Shouts erupted in the arena as the tenth round commenced, my lady all set to kick my [Devil eye] away from her as she ambled to the stage. The usual snickers didn’t follow her; instead, cheers accompanied both the girls as the heroine nudged her sidekick toward the stage with a warm smile. Entanglements with Gladiata’s entourage were not a coincidence since the creator of the world might have planned to bomb my lady, along with her two villainess friends. And going against the tide didn’t sound as easy as it appeared.

A brief glance at the stands was all it took for a grin to replace her otherwise stern face, and Casey waved at her with a beaming smile concealed under the cloak.

“Leti!” she yelled, but her voice was drowned amidst the ‘Princess’ cheers that exploded in the stadium. Haughty or not, she was a noble princess of the Kingdom, one that was ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of her brother, so she had earned unrivaled respect in the Kingdom. Unfortunately, the redhead was a good lad who didn’t send his sister to distant lands even when terrible situations demanded it.

A fire attribute mage wasn’t a bad opponent for my lady thanks to her own fire spells, but heroine’s sidekick wasn’t an easy foe for a mage that had just learned channelizing mana. Nevertheless, my lady had actual combat experience with Amateur bandits that might be enough to get a passing grade at least. And that was equivalent to winning for us.

My lady curtsied to the examiners before taking her stance against the confident gaze of her opponent. A few shadows scuttled through the audience before settling down in some elevated seats meant for commoners, and it didn’t take undead to know that they were here for a different reason.

“You see them, Rudolf?” Garlan asked, scratching his bushy hair.

“They are probably up to no good,” I said, watching the three silhouettes vigilantly. “Though, as long as they don’t harm my lady, we don’t need to worry.”

“And Beth!” Casey added with a pout.

“And my lady’s friends,” I said with a smile, which earned me a snicker from the bread lad, though an amused one.

Ten sickles of ice materialized before my lady, and without warning, charged toward the Princess. A long wall of fire evaporated them instantly, but Letitia had already dashed through the wall by casting [Ice Shield] that had lasted just enough for her to reach her opponent.

A punch followed, taking the Princess by surprise, but it did little damage other than riling up the Princess and leaving a bruise on the face she admired. My lady ducked blithely, dodging her assaulter’s roundhouse kick, and froze the ground beneath, letting the princess trip herself. A solid mass of fire assaulted my lady despite her opponent losing momentary focus, and Letitia retreated, casting [Ice Shield] in advance that melted as two more blobs of raging flames assuaged her, the foe still on the ground.

My lady’s distraction provided enough time for the Princess to get back on her feet. Both retreated, my lady already casting [Ice Shards] that melted against another wall of blazing flames. Sweat glistened on Letitia’s forehead, and she was almost out of breath, but her opponent wasn’t well off either. Natalia’s crumbling internal reserve made her apprehensive about using spells carelessly, so she charged for hand-hand combat, knowing that it was my lady’s weakness.

A polygonal [Ice Shield] glistened around my lady, reflecting the iridescent light, and my lady cast [Chilly Winds] around her foe. Natalia used [Warmth] that helped her to ward off the breeze that lingered in her locale. She retreated, out of the area of effect of Letitia’s spell, and another ball of fire glistened in her hands as my lady’s shield crumbled.

“That was [Heat Storm],” Casey said, watching my lady’s shield melt as a ball of blazing flame assaulted her.

“Yea,” Garlan nodded, too absorbed in the fight. “The princess is clever despite not being a breathtaking beauty.”

Rods of ice-encased my lady before the mass of fire could hit her, and her [Ice Barrage] rendered the spell useless, though she had taken her considerable effort.

“Not bad, Latitia,” Princess wiped the sweat on her forehead. “Never thought you’d last this long.”

My lady snickered and returned the blazing ball of fire, but Natalia neutralized it by casting her own [Blast]. Explosion eruption in the center mollifying the excited shouts of the audience until the smoke cleared out.

“Letitia doesn’t know high-tier spells yet,” Garlan said, watching the cloaked figures for a while before settling his gaze on the mirian. “I would have helped her if she gave me enough cash.”

“Even Princess is a mid-tier mage,” Casey said, casting [Spark] on Garlan’s already bushy hair. “And don’t ever think of looting our Leti, Garlan!”

“My lady cleared the test,” I said, resisting my curling lips as my eye bobbed around the examiners before settling back down on their table.

I felt like a proud mentor, the feeling quite alien, but it was still there. My lady had given up on her graduation a couple of months ago, and somehow the prince’s slap had woken her up. Though I had taken the brunt of the damage, but as long as my lady became an ideal villainess, everything was bearable.

The smoke rose from the platform swirling in the winter breeze before two hoarsely breathing figures fell on their knees one after the other. My lady was still sustaining the glowing wall of flames, but her clothes clung to her body tightly owing to her dripping sweat. She was wearing my unused shirt, amended for her size, within her frock after my insistence, so she didn’t attract as many gazes as the Princess, and her almost transparent attire did.

