Chapter 89 - The Trap of Certainty

A battle without a single ounce of tension, unbelievable for a one-versus-many fight.

It wasn't a difficult task to quickly clean up the enemies in a battle like this.

It had only been about 2 minutes since we had clashed, but in that time, I was able to eliminate one Combat Department student and one Magic Department student.

As for the Combat Department guy.

Slice-!

I took care of him by lightly slashing the fellow who showed an opening.

If I had to pick the most troublesome opponent in this battle, it would be the mage-

Bang-!

I was able to clean him up with the student-use revolver I had hidden in my bosom.

“You were hiding a pistol…!”

Thanks to him letting his guard down after seeing my combat style which primarily used a sword, I was able to easily gift a bullet between his eyes.

It was thanks to not using the pistol even once during the battle.

If I hadn't aimed precisely between the eyes, I probably would have had to pump six shots into him.

My pistol proficiency was already at C rank, the level of a junior knight.

Thus, in a 4 vs 1 situation, two were instantly ejected to the waiting room, leaving only Milo and one of his Combat Department lackeys.

Trudge.

With a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other, I slowly walked forward.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

Asking so.

“This… damn it……”

Milo couldn't offer much of a reply, only groaning like that.

“To go to such lengths just to beat me, and this is all you have. I can't even laugh.”

At my words, Milo's pupils momentarily dilated.

It probably meant he understood well what my words meant.

The story that I knew about his cheating.

“You, you… how on earth did you…!”

I didn't particularly answer that. Just slowly walked forward.

“This…!”

He kept making such noises as if he couldn't control his anger, but it was meaningless.

“We haven't fought for long, but I'm getting sick of it.”

I said so and took my stance once again.

Gulp.

Milo's lackey saw that and, as expected, took a stance to respond.

Of course, his face showed that he knew there was no chance of winning anymore.

“……”

A brief standoff. Silence flowed between us.

And.

Taat-!

Without anyone saying who was first, the three leaped simultaneously.

And.

Clang-!

The swords of myself and Milo's lackey clashed.

I thought Milo's attack would come flying at me after that, but…….

“……?”

Milo did not attack me.

Tadadadadak!!

The direction Milo leaped was the opposite direction from me.

“……You’re running away?”

Hah.

A dumbfounded laugh escaped.

“M-Mr. Milo!!”

It seemed Milo's lackey was just as dumbfounded… but well, what could he do.

Slice-!

I had to do what I had to do.

Well, the battle ended successfully like that.

It was an improvisation I had planned from the moment I realized I couldn't change Dejan's strategy, and fortunately, it worked properly.

“Now what’s left is… Theodore, and Milo.”

Milo ran towards his base, so I wouldn't have to worry about the flag at the base being captured.

Of course, it was better to be safe than sorry, so I did go to the base.

And there, I was able to meet Shasha.

“Miss Shasha. I’m glad you’re alive.”

As I approached her, saying so, for some reason, Shasha took a step back and replied.

“Ah, yes……”

Hmm.

This treatment is too much. No matter what the rumors say.

Well, anyway, I shrugged at that reaction and continued.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, I’ve caught my breath a little, and my magic power has returned to some extent.”

“I see.”

After confirming that Shasha's condition was not bad, a thought came to my mind.

“Then I'm thinking of going to end the exam soon… would you like to listen to me for a moment?”

“Listen… to you?”

“Yes.”

***

This might be a new story, but every exam has an end.

No matter how pathetic, no matter how crappy it is.

Trudge.

The enemy's, that is, Team B's base was quiet. It was only natural, as all the enemies except for two had been eliminated.

And there was only one person at the base.

“……”

What I was able to find after arriving at the base alone was Theodore, standing in front of the flag made of magic power.

Upon discovering me, Theodore immediately sent a cold glare.

What was he so displeased about?

“……When will you be satisfied with defiling your honor?”

Hah.

“Honor, you say.”

This guy is spouting nonsense again.

I thought it was so pathetic it made me sigh, but on the other hand, I was curious as to why he was acting like this.

That's why I asked him.

“What is the honor that you speak of, Mr. Theodore? By what action did I defile that thing called honor?”

When I asked back like that, Theodore openly frowned.

It was an expression I had never seen even in the original .

“Are you asking because you don't know? How your usual conduct is. What kind of appearance you showed in your match with me today. You should know better than anyone.”

