Chapter 75
‘…That was an unnecessary worry.’
Elaine was staring blankly at Ryu, who was gracefully dancing in his black suit with Yuria Prisis.
Not only Elaine but also other students had their eyes subtly focused on Ryu and Yuria.
Watching Ryu skillfully dancing, Elaine realized once again.
Indeed, worrying about Ryu, no matter the subject, was futile.
She had been concerned that he, as a commoner, might not be familiar with such formal events, but Ryu had surpassed even that concern.
Even when compared to Yuria Prisis, he didn’t seem lacking in the slightest.
And it wasn’t just his dancing skills that didn’t fall short.
From the attire he wore to the atmosphere he exuded, Ryu didn’t feel out of place standing next to someone from the Six Great Houses.
It even crossed Elaine’s mind that the two of them looked good together.
“…Phew.”
“Ah, Emily.”
Elaine turned her head toward the faint sigh she heard next to her.
Emily, who had come without wearing a dress, stood there with a troubled expression.
She was looking at the same scene as Elaine.
“I didn’t expect Ryu to be so comfortable at a party like this.”
“…Right. I didn’t think he’d be this familiar with parties.”
Emily murmured, her gaze still fixed on Ryu and Yuria.
Seeing her, Elaine also turned her eyes back to the pair.
Yuria was smiling softly, while Ryu wore a dissatisfied expression.
Elaine felt a fleeting sense of envy toward Yuria.
Despite Ryu’s furrowed brow, Yuria seemed to be doing whatever she wanted, smiling effortlessly.
‘I wonder if he’d accept if I asked him to dance.’
Elaine imagined herself holding hands with Ryu and swaying along to the music.
Just the thought of it felt awkward and hard to picture, but it didn’t seem like it would be entirely bad.
As a member of the Six Great Houses, from a traditional knightly family, Elaine wasn’t particularly confident in her dancing.
However, she could at least do as much as everyone else.
“They look good together.”
“They really do.”
Elaine echoed Emily’s muttered words of agreement.
The two of them truly looked harmonious together.
Clap, clap, clap—
Soon, as the song ended, applause erupted from all around.
Ryu and Yuria naturally let go of each other’s hands and separated.
Flinch—
Elaine, seeing this, almost rushed toward Ryu but stopped herself.
She wanted to run over and ask him for the next dance immediately.
“…Ahem.”
“I’ll go.”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
While Elaine hesitated, clearing her throat, Emily hurriedly excused herself and left first.
Elaine finally glanced around.
They had entered the party together as a group of six, but now she was alone.
Ryu was at the center of the ballroom, and Emily had just left.
She had no idea where Agnes, Marie, or Cynthia had gone.
‘Is this my chance when no one’s around?’
With that thought, Elaine shifted her gaze back to Ryu.
But the Ryu who had been standing at the center of the ballroom just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
She had only looked away for a brief moment, yet he had disappeared.
Elaine began scanning the ballroom, widening her eyes in search of Ryu’s whereabouts.
“Hoo. That was tiring.”
“Ah! Mr. Ryu!”
“Why are you so startled?”
“No, I mean, just a moment ago you were down there…”
“I walked up here.”
Elaine found herself averting her gaze without realizing it, confused by Ryu’s matter-of-fact response and innocent expression.
How Ryu had suddenly appeared next to her wasn’t that important.
What mattered was that Ryu was now by her side.
This way, there was no need to go down to the first floor for the next dance.
“This spot is nice. You can see the first-floor ballroom clearly.”
“…Yes. I was just watching.”
“Ugh. Yeah. This is definitely more comfortable. Dancing really isn’t my thing. It’s so cringy.”
“Oh.”
Elaine immediately stopped her train of thought upon hearing Ryu’s words.
As expected, asking him for a dance would be too much.
“But didn’t you just dance with Yuria?”
“She asked, so I obliged. Ugh.”
That was unexpected.
He seemed like someone who didn’t care about others’ opinions, but he still danced because someone from the Prisis Family asked.
Elaine wondered if Ryu would agree if she asked.
Maybe he would.
“By the way, where’s Cynthia? And Emily?”
“Oh, Emily was with me just now but left. I don’t know where Cynthia is.”
“Hmm. There are so many people here, it’s hard to find anyone.”
Ryu frowned slightly as he looked around.
“Tch. If only I hadn’t stayed stuck over there…”
Elaine, seeing Ryu trail off mid-sentence, solidified her decision.
