“......”
Miliana swallowed dryly, her face completely rigid. She had undergone numerous grueling training regimens since childhood.
Although she was an illegitimate child, she had watched the movements of the many powerful knights in her house and learned how to respond to them.
Even Miliana, however, could not turn her back on the assistant before her.
If she turned away, it felt certain that the woman would catch her immediately.
Kamel was the same. Without moving, he swept his gaze around in search of a way out.
“What is this? Are you really not going to move? Relax. I'll go easy on you. But...”
The short-haired assistant's gaze changed as she looked at the three trainees.
“If you keep standing there like stones, I'll have no choice but to take every one of your bells.”
Step.
Speaking in a voice full of composure, the short-haired assistant took one step forward.
A heavy silence hung around them.
Step.
As she took another step, the short-haired assistant showed a trace of disappointment.
Reaching this place within thirty minutes was by no means easy. Not one trainee from the previous class had made it this far on the first day.
That was why the short-haired assistant had secretly harbored expectations. What interesting sights would the trainees of this class show her?
Yet now that they faced her, they had frozen stiff.
‘At least that brown-haired one stands out.’
The short-haired assistant's gaze turned toward Ivan. A moment ago, she had genuinely intended to take one of his bells.
She had never imagined he could evade her hand. Yet he shattered her expectations and reacted to her presence within that brief instant.
It had been a long time since a trainee surprised her, but this was nowhere near enough.
An assistant's job was not merely to face the trainees, but to help them address their weaknesses in the process.
‘They all have talent.’
But they still lacked practical experience. If they simply stood there dazed, they would only be devoured.
She intended to teach these trainees the terror of real combat beyond any doubt.
Whose bells should she take first? Just as she pondered the question and prepared to step forward again.
WHOOSH.
A fist-sized stone suddenly flew at her. The short-haired assistant turned lightly to avoid it, then looked back at the trainees in disbelief.
Ivan was the one who had thrown the stone.
“What are you doing......?”
The act was so absurd that the short-haired assistant could not help asking.
Ivan shrugged and answered.
“Instructor Alia told us to open our ears and listen to the explanation, so I did. But no matter how much I think about it, I don't recall her mentioning a rule against trainees harming the assistants.”
“......”
“So I tried throwing one. I wanted to know whether trainees are allowed to attack the assistants. Am I disqualified?”
“Ha!”
At Ivan's question, the short-haired assistant burst out laughing despite herself.
Indeed. This training had no rule forbidding trainees from attacking the assistants.
But what trainee would so openly attack an assistant of Pandora?
She could not help laughing. She had served as an assistant here for many years, but this was the first time a trainee had attacked her directly.
“...You've got some nerve. Are you under the delusion that you could beat me?”
“You never know until you try. Honestly, I'm not particularly confident I can beat you, Assistant. But don't I have to try something if I want to survive?”
“Are you really a trainee? Why do you sound like a scheming old man with a serpent in his belly?”
Ivan flinched inwardly. Including his age in his previous life, he was forty years old.
“I'm a fresh young man of sixteen.”
He answered while doing his best to control his expression.
“You're old beyond your years. Still, I'll compliment you. You're the first person to fluster me this badly.”
It was not a pleasant compliment at all, because a cold smile had bloomed on the assistant's lips.
“What's your name?”
“I'm Ivan.”
“Very well, Ivan. As a reward, I'll take your bells first. Confidence is good, but your nose is stuck too high in the air. I need to crush it down a little.”
“This proud nose is my only source of pride. What an awful thing to say. I respectfully decline.”
“And I decline your refusal.”
“Tch.”
Ivan openly clicked his tongue. Even so, he had no intention of giving up.
In truth, from the moment he encountered the assistant, he had known he would have to face her sooner or later.
Ivan considered what he could do at present. There was only one thing.
“Then I'll be running away. Please follow as slowly as possible.”
With that declaration, Ivan turned his back and began fleeing at full speed.
“Interesting.”
The short-haired assistant pursued Ivan with a peculiar heat in her eyes.
Even without using aura, her movements were absurdly agile.
Ivan and the assistant vanished from the area in an instant.
Only Miliana and Kamel remained.
“...It seems we escaped the situation. We should thank Ivan.”
Kamel murmured with a sigh of relief. He too had only pretended to be calm on the outside while feeling immensely tense within.
Miliana, on the other hand, silently stared at the place Ivan had left and bit down hard on her lip.
Unlike Ivan, she had been unable to respond to the assistant at all.
At that fact, frustration and self-loathing surged from the depths of Miliana's heart.
***
Alia and Roswell.
They were observing the training ground from the central watchtower.
In contrast to the thoroughly wild landscape, numerous cutting-edge mana-engineering machines had been installed throughout the forest.
Using mana as a medium, dozens of machines installed in the trees scanned the surrounding scenery.
The scanned images were transmitted intact to a giant screen in the central watchtower.
“The trainees in this class appear more capable than the previous ones.”
Roswell spoke while watching the trainees on the screen.
It was not empty flattery.
Although the assistants were holding back to match the trainees' level, even considering that, the trainees of this class were performing remarkably well.
“I think so too. Quite a few trainees from this class may survive.”
Though even ‘quite a few’ would be less than half. Thinking that, Alia fixed her eyes on the screen again.
