That night.
In front of the Knight Department’s main building. The training grounds.
I stood before the obstacle course I’d seen earlier during the day: the “Sword Run”.
Under the moonlight, the obstacles cast long shadows across the ground.
This was the site of tomorrow’s evaluation. The obstacles hadn’t been cleared away yet; they were just left there as-is.
“……”
There wasn’t any special reason for me to stand here.
I simply wanted to objectively assess how much I had improved.
Of course, the status window is convenient, but it has a major flaw. It only lists out raw stats. You can’t judge your actual combat ability from that alone.
You have to verify it for yourself.
“Hoo…”
And to be honest, seeing this course, perfectly recreated from the game, made me curious.
You could say it awakened that “Let me try. I’ve done this before” kind of feeling.
I drew my sword.
The same one I’d used when sparring with Austin Bliss. The cold grip and balanced weight felt perfectly natural in my hand…
◆ [Shape Transformation] activated.
◆ Partial Manifestation (10%) – [Rage Demon]
Partial manifestation of the trait.
An applied technique that lets me draw out only a portion of a demon’s properties. Like changing my face… that kind of application.
Crack—
My upper body muscles tore slightly as they bulked up, and I felt my lower body settle firmly into a grounded stance.
Gripping my sword, I looked out over the course.
The goal seemed far away.
There were twelve total arrow-firing mechanisms facing this direction.
As I stood there, I felt adrenaline rush through me. Heat bloomed from my chest, spreading across my body.
Camilla’s time earlier… was about 58 seconds.
Clocking in under a minute means she’s already operating at a level comparable to active knights. It’s not something a mere second-year student at the academy should be capable of.
But… I can do it faster.
I’ve practically mastered this Sword Run. In the game, I must’ve done it hundreds of times.
My specs weren’t lacking either.
As long as I can maintain the demonic form for the duration, I might even surpass Camilla.
◆ [Total Magical Structural Analysis] activated.
I awakened the dormant magical tool used for evaluation.
The moment my hand touched the system….beep, the course began to stir.
In the distance, the arrow-firing ports all simultaneously locked onto me.
“…Hup!”
I sprinted forward.
My vision accelerated. The first obstacle, the spinning targets, rapidly approached.
A course that demands perfect timing, precise angles, and expert control over power.
But I didn’t need such precision.
“Gravity Manipulation.”
A spell engraved on Aron’s training magic device.
I momentarily increased the weight of the targets, slowing their rotation!
Slice—!
One sword strike spent so far.
I twisted my body to avoid a flying arrow.
Next up was the course Camilla had destroyed with a spinning slash.
The textbook strategy was to read the grain of the rock and break through accordingly.
But just as Camilla had instinctively realized, that method doesn’t allow for speed.
“Thorn Hail. Object Manipulation. Water Flow Control. Freeze.”
While sprinting, I fired off magical spikes.
The impact created a small crack. I then gathered the moisture within the rock and froze it.
Recreating an age-old method of splitting stone.
Of course, since this was done on the fly, it wasn’t enough to shatter the stone pillar completely…
“Hup!”
Ka-kak—!!
But I’d opened a gap wide enough for a sword to slip in.
Now, time to use that spell I’d learned recently.
“Extreme Rotation.”
Wiiiiiiing—!!!
The sword began spinning violently.
I let go of the blade and slammed my palm down onto the end of the hilt!
Drdrdrdrdr—!!!
With the power of a drill, cracks spread across the pillar like spiderwebs.
Hold together…!
Booooooooom—!
The stone pillar soon exploded completely.
I immediately cut off the spell and grabbed my sword, sprinting toward the next target.
Next up was the tricky one…. the cotton dummy.
“Water Flow Control. Freeze.”
I froze the soft squishy dummy solid and sliced through it cleanly.
As for the ankle traps Camilla stomped through—
“Aureus.”
I cleared them all in one sweep using a 4th-circle metal projectile spell.
