After exchanging appropriate greetings with Seraphine and Luke upon entering the student council room, I sat at the administrative desk Luke guided to, waiting for the other student council mbers to arrive.
I already had an idea about so of the mbers from what Seraphine had told , and I was roughly aware of the student council composition from the original story.
As I sat at my desk in the student council room, making small talk with the other mbers, familiar faces began to appear one by one.
"Long ti no see, Lilith."
"...It's been a while, Lady Auguste."
"Did you have a good sumr vacation? I spent mine leisurely at an estate owned by the Auguste rchant Company."
"That sounds wonderful. I'm glad you had a good ti."
"...If it's alright, perhaps next sumr we could..."
"I would prefer if you didn't cling to my maid too much, Lady Lizzy Lynn Auguste."
"...My apologies."
A noble lady boasting about her sumr vacation story quickly averted her gaze and retreated at Ethan's appearance.
"Is everyone here~? Hm? This young lady here seems unfamiliar~."
"Nice to et you, Senior Orion. I am Lilith Blackwood Rosewood, a first-year in the Magic Departnt."
"Oh, so you're that girl~? I've heard a lot about you~."
"Really? What have you heard...?"
"Oh, just this and that~? You're already quite famous among the first-years in the Magic Departnt~. I think you and Agnes are the most well-known, right~?"
"...Senior Orion, please don't get too close to my maid..."
"Oh my, Ethan~! Long ti no see~! The last ti we t was at the royal palace, wasn't it? You've grown a bit taller and look a bit more manly~."
"...Pardon?"
"Please step away from Young Master Ethan, Senior Orion!"
Just like in the ga, Senior Orion from the Magic Departnt was a mysterious and seemingly dangerous figure.
...And on top of that, there was another character I only knew by na and who had no significant presence.
"Nice to et you. I'm Gwen Ivelt, a second-year in the Engineering Departnt."
"Ah, yes. I'm Lilith Blackwood Rosewood, a first-year in the Magic Departnt."
"Noted. I'll rember that."
"...Thank you."
Because of his faint presence, he was in so ways even more enigmatic than Orion.
This was my first eting with Gwen Ivelt, a rival character in Luke's route.
Gwen Ivelt
Honestly, I barely rembered anything about him besides his na and appearance.
One might wonder how I could forget a rival character after spending thousands of hours on Luminor Academy, but he was really that forgettable.
He was quiet, had no significant connections with major characters, and thus had no impact on the story, practically making him an NPC.
With short brown hair, standing about 180 cm tall, and having a stoic personality, he looked like a character the developers might have thrown together out of boredom.
He had no morable traits and no main storyline. Even characters like Old Ethan or Caraham had main storylines.
Despite being a rival character, he didn't act like one. If the protagonist started to build a bond with Luke, he would naturally fade into the background.
So why call such an extra a rival character?
Because if you didn't show any interest in Luke, the ending would simply state that Luke married him.
So he was treated as a rival just for ending up with Luke in the conclusion.
The Student Council eting
Two weeks had passed since we began following the order set by Seraphine in the student council.
It was the season after the midterm exams of the second sester, offering a slight breather.
Nothing particularly special had happened during those two weeks. After all, why would any special events occur for Ethan and Lilith, who weren't the main characters?
The most notable event during that ti was probably losing another duel to Harold during his class.
Although I lasted a bit longer compared to the second duel, I still couldn't create as intense a battle as the first duel.
I might have had my first and last chance during the first duel.
The more I dueled with Harold, the more he would get used to fighting . So I should have sohow landed a strike during the first duel when he had no information about .
I hoped I wouldn't go the entire sester without winning once.
Although not winning against a fencing instructor wouldn't result in a failing grade for a Magic Departnt student, it felt personally unsettling not to score even once against Harold.
...Maybe it was because of the dreams I started having frequently after my third defeat to Harold.
Nightmare
"Incompetent, Lilith. Even if you wield a dagger, how can you go an entire sester without landing a single proper attack?"
"I'm sorry, Master. It's my lack of skill..."
"I can no longer keep such an incompetent maid by Ethan's side. From next year, you will no longer be his personal maid and will leave the Blackwood estate."
"No, Master! Please give one more chance...!"
Waking up several tis from such unsettling dreams, it was hard not to focus on them.
Although I knew Harold wasn't the type to dismiss a personal maid for such reasons, the contents of my recent dreams were troubling.
Regardless of the dream's content, I needed to score at least one win against Harold before the sester ended to leave a good impression.
Blocking all my attacks with just one sword while I used three daggers and various spells was increasingly annoying.
No matter how skilled a Sword Master he was, I still wanted to win at least once. Even more so because he fought with both his physical and magical abilities sealed.
Ethan's Duel with Harold
While watching Ethan and Harold's duel from the audience, Ethan, who was close to reaching Sword Expert, was fighting in a completely different style compared to my duels with Harold.
-Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Huff, huff... haah..."
"..."
Ethan, swinging his dual swords with a fierce intensity as if to devour his opponent, and Harold, seriously blocking his strikes.
Since the Kraken battle, Ethan had undergone significant changes.
Ethan's swordsmanship had grown at an incredible rate since that day.
He continued to attack Harold tirelessly and with more vigor during their evaluation duels, and in weekly monster-hunting classes, he achieved better results than before.
Seeing the threshold of Sword Expert seed to have ignited Ethan's motivation.
Ethan's Victory
-Clang!!
"...Ugh!"
"Huff, huff... haah..."
With Ethan's horizontal slash, Harold's sword montarily flew into the air.
Students watching the duel let out soft exclamations.
"...What?"
"Did he just disarm Professor Harold...?"
"As expected of the Blackwood family..."
For the first ti, Ethan achieved a "complete victory" during a duel with Harold.
Among the students taking the sa class, he was the second to do so after Gyeongmwajogyegigwat.
"Ethan."
"...Yes."
"Since you achieved a complete victory against , like Gyeongmwajogyegigwat, you will receive a perfect score for this sester."
"Thank you!"
"Additionally, from now on, I will also use my magical abilities during our duels. Be prepared."
"Yes!"
Ethan had effectively graduated from Harold's class for this sester, just like the hero.
anwhile, as a mid-level student, I had yet to win even once against Harold, who wasn't using his physical or magical powers.
While everyone has their own strengths, this made feel oddly inadequate.
Conversation with Ethan
After finishing the duel with Harold, Ethan returned to my side, and I offered him a calm complint.
"Congratulations, Young Master Ethan. Your skills are improving rapidly."
"...Thank you, Lilith."
"Since you won against Master Harold, I will prepare a reward for you tonight, as usual, Young Master Ethan."
"...About that, Lilith."
"Yes?"
"Today, it's not just any win, but a 'complete victory' against my father, right?"
"...That's correct."
"Although it feels a bit strange for to say this, shouldn't a complete victory warrant a more significant reward?"
"...Do you want a different reward for your complete victory?"
"It's not that I want a different reward. I just feel like we should take things a step further. After all, we are temporary lovers now. Of course, if you say no, I'll understand."
"...Understood. Since you put it that way, Young Master Ethan, I'll prepare a reward suitable for a complete victory."
"I'll look forward to it, Lilith."
...What should I do?
I hadn't thought about a reward for a complete victory.
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