The Academy’s Doomed Young Lord Dies Ten Thousand Times

Chapter 12 - Magical Beast Test (3)

The method of attack wasn't about the ‘Moment of Decisive Battle.’ There was no need to use it, and it was much better not to reveal that skill in any form. It was literally my finishing move.

My trump card was…….

Wheeeeeeem-.

With a loud roar, a huge sphere of mana formed on the Living Armor's chest. The massive purple sphere of mana shimmered as if a beam would be fired at any moment.

“No, just a little more…….”

Wheeeeeeeeeem-!!

“……Now!”

Exactly right before the beam was fired, I thrust my arm forward.

The opposite of the hand holding the sword, the left arm with the bracelet on it.

-You might wonder what happens if the bracelet gets damaged, but the monsters will avoid the bracelet when they attack you.

The test supervisor, Jenna's words, flashed through my mind.

And, with my right arm, I took a stance to thrust my sword, aiming for the core.

It was a decisive judgment.

‘The monsters will attack while avoiding the bracelet.’

Jenna's seemingly passing remark had sparked an inspiration in Rain.

‘Then couldn't I appropriately thrust the bracelet at the monster to deflect the attack's trajectory?’

And to judge if that inspiration could lead to success, Rain had tested the possibility little by little during ten regressions. There was even a time when he died absurdly because his movement got tangled while thrusting the bracelet in the middle of a fight……. but the results were clear.

Whoosh-!

The first time he tested it was during the third……. so, the 203rd regression. He had used it while fighting the Owlbear.

‘The hypothesis itself has been proven.’

The theory became reality. But perfectly applying this element was another matter.

‘If the timing is too early, even if I extend my arm to the right position, it will attack another part of my body.’

‘Conversely, if it's too late, it will shatter my arm along with the bracelet. A unleashed attack cannot be taken back. Then there's no reason to extend my arm.’

Just before the attack was unleashed, to divert the attack to the desired trajectory, it was important to suddenly present it to the enemy.

To perfectly match the timing of the enemy's attack with the action of extending the bracelet.

As one could tell just by hearing it, it was close to the realm of acrobatics. Especially against the Living Armor, which fired its beam instantly after a certain charging time, rather than the attack slowly approaching.

If the timing was off by just a little, it was clear that the beam fired from the Living Armor would blow away Rain's lower body.

But there were two factors that made it possible. And those two factors were Rain's combat sense, honed by dying 210 times, and his knowledge of which made him aware of the Living Armor's exact attack time.

In fact, even Rain himself felt like, ‘it would be nice if it works, but it's fine if it doesn't.’

Just reaching stage 8 with ten regressions was a big gain, but if he could cheese stage 8 using the bracelet, it would be an incredible outcome.

Even if he failed, he thought it would be enough to just get a feel for the timing.

In other words, if it succeeds, it's a gain; if it fails, it's experience.

Either way, it wasn't a bad situation. To gain an advantage in that situation, a reasonable amount of luck was required…….

And Rain had just the right amount of luck.

In any case, through that process…….

Rain thrust his sword, and with a light sound, pierced the Living Armor's purple core.

Stage 8, the Living Armor, was cleared like that. I managed to deflect the beam's trajectory as much as possible, ending with just my left shoulder getting hit, and in the end, I broke the Living Armor's core.

As for stage 9……. I did my best but was eliminated.

The Gargoyle that appears from stage 9 is an intermediate-to-high-level monster. Needless to say, it was far beyond the level that an ordinary academy student could handle.

Out of 800 first-years, only about ten were able to break through stage 8. The fact that only three could break through stage 9, which was even higher, said it all.

That's not to say I was defeated helplessly. I stalled for as long as possible and grasped the Gargoyle's patterns. This experience would be a great help in the near future.

The reason I didn't repeat regressions to clear it was because there was no guarantee I would succeed in the preceding stage 8 again.

I had benefited from a bit of luck, after all. In other words, this was the peak of efficiency.

