No matter what powerful blows Ian rains down, she blocks every single one. Meeting his all-out assaults head-on, Raze doesn’t even try to dodge. Ian is already going full force, realizing he could get seriously hurt if he doesn’t. The resounding clangs of clashing blades are theatrical, clearly demonstrating their equal struggle of strength – drawing an audience lining the covered walkway to watch, their gazes fixed on the pair.
Raze’s eyes are laser-locked, a predator zeroing in on her prey.
Before he knew it, Ian had been forced fully onto the defensive. The reach advantage of his longer sword is slowly nullified as Raze steadily advances, not allowing him to create separation.
If he tries to backpedal for distance, she simply follows, showing no intent to let up.
Well then…..
(How about this –)
Ian deliberately opens a gap, allowing Raze one hit to disarm his sword.
As she retreats to reset her stance, he seizes the chance to shorten his grip and close the distance, transitioning into close-quarters combat. Not slashing but instantly shifting to thrusting attacks, he launches one straight at the momentarily defenseless Raze. At this range, there’s no way she can recover her guard in time to block a full strength stab.
（I won. A quick stop, and it’s over.)
Ian was convinced. He had won. He had held back, and it was over.
However.
In that instant, the Raze he saw was smiling–
“Gh!”
Ian realized. This was not an opening he had created. He had been struck down.
Without hesitation, Raze avoided the thrust by closing the distance between them. The way she dodged was so narrow that if she had deviated even slightly, she could have been seriously injured by the practice sword.
She grasped the long hilt of the outstretched sword, pinning the weapon to her side.
And then, she easily pointed the sword at Ian’s neck.
He could fight no more. By any measure, he had lost. The match likely didn’t even last five minutes. And yet, to Ian, those few minutes felt extraordinarily long.
It was as if he had been tossed around in the palm of her hand, with no resistance at all.
“Shall we end it there?”
“……Yeah.”
Seen up close, Raze’s eyes were like a hawk’s.
Ian blankly watched as his opponent walked away. A chilling sensation came over his head, and he finally understood that he had not been calm.
Raze seemed satisfied as she lightly shook the snow off her practice sword.
“Let’s head back. Whew, it’s cold!”
The petite girl exaggeratedly shuddered her shoulders.
Ian’s usually voluminous hair was damp and flat, obscuring his expression.
But from his clenched fist, Raze sensed he was struggling with something.
Unable to find the right words, she wordlessly offered him the umbrella she had prepared in exchange for the practice sword.
Ian spoke, head still bowed.
“…Am I weak?”
An uncharacteristically small voice from the usually lively him.
(–Huh?)
Raze was surprised to hear that voice.
So troubled that he would show weakness even to her, someone he was not particularly close with.
If it had been the heroine Folia, she would have surely encouraged him, “That’s not true!”
No– This was originally supposed to be that kind of event.
The heroine consoles Ian after he is dejected from losing a match.
That was the proper scenario for the Otome game [Blue Orchid] that took place at this academy.
……However.
Unfortunately, the one facing Ian now was Raze Granoli. Her original name was Raze Shes Orphan, a commoner who had been granted the noble title for her military achievements as a lieutenant colonel in the imperial army.
This eccentric woman, who had engaged a student under her protection in a sword fight and defeated him, twisting the wound further – despite being a child herself, she was the kind of oddball who ended up commanding an elite unit full of peculiar individuals.
“–Well, you’re definitely weaker than me for sure.”
She stated the fact directly.
Ian’s expression crumbled even further.
If Raze’s subordinates were here, they might have encouraged him, “Don’t be discouraged! There’s hardly anyone who can beat the representative!” But of course, no such person was present.
“Come to think of it, I’ve been wondering – Ian, why don’t you quit swordsmanship?”
And no one was there to stop her either…….
Sadly, Ian had been dealt the final blow.
“…Quit?”
Ian asked with a perplexed expression.
“Yes. Why are you so fixated on swords?”
Raze, who knew nothing of his past, questioned quizzically.
“What do you– Achoo!”
As they had stopped walking to talk, Ian’s body was getting chilled, causing him to sneeze.
