Chapter 204: Measured by Ice

Was it because he had heard that Vigdis had only recently started learning the sword?

For a while, Caldrun did not counterattack.

Instead, he carefully observed Vigdis’s movements while only defending and evading.

Then, he increased the distance between them and began creating and launching ice shards.

‘He’s likely checking how she responds to long-range attacks.’

However, this soon turned into a durability test for Iron-Blooded Steel Body.

Because that skill made it so that small shards of ice couldn’t even leave a scratch, Vigdis chose to ignore them and simply broke through.

The size of the ice shards gradually grew until they were the size of fists.

Infused with bluish-green Aether, they flew toward Vigdis.

When they struck her body, which was reinforced by her Iron-Blooded Steel Body…

Clang!

A sharp sound of impact rang out, one so metallic it was hard to believe it was the result of ice hitting a human body.

Only then did Vigdis seem to feel some pain, as she winced and frowned.

The momentum behind the ice chunks was even enough to push her back and break her stance.

No longer able to take the blows with her body, Vigdis began to parry them with her sword or dodge them entirely.

After throwing about a dozen more ice chunks, Caldrun charged in personally.

He pressured Vigdis by swinging his sword, eventually finishing the test by sending her blade flying.

“You show promise. Keep at it.”

“Ah…! Thank you…!”

It wasn’t even that great a compliment.

Even so, Vigdis was overjoyed and bowed deeply to express her gratitude.

Caldrun’s lips curled into a satisfied smile, as if her attitude pleased him.

“You may go back now.”

“Yes!”

Vigdis returned with a proud expression and sat down next to me, wrapping herself in her blanket again.

This time, too, Reysir did not offer her the blanket he was using.

‘In the eyes of the original protagonist, this body must look even more fragile than Vigdis.’

“Kar, where did you buy that blanket?”

While Vigdis asked this and I explained where to purchase the Aether thermal blanket, Caldrun called Fret forward.

He didn’t use a name but simply pointed a finger.

“I’m Fret Hullid! For the next session, I’ll practice using my Inventory to pull out daggers and use them immediately!”

Fret Grimur spoke in a slick tone as he cast aside his blanket and stood up.

His body was draped in several belts lined with daggers.

He had anticipated what the professor would say and struck first.

“You seem to know your weaknesses well.”

“Of course, of course. I also know that I have to get the first strike in~.”

As he spoke, Fret drew his daggers and threw them with total abandon.

He threw four daggers in total, two in each hand.

At that moment, Caldrun was standing in a defenseless posture with his sword hand hanging low.

And yet.

Caldrun moved his sword with lightning speed, accurately parrying every dagger.

He immediately counterattacked by firing ice shards while lunging toward Fret.

“Oops!”

Fret let out an exaggerated exclamation and scrambled backward.

He drew a dagger in each hand to deflect the ice shards, threw them at Caldrun, and then repeatedly drew and threw four daggers at a time.

He leaped backward as he did so, and his backward speed was almost comparable to the speed of Caldrun’s forward charge.

“Wow, he can run backward that fast!”

“I suppose that’s also a trick he learned in the circus.”

“The circus really is amazing! I never knew because I’ve never seen one.”

Vigdis and Liolikin exchanged these words.

“I haven’t seen one either. In that case, it would be nice if we could all go see one together sometime,” Reysir added.

Hearing this, Yor’s eyes sparkled as he let out a series of “Meow, meow, meow!” sounds.

‘Going out somewhere far with the original protagonist would surely lead to being swept up in the creation of a Demonic Realm. It’s an unpleasant proposal, but since Yor is showing such interest, I can’t bring myself to oppose it.’

It was only a statement reflecting hope, not a confirmed plan anyway.

Thus, I remained silent and focused on observing the duel between Caldrun and Fret.

Fret was still demonstrating his feats of running backward while parrying ice shards and throwing daggers.

Caldrun, who had been chasing him, suddenly came to a halt and reached out with his left hand as if catching something in the air.

“A needle…?”

“I had those custom-made with a matte black finish so they wouldn’t stand out. You could see that? Or did you sense the Aether?”

It seemed Fret had been throwing needles infused with transparent Aether while simultaneously throwing daggers coated in brown-dyed Aether.

Caldrun had caught one.

“It seems your ability is changing the color of Aether.”

“Have you not heard about our abilities?”

“I received the files, but I figured I would find out during the duels anyway, so I didn’t bother checking.”

“Oho, quite right!”

Fret stretched his arms forward and shook his hands.

He must have thrown more black needles coated in transparent Aether, but it was difficult to spot them with the naked eye.

Nevertheless, Caldrun swung his sword and parried them.

Judging by the cling-cling-clang sounds, he had deflected quite a few needles.

