WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields ◈

Chapter 17: Skill Assessment (3)

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Sirius.

Ever since that man, whom I suspected might be Yuwol, appeared, I hadn't been able to focus on anything.

After pestering Julia, I was able to learn more about House Iaros.

House Iaros was one of the Kingdom of Zeros's oldest noble houses, and its current head was Count Rain Iaros.

He had one daughter, but supposedly no one in society had ever seen her face.

There were all sorts of rumors as to why. Servants who had left the count's household claimed that her appearance shone so brightly that the count had confined her to the estate for her own safety.

She had never appeared at any balls or social gatherings, and there were almost no accounts from people who had actually seen her face.

If that was true, then why had Luna Iaros and this man, Sirius, come all the way to this academy?

There was far too much about them that was suspicious.

What. Exact. Purpose, had brought them here?

Most academy entrants hoped to become my companions and join me, the Hero, on my journey to defeat the Demon King.

Yet Luna Iaros acted as though she couldn't care less about any of that.

She clearly had another goal.

And Sirius. He had been brought here as the young lady's servant, but nothing was known about his abilities yet.

Why had the count, who hadn't even allowed his daughter to leave the house, trusted this man enough to send them all the way to the distant neutral zone?

Was Sirius truly powerful enough to protect her from every threat?

I wasn't looking down on Yuwol, but the Yuwol I knew had been a country boy who knew nothing.

The chance that he had awakened as a Hero like me, developed his talent, and received wholehearted support and training was close to zero.

If that assumption was true, then depending on Sirius's strength, there was a chance that he might not be Yuwol after all...

It was giving me a headache.

If Sirius wasn't Yuwol... then...

It was still too early to jump to conclusions.

There were many ways to confirm whether he was Yuwol.

There would be plenty of chances.

I had even pressured the staff so I could use the room next to Sirius's.

Abusing my authority wasn't ideal, but I had no choice.

I was the Hero who would beat the Demon King to death. It was absurd that they couldn't spare one room for me.

First, I needed to confirm his true abilities.

If I learned the results of the Skill Assessment, it would surely give me a major clue.

If he really was Yuwol...

Luna Iaros... prepare to die by my hand...

There was still no solid proof that he was Yuwol, so I was letting the two of them do whatever they wanted for now.

But the day the truth came out...

I would never let this slide.

My Yuwol might need to be set straight again, too.

* * *

After finishing the Skill Assessment, Luna and I headed to the dining hall.

It seemed everyone had finished around the same time, because the place was packed.

My ears itched. Was someone talking about me?

"Is someone badmouthing me?"

"Why?"

"My ears are itchy."

I figured it was just my imagination. Every meal at the academy had been more than satisfying.

Looking around, it wasn't hard to find distinguished people whining that they didn't even want to put this food in their mouths.

Still, if those people spent one month under Master, I swear they'd realize how excellent this food was.

Luna seemed to have been accustomed to an incredibly luxurious life before, but after eating from the same pot as me for three years, she had become much less picky about food.

After eating, we took a walk around the academy together.

The sudden increase in free time still didn't feel real.

In the mornings, I fought off sleep while studying theory. At noon, Yan put me through endless physical training. By the afternoon, Master's unkind magic lectures had left me in tatters.

Once I returned to my room in the evening, nothing mattered except sleep.

The academy had facilities for all kinds of practical training, so even making one round took quite a while.

We walked slowly, watching the sun set.

Luna looked incredibly beautiful in the evening glow.

"...Beautiful."

The words slipped straight from my brain to my mouth without a thought.

Luna stopped looking at the sunset and turned to me.

I thought she would obviously say something annoying like, "I'm pretty, aren't I?" Instead, she just looked at me.

Bathed in the sunset's glow, she smiled shyly.

She took one step, then another, closer to me and lightly pressed her lips against mine.

She smelled of oranges.

It was so unlike her usual playful self that my heart began pounding wildly.

We kissed often, and we'd shared even more intimate contact than that. So why did I suddenly feel like a boy with no experience at all?

After the brief kiss, she turned her back to me.

The sun was disappearing beyond the distant mountains.

She walked ahead of me with light steps, then looked back.

"Should we... hold hands while we walk...?"

The sight of her smiling as she held out her hand made me feel as if I would never be able to escape her.

The people of this world would never know that this lovely girl was the Demon King's daughter.

Without saying anything, I took her hand and slowly walked through the field.

Maybe this was happiness.

* * *

The Skill Assessment ended as poorly as I had expected.

I was assigned to Group 1.

Although my name had been called first, I stayed behind and listened to the rest of the group assignments.

I was looking for Luna Iaros and Sirius's group.

They had been assigned to Group 4, but unfortunately, the training grounds were far enough apart that I couldn't check on them directly.

With no other choice, I followed the instructions to the training ground and was the first to demonstrate my specialty.

"Hero, Celia."

The teacher in charge of grading called my name first.

"Yes."

Every student in Group 1 focused on me.

They were probably all curious.

What kind of person was the Hero, and how strong were they?

I had to graduate from this place at the top of the class.

To make that easy, I needed to show them my overwhelming power.

Who would want to join a Hero's Party led by someone weaker than them?

I drew Raydin, the famed sword Master had given me.

Even before entering the academy, it had been my beloved sword, used to cut down countless demons hiding in the human realm.

Whenever I saw demons, I remembered the two skulls hanging above the fireplace. I couldn't possibly hold back against them.

They begged me to spare their lives, but I cut off every one of their heads.

My mother and father had probably begged them the same way.

I steadied my breathing and took my stance.

Just one move.

One move was enough.

I gave the distant target one broad horizontal swing.

It was a movement I had repeated thousands, tens of thousands of times, until my arms broke while training with Master.

It had clearly been a technique for opponents within close range, but after reaching a certain level, that no longer mattered.

The target on the other side of the waiting area was cleanly cut in two.

My slash didn't stop there. It left a massive scar in the training ground's sturdy wall.

The students had all sorts of reactions.

The teacher seemed slightly surprised as well. After a brief pause, the teacher loudly announced, "Grade 1!"

Some looked at me as if to say that was what a Hero should be. Others simply stared wide-eyed in shock.

I didn't particularly care what they thought.

But anyone who wanted to join me would need to be capable of easily blocking an attack like that.

Once my turn was over, I had nothing else to do, so I watched Group 1's Skill Assessment continue.

No one surpassed my martial prowess, no matter how hard I looked.

I hadn't expected much, but Group 1's abilities were even worse than I thought.

I could confidently say that even the evaluator was probably weaker than me.

I was curious about Luna and Sirius's results.

Classes would be divided by rank the very next day, so I would find out soon enough.

The weather was pleasant, so after the assessment ended, I decided to take a short walk outside before returning.

Watching the sun go down made me feel peaceful.

As I walked down the long road in high spirits, I saw two people in the distance.

With weather this nice, it wasn't strange for people to be out walking.

But as the distance closed, I recognized who they were.

Luna and Sirius. The two people I was most interested in right now.

I had considered casually going over to ask how their Skill Assessment had gone, but I was forced to abruptly turn away as I approached.

My heart pounded.

I couldn't understand it.

Was it normal for a young lady and her servant to act like that so naturally?

Julia helped me, but since I hadn't been born a noble, I was confused.

The two of them were walking hand in hand.

Or were they actually in that kind of relationship?

Seeing a man who might be Yuwol holding another woman's hand, I shook my head.

No... That can't be...

It must be normal...

The metallic scent of blood filled my mouth from how hard I had bitten my lip.

Footnotes:

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