TYND 56

TL: Motokare

“Thank you, Your Grace. In that case, there’s someone I’d like to recommend.”

Theon knew exactly who the baron would name. There was only one person here capable of facing him in a duel. 

“Dame Gaian West!”

The students stirred following Baron Nymphea’s recommendation. 

“Professor Gaian?!”

“The professor’s here? Where—… Ah! There she is!”

In the corner of the VIP section, a large figure wearing a grey hooded robe was seated. Gaian clicked her tongue, then pulled back her hood and stood up. Only dense tattoos covered her head where hair should’ve been. She appeared nonchalant and that made her confidence in her own skills even more apparent. 

“As a professor at the academy… I can’t turn down a fight that comes my way.”

As soon as she said that, the students roared in excitement, almost as if they were cheering for the end of the Human-Demon War.

This was a duel of epic proportions! A match between two Aura Masters! 

Physically, Theon had the age. He stood taller at a hundred and ninety-eight centimetres and weighed a hundred and five kilograms, while Gaian West was a hundred eighty-nine centimetres tall and weighed ninety kilograms. In terms of age, Theon was only thirty, while Gaian West was fifty-one, giving her the overwhelming advantage in experience. 

However, this age difference also meant a difference in stamina. 

“Obviously, His Grace has the advantage when it comes to age.”

“You obviously haven’t seen Dame Gaian knock down three sixth-grade mage professors.” 

“His Grace’s called the Demon of Seará. Has there ever been another warrior in the Human-Demon Wars with a title like that?”

“Dame Gaian’s nickname in her prime was ‘Warrior of Seará’. That’s also a unique title.”

Such was the conversations taking place among the parents in the VIP section. 

Gaian shrugged off her robe and descended the stairs, one at a time. Her outfit of sleeveless shirt and loose-fitting trousers gave off the impression of a bear on the prowl. 

“Wow, we’re about to witness something amazing.”

“I should’ve dragged the whole knight order here to see this.”

Anticipation filled the eyes of Zey and Xeon. As women, Gaian West had always been someone they admired. And their lord, Theon, was someone they revered. 

A match between the two of them? It was the mother of all dreams. It would’ve been a hell of a lesson to watch them even if they were just sparring with practice swords. 

As the entire audience eagerly awaited the match……

“No…!”

Rothy sprang to his feet. 

Before Zey and Xeon could stop him, he cast a flight spell and landed in the middle of the training ground. Theon, who was rarely caught off guard, looked at Rothy with wide eyes. 

“Rothy?”

“Don’t fight……”

He threw himself into Theon’s arms, who instead hurriedly knelt on one knee and wrapped his arms around the trembling small body.

“That person’s called the Warrior of Seará. They say she knocked down three sixth-grade mages…”

“Rothy, calm down.”

“What if it gets dangerous for you, Theon…? If you get injured, it’ll hurt a lot. Can’t you not fight…?”

“I won’t fight.”

Theon tossed the wooden sword aside and pulled Rothy closer. One hand patted his back while with his other hand, he supported Rothy’s back to help him feel secure.

“Really?”

“Yes. I won’t fight.”

Theon signalled with his eyes to the baron who stood there, dumbstruck. He could do nothing but nod back in response. Theon then carried Rothy in his arms and left the training ground with Zey and Xeon hurriedly following behind them. 

As for the audience, well, their reaction was……

“Whoaaaaaa~”

“Haaaaangh~”

The students made strange noises and sighed. 

“How wonderful… they love each other, don’t they?”

“They look so good together…”

With such reactions, Theon’s dignity remained intact. But some students remained disappointed since this was such a rare opportunity to witness a precious duel between two Aura Masters. 

“Well, looks like our special guest lecturer has left.”

Gaian West strode into the empty training ground. She declared she would accept five volunteers from among the students for sparring, which rekindled the excited atmosphere. Just before leaving the training ground, Theon expressed his gratitude to Gaian West with a nod which she responded with a hearty laugh. 

In the farthest corner of the training ground, an adult and a child were watching quietly. 

“Let’s go. We’ve got work to do.”

“Yes, Instructor.”

The child bowed politely and followed behind the adult. But after a few steps, the child turned to look back. Their eyes landed on the abandoned wooden sword. The archduke had immediately thrown away the wooden sword when the young archduchess asked if he couldn’t avoid fighting. Then he’d tenderly embraced the young spouse. 

