Chapter 6

Monastrell grabbed me by the collar and slammed me into the wall.

Thud.

The impact against my back made me feel like I was about to throw up.

I struggled to break free from Monastrell’s grip, but it didn’t take long to realize it was pointless.

I mean…. how strong is her arm strength…?

Or maybe I was just weak?

Come to think of it, both were true.

Stat-wise, Winter Winslet’s physical constitution was ranked “E”, which was equivalent to a child’s level. It was one level below the average mage.

On the other hand, Monastrell was a dragon by race.

In her true form, her strength and stamina would likely be “EX-Rank”, meaning mythical-level stats. Even now, while polymorphed into a human, she was probably downgraded to “S-Rank”. This was the peak of human capability. But even that was leagues beyond me.

That was why I couldn’t resist.

Monastrell stared at me as if she might devour me at any moment. But surprisingly, her rage subsided rather quickly.

“Hah, honestly, I’d love to twist your neck right here and now… but I can’t. Still, that was a pretty entertaining little game, so I guess I’m satisfied.”

I remembered a story I once heard: a professional fighter once punched a gorilla in earnest, and the gorilla thought it was a game and loved it.

For this dragon woman, that fight must’ve felt about the same.

Why would the heavens create dragons… and also create Winter Winslet with “E-Rank” constitution?

As I quietly lamented, Monastrell began doing something bizarre.

She brought her face close to mine as if about to kiss me, then started sniffing me up and down.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Hmm, your scent hasn’t changed. It’s not some magic transformation. This really is Winter Winslet’s shell. And yet, it doesn’t feel like it’s really him. That’s strange. My instincts are rarely wrong…”

Did this crazy woman actually figure out that I wasn’t the real him?

But based on what?

“Showing mercy in that meeting and holding back just now because a bystander might get hurt….come on. The Winter Winslet I know wouldn’t blink even if a couple of people died in the crossfire. Maybe you’re brainwashed or under mind control? If that’s the case, it should show in your eyes…”

Monastrell grabbed my head.

Then, with her fingers, she tried to force my eyelids open.

I flinched and twisted my body in alarm.

“Don’t move. You’ll pop your eyeballs.”

“You’d better stop.”

“Oh please, like I’m scared.”

Monastrell ignored my warning and kept muttering to herself.

“Hmm… This is strange. Your eyes seem fine, so your mind looks intact. Then maybe it’s something with the soul? What was it you’re supposed to do when there’s a problem with the soul… Crack open the skull?”

“I already warned you.”

By now, I had gathered enough mana to strike back.

Before Monastrell could pop open my skull like a pot lid, it looked like I had to give her a painful lesson.

[Casting the Forbidden Spell: Dragonslaying – Secret Art of the Half-Dragon Catalayud.]

Dragonslaying.

A secret spell even dragons themselves didn’t know existed.

This forbidden magic, found only in the ruins of a destroyed magical kingdom in Candela of Judgment, was created by a half-human, half-dragon mage named Catalayud. Since he was born of dragon blood, he invented this spell to take revenge on his own kin.

If he was half-dragon, that meant one of his parents was a dragon… What could’ve happened for him to create a spell that annihilated his parent’s entire race?

I was curious, dragons were curious, and frankly, the whole world was curious. But thanks to an unprecedented disaster in that ancient kingdom, all records of Catalayud were buried deep beneath the ruins.

Only the magic remained.

But in the end, what mattered was the effect.

Just as the name suggested, Dragonslaying magic only worked against dragons. And its effects were devastating.

Ironically, in the original Candela of Judgment game, dragons rarely appeared, so this spell was often mocked by players as utterly pointless. And yet… here I was actually using it.

Thump. Thump.

The energy of the dragon-slaying spell began to stir within me, originating from my heart and flowing through my veins.

The moment it completed its circuit through my body, I grabbed Monastrell’s wrist, the one still clutching my collar, and twisted it.

Shock flashed across her face.

“You bastard… how the hell do you know this?!”

