Ludwig swung the sword in his hand with a single arm, the sheer force behind the motion sending a shockwave through the room as the blade collided with the girl’s massive war axe. The clash was deafening, a resounding clang that reverberated off the walls and made the air itself tremble. The impact was so powerful that the room seemed to wince, the furniture rattling and the windows vibrating in their frames. Yet, neither Ludwig nor the small girl budged an inch, their feet firmly planted as their weapons locked in a test of raw strength.
“Whoaaa!” the girl exclaimed, her eyes widening with a mix of surprise and delight. “So much strength in that scrawny arm of yours!” Her voice was filled with genuine admiration, though her grin suggested she was far from done. “But I’m not satisfied yet!” she declared, swinging her axe down again with even greater force.
Ludwig met her strike head-on, his movements precise and calculated. He wasn’t aiming to attack her—not yet. Instead, he focused on deflecting her blows, using the weight and momentum of his borrowed sword to redirect her attacks. Each clash sent another deafening echo through the room, the sound growing louder and more intense with every strike. It was as if the room itself was tolling like a giant bell, the vibrations shaking the very foundations of the academy.
“USE BOTH HANDS!” the girl roared, her voice cutting through the chaos as she brought her axe down with a devastating overhead swing.
“Fine!” Ludwig growled, gripping the sword with both hands this time. His undead strength surged through his arms as he swung the blade with all his might. The collision was earth-shattering, the force of the blow sending the girl’s axe flying from her hands. The massive weapon embedded itself halfway into the nearest wall, the blade sinking deep into the stone with a thunderous crack.
Ludwig didn’t hesitate. In one fluid motion, he stepped forward and placed the tip of his sword against the girl’s neck, his expression calm but determined. For a moment, the room fell silent, the tension palpable.
The girl, however, simply smiled. With a casual flick of her fingers, she disarmed Ludwig, plucking the sword from his grip as if it were a toy. “Passable strength! Passable appearance, and above-average courage. You pass,” she said, her tone almost teasing. She snapped her fingers, and the axe embedded in the wall dissipated into thin air, leaving no trace of its destruction.
Bron, who had been watching from the sidelines, clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned his head away, clearly unimpressed. The girl, meanwhile, turned her attention back to Ludwig, her expression thoughtful.
“You’re not bad,” she admitted, tilting her head as she studied him. “But you have no technique—just brutal strength and violence. That won’t win you fights.”
Ludwig met her gaze, unflinching. “I beg to differ,” he said, his voice steady.
She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh? And why is that?”
Ludwig’s lips curled into a faint smirk. “I strongly believe in the idiom: if violence and strength aren’t solving a problem, you’re merely not using enough.”
For a moment, the girl stared at him, her expression unreadable. Then, she burst into hysterical laughter, the sound echoing through the room. “What kind of idiot said that?” she gasped between laughs. “But thinking about it, it’s not wrong in the least. Indeed, if you’re stronger than everyone, then all problems can be solved. Hah! This one is interesting.” She turned to the silent figure on the other side of the room, her grin widening. “What do you think, Haku?”
So, that’s his name, Ludwig thought, making a mental note. The man with the sword—Haku—nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful.
“Not bad,” Haku said, his voice low and measured. “To be able to swing this weapon several times and not even feel the exhaustion… That’s impressive.”
Bron, however, wasn’t convinced. “He only swung it a few times,” he scoffed, crossing his arms. “What’s the big deal? He had no technique or style. Any hoodlum could do that.”
Ravi, who had been quietly observing, shot Bron a warning look. “I’d remain quiet if I were you,” he said, his tone sharp. Though he had joined Bron in mocking Ludwig earlier, it seemed he had realized something Bron hadn’t.
Bron, however, wasn’t one to back down. “What do you mean? Like, give me that! Let me show you how we do this at the Steelheart household!” he declared, striding forward and snatching the sword from Haku’s hands.
Haku gave Bron a disdainful look but said nothing, his expression unreadable. Bron gripped the sword, his face twisting slightly as he adjusted to its weight. “This thing is poorly balanced,” he muttered, though his tone lacked conviction. He began to demonstrate his family’s swordsmanship, his movements fluid and practiced. But after just a few swings, his face began to flush, and his arms started to tremble visibly.
Refusing to admit defeat, Bron tried to swing the sword again, but his arms shook even more violently. He quickly planted the weapon on the ground, leaning on it for support as he tried to hide his exhaustion. “That’s all I can show from my family style,” he said, his voice strained. “One shouldn’t reveal too much. But like I said, it’s not that difficult…” His words were a blatant attempt to save face, but everyone in the room could see through the lie.
The difference between Bron and Ludwig was painfully obvious. While Bron struggled to wield the sword after just a few swings, Ludwig had fought with it effortlessly, not even breaking a sweat. The room fell silent, the unspoken truth hanging heavy in the air.
Danny clapped his hands, breaking the tension. “Anyway,” he said, his voice calm and authoritative, “we’ll be doing a few things here. I’m requesting you all to help make the academy safer. We’ll be creating a new rule and a new force. Starting tonight, we’ll be doing night patrols to monitor any suspicious activities.”
Minerva frowned, her arms crossed. “Policing the students? We’ll be hated by everyone.”
“That’s the only way to keep them safe,” Danny replied, his tone firm. “Regardless, you’re more than welcome to ignore any small skirmishes or duels between students if they’re in broad daylight and have witnesses. But at night, we’ll need people to identify themselves and explain what they’re doing. We can’t have random people wandering around the academy. We don’t know the serial killer’s pattern yet, so for now, we’ll keep a broader perspective.”
He turned to Ludwig, a faint smile on his lips. “I hope you don’t mind wasting some of your sleep time.”
Ludwig shrugged. “No worries,” he said. It wasn’t like he could sleep anyway, and the idea of patrolling the academy at night sounded like a good way to pass the time.
“Also, Ludwig,” Danny added, “I already saw a report on what happened in Rima. I believe you wanted to say something about the investigation before you were rudely cut off by Lidia.”
Ludwig nodded. “Oh, it was about Earth Memory crystals.”
Danny’s expression grew serious. “Ah, we do have similar magic, but the reveal didn’t show anything different from what we already know. The teachers used similar spells, and all they saw was the body suddenly appearing on the ground. No sign of the perpetrator or anything. This was the same in both cases—even in the case of Thomas Vondel’s death.”
Ludwig frowned, his gaze flickering to Ravi. He noticed the subtle shift in Ravi’s demeanor, a flicker of emotion that was quickly suppressed.
“For Vondel,” Danny continued, “all we saw was him going completely manic and, sadly, failing to escape the flaming prison he created in time. Regardless, you’ll be doing patrols with Minerva tonight. How about it?”
“Sure thing,” Ludwig said, his tone casual.
“Alright,” Danny said, clapping his hands again. “This concludes our short meeting. We can all go our separate ways now. Good luck with tonight’s patrol, and please report any suspicious activities.”
As the group began to disperse, Danny turned to Lidia, reprimanding her for the destruction she had caused. The girl, however, completely ignored him, waving goodbye to Ludwig with a devilish smile that sent a shiver down his spine.
As Ludwig walked away, he couldn’t help but wonder: Who’s scarier—an undead skeleton hiding among the living, or a small girl with a devil-like smile?