I Was Confessed to by the Golden Sun

8 – 8. You’re Defenseless

Among the newly recruited students in this year’s academy, who are called the Golden Riders.

There are exactly four people who would be troublesome to spar against me.

The strongest prince of the Empire among the students at the moment, Theo Calix.

The pirate king who leads the pirates following his father, Dylan Emerald.

The ancient mythical being hidden among the people, Raul.

And finally, Heidi, the childhood friend she lost when she was young. The saint, Eden Holloway.

And of course, these four are all thugs who enter the protagonist’s reverse harem.

‘Who is the last one among the five stronger than me?’

Well, it’s Heidi. I spar with her a lot, so it’s not difficult.

Anyway, I doubted if I would win with a probability of only 1 out of 120.

But as expected, my life never goes according to plan.

‘Is that guy really human…?’

I couldn’t help but curse while watching the prince swinging his double swords in front of me.

In just a short preparation time, he had a perfectly set posture and excellent swordsmanship, even when we just glanced at it.

‘.. There is some romance in it though.’

It is often said that dual swords are an inefficient form of swordsmanship.

Not only does it lack proper weight, but it also demands several times the strength of others.

‘That’s why people who use dual swords are extremely rare in this world.’

Except for one family, the Imperial family.

The Imperial family’s swordsmanship known as the [Dual Swordsmanship].

It accumulates power with one attack and then unleashes immense strength with the next attack.

With its fast attack speed, unpredictable movements, and unpredictable blows.

It has been honed to the extreme to utilize the dual swords that encompass all of that.

‘I could never win against an extra like Jack…’

Yes, that’s how it should be.

[Now, for the 258th test number. The duel between Theo Calix and Jack Orlante will begin!]

The academy’s sparring allocation test, where 200 people participate each day, totaling 100 teams.

With 600 students entering the academy this year, that makes a total of 300 teams.

I am the 258th among them, and it has been two days since I drew my number.

“And, it’s not like I’ve been idling for those two days.

[By regulation, all items and artifacts are restricted for use, and if it is determined that the duel can no longer continue or a surrender is requested, the duel will be stopped!]

As mentioned, in the novel, it is none other than the prince who kills Jack.

Of course, I have prepared various countermeasures to face the prince, but there is no need to reveal my hand in the duel.

But there’s a high probability that I’ll have to enter A-Class, so the situation isn’t looking great.

“Alright, come on.”

So, the first method I will use is a simple tactic utilizing the prince’s inherent arrogance.

Perhaps sending me to Class A is not enough; there’s even a possibility of sending me to Class E, where students who received the lowest scores face the prince.

“Are you offering to yield?”

His arrogance in always yielding to the opponent, this will be his downfall.

“Wouldn’t it be alright to give the weak a small chance?”

Just thinking about crumpling up that arrogant tone made my heart tremble, and the sound reached my ears even before the duel began.

Before starting the duel, I opened one of the ten lemon candies I received from Lucia and put it in my mouth.

Without any weapons, I simply walked towards him.

There’s no need for a lightning-fast reaction time, nor do I need any deceiving techniques for the eyes.

“Just a moment, excuse me.”

I approached him like that, dropped the candies, and then carefully touched his swords before stepping back.

“What are you doing?”

I thought he would do something when I got close, but the prince was confused when all I did was give his sword a high-five and step back.

But…

“You did something.”

I gave him a chance to attack, but who would be foolish enough to just give a high-five to a sword and step back?

“If you’re too close, you might get hurt. Please hold your sword at an appropriate distance from your body.”

“What?”

Instead of a reply, I raised my right hand to make sure he could see it, and flicked my finger once.

-Kwaaang!

Then, a simultaneous massive explosion erupted from the prince’s side. Well, it went off nicely.

“What… what is this…!”

If there’s [Displacement Sword] in the swordsmanship handed down in the Hwang clan.

Then, in the magic handed down in the Orulante family, there’s [Detonation].”

In simple terms, it is a technique that imbues mana into whatever is within reach, distorting it abnormally and causing it to explode at the desired timing.

“You don’t have a sword, so why do you keep fighting?”

That’s why the dual swords that had just come into my hands exploded without leaving a trace, all according to my signal.

The pride of the royal family, the Yigyeok Sword, now cannot be implemented since there is no sword to contain its power.

“I really wish he would just stop now…”

If the prince continues to resist here, I have no choice but to defeat him.

