Karl never expected Frey to grow strong enough to pressure Lucy within the limited time remaining before the final exams.
‘Lady Kent possesses a talent that will surely leave her mark on history. Sooner or later, she’ll easily surpass someone like me. But Lady Alrn is no different.’
Frey was a genius.
Even though her father had only taught her the basics of swordsmanship, she supplemented everything else with her natural talent, becoming the most promising young swordswoman on the continent.
However, her rival was no different.
Lucy Alrn was also a genius.
In a little over a year of relentless training, Lucy had already surpassed Frey with her overwhelming talent.
She wasn’t lazy, either. Out of everyone Frey knew, Lucy was the most dedicated to her training.
With overwhelming talent and incredible mental fortitude, Lucy had it all. Even possessing just one of these would make someone a genius, but Lucy, ever the greedy one, held onto both.
So, no matter how hard Frey worked over the next month, it would be difficult to close the gap between them. It would be lucky if she could even maintain the current distance.
‘But victories in battle aren’t determined by talent and skill alone.’
Karl suggested a different approach.
If straightforward methods didn’t work, then they needed to use a different strategy.
‘Though Lady Alrn has softened quite a bit compared to before, she hasn’t entirely lost her former personality.’
‘What are you getting at?’ Frey asked.
‘Lady Alrn is surprisingly naive.’
‘Naive?’
‘Yes. She’s naive enough to play along, even after learning about our plan.’
Frey tilted her head at the thought of Lucy being described as “naive,” a word that seemed worlds away from the fierce tank. But Karl chose to explain through his plan instead of elaborating further.
Lucy was used to provoking others, but she wasn’t as accustomed to being provoked herself.
So, if Frey stood in front of Lucy and insulted her, Lucy would take the bait.
And sure enough, Frey realized Karl’s theory was correct when she provoked Lucy as instructed.
Anyone watching could see it—the look on Lucy’s face after being provoked was far from pleasant.
Coward?
Weakling?
Pfft.
Did I just hear someone say that to me?
Hearing Frey’s flat-toned provocations, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter internally.
To think I’d be hearing someone call me a coward!
Of course, this wasn’t Frey’s doing—it had to be Karl’s plan. They were trying to shake me up and get me to lower my guard, hoping I’d rush in recklessly.
They knew that hiding behind my shield and dragging the fight into a war of attrition wouldn’t work in their favor. They needed a variable, and they thought this was it.
But honestly, wasn’t it a bit too obvious?
If you’re going to use a strategy like that, you’ve got to hide your intentions and subtly chip away at my emotions.
But the way Frey, with her blank expression, kept saying “coward” like it was no big deal made it hard for me to even pretend not to notice.
I glanced at Karl, who was serving as an assistant instructor, and he was pressing his forehead, sighing.
Oh, so you didn’t expect Frey to provoke me like that either?
Haha. You should’ve rehearsed this, you idiots.
‘What will you do?’
“Hmmm...”
Honestly, if I ignored her provocations and simply pushed my shield forward, I’d easily overpower Frey.
Frey may have improved a lot over the past month, but not enough to break through my shield.
Sooner or later, she’d fall into my provocations and make a mistake, and that would be the end of it.
But, to be honest, my pride was taking a hit.
I mean, I could beat Frey without my shield, but she’s calling me a coward, hiding behind it.
She’s just a weak sword-user who only has talent going for her.
‘Should I play along?’
Given the gap between Frey and me, relaxing a little wouldn’t cost me the fight.
Maybe it’s time to teach her a lesson about her place...
‘Girl, are you letting that blessing take over you?’
“...Hah?!”
Hearing the old man’s voice snapped me back to my senses.
Wait. Why the hell was I about to fall for their plan?!
Frey may be weaker than me now, but she’s not an opponent I can afford to underestimate!
She’s got enough potential to overturn the gap between us if I’m not careful!
Wow. So, this Mesugaki skill also has this kind of mental effect on me?!
I’ve always been the one provoking others, so I had no idea how this feels when it’s directed at me!
Sigh. The more I learn about this skill, the more flaws I find. Couldn’t it come with more benefits rather than just adding more weaknesses?!
And hey! The blessing from that dumb fox! Aren’t you supposed to help me with mental resistance?!
After all I went through to get you, enduring that humiliation and even wearing that bunny suit, why aren’t you doing your job now?!
Is this because the Mesugaki skill’s debuffs are just too strong for the blessing to handle?!
No way!
Even though the blessing is a piece of junk from that dumb fox, it’s still supposed to be powerful. It blocked most mind-control effects in the game, but now it can’t handle this?
This Mesugaki skill is such garbage!
Whoever made this skill—do they even have a brain?
Think about balance! You can’t just throw ridiculous skills like this into a game people pay for...
