Chapter 7
Scoundrel.
Lunatic.
Crazy bastard.
Olivia decided those were the names she would use for Aiden.
Because there was clearly something wrong with him.
“Teach me a few more swear words.”
“What are you planning to use them for?”
“I’ve got… a very important reason.”
Olivia muttered darkly.
Dark circles hung beneath her eyes, her cheeks seemed noticeably thinner, her hair was a mess, and her clothes were stained with dirt.
Looking exactly like someone who had just spent hours being thrown around a training ground, Olivia staggered another step forward.
“Come on. Teach me some curses.”
Panya burst into laughter, finding the whole thing amusing.
Assigned to a different training group, Panya had no idea what kind of hell Olivia was trapped in.
Bennett, who was in Olivia’s squad, had already collapsed hours earlier and been carried off to the infirmary unconscious.
Why?
Because their training instructor had completely lost his mind.
Olivia clenched her fists and forced strength into her trembling legs.
If she didn’t, she felt like she’d collapse on the spot.
“…Anyway, hurry and teach me something. I feel like I’ll explode if I don’t.”
“Just stick adjectives in front of words. Stuff like ‘damn’ or ‘crazy.’”
“Damn scoundrel. Crazy psycho bastard.”
“…Coming from you, it somehow doesn’t even sound like swearing.”
“I’m just not used to it yet. Give me some time. By the end of this training, I’ll be saying them naturally.”
Persistent effort.
That was the one thing Olivia excelled at most.
Her determination blazed.
At this point, her greatest wish in life was simply to curse Aiden out to his face.
“So your instructor’s really insane, huh?”
“He is. A complete psychopath.”
“If even you’re saying that, then he must be far worse than normal.”
Unable to hold herself up any longer, Olivia unceremoniously collapsed beside Panya.
“He trains us like he’s trying to kill us. It’s only the third day, but it feels like three years.”
Three days had passed since training began.
On the very first day, Aiden had greeted them with, “Welcome to hell.”
Then he’d immediately set about showing them exactly what hell looked like.
So this is Veritas Academy’s infamous field training.
This is why students who survive every class still end up dropping out because of this one program.
Olivia had wholeheartedly sympathized with those students.
Until—
“What? No, our group’s training hasn’t been anywhere near that bad.”
“…What?”
“The other groups are probably the same.”
“…Then what are the other groups doing?”
“Evaluating everyone’s individual strengths? The training’s usually tailored to each person’s abilities.”
…
That wasn’t what was happening to her at all.
The realization left her completely deflated.
On the first day, while Olivia staggered half-conscious toward the dormitories…
Aiden stopped her.
“The training gets much harder from here.”
“…Harder than this?”
“The knights of the Lux Knight Order carry out missions under conditions far harsher than these.”
“It’s only natural.”
As he spoke…
His blue eyes silently asked a question.
Can you really do it?
Are you looking down on me?
At that moment…
Olivia stopped seeing him as Aiden—the boy she’d loved faithfully for over ten years.
All she saw was Sir Aiden Oblivion, the insane training instructor.
At this rate…
She might actually fall out of love with him.
…Was that his plan all along?
If so…
Then it was working.
Very soon, she might truly stop loving him.
If Aiden appeared in front of her right now…
Olivia was confident she could rip every last strand of blond hair from his head.
“His name’s Sir Aiden Oblivion, right?”
“The one wearing the ring?”
“…Yeah.”
“It looked like an engagement ring.”
“I wonder who his fiancée is.”
“Most knights don’t wear rings while on duty.”
“That’s unusual.”
“He must love his fiancée a lot.”
Panya was right.
Three days had already passed.
The magical restriction on the engagement ring had expired.
Aiden could remove it now.
Yet…
He still wore it.
Olivia couldn’t understand why.
But one thing was certain.
“Love?”
“Hm?”
“No, Panya.”
“He doesn’t know what love is.”
He loves his fiancée?
He feels even the slightest affection?
Ridiculous.
Olivia was convinced now.
Just as Aiden himself had claimed…
He truly had no understanding whatsoever of what “love” meant.
How else could he watch his own fiancée rolling across bare ground without feeling the slightest bit of sympathy?
Driving her until she could barely breathe.
Her tightly clenched fists trembled.
“He’s trying to make me quit.”
“…Where did that come from?”
“You think that’ll work?”
Fine.
Let’s see who wins.
Olivia’s stubbornness flared to life.
How many times had Aiden tormented her under the excuse of “training”?
“You’re the top student, aren’t you?”
