32 – Dispute 6
The morning of the leadership students is faster than that of other students.
And Johanna’s morning is even faster than other leadership students.
It’s a vague time to call it morning. When the sun has not yet fully revealed itself, and most students are still sleeping.
Johanna walked, facing the cold wind, to get to the training ground.
Swinging the sword while facing the wind at an empty time.
It’s Johanna’s routine to start the day.
Moreover, since there is no one around, there are no people watching her while she swings the sword.
When swinging a sword in a crowded place, you can feel the gaze of others.
Not the gaze of an examiner looking at an examinee, but the gaze of a man looking at a woman.
Johanna found that gaze very unpleasant.
“Sigh…”
With every breath Johanna took, a white breath emerged from her mouth.
Her platinum blonde hair, tied for easy movement, swayed in all directions influenced by the wind.
During the walk to the training ground, Johanna did not encounter anyone.
This was usual, so she didn’t pay much attention.
-Tatata.
Upon arriving at the training ground, Johanna sensed something different than usual.
The sound of someone running inside the training ground echoed.
“Who is it?”
Since the first year, I’ve been coming here every day at this time to wield my sword.
But for a year, I’ve never come across anyone.
Half of me was curious about someone coming before me.
The other half was uncomfortable with not being able to wield the sword alone.
However, the discomfort disappeared after confirming the person inside the training ground.
It was easy to recognize the man running in the training ground. He always wore a mask.
“Ro-…”
Yohanna opened her mouth to call out to Loki, but closed it without saying a word.
Loki was running in the training ground. However, he seemed to be sweating with every step, and he was running so slowly that it was hard to believe he was actually running.
“When did he arrive?”
The training ground was drenched in Loki’s sweat.
And there were water bottles, presumably used by Loki, rolling on the floor.
Judging by the number of water bottles, it seemed certain that he had arrived several hours ago.
Most of the students would probably be sleeping by now, so when did he start running?
Loki’s leg gave out completely, causing him to trip and fall. He seemed to be done running and just lay there.
Yohanna tried to approach Loki, but she couldn’t. He got up.
A moment later, two more Lokis appeared in the training ground.
It was clear that they were created by his unique magic.
“What are you trying to do?”
Johanna’s eyes widened at the unfolding situation before her.
Two doppelgängers started to fight.
One doppelgänger disappeared as it aimed a knife at the neck of the other.
And once again, the doppelgängers reappeared and began to battle.
The movements of the doppelgängers became more precise than just moments ago.
Only now did Loki realize what he was doing.
He was adjusting his posture while observing the doppelgängers.
They appeared, fought, disappeared, reappeared, fought, and disappeared again.
Loki repeated this action several times. However, perhaps due to mana depletion, he no longer created additional doppelgängers.
“Is it over now?”
But Loki was a tougher person than he thought.
As mana depleted, he started running again.
He could run to some extent as he had recovered some stamina, but not entirely, so his speed slowed down.
Nevertheless, he had no intention of stopping and continued running.
Time passed, and once again, his stamina depleted, causing him to hesitate and sit down.
Then, he created another doppelgänger and made them fight once more.
After a few rounds of battle, as he attempted to create more doppelgängers, he failed due to insufficient mana.
When his innate magic was not utilized, he started running again.
Since then, Loki endlessly repeated these two actions.
Can an ordinary person do that?
Utilize the body to its limits, then utilize mana to its limits.
Until now, there hasn’t been anyone who trains like Loki. There won’t be anyone in the future either.
Run, squeezing out the remaining stamina.
Use the remaining mana to cast unique magic.
It was more like torture than training.
“·····”
Yohanna had exceptional talent compared to others, but she also had pride in her effort.
She thought about the sword longer than anyone else.
She boasted about swinging the sword longer than anyone else.
However, watching Loki, her pride in effort fades away.
Can what she did be considered effort?
Wouldn’t Loki laugh when he sees what she considers training?
