NOVEL WEB Chapter 76: Thank You
“But why this atmosphere?”
Upon returning to the scene, Adryn scanned the look of the swordmanship division cadets and spoke.
When she had been about to compete, it had been an atmosphere of a ceremonial march, but now that she had returned, it was as if it had turned into a funeral.
It would be one thing if she had lost, but she had won.
Startled!
At Adryn’s words, the rookie swordsmen flinched.
“Ad, Adryn!”
Adryn!
Adryn!
Adryn!
They began to chant her name belatedly.
As opposed to their earlier excitement, they were now calm and subdued, ridden with fear.
“Have you arrived, Lady Adryn?”
Mizu greeted her with nearly servile reverence.
“What’s with you all? You’re annoying me.”
“Please…! Withdraw your wrath, I beg you. Shiver, shiver, shiver.”
“What in the world is going on?”
Adryn looked at Ceylon, not understanding the situation.
“Exactly, I wonder…”
Ceylon averted his eyes.
“???”
Adryn repeatedly cocked her head in puzzlement.
“Anyway!”
Clap!
Ceylon, smiling sneakily, clapped his hands.
That was as much as the jokes would go.
“Everyone! Our Adryn has won us points against the ten seats of the magic division!!!”
Hooray!!!
Adryn!
Adryn!
Adryn!
This time, the cheer was genuine and full-hearted.
“Ahem!”
Adryn, having won, could now purely enjoy the chant.
“You all know, this is a very significant victory for us. Isn’t that right?”
Absolutely!
They shouted in unison, agreeing with her.
“Thanks to Lady Adryn, we can already say the victory is in the bag! Isn’t that right!?”
They replied with even more enthusiastic chanting.
Then, Adryn playfully tapped Ceylon’s ribs with her forearm.
“Hey, ease it up… Just a bit.”
Ceylon responded with a satisfied smile that contained a faintly different emotion from delight, as he looked at her bashful, head-down demeanor.
“Haha, Lady Adryn. Have a bit more pride. I’m sincere, not exaggerating, you know?”
Adryn had captured 13th place in the swordmanship department entrance exam.
On the other hand, her opponent from the magic division, Lemillion, ranked 10th in his entrance exam.
Adryn’s victory held even more significance as it gave a breath of air to the swordmanship division, which had found itself in a disadvantageous position due to Drin and Kasha’s absence.
“Now, everyone. Shall we carry on with this momentum!!!”
A hand clad in a white cloth glove rose from the crowd.
“This time, I will step forward!”
It was Adella.
She harbored a competitive spirit against Adryn.
Adryn’s impressive performance had fueled her competitive drive.
She walked to the front of the crowd in her unique, elegant stride, showcasing her long legs.
“Everyone knows my name, right!?”
“Espien’s Adella!!!”
Especially Melhen’s enthusiastic call initiated the chant.
Adella!
Adella!
Adella!
Her voice was graceful and alluring.
And the massive heart supported by her flowing golden hair.
Was it the charm of that seductive atmosphere?
Some men’s chants became much more passionate than they were for Adryn.
“Hmm.”
Adella cast a superior smile at Adryn with a sense of superiority.
“…?”
What is all this about?
Despite the clear provocation, Adryn reacted indifferently, causing Adella to scowl.
It was then that her gaze shifted to Ceylon standing beside Adryn and approached right in front of him.
With both hands gently wrapping his, she pulled them in front of her heart and, looking up at him with raised eyes, she said,
“Ceylon, would you give me some advice too?”
Ceylon’s hand and arm seemed to almost touch her heart – clearly an intentional gesture, yet Adella looked innocent, as if there were no ulterior motive.
“…”
“What…?”
“My goodness.”
“Could it be?”
The sharp gaze from the men and the intrigued looks from the women were simultaneously directed at Ceylon.
“Haha, it’s so out of place for me to give advice to Adella. How could I presume to–”
Ceylon burst into foolish laughter.
Unaffected by their physical contact, he proceeded as usual, hurting Adella’s pride.
Hmm~
Adella grunted in dissatisfaction, swaying her torso.
Her heart wavered as well as the hearts of the male cadets with the movement.
“Don’t be like that~ You advised Adryn just fine~ Oh, could it be? Is it that I’m different and don’t need advice unlike the inadequate Adryn?”
“What!?”
Adryn, who had been barely restraining herself and glaring at the scene, furious at the thought of dragging away that pestering girl clinging to Ceylon, suddenly jolted up at Adella’s words.
Ceylon, worried things were turning more complicated, quickly interjected.
“Ah~ That’s not it. Let me think… Everyone? Could you recall Lady Adryn’s match just now?”
“…Lady Adryn?”
Ceylon, once more shifting the focus to Adryn, bothered Adella even further, who was smug just moments ago.
She made a face as if to say she felt slighted by him.
But Ceylon, regardless, continued.
“Everyone. As you know, we’re not used to battling mages, right?”
“Yes~ That’s true~”
Adella quickly answered as if the advice were meant solely for her.
“However, it’s the same for them. Adryn understood that perfectly and took advantage. That’s all you have to do.”
See? Quite simple, right?
Ceylon spoke with a light tone.
But the expressions on the other swordsmen who heard his words were ambiguous.
One of them spoke.
“We know that but…”
Exactly.
Ceylon’s advice was already known to the other cadets, even to Lemillion himself.
But knowing the theory and applying it in practice were two entirely different stories.
Outstanding talent.
The tremendous amount of experience Ceylon had built.
That was the reason.
Adryn was able to act on Ceylon’s advice precisely because of that.
“…I understand!”
Adella nodded.
It was a lie. She hadn’t understood a thing.