Anyway, as I was ejected into the waiting room for eliminated students, the numerous gazes of the Combat Department's Class B, who had been eliminated earlier and were waiting, focused on me. Murmurs and whispers were a bonus.

Why is that failure coming now, could he have been holding out until now, did he clear past stage 6, no way……. It looked like they were having a whole festival by themselves.

“……Haa.”

As I quietly observed the farce that naturally drew a sigh, numerous gazes were fixed on me.

Just as I was about to move away to avoid those unpleasant gazes.

Step.

A male student approached and stood before me.

To describe him, the student exuded the aura of a beast.

An animal hide cloak worn over the academy uniform, dark gray hair, and a scar on his left eye that looked like an animal's claw mark.

In a way, he gave off a feeling of refusing to be tamed by the conveniences of civilization.

“…….”

That male student, who was about a hand's span taller than me, stood silently in front of me and looked at me.

-What is it, what's going on?

-Is a fight about to break out?

-Is it the barbarian and the failure?

Perhaps because of his uniquely intimidating appearance and gaze, the other students seemed hesitant, but I could remain composed.

I knew that he wasn't being hostile to me right now. Rather, he was feeling curious.

Coming out later than him meant he had achieved a better result than him.

If you were to ask how I knew that, the answer was simple.

‘Is that Khan.’

Because he was Khan, one of the playable characters in .

‘This is an event that used to happen when he wasn't a playable character in the game. If you got a better score than Khan when taking the same class, he would approach you like this. He had a habit of quietly observing anyone he judged to be superior to him, I believe.’

In , Khan had a gentle personality, contrary to his intimidating appearance. He was probably the easiest to win over among the regular characters.

His appearance was a bit beastly, but his heart was pure. I could probably treat him comfortably.

“Is there something I can help you with.”

After that thought, I calmly opened my mouth.

“…….”

“…….”

A silence flowed that might have looked like a hellish confrontation or a battle of wills to others.

To be precise, Khan was observing me up and down, and I was waiting for him.

And after a moment.

“I want to test my skills against you.”

What came back was such a belligerent statement.

“…….”

It was a very Khan-like first sentence. Especially his belligerent side that wanted to fight whenever he saw someone strong.

What happened after that? I couldn't just agree and fight right here.

“Since we are in a position to learn together, there will be many opportunities to compete in the future. Let's just get to know each other's names for now.”

I swallowed hard. Honestly, it might have looked like I was running away……. No, I was running away.

And, to my words, Khan replied with a serious expression.

“That is also a valid point. My apologies.”

Phew.

Anyway, there was nothing much after that. I exchanged names with Khan, was told by the test supervisor, Jenna, to wait until the next test, the sparring test……. and ended up with a lot of free time.

Usually, at this point, other students would either talk with friends from pre-formed cliques or make new friends……. but of course, that didn't apply to me. Who was I?

It was also a bit awkward to kill time at the training hall, so I decided to just sit in a secluded spot in the examination hall and organize my thoughts.

About how I would win in the duel with Milo today.

‘Victory itself is important. But what's more important is the presentation.’

Although my stats had increased to some extent, by absolute standards, beating Milo was not an easy task.

Milo himself is classified as an upper-middle tier at the academy, a strong individual at the quasi-knight level. In terms of specs, I am at a disadvantage.

Well, it's not like I think I'll lose, though.

But the bigger problem was the method of victory.

What was my original purpose? Wasn't it to show an overwhelming performance in this test and acquire the status of a promising knight candidate?

If I win against Milo in an ordinary way, I'll just be treated as a so-so upper-middle tier student.

But if I win overwhelmingly, the story changes.

‘I must leave a strong impact.’

To put it simply, using ‘Moment of Decisive Battle’ would be easy, but I wanted to win without showing my hand as much as possible, not knowing where an adversary might be.

And the way to do that……. well, I had already prepared it.

My observation of Milo yesterday wasn't just for killing time.

