The Villain is Too Good at Sniping - Chapter 143



Only Krnovel

Episode 143

Episode 143. Tournament (2)

The first fight of the exchange war ended with Airi’s victory.

Airi’s victory was soon Arsene’s victory. Arsene’s students who were watching the duel cheered, but Joachim’s students, on the other hand, could not bring themselves to say a word.

“You idiots. Is this all you’ve gotten for suffering for half a year?”

Unlike other camps with a festive atmosphere, the camp where Joachim’s cadets gathered was filled with silence.

No, it was more like a garrison than a camp. The cadets were lined up like soldiers, listening to the instructor’s scolding.

“If we lose this exchange, there will be no next time. I thought you all knew that, but… you’re so lacking.”

“… … .”

“With these results in one-on-one tournaments, I wonder if they’ll be able to do well in team events.”

Only Lilia de Sugarmond stood there with a determined expression. The assistant approached her.

“Lilia de Sugarmond.”

“Yes, Assistant Baron.”

“The professor has done his best for you. As you wished, you will face your younger brother, Airi de Sugarmond, in the next match.”

“…yes?”

Lilia, who had been calm throughout, let out a flustered voice for the first time. However, the assistant coach did not point it out. Lilia was the key figure in this exchange and the key to Joachim’s victory.

There was no cadet who thought it was unfair to discriminate against Lilia. All of the cadets looked at Lilia with a secret, unspoken expectation.

However, Lilia narrowed her eyebrows as if she had not expected it.

“Assistant Baron, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“That’s exactly what it says.”

Assistant Baron touched Lilia’s shoulder.

“The handicap duel between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen, which was originally scrapped, will be held after the one-on-one tournament ends. The first person to fight is you, Lillia.”

Although the assistant explained that it was just a simple event, Lilia sensed an indescribable malice from the organizers of this exchange.

‘That’s nonsense. You were just trying to break Arsene somehow.’

For a moment, Professor Edinburgh’s face seemed to flash before my eyes. There was no one else who could have put such a vicious event together but him.

“Anyway, weren’t you also going to take care of your sister, Lilia de Sugarmond?”

“yes…….”

“You’re not the only one who’s been involved in this fight. The Touhou Flower Garden has also joined in. It’s an event planned after the organizers’ amicable agreement.”

Upperclassmen take care of cadets from other academies, under the pretext of training.

Of course, there is a handicap for freshmen who deal with upperclassmen. In some ways, it can be seen as a warm event where seniors guide juniors.

However, the practice of sparring between upperclassmen and freshmen was originally abolished, as upperclassmen would often beat up freshmen to vent their anger.

‘An outdated custom that has now disappeared. Why are they suddenly doing an event that was only done in the past when power was valued? …?’

The three major academies responded to the Edinburgh professor’s proposal. I don’t know what was discussed behind the scenes. However, if the organizers had already agreed to this, it was something that could not be changed.

“I’ll send you a detailed schedule separately. Until then, you’d better conserve your strength, Lilia.”

“Yes, Assistant Professor… … .”

I wanted to watch Airi grow over time, but I didn’t know that I would be dealing with Airi in public like this. It was something I didn’t expect or wish for.

However, Lilia is Joachim’s cadet and Airi is Arsene’s cadet. If they were forced to do so from above, then those below have no choice but to follow. If they don’t follow, it will be disadvantageous for their future school life.

Lilia clenched her fist.

***

Although Professor Isabella had warned Joachim and the Oriental Garden to be careful, the exchange was going smoothly.

“The winner of the duel is Kyle Ivanstair of Arsene. Joachim loses.”

“I won!”

“Good job, Kyle!”

The second match was a fight between Kyle Evanstairs and an unknown giant. The result was a victory for Kyle. The giant was not only big but also agile, and was defeated by Kyle’s sword attack that took advantage of his opening.

The flow has continued unchanged since then.

“The winner is Arsene’s Serine Annette. The Eastern Flower Garden’s defeat.”

“…thank you.”

Serin Annette spoke coldly and looked at the other cadet lying on the ground. He was a great spearman in his own right, and the tip of his spear was sharp as a snake, but his techniques were useless against Serin Annette.

“You’ve worked hard, Serin.”

“yes.”

Kyle taps Cerine Annette’s shoulder as she comes down from the arena. Cerine Annette returns to the waiting room with a displeased expression.

And after that.

“The winner is Arsene’s Elin Bernhard. Joachim’s loss.”

“I… won? Really?”

“Well done, Elin! You gave me a good kick!”

“Come on! Stop clinging to me!”

Arsene won in a landslide victory.

Unlike Arsene who was doing well, Joachim and the Dongbang Flower Garden were performing poorly. Both academies must have been sharpening their knives in preparation for this exchange, but the same goes for Arsene’s students.

In particular, the performances of Arsene’s new recruits, Serine Annette and Kyle Ivanstair, were dazzling. Elin Bernhard was eliminated in the very next match, but Kyle and Serine defeated their opponents as soon as they entered the duel arena and rose to the top.

Joachim’s cadets were seen grinding their teeth. On the other hand, the cadets from the Eastern Flower Garden looked relieved. They may seem different, but if there’s one thing they have in common, it’s that neither of them have high expectations for this one-on-one tournament.