“Then let’s add one more thing.”
While Olivia was doing push-ups…
He casually stacked sandbags the size of sacks of grain on top of her back.
“Ten thousand downward strikes.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Ten thousand?”
“Oh?”
“Talking back?”
Then, with a gleam in his eyes as though he’d been waiting for the opportunity…
He’d fasten two heavy iron bracelets around each of her wrists.
Thinking about it now…
Those had truly been miserable days.
Even so—
“I’ll never quit.”
She would overcome every obstacle.
She would join the Lux Knight Order.
No matter what happened…
She would wave her official acceptance certificate right in front of Aiden’s face before hanging her nameplate inside the Order’s headquarters.
Her determination burned brighter than ever.
“I won’t lose.”
“Sure.”
“You can have all the victories.”
“I’ll win.”
“Mm-hmm. Whatever you say.”
Filled with renewed determination, Olivia jumped to her feet.
Or at least…
She tried to.
It was pure bravado.
After such a short rest, all the strength had drained from her legs.
They refused to obey her will.
Panya quickly caught her as she collapsed, sat her upright, let Olivia lean against her shoulder, and gently patted her back.
“Oh dear…”
“Are you okay?”
“Want to borrow one of my low-grade healing potions?”
“I’m not letting him get away with this.”
“Right.”
“Seems like you’re still alive.”
“Let’s rest a little longer.”
Leaning against Panya…
Olivia silently vowed revenge.
It was only the third day of training.
* * *
She had promised herself she’d endure anything Aiden threw at her.
She really had.
…
Olivia stared miserably at the scene before her.
A group of mages stood waiting in front of an impossibly tall cliff.
Just what were they planning?
“All right.”
“Through the past few days of training…”
“I’ve assessed your basic physical abilities.”
Silence.
“They’re garbage.”
Not long ago, Professor Saturn had stopped Olivia in one of the academy hallways.
Handing her a stamina recovery potion, he had said:
“Aiden completed this sort of training himself when he was a student.”
“His methods aren’t meaningless.”
“If you endure them, you’ll grow in ways that will surprise even you.”
He had obviously been trying to comfort her.
But…
Will I really live long enough to grow?
What if I die first…?
At the moment…
His words offered no comfort whatsoever.
Aiden still wore their engagement ring on the ring finger of his left hand.
At this point…
She was convinced he wasn’t wearing it out of love.
He was wearing it purely to provoke her.
His gaze landed on Olivia.
Then moved away.
It lingered on her for about three seconds longer than it did on everyone else.
That certainly counted as special treatment.
Though perhaps not in the way anyone would want.
Still…
Thinking of it that way is strangely exciting.
Fine.
She would enjoy it.
Because Aiden wasn’t going to change.
He was impossibly stubborn.
He would keep rolling her around like this until either she quit…
Or he was finally satisfied.
Worst of all…
In his own mind…
He genuinely believed he was doing it for her sake.
Not that it helped much.
So Olivia decided to enjoy the situation.
She erased the exhausted faces of her classmates from her mind.
She erased the towering cliff before her.
Then only two people remained.
Herself…
And Aiden.
Their eyes met again.
He wanted her to leave this place.
Not happening.
If she’d been the sort of person to give up that easily…
She never would’ve made the crazy decision to transfer into the Knight Department in the first place.
I’ll overcome this.
Until now…
Olivia had endured every brutal training session thrown at her.
Persevering.
Working harder than anyone else.
Those were the things she did best.
I’ll never quit.
She deliberately smiled brightly at him.
Aiden flinched.
Then quickly looked away.
His entire body stiffened as he raised his voice to address the students.
“S-So!”
“From this point on…”
“You’ll climb that cliff!”
“…What?”
“Not a single exception.”
“And if I catch anyone using mana to strengthen their muscles…”
“I’ll double your training time.”
Psycho bastard.
Muttering the insult—which was finally starting to roll naturally off her tongue—Olivia glared at him before taking a deep breath.
You decided to enjoy this, Olivia.
“Training…”
“Begins now.”
A student cautiously raised a hand.
“Sir…”
“What if we fall?”
“Fall?”
Aiden slowly turned toward the student.
After a brief silence…
One corner of his mouth lifted into a smile.
“What are you worried about?”
“The mages will catch you.”
“And then…”
“You’ll simply climb back up.”
He pointed toward the summit of the impossibly high cliff.
“All the way to the top.”
Even the devil would lose to this man…
Closing her eyes tightly…
Olivia placed both hands against the cliff face.