Raze muttered “I told you so” as she placed a towel on his head and handed him the umbrella.
Since she had been using a rain-shielding spell, she guided him back to the dormitory first.
“Hey, about what you said earl–“
As soon as they reached the warm dormitory lobby, Ian tried to ask “What did you mean” earlier, but Raze didn’t listen and instead cast a drying spell on his hair and body.
His words interrupted by the wind, Ian closed his mouth.
“Hmm, well. Ian, why don’t you go take a bath and warm up your body first? Your muscles are tense. Soak in the tub and relax, do some massage or stretching before you get out. We’ll talk after that.”
Taking it upon herself to decide, she told him she’d see him in the lobby in an hour before swiftly leaving somewhere.
The abandoned Ian was dumbfounded, but he really wanted to know why she told him to quit swordsmanship.
Resigning himself to do as she said first, he went back to his room to get a change of clothes before heading to the baths.
While the baths were open for those who wanted to use them in the morning, there weren’t many people around.
As he soaked in the hot water, he realized his strength was being sapped – just as Raze had said, his muscles had been tense.
Come to think of it, he may have been pushing himself too hard recently and neglecting to take care of his body.
“…She was strong. Granoli.”
What came to mind was their earlier sparring match.
Surely, it was no coincidence that she had defeated Addis so soon after enrolling.
“I wonder what kind of training leads to that.”
Ian pondered the petite girl of unfathomable depths.
Physical enhancement magic was Ian’s forte, but even so, Raze’s strength and core stability far surpassed his own. Despite their significant size difference, she was stronger than him.
(Maybe I’ll ask her training regimen later…)
With a heavy sigh acknowledging his own weakness, Ian closed his eyes.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“Sorry Folia. I need to talk to Ian for a bit, so could you have breakfast with just Carne sama?”
“With Ian? That’s rare. Sure, I’ll let Carne sama know.”
“Thanks.”
Raze had returned to her room once.
Folia was surprised by her early return, but understood after the situation was explained. Raze thanked her and casually closed the partition curtain.
She wanted Ian to try using a spear. While there were many practice swords at the academy, spears that could adjust their length were not very common.
Using her teleportation magic, Raze summoned several old marked spears from her own armory.
“This length should work.”
After examining a few, Raze stared at the spearheads.
Since real blades would be dangerous, she needed to dull the edges.
Truthfully, the handling of such weapons was strictly regulated, and individuals were not allowed to bring things in from outside the academy. But Raze was an exception. To begin with, she casually broke the rules, but teleportation magic became increasingly difficult as the distance and obstacles increased. The fact that she could move objects in and out so easily was due to it being her specialty type of magic and her exceptional skill level. It was impossible for ordinary mages.
Teleportation magics were simply spells to move objects from one place to another. Unlike the convenient “inventory” systems in game form her former world, it did not involve manipulating extradimensional spaces. The user needed to understand spatial coordinates and specific trajectories. Even among skilled teleporters, there were none besides Raze capable of reaching this academically-concealed location.
An unconventional monster of teleportation magic – that was Cyan’s “Wolf Fang.”
Well, even Raze had her limits. This academy was under special conditions where, although she couldn’t teleport directly from the outside, she could summon marked objects to her hand as long as they were within the premises.
Being unable to specify a location was Raze’s first such experience. When she realized the activation conditions for her magic were restricted here, limiting her usable spells, she was dumbfounded.
“Alright, this should do it.”
After blunting the blades by applying intense heat, Raze nodded as she checked over the prepared spears.
She readied a few spares in case the lengths didn’t suit Ian, then waited for him in the lobby.
A practice match with Ian alone wouldn’t be enough to tire her out, but she had days like this from time to time.
As she absentmindedly pondered this,
“–Were you waiting here the whole time?”
Right on time, a changed Ian appeared in his uniform.
Raze looked up at him, his face still flushed from the bath.
“No, I went back to my room. …Looks like you were able to relax properly.”
“…Yeah…”
“Shall we go get some food first?”
The two headed to the dining hall that had just opened.
The poll is open again, please vote!!!
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
