ILDBL 27

Chapter: 27

The crown of his head, shoulders, neck, sides, and even his groin—
Karina’s wooden sword struck nothing but vital points.

Without even fully understanding what was happening, Alberto let out a few strangled groans before foaming at the mouth and collapsing unconscious.

Everyone froze at the sight of Karina standing there, having utterly crushed Alberto without shedding a single drop of sweat.

The silence was broken by Albin’s voice.

“W–Wooooahhh!”

Only when Albin jumped up, cheering with his arms raised in triumph, did everyone finally snap out of it.

Ariel, Isabella, and even Denian excitedly crowded around Karina.

In contrast, the children of the Ludovico Knight Order looked as if they’d bitten into something foul.

Bernard, a giant of a boy built like a bear, dragged Alberto’s unconscious body away.

Marien, her face flushed red with anger, fumed.

“When was that idiot ever so confident enough to step forward?!”

She stomped over to Alberto and jabbed him repeatedly with her foot.

“Hey! Hey! You’re just pretending to be unconscious because you’re embarrassed, right?!”

Bernard responded with an awkward expression.

“He really looks knocked out.”

“What? He passed out from getting hit by a scrawny girl’s wooden sword?”

As Marien scoffed in disbelief, Gale stepped closer and checked Alberto’s condition.

Then, as if he himself had suffered humiliation, he shot Karina a vicious glare.

Karina met Gale’s stare indifferently.

They started the mess and lost—so why were they looking at her like that?

“That was cowardly! Taking advantage of his carelessness and mercilessly striking only his vital points!”

At Gale’s nonsense, Karina dug a finger into her ear as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Isn’t it idiotic to lower your guard after giving up the first strike?”

“I refuse to acknowledge this match!”

“Oh? Now you’re contradicting yourself?”

As Karina crossed her arms with a mocking expression, Gale stepped forward, drawing the real sword at his waist.

“I demand a rematch—with real blades!”

He really was trying everything.

Just as Karina let out a snort of laughter, a familiar voice rang out.

“That’s enough.”

Everyone turned their heads toward the source.

Ellen, blonde-haired and wearing a stiff expression, was approaching them.

“E–Ellen-nim.”

Startled, Gale quickly lowered his sword.

Ellen glared at Gale before looking down at Alberto, who lay unconscious in a pitiful state.

“I told you to stay put and not cause trouble.”

At Ellen’s cold voice, Gale stammered as he hurriedly made excuses.

“We–we were just sparring. But that girl used dirty tricks, so Alberto ended up like this—”

As Ellen checked Alberto’s breathing, her expression hardened.

Then she slowly turned her piercing gaze toward Karina.

“Don’t you know that sparring must stop once your opponent loses the will to fight?”

Karina snorted derisively.

“Maybe Ludovico stops halfway, but here, sparring continues until one side collapses.”

Ellen ground her teeth at Karina’s words and straightened up.

“We’re returning to the dorms.”

“Ellen-nim!”

Gale called out as if asking whether she was really going to let this slide.

Ellen turned back coldly.

The murderous intent flickering in her eyes forced Gale to shut his mouth.

“You’ll be fighting again soon anyway.”

With that, Ellen strode away, and Marien hurried after her.

Bernard, carrying Alberto on his back, and Jack followed behind.

Only Gale remained, glaring at Karina’s group.

Karina merely looked back at him with an indifferent expression.

So what? If you don’t like it, come at me too.
That was exactly what her face said.

Clenching his fists, Gale finally turned sharply and followed Ellen.

As their group disappeared like a passing storm, Ariel spoke anxiously.

“They’re not planning revenge later… are they?”

“Why did they suddenly show up and pick a fight anyway?”

“It d–doesn’t feel like they came just as simple guests.”

At Isabella’s grumbling, Albin shared his thoughts.

Karina fell into contemplation.

Just as Albin said, it didn’t seem like Ludovico had come to the House of Batius merely as guests.

A strange sense of tension surged within her, making her heart pound.

It was an odd feeling—both thrilling and unsettling.

* * *

The Duke of Batius’ Office.

The children who had passed the fifth test stood in a line.

Isaac, Karina, Ariel, Denian, Isabella, and Albin.

They already had a rough idea why the duke had summoned them.

The sixth test.

Its time had come.

Duke Batius, Callahan, gazed at the stiff, nervous children before slowly opening his mouth.

“I will now announce the task for the sixth test.”

The children’s tense expressions hardened into solemn resolve.

“The sixth test will be a friendly match against the Ludovico Knight Order trainees.”

Shock crossed everyone’s faces at the unexpected announcement.

At that moment, Isaac—who had been frowning irritably—spoke up.

“You mean we have to duel those Ludovico bastards and win?”

“That is correct.”

At the duke’s signal, Eric, the training instructor standing nearby, stepped forward.

“Friendly matches are usually conducted as one-on-one duels, but considering that many of our side are non-combatants, it will be held as a two-versus-two team match.”

As Eric said, three of Batius’ six remaining adoptees were non-combatants.

Ariel, a healer.
Isabella, a perfumer who manipulated scents.
And Albin, an artifact craftsman.

In one-on-one duels, they would be severely disadvantaged.

But even in team matches, the situation wasn’t much better.

With three teams total, two teams would need to win for overall victory.

Any team containing non-combatants would inevitably suffer a massive power gap.

But if they concentrated all the combatants into one team, the other two teams would be nothing more than sacrificial pawns.

Perhaps everyone was thinking the same thing—the room fell into heavy silence.

Watching them quietly, Callahan spoke again.

“Regardless of the overall outcome, any adoptee who wins their duel will pass the sixth test.”

Even the duke himself seemed to have little expectation that they would actually win the friendly match.

Sensing that tone, Karina frowned in displeasure.

“What if we win?”

At Karina’s bold question, the duke’s brows knit together.

“What?”

“I’m asking what happens if we win this friendly match.”

Callahan’s blood-red eyes locked onto Karina’s violet ones.

Even he didn’t believe the adoptees would defeat the Ludovico Knight trainees.

This was, after all, just a children’s friendly match.

In truth, the friendly match was merely a pretext—both Ludovico and Batius had ulterior motives.

The reason Ludovico had come all the way to Batius.

Callahan’s goal was to uncover that reason.

At the same time, it was an opportunity to assess the future of the Ludovico Knight Order—seeds that could become Ludovico’s successors.

The result of the match itself wasn’t very important.

A mere friendly match between children who couldn’t even be considered Batius’ real fighting force.

Of course, there were a few children he had his eye on.

The red-haired, unruly boy Isaac—and…

Callahan’s gaze passed Isaac and settled on Karina, who stood confidently.

A girl with an inexplicable presence and an aura that overwhelmed others.

After a moment of silence, Callahan finally spoke.

“If you win the friendly match, I will consider all of you to have passed the sixth test.”

Even if one team lost, as long as the overall match was a victory, everyone would pass.

At those words, Karina curled her lips into a grin.

 “Alright. That’s a promise, then?”