I Became a Tentacle Monster Blooming in the Academy Garden 226

## Chapter 226 – The Fight Beneath the Surface (9)

A soft yet desperate flurry of sword strikes came rushing toward her.

The sharp attacks, linked together with minimal wasted motion as if after much research and practice, caused Vivian’s gaze to follow the path of the sword, quickly raising her wooden sword to meet it.

Immediately knocking Anne’s sword aside, Vivian dove into her space, bringing the handle of her sword down to strike Anne’s chest.

‘She has talent…?
Can she catch up to me with just effort?’

The chest of the training uniform was deeply pierced by the sword handle, suggesting a considerable impact.

“Argh!! Keheuk!! Keh…!! Kehek…!!”

Perhaps because she was struck near the solar plexus, Anne rolled on the floor, clutching her chest, her rough coughs echoing through the training grounds.

Even amidst this, the aching sensation in her lower abdomen delivered the shock that she had once again allowed a mutual-destruction counterattack.

And Vivian, aiming her wooden sword at her as she approached, looked just like she did in front of the flower bed that day.

If there was one difference, it was the expression on Vivian’s face, now changed, lacking composure, and impatient.

‘I have to kill her… right now…
Before she grows more… quickly…!!’

According to her plan, Anne would not end up as her toy in the future either.

The Anne currently rolling on the dirt floor would ultimately become Enic’s livestock and slave, serving him with that body.

But what if Anne, who would be held by Enic and become Henia, gained abilities on par with her own?

Wouldn’t Vivian’s own value fade if Anne, stronger than Vivian herself, emerged?

Vivian believed that Enic, who cherished her, would not mistreat her.

But as is always the case with jealousy, it was difficult to objectify it oneself.

In the current situation where she couldn’t accept such a scenario, even Vivian couldn’t stop negative emotions from flowing into her heart.

So she had to kill her.

Before Anne, still like a baby bird in the nest, spread her wings and soared.

Before Anne caught Enic’s eye and her own position was threatened.

“That’s enough.”

Suddenly realizing she was being admonished, Vivian felt a strong hand gripping her wooden sword, preventing her from moving it, and slowly released her grip on the sword handle.

Then, with Lucia’s manipulation, the wooden sword spun in the air before she caught the handle and poked Anne with the end.

“Anne, you get up too.
It’s not good to whine over something like this.
And, have you two ever met before?
Don’t put personal feelings into your sword, or it’ll get dangerous.”

“Ah… hahaha… I’m sorry.
You’re so skilled… I got excited…”

‘How much are you planning to see through?’

People who kept seeing through her, even things she didn’t know about herself, were appearing, making her wonder if she was lacking, or if they were just amazing.

As Vivian hastily stammered, Lucia, looking at Anne who was still unable to get up, was about to call another student to help her up.

“Prana, take Anne to the general infirmary.”

“No need for that, I reckon?
I’ll take care of Sister Anne.
That sister over there seemed to get poked pretty hard too, why don’t you come over here, I reckon?”

“I’m fine.”

Even Sistina’s paladin, who had been watching from afar, stepped forward to declare that she would take care of Anne, ultimately causing her head to become even more complicated.

‘Nothing is going according to plan…’

Vivian had no choice but to give up on her plans and retreat.

Anne, sitting on the ground, struggled to watch Vivian’s retreating figure.

“That was a pretty sharp counterattack, I reckon?
Thanks to giving up on defense, it seems like you lightly fractured a rib, but you’ll be alright.
I’ll restore it in one go, but this is a secret from the others, I reckon?”

Her lips tightened, and Anne was finally able to get up from her spot.

Perhaps it was just her imagination that her expression looked like a faint smile.

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“Alright, is there any difficulty moving, I reckon?”

“Uh… no… thank you…”

Anne’s upper body, with its fair skin, was slightly flushed red.

Sitting on the bed, she seemed embarrassed to be undressed, and slightly cringed as she received the woman’s touch, who was wrapping bandages around her chest.

But the other person didn’t seem to care, and was instead busy comforting Anne…

“There’s no need to be disappointed, considering who you were up against, I reckon?
I was a paladin rolling around in Sistina, wasn’t I?
It’s only natural that it’s hard to win against someone like that normally, I reckon?”

“Normally…”

“That instructor Lucia is quite skilled, isn’t she, I reckon?
That sister is someone whose body, mind, and technique are all complete.
So she’s entered the process of finding her own sword path, I reckon?
Even Sister Bibi wouldn’t be a match for someone like that, I reckon.”