“……”

Rothy Sear Falsen. 

They said when he was young, a cruel mage kidnapped him and put him through terrible experiments. To the child, Rothy’s past was like their own… but their present lives couldn’t be more different. The child looked away from the wooden sword. Tired, heavy steps carried them into the darkness.

***

With their schedule at the academy done, they planned to spend their free time relaxing and enjoying the pretty, bustling scenery before returning to the estate through a portal after sunset. The group sat down at an expensive, fancy restaurant in the observatory they’d visited yesterday.

“Ugh, those mage class professors and students drained me completely with their smiling faces. I’d nothing left to say, but they kept asking questions and wouldn’t let me leave.”

The mage class originally wanted Rothy to give the special lecture, but they couldn’t send Rothy, so that was out of the question. So Chungnip went instead and gave a six-hour lecture. He’d come back looking completely exhausted.

“How do you even drain the life out of someone by smiling?” 

“Isn’t that just what mages do?”

“What? Ladies are too prejudiced against mages. Not all of us are like that.”

“But the academy mages and the PLEIN mages are exactly like that. Same goes for the mages from Givarche, Toran, and Gamia. All of them will stab you in the back while smiling.”

“I’m telling you, not every mage in the world’s like that!”

“So you’re not like that?”

“Well, I do smile a lot, but…”

Thinking about it, Chungnip realised that maybe the prejudice wasn’t just prejudice, grabbed his head and groaned. Zey and Xeon burst out laughing at him. While one person had a headache and two were full of laughter at this table, the mood at the table a short distance away was far from cheerful. 

“I’m really sorry about earlier……”

Rothy, still clinging to Theon’s collar, apologised in a small voice. He’d been feeling down since they left the training ground. Other than occasionally stroking the weasel that was busy licking its own paws and hands, he hadn’t said a word. His first words after all that silence were an apology.

“Rothy.”

“I don’t know much about this Gaian West person… I was just too scared.”

Rothy knew very well how strong Theon was. On the battlefield, he was an absolute force. If there was a god of war, Rothy thought it would be Theon. However…… 

She was someone I didn’t know.

Gaian West was someone he’d never seen on the battlefield. What if she were stronger than Theon? They said she was an Aura Master as well. What if Theon got hurt…? He might’ve made Theon look like a coward who avoided fights. But with fear gripping his heart, Rothy couldn’t help stopping that duel.

“Rothy.”

Theon carefully lifted Rothy’s chin. Then meeting his eyes, he whispered softly.

“You never need to apologise for anything. Even if you poisoned me, even if you cut off my arm or my leg, you still wouldn’t have to say you’re sorry.”

He’d meant to reassure him, but Rothy only trembled harder, his emerald-green eyes filled with hurt. 

“I won’t poison you. I won’t cut off your arms and legs… I’d never do that…”

“My comparison was a little extreme. I apologise.”

Theon hugged the small, warm body in his arms tightly. Rothy’s heart was beating rapidly. He was already unsettled, and the harsh analogy shocked him even more.

His archduchess was such a precious little thing. It reminded Theon that he had to always be careful with his words and actions around Rothy. 

“Actually, I felt grateful.”

“Grateful…? Why?”

“If the match had continued, I would’ve embarrassed the professor in front of her students. You saved me from that.”

Rothy lifted his head and looked at Theon, blinking his round green eyes. Theon was beaming at him as if to say he was just joking. But Rothy knew that smile. It was the one Theon would use to ease the mood, to lessen someone’s guilt. But it still was able to calm his pounding heart, little by little. 

“Well, you wanted to fight earlier, didn’t you?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because you never do anything you don’t want to… But when Gaian West came down the stairs, you were waiting for her with the wooden sword in your hand, your whole stance was saying you wanted to fight.”

“It didn’t matter either way. I don’t avoid a fight when it comes to me, that’s all.”

“They say the competitive spirit towards another transcendent is instinctive.”

“Who said that?”

“My master… He said that’s why seventh-grade archmages and Aura masters could never get along.”

That might be true. Most transcendents throughout history had been aggressive and warlike. And beyond their status as transcendents, mages and swordsmen had never had a good relationship. Once they reached the pinnacle of their respective fields, all of them would claim they were the strongest. So it was only natural that they rarely saw eye to eye. 

But Theon was different.