The one who spat out those final words.
Damien, the second son of Count Paulet, had been muttering to himself but became flustered when his voice rang out far louder than expected.
Perhaps the surrounding silence made his voice echo even louder.
But the important thing right now wasn't the volume of his voice.
The problem was that he had directed insulting remarks at someone, and everyone had heard it.
'Damn it, my academy life...'
He felt his stomach burn, knowing his image had already taken a hit from the very start.
Insulting a knight?
He didn't really care about that.
It was a demoted knight anyway.
Even if the guy got cursed at, he wouldn't be able to talk back.
Unless he wanted to dare go against the Count's family, absolutely...
"It was you-?"
"......Huh?"
The knight on the platform spoke to him with certainty, and Damien, who reacted a beat late—
"Who are you speaking informally to, you insolent bastard."
The next moment, Damien's vision went pitch black.
Because he saw the lectern flying toward him.
KWAANG!
In an instant, chaos erupted.
* * *
......For a moment, people were speechless for an entirely different reason, simultaneously dumbfounded.
What just flew through the air?
No, more than that—could that massive lectern be thrown like a ball?
People had much to say, but with various emotions they couldn't bring themselves to voice, they looked at the instructor standing on the platform.
"Ah, I meant to throw my glove, but the lectern went flying instead. A mistake."
—......
"I mean it. I was so furious at being insulted that I tried to throw my glove, but this went flying along with it. Hmm, is the lectern made of rather light material?"
He blamed the lectern as if pleading for them to understand his true intentions, and the crowd wore indescribable expressions.
What is that madman?
Just as everyone shared the same thought, Damien still hadn't regained his senses from being hit by the lectern, and the people of House Paulet moved.
"Damien!"
"How dare he! Has anyone seen such an insolent man!"
The people of House Paulet in the VIP seats glared at the instructor as if they wanted to tear him apart right then and there, directing their killing intent toward Ihan.
In that situation, Ihan—
"Bullshit."
He scoffed, and it was only natural that this poured oil on the already blazing fury.
"You bastarrrrrd!"
Saaaah!
A knight of House Paulet drew his sword, and instantly an immense aura erupted from his body.
The surging heat haze looked like the shimmer of blazing flames.
Materialized killing intent.
A martial art displayed by a warrior who had awakened the ultimate mastery of the combat method.
It was undoubtedly a realm a step higher than the sword aura Yord had shown the previous day, a testament to just how outstanding the knight's skill was.
Yet that knight's sword was directed at the mad instructor, and before anyone could intervene, the knight's sword attempted to pierce through its target.
However.
Hwuk!
"Heup?!"
Before the knight's sword could pierce through, a hand axe flew in, piercing his concentration and momentarily staggering the knight's movement.
And the knight should have realized.
He should never have staggered.
Hwaaaak!
"You started this first?"
Paaah!
When did he move?
Like a bird dropping with acceleration, Ihan closed the distance in an instant, burrowed into the knight's embrace, grabbed the back of his neck, and hoisted the knight's body upward.
In that instant, the knight's body floated up like a puppet with its strings cut.
With an intense sensation of weightlessness, the knight had no chance to resist.
Kwajik!
He plunged headfirst from high above, embedding into the ground.
"Keugeuhhhhh!"
A dreadful scream.
An impact that would have snapped the neck if it hadn't been trained.
But trained it was, so it didn't snap; however, the opponent was already on the verge of fainting from the shock of being driven down from the sky, his entire body paralyzed.
Nevertheless.
Huuung!
He, Ihan, did not stop.
Still gripping the back of the knight's neck without letting go, he lifted him up again and slammed him down once more.
"Keugh!"
With his neck seized, the knight manifested his will to survive and swung his sword in a reverse grip as if resisting.
It was undoubtedly a manifestation of his will to not die quietly even if death came.
However.
Tuk.
"...How can this be."
"It's because I didn't train my body to be weak."
The knight tried to stab his abdomen but couldn't pierce through.
Naturally so.
The knight couldn't know how tough and hard his muscles and bones were.
The skin might scrape a little, but his flesh wouldn't be pierced.
Why else would his body be intact after fighting an Aura user for three years?
Therefore.
"Quite admirable."
Huuuuung!
Ihan praised the bastard's will and slammed him down this time for real.
Kwang!
Once, twice, three times...
A total of five times, he slammed the knight down, gripping the back of his neck and crushing him against the wall and floor multiple times.
As if testing whether the opponent would break first or he would tire first.