“Monster skin is often tough and hard. Research ways to increase your power.”

Saying so, Caldrun fired more ice shards and charged at Fret.

Once again, Fret ran backward while parrying with his daggers, but that was when the ground beneath his feet turned into a sheet of ice.

However, Fret didn’t fall, nor did he even stumble.

“I’m from the circus, so I’m in the habit of applying anti-slip treatments to my shoes! Aha!”

Even though no one asked, Fret explained why he hadn’t fallen on the ice.

It was likely true that he treated his shoes for professional reasons.

‘Except, he likely did it because he needed it for infiltration as a member of the information guild, not the circus troupe.’

As expected of the successor to an information guild, Fret’s talent for slipping away was top-tier.

However, no matter how large the auditorium was, there were still spatial limits.

When Fret’s back hit the wall, he raised both hands above his head and shouted his surrender.

“Giving up without even trying to escape? How disappointing.”

“I ran various simulations in my head, and they all ended with me getting caught and beaten. I was taught that when there’s no hope, it’s best to admit defeat quickly and try to get on the opponent’s good side!”

Of course he was.

His profession was an informant, not an assassin.

As long as he wasn’t accessing a secret that could never be revealed, it was possible to be released by begging for mercy and offering a compromise.

“That might be the best policy when dealing with people. But the beings you will have to fight in the future are monsters that not only cannot be reasoned with but also know no mercy. So, from now on, you will have to learn how to fight as if your life depends on it.”

“Thank you for the lesson!”

Fret said this and then began wandering around the auditorium to pick up his fallen daggers.

It would take a long time to find and collect all the needles scattered about, so he seemed to have abandoned them.

For now, he focused on recovering the daggers, which were expensive enough that they couldn’t be treated as disposables.

‘…He’s even sneakily pocketing the arrows Fjodra left behind!’

She must have seen him do it, but she didn’t bother to point it out.

To her, a member of the Imperial family, arrows were likely nothing more than disposables.

She probably figured that if a commoner could make some pocket money by picking them up and selling them, it wasn’t a bad thing.

“You’re the last one. What is your name?”

“Svein Od.”

Svein replied as he pulled a spear out of his Inventory.

I will omit the description of what followed.

As a reader of Nas-e, I couldn’t bring myself to like the character Svein, who had betrayed Reysir after receiving so much help from him.

However, I didn’t make this decision just because I didn’t want to give Svein any screen time.

“…How long has it been since you started learning the spear?”

“I first picked up a spear last month.”

“And you’ve never used your Aether ability in combat?”

“No…”

“The two people who didn’t show up today are probably in a similar situation…”

Caldrun sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead, looking like he had a headache.

As his reaction suggested, Svein’s skills were abysmal.

That was why I had no choice but to omit the details of his test.

To describe it, he would have had to actually do something, but he did nothing.

“For today, just observe how others fight and think about how you should utilize your Aether Attribute ability. You can learn spearmanship by watching Reysir’s movements… Next week, don’t come here. Go find the spearmanship professor instead. None of the students here are suitable sparring partners for you.”

Had he been overcome by a sense of gloom after realizing he had to teach combat techniques for ‘real battle’ to children who had just picked up weapons for the first time?

Caldrun spoke in a lamenting tone and waved Svein away, gesturing for him to go sit down.

Svein’s face flushed with shame, perhaps feeling ignored by the professor’s actions.

‘I would have felt relieved that those around me weren’t laughing at me, but…’

Unfortunately, Svein seemed incapable of that kind of self-rationalization.

Seeing him sit down with an expression like he wanted to crawl into a hole made me feel a bit sorry for him.

However, I didn’t let it show.

It was a thought that didn’t fit Karbaldr’s character anyway.

I also suspected that if Svein knew I pitied him, he would find it extremely offensive.

“Speaking of professors, it seems better for Reysir to gain sparring experience rather than focus on learning spearmanship. So, instead of assigning him a specific professor, I’ll arrange it so he can spar with any professor he wants at any time. Ah…! Should I be using formal speech for this?”

Caldrun had been speaking casually to Fjodra.

He then realized that since this wasn’t something a mere student could handle, he was technically speaking to the Imperial Princess, and he looked momentarily flustered.

Even so, Caldrun didn’t seem to have any intention of speaking formally, and Fjodra didn’t seem to care either.

“Unless I am appearing in an official capacity as a member of the Imperial family, just speak comfortably. I will tell the combat professors not to refuse Reysir’s requests for a duel. If I tell them they will receive an incentive every time they spar with him, I doubt anyone will complain.”

Under those conditions, it seemed likely that professors would be the ones requesting duels from Reysir, rather than the other way around.

Reysir seemed to have reached a similar conclusion, as he wore a reluctant expression.