The goddess of victory favored Hanna.
It wasn’t an overwhelming victory.
Though the battle’s flow tilted towards Hanna, Michail’s skill was greater than I had anticipated.
If Michail had only been a little more composed or not been thrown off in the beginning, the goddess of victory might have raised someone else’s hand.
Michail’s downfall lay in letting the accumulating wounds linger. Hanna’s sword was like a poison that subtly suffocated the opponent.
If it weren’t for that, the duel might have lasted longer, and Michail might have seized several opportunities.
I’ll say it again, Michail was strong. Strong enough to possibly defeat Hanna.
Especially the technique he prepared at the end was truly dangerous and could have swung the result of the duel.
Of course, if it had succeeded.
I don’t know what kind of training Rowen put him through, but the result of his growth was undeniably fruitful.The purity of his aura.
The basics of his swordsmanship.
He had grown much more than before.
Simply put, Hanna was stronger than Michail, and Hanna’s final attack was ready before Michail’s. That’s the truth.
Thus, I ended the duel.
Michail’s body was too exhausted to hold a sword, and the numerous small wounds had ruined his stance, so I knew Michail’s final attack would fail.
Rowen would have known too.
That’s why he didn’t stop me.
Hanna’s execution of her technique was faster than Michail’s preparation, and by the time Michail used his technique, he would already be sprawled on the floor.
I looked up at the three people standing in the training ground.
Rowen, who stood like a fool staring at Hanna, and Hanna, with a face that expressed exhaustion from the fact that it was over rather than joy in victory.
And.
“Please…”
I could see Michail holding onto my collar, denying his defeat.
“Please don’t say it’s over….”
Michail was in denial. Like someone who had something critical on the line in today’s duel, he held my collar and wouldn’t stop denying it.
With trembling breath, Michail was unable to come to terms with the result of defeat, continuously shaking his head.
“I can still fight more, so…!”
Why was he so obsessed with this atypical duel not even mentioned in the original work?
“Please… don’t say it’s over.”
Why like this?
I couldn’t understand Michail.
In a battle where there was nothing to lose, I couldn’t comprehend Michail’s extreme reaction.
I knew Rowen’s presence as a mentor was important to Michail, but this level of reaction seemed a bit excessive.
He hadn’t formed a bond.
There were no precious memories with someone like Rowen to warrant such sorrow for a defeat.
I couldn’t push away Michail’s hand holding my collar. I just quietly gazed at Michail and spoke.
“You know, don’t you?”
“No… look, I’m still standing.”
“Your legs have given out.”
I remarked as I watched Michail’s trembling legs.
The shaking hands.
The dropped sword.
His body, clearly unable to continue the fight—what could I say to that?
I shook my head and spoke.
“Continuing the duel any longer would result in serious injuries for both.”
“No.”
Michail shook his head, denying it.
He pounded his trembling legs with his fist, desperately trying to force his tired body to stand.
The desperate sound of ‘thud-thud’ as Michail pounded his unresponsive legs brought a pained smile to my face.
“Michail.”
“No…!”
Michail denied it.
“We’re almost there, I felt like I could finally find it, I can’t just end it like this…!”
“Michail…”
“So, Ricardo, please…!”
I shook my head again. I couldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. I shook my head heavily.
“You know that doing this won’t change anything, don’t you? It’s difficult for me to say this too, but in your current condition….”
“Shut up…! I can do it!”
Michail picked up the sword laying on the ground and struggled to lift his weary body.
I turned my head at the pitiful sight of Michail pulling himself up on trembling legs.
Despite all, he’s an old friend.
Though strained emotions built up over the young lady’s matter, seeing a broken friend was unsettling.
Michail grasped his sword and attempted to approach Hanna.
His him against the ground.
As blood flowed from his abdomen, soaking his clothes and the ground, I stood firmly in Michail’s path and kept my mouth shut.
“Move.”
“I cannot do that.”
“Move.”
“I cannot do that.”
“Please just…!”
With a loud ‘crash!’ Michail’s body, attempting to move violently, collapsed to the ground.
Before Michail could hit the ground, I caught him and bowed my head.
“Please stop.”
The spreading crimson blood soaked the academy uniform.
Feeling Michail’s faint breath, I gently helped him stand and stepped in front of him once again.
