Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

“You’re Kaplan, aren’t you?”

Under the moonlit night, a sword sliced through the air.

*Fwooooosh!*

Its speed was so great that even sound couldn’t keep up, the sonic boom lagging behind.

Once again, and yet again, the sword cut through the air.

*Fwooooosh!*

There was not the slightest deviation in the sword’s vertical trajectory.

Moreover, it was as if the process itself didn’t exist—only the result of the sword slashing down remained.

A textbook move.

It was an execution so flawless that the word “textbook” wasn’t wasted on it.

“Hooo….”

The female knight caught her breath.

Though the sword remained unchanged, the human body did not.

Her entire body was drenched in sweat, droplets scattering with each swing of her sword.

‘Nine hundred ninety-eight.’

She swung the sword once more.

*Fwooooosh!*

‘Nine hundred ninety-nine.’

Once more, and then once again without hesitation….

The repeated motion, without even the slightest error, was a form of torture in itself.

However, this female knight feared not such torturous training in the least.

Now, only one remained.

‘Final one!’

*Crash!*

As she stomped the ground with all her might, the rocks underfoot flew into the air. There were at least ten of them at a glance.

In that fleeting moment when the rocks no longer rose, she unleashed her unique ability.

Flash (閃光)

…In an instant, she would cut them all down.

But then.

“Yvonne!”

At the sudden call of her name, the girl couldn’t swing her sword.

“….”

With a deep breath, she looked down at her sword with a complicated expression.

“I suppose… it counts as a failure.”

Though she had succeeded nine hundred and ninety-nine times, it was also an undeniable fact that she had failed once.

She could only accept it silently.

Yvonne Rose.

The person who had called her name quickly apologized when they saw her serious demeanor.

“I interrupted you at a crucial moment. I’m sorry, Yvonne.”

Yvonne quietly shook her head. She removed her gloves and wiped away the sweat beading on her forehead.

“Rudville, there’s no need to apologize.”

“Wasn’t it because of me that you couldn’t swing your sword?”

“Certainly not. It was I who stopped swinging just because my name was called. It’s right to say it’s my own lack of discipline.”

“….”

The expressions of the cadets who had accompanied Rudville to see Yvonne momentarily went blank.

*Yvonne is truly Yvonne.*

They all thought the same thing simultaneously.

“So… what brings you here?”

“Ah, right. Everyone.”

Rudville nodded as if he had just remembered.

Then, the other cadets proudly lifted the baskets they held in both hands. The delicious aroma wafting from them suggested they were filled with food.

“Yvonne, tomorrow is the day of the Sports Competition. We thought we’d celebrate a bit early.”

“Celebrate early?”

“Yeah, because it’s obvious you’re going to win anyway.”

In fact, since the knight department’s winning rate in the combat events was overwhelmingly high, it was impossible for them to feel nervous.

Yvonne shook her head.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ll eat after the competition.”

At that, everyone around her burst into laughter. Yvonne tilted her head slightly in confusion.

“…Why do you all laugh whenever I say something? Always.”

“It’s because of your way of speaking.”

“My way of speaking? You find it amusing?”

“Yeah, a lot. No matter how many times we hear it, we can’t get used to it. That’s why I’m telling you, stop swinging that sword all day and have some fun, Yvonne.”

Yvonne scratched her cheek with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“It’s strange… Everyone spoke like this back home….”

“That’s exactly what makes it funny! You’re from Raffel, after all!”

Once again, laughter erupted. Yvonne’s hometown, Raffel, was notoriously known as the countryside of the countryside.

As she repeated and checked her own speech a few times, the other cadets started offering her food again.

“Come on, just have a bite. After all, it’s not like the magicians can beat you, even with their eyes closed.”

“Rudville. You shouldn’t say things like that.”

Yvonne sharply cut off Rudville’s words, her expression turning serious.

“No matter who the opponent is, we must always do our best without letting our guard down. That’s respect for myself and, further, respect for the opponent.”

“Aww, kids! Yvonne’s giving us another lecture!”

Rudville pretended to collapse dramatically, and the other cadets supported him, each chiming in.

“Yvonne, aren’t you being too serious? You should be mindful of your own skills. You’re known as the rising star of the Knight Department.”