Thanks to my [Total Magical Structural Analysis] trait, I took control of the charging magic dolls and neutralized them.
Even the shield-type magic…. I disabled it using the same method.
Finally, the tall wall at the end. I poured magical energy into my legs, leapt up, and drove my sword into the finishing mark.
Thunk—!!
Beep—
“…That felt pretty fast.”
Almost like it had heard me, a hologram displayed the record.
[50.21 seconds]
“Oho.”
Fifty seconds. A time that naturally made me nod in satisfaction.
I’d comfortably beaten Camilla’s record.
“Heh. I won.”
I raised my hand in triumph.
Look, Camilla. I beat you. I skipped all that physical training and cheesed my way through with demon form to defeat a genius! This is my win! Camilla! Hahaha!
“…Though, I guess she wasn’t going all out either.”
Haaah.
I let out a deep breath.
Camilla had far more potential for growth than Adel. She was a woman with the talent to reach the pinnacle as a swordmaster…
I deactivated the magic tool and began trudging around, tidying up the course.
How am I even supposed to woo someone like that…?
If that were possible, I wouldn’t have spent 20,000 hours playing Empire of Kohonbach…
“Should I just blow everything up? If I kill the heir, wouldn’t the rest come crawling out?”
But that would be too risky. I couldn’t predict what variables might emerge.
I recalled the proposal I had so confidently accepted earlier.
Menenem Harunsdel’s test.
The condition: “Form a friendly relationship with Camilla Bliss.”
If I succeeded, he’d appoint me as a secretary at Harunsdel Merchant Guild.
He even threw in a side comment: it’d be ideal if it turned romantic.
Guess I don’t have a choice.
To get access to the Harunsdel’s secret “Demonization Experiments”, I needed to become an insider.
That was the only reason I’d accepted the offer.
…Maybe I should just reveal my identity to Camilla and ask for help.
That was the first thought that came to mind.
But upon thinking more carefully, I realized there was a major flaw with that plan.
There’s no way it’d make sense for her to suddenly warm up to me out of nowhere.
For someone who’s always been cold to others to suddenly act kind toward a random guy who appeared out of the blue?
Sure, there might be people like that somewhere in the world, but Camilla wasn’t one of them.
Chances are, Menenem had sent a few men before me as well. And they’d all failed.
At the very least, I need to make sure we’re seen interacting a few times in public. Enough for those around us to take notice.
Even if I were to reveal my identity to my sister, that would have to come after those public interactions.
…That said, Camilla is at an age where she might be interested in romance.
And Adel… well, just his looks alone provided some plausibility. I’d even adjusted my physique to look more solid and reliable.
The expression people used to say looked like a “jerk” back in the modern world….here, it came off more like the face of a man with a tragic past.
So maybe…
It’s not entirely impossible.
Having finished cleaning up the Sword Run course, I nodded to myself.
…If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll just come clean.
That’s the conclusion I came to.
In the end, the real challenge would be: how do I capture the attention of a girl who only knows swords?
“…Hmm.”
For now, I should erase the record data from the Sword Run course and think it over when I get back.
That’s when it happened.
◆ [Total Magical Structural Analysis] activated.
◆ Accessing Administrator Privileges…
◆ Result: Success.
“Huh?”
As I activated the trait to delete my record—
[1st Place – Camilla Bliss (58.02 seconds)]
I saw the registered name… and an idea suddenly sparked in my mind.
“…No way. Could I…?”
[1st Place – ??? (58.01 seconds)]
[2nd Place – Camilla Bliss (58.02 seconds)]
“…It worked.”
I gulped.
It had just dawned on me….my trait could manipulate this terminal’s data however I wanted.
“…Should I go for it?”
It felt like I’d just found the method I needed.
***
“Camilla. What’s your type?”
It was exam season before they knew it.
At Awen’s sudden question, Camilla responded while stretching.
“My type…? You mean, like, an ideal type…?”
“Mhmm. Like, what kind of guy you like.”
