101st Confession

fore the blade was about to slam into her face, with a ghastly sound, another sword blocked the blade that flew towards Lucia.

It bounced back with a spark and embedded itself deep into the ground.

“Hmph, hmph…….”

She could see a red blur in front of her.

Sure enough, Herwin, who was in the distance with his other friends, was suddenly in front of her.

Herwin gasped, his face pale.

“What do you think you’re doing? You almost killed someone!”

Herwin’s anger echoed through the training ground.
The room fell silent for a moment, and he whipped his head around.

“Lucia, are you okay?”

Lucia couldn’t answer, only stared at Herwin with wide eyes.

The auror that rose from Herwin’s body was the same as the one Arista had created, albeit a different color.

“Lucia!”

Herwin grabbed Lucia’s shoulders and shook her, and the unfocused eyes turned to Herwin’s face, and-

“Lucia!”

Lucia fell unconscious.

* * *

When it was time for a break, Herwin gulped down the water, drenched in sweat, and wiped his face roughly with a towel.
He glanced at the stone steps that surrounded the training center.

There were a few students on the steps, watching a swordsmanship class.

“Looking for Lucia?”

A giggling voice called from behind him, and Herwin whipped his arm around.

Brian sidestepped the blow with ease.

“Or you can just say no, I’m not going to punch you.”

“Don’t come up behind me like a creep.”

“What did I do? I was just curious.”

“By the looks of it, Lucia’s been gone for about 20 minutes.”

“Hmm? Really? Longer than I thought?”

Ethan came up behind them and told them about Lucia’s absence.

Herwin frowned and looked toward the stone steps where Christine was alone, his red eyes glazed over in exasperation.

Brian smirked at that.

“I wonder when you and Lucia are going to make up.”

Herwin stiffened instantly and glared at Brian.

“I don’t know what happened, but make it up to her.
What are we guilty of, being caught in the middle?”

“Exactly, it’s suffocating you, and you’re always staring at Lucia, so why don’t you ever think about making up?”

“When will I…….”

“Whenever.
You’re still doing it.”

“You’re such a dishonest person.”

Whether in jest or in earnest, Brian and Ethan continued to irritate Herwin.

Opening his mouth to speak, Herwin let out an exasperated sigh and slipped away from them without a word.
The two men behind him called out to him, but he didn’t even respond.

“Oooooh!”

“It’s coming! It’s coming!”

There was an uproar around Arista, caused by a pale glow from the sword in her hand.

Realizing it was an Auror, Herwin’s eyes widened, and he and the others hurried to check on Arista.

Arista’s breathing became ragged, beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, and she squinted again.

The sword shuddered, and a violet auror, similar to the color of her eyes, erupted with a clang.

“That’s it!”

“Whoa! It’s a real Auror!”

“The rumors were true!”

All the students, including Arista, let out a loud cheer.
Arista grinned and showed off the sword surrounding her Auror.

“Arista, let’s clash with this!”

Just then, a boy came up with a real sword.
He had heard the myth that the sword surrounding an auror cuts through everything except a master craftsman’s sword or the same auror.

The people wondered if Arista’s auror would cut a real sword.

“Okay, let’s try it.
Everyone stand back, it could be dangerous.”

Arista’s words created space around the tightly packed group, especially where Arista would swing the sword.
It was a deliberate avoidance, not knowing what might happen.

“Will the sword cut?”

“Herwin, what do you think?”

“According to the theory, it would cut like a piece of wood.”

His red eyes spun around, excitement and triumph in them.

“Here we go!”

The boy across from Arista gripped his sword tightly and swung it at her.

Naturally, Arista swung back in the opposite direction he was coming from.

The swords clashed, but there was no noise as they met; Arista’s auror sword sliced her opponent’s sword in half as if she were cutting a soft object.

The severed blade flew fiercely into the space left empty by the auror’s influence, and the blade….…

“Lucia!”

It was flying at a terrifying speed to Lucia, who just returned.

Ethan called out Lucia’s name in panic as he spotted the severed blade flying toward her.

Brian, who was between Arista and the people when the blade was unintentionally cut off, hurried to Lucia.

However, the speed of the flying blade was faster than theirs.

“No-!”

Brian’s desperate outstretched hand was suddenly knocked aside by a gust of wind from the side.

Kaga-kang-!

The sound of swords clashing against each other could be heard.

“Huh?”

Brian let out a dumbfounded sound and turned to look at the source of the noise.

Herwin, who had been beside him only a few seconds ago, was now standing in front of Lucia.
Moreover, the red auror’s body was pulsing with energy.

Brian stared at Herwin in confusion, then looked to the side.
Footprints had dug deep into the ground where Herwin had been standing.

“What do you think you’re doing? You almost killed someone!”

A booming voice echoed through the air.
Herwin’s anger was directed at the boy who had caused this, at Arista, at himself.

An accident that could have killed someone if it weren’t for him.

As everyone froze, Herwin hurried to check on Lucia.

Even now that he had awakened the auror he had hoped for, his entire attention was focused on her.

“Lucia!”

A tearing scream erupted.
Lucia had fainted in Herwin’s arms.