“Right. Is there any knight in the first year who can beat you? No. When even other knights can’t win, how could a magician beat you? Rudville’s right—they can’t win even with their eyes closed.”

Yvonne raised both hands, trying to calm them down with a somewhat troubled expression.

“P-Please stop saying that. I still have much to learn. It would be disrespectful to the many fine knights.”

“Yvonne, if you’re so rigid, how will you ever get married?”

Rudville quipped with a laugh. Upon hearing this, Yvonne jumped up, startled.

“M-M-Marriage! My goal is to become a Sword Saint!”

“Who knows? Maybe there’ll be a man who becomes the husband of the Sword Saint.”

“Enough!”

Yvonne’s face turned as red as if it were about to explode.

That expression was famous among the first-year cadets in the Knight Department, and everyone burst into laughter.

Rudville then pulled out a massive stack of papers from one of the baskets. They were all copies of the Merhen Daily.

As if they had found something delicious, the other cadets each took one, and Rudville raised his voice.

“Alright, since our great Yvonne won’t admit how amazing she is, why don’t we take this time to praise her?”

“Please… Don’t do that….”

“How can we not? If you don’t like it, then you should’ve been a little less amazing. The Knight Department’s prodigy, the rising star of the Knight Department, the second Scarlet Judith, the undefeated knight….”

“Rudville! Stop it! Stop!”

Yvonne frantically tried to stop them, but it was futile against their excitement.

Soon, someone loudly began reading out the headlines from the newspaper articles.

“‘The Knight Department’s Rising Star, Yvonne Rose, Prepares Thoroughly to Secure Victory!’”

“‘The Entire Academy Abuzz with Yvonne’s Swordsmanship. Puhaha… Who wrote this?’”

As soon as one finished reading a headline, another cadet continued from the side. Yvonne pressed her throbbing forehead with her palm.

The “praise” for Yvonne continued for quite some time afterward. Drinks were passed around busily.

Instead of responding to each embarrassing praise, she pulled out a necklace from her chest.

‘Father.’

Holding the necklace, memories of her childhood suddenly surfaced.

Her father’s harsh training. Being scolded twice as hard if she cried, collapsing from exhaustion after the training was over….

If her father were still alive, all this praise would have been directed at him.

Thus, Yvonne could never forgive the Demons who took her father from her. Moreover, she could never afford to lose.

But then.

“Huh? What’s this…?”

A cadet next to her widened his eyes. He suddenly buried his face in the newspaper, meticulously scrutinizing each word as if in disbelief.

“What’s with him? Can’t he read?… Huh?”

Rudville, who had approached him, also widened his eyes. Finally, their mouths dropped open.

“‘Magic Department Selects Representative Based on Systematic Criteria… Garnering Attention…’”

At the mere mention of the Magic Department, the previously boisterous training ground fell silent.

“…‘Confident in Victory in the Combat Events’? What the hell does this mean? Did I read that right?”

“There’s a lot of articles related to the Magic Department. What’s going on?”

The sound of clinking glasses and laughter vanished at once, leaving only the sound of pages being turned to fill the training ground.

“…What the fuck? What’s up with these bastards?”

Rudville broke the silence, crumpling the newspaper in his hand.

That was the signal. Everyone began to speak at once.

“They’re so arrogant. Are they asking to get beaten up?”

“Who the hell is their representative to be this cocky? Let’s see.”

All interest shifted to the Magic Department’s “representative.”

“Flan…. Hey, he just seems like a commoner, doesn’t he?”

“A commoner? Did they all get together and cast one of those spells? You know, that one they like. Charm, was it?”

While criticisms of the Magic Department poured in, someone tilted their head and spoke up.

“His background is a bit unusual, though. He entered as an F-rank but was chosen as a representative this time.”

“That’s not unusual… Hey, wait. Could it be that?”

As if something had occurred to him, one cadet hastily continued.

“Did he make a contract with a Demon? Magicians often make Soul Contracts, right? If you think about it like that, it all makes sense, doesn’t it? Even the confidence would be explained.”

*Soul Contract.*

The mention of it

brought a brief silence before Rudville suddenly smacked the cadet on the head.

“You’ve lost your mind?”

“Ow!”

“Do you really think a representative chosen by both departments, evaluated by the professors, and checked by the Dean would be someone under contract?”

