The Reason I Love Her

—Giin!

Along with a high-pitched metallic sound, blade and blade clashed violently.

Swinging down, sweeping away, swinging up—we exchanged a flurry of strikes so fast that offense and defense became indistinguishable.

I slashed at him with the intention of crushing him for real from the first move, but Joshua showed no sign of fear.

On the contrary, his sword was imbued with a spirit that seemed to say, “Show even a moment’s opening and I will devour you.”

His sword strokes were sharp, heavy, and yet they followed my speed perfectly.

Just as I thought—

No, seems like his skill is even better than I thought, that Joshua.

We entered a grinding deadlock, and I said, “You’re actually pretty good. If you’d come at me with a cowardly sword, I was planning to stomp you flat immediately.”

“I am honored…! But I am not done yet, not by a long shot!”

Kin! Joshua deflected my blade to create distance,

“—<Flame Blade>.”

He activated Fire attribute magic.

The blade of his sword ignited, wrapped in scorching flames.

The blade itself extended by a size, expanding his reach.

Hmm, plotting to increase power and attack range, huh?

Interesting.

Then on this side, “—<Aerial Blade>.”

I activated Wind attribute magic.

My sword was clad in blades of wind, extending its reach.

“Come on, bring it. I’ll play with you.”

“Then—I shall take you up on that offer!”

Joshua slashed in, dancing as the flames trailed like a celestial raiment.

Heeh, stylish.

Because of the fire, Joshua’s body tended to be hidden, making it hard to gauge the distance.

In addition, the flames trailed behind the swift movements of the blade like fins, flickering.

Because of that, it was quite difficult to read where the attack was flying from.

Truly annoying, but—

“—<Aerial Fang>.”

Something like that, I just have to blow it away.

The wind blade changed shape, transforming into a “Fang.”

When I swung my sword to release it, it headed toward Joshua like a great wolf attacking.

“Kuh…!?”

The great wind wolf biting at the burning blade.

—What’s wrong, what’s wrong?

Don’t get flustered by something like this.

Otherwise—I won’t be able to show off my cool side to my beloved wife Letitia!

“—Seyaaa!”

Joshua swung his sword through with brute force, cutting down the great wind wolf.

And with that momentum, he crossed blades with me again.

At the same time, the flames on Joshua’s sword went Bwa! releasing even more fire and heat.

“Baron Odrant… You truly are terrifying. Don’t you have even a little feeling of fear toward swords or fire…!?”

“Fear? The only thing I fear is being separated from Letitia.”

My clothes began to sizzle and scorch from the heat waves emitted by Joshua’s flame sword, exposing my skin to high heat.

Heeh, this guy’s magic power is quite something too.

If magic circles weren’t set up in the dungeon, my skin might have been burned and festering in the blink of an eye.

Well, so what if it is.

“Retreat… at least a little…!”

“Can’t retreat. My wife is watching!”

Scorching heat enough to make blood start boiling.

But I floated a smile on my lips and didn’t avert my eyes from Joshua for even a split second.

Because I’d rather die than have Letitia see me looking uncool.

“Gooood—grief!”

Joshua deflected my sword to create distance.

Simultaneously, he began charging magic power into his left arm.

This is—a big one is coming.

“—<Dragon Blast>!”

A bright red radiant flame beam fired from his left arm.

An S-rank Fire attribute magic that simulated a dragon’s breath.

The heat wave was tremendous; the ground beneath where the radiant flame beam passed melted gloopily like lava.

The surrounding air got damn hot too, like we were in a volcano or something.

As expected of Joshua.

To fire such high-difficulty magic instantly as if breathing.

Then, I have to respond in kind.

“—<Dark Matter Eclipse>.”

To counter, I also charged magic power into my left hand and activated S-rank Darkness attribute magic.

A mass of enormous magic power, highly compressed into a pitch-black sphere and fired.

—The radiant flame beam and the pitch-black sphere collided.

Instantaneously—magic power repelled magic power, and a massive explosion occurred right before our eyes.