Camilla stretched her legs into a split, then lay flat on the floor before getting back up and rolling her shoulders.
“Well… I guess someone who’s responsible and does what they’re supposed to…”
“Not that kind of stuff. I mean appearance. Like, do you like muscular guys?”
“Hmm. Muscles, huh. I mean, they’re not bad…”
“Then what about a flashy, showy guy? Would you date someone like that?”
“No way. I’d rather have someone who’s serious about studying. Though… being led once in a while wouldn’t be so bad…”
“Heeh.”
Camilla had been answering without much thought, just saying whatever came to mind when suddenly, she froze.
“Sounds like the opposite of Adel. I, on the other hand, probably got sick of my brother, so I like cute younger guys. Maybe siblings really do have opposite tastes? …Ah. Sorry.”
Thinking Camilla had frozen up because of the mention of her dead brother, Awen frantically waved her hands.
“Sorry! I just thought you seemed really down lately, so I was gonna try and set you up with someone!”
“…No, it’s fine.”
“I’m really sorry! That was thoughtless of me!”
But unlike what Awen assumed, Camilla’s reaction had nothing to do with her brother.
She had just realized who had come to mind completely unconsciously when she heard the words “ideal type”.
A male figure who popped into her mind instinctively.
Someone responsible, who always gets his work done… even when bedridden for days, he didn’t miss an assignment.
Someone studious, who occasionally shows a more assertive side—
And muscular.
Adel, in his horned form.
…Isn’t that just Adel?
Camilla’s face turned pale.
Wait… Don’t tell me—
She had never once examined her own heart properly, and now she was misunderstanding it.
That maybe, deep down… she was harboring thoughts she shouldn’t.
Of course, this was all just her misunderstanding. It wasn’t true.
There are countless types of men in the world.
Height, overall vibe, physique, skin tone, and even personality!
Older, younger, same age. Whatever their profession might be.
Regardless of gender, everyone has a certain “type” they’re naturally drawn to.
But in terms of appearance, if you really had to categorize women’s ideal types, they can generally be split into two big groups:
The macho muscular manly type. And the delicate, boyish type!
The classic divide of ideal types. The basic A and B.
However, Adel was a bit unique.
He was someone who could fall into either category.
His unusual trait allowed Adel to appear either as a delicate boyish figure or as a well-built muscular man!
In other words, no matter what kind of man Camilla imagined, it was inevitable that he would end up overlapping with her younger brother, Adel.
Add to that the universally likable trait of “someone who does what they’re supposed to” which also applied to Adel…
And the fact that, due to the many thuggish guys she had encountered before being adopted, she had developed a strong dislike for flashy, showy men.
It all added up.
In truth, it was nothing more than an overblown misunderstanding.
A case of seeing what you want to see, interpreting things however you want.
But for Camilla whose experience with men was practically nonexistent…or rather completely nonexistent….coming to such a conclusion all on her own was overwhelming.
W-Wait… Is that why I was so happy about Adel’s letter…?
Camilla’s face which was already pale turned ghostly white.
A sister falling for her own brother… I’ve never even heard of such a thing!
And Awen, watching her, just kept misunderstanding. She grew anxious and flustered.
“…I’m sorry. You must be going through so much more than I am… I’m sorry, Camilla. It still feels like Adel’s alive to me…”
“……”
“No matter how many times I apologize, it won’t be enough. I’m sorry. I’ll keep my head down until you say I can get up!”
With tears welling in her eyes, Awen crouched quietly in the corner with her head bowed.
Meanwhile, Camilla started anxiously chewing her nails, not even hearing her.
A moment of pure confusion with no one to step in and sort things out.
…I-It’s just stress… That’s all it is. It has to be.
Yes. Maybe it was nothing more than a simple misunderstanding.
Which is why they had no way of knowing—
That what happened that day wouldn’t just end as a passing moment.
That a strange chain of events sparked by perfect timing and coincidences would spiral into something no one could have predicted.
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