I Possessed The Villain’s Childhood Friend

43 – Wizard’s Tower – 6

I’m out of breath.

My opponent, Arvein, was looking at me with a calm expression.

But now I know.

The fact that he was also somewhat exhausted.

Now, the final sum.

With this, my sparring with him comes to an end.

“Whoa.”

Set your posture slowly.

I am the challenger.

I was the first to step out of this confrontation.

“Suck!”

Runs forward without hesitation with a shout of spirit.

Aiming for gaps in Arvein that began to show little by little through the four days of sparring.

Aim for his shoulder and shoot Neia down from above.

Arvein’s reaction was quick as well.

With a quick swing of the sword, Neia was deflected.

Using the recoil, he extended his right foot to Arbane, but he blocked it by raising his left knee as if it were natural.

Characteristics of Arbein.

The speed is not fast.

However, all of his attacks are accurate, and his blows are all heavy.

Once it starts to connect, I have no chance of winning.

Until now, I tried to hit and run as quickly as possible so as not to overturn the flow.

But the method was wrong.

If you can’t land an effective hit no matter how fast you are, it means that only your stamina will be consumed in the end.

In other words, all I have to do is one accurate blow.

That’s right, it was now that his posture was unstable by lifting his knees.

Without hesitation, I took out Diana and threw it at her remaining right leg.

“Hmm?”

Arvein blocked Diana with his sword with an expression of incomprehension.

And finally, a gap appeared.

Should I say it’s a habit that Arvein has?

I couldn’t see any gaps in his offense and defense.

When tired, his left shoulder slightly emptied just before he got back into his stance.

I aimed for that part and stretched out Neia without hesitation.

“It’s sharp.”

I thought I finally did it because of his feeble admiration.

“But I am still immature.”

“Huh?”

I was flying in the sky before I knew it.

It was the work of Arvein who knocked me over with his sword.

“Keah!”

As he hit the floor from his back, the shock spread all over his body.

I felt like my intestines were twisting.

“When you are aiming for a gap, keep your eyes on it until the very end. If you do it halfway, you will only be counterattacked like before.”

“… All right.”

I learned a lot during the four days of sparring.

Still, if there’s anything I regret, is it that I couldn’t win even once?

Of course, it would be arrogant to think like this to an opponent who was a high-ranking knight.

I couldn’t help but feel like I was going wrong.

“Is it finally over?”

But as Arvein said, everything is over now.

Tomorrow is the day to go back to Arcana, so this sparring is also the last.

Arvein’s research, which had been going on for 10 years, was also the last.

And the result.

“This isn’t bad.”

It was a clear success.

“Ike. Do you have any intention of joining the Knights?”

“Yes?”

It was a random question.

“Right now, you are not a member of the Knights Templar, but you are capable enough to be immediately put into service as a low-ranking knight. Wouldn’t it be a waste to rot that talent?”

But I couldn’t easily answer Arvein’s serious-looking words.

The future I had in mind was up to the contents of the original work.

Other than that, what am I going to do?

What kind of job will you have?

It’s not like I’d never thought about it, but honestly, I wasn’t too interested in it either.

Of course, it was a story that we had to think about in the end.

“… I still want to spend a little more time in Arcana.”

But that wasn’t the case now.

“I see. Too bad.”

Arbane got up from his chair and approached me, extending his right hand.

“Still, we will meet again. Thank you for the four days.”

“You worked hard.”

After shaking hands with Arvain, I left the room.

★

“Thank you, Charlotte.”

In front of the carriage going back to Arcana, Charlotte saw us off.

There was no appearance of Arvein.

According to Charlotte, he is busy trying to complete the research.

“Come back to the Mage Tower later. You guys are just taking the first step.”

As Charlotte said, she patted Reina and Sophia on the shoulders.

Reina nodded her head with her expressionless face.

Sophia smiled broadly and bowed her head.

It was obviously a short time to say that they were master and disciple.

However, the two said they had learned enough and respected Charlotte.

“Then goodbye.”

“Yes!”

Reina and Sophia got on the carriage first.

I was in the middle of waiting because Charlotte had one last thing to say.

“Ike.”

“Yes.”

“I heard that when the assailants broke into Arcana, you were the one who survived until the end.”

“That’s right.”

“This is an intuition without any basis, so it’s okay to spill it. I think that monster will appear in front of you again.”

Of course, I already know that.

Rex is one of the final bosses in the original story.

If the Empire and Avatar collided, they would eventually meet again.

“So, when I visited Arcana this time, I thought from the beginning that I would take you to the Mage Tower. I believed that Arvain’s research would be of help to you.”

“At that time, the only thing I could endure was….”

“Don’t make weird excuses. In the end, you were the one who stood until the end and protected the others. That is the only truth.”

I swallowed quietly at Charlotte’s words.

“Anyway, when the thief appears in front of you again, the most important thing will be you.”