Michail’s sorrowful eyes were focused on me. His pleading gaze asking me to step aside was something I found hard to refuse.
But we too had our circumstances. Overcoming a hard-earned victory wasn’t possible due to Michail’s whims as there was too much to lose.
Once more, disregarding Michail’s stubbornness, I brushed back my hair.
“Wait for the next opportunity. You’ve grown enough, Michail. The next battle will certainly yield better results….”
“There is no next…!”
Michail cried out to the empty air.
Looking at the void as if something were there, he let out a great cry.
“The next…”
Michail sat down on the ground, hanging his head low.
Michail’s drooping, heavy shoulders quivered like a calm wave. Now, with trembling lips, Michail spoke.
“There is no next…”
Michail was watching the small flicker of hope that he clung to extinguish.
-[Quest failed.]
*
Hanna approached Rowen.
One step.
Two steps.
Standing still, she gazed at the face of her father who was looking at her, with weary eyes.
“Father.”
At Hanna’s low, resonating voice, Rowen flinched his shoulders.
He couldn’t believe it.
The sword of Hanna he had just seen with his own eyes.
It was talent.
Clear talent.
Hanna had achieved a sword that couldn’t be reached with mediocre instruction.
Though her aura’s awakening came later than Hanna’s. The delusion Rowen had of being unparalleled in the achieved realm was shattering.
As the head of Histania, a family with everyone’s expectations and investments, Hanna, at the age of 21, was catching up to a part of the realm he thought no one could follow.
The sword of the daughter he had so dismissed for being talentless was denying the evidence before his eyes.
With clear results.
He had disregarded his daughter as weak and without potential. Seeing her capability sprout even after trampling on her budding talent, Rowen felt guilt for the first time.
He only now realized that the vision he saw happened because of him.
A tragedy that could have been avoided if he had shown a bit of love or simply cared for his daughter.
ended.
He couldn’t accept it.
Faults he didn’t want to acknowledge.
Perhaps he knew all along but had tried to avoid these mistakes, Rowen now couldn’t lift his head.
He knew he had driven his daughter to her death.
So Rowen couldn’t stop the final attack. Though he permitted causing death, Hanna’s demonstrated sword shattered his conviction.
He was mentally and physically exhausted, leaving him defenseless and making a grave mistake.
Rowen, standing there foolishly, had nothing to say.
Neither to Hanna’s mentor.
Nor to his daughter.
Nor to his disciple.
He had no explanations.
Staring at the dumbfounded Rowen, Hanna spoke with a muted voice.
“It’s over.”
“…”
“I said it’s over now.”
“…”
“The sword Father so scorned has defeated the person Father acknowledged.”
“…”
“Do you feel relieved now?”
Hanna clenched her fists and spoke.
“Or will you refuse to acknowledge it even now? Will you look for another substitute?”
Hanna sneered as she addressed Rowen.
“I now dislike you.”
“I…”
“Father.”
Hanna cut off Rowen’s words with a trembling voice, conveying strong will not to hear any more of her father’s excuses in a firm tone.
“I’ve won.”
“…”
“It’s truly over now. The tiresome family, the heartless words from Father, it’s all over. I…”
Hanna clasped her blood-stained hand into a fist and spoke.
“I don’t want to see Father anymore.”
She lightly gazed at the Blue Window before her.
-Do you wish to view it?
Hanna shook her head.
Such past had no meaning.
She was living in the present.
Though she might wish to see it, desire to see a future filled with happiness with the butler, she didn’t want to indulge in an unaccomplished past. For now, she just wanted to be embraced by the butler.
Hanna shook her head mildly and answered internally.
‘No.’
-Are you sure you give up viewing it?
Upon giving up viewing, it will not be available again.
Hanna nodded.
The reward from the duel was enough. She now desired to rest a bit.
‘Yes.’
-You have refused the quest reward.
Hanna severed the long-standing weight of fate and turned her back on Rowen.
She could see the butler.
The relieving sight of being comforted and awaited by the butler, who then turned to face her.
Hanna clenched her fists.
And.
“Butler…”
She beamed brightly.
“I won.”
Hanna threw herself into Ricardo’s embrace.
Finally.
Her heart felt at ease.
End of Chapter
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