A massive explosion that blew away the atmosphere itself and gouged out the ground.

I was almost blown away by the sheer blast wave, unable to move—but it seemed the same was true for him.

The explosion ceased, the dust cleared, and across the crater, Joshua and I glared at each other.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere. Hey, Joshua?”

“…Ah, you’re right.”

“Since it’s a pain already—next. I’ll settle this with the next move.”

“Just what I desired…”

The two of us readied our swords again.

We gauged each other’s timing, but,

“…Baron Odrant, I want to ask one last thing.”

“Aah? What is it?”

“Why are you so devoted to Lady Letitia? Why does a man of your caliber love a single woman that much?”

—He asked something unexpected.

“Originally, you two were forced into a political marriage. Normally, it wouldn’t be strange if you hated each other.”

“…”

“With your ability and talent, raising the prestige of the Baron Odrant house and even becoming a hero of the country wouldn’t be a pipe dream.”

“Ah, maybe that’s possible. Not interested though.”

“That’s the thing. Ignoring your own great success, persisting in being by Letitia Barrow’s side… Why do you try to love her?”

—What is this?

Is he trying to shake my mental state?

Make me upset even a little to find a chance to win?

…No, that’s not it.

It’s written on Joshua’s face.

He just genuinely wants to hear it.

If you want to hear it that much—

“Why… you ask? The answer to that is obvious.”

I’ll answer it clearly, in one word.

“Because I fell for her—that’s all there is to it.”

I gave him that answer without a single hesitation.

Joshua looked surprised for a few seconds, and then, “…………Is that so. Was Lady Letitia that good of a woman?”

“Yeah, Letitia is the best. She’s the world’s number one wife, my pride and joy.”

“…Haha, how frustrating—truly.”

—Once again, Joshua and I kicked off the ground at the exact same timing.

Absolutely no defense.

Just a suicide attack, thinking only of cutting the opponent with a single blow.

A declaration of intent to decide the match while Letitia watched.

Whichever sword reached the body—this would be the curtain call.

” “────!!!” “

—Blade and blade passed each other.

Soundlessly, without flashy light, without scattered fresh blood.

…Zanshin. Awareness.

Neither body moved a twitch.

However, “…Thanks for listening, Joshua. I was able to tell Letitia I love her from the bottom of my heart once again.”

Hyun! I swept the sword and sheathed it.

After the exchange of slashes, the one whose body moved freely was me.

Immediately after, Instructor Paula’s voice conveyed, “Joshua Ryduan-kun, dead!”

▲ ▲ ▲

“Joshua Ryduan-kun, dead!!! Class C, remaining: one person!”

“…………No way… You’re lying…!”

Witnessing Joshua’s defeat, the last survivor of Class C stood there with a look of disbelief.

If I recall, this guy’s name was Martin or something.

Seems he’s Joshua’s right-hand man, but he can’t do anything alone.

What should I do? It’s a hassle, should I just cut him down quickly?

That’s what I thought, but,

“Only you remain.”

Leonil stepped forward first.

“What will you do? If you’re fine with me, I’ll be your opponent.”

There’s no need to trouble Baron Odrant’s hands; I’ll take on the cleanup.

Because I am Baron Odrant’s “Knight”!

—Leonil put his hand on the sword at his waist with a face that seemed to say exactly that.

Well, if he’ll do it, I’ll leave it to him.

With Leonil’s ability, there’s 120% chance he won’t lose.

Seeing Leonil like that, Martin tried to put his hand on the sword at his waist for a moment.

But in the end, he didn’t touch the hilt and showed a relaxed, resigned appearance.

He probably realized the difference in ability.

Martin gave a short, bitter laugh, and,

“…No, I’ll pass.”

“In that case—”

“Yeah… It’s our, Class C’s, loss.”

Without struggling in vain, he admitted defeat.

The next moment,

“Midterm Exam, Oooooverrrr!!! The exam result is a victory for Class F!!!”