Beyond Hatred
Sheila jumped up with the momentum of the blast. Her body accelerated as if the wind pressure pushed her back.
Compared to when she had faced Seiryu, it wasn’t so difficult to get behind Regress. The other side reacted immediately, but the game was decided by that split-second difference. As he turned around, a sharp tip was already pointed at his throat.
But Regress refused to give up. He continued to stare at Sheila, his eyes glazed with anger.
“――That’s enough!”
The referee, deciding that the game was over, raised his voice instead. At that moment, Regress reluctantly distanced himself. Sheila also put her weapon away. He continued to glare at her as if she were his parent’s enemy.
“I will never allow a monkey like you to get anywhere near Leidyrune-sama!”
She knew that she shouldn’t go against an aristocrat, but she would like to correct this misunderstanding. Sheila opened her mouth gingerly.
“…. Well, I didn’t approach him, you know? He was the one who spoke to me, that’s all.”
“You have no idea how precious it is to have Leidyrune-sama speak to you!”
“….”
The person himself said that he was just trying to make the commoners aware of the difference in social status, but was it really such a wonderful event? However, she would keep her mouth shut because she felt like she would make him angry no matter what she said.
Regress contorted his face as if he were about to cry.
“It’s so frustrating… I can’t believe I’ve been defeated by someone like you.”
“Regress-senpai….”
Aristocrats weren’t allowed to show their emotions. Despite this, she was surprised to hear Regress clearly express his frustration.
The hatred and anger were directed at her. Thinking about it, his feelings were clear from the very beginning. He had admired Leidyrune and disliked Sheila to such an extent.
Even if they didn’t like you, it was difficult to wrap your words around someone who was coming at you with their true feelings. Knowing that she should just let it go, Sheila told him what she really wanted to say.
“You hated me so much that you just couldn’t see what was going on around you. You were aiming to become a knight, but you forgot to even use a sword, even though you’re my senior, didn’t you? If you used it, you would’ve been many steps ahead of me. But I know you’re not happy to hear that from me….”
Sheila reached for Regress’ cheek.
Although it wasn’t bleeding, there was a faint smear of blood. The tip of the blade must’ve slightly touched him when he turned his head, not caring that the sword was pointed at him.
“If I give you an ointment later, will you use it?”
“Eh?”
“I have some medicine that works very well… I’d be very sad if it left a scar on your beautiful face.”
When she said this, Regress’ expression changed dramatically.
His eyes and mouth both were wide open, and then he raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t understand what she just said. As understanding came to him, he slowly turned red.
Regress, who eventually turned bright red, backed away, his eyes flickering.
“… O-of course I’m beautiful! I’m not of the same caliber as a commoner like you!”
“Yes. Regress-senpai is very beautiful and cute.”
When she answered immediately with a straight face, Regress sputtered like a fish. Then, he embarrassedly looked away and tightened his lips.
“Anyway, I’m more used to being full of injuries than you are…!”
Sheila tilted her head.
His reaction was a mystery to her, but she knew he was worried, so she smiled softly.
“Are you worried about me? Don’t worry. It will heal without a trace.”
“Who cares!!!”
Regress ran off, biting his teeth in sincere regret. His face remained bright red to the end, which Sheila interpreted as meaning that she had offended him after all.
It was a dumbfounded Zechs who approached her when she was a little depressed.
“…. I don’t know how you can say such a cheesy line.”
“Ah, Zechs. You watched my match, huh?”
“Yes. You guys were staring at each other even before the match, so I couldn’t call out to you. I was worried that you might get seriously hurt, but I’m glad it turned out to be nothing more than that.”
“I could tell that he really hated me. Thank you for letting me know in advance, it was helpful.”
When Sheila thanked him, for some reason Zechs stilled with an indescribable look on his face.
“Eh…. are you serious? Did you see his reaction?”
