ccrash…!

“Ugh…”

I managed to block the greatsword that was rushing at me with my hardened wooden sword, but… it was much tougher than I expected.

Though I had enhanced the wooden sword, my muscle strength remained the same.

“Ugh… ah…”

Nordal was still pushing against my wooden sword with her greatsword, competing in strength.

Naturally, due to the difference in strength and weight, I was in a bit of a tough spot… but strangely, it was okay.

[Basic Magic: Electric Current]

“Ugh?!”

“Hehe… I bet you didn’t see this coming, huh?”

I activated the basic magic, electric current, right into Nordal’s lower abdomen, surprising her with a pleasant shock, even while our swords were clashed.

While I was still holding my wooden sword with one hand, unlike Nordal, who had two hands on her greatsword.

“Ah…”

Seeing Nordal stiffen slightly from the electric shock, I immediately prepared my next spell.

In any regular close combat, I would be at a severe disadvantage, and thinking about the speed with which she had rushed toward me earlier… there was no way creating distance now would keep it from closing further.

She was incredibly fast, and honestly, I was shocked.

“Probably just a bit longer…”

It was obvious that the stiffness would wear off soon.

Even though she was stiff, it was only from a basic level electric current, and it wasn’t very powerful either.

[Intermediate Magic: Binding Plants]

That’s why I immediately cast my next spell.

As soon as I activated the magic, plants grew from the ground, and their stems began to bind Nordal’s stiffened body.

“Ugh… what is this…”

“Uhmm… It’s not too tight, is it? Like, cutting off circulation or anything…?”

“Ugh… Ah!”

“Uhmm…”

As I bound Ivana Nordal, I asked, but she was struggling to escape from the binding plants as much as possible.

Her body was tied up, and her arms were flailing, trying hard to get free.

“Even if you try that, it won’t work.”

“…Let me go.”

“Why would I let you go…? If I do, you’ll just run at me with that greatsword again.”

I’m not about to be a pushover.

Just looking at her, it’s obvious she’s strong, and there’s no way I’d fight one-on-one in close combat only with my wooden sword, right?

“But you’re incredibly fast. Is everyone from the North as fast and strong as Lady Nordal?”

“Ugh…!”

“Not gonna answer me, huh?”

“Ugh! Ah!”

…Nordal was completely ignoring my questions, desperately trying to break free from the binding plants.

I mean, why can’t she make an effort to answer while trying to escape at the same time?

“Excuse me?”

“Ugh…”

“Lady Nordal?”

“Ah!”

“Hmm…”

…It was clear that she had initiated the spar, and even though she was hardly answering my words. Why wouldn’t she at least respond a little during the spar we set up?

First, she had brushed off my stalking incidents, and then agreed to spar on short notice—she had gone along with everything!

So isn’t it reasonable for her to start answering too?

“Hey… when are you going to answer me properly…? You’ve been dodging my questions the whole time, and even after agreeing to the spar, why can’t you just answer?”

“Ugh…”

“…Lady Nordal.”

I poked at the cheeks of Ivana, who was tied up, calling her again.

Honestly, I had been letting it slide until now, but I was starting to feel a bit annoyed?

It was getting tedious to keep letting it slide just because her face was pretty.

Though I guessed I could tolerate it for just a little bit longer.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll definitely not spar with you again next time. I’ll ignore you in the future.”

I straightforwardly said that.

Honestly, just saying it felt pretty good, but I really couldn’t just ignore Nordal’s words, so it was merely for show.

“What…?”

Of course… Ivana seemed taken aback by what I said, but…?

“Quickly answer me. If someone asks a question, they should receive an answer.”

“…What was the question?”

“…Um.”

It was clear Ivana Nordal was a person with her own way of living.