One of the advantages of Mental Acceleration is that it allows me to manipulate my body with extreme precision.
Because of this, moving both hands independently has become much easier.
I performed the motion of raising my right arm to swing the whip again while simultaneously throwing the dagger in my left hand at Skadi.
As soon as I swung the whip, I drew a new dagger.
‘If it were any other time, Skadi could have avoided both the dagger and the whip with minimal movement without slowing down her approach… but she didn’t.’
She went out of her way to deflect my thrown dagger and then stepped back entirely to avoid the whip.
Since the purpose of this spar was to demonstrate techniques to the students rather than evaluate our skills, defeating me with overwhelming power would be meaningless.
‘She must be lowering her level to match mine on purpose.’
Knowing this, even as I saw Skadi kick off the ground to close the distance again, I didn’t try to jump back and maintain the gap as I usually would.
Instead, I stood my ground and waited for her to approach.
That didn’t mean I was just standing still, of course.
I continued to swing my whip while deflecting the daggers Skadi threw, occasionally throwing one back at her myself.
‘Is there only one step left?’
I tensed up, gripping the dagger in my left hand tightly.
The time for close-quarters combat had arrived.
I closely observed my opponent’s movements and the direction of her gaze as she drew near.
The moment Skadi swung her dagger, I thrust my own dagger—held in a reverse grip—forward at an angle to parry the blow and then leaned my upper body back.
I did this to avoid a follow-up attack, as Skadi immediately swung a second dagger with her other hand.
Skadi’s horizontal slash cut through the empty air.
Instead of straightening back up, I tilted my body further and performed a backflip.
This created enough distance for me to throw another dagger to stop her from rushing me again, followed by a swing of my whip.
Skadi backed away with a satisfied expression and sheathed her daggers.
She was clearly about to declare the end of the demonstration.
Judging that the scene was over, I deactivated [Character Analysis].
As expected, Skadi spoke up.
“Karbaldrrr~, good jobbb~! I’ll clean up, so just give me the belt and you can go back to your seattt~!”
Well then.
Refusing and picking up the daggers myself would be out of character for Karbaldr, so I quickly unbuckled the belt with the sheaths and handed it back to Skadi.
Skadi took it and turned to the other students.
“Did everyone see thattt~? Whether you use a dagger as your primary weapon or a secondary one, being able to move your hands independently is essentialll~! You need to practice this regularly, just like Karbaldr diddd~!”
“……”
As I noted at the beginning of this chapter, I was only able to move my hands independently because of the Mental Acceleration effect of [Character Analysis].
Hearing her praise made my conscience sting.
Using [Character Analysis] in combat is mentally taxing.
To prepare for long-term battles, I really should train myself to move my hands separately without relying on the skill.
I was turning away with that thought in mind when…
“At a distance, you can use daggers to attack or keep them at bayyy~! When the opponent gets too close to use your main weapon, use the dagger to block their attacks and secure distance againnn~!”
Her voice drifted over from behind me.
It was such an obvious point that I wondered if a demonstration had even been necessary.
It was also a given that Liolikin would start shouting about how amazing I was as soon as I returned to my spot.
“As expected, Lord Karbaldr…”
“Stop making a fuss.”
“Yes, sir…”
I quickly cut Liolikin off mid-sentence.
Vigdis had parted her lips to say something as well, but after seeing Liolikin get shut down, she wisely kept her mouth shut to avoid being scolded.
The Protagonist of Another Novel didn’t say anything either.
However, he watched me with a strange smile and gave me a thumbs-up, which somehow made me feel even more embarrassed than if he had spoken.
‘He isn’t planning to ask for a moment of my time after lunch to shower me with more praise, is he…?’
Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
It wasn’t that Reysir showed restraint; it was more accurate to say the opportunity never arose.
Not only was the afternoon lecture ‘Botany’ by Dyuf—a course exclusive to the Special Class—but Hailga had also shown great interest in the ‘Cafeteria dessert corner’ that Fjodra had mentioned during the early morning session.
Thus, we quickly finished our lunch at the Dining Hall and headed to the Cafeteria building together.
Originally, the dictionary definition of a cafeteria is a self-service restaurant where customers carry their own food, but since Valhalla Academy had a separate Dining Hall, this place didn’t serve meal menus.
Following the word’s origin, it functioned more as a ‘cafe and lounge’ and only sold drinks.
However, a dessert corner had recently been established there.
“The rumors must have already spread.”
“We came because we heard about the new dessert corner, but I didn’t expect it to be this crowded,” Vigdis remarked, clicking her tongue as she looked at the interior of the Cafeteria, which was packed with several times more students than usual.
Hailga, who had first suggested coming here, looked troubled.