The one-on-one tournament is just a preliminary match. It seems like they want to lightly pass over the preliminary match and focus on the upcoming team match.

The one-on-one tournament that had been going on all day had already reached the semifinals. Kyle Evanstair, who was warming up his body at the camp, said.

“If we keep going like this, aren’t we really going to win?”

At that moment, Ashley Silvergarden opened her eyes wide.

“You don’t know until you see it through to the end. You can’t let your guard down. You have to maintain your tension until the moment you step down from the arena, and even after you step down.”

“We’ve made it to the semi-finals. If we just win this, we’ll be in the finals.”

“Rather, that means we need to pay more attention!”

In the last fight, Serin Annette lost. It was a result that no one expected. Everyone naturally thought Serin Annette would win, so the audience watching the duel fell silent for the first time.

The opponent who defeated Serin was a female student of the Eastern Flower Garden, ‘Nachalgwigeom Yeonhee’. I heard that she is Nam Gihyeok’s younger sister.

“That Celine Annette lost. I thought it would definitely be Celine Annette who would make it to the finals… … .”

“Does that mean you knew I would lose… … ?”

“I’m only talking about potential. Serine Annette has the upper hand in performance, skill, and technique.”

Kyle couldn’t argue. It was all true. Kyle still couldn’t beat Serin Annette. He always lost by a hair.

But that Serin Annette lost to the Eastern Flower Garden. Kyle must have felt a lot of pressure as well, even though he was joking and laughing about how she was going to win.

“You saw the fight too. What do you think? Zion Illionheart.”

Ashley, who had been harassing Kyle, suddenly turned to me. I emptied the cup of coffee I was holding and looked around. All of Arsen’s first-year students who had participated in this one-on-one tournament were looking at me.

To be honest, I felt a bit burdened. But I didn’t show it.

“It was unexpected that Serene Annette lost.”

Serene Annette was knocked out. I watched the whole thing with Kyle.

Since I’m usually the one to give tips at times like this, I guess he was probably going to ask me for advice this time too, but I planned not to step forward this time.

“If you all watched, you would know. Yeonhee has the nickname ‘Nachalgwigeom’. As her name suggests, Yeonhee can control ghosts.”

If they fight without using any techniques, the fight will go in Cerin Annette’s favor.

But just as Serin Annette handles ice, Nachalgwigeom Yeonhee wields her possessed sword with ease.

“The most important thing to watch out for is the illusions that Yeonhee used. There won’t be more than four at most, but each one is impossible to ignore. They’ll probably try to distract you like last time and take advantage of a moment of weakness.”

Serine Annette fought hard and came close to defeating Yeonhee, but made a mistake at the last moment. The number of opponents suddenly increased to four.

Even Serin Annette probably didn’t know that her opponents would suddenly increase to four. Even if she split up, her fighting power wouldn’t decrease.

“Kyle. This is the semifinals, and if we win here, it’s the finals, right?”

“That’s right. If we just win, we can advance to the finals.”

“You have to keep your guard up, just like Esili said. If you let your guard down or panic, you’ll end up defeated like Serin Annette.”

I warned him calmly. Since he asked me for advice, I thought it would be okay to tell him this much.

“Nachalgwigeom Yeonhee will use a technique to charm you, and if you get caught up in it, you will slowly be eaten away at. So, boldly ignore the technique that dazzles your eyes and trust your intuition.”

“Trust my intuition.”

“You have to look not only with your eyes, but also with your heart’s eye. You’ve heard of the concept of the ‘mind’s eye’, right? It’s one of the techniques that is mainly taught at the Touhou Academy.”

All students of the Eastern Garden are familiar with the Mind’s Eye. In the game, it is a skill classified as a trait.

Because of this trait, the students of the Eastern Flower Garden have some immunity to mental attacks. In contrast to Joachim, who pursues flashiness, the Eastern Flower Garden focuses on building up its internal structure.

“This isn’t something you can understand no matter how much you explain it in words. You have to experience it for yourself. What you see isn’t everything. Just always remember this keyword.”

I was just trying to give a little hint, but I feel like I ended up spoiling everything.

“Okay, Zion. I’ll give it a try.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I tried to get up from my seat, because I had a feeling that if I stayed here any longer, I would get into trouble.

As it turns out, that intuition was correct.

“But Zion, are you really okay?”

“what?”

“Giving up on advancing to the one-on-one tournament… Is that really the case?”

I was wondering what you were asking, and that was it.

“The team event is important anyway. The one-on-one tournament is a separate event, so there’s no need to waste energy on something useless.”

I haven’t played in one-on-one tournaments. I don’t really need to, and I don’t want to waste my time on them.

Participation in the team event, which is the core of this exchange, is absolutely required, but there is still quite a bit of time left until the team event begins.

So, until then, there was something more important to do, something that had been put aside a long time ago but now needed to be finished.

“Anyway, let’s go in first today.”

As I left the camp, the cool night air blew in. I saw the main quest floating before my eyes.

[Main Quest: Academy Exchange]

Anyway, the exchange has started, and now it’s time for me to start moving my body.