She had a look on her face like she wanted to ask how I had overpowered her.

But it wasn’t that I had grown stronger.

It was just that she had weakened under the effect of the Dragonslaying magic.

Soon, as if she had sensed the nature of the power I wielded, Monastrell revealed fear for the first time.

“Aren’t you going to let go of this right now?”

“If you went around touching another man’s body like that, you should take responsibility.”

“What the hell are you saying, you crazy bastard?”

There was nothing more rewarding than being called crazy by someone just as crazy.

As I drew out more of the magic’s power, Monastrell’s skin from the wrist I was gripping up to her elbow began to peel away.

In reality, it wasn’t her skin peeling; it was her transformation unraveling, revealing the dragon scales beneath.

Shiiiik.

The tightly raised scales on Monastrell’s arm made a strange rasping sound.

“If you don’t let go right now, I’ll kill you.”

“Want to bet on who dies first?”

Crack.

As if responding to my provocation, Monastrell’s hand clamped around my throat and began to squeeze.

She must’ve been weakened by the power of the Dragonslaying magic, but since she was going all out, I still had no chance of winning by brute strength.

Damn it.

Was the damage less effective because she was in human form?

Or maybe it was because I, a human, was using a spell meant for Catalayud—the half-human, half-dragon—and couldn’t draw out its full power.

In the end, neither Monastrell nor I could overpower the other, and the two of us stayed locked in a tense close-range struggle.

From the outside, it probably looked like a dull standoff, but we were soon gasping for breath and sweating.

When my eyes met Monastrell’s, she bluffed.

“Huff, huff. You’re starting to suffocate, aren’t you?”

“…If anything, your face is the one full of fear.”

Monastrell glared at me with gritted teeth.

If she’d just shut her mouth and stop acting wild, she’d actually be quite the beauty. But now her face was twisted with pain and tension.

I wondered if I was making a similar expression.

Maybe I was low on oxygen because my thoughts were starting to slow.

How did this fight even end up like this?

“Why are you so desperate to tear me apart?”

“You don’t need to know. It’s my business.”

…This crazy woman.

There was no reason for either of us to fight until one of us died.

So, just as the words “Why don’t we call it a draw?” were rising to the tip of my tongue—

An unexpected ally arrived.

Clang.

The sound of a vase shattering on the hallway floor.

“Winter…?”

I turned around and saw a woman standing in front of the shattered porcelain with a military sword at her waist.

A deep-blue double-breasted jacket, white trousers. Black leather boots and belt. Epaulettes and aiguillettes made of braided gold thread. Her outfit was the full-dress uniform of a royal guard knight.

It was Josephine.

“What exactly is going on here?”

I wanted to answer, but my throat was being choked. I couldn’t speak.

However, perhaps sensing I was in danger, Josephine immediately grabbed the hilt of her sword.

As expected of my fiancée.

Excellent judgment.

Well, I thought it was excellent judgment…

“Is she a coworker of yours? You seem very close. The two of you clinging to each other, drenched in sweat, while I’m standing right here…”

Josephine had reached a disastrous misunderstanding.

I didn’t need to ask what kind. Her expression said it all.

Because the look in Josephine’s eyes as she stared at me was icy cold.

[Warning]

[A death flag has been raised.]

Ah, life.

***

Winter Winslet, the villain with a 100% death rate.

Now even two death flags were coming for me at the same time.

[Notification]

[A death flag has been raised by this character.]

One was Monastrell who was desperately trying to crush my neck.

[Notification]

[A death flag has been raised by this character.]

The other was Josephine who was gripping the hilt of her sword with trembling lips.

A sigh of self-pity escaped me.

No matter how much her job required it as a royal guard knight, why did my fiancée always have a sword on her every time we met?

Shhhk.

Josephine partially drew her sword and called my name.

“Winter?”

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“……”

Oops.

Monastrell let go of me and stepped back.

It seemed she had misunderstood something too after seeing Josephine.

“Damn. What an annoying guest. I really hate dealing with two people at once.”