“But… that means…”

It was understandable that Lucia could beat Bibi.

She was an excellent swordsman even in Anne’s own opinion.

Could there even be a swordsman in this academy who could beat Lucia, excluding the professors?

It was a natural statement in some ways, but it felt bitter to accept it from her perspective.

At least she considered Lucia to be a rival.

It was a good thing to be happy for someone else’s development, but watching someone rise to a place that she couldn’t reach was just as painful.

“I haven’t seen all the student brothers and sisters’ skills yet, but…
There aren’t many students in the swordsmanship department who can compete with that sister right now, I reckon.
The fourth-year senior brothers and sisters are said to have practical experience too…
So they say their skills are that good, but…”

Roxanne, who seemed to be pondering something, stroked her chin and stared at the ceiling for a moment, before clapping her hands together.

“Ah!! Come to think of it, I was a Sub-Knight!!
So… here in Groden, it would be…
A knight certified by the Archbishopric, I reckon?
But first, let’s take a look at Sister Bibi…
Her dynamic visual acuity is good, her reaction speed is good, and her body is very good, as if she was born to be a swordsman.
If you only consider strength, she’s on par with me, who has trained as a paladin, isn’t she, I reckon?
Frankly, it’s ‘a training state that’s hard to see as a student,’ I reckon!!”

In fact, she was a little surprised when she saw Roxanne and Bibi’s real sword sparring from afar last time.

Roxanne boasted a clean spear path, as if she was watching a complete swordsmanship.

And Bibi, who drove Roxanne into a corner with beast-like, wild movements and counterattacks that seemed haphazard but perfectly grasped the opponent’s attacks.

But she had never even imagined that the two of them would be at that level.

When she actually crossed swords with her, even Roxanne, who had faced such a Bibi, seemed like a monster.

To make the opponent fly away as if they had been hit by a wild boar with a single sword strike.

Was that a human attack, and what kind of human was Roxanne, who was receiving and defending against it?

“Actually, I was almost excited when I saw the blood vessels on the back of her hand, I reckon?
Such a match, isn’t it a rival of destiny, I reckon?”

“Ah… um… uh…”

She didn’t know why she was blushing in the meantime, but Anne forced a smile, stammering, with a sense of crisis that she felt like it wouldn’t be good to know.

“Alright, it’s healed for now, I reckon.
Don’t take off the bandages for about half a day, I reckon.
It’s a high-quality product with the prayer of a maiden, I reckon?”

Anne looked down at the bandages that were tightly wrapped around her chest, and covered herself with a blanket, her face turning as red as a ripe tomato at the sight of her subtly exposed cleavage.

Roxanne was explaining the precautions to her, and Anne was nodding.

“And I’ll tell the instructor sister, so take a rest today, I reckon.
It wasn’t a very good injury, so you have to take care of your body, I reckon.
Rest well today and start tomorrow, I reckon.
Then I’ll be going now that the treatment is over, I reckon?”

“Thank you…”

“See you later, I reckon!!”

Roxanne waved her hand and left the infirmary, and Anne finally relaxed and leaned back on the bed after she left.

Her eyes stared at the door Roxanne had left through for a while, before turning to the window where the light was coming in.

The pain that had felt like it was tearing her chest apart just a while ago had disappeared with Roxanne’s bandage wrapping, which she didn’t know what she had done.

But even though the pain had disappeared, she still remembered the feeling that had made her smile at that moment.

“I… counterattacked…
Definitely…
It landed properly…”

Although she had been beaten up terribly by such a monster, she was still able to land one hit properly.

“I’ll do it properly…
I’ll make it happen…”

And she couldn’t forget the feeling that she felt like she was being rewarded for something by the look in her eyes that seemed flustered even after she had blown her away.

‘Now… I can do it too…
One by one… one by one…
I’ll… get it all back…’

From the time the sun rose, to the time it slowly set and faded into the twilight.

The girl, who had been staring out the window while thinking about something, slowly unwrapped the bandages around her chest.

And after quickly hiding her protruding breasts in her underwear, the girl neatly folded the bandages, put them in her pocket, and slowly began to leave the infirmary, carrying her belongings.

‘Now… I can fight too…’

The girl’s way home, having regained her confidence, was a little lighter than usual, and continued with a heart dyed in the red sunset.

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