Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 77

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“Ah, there’s Yulia.”
Seeing Seres turn her attention back to the play, Chaien turned his head as well.
But soon he leaned in again, speaking softly.
“What are you going to do after the play ends?”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“I have somewhere to be.”
“Somewhere? Where? The shop?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
Seres gave a simple answer, her eyes fixed on the stage where Yulia was cleverly outwitting and fleeing from the wolf.
“The Janitor Selection Competition.”
“What? A janitor?”
Though Chaien’s expression showed confusion, Seres remained absorbed in the play.
* * *
“Hey, look at the faces on those guys.”
“Totally frozen.”
“The outcome’s obvious—why are they so wound up?”
At the Training Grounds where the Sword Tournament was being held,
Airen and the A Group students snickered as they watched the B Group children.
Seeing how much more tense they were than usual was almost absurd.
“They must be embarrassed about getting crushed in front of all these people.”
Airen mocked the B Group members in particular, who seemed unable to sit still.
‘They haven’t even been training at the Training Grounds lately.’
It struck him as funny that those kids, who’d been avoiding him and his group all this time, showed up without fail for the Sword Tournament.
“But hey, why are they looking around like that?”
“Yeah, seriously.”
“They’re looking for someone, aren’t they?”
There was something odd about the atmosphere among the B Group members, including Antonian.
Beyond mere anxiety, the way they kept scanning the spectator stands, unable to settle themselves—something about it felt off.
“Hey, Antonian. Is Seres really coming?”
“Please, God, let her not come.”
“If we mess up this match today—”
“We’re done for.”
“Ugh!”
The B Group children’s faces grew paler by the moment, remembering the conversation they’d had with Seres days ago.
‘There’s a Sword Tournament coming up soon, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘You can do well, can’t you?’
‘Yes!’
‘Good. You must do well. If you want to live.’
‘Y-yes… yes?’
Live? Did she say live?
‘I’m counting on you all to do your best. I really dislike it when trust is broken, but surely that won’t happen, right? Right?’
‘W-what if it does break, ma’am?’
‘Why would you ask something like that? There’s no way it would.’
‘B-but what if it does?’
‘Then you’ll simply find yourselves giving your absolute best here. A best that surpasses death itself. Though, of course, that will never happen.’
‘……’
“…She was joking, right?”
“Has anyone ever seen her joke?”
Head shakes all around.
“Damn…”
The children, who’d been anxiously scanning the spectator stands, now cast their eyes toward the A Group members.
The way they lounged about, mocking them, was still infuriating.
They suddenly remembered why they’d started this training in the first place.
Wasn’t it because they wanted to land a punch square on those smug faces?
“Well, die here or…”
“Die there.”
A nod.
A glint of venom flickered across the eyes of the B Group students, Antonian foremost among them.
At least we’ll get to see those smug faces twist and contort for once!
“We shall now commence the Sword Tournament.”
At the announcement, crowds surged toward the Training Grounds in greater numbers.
“You lot sure about this?”
Cold, the B Group’s swordsmanship instructor, clicked his tongue repeatedly in his mind.
Truthfully, this Sword Tournament had been arranged as a stage for the A Group students—a platform to showcase their prowess to their wealthy parents, who spared no expense in their support.
‘What possessed them to think like this all of a sudden?’
Yet Antonian and the other B Group students had all declared their intention to compete in the tournament.
‘Enter the tournament?’
‘Yes!’
‘Why the sudden change of heart? There are plenty of others to serve as foils for the A Group without you.’
‘We’ll enter nonetheless!’
…….
He’d offered his counsel in good faith, yet they wouldn’t listen. What good was public humiliation, anyway?
Cold exhaled a light sigh and pointed to the first student to take the stage.
“Antonian.”
“Yes.”
Antonian, called to the floor, stepped forward.
As he trudged out, a long, heavy sigh escaped Cold’s lips.
The A Group instructor’s first choice had been Airen.
Airen was the most skilled among the A Group students.
‘They’re about to get demolished from the opening round.’
Cold sat down without so much as glancing at the match, eyes closed.
Why would he wish to witness their defeat? He simply hoped the bout would end quickly.