The arena had grown warmer after the barrage of fire spells, and people started shedding their thick clothing. The cheers for the Princess had digressed to cheers for both and to some hooting comments of the noblemen toward Princess accompanied by the fervent glare of the crown prince. The commoners didn’t dare to stare at the Princess blatantly, but their eyes didn’t help much.

My lady stood back on her feet, five ice sickles shivering before her, but they disappeared even before they could start their journey toward the Princess. There was a smile on Natalia’s face as she charged, though much slower than before, and my lady raised her hands, softening the punch that would have made her wobbly.

My lady returned the punch, but her assaulter was too familiar with combat as she pinned my lady’s arm and tossed her over, breaking Letitia’s arm in the process. My lady bit her lips, suppressing the shriek about to break loose, and rolled away from the wobbly Princess. She struggled back to her feet with ardent valor, but her right arm hung limply beside her. The crowd cheered for more bloodshed, Casey too nervous that she stood up with the rest of the horde, though in worry, unlike others.

“That’s enough,” Crover’s crisp voice resounded in the hall, followed by the booing of the crowds, but another [Thiage] shut them up for good.

Letitia would have been beaten to a pulp if the examiner hadn’t interrupted the fight, for she hated giving up, and slapping her palm on the ground would have been an impossible chore for her.

Not that I had fond feelings toward this old cognoscente mage, but I would remember his impartiality and offer him a quick death should the day ever come.

Undead are kind too, if you didn’t know already.

“How about we greet my lady?” I asked while Garlan looked away.

“You want us to face the burden of her rage?” Garlan asked, slumping his shoulder. “She’s too formidable for this man.”

Casey cast another [Spark] on him before following me out of the arena. My lady was tapping her feet in annoyance, her arm folded across her chest gripping her broken arm tightly with a glare that warded off the mentors from approaching her. Though a student, she was a noble lady of highest rank only next to the Princess, so they were apprehensive about offending her outside the Academy grounds.

“You passed, my lady,” I smiled at her, wiping her dingy face with a kerchief.

“But I lost,” she said, repressed anger in her voice. “I wanted to beat that bitch badly, but she was tough.”

“That’s why you don’t slack–“

“It’s fine, Leti,” Casey stomped my legs as I earned a suspicious glare from my lady. “You did well, and Ruddy was watching you with a glitzy gaze.”

“Was he?” a smile perked up her lips.

“I wasn–“

Another stomp forced me to acquiesce to her words.

“I want to have a bath,” she said, pulling her sticky clothes. “I stink, but Beth’s match is coming up soon.”

“You don’t need a bath, my lady,” I pointed out, healing her broken arm that she hadn’t moved for a while now. “Your sweat doesn’t smell bad. I can’t quite put it into words, but it has the scent of frozen ice along with something else.” I tried to think of addictive scents, but nothing came close to describing her.

My lady’s ears turned red, and Casey stared at me, her mouth wide open. “Are you a pervert too, Ruddy?”

“I was just stating the fact,” I shrugged. “My lady?”

I turned to her, worried about the blush creeping her face. “Are you all right?”

She punched me lightly, grabbed my cloak, and stormed up the stairs but paused after climbing a couple of them. “Do you like my scent, mongrel?” she asked, without turning around.

“I don’t hate it, my lady,” I replied as my lady climbed the rest of the stairs without glancing at me.

“What’s inside that brain of yours, Ruddy? Other than a big black rock,” Casey didn’t wait for my answer and followed my lady wordlessly.

I wanted to tell her that the human brain wasn’t black in color, but she was already beside my lady, a slight distance away.

Beth would win the match, I knew, even without looking at her draws because Dark Attribute mages were inherently more potent than the rest if they had access to one other attribute for the offense. And Beth had it, for she was a fire attribute mage versed in Amateur tier spells.

My return to the arena was harshly interrupted by a little girl who collided against my legs and fell on her butt. Not that I particularly liked kids, and never the ones with snot mangling their faces and dried up on tears on their cheeks, but I helped her up with much hesitation. Mortals, children or not, are fodder and my instincts never let me make their life easier. So, you might already guess that even I was taken aback by my abnormal display of kindness.

She hugged my legs, her pony hardly reaching my knees, and wiped her terrible snot on my pants. I shook her away and she collapsed on her butt again. Her wails attracted the attention of the commuters, and I earned a few cautious glances, mortals holding their children closer as they walked away from me.

I ignored the crying kid and walked back to the arena, but the brat hugged my legs and continued wailing like a pitiful child. Sooner than I thought, my lady looked back, watching the heart-rending scene of undead bullying a child with a ferocious gaze, and I didn’t need to think twice who would be reprimanded here.