Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 226 (Part 1):
Now, there were two people avoiding Helmut at the dormitory: Leon and Taren.
Taren said he eventually couldn’t get up on stage that day and was carried out.
Although no one saw it properly, it was known that Helmut won without drawing his sword.
The memorable scene of him beating his opponent with just the scabbard, fortunately, didn’t spread much due to the lack of witnesses.
However, it was gradually becoming known, especially about the tremendous gap in skill he displayed.
As soon as Helmut returned to the dormitory that day, he received a lot of attention.
Especially the gazes from the Matesis guys felt piercing.
It turned out that Taren was considered a top contender among the lower-year representatives. Although Robin was also skilled, he wasn’t on Taren’s level.
In other words, from that day on, Helmut became the strongest contender in the dormitory.
“You showed that Matesis guy what you’re made of, didn’t you?”
That afternoon, Nils passed by patting Helmut’s shoulder as he said that. Charlotte also hardened her expression and said,
“Senior, I don’t think it’s right to expose your true abilities in the early stages of the tournament. But you were still amazing.”
It was the first time Helmut saw such an admiring look in Charlotte’s eyes. She was determined like a model student.
‘As a fellow Greta student, I should strive to compete with Senior Helmut.’
Charlotte’s tournament was the next day.
Of course, Charlotte would only meet Helmut in the finals, and unless she competed in her best condition, her chances of reaching the finals were slim.
Charlotte was a first-year, and this tournament included up to third-year students.
No matter what resolution Charlotte held, it was irrelevant to Helmut.
Helmut only thought he must get eliminated next time.
‘Next time…’
He felt that more proactive measures would be needed to ensure his elimination, rather than half-hearted attempts.
That day, trouble inevitably came from Matesis. It wasn’t a formal complaint, just trouble.
A Matesis instructor, who Helmut encountered while passing by, couldn’t hide his anger and threw a criticism at Instructor Patricia.
“Your student is nothing but a hooligan. I’m questioning the education at Greta Academy. How can he pull such a stunt in a legitimate duel? Who is this Helmut anyway?”
Everyone who watched knew that Helmut had intentionally beaten his opponent. That was the point being criticized.
Instructor Patricia scoffed and retorted.
“What can we do if our student’s skill is overwhelmingly superior to yours? Winning without even drawing the sword in a duel. You should strive harder!”
The Matesis instructor couldn’t respond and stormed off.
Feeling triumphant, Instructor Patricia came to the training ground and silently patted Helmut’s shoulder.
Helmut looked at her puzzled.
“Instructor?”
Instructor Patricia suddenly frowned and, placing her hand on his shoulder, asked worriedly.
“Was your condition bad? I didn’t expect you to hit your opponent with the scabbard.”
“Maybe.”
Did the instructor think he shouldn’t have done that? There was a certain dignity expected of Greta Academy students.
Helmut thought it was better to say he was feeling unwell.
However, Instructor Patricia didn’t criticize him at all.
“Anyway, well done. You did great. If that’s how well you perform when you’re unwell, there’s nothing to worry about. The championship is yours, Helmut!”
She smiled with satisfaction. After advising him not to overdo it and to recover his condition, she left.
After she left, Helmut felt a heavy weight on his mind. Any excuse wouldn’t work anymore.
Unless he feigned a high fever, Helmut didn’t know how to naturally get eliminated.
That night, Alea nodded when she heard the news that Helmut couldn’t get eliminated.
“I expected as much.”
Helmut didn’t have a talent for this sort of thing.
In other words, he was bad at pretending to be sick or such.
It seemed Alea had also been thinking about it because she soon spoke again.
“I have a good idea. The day after tomorrow is your next match, right? Leave the dormitory that morning.”
“Leave?”
“Yes, head towards Baden. We stay in contact through our bracelets, right? Say you got a signal and thought I was in danger. But it turned out to be a misunderstanding. I made a mistake.
You only realize this while heading towards Baden and return by evening. If I contact the faculty, it will seem more natural.”
“Isn’t it a stretch for me to rush out thinking you were in danger when you’re at the academy?”
There was still the issue of the final exams. Alea seemed relaxed, but she was studying until dawn.
Still, she had enough time to contact Helmut in between studying.
In fact, studying was just a habit for Alea – she had already finished preparing for the exams.
“Just say you couldn’t think that far. It seemed urgent, so you ran out with your sword.”
Helmut raised an eyebrow.
“That’s a bit forced.”
Giving her every benefit of the doubt, even if his girlfriend was in danger, would he really ignore the swordsmanship tournament, not even leave word with the instructors, and just rush out with only his sword?
However, he cannot simply disappear like that just because a friend might be in danger, without knowing the full situation.
That would cause unnecessary misunderstandings, like Helmut and Alea having some secret relationship.
No matter how close friends they are, that would be going a bit too far.