“I think you overestimate me.”

“I am serious. People come to rely on a lot of things from just one experience. The fact that you were standing until the end must be of great help.”

Charlotte’s eyes did not waver at all.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t feel the pressure in those eyes.

But I couldn’t deny her anymore.

Because I already noticed.

From the moment Rex came looking for me, I knew that Ike Axus was no longer a minor role.

Even if I’m not the most important person in this story.

I realized that I was already in the middle of the story.

“I know that Arvein’s research doesn’t make you extremely strong. Still, I think it would have been helpful in many ways.”

Certainly, the time I spent in the Mage Tower was short, but it was of great help to me.

Simply sparring with Arbane would have been enough reason for me to come to the Mage Tower.

“Thank you.”

Acknowledging that fact, I gently bowed my head to Charlotte.

“Then why did you only bring me?”

Before getting on the carriage, I asked Charlotte a sudden question.

I am grateful that she brought her to her mage tower, but if you think about it, it doesn’t matter if she brings Helen and the crown prince together.

I felt that way at the end.

At that question, Charlotte crossed his arms and opened his mouth.

“For now, Helen Oberon can’t get any help from Arvein’s research. Unlike you, who is abnormally wide only in magic power, the amount of magic power is also abnormally large.”

“Does it matter?”

“Arbane said that if it were her, even if she had a gap, it would mean nothing to her because of her overwhelming output.”

It certainly made sense.

Arvein’s research is to eliminate the danger that arises from gaps.

But if there’s nothing dangerous, there’s no need for it.

“And Your Highness…. There is no gap in the first place.”

“Yes?”

“I mean literally. I once visited Your Highness to ask for help with Arvein’s research. I gave them a brief outline and they immediately turned them down.”

The reason why there are gaps in strengthening the body is that even during battle, one branch of consciousness must be used for the circulation of magic.

However, after hearing Charlotte’s story, the genius prince has never had a problem with that part.

That is. When I, Raina, Sofia, Helen, Atal, and the Crown Prince collide with Avatar.

It meant that among me, Helen, and the crown prince, who would be in charge of the frontlines, I was really the only one who needed this research.

“Well, I thought that sparring with a senior knight would be helpful, but Arvain hates too many people.”

In the end, Charlotte ended her story by saying that I was the only one who was brought here by various factors.

★

In the carriage back to Arcana.

“So you mean Miss Reina and Miss Sophia only engaged in magic warfare for four days?”

“Yes. In the evening, before going to bed, we studied separately, and only played magic battles with Charlotte-sama.”

“At the end, I also listened to advice. I didn’t learn any new spells, but it definitely helped me a lot.”

Something was wrong, I finally noticed.

In the original story, the mage tower is the first step for Sophia to become her saint.

‘Miracles always come unexpectedly. It’s up to you to get your hands on it.’

This sentence I said to Dean Ender to get him a weekend out.

Because this was the first episode Sophia heard.

Sofia had a clear talent for light magic, but had some flaws in the operation of magic.

What her Charlotte prepared for her was her ‘Her Trial Room’.

The room created by applying wind attribute S-class magic endlessly stirs the mana of the people inside.

In order to withstand that, I had to create a flow of magic that suited the situation.

It was the best training for Sophia, who was wasting a lot of useless magic.

However, Charlotte adds additional details, saying that this is too simple.

That is an unconscious hallucination.

In the unconscious of the person in the trial room, various memories are forcibly reproduced.

The ordeal was literally completed, in which the flow of magical power had to be created while enduring this hallucination.

Sofia endures well in the beginning of this ordeal room, but after an hour, she gets tired.

And before finally passing out.

The hallucination I had then was Saint Selene reciting that sentence.

Sophia’s recognition as a saint begins with her casually muttering that sentence in front of Dean Ender.

If you don’t know that sentence in the first place, the story won’t progress.

“… Is it also lack of skill?”

The original Mage Tower episode was supposed to happen next year.

It is a matter of course, but the difference in one year is quite large.

The Sophia of the original novel would have enough skills to be recognized by Charlotte.

Of course, it was impossible for the current Sophia to build that level of skill.

But I can’t ask to go back to the Mage Tower now.

It was a dilemma.

“Damn it.”

Fate was resentful.

First of all, we stopped the carriage for a while for a meal.

Egg Bacon Sandwich with Milk.

It was a good combination to eat simply.

Of course, I couldn’t taste it because I was thinking about my plans for the future.

“Princess Ike.”

While she was rolling her head so hard, Sophia finished her meal and opened her mouth.

“I have a question, is that okay?”

“Yes, I am fine.”

“Princess Ike and Reina were childhood friends, right?”

“Yes.”

Sophia hesitated for a moment before whispering.

“Then why does Prince Ike use honorifics for Reina-sama?”

“… Yes?”

“… !”

When I turned to her side at the sudden sound, there was Reina, her face blushing and a sigh.