For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Just as Iona had said, the one-on-one duel with Iona didn’t end with just one occurrence but continued every day.

And every day, I got thoroughly beaten.

No. As I got used to Iona and learned various things, the intensity of the duels increased, making the beatings I received more severe as the days went by.

…But today would be different!

“Blast Burn!”

A massive flame of mass exploded upon the command word.

Sharp fragments of flame scattered. Each moved fast and on an irregular trajectory, but their destination was the same.

The flame materialized during a demonstration of elemental combination magic that Iris had shown before.

A combination of flame and earth magic developed into a more violent form, prepared especially for today.

However, Iona simply smiled brightly in the face of the magic aimed at her vital points.

“Amazing! Amazing! This must be a secret of the Sylvan Mana Tower, right? Last time, you used a wide-area attack, but this time, you prepared a spell for personal combat! Good job, student Yandel!”

“Would you mind getting hit a bit if you know!”

“I don’t want to! It seems like it would hurt!”

Iona playfully retorted, waving her hand from left to right. Following her trajectory, several ice spikes were formed.

Was this a consecutive casting of Icicle Spear? Or multiple chants?

“Ice Arrow!”

…No, it was Ice Arrow.

Being able to create several at once or control their trajectory to some extent after shooting them was a characteristic of arrow-type magic.

But why were these arrows so thick?

While I internally panicked, Iona’s Ice Arrow swiftly intercepted and annihilated the fragments of my Blast Burn.

Bang! Boom!

And then, one remaining arrow pierced through the steam and, as a bonus, pierced through my heart as well.

“Cough…”

A clear fatal wound. Of course, thanks to Blood Shift, there was no actual injury apart from a hole in my clothes.

Only the pain clinging like an afterimage reminded me that I’d been hit in return.

Even though Blood Shift absorbed a certain level of pain along with wounds, I couldn’t get used to this sensation of being on the brink of death.

All the magic I prepared over the past few days with Iris through the communication crystal gets blocked like this.

Not just exploding, but I still vividly remembered struggling to add a homing feature to the fragments.

At this point, I started to get angry.

“Argh! Let me stab you just once! Please, just once!”

Of course, I couldn’t even graze her clothes when I was fine, so what would change by charging in with my eyes flipped?

“No! No! No matter how angry you are, a magician shouldn’t charge in so foolishly, student Yandel! And saying you want to stab… Tsk! You shouldn’t say such naughty things to a professor!”

This time, I got beaten down personally by Iona, who had strengthened herself with support magic.

An event that had happened several times, something that could even be considered part of my recent daily routine.

But perhaps the mental exhaustion from enduring only the shocks I could withstand was inevitable.

As soon as I lay down on the ground, my eyes began to close.

As my vision narrowed, I saw Iona, startled, rushing towards me, and then I lost consciousness.

---

When I woke up, I was in the infirmary bed.

It felt a bit less plush than the intensive care unit I was admitted to after defeating Edmerek.

As I absentmindedly thought this, a grumpy-looking middle-aged priest approached from afar.

He must be the priest in charge of this infirmary.

“Have you awakened?”

“Ah, yes. I…”

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong with your body. Professor Iona is unnecessarily thorough in these matters.”

The priest tutted, gave a short prayer to bless me, and nodded.

“Rest for today. I’ll speak to Professor Iona on your behalf.”

“Thank you.”

As I nodded my head, the priest, who casually received my thanks, soon headed out of the room. And from the next room over, I could hear a bellowing voice telling someone to take it easy with their body.

From what I could gather, it seemed they were busy due to the Knight Department students being brought in every day.

Just having woken up, I was staring blankly at the ceiling when the door burst open, and Carla and Elisha came rushing in.

“Master! Are you really okay?! I’ve never seen anyone faint in Professor Iona’s class before… You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?!”

“Carla, you heard what the priest said earlier. Stop making such a fuss… But seriously, isn’t Professor Iona going too far? No matter how important realistic dueling is, how can she push someone until they collapse?”

Carla, worriedly grabbed my arm, and Elisha, subtly expressed her dissatisfaction with Iona.

Tickling the chins of the two quickly calmed them down and quieted them.

“Well, don’t be too hard on her. Not just anyone can take Professor Iona’s one-on-one lessons, right?”

“That’s… true. It might be a bit harsh, but Professor Iona teaches how to fight as a magician without holding anything back.”

“Yeah. Unless you become her slave or she takes you on as a personal student, it’s an opportunity that wouldn’t come.”

The academy was an educational institution meant to nurture talented individuals regardless of their background, but that didn’t mean there were professors who taught everything they knew.

Be it a Magic Tower, guild, or family tied to one, they kept their secrets for reasons of proprietary knowledge.

And those who had succeeded on their own without any particular background, even more so, kept their cards close to their chests for their own value.

But Iona was different.

Although her methods were rough, she truly did her best to teach me.