Then Rudville mouthed quietly.

“Don’t talk about Demons in front of Yvonne!”

At that moment.

“I’ll be going now.”

Yvonne grabbed her outer garment. Her face was more serious than ever.

A look that seemed capable of cutting down anything.

Rudville cautiously spoke.

“Yvonne, are you okay?”

Yvonne silently nodded, picking up her sword. She seemed to be heading to another training ground immediately.

She could never afford to lose.

But if she did, she would accept it humbly. She would rise from countless defeats and victories, eventually reaching the pinnacle of knighthood….

Finally, she would become the Sword Saint capable of vanquishing all Demons.

So if.

By any chance.

Her opponent was a Demon….

She would never forgive them.

◈

—Kaplan.

A voice, clear and transparent without a hint of falsehood.

That slender tone disturbed my mind. It was almost enough to stir an impulse.

—You’re not going to tell me this time, either?

A sense of déjà vu came over me. I knew this situation.

—It’s okay. I believe in you.

Words she once said to me, when I was shouldering everything alone.

—You’ll prove it in the end, just like always.

Looking back, it was advice I had given while squeezing out every ounce of courage.

—You’re Kaplan, after all. The Grand Magician of the Merhen Rank, Kaplan.

Or perhaps a plea.

A clumsy attempt to share both joy and sorrow alike.

Love.

Her silver hair fluttered in the wind as she leaned against the window. The shimmering strands veiled her face, making it impossible to see her expression.

If she turned around, I knew I would be met with her golden eyes, shining like stars in a downpour.

I stood up and walked toward her.

One step, then another.

But as I got close enough to almost reach her, her form vanished like smoke.

“….”

At the same time, I opened my eyes.

Naturally, that woman did not exist in this world. The violet sunlight streaming through the curtains informed me that a new day had dawned.

In other words, I had been dreaming.

A dream.

“It seems my training is insufficient.”

A dream is nothing more than a childlike indulgence of the mind, replaying plausible fantasies by selectively editing real experiences.

The fact that I remembered the dream indicated that my body was not sufficiently fatigued, leading to poor sleep quality.

In any case, the day of the Sports Competition had arrived.

The outside was eerily quiet. I had woken up earlier than usual.

I had no intention of going back to sleep or sitting idly. I hurriedly washed up and stepped out of the dormitory.

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, casting a pale light over the campus. The academy was enveloped in the calm before the storm.

‘…A dream.’

The memory of it intruded upon my otherwise clear mind and vision.

I forcibly cleared my cluttered thoughts. A magician must be impervious to external and internal distractions.

It must have been a momentary illusion.

An extraordinary event, defeated by the onslaught of sleep.

I steadied my breathing. Starting from my heart, I channeled mana through the thick blood vessels down to the tiniest capillaries at my fingertips and toes, awakening my sharpened senses.

I exhaled lightly. Perfect. I would no longer be swayed by external stimuli.

“I wonder if my mind has become as green as my body.”

I shook off the lingering discomfort from the strange emotions with an uncharacteristically awkward mutter.

I composed myself and continued walking across the campus. I planned to meditate in the training ground and check my mana before the competition began.

“Ah, Lord Flan!”

It was then that a voice as white as clouds called out, catching me in my tracks.

“Good morning!”

I heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching.

“Lord Flan! Have you had breakfast?”

When I turned my head, I saw her.

Hair as white as light… And golden eyes that shone so brightly it felt like one could go blind if they stared too long.

“I came out to greet you on this day of the Sports Competition!”

It was Yusia, standing proudly before me, patting her chest.

“Have you had breakfast?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh dear, Mother always said breakfast is the most important meal!”

I looked away from Yusia and resumed walking.

I needed to meditate. No, I had to.

“Ah, where are you going?”

She smiled brightly, trailing closely behind me.

“To the training ground.”

“I see, I’ll join you! Did you sleep well last night?”

*Uncomfortable.*

Yusia seemed intent on getting an answer, her small fists clenched tightly. I looked down at her sparkling golden eyes and then averted my gaze.

“It was uncomfortable.”

Under normal circumstances, I would have clicked my tongue and shown my displeasure.

But, for some reason.

“Oh… really? What was the problem? How dare something disturb Lord Flan!”

A faint smile played at the corners of my lips.