An ordinary person would have tired, but Ihan showed no fatigue at all.
Instead, as if releasing all the stress accumulated until now, he raged, and this time with a truly lethal intent different from before, he radiated a different aura and launched his body into the air.
The flow was extraordinary.
No matter how hard the knight's trained body was, there was no way he could endure this time.
His body, which even a sharpened sword couldn't pierce, his entire muscular strength though like iron—he was confident he could bend it.
Like this—!
"Stop-!!!"
KWAANG!!
* * *
"Keuhak..."
Thud...!
...Thankfully, the knight did not die.
Because there was a knight who blocked Ihan's final plunge with his entire body.
However, blocking it didn't mean he was unharmed.
"...Thank you for stopping."
"You'll need to explain. You'll have to take responsibility for interfering with a knight's 'duel.'"
"......You're right."
The middle-aged man nodded slowly.
Whether it was a mistake or not, the ones who first touched the knight's honor were House Paulet.
And the one who drew his sword was also a knight of House Paulet.
At this moment, the duel was as good as established.
A duel that would only end when someone's head fell.
That was how knights' duels were.
The victor would take the loser's life.
This was the iron rule that knights had implicitly observed for a long time.
Even though Ihan was called a fake knight, perhaps he channeled a real knight at this moment, rationalizing everything under the pretext of honor.
It might seem unreasonable, but the amusing thing was that this worked.
And all of this was possible thanks to the overwhelming martial prowess Ihan was displaying now.
If he hadn't been strong, this scene would never have been established.
"...I am Roden, the head of House Paulet."
"Ihan. A demoted knight."
"......First, let me offer my apologies. For my foolish son insulting you, and by extension, the White Silver Lion."
"You should have said that before this bastard came at me, right?"
The knight still dangling from Ihan's grip.
His eyes had rolled back, and it wouldn't be strange if his breath stopped at any moment.
Count Roden looked at him with pity and spoke.
"I know. I should have stopped it."
"No, not 'should have stopped it,' but 'should have stopped it earlier.' If I had been pierced by this guy's sword, you wouldn't have stepped in. You intervened because this guy was about to die."
Grind.
An ominous sound rang out.
It came from the knight's neck, and even if he recovered, he would need to rest for quite a while.
But as long as he was alive, there was hope.
"He's our vice-commander. He's also my disciple. His temperament is rough, but he's a talent too precious to be crushed here. I ask you, please—I will take all the blame and offer my neck, but I beg for your leniency."
Thud.
Roden set down his sword and knelt.
The Count was offering his own neck to save a young life.
It was a noble sight, and the cadets and VIPs who had been bewildered and pale from the sudden duel were moved by the Count's nobility.
If they were knights and nobles who valued honor and nobility above all else, they might have praised him and forgiven all wrongs at this sight...
"—No."
—......
To Ihan, things like honor and nobility held no value whatsoever.
This time, people truly lost their words.
* * *
"...Isn't that guy completely insane?"
"No, seriously..."
"Is that a human or an ogre?"
"Ugh..."
Overall, their expressions were full of being thoroughly appalled.
But within that appalled look also lingered resentment toward his vicious behavior of not showing any mercy despite the Count displaying such nobility.
Most felt that way.
...However, most feeling that way meant...
"...Impressive."
There were a few who didn't.
"My lord?"
"That knight is excellent. Those who could become future threats must be thoroughly crushed—it's the law."
"...?"
"He's also experienced in real combat. Did you see, Jack? That knight completely stole his opponent's rhythm right from the first axe throw. That's not something you can do just by knowing it. It takes the proficiency forged through countless battles and training. That knight has a good head on his shoulders."
"I-is it to that extent? He just seems like he has raw strength."
"You don't understand. Those who can see, know. In a duel between swordsmen who have reached a certain level, psychological warfare becomes even more important—how you steal the opponent's timing. Excellent."
"......Huh."
Jack was surprised.
Not because he heard about the knight's skill, but because his young lord had never praised an opponent like this before.
That was only natural—his lord was someone who made others marvel, not someone who marveled at others.
"I've found a treasure already, Jack."
His lord. Roen Dmitri de Lionell's eyes sparkled as if he had found a jewel.
Not only that...
[Wow...]
"Irene?"
[Totally my type...!]
"Huh?"
[Hehe!]
"???"
The ghost woman with somewhat unusual tastes, who preferred beast-like men over pretty ones, drooled.
—Ihan still didn't know that he had unintentionally drawn the attention of his surveillance target on the very first day.