Monastrell shoved me against the wall, still gripping me by the collar.
Thud.
The impact jolted through my back, bile rising in my throat.
I struggled to break free from Monastrell’s grasp but quickly realized it was pointless.
No, seriously, her arm strength was…
Then again, maybe I was just weak.
Thinking about it, both were true.
According to the status screen, Winter Winslet’s Physical Constitution was ranked 「E」—practically “child-level,” one tier below most ordinary mages.
Monastrell, on the other hand, was a dragon.
Her original strength and constitution would be at the “mythical level,” 「EX」 rank, and even in her human polymorphed state, degraded to “human limits,” she was still 「S」 rank. The gap between us was astronomical.
That was why I couldn’t fight back.
Monastrell glared at me like she wanted to eat me alive but unexpectedly calmed her temper rather quickly.
“Hah, I’d love to snap your neck right here, but… I can’t. I guess this was fun enough for me, so we’re done.”
I once heard a story about a fighter who punched a gorilla in earnest, only for the gorilla to think it was play and enjoy it.
Apparently, that’s exactly what this fight had been for this dragon woman.
Why did the heavens create dragons… and also create a pathetic 「E-rank」 Winter Winslet?
While I was silently lamenting, Monastrell started doing something strange.
She leaned in as if to kiss me, sniffing me here and there.
“What are you doing?”
“Hm, your scent hasn’t changed either. Nobody used transformation magic on you. The outer shell is definitely Winter Winslet. But… why don’t you feel like yourself? Strange. My instincts are rarely wrong…”
Had this crazy woman figured out I was a possessor?
But on what grounds?
“You being merciful during the meeting, and just now—hesitating to attack because bystanders might get hurt. The Winter Winslet I know wouldn’t bat an eye if a few people got caught in the crossfire. Mind control? Hypnosis? If that’s the case, your eyes…”
Monastrell grabbed my head.
Before I could react, she pried my eyelids open with two fingers.
“Don’t move. I’ll gouge your eyeballs.”
“You’d better stop.”
“Ha, as if.”
Ignoring me, Monastrell kept muttering.
“Hmm… Weird. Your eyes seem perfectly sane. Then maybe it’s your soul? How do you check for a soul problem again… Do I crack open your skull?”
“I warned you.”
By now, I had gathered enough mana to strike back.
Before Monastrell could pop my skull open like a pot lid, it was time to teach her a lesson.
[Casting Catalayud’s Secret Art – Dragonslaying.]
Dragonslaying—Dragonslay.
An arcane magic even dragons themselves didn’t know.
In Judgment of Candela, this forbidden art could be found in the ruins of a destroyed magical kingdom, created by Catalayud, a half-dragon mage who invented it to avenge his parents.
If he was half-dragon, one of his parents must have been a dragon. What could have happened to make him create magic to wipe out his own parent’s species?
I was curious, the dragons were curious, hell, the whole world was curious, but all records of Catalayud were buried beneath those ruins after an unprecedented disaster in the ancient magical kingdom.
Only the magic remained.
Not that the history mattered.
What mattered was its effect.
As the name implied, Dragonslaying worked only on dragons—and it was devastatingly lethal.
Ironically, in the original Judgment of Candela game, players mocked its uselessness since dragons almost never appeared. And now here I was… using it.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
The killing energy of the dragon-slaying magic surged from my heart, flowing through my veins.
When the flow completed a full circuit, I grabbed Monastrell’s wrist and twisted.
Shock flashed across her face.
“You bastard, how…?”
Her expression asked the obvious: how had I overpowered her?
But it wasn’t that I had grown stronger.
It was that she had grown weaker under the effect of the Dragonslaying magic.
Soon Monastrell sensed what kind of power I was using and, for the first time, showed genuine fear.
“Stop this. Right now.”
“You laid your hands all over another man’s body, you’d better take responsibility.”
“What the hell are you saying, you crazy bastard.”
There’s nothing more satisfying than being called crazy by another lunatic.
As I channeled more power into the spell, Monastrell’s skin began peeling from the wrist I held all the way up to her elbow.
No, not peeling—her transformation was breaking, revealing dragon scales beneath.
Shhhk.
Monastrell’s bristling scales scraped together with an eerie sound.
“Let go now, or you’ll die.”
“Care to bet who dies first?”
Crunch.
As if responding to my challenge, Monastrell tightened her grip on my throat.
Even weakened by Dragonslaying, she was still fighting desperately, and I still couldn’t overpower her brute strength.
Damn it.
Maybe the damage was weaker because she was in human form?
Or perhaps this spell was meant to be used by Catalayud, a half-dragon, and I was too human to draw out its full power.
In the end, Monastrell and I stayed locked in a stalemate, neither able to overwhelm the other.
Outwardly it might look boring, but we were both soon panting and sweating.
When our eyes met, Monastrell sneered.
“Hah, huh. Starting to suffocate yet?”
“…You’re the one whose face is full of fear.”
Monastrell glared, teeth gritted.
If she just kept her mouth shut, she’d be quite the beauty, but her face was twisted in pain and tension.
I was probably making the same face.
My thoughts began slowing—maybe I was running out of oxygen.
Why had this fight escalated like this?
“Why are you so desperate to kill me?”
“You don’t need to know. It’s my business.”
…This crazy woman.