After hearing that, the image of Theodore that appeared in flashed through my mind.

The Theodore in the game was a person who knew how to admit defeat, and a person who tried tirelessly to protect his honor.

At first, he had no backbone, was just swayed by the Crown Prince's faction, and because of inaccurate information, he became hostile to the protagonist's party… but he was a person who later repented.

I perceived such a Theodore as a not-so-bad character.

In fact, Theodore was known as a likable character among the Crown Prince's faction.

“Aren't you even ashamed? Do you even know how many stories about your evil deeds are circulating within the academy?”

However, the reality was this.

He accepted unverified rumors as truth and was treating me as the axis of evil with his own logic.

“Haa……”

I briefly touched my throbbing forehead with my hand.

And, I opened my mouth.

“Mr. Theodore. How much do you know about me?”

“What do you mean.”

“You saw me, the person, for the first time today, didn't you.”

“……However, I have heard many stories about your evil deeds.”

This guy. Is he looking at me, Rain Enlight?

“Mr. Theodore, do you want to fight the person named Rain Enlight?”

If not that, then.

“Or do you want to fight the ghost called the rumor of Rain Enlight?”

The Theodore I actually saw was such a person.

A person who was just narcissistic about himself knowing honor.

“……An insult.”

What about those words was so insulting, he slowly raised his arm.

And, after our eyes, filled with fighting spirit, met-

Boom-!

A strong explosion, announcing the start of the battle, was heard.

Taat-!

I leaped as I was and threw my body between the cover at the base.

Boom-!

And by a hair's breadth, I heard the sound of the fireball he had thrown exploding.

If I had been even a little late, I would have been caught up in it and retired.

‘I can’t even be grazed by this.’

Even in the original , Theodore's magic was notorious for its power.

The fire magic he used was characterized by its intense firepower, just like the image of flames.

With my paper-like durability, even a graze would probably be a fatal wound.

Then what should I do?

More than anything, I had to focus on avoiding this magic.

To be precise, I had to give Theodore that impression.

That was the first gateway to victory.

***

“How dare you…!”

Theodore felt a burning anger. And the cause of that was, of course, Rain Enlight's actions and words.

A person who refused a one-on-one duel that a knight should naturally accept, and pathetically ran away.

A person who felt no shame despite being embroiled in all sorts of scandals.

And.

-Mr. Theodore, do you want to fight the person named Rain Enlight?

-Or do you want to fight the ghost called the rumor of Rain Enlight?

A person who spouted such nonsense.

Theodore was engulfed in anger, but in his heart, there remained an unresolved lump.

That might have been the awareness that he had not been able to answer Rain's story.

But Theodore ignored that lump.

There was something he had to do right in front of him. He had to punish the one who had insulted his honor, right here.

He had to punish the one who did not know honor.

…Though Theodore burned with fighting spirit, the battle dragged on unexpectedly.

Boom-!

Unlike the battle he had imagined, Rain Enlight only maintained a defensive posture, and against Theodore's magic, he only responded by hiding behind cover to avoid it.

Without ever challenging him to a frontal assault.

“Is this a joke…!”

Of course, it wasn't that there were no counterattacks from Rain's side.

Bang!

He had repeatedly tried to shoot with his only long-range attack method, the pistol.

However.

Ting-!

Theodore also knew that Rain Enlight had a pistol as a secondary weapon.

And, such an expected attack was just helplessly blocked by the abjuration magic derived from Theodore's overwhelming magic power.

Rain probably wasn't unaware of that fact either.

However, it was an attack that was just thrown without promise, hoping for a fluke.

At first, Theodore had been nervous because he knew the rumors of the battles Rain had been through, but as the battle dragged on, he could not help but be disappointed.

“Are you trying to play such a silly prank!!”

Rain did not answer that shout either.

He just silently repeated what he was doing.

But that couldn't last forever either.

‘……That act won't last long either.’

Rain was barely avoiding Theodore's attacks by hiding behind cover.

But the cover that had blocked Theodore's attacks was being shattered into pieces, no longer able to function as cover.

Every time Rain avoided Theodore's attack, the number of covers was decreasing.

If all the cover disappeared, Rain would no longer be able to avoid a frontal assault.

With that thought, Theodore endured and played along with this prank.

And from the moment he thought that… Theodore had fallen into Rain's trap.

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