She was trying to teach me everything except for blood magic or the vampire-like combat style that relied on tenacious vitality.

This was almost akin to favoritism.

And I was well aware of it.

How could I not notice the drastic changes in just a few days?

It wasn’t that I’d gained new magic or increased my mana, but I was confident that the current me could overpower the me of the past.

But as grateful as I was, it was still frustrating.

“I need… power.”

The kind of power that could give Iona a taste of her own medicine…!

“That’s what happened. Iris, any good ideas?”

-Huh… Didn’t the professor say she was limiting her own power when fighting? And yet, you couldn’t even touch the hem of her clothes.

I had skipped a day of classes and only returned to the dormitory afterward.

As soon as I arrived, I turned on the communication crystal and chatted away to Iris about everything that had happened today.

While I was laying out my complaints, Carla silently laid her head on my knee, gazing up at my face with a silly grin.

And Elisha, not minding getting close to me in her attempt to see Iris’s face, stretched her neck out long.

Having gotten used to having the two of them by my side, I naturally continued to chatter away, poking and prodding here and there.

Softly and squishily.

“Really, Iris? Isn’t there anything? Like a forbidden spell or magic so powerful that it can only be used with unanimous approval from some sort of council?”

-Such magic can indeed be considered the romance of a magician, but the outcomes aren’t always great.

Iris laughed as if it were ridiculous, pointing at her rather ample chest.

-First of all, I got caught trying to cast a forbidden spell myself.

“Ah.”

Even summoning spirits was considered a forbidden spell.

-The latter does exist, but I don’t know of any. Even if I did tell you, such magics require the budget of a nation to use, so you wouldn’t be able to use them personally.

“That much?”

-Indeed, that’s why it’s strictly managed by those in high positions.

Realizing she made a valid point, I couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

“Ah, but Iris, is that padding?”

-…Is it that obvious?

“Yes.”

Iris’s chest could only be seen to be plump when completely exposed or touched.

It wasn’t something you could tell just by looking at her wearing loose clothes, like now.

-I was too greedy… Next time, I’ll have to go for a more moderate size.

Iris, looking slightly disappointed, took something round and jelly-like from her chest and tossed it away.

Now, she was back to her usual self.

“So, there’s no straightforward method, then?”

-At least, from what I can see, that’s the case. If I had to say, creating a new elemental combination magic and combining it with the elemental resonance you’ve recently succeeded in would be…

“So, the reason I’m getting beaten by Professor Iona isn’t a matter of power, so increasing power won’t really make a difference, right?”

-Exactly. But I’m surprised. I knew Professor Iona was great, but she’s a top-tier magician like me, after all. Honestly, I wouldn’t be confident enough not to get hit at all if I limited my power that much.

“Well… that’s why she teaches the magic combat subject because she fights so well.”

It was not only because Iona had always been good at fighting, but also because the vampire race itself was strong.

Iris might not be aware, but if we were to compare the combat abilities of Iris and Iona, Iona would likely be far superior.

Of course, someday I’ll become stronger than Iona… but how do I wait until then?

If there was no other way, then I guess I just had to work very hard.

As I sighed deeply in disappointment, Elisha, perhaps feeling sorry for me, stroked my neck while trying to look into the communication crystal.

“Don’t get too down. Anyway, you just need to land a hit on Professor Iona, right?”

“Yeah. It’s so unfair to just keep getting hit.”

“Then, although it might be a bit underhanded, how about looking for a weakness?”

“A weakness?”

Did Iona even have a weakness?

“Wait a minute.”

Thinking about it, I realized I surprisingly didn’t know much about Iona.

That was because Iona was a character who couldn’t be romanced in H&A.

Since I couldn’t add Iona as a companion, I’d never seen her status window, and there was no event where I directly dueled her 1-on-1, so I didn’t really know how she fights.

If anything, there was only a brief moment where she fought in the latter part of a full-frontal battle, but it was so brief that it was hard to fully grasp.

You couldn’t know everything about a magician just by seeing one spell.

Knowing your opponent is the very foundation of winning.

Had I been neglecting even that, just moping around?

First, I need to find out what Iona likes, dislikes, and any small habits she might have.

“Elisha, you’re a genius!”

“Eh? Me? Ahem. I am indeed! Please praise me more!”

“Elisha is pretty! Your thighs are even more scandalous than Carla’s!”

“What about other parts?!”

“Your long ears are cute!”

“Good! Ohohohoho!!”

Elisha didn’t quite understand, but she enjoyed the praise as she fanned herself with a hand fan.

The sight of her blue bun hair bobbing was incredibly reassuring.

Was this what it felt like to have a competent subordinate by your side?

I silently planned to stalk… No, observe Iona, with a content smile on my face.

This was my chance to find out things not mentioned in the setting book.

I felt my fan heart for H&A reviving after various experiences.

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