In the end, without swinging the sword, Yohanna silently watched him until Loki left the training ground.
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From Noble mtl dot com
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I was walking down the academy corridor now.
After training in the morning as usual, returning to the dormitory for about an hour of rest. I changed into the uniform and came out.
Fortunately, no one entered the training ground while I was training in the morning.
If someone had come in, they would have talked to me.
Honestly, what bothered me more than that was the fact that I had slept without medication yesterday.
I didn’t have the hope that I could sleep without medication now.
Last night, the only thing different from usual was that I had a call with Erika before going to bed.
“Maybe it’s because of Erika’s characteristics.”
Lucas inherited the trait of domination from the emperor.
There is a possibility that Erika also inherited that trait from the empress.
Erika’s mother, the empress, was a saint.
The reason for the past tense is that she stepped down from the position of saint when she married the emperor.
Of course, stepping down from the position did not make her abilities disappear.
I remember the effect of the empress’s traits, but I don’t remember the name.
Checking whether Erika inherited that trait from the empress is simple.
Tonight, you just have to contact her through the communication channel.
If I can really fall asleep by talking to Erika every night.
“Do I have to contact her every night?”
It doesn’t seem to end well if the emperor finds out.
While contemplating, my steps stopped in the corridor.
To go to the special class, I had to go underground using the stairs in the corridor, but there were bugs blocking the stairs.
“They’re diligent from the morning.”
Since when were they waiting for me?
Just the thought of them waiting for me since morning makes me burst into laughter.
“Is it really true that he didn’t pass by here?”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
“You fools! If you had caught that guy yesterday, none of this would have happened.”
“We’re sorry!”
In the end, the students from the Kingdom of Arshen couldn’t even speak to me properly yesterday. So, did that brat come in person?
I made an excuse about having a question for the professor to slip away when class ended, and I came out with Professor Elysia after all classes were over.
So, was he aiming for the time when I wasn’t with the professor, the time for commuting to school?
“Hmm, what should I do?”
Honestly, it’s easy to just pass through them.
The problem now is how to make that brat over there even angrier.
I thought about various methods, but in the end, I decided to choose the simplest one.
I created a doppelganger using my illusion and sent it in their direction.
“Your Highness, he’s coming this way!”
“Eek!”
My doppelganger, pretending to be surprised by them, shouted and then ran in the opposite direction of where I was.
While they were focusing on my doppelganger.
I perfectly concealed my presence with the illusion and shadow steps and went down to the underground.
They were all so focused on my doppelganger that they didn’t realize I had gone down.
“Get that guy!”
“Don’t chase him! You idiots.”
The underlings of Verrugi, instead of chasing my doppelgänger as ordered by the prince, stopped pursuing and sent my doppelgänger back when the prince commanded.
If they had continued to chase the doppelgänger, they would have realized what it was.
“Prince, shouldn’t we go after that?”
“Just block this area. That guy will have to come here anyway.”
Right, so I’ve already come down.
I’ll be waiting here until before the class starts.
I walked through the underground corridor and arrived at the special class.
“Good morning, everyone!”
I greeted loudly as I opened the classroom door.
All the students inside the classroom looked at me.
“Roki, are you okay?”
The first one to speak was Lucas.
What do you mean, am I okay?
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Weren’t the students from the Arshen Kingdom waiting for you? We were worried that someone should go to pick you up.”
It seems like they saw Verrugi and his underlings waiting for me on the stairs.
I shrugged my shoulders in response.
“I’m not planning to avoid it forever, right? You can’t avoid it forever.”
This time, the one speaking was Clara.
Originally, I had intended to wait a bit longer, but the vulture moved on its own, so it doesn’t matter now.
“Well, considering that they keep following us, it’s kind of disgusting.”
“Is there a solution?”
“Of course there is!”
They say they avoid it not because the poop is scary, but because it’s dirty.
“We’ll take care of it within a week, so don’t worry, everyone.”
Still, the poop at home needs to be cleaned up.