“Wh—what… wooaah!”
But then.
“……?”
Not long into the match, the roar that rose sounded oddly unfamiliar.
Startled by the sudden cry, Cold snapped his eyes open.
Was the match already over?
“…What?”
Yet the scene before Cold’s open eyes was not what he had foreseen.
Airen was visibly losing ground against Antonian.
* * *
‘This is… working?’
The one most astonished in that moment was none other than Antonian himself, locked in combat.
‘I can… see it?’
He could.
Every attack from Airen, every stroke of his sword, every movement—all visible.
“Ha…….”
Antonian swallowed the laugh threatening to bubble up.
‘Is this… the fruit of my training?’
Whip-whip!
‘Sister! Ow! Please stop throwing!’
‘If you can’t dodge snowballs, you have no business wielding a sword. Though I admire your audacity.’
‘What does throwing snowballs have to do with swordsmanship?!’
Whip-whip!
‘Aaaah! This really hurts!’
‘Don’t want to get hit? Then dodge.’
At Snow Mountain, snowballs flew. At Stone Mountain, stones pelted down.
Not a few of the trainees had been knocked unconscious by projectiles hurled from those frail arms.
The irritating part was how they’d wake again within seconds of losing consciousness.
Not a single mark remained on their bodies—feigning injury was impossible.
‘Antonian, why is our sister so unnaturally good at throwing snowballs?’
‘…I have no idea.’
To his companion’s pained question—eyes already bruising from a snowball hit—Antonian could only shake his head vigorously.
Of course, even that bruise vanished in an instant, and he was forced to resume dodging snowballs with renewed desperation.
‘Compared to those snowballs…….’
Whoosh!
“Hey! How long are you going to keep running away?”
Watching Antonian dodge his attacks again and again, Airen finally exploded. Nothing was landing, and his frustration boiled over.
“Then land a hit. Don’t you think your attacks are too slow?”
“What, what?! You little——”
Airen twisted his face in rage and thrust his sword forward again with renewed speed, but in that instant, panic seized him. Antonian had vanished from sight.
Where on earth——!
A swift rustle of movement.
“……!”
The moment he spun to look behind him, he felt the cold kiss of a blade against his throat.
“If this were real combat, you’d be dead already.”
“You, you——”
Airen couldn’t even form words, his disbelief complete. He hadn’t read a single one of Antonian’s movements—not one—in all the time he’d left his back exposed.
How was that even possible?
“Antonian wins!”
“Yeahhhhh!”
The crowd’s roar filled the arena.
The B Group students in particular screamed until they lost their voices.
For the first time since enrollment, they’d beaten an A Group fighter!
“From now on, you lot clean the Training Grounds.”
Tap.
Antonian gave the dazed Airen a light pat on the shoulder, then walked down from the arena.
And the upsets didn’t stop there.
“Is that all you’ve got? Hah! Your attack is worse than dodging a rock!”
“What, what did you say?!”
“Dodging a rock or a snowball is easier than dodging your attacks!”
Crash!
“Ugh!”
The A Group students’ attacks, led by Airen, weren’t landing at all against the B Group fighters.
The B Group students’ faces, which had been frozen with tension, grew brighter.
With each passing moment of the match, their confidence surged.
Because they could see it now.
Their opponents’ attacks, their movements—everything was laid bare before them, as if crystalline.
And their bodies felt impossibly light.
Was it because they’d removed the heavy Magical Sand Pouches from their arms and legs before entering the arena? They felt like they were flying.
‘Sister, what is this?’
‘A Magical Sand Pouch. From now on, wear it even when you sleep.’
‘Even, even while sleeping?’
‘An old friend of mine made it long ago—perfect for training. Wear it under your clothes and it won’t show on the outside. But the weight… well, it can be increased without limit. I’ll keep adding weight, so get used to it.’
‘How heavy will you make it?’
‘Why ask the obvious? Until you reach the limits of your limits of your limits.’
‘……’
After that, she’d never once removed the Magical Sand Pouch from her arms and legs, not even as it grew heavier and heavier.
But today, before the match, she’d finally been given permission to take it off.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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