“Oh, I didn't expect any trainees to climb that high on the first day. Truly impressive.”
Roswell exclaimed as his gaze moved among the many trainees.
Alia followed his gaze.
Ivan, Miliana, and Kamel were gathered there, three trainees in all.
“From the right, Kamel Harbern, Miliana Leonhart, and trainee Ivan. They displayed the greatest ability on the first day.”
“Harbern and Leonhart... My, members of two more tremendous houses have come here.”
Seeing children of the two houses filled Roswell with fresh emotion.
He had ties to both houses.
Long ago, when slave hunters attacked the village where Roswell lived, the head of House Leonhart from two generations earlier saved his village.
That event led Roswell to swear loyalty to the head of House Leonhart and serve him for a time.
He also had memories of fighting alongside the previous head of House Harbern on the battlefield long ago.
“How nostalgic. I am also pleased to see that the children of both houses have grown so splendidly. But that trainee named Ivan.......”
“I hear he was a slave.”
“Pardon......?”
At Alia's answer, Roswell showed genuine bewilderment for the first time in ages.
“Is that really true......?”
“It is.”
“Goodness... How remarkable. To stand alongside them despite not being born to a prestigious house.”
At the training center, trainees from prestigious houses generally achieved the best results.
Their noble bloodlines, maintained since ancient times, were one reason, but the support of their houses was also immense.
Along with every sort of precious elixir and potion, they received systematic training and learned their houses' swordsmanship as soon as they could control their bodies.
Thus, Roswell could not help being astonished that Ivan, despite not coming from a prestigious house, displayed skill equal to trainees from two such houses.
“Alongside them.......”
Alia murmured quietly.
At least to her eyes, Ivan appeared slightly more capable than Miliana and Kamel. She did not bother voicing that thought.
That was when it happened.
Someone entered the screen showing the three trainees.
It was an assistant.
“That is Assistant Flora. It appears the trainees have not yet noticed her presence.”
In a sense, that was only natural. Of the many assistants, Flora was the fastest elf apart from Roswell.
She was also highly skilled at concealment, so anyone other than a martial artist with exceptionally developed senses would find it extremely difficult to detect her presence.
At that moment, Ivan turned his back toward the tree where she was hiding.
“He possesses excellent potential, but he is still inexperienced. His vigilance has relaxed.”
Alia spoke, and Roswell nodded in agreement.
In truth, Flora had deliberately left no trace, so Ivan could not have detected her.
Even so, only those capable of remaining vigilant at all times earned the right to become special investigators.
Unaware of anything, Ivan stepped toward the tree on the screen.
Then, exactly as everyone expected, Flora reached toward the bells at Ivan's waist.
“He'll lose one.”
Alia spoke with certainty. No matter how great Ivan's talent, there was no possibility that he could protect his bells in that situation.
But her certainty did not last long.
“......!”
Roswell's eyes widened in shock. Ivan, who had been walking without the slightest vigilance only moments before, suddenly stepped backward.
Flora's hand brushed past Ivan's bells and swept through empty air.
Her body flinched, as though she too had never imagined he could evade her.
“Instructor Alia, what in the world is that trainee......?”
“......”
Alia could not answer Roswell's bewildered question.
She was surprised as well. Had Ivan already noticed Flora's presence?
‘No, that can't be.’
If Ivan had detected her presence, why would he have walked carelessly toward the tree where she was hiding?
That meant Ivan had evaded Flora's hand through instinctive intuition and reflexes alone.
“It seems... a tremendous talent has entered the training center.”
Roswell murmured, still unable to hide his astonishment.
Alia had no choice but to agree.
***
Ivan drove his legs with all his strength. He heard light footsteps behind him.
The sound was so faint that he felt as though a ghost were pursuing him.
Ivan drew a deeper breath and awakened the senses throughout his body more sharply.
Rustle.
Sensing the footsteps draw closer, Ivan shifted his gaze to his waist.
The bells swung back and forth, and soon, slender fingers entered his vision.
The moment he saw them, Ivan stopped running and twisted his body around.
Without hesitation, he thrust a clenched fist toward the assistant's chin.
“Well, what have we here?”
Flora tilted her head aside and easily evaded Ivan's fist.
“You were seriously trying to hit me, weren't you?”
“I have to seriously knock you down before I can run away.”
“The more I see, the more insolent you get. I'm an assistant, you know?”
“Yes, Assistant. For the sake of this adorable trainee, please lie down for just a moment.”
“All right... is what I almost said. Not a chance!”
Flora bared her teeth and darted toward Ivan's flank.
Ivan immediately countered. He twisted his waist to protect his bells and drove a knee toward the assistant's temple.
“This is nothing.”
Flora scoffed as if it were beneath her and slipped out of the knee's path.
He had anticipated that evasion. Ivan boldly extended his bent knee into a straight leg.
SWISH.
Ivan's fully extended leg curved downward in a diagonal strike.
The technique was known as a Brazilian kick.
Apparently she had not expected such an attack, because Flora recoiled in surprise and hastily stepped backward.
“You.......”
Flora stared at Ivan with trembling eyes.
“What a shame. If you'd been a little closer, it would've landed properly.”
Ivan smacked his lips. A thin cut had appeared on Flora's chin.