But if I were to defeat the prince, who is nothing short of the most promising talent, it would attract unnecessary attention.

“Besides, this is the only way to defeat the prince…”

Since I had already experienced it once, it’s obvious that he wouldn’t allow contact again.

Even if I somehow manage to touch the sword and make it explode like this.

In the end, it becomes an unusable technique because he can recreate the sword with light.

So, if you look at it from a strategic point of view, this operation is more like a deception, and it’s a problem if people get the wrong impression that I am the main focus.

“Ha…hahahaha.”

I really hoped the prince would surrender. But the chances of that happening with his arrogance were slim.

Sure enough, the prince, looking at his empty hands where the sword had disappeared, couldn’t help but show a helpless expression and a bitter smile.

As he looked at me, he assumed a posture as if he were ready to fight even with his bare fists.

“I’ve never seen someone like you before, thinking you could win just because I don’t have the Yigyeok Sword…”

And then he started saying something to me.

“I’m sorry.”

What I could say to him was a boring apology, slightly tinged with resentment towards the prince who didn’t give up.

And just like that, as soon as I flicked my hand, all the candies that were beneath the prince exploded simultaneously without leaving a trace.

Although they may appear to be small candies, they were filled with mana, so their explosive power was greater than a sword.

Moreover, since they exploded one after another, totaling ten candies…

“Hnng..”

His defeat is almost certain.

The prince, lying on the ground with his body burned, fainted.

If the prince had initially charged at me with the intention of attacking me properly, he might have won.

But since the prince always takes on various poses like this and doesn’t move an inch until a proper hit is delivered, this strategy was possible.

“…”

It’s quite vile, but oh well. A win is a win.

When I looked over to where the examiners were seated, there was also a considerable sense of surprise.

The Crown Prince’s prowess is at the highest level even among the students, so I naturally thought I would lose.

[Uh… The match is over! The winner is Jack Orlante!]

So it’s no wonder that the announcement came quite late.

Normally, I should leave now that the match is over, but I cautiously approached the location of the Crown Prince.

Then, I took out a white rosary from his unconscious body and hid it in my pocket so that no one else could see it. This is a quite important piece of evidence, so it’s good to keep it for future use.

“Isn’t this stealing?”

I’m just borrowing it for a while; I’ll return it later. Well, anyway, with this performance, Class A’s victory is confirmed.

It was a satisfying win.

***

-Bang!

The sound of desks being slammed on the round table where about ten people were seated resonated.

“Does this even make sense?”

And then came the angry shout emanating from a bespectacled man.

“Assigning the Crown Prince to Class E, what kind of decision is this?”

The bloodshot eyes and the trembling rage were clearly visible.

The hand that slammed the desk had left even a slight dent on the surface, showing how forcefully it was struck.

Breaking the icy atmosphere as if it were about to shatter, a young woman raised her hand to object.

“Student Theo Calyx did not harm his fellow students in the class assignment test and did not make any moves before falling unconscious.”

She took a deep breath and continued.

“Therefore, following the criteria for class assignments, we judged that it is appropriate to place him in Class E.”

“This is absurd!”

The bespectacled man tried to say something again, but-

-Knock, knock!

His words were cut off by the knock on the door from outside.

Without waiting for anyone’s permission, the door opened immediately, as if it was just announcing its arrival.

“Headmaster…!”

Simultaneously, as the people in the room confirmed the person who had entered after opening the door, they all lowered their heads.

“As if it were a matter of course, a dignified voice emanated from the direction of the open door.

In the voice of the headmaster, who could be called the strongest of the current generation, there was a corresponding weight.

“A scorpion has come from the palace.”

Upon hearing these words, a sly grin slowly crept upon the man with glasses.

The headmaster of Cambell Academy had connections with the royal family, so he naturally expected the request to send the crown prince to the lowest class, Class E, to be rejected.

“It is the imperial decree to place the crown prince in Class E.”

“…”

At that moment, all sounds within the space came to a halt, even the faintest rustles.

The decree from the emperor was shocking, not just the words but the fact that there was nothing to gain from it.

‘Ugh…!’

That’s why, from the perspective of the man with glasses who had been trying to secure a place in the so-called ‘crown prince line,’ it was quite discomforting and bewildering.

‘His name was Jack O’Rollant, right…?’

I don’t know what kind of move he made, but I need to keep an eye on him.

That thought strongly crossed his mind.