Hwaryeong glared at Jin Prah, who had easily blocked her decisive strike with his hand.
“...”
Silence.
Silence passed between Hwaryeong and Jin Prah.
Hwaryeong looked at him, her distinctive golden irises narrowing into slits, while Jin Prah’s black eyes, which had been roiling violently until moments ago, were as undisturbed as a tranquil lake, as if all that had been an act.
Slide.
Hwaryeong glared at him a little longer, then slowly lowered the leg that had been freed from his grip.
Then she took her stance and asked,
“...Who are you?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
At Hwaryeong’s sudden words, the students watching them murmured in confusion.
What was she talking about? Or was she throwing a tantrum because her attack had been blocked? Such whispers spread among the students around them.
But despite those murmurs, Hwaryeong hardened her expression and studied Jin Prah, who stood before her with a sword in hand.
He was different.
He had become someone entirely different from the Jin Prah of a moment ago.
If she had to say what exactly was different—
His breathing was different.
Unlike before, when he had been tense and unused to combat, his breathing was calm and followed a steady rhythm.
It was the breathing method of someone accustomed to using his body explosively.
The way he used his gaze was different.
It was not the gaze of a greenhorn who honestly looked at where he intended to attack, but a gaze that deliberately kept his field of vision broad so as not to leak any hints of his movements.
His presence was different.
Before, like a young bird just beginning to fly through the sky, there had been slight hesitation in the middle of his attacks and traces of sympathy for his opponent. But in the presence of the one now holding the sword, not a shred of such soft emotion remained.
It was merely the emotionless gaze of one who had cut down hundreds, thousands, without feeling, like a butcher who slaughtered people.
“Hoooo.”
Flinch!
When Jin Prah let out a sigh, embarrassingly, Hwaryeong’s tail shot straight up before sinking back down.
She had clearly thought he had shown an opening and expected an attack to come, but instead of attacking, he sighed; Hwaryeong’s body twitched at the reaction she had not anticipated.
“This feels strange.”
“...What does?”
“The feeling that I am not myself. Am I Jin Prah right now? Or am I the head of House Prah?”
The head of House Prah?
Was that not Jin Prah’s father?
Was Jin Prah now saying he was confusing himself with his own father?
What in the world...
“Well, it hardly matters. I have something I must do now.”
“...And what is that?”
At Hwaryeong’s question, he gave a faint laugh and answered.
That smile resembled a father’s smile as he prepared to teach his young son one of his techniques.
In other words, it was not a smile a fifteen-year-old boy should be making.
“I must show my son that training is not meaningless.”
Shing.
Muttering words that made no sense, Jin Prah assumed an opening stance with the white sword in his hand.
“...”
He was different.
It was a simple act of holding a sword and spreading his legs, but to Hwaryeong, who stood against him, he looked like an immense mountain that could not be overcome.
There were no openings.
Unlike Jin Prah at the start of the fight, who had been full of openings, the man before her now showed no gap whatsoever for Hwaryeong to exploit.
“Ah, come to think of it, we were in the middle of a spar, weren’t we?”
“...Yes.”
Hwaryeong nodded as she assumed the opening stance she had learned from her family.
In her heart, she already knew full well that her attacks would not work on the man he was now, but as he had said, they were in the middle of a spar.
If she, Hwaryeong, won, Jin Prah would speak about the secret he was hiding, or perhaps his trauma.
If Jin Prah won, he would not have to tell her about it.
The spar itself had begun from coercion that was close to Hwaryeong’s own stubborn insistence, but Hwaryeong took it seriously.
If she truly lost, she would not let a word of it pass her lips.
So she had to win this match.
Because just as Isil was Hwaryeong’s friend, Jin Prah, who had transformed into some unknown being over there, was also her dear friend.
How could she simply overlook a hardship her friend was suffering?
It would certainly hurt like having one’s heart carved out with a knife when he first spoke of it, but if he only kept it buried inside, one day it would rot.
Hwaryeong knew such a person very well.
Someone who had suffered alone in silence until even their soul had rotted away.
Because she knew such a person well, she did not want the first friend she had made after coming to the Empire to rot away like that.
Did he know how much anguish was left to those around someone when that person ended their life because of trauma?
Hwaryeong never wanted to experience that anguish again.
“Judging by your spirit, you are taking this spar seriously. You... what was your name?”
“It is Hwaryeong.”
“Ah, yes. It was Hwaryeong. In any case, Hwaryeong. Why did you ask my son to spar?”