Unlike Adryn, she didn’t have the experience points that Ceylon had given.
Pride.
The pride that if Adryn could, she naturally could do it too.
“Thank you for the advice.”
With that, Adella stroked Ceylon’s hand again, making sure Adryn saw it before she stepped on the main road.
Growl…
Adryn glared at Adella’s back, hoping fervently.
Please let her fall flat on her face in defeat.
But Adryn’s wish did not come true.
“Victory, Adella Espien!”
Adella, who placed 4th in the swordmanship department’s final entrance exams.
She was on the same level as Drin, Kasha, and Agion.
One of the reasons the current crop of the swordsmanship division’s freshmen is being hailed as historically exceptional.
Ceylon’s advice proved useless to Adella.
Unlike Adryn, she relied purely on strength to press down her opponent.
And it was effective.
“Phew.”
Adella gathered her breath.
The first action she took upon regaining her composure from the rush of battle and victory was:
“Ceylon~”
Pretending to still be caught up in the thrill of combat and victory, she ran towards Ceylon and hugged him.
“Whoa!”
Engulfed in his embrace, she feigned an overwhelmed voice.
“Thank you, Ceylon. I owe it to your advice!”
Ceylon cocked his head to the side.
‘Really? It looked to me like she just used brute force. Well, regardless-‘
Ceylon thought better than to comment on the actual situation, considering it might seem insensitive.
“Eek!”
Adryn, seething with jealousy towards Adella, went unnoticed by the tactful Ceylon, who responded with a wry smile.
“I’m glad to hear my advice was helpful.”
“How can I ever repay you…”
“Haha, let’s not go as far as calling it a debt.”
Adella thought to herself while still in Ceylon’s arms.
‘Huhu, what kind of face is she making now?’
She looked at Ceylon almost as if he were a prize she had won.
The excitement from the fight and victory still had her heart racing.
‘Oh, this man. Up close, he’s actually quite—’
For a moment, Adella observed Ceylon intently.
“…”
“…?”
And then—
“Unbelievable!!! Adella, you were so awesome!!!”
Unable to contain herself, Adryn intervened.
She easily unwrapped Adella’s arms from around Ceylon and positioned her to stand face-to-face, gripping her hands in a powerful hold.
“Isn’t it thrilling? I totally understand~”
Adryn looked at Adella with a smile full of empathy.
“Congratulations on your win?”
Adryn offered her sincere congratulations to Adella, her smile making her pronunciation seem as if it were through clenched teeth.
“Um, thank you~?”
Adella responded in kind with seeming sincerity, her smile also causing her words to sound as if spoken through clenched teeth.
“Excuse me.”
That was when Phibian interjected.
“I don’t mind if you two want to tear into each other, but perhaps we should continue what we started? Onlookers might think the match has already been won on your side.”
Truly embarrassing themselves.
Phibian ground her teeth in anger at witnessing their theatre-like display amidst continuous losses.
“…”
“…”
Ahem.
Feeling the gazes of those around them belatedly, Adella and Adryn’s eyes flitted about, searching for where to look.
“Haha, my apologies. Let us proceed right away.”
The atmosphere in the swordsmanship camp was at its peak with three consecutive victories.
They began chanting the next contender’s name once again to maintain their momentum.
By this point, no one among the freshmen swordsmen doubted their victory in the representative battle.
This year’s swordsmanship freshmen were outstanding, unmatched in history—this idea became an accepted truth among them.
It was true.
Without a doubt, this batch of freshmen swordsmen were exceptionally talented.
However, something was being overlooked.
The reason for the exceptional level of this year’s swordsmen was due to the talents presented by a select few like Drin and Kasha.
If you considered only the average level omitting them, the overall proficiency of the swordsmanship division wasn’t much different from that of the magic division—in fact, it could be considered slightly inferior.
The swordsmanship division’s winning streak was promptly broken in the next match.
Another streak began—a winning streak for the magic division.
The chants from the swordsmanship camp stopped, and the magic division’s camp started theirs.
Suddenly, the atmosphere had shifted.
The score had turned around.
The swordsmanship division’s score remained unchanged at three points.
Meanwhile, the magic division’s score had increased to four points.
Although Ceylon had proposed ten participants, the victory conditions changed to a first-to-five based on the battle format suggested by Phibian.
If the magic division scored just one more point, the swordsmanship division would face defeat.
Ceylon was engulfed in anxiety.
At this juncture, he thought the only way for the swordsmanship division to secure a win was for Kasha to return, securing one point, and for him to snag the last point.
‘Where in the world did Kasha go?’
So, Ceylon had to enter the match first and buy time until Kasha returned.
But this time, it was the turn of the magic division to send out a competitor.
And by Phibian’s demand, her designated opponent was to be Ceylon.
Thus, if the magic division sent someone other than Phibian now?
It was very likely the swordsmanship division could just follow the course and accept defeat.
As Ceylon pondered how to overcome this predicament, Phibian stepped forward.
“Hm?”
She intended to hammer down the final nail by trampling over that conceited man to fulfill a five-point victory.
That was the idea Phibian envisioned.
She lifted her chin slightly, looking at Ceylon with an air of arrogance and gestured with her chin with a leisurely smile.
“Come out.”
It was a command filled with the confidence of victory.
Phibian was curious.
What kind of reaction would that impertinent man show?
Would he still mock and boast even now?
Or would he finally lose his composure and reveal his true self underneath?
His response was…
“Phi-Phibian…! Thank you…!”
He let out a relieved sigh, filled with sincere gratitude.
“…?”
Taken aback by the unexpected reply, Phibian tilted her head in confusion.