Chapter 8: Don’t Worry, I’ll Be Very “Gentle”

Because this explanation also suited her interests—it was “God” who chose her, not her who imprisoned “God.”

**[Alicia Blackening Value: 85%]**

**[Vivian Blackening Value: 70%]**

“It worked!”

Seeing the numbers drop, Lynn felt a wave of relief.

Vivian’s expression softened slightly, but her hand remained on the hilt of her sword.

“Gathering herbs?”

She frowned.

“Couldn’t you just let the servants handle something like that? Why are you running around on your own?”

Her tone was full of reproach, as if complaining about how much of a handful he was.

“From now on, you’re not allowed to leave the academy without my permission,” she commanded.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Lynn nodded like a chick pecking at grain.

As long as he could stay alive, anything was fine.

Vivian snorted coldly, gripped the hilt, and suddenly yanked the greatsword out of the table.

“Clang!”

A sharp scraping sound rang out.

She carried the greatsword, which didn’t match her height at all, in one hand and casually tossed it over her shoulder.

The movement was both graceful and full of violent beauty.

“The next class is combat training.”

Leaving those words behind, she turned and walked out of the classroom.

Lynn looked at his table, which had been split in two, and wanted to cry but had no tears.

‘Is this… passing for now?’

Before he could catch his breath, Alicia walked in.

She stepped up to Lynn and reached out with a hand clad in a white silk glove, gently brushing away a bit of dust from his shoulder where Vivian had brushed against him.

“You’ve been touched by something impure,” she said softly, but her blue eyes were cold as she stared in the direction Vivian had left.

“I will purify all of this for you.”

“Lynn shuddered.”

He understood her meaning.

She was saying: ‘I’ll get rid of that woman for you.’

“No, no, no, there’s no need!”

Lynn waved his hands frantically.

“She’s my friend, not something impure!”

**[Alicia Blackening Value: 89%]**

He was finished; he’d said the wrong thing.

Lynn wanted to slap himself.

“Is that so?”

Alicia’s smile didn’t change.

“It seems I will need to slowly re-educate you on the definition of ‘friend’.”

She turned and headed out as well.

“I will be watching the combat class as well. To ensure your ‘ritual’ isn’t disturbed by any filth.”

Lynn slumped back into his chair, feeling as if all his strength had been drained.

Out of the tiger’s mouth and into the wolf’s den.

No, now the tiger and wolf were walking together.

***

The Royal Magic Academy’s training ground was exaggeratedly massive.

It contained various simulated terrains, from forests to stone arrays.

The students of Class A, First Year were currently standing in several loose rows, wearing uniform training suits.

However, no one’s attention was on the instructor.

Their eyes were all stealing glances at the edge of the training ground.

Two figures stood there, with completely different temperaments but equally dazzling presence.

The Imperial Saint, Alicia.

She stood quietly under the shade of a tree in her white dress, looking so holy she seemed not to belong to this mortal world.

On the field, the Imperial Princess Vivian was the focus of everyone’s attention.

She had changed out of her knight uniform into a tight-fitting black training suit that perfectly outlined her explosive figure.

Lynn mixed into the crowd, trying to minimize his presence.

But he knew he was at the center of those two storms of gazes.

“Alright, quiet!”

The muscular instructor, Borg, clapped his hands to get the students’ attention.

“Today’s lesson is practical sparring! Form pairs freely!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a fiery red figure appeared in front of Lynn with a gust of wind.

It was Vivian.

“I’m with him,” she stated simply, directly designating him.

The boys nearby cast jealous glances, while the girls looked on with a mix of fear and longing.

Lynn’s scalp tingled.

‘Pairing with her? That isn’t a spar—that’s a one-sided beating!’

“No!”

Lynn rejected her without thinking.

“I… I’m not feeling well!”

“Oh?”

Vivian tilted her head, looking him up and down.

“Is that so? You look fine to me. Just right, I’ll help you ‘stretch’ your muscles.”

Without another word, she grabbed Lynn’s arm and dragged him to the center of the field.

Her strength was not like that of a young girl.

“Instructor, can we start?”

Vivian looked back and asked.

Instructor Borg looked at the princess, then at the saintess by the field, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He was just a teacher; he didn’t dare interfere with these two powerhouses.

“Cough, be careful and stop when the point is made,” he could only say.

“Don’t worry,” Vivian grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

“I’ll be very ‘gentle’.”

She let go of Lynn, stepped back, and pulled the greatsword from the weapon rack.

Lynn’s face turned green.

‘You call this a spar?’

“Come,” Vivian plunged the greatsword into the ground with a muffled “thud”.

“Let’s see if you’ve been slacking on your training over the last two days.”

Even though she said that, her gaze changed.

It was the look of a hunter locking onto its prey.

**[Vivian Blackening Value: 85%]**

The alarm in Lynn’s head went off frantically.

He realized it.

Vivian hadn’t completely believed his story from earlier.

This spar was an interrogation!

She was going to use her own way to “test” what Lynn had truly experienced over the last two days.

“Your reactions are too slow.”

Vivian’s voice rang out.

In the next second, she vanished from her spot.

Lynn’s pupils shrank.

Relying almost entirely on the animal instinct trained by countless bad endings, he clumsily rolled to the left.

“Boom!”

Where he had just been standing, the ground exploded into a large crater, sending stone shards flying.

Vivian’s figure appeared behind him, her massive blade stained with dirt.

“Nice dodge,” she praised.

“But your footwork is a mess. Your lower body is unstable, making it easy for someone to find an opening.”

As she spoke, she flicked her wrist, and the greatsword swept toward him!

It wasn’t an attack; it was a lesson.

In her twisted logic, this was “protection.”

The outside world was too dangerous, and Lynn had gone missing because he was too weak.

As long as she trained him to be strong enough, or… simply beat him until he couldn’t get out of bed, he would never run off again and never encounter danger.

The latter was clearly simpler and a more permanent solution.

Lynn didn’t dare think any further, scrambling to avoid the sweep.

The wind from the sword brushed his back, tearing a hole in his training suit and leaving a burning sting.

“See? You can’t even dodge such a simple attack,” Vivian’s voice held a trace of dissatisfaction.

“If you met a real enemy, your legs would have been cut off by now.”

While she spoke, she attacked again.

Each of her strikes was precisely aimed at Lynn’s limbs, especially his legs.

The blade kicked up a wild wind, leaving ghastly gouges on the training field.

Lynn fled frantically amidst the storm-like attacks.

He had no technique; it was just the most pathetic dodging, rolling, and jumping.

But to the onlookers, the scene was something else entirely.

“My god… look!”

“He… he’s dodging every single one of the princess’s attacks!”