“I heard they’re selling a popular dessert that’s currently going through a sell-out craze. Perhaps that’s why?” Pret suggested.
Looking at the tables around us after hearing him speak, I realized that everyone indeed had one of the same desserts sitting in front of them.
It seemed there was a one-per-person limit.
Everyone was using a knife to divide the small, bite-sized dessert into four pieces and savoring them one by one.
The dessert looked like it had been rolled into a ball and coated in cocoa powder.
Not only could I see the exterior, but I could also see the cross-section.
Inside the chewy-looking shell was a mixture of mung-bean green spread and what looked like noodle crumbs.
‘…I’ve never bought one myself, so this is my first time seeing it in person, but that’s definitely it, right?’
I’m sure you, my readers, already have something in mind, and that’s the correct answer.
“What is that? Everyone is eating it with such gusto,” Liolikin asked.
“I’m not sure. I only heard bits and pieces during the morning lecture. It’s called a Dubai Fudgy Cookie. I don’t know much else other than it’s expensive and hard to find because the ingredients are difficult to source,” Pret answered with a shrug, finally saying the name of the dessert.
‘Should they really be using the name ‘Dubai’ in a world where that city doesn’t exist?’
The question nearly bubbled up to my lips, wondering if they even knew what Dubai was, but I decided to let it go.
Given that they sell Tom Yum Goong in the Dining Hall, questioning the name of a Dubai Fudgy Cookie felt a bit late.
Besides, the important thing right now wasn’t the dessert itself.
It was the fact that the Cafeteria was crowded with a long line of students waiting to buy it.
The reason this was important was—
“Should we come back in about a week when interest has died down?”
As soon as the Original Protagonist suggested returning later, Fjodra suddenly appeared and spoke.
“There is no need for that. I have not only arranged for a reserved seating area for the Special Class students, but I have also made prior arrangements so that you may order without waiting in line.”
In other words, the Dubai Fudgy Cookie was likely a plot device created by this world’s causality to gather the students.
‘Or maybe the author, Senna, got hooked on that dessert and just threw it into the story without thinking…!’
Regardless, the reason the students had to swarm the Cafeteria was to highlight the privileges of the Awakened Special Class.
The benefits only stood out because there were other students who had to wait in line for ages, only to have to eat outside because there were no seats left.
‘But using food like this… isn’t it a bit petty? A bit childish?’
Fjodra ignored the students in line and marched confidently toward the counter.
The employee in charge of sales stopped what they were doing, apologized to the other students, and pushed through the crowd to create a path for us toward the window seats.
Those seats were not only empty but also exceptionally decorated.
“Follow me.”
The word ‘no’ lingered in my throat, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
As I followed the Imperial Princess, the sharp glares of the students stung my face.
I felt like I would rather go to a remote walking path and be attacked by the Original Protagonist’s praise instead.
That would have been less burdensome than this.
“How would you like to order?”
The employee didn’t return to the register even after guiding us.
They stood there and asked the question.
‘Can we really call this a privilege…? This seems like the perfect situation to get hated by the other students…’
I worriedly glanced at the students around us.
However, contrary to my expectation of resentment, the emotion in their eyes as they looked at us was ‘admiration.’
While I did sense occasional negative gazes, even those were merely jealousy rooted in envy.
‘The original author must have defined their emotions that way while describing this scene.’
Feeling bad for the students who were still waiting in line, I quickly placed my order.
The others seemed to feel the same way, as they picked their drinks in a hurry.
Only then did the employee return to their original post.
“Isn’t it fortunate? If you had not run into me, your trip would have been in vain.”
In that moment, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking that would have been better.
As proof, awkward smiles appeared on the faces of my companions.
However, the Princess seemed to interpret those expressions differently.
“Even I did not expect this many students to flock here. Had I known, I would have certainly mentioned it this morning—that there was no need to turn back even if the lines were long and the place seemed full.”
It was a real shame.
If we had heard that beforehand, we wouldn’t have even stepped inside; we would have turned around the moment we saw the crowd from a distance.
In that sense, I deeply envied Risi, who wasn’t here.
“Ahaha, well, we know now. By the way, Senior Risi didn’t come with you? I thought third and fourth years used the same floor of the Dining Hall.”
Pret asked Fjodra with a casual laugh, perhaps thinking the same thing as me or simply curious about the missing person’s whereabouts.
“Ah, she went to the library. Since it’s become difficult for her to find spare time due to training, she said she would feel bad for her fellow club members if she didn’t at least spend her lunch breaks on club activities. That is why she quickly eats something simple like a sandwich and leaves in a hurry.”
I was certain.
Risi was definitely escaping to the library because she felt burdened by spending her lunch breaks with Fjodra.