“To learn the secret behind Jin Prah’s attitude. He always looked at the world as if nothing mattered. I merely wish to know why he looks at the world that way.”
“...What, this isn’t a spar with the interests of House Prah or something of the sort on the line?”
“No.”
“...I like that.”
Grin.
The stranger wearing Jin Prah’s form smiled brightly and looked at her as if he found her admirable.
“To challenge him to a spar out of such pure goodwill for my son’s sake... You are better than the knights of our house, aren’t you? They challenge others to spars or duels to raise their own power or honor, but they do not challenge someone out of concern for a friend as you do.”
“I don’t care for that tone of looking down from above, but I will accept the compliment with gratitude.”
“Ah, my apologies. I am old enough to have eaten my fill of years, you see. I unconsciously showed such an attitude toward someone younger than myself. I apologize.”
Bow.
At the sight of him genuinely lowering his head and offering an apology, Hwaryeong was, for a moment, at a loss for words.
She had only retorted to avoid losing momentum, and had not expected him to truly apologize.
“...Fine. We must settle this before any more time passes, so I will accept your apology.”
“What a refreshingly pleasing answer. If I had heard it in my youth, I would have fallen for you.”
“What.”
At Jin Prah’s sly reply, Hwaryeong’s entire body stiffened in an instant, and her head turned with a creak.
What had she just heard?
“Mm? Ah, did I speak too improperly?”
“...You would have fallen for me?”
“Yes. When there is a wonderful woman like you, men are bound to fall helplessly in love. Your appearance is beautiful as well.”
Whoosh.
For some reason, Hwaryeong felt her face turn bright red at his answer.
Why?
In Hwaryeong’s life, the number of people who had told her she was beautiful or that they had fallen for her—if one exaggerated only slightly—would be enough to circle the training ground beneath the Academia main building twice over.
When so many people had praised her appearance or expressed their desire to discuss marriage, Hwaryeong had felt nothing at all.
And yet why?
Why was she so shaken by the words spoken by this stranger wearing Jin Prah’s skin?
Was it simply because he, someone who knew little of the Hwa Family, had spoken sincerely?
Or—
Piiiiiip!!
“You there, stop for a moment!!”
Between the flustered Hwaryeong and Jin Prah, who was watching her with a smile, a group of people blowing whistles stepped in.
Step!
“You two over there! For mere freshmen, you’ve got some nerve, don’t you? Fighting in the middle of a path people use, right from the start of the semester!”
A somewhat bulky male student stepped out from the group and looked back and forth between Hwaryeong and Jin Prah with a scowl.
He was a male student who was always hurt by people saying his face looked frightening, but when it came to creating an intimidating atmosphere like now, his face worked to his advantage.
At least it was a comfort that after entering the Interrogation Department, he had found a way to make use of his appearance.
However, he had now met someone on whom that appearance did not work.
“...And who are you?”
“‘You,’ my ass! I’m a second-year in the Interrogation Department of the Faculty of Law! Your senior!”
“...”
At the male student’s shout, Jin Prah tilted his head and made an insolent expression that seemed to say, So what?
Crack!
Just as a roar was about to burst from the male student’s mouth at that outrageous reaction—
“You two.”
Among the group that had stepped between Hwaryeong and Jin Prah, the student who served as their leader and center.
Sereun pushed up her glasses and quietly walked forward.
“I heard the Combat Faculty students who saw you earlier saying that you attacked each other with the intent to kill. Is that true?”
Her words were gentle, but her expression was as cold as ice.
Confirming that she was furious, the male student quietly swallowed the shout that had been about to erupt and slipped back into the group without another word.
“It is true that killing techniques were used during the spar.”
Hwaryeong, who had been lost in thought, came to her senses and nodded at Sereun’s question.
“But why is that a problem? Is it not something that commonly occurs among those who cultivate martial arts?”
“...You think attacking with the intent to kill is something common?”
Sereun looked at Hwaryeong with an expression that asked if she truly believed that, but contrary to her hopes, Hwaryeong nodded as if it were only natural.
“Of course. When sparring, one can gauge the other person’s ability, can one not? So if I acknowledge that an opponent can block an attack imbued with killing intent, I attack that way.”
“And if the opponent dies?”
“Well, that rarely happens, but if it did.”
Hwaryeong looked briefly at Sereun and the students of the Faculty of Law’s Interrogation Department, then answered shortly.
“That would be unfortunate.”
“...”
At Hwaryeong’s brief answer, the surrounding air instantly turned cold.