It was clear now.
Asking him to dance was simply out of the question.
“Understandably. It’s hard to keep an eye on your surroundings when you’re stuck in the middle of a chaotic ballroom.”
“…”
There was no response from Ryu.
Elaine wasn’t expecting a reply, but the lack of any response left her feeling awkward.
“By the way, have you tried the buffet? The financiers were really delicious.”
“…”
Once again, Ryu didn’t answer.
Elaine finally shifted her gaze from the ballroom to Ryu, who stood silently beside her.
Ryu was gripping the railing firmly, standing completely still as if frozen.
“Ryu…?”
His expression was rigid.
It was entirely different from the dissatisfied face he made earlier when he complained about dancing with Yuria.
Elaine had seen this expression before.
During the inter-academy competition, when the undead rider appeared at the finish line.
It had been a fleeting look, but it was the same face he wore when he shouted for everyone to flee.
‘What’s going on…?’
“Mr. Ryu, is something wrong?”
Elaine found herself growing tense as she observed Ryu’s hardened expression.
Whatever was going on, it seemed serious.
“Damn it,” Ryu muttered.
“Why—”
Elaine’s question was cut off by a thunderous roar and an uncontrollable tremor.
She struggled to maintain her balance and instinctively looked up.
The source of the sound and vibrations.
One side of the building’s exterior wall was shrouded in a cloud of dust.
“What in the world…!”
The once-bustling ballroom fell into silence.
Crash!
“Kyahhhh!”
The brief silence was shattered by a piercing scream.
Elaine, her gaze still fixed on the dust cloud, instinctively reached for her waist.
But her hand didn’t find the familiar grip of her sword’s hilt.
Her vision soon caught movement amidst the dust.
Something made of bones, wings outstretched, floated within the debris.
Whoosh—
As the undead wyvern flapped its wings, the dust blew down toward the students below.
That’s when chaos truly erupted.
Screams rang out from all directions as people began running in every direction.
“Ryu…!”
Elaine turned to call for Ryu, but he was no longer there.
***
‘Damn it. I never considered the underground.’
Amid the sudden chaos, Ryu had moved to the small room he and Yuria had scouted earlier.
Ripping off his suit like tearing through paper, he revealed the uniform he had been wearing underneath.
There wasn’t a second to waste.
He had planned to head out to find Yuria in response to Erica’s call, but going outside was no longer an option.
The undead flooding in from outside were a problem, but the immediate threat was the creature that had broken into the building.
“Commander!”
“Quickly!”
Yuria burst into the room, tearing off her dress to reveal her uniform as well.
“Undead are trying to break in from outside. Handle things with the other professors there. I’ll take care of that winged pile of bones.”
“It seems to be an undead wyvern. I didn’t expect them to summon something like that.”
“Got it. I’m heading out.”
There was no time for leisurely explanations about the creature’s identity or abilities.
An undead wyvern.
‘It looks way cooler than Greenie.’
Inappropriate as the thought was, it crossed Ryu’s mind unbidden.
Though it didn’t breathe fire like Greenie, its appearance was undeniably more impressive.
Whoosh—
As Ryu stepped outside again, the ballroom had turned into a scene of pandemonium in mere seconds.
The undead wyvern hovered in the air, surveying the chaos below with a sense of ease.
On the ground, students were in utter panic, running toward the exits without looking back, while professors scrambled to regain control of the situation.
Shing—
Ryu immediately pulled out the Black Shadow Sword from subspace.
Dealing with the situation quickly was more important than concealing his identity.
He scanned the area as he drew his sword, searching for Randgar Bayel.
With such a dramatic opening, Ryu had expected him to show up, but he was nowhere to be seen.
‘Catching this guy should lure him out.’
Ryu teleported directly in front of the wyvern, which appeared poised to dive-bomb the ground below.
Whoosh—
With a swipe of his sword, he aimed for one of the wyvern’s wings.
The black blade of the Shadow Sword clashed with the gray bones, producing a grating sound.
The bones didn’t break as Ryu had expected, nor did the creature even stagger from the impact.
‘Those bones are sturdy.’
A simple strike without infused mana wasn’t enough to faze it.
“Let’s finish this quickly, shall we?”
Whoosh—
The Shadow Sword began vibrating faintly, enveloped in black mana.
First, he needed to deal with the rider atop the wyvern.
—
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