Monastrell looked Josephine up and down, as if assessing her combat ability.

Josephine, who had an S-rank talent in swordsmanship, was the strongest swordswoman in the early part of the Candela of Judgment storyline.

Monastrell quickly gave up on fighting.

“See you next time.”

Leaving behind a line worthy of a third-rate villain, Monastrell disappeared with a swish. What remained at the scene were Josephine, me, and one completely ridiculous misunderstanding.

Fortunately, thanks to the damaged surroundings from the fight with Monastrell and the presence of witnesses, I was able to clear up Josephine’s misunderstanding.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize what was really happening…”

Josephine bowed her head in apology over and over again.

I barely managed to stop her from going so far as to kneel.

She seemed not only embarrassed about having doubted her fiancé but even more ashamed that the doubt had stemmed from her own wild imagination.

If I had left her alone, her forehead would’ve hit the floor, so I quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, what brings you here?”

“Oh, that… I came to apologize.”

“Didn’t you just do that a moment ago?”

At my words, Josephine’s expression grew even gloomier.

“I mean not what happened today, but what happened yesterday.”

At this point, I wondered if causing situations that required apologies was her hobby, but that wasn’t something I could say out loud.

“I sincerely apologize for acting too aggressively last night, for damaging your honor in front of others, and… for actually injuring you!”

“Raise your head.”

“Will you… forgive me?”

The mention of last night brought something to mind.

There happened to be something I wanted to ask Josephine’s help with, so I decided to bring it up while she was still feeling apologetic.

“Let’s walk for a bit first.”

***

And so, we really did walk.

Without saying a single word, for about 45 minutes.

Josephine who grew visibly confused eventually couldn’t take the silence any longer and cautiously broke it while glancing at me.

“Um… how far are we going?”

“We’re almost there.”

We had left the academy, crossed through the city, and arrived at Dintalvy, located on the outskirts of the royal capital of Lambart.

Dintalvy housed the headquarters of the capital’s military police, some military facilities, and a prison for dangerous criminals.

Of those, the place I needed to visit was the prison.

I had heard that Kenneth of the Twin Flames, who had attacked me last night and lost, had been imprisoned there.

There was something I needed to ask him.

What kind of grudge did he hold against me that made him attack me?

Living as Winter Winslet for a day, I had come to a realization.

There were far too many people around Winter Winslet who wanted him dead.

So many death flags.

That must have been why Winter Winslet had the reputation of being a villain with a 100% death rate.

If Winter Winslet wanted to survive, he had to deal with the people who held grudges against him first.

How to resolve the grudges they carried—

That, I still didn’t know.

First, the right place to start was finding out what had happened to them.

“Josephine, I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

Josephine widened her eyes in surprise.

Josephine, a knight of the Royal Guard, was mainly tasked with protecting the royal family. To carry out her duties smoothly, she had access to temporary and flexible authority.

It wasn’t an official kind of power, but it was more than enough to intimidate the prison gatekeepers and guards.

When I explained that I needed to borrow that authority, Josephine was visibly taken aback.

“What? You want me to arrange a private meeting with a criminal in prison?”

“It’ll only take a moment.”

“And what are you planning to do when you meet him?”

“I need to ask him why on earth he attacked me.”

“But using a Royal Guard’s authority for personal matters is a bit…”

Josephine hesitated. She was clearly uncomfortable with the idea, but I didn’t say much more.

“Josephine.”

I simply called her name and gently pulled her by the waist.

Then, locking eyes with her from a distance close enough to kiss—

“You’re the only one I can ask for something like this.”

Honestly, it didn’t matter what I said.

Because this fiancée of mine….while she had sword skills strong enough to be top-tier in the entire world, she was terribly weak against handsome men.

“Ah… ugh. I-I really shouldn’t…”

Josephine shut her eyes tightly and hung her head.

And a few moments later,

I was granted entry into the prison.

“I’ll take full responsibility. Open the gate.”

As expected. My fiancée really was the best.