Just as my thoughts were slowly getting organized, I felt something lightly land on my shoulder.

To be precise, it was the sensation of a slender hand.

And at the same time, a voice was heard.

“Oh my, did you get home safely yesterday?”

It wasn't difficult to recognize the owner of that voice. It wasn't a familiar voice, but it was so sweet and enchanting that it was unforgettable.

I calmly turned my head to look at the owner of the voice.

And there stood a girl with straight white hair and burning purple eyes.

The First Princess, Regina Eliade Abellon.

“Thanks to you, I got home safely.”

I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I replied like that, and Regina answered with a laugh as if she had heard something funny.

“Fufu, thanks to me?”

“……I wasn't quite sure how I should answer.”

“Aha, that's right. You did have a period of seclusion, didn't you, Rain-ssi?”

In truth, I was just awkward with this style of conversation because I came from the modern era……. but it was fortunate that it could be explained that way.

But that wasn't what was really important.

“More importantly, is it alright for you to speak to me like this.”

“Hng?”

Regina expressed her doubt at my words, and I answered by gesturing with my eyes towards the other seats in the auditorium.

And, where my gaze was directed, other students were sitting, looking this way with puzzled expressions.

“Why is the princess with a guy like that……?”

“Isn't he trying to act like a servant?”

“But the House of Enlight is part of the prince's faction.”

It was a natural reaction. The princess of the empire and a despised illegitimate child having a friendly chat. There was no way anyone would accept that naturally.

“I fear that casually exchanging words with someone like me might tarnish Her Highness the Princess' dignity.”

Following my gaze, Regina slowly scanned the students and……. opened her mouth.

“Well, let's just say it's a preemptive measure to get rid of any miscellaneous bugs that might get attracted, shall we?”

“To keep the pests from being attracted, you say?”

The answer that came with a still triumphant expression was quite puzzling.

And at my question, Regina smiled once more.

“You put quite a lot of effort into this sparring test, didn't you? To prove yourself. For instance, by announcing a nomination spar with the young master of the Gloss family?”

I had a rough idea from what she said last night, but had it already reached her ears? A word without feet travels a thousand miles, but this was certainly fast. She probably had her own information network as a princess.

“The result isn't out yet, but if the 'proof' is successful……. wouldn't bugs be attracted to the flower, aiming for the honey?”

I see. Regina was thinking about what would happen after the sparring test from the beginning. About what would happen after I successfully completed the sparring test.

And those words also meant that Regina had no doubt in my victory.

“Even though the blow to your reputation would be significant if I were to lose.”

In a way, this attitude of Regina's was close to a gamble.

Just being close to me, who had a poor public image, would damage her own image, but if I were to lose on top of that……. wouldn't she be branded with the image of a princess who was so cornered that she had to associate with a loser?

But Regina's face was confident, as if such a possibility was not even in her considerations.

“So, are you going to lose?”

To the provocation that came from such a confident face, what could I say?

“Of course not.”

I just stated the plain truth.

“That's how it is, Rain-ssi. You wouldn't want to say my judgment was wrong, would you?”

“……Haha.”

I let out a small, dry laugh. Maybe I was relieved because she was exactly as I had thought, and as I had seen in .

Confident and dignified, never losing her smile in any situation.

“Ah, and if you wish to be with me……. you'll have to fix that way of thinking a bit.”

And Regina, who was watching my laughter, walked in front of me and made a playful expression.

“What way of thinking do you mean.”

“Shall we say, the way of thinking that minds the gaze of the crowd?”

“……You're talking about what I said earlier, about how being with me might not be seen favorably by others.”

But I still didn't quite understand, so I tilted my head slightly.

“Remember this, Rain-ssi.”

As if reading my expression, Regina playfully poked my forehead with her index finger.

“A monarch is not one who is swayed by public opinion, but one who makes public opinion their own.”

…….

Indeed, Regina Eliade Abellon was……. a person with a way of thinking far greater than I could have imagined.