“His reaction? Do you mean, the way he ran away in anger? Oh, come to think of it. What did you mean earlier when you said it was cheesy? Did I say something funny?”
Zechs frowned more and more, but he didn’t answer. He just tapped her on the shoulder.
“…. Well, let’s just say congratulations on your big win.”
“Thank you. But there’s a problem.”
After the match against Regress, she really felt it keenly.
‘I couldn’t fight the way I was now. I have to study magic, regardless of whether I can use it or not.’
Basically, the chanting voice was low, but it was unnaturally inaudible due to a lack of understanding. However, if she could understand magic better, she would be able to detect in advance what kind of magic the opponent was going to use, and the range of her tactics would expand dramatically. To win a battle, it was always a good idea to know the enemy’s weapons.
Apologizing for not being able to support Zechs in his third match, Sheila headed for the healing room. There were no deep wounds, but there were small scars all over her body. Even though they wouldn’t be completely healed, low-grade healing magic would’ve at least been able to control the bleeding and pain. The top priority now was to get her back to her normal physical condition.
To be fully prepared. For her ninth and final match――the fight against Leidyrune.
◇ ◆ ◇
“Excuse me.”
The healing room was filled with injured people. It seemed that on this day, the healing room had turned into a busy place like a battlefield.
Despite Claushezade’s warning, there were still several seriously injured people. She thought that they might have been seriously injured intentionally, but such worries disappeared in an instant. Because among those few people, she found the dormitory leader with a carefree face.
“Even though it’s a considerable injury, what are you grinning at?”
Axe had a broken left arm and leg, and his head was also bandaged. Since he was in good health compared to the other seriously injured, he was probably given only first aid and left alone.
“You’re badly hurt, did you win?”
“Well, I lost. But it’s nice. Fighting someone stronger than you always make your blood boil! Right, guys?!”
The seriously injured people lying on their beds pumped their fists in response. They weren’t at all sad, as if they were Axe’s fellow brainiacs.
“I’m amazed. I was worried about you….”
Axe turned around at Sheila’s blabbering, which was meant to be a monologue. His eyes were filled with an uncharacteristically serious light.
“I’m the one who should be worried. You’ve got a matchup with Leidyrune coming up. Are you going to be okay?”
It was said that Leidyrune had more magical power than Axe. It seemed that it was beyond dangerous and reckless for Sheila, who had no magic power, to go up against such an opponent.
“――It’s natural to lose, but flipping the expectation of everyone else is the fun of the match, isn’t it?”
Sheila smiled belligerently, gratefully accepting the concern. Axe’s eyes brighten at once.
“Oh! We’re indeed of the same mind! Sheila, you must join our Muscle League!”
“I don’t want to be lumped in with the dormitory leader. And anyway, I’ve never heard of such a league….”
She was curious, but instinct told her that she shouldn’t cross that line. Sheila politely declined.
Axe’s persistent persuasion took up so much time that she was almost late for the match. She hurried to the venue.
‘But it was a nice change of pace. Talking to the dormitory leader helped me relax my shoulders.’
Muscle League. That might be kind of nice.
She arrived at the practice hall with her hair slightly pulled back. Immediately, all eyes were on her. Most of the students were probably still there, even though they were allowed to go back to their dormitories after the third match.
‘Could it be, are they all looking forward to our match?’
Even the dormitory leader, who had nothing to do with the match, knew about it. Maybe they were all interested in a matchup with an overwhelming difference in power.
The aristocrats looked at Sheila with interest. The commoners looked worried.
She met eyes with Cody, Zechs, and her classmates. She knew they would be equally concerned, but they looked at her quietly. Feeling an unwavering trust there, Sheila gave a small smile.
Then she slowly turned her gaze forward.
Standing in front of her was a 16-year-old with a tall body. His black hair fluttered in the wind and his haughty purple eyes intimidated others.
Instead of glaring at her from afar, he was staring intently at Sheila――There he was, Leidyrune.
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