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Hereon abruptly woke me by nudging me with his foot.

"It\'s your turn," he declared, glaring down at me.

I rose from my makeshift bed of grass and assumed my watch duty. Meanwhile, Hereon took his turn to rest.

How uncouth of him to wake me with his foot like that. He lacked finesse. Well, I suppose I can comprehend his behavior. Love has a way of clouding judgment. Anything that threatens to disrupt that love becomes an adversary. Hereon harbored jealousy towards me, which I could empathize with.

I ought to clarify that there\'s no romantic involvement between Shredica and myself. Shredica is the last person I\'d consider as a romantic partner. I might even suggest to Hereon that I support their relationship. Would he appreciate that, or would it only irritate him? I suspect the latter.

As I kept watch, my mind wandered to my earlier conversation with Hertrude.

"Seems like something significant is happening on this island. Something substantial," I murmured quietly. We might be venturing into territory even beyond my ability to intervene.

While lost in these thoughts, I sensed someone behind me beginning to stir from their sleep. Without turning around, I allowed them to sit beside me.

"Struggling to sleep, Miss Shredica?" I inquired.

"Are you kidding me? Not at all. I can sleep like a baby even amidst danger because I have this innate sense that alerts me when danger draws near. Besides, I can even doze off with my eyes wide open, just like you. I picked up that skill from observing you snooze in class with your eyes open," Shredica remarked.

"That\'s quite observant of you, managing to mimic that," I remarked.

"Don\'t underestimate me, Mr. Leon. While you may not be aware yet, I happen to be quite the genius."

"A genius who doesn\'t excel in academics?"

"Academics aside, I consider myself an all-around genius," she asserted. "Anyway, the reason I\'m here awake with you is to have a chat. Is that alright?"

"Well, as long as it doesn\'t jeopardize the secret you\'re keeping, I suppose it\'s fine."

Shredica began, "What are your thoughts on this game, Leon? Do you think we\'ll emerge victorious?"

"It\'s hard to say, really. Our success depends on various factors. If we continue to make good progress, then we\'re likely to fare well. From what I can see, our progress seems promising. We\'ve established a solid base, you\'ve defeated some of the other participants, and while cooperation hasn\'t fully materialized yet, we should be alright if we maintain our current trajectory."

"Is that your stance?"

"Well, I\'m not overly confident about our chances," I admitted. Considering the future Hertrude had foreseen, there\'s a possibility we might not emerge victorious. Additionally, there\'s someone formidable here, and even I might have to put up a fight. Though I\'m confident I won\'t lose, flaunting my skills wouldn\'t be wise. Besides, I\'m a wanted individual.

Revealing my abilities could jeopardize my secret identity and hinder my mission to conquer the hearts of the women at school.

At that, Shredica sighed, "If we fail here, we\'ll be expelled from school," she remarked.

"And whose fault do you think that would be?" I asked. I anticipated her deflecting the blame onto me, but surprisingly, she didn\'t. What surprised me even more was her acknowledgment that it was her fault.

"I know. It\'s on me," she admitted.

I blinked several times, trying to process whether I had misheard her.

Seeing my reaction, she clicked her tongue in irritation. "Ugh. Do you really believe I\'m incapable of acknowledging my own faults? You\'ve underestimated me to the lowest degree, Mr. Leon," she scolded.

"I mean, I\'ve never heard you acknowledge your faults, so I assumed you couldn\'t. Well, I suppose that\'s just my assumption. My bad," I admitted.

"That\'s understandable, I suppose. I\'ve never really questioned why I\'m acknowledging my fault like this until now," she mused. "What would you do if we lose and get expelled from the academy?"

"Hmm... Maybe I\'ll look for a job, I guess. Being a magic knight isn\'t my top priority anyway," I replied.

"I feel guilty for dragging you into this. It\'s going to be my fault if you get expelled," she said, showing an unusual level of remorse today. Did something happen? "For that, I apologize, Mr. Leon."

"You\'re worrying me. Are you sure nothing bad happened to you?"

She glared at me.

"I\'m sorry," I apologized immediately. "I know what you did was wrong," I added. "But there\'s nothing we can do about it. If we lose here, it\'s not just your fault, it\'s mine too."

"Don\'t worry, Mr. Leon. Even if you\'re useless, I\'ll carry you," she reassured me.

Well, she\'s still the same old Shredica. I thought she might have changed, but it seems not.

"I\'m going to sleep now. Take care of the watch," she said.

"I will," I replied.

With that, the first day of the King\'s Game came to an end.

***

I woke up much earlier that morning than I had anticipated. The heat and humidity had me tossing and turning in my sleep. It finally roused me, and I wasn\'t very well-rested. My bed felt warm, and I recalled that Johanne was on watch duty after me. However, when I woke up, it was the Princess herself who was on duty. She was...

dozing off, propped against the cave wall. Perhaps her sleep wasn\'t sufficient, causing her to nod off during her watch. It wasn\'t a major concern though. As long as there wasn\'t any threat of attack while we slept, it was acceptable for her to doze during duty.

I adjusted her position to ensure she could rest comfortably, then stepped out of the cave. The sun had just begun to rise, and I couldn\'t detect any presence near our base. Despite this, I decided to conduct a thorough check of the vicinity. I tend to be somewhat paranoid about such matters, wondering if there might be someone nearby with a skill enabling them to evade my senses.

That concern turned out to be unnecessary since I hadn\'t spotted anyone nearby.

I climbed up into a tree and scanned the area. The sounds of battle reached my ears, blades clashing and gunfire echoing. It seemed like someone was already engaged in combat this early in the morning.

"I suppose I\'ll allow them to settle their dispute. It\'ll only increase our chances of victory," I muttered to myself.

Suddenly, I sensed something approaching me rapidly in a straight line. It was moving so swiftly, with clear intent to do me harm. Without hesitation, I activated my Guardian to deflect the impending attack.

However, my Guardian suddenly vanished into thin air as soon as the attacker closed in on me. Fortunately, I managed to dodge the attack without any issue.

"...?" The attacker, a woman with black hair and red eyes, looked at me with confusion evident in her expression. Though her eyes remained cold and devoid of emotion, I could sense her perplexity.

"Who are you?" I inquired. She gazed back at me, and as our eyes met, I felt as if I were staring at my own reflection in a mirror. She wasn\'t me, merely a striking resemblance. I recognized her as the woman who extinguished the fire during that arson incident. The manner in which she quenched the flames was instantaneous, as if the fire itself were unreal. I already knew this woman.

She was Veronica Eclair. Despite my knowledge of her name, I still posed the question, adding an extra layer of dramatic effect. It wouldn\'t be plausible for a random woman to suddenly attack me out of nowhere. Naturally, after surviving her initial assault, it was only fitting to inquire about her identity.

Instead of responding to my question, she launched into another attack. Her speed was remarkable, making it increasingly difficult for me to evade. I attempted to activate one of my skills to retaliate, but each time I tried, the skill would inexplicably vanish. Was her sword capable of nullifying powers? No, while her blade wasn\'t ordinary steel, it didn\'t seem to be a power dampener.

So what was causing my skills to be nullified?

Since skills seemed ineffective, I decided to resort to magic. I gathered mana in my hand, shaping it into a precise swirl.

"Hm...?" The woman raised an eyebrow, sensing something was amiss, and promptly vanished from my sight.

Suddenly, she materialized behind me, attempting to sever my neck from my shoulder. I solidified the mana to form a barrier, blocking her blade from reaching my neck and sparing me from decapitation.

The woman\'s eyes widened in surprise, but she swiftly reverted to an aggressive stance once more.

While all of this was happening, I felt eyes on me once more.