There was no reason for either of us to fight to the death.
So, as the words “Let’s call this a draw” rose to my lips, unexpected reinforcements arrived.
Crash!
The sound of a vase shattering in the hallway.
“Winter…?”
I turned to see, standing before the broken porcelain, a woman with a military sword at her waist.
A navy-blue double-breasted jacket with white pants. Polished black leather boots and belt. Gold-braided epaulettes and cords—formal dress uniform of the Royal Guard.
Josefin.
“What is going on here?”
I wanted to answer, but Monastrell’s grip on my neck made it impossible to speak.
But realizing I was in distress, Josefin immediately gripped the hilt of her sword.
As expected of my fiancée.
Sharp instincts.
At least, that’s what I thought… until…
“That’s your colleague, right? You seem close. Two people, clinging to each other like that, drenched in sweat… even with me standing right here…”
Josefin had jumped to a terrible conclusion.
I didn’t even need to ask what it was.
Her expression as she stared at us was icy.
[Warning]
[A Death Branch has been updated.]
Ah, life.
***
Winter Winslet: the villain with a 100% death rate.
Now, two Death Flags were haunting me at once.
[Alert]
[This individual’s Death Flag has been activated.]
One was Monastrell, trying her best to crush my neck.
[Alert]
[This individual’s Death Flag has been activated.]
The other was Josefin, lips trembling as she gripped her sword.
I couldn’t help sighing at my own misfortune.
Even if she was a Royal Guard Knight, why did my fiancée always have to show up armed every time we met?
Shhhk.
Josefin drew her sword halfway and called my name.
“Winter?”
“It’s a misunderstanding.”
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
“……”
Damn it.
Monastrell released me and stepped back.
Apparently, she had her own misunderstanding upon seeing Josefin.
“Damn. An annoying guest. Fighting two at once is too much trouble.”
Monastrell gave Josefin a quick up-and-down glance, sizing up her combat ability.
Josefin, with her 「S-rank」 talent in 「Swordsmanship」, was the strongest swordswoman in the early Judgment of Candela storyline.
Monastrell sensibly gave up the fight.
“Next time.”
Leaving behind a villain’s cliché line, Monastrell leapt away, leaving only Josefin, me, and one ridiculous misunderstanding.
Fortunately, with the wreckage from the fight and multiple witnesses, I was able to clear up Josefin’s misunderstanding.
“I’m truly sorry! I didn’t know, I really didn’t…”
Josefin bowed repeatedly in apology.
I barely managed to stop her from kneeling outright.
She seemed ashamed, not just for doubting her fiancé, but because her doubt had been rooted in her own inappropriate imagination.
If left unchecked, her forehead would have hit the floor, so I quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, what brings you here?”
“Ah, that’s… I came to apologize.”
“You just did.”
At my words, Josefin’s expression clouded even more.
“I mean not for today, but for last night.”
At this point, I wondered if causing things to apologize for was her hobby, but I wisely kept that thought to myself.
“I’m deeply sorry for being too harsh last night, for tarnishing your honor in front of others, and… for actually hurting you.”
“Raise your head.”
“You’ll… forgive me?”
Her words reminded me of last night’s incident.
And conveniently, there was something I needed her help with.
Better to ask when she was feeling guilty.
“Let’s walk for a bit.”
***
And so we walked.
In complete silence, for about forty-five minutes.
Eventually, Josefin, looking increasingly puzzled, stole a glance at me and asked carefully:
“Um… how much farther are we walking?”
“We’re almost there.”
Leaving the academy and crossing through the city, we arrived at Dintalbü, on the outskirts of Langbart.
Dintalbü housed the capital’s gendarmerie headquarters, some military facilities, and a prison for dangerous criminals.
And it was the prison I had business with.
Kenneth Edgar, “Twin Flames” Kenneth, had been imprisoned here after losing to me last night.
I had something to ask him.
‘What grudge drove him to attack me?’
Living a day in Winter Winslet’s shoes had taught me something.
Too many people wanted this man dead.
Too many Death Flags.
That was why Winter Winslet was the villain with a 100% death rate.
If Winter Winslet was to survive, I had to deal with those who held grudges against me first.
How to resolve their hatred, I didn’t know yet.
But first, I needed to hear their stories.
“Josefin, I need a favor.”
“A favor?”
Josefin’s eyes widened.
As a Royal Guard Knight, her main duty was protecting royalty, and to do so, she had certain temporary and flexible authority.
It wasn’t an official power, but it was enough to intimidate prison guards and soldiers.
I explained I needed that authority.
Josefin looked flustered.
“You… want me to let you meet a criminal in prison alone?”
“It’ll only take a moment.”
“And what will you do when you meet him?”
“Ask him why he attacked me.”
“But using my authority for personal reasons is…”
I didn’t say much more.
“Josefin.”
I simply said her name, then gently pulled her by the waist.
Staring into her eyes at a distance close enough for a kiss.
“You’re the only one I can ask for this.”
Honestly, the words didn’t matter.
Because this fiancée—though a top-tier swordswoman—was hopeless against handsome men.
“Ah… Ahh. I really shouldn’t…”
Josefin shut her eyes tight and lowered her head.
And a moment later.
I was allowed into the prison.
“I’ll take full responsibility. Open it.”
Indeed, having a fiancée was the best.