Oh, right. It’s a mod. Mods are often unbalanced.
But still, why is the bad side of this skill as broken as the good side?
‘Stop overthinking it. You’ve got an opponent in front of you.’
“You’re right.”
Thinking too much about this is an insult to Frey.
Anyway, this isn’t something I can solve by worrying about it. I’ll just push it out of my mind for now.
Maybe I’ll pick up a few more mental resistance skills later to deal with this.
...Yeah, that should work, right?
“Coward. Too scared to come at me?”
I could feel the heat rising in my head as the new debuff from the Mesugaki skill kicked in.
Yikes. This is definitely going to be a problem later.
At least I realized it now. If I had run into this issue during a real fight... Ugh. The thought alone is terrifying.
I should probably thank Frey for this.
“Well, you’re not coming any closer either. Too scared to take a hit, huh?♡ Who’s the coward now?♡”
“Yep. I’m a coward. You are too.”
Out of gratitude, I’ll play along with Frey for now.
Even if I’m willingly walking into a disadvantageous position, it’s only fair to reward her for helping me realize this flaw.
And just to be clear—I’m not doing this because I’m mad or anything, okay?
I’m totally calm right now.
I just feel like putting a bump on Frey’s head, that’s all.
After taking a deep breath, I tightened my grip on my mace.
‘You’re going?’
“Yep.”
‘Alright then. Do as you wish. It’s about time you learned some new techniques.’
Alright. Let’s go.
I stopped breathing and stepped forward.
In an instant, the distance between Frey and me closed.
Instead of retreating, Frey swung her sword as I charged.
Since I had put a move into my step, her sword’s trajectory was free of any checks.
The path of her sword was so clean and sharp that it almost looked beautiful.
I shoved my shield into the path of her sword.
This was brute force.
She’d swung with perfection, but I blocked it with a clumsy shield movement from an unstable stance.
But using overwhelming strength, my shield turned that brute force into the right answer.
Her sword clashed against my shield.
The one pushed back was her sword.
Clang!
Past the sharp sound, I could see Frey biting her lip.
Haha! Who told you to provoke me, you idiot?
With her sword knocked back, a small opening appeared.
I swung my mace toward Frey’s head.
But Frey wasn’t easy to deal with.
Despite the sudden attack, she picked the best option available.
She twisted her body to dodge the mace,
Recalled her sword,
And aimed it at my wrist, which was exposed after swinging the mace.
Sharp.
If I reacted poorly, she could easily sever my wrist.
Frey’s flawless technique deserved a blunt response.
I simply rammed her with my shoulder, knocking her off balance.
Focused on her sword swing, Frey couldn’t react to my charge in time and tumbled to the ground.
“Pathetic swordswoman♡ Weakling with nothing but a big mouth♡ Aren’t you embarrassed?♡”
“Not at all.”
Even though it must’ve hurt, Frey showed no sign of pain as she stood up and resumed her stance.
“You’re done after just this? What a weakling.”
“Oh?♡ Are you so desperate to get beaten up?♡ You’re not just a weakling, you’re also a disgusting masochist♡ How gross♡”
“...Tch.”
Pfft. Why would you even try to argue with a Mesugaki?
As long as I’ve got this skill, I’m invincible in a verbal fight.
“Come at me, weakling.”
“Just wait♡ I’ll make you beg for mercy♡”
Alright. Let’s go put a bump on Frey’s head.
The provocation had worked, and I’d drawn out her attack as planned.
I had successfully created a battlefield to my advantage.
But that didn’t mean the gap between me and Lucy had disappeared.
Dodging the mace aimed at her head, Frey gritted her teeth as my shield slammed into her stomach.
“Still not giving up?♡ You really must be a masochist♡”
Lucy was strong.
Even though she’d stepped into my battlefield, abandoning her own fighting style, she remained powerful.
Her overwhelming physical abilities.
Her skill in using the shield for both offense and defense.
Her impeccable combat logic—far beyond what anyone her age should possess.
She was lacking in nothing.
And because of that, I only wanted to swing my sword more.
Every time I swung my sword, trying to break through Lucy’s shield, there was so much anger burning inside me.
That shield was so irritating, so annoying.
I kept swinging at it in blind rage, only to fall into Lucy’s trap.
But now, it’s different.
Even though there’s still anger inside me, there’s something else mixed in with it.
As I fight Lucy in close combat, I can’t help but smile.
What... what is this?
I’m not sure.
But I don’t think it’s a bad feeling.
Taking a step back to avoid Lucy’s shield, Frey smiled.
In her world, only two people existed—her and Lucy.
Perhaps because of that, her sword grew faster and faster.
Following its movements, a faint blue light traced the path of her sword.
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.