‘What’s with this reaction?’

Not just Shan, but all the knights present thought the same. How could she laugh after hearing such insulting words?

To Shan’s eyes, Ibnel’s behavior looked like nothing more than mockery.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It seems there’s still something you don’t know.”

From Ibnel’s perspective, using the training ground was a matter of life and death, so she had no intention of quietly backing down.

‘It doesn’t seem like bowing my head here will solve anything.’

This was perhaps just the beginning.

If she showed weakness here, they would surely become more arrogant. They’d likely do worse things as time went on.

Ibnel wanted to make it clear that she was not an easy opponent, at the very least.

“His Majesty gave permission to use the training ground freely. So don’t you think you have no right to say this or that?”

“That’s…”

Of course, from Shan’s position, there was nothing to say. Since his lord Shuher had given permission, it was unthinkable to go against his orders.

But everyone present had eyes full of displeasure. Seeing the atmosphere that didn’t seem easy to accept, Ibnel sighed softly.

‘I guess there’s no other way.’

She didn’t particularly want to go this far, but it seemed like a necessary procedure to prevent troublesome matters. Soon, her gaze turned to Shan.

“The people here wish I wouldn’t even set foot in this place, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then… how about we make a bet?”

“A bet?”

When Shan asked back in a surprised voice, Ibnel nodded to indicate he hadn’t misheard.

The other knights reacted the same way. Suddenly proposing a bet.

At that moment, Raul asked in a calm voice.

“What do you mean? A bet?”

“I want to use this place, and you all don’t want that, so let’s compete and the winner gets their way. If I lose, I’ll give up cleanly.”

“By competition, you mean…”

“Archery. We’ll shoot six arrows at the target, and whoever gets closer to the center wins.”

Listening to Ibnel’s words, Shan snorted. He had seen her skills in the arena, but they were knights who had trained consistently for a long time.

Moreover, they had abundant combat experience from facing monsters.

So he was certain that no matter how skilled she was, she wouldn’t win.

“Why bother with a competition we’ll obviously win?”

“If it’s a competition you’ll win as you say, there’s no reason to refuse, is there? Don’t tell me you’re refusing because you think you might lose?”

As Ibnel deliberately pricked his pride, Shan flared up exactly as she intended.

“Fine. Let’s do it, that bet. But you must keep your promise.”

“Of course.”

‘He took the bait.’

In a very short moment, she had grasped what kind of personality her opponent had. It was far more advantageous to deal with Shan, who quickly became excited and couldn’t hide his emotions, than with Raul, who remained cautious until the end.

“Shan, if the captain finds out…”

“Why worry so much? If I win, the captain will be pleased instead.”

Raul, seemingly giving up on dissuading him, turned to Ibnel and said.

“Follow me. The shooting range is inside.”

She followed Raul deeper into the training ground, where another wide space surrounded by trees was revealed.

As she sensed the familiar smell of gunpowder, her mind definitely felt more at ease. Moreover, seeing the well-maintained training ground made her even less willing to give up.

“Use this gun.”

As she received the gun Raul handed over, it was already loaded with six bullets. They were ordinary bullets, not the ones used against monsters.

After carefully checking that there was no problem, she slowly warmed up while waiting for the target to be prepared.

Given that her opponent was a knight, she couldn’t let her guard down. Plus, they were much more familiar with this gun.

“I’ll specially allow you to stand closer to the target.”

“That’s not necessary.”

When Shan spoke in a tone as if he was doing her a favor, Ibnel flatly refused. Her voice was so resolute it felt cold.

She intended to compete fairly, as a competition was a competition.

“You’ll regret it. My shooting skills are among the best in the knighthood.”

“It’s not too late to say such things after seeing the results.”

Ibnel stood in front of the target without even looking at Shan. Her eyes were now filled with only seriousness.

‘Why on earth did His Majesty make such a decision?’

Shan couldn’t understand the decision Shuher had made at all. The power of Caries was enough, so why bother borrowing the power of Aodin?

So he intended to use this opportunity to make Ibnel clearly understand.

That no matter how much she struggled, she was less than a pebble on the roadside.

For Ibnel, shooting was something she had done every day without rest in her previous life, and she was several times more confident with a stationary target unlike monsters.

No, rather than that, the feeling of anticipation was a bit greater. To compete with someone in skill.

‘Time to show off my skills after a long while.’

At Raul’s signal, Ibnel took her stance with familiarity.

By now, Shan, the knights, and the surrounding scenery had disappeared from her view. All she could see was the target in front of her.

Her lips naturally curved into a smile at the familiar sensation. From the moment she took this position, it was solely a battle with herself.

‘I can do this.’

The spectators were now holding their breath, watching the two. In their hearts, they hoped Shan would stamp her down firmly so she could never rise again.

Following Shan, Ibnel pulled the trigger in sequence, and the knights hurried to check the targets.

“Oh, Shan’s a bit closer.”

No matter what was being said around her, her gaze was fixed solely on the target. Her posture showed no wavering at all.

Ibnel not only disliked losing, but what she found even more unacceptable was facing a result she couldn’t be satisfied with herself.

‘I’ve definitely got the feel now.’

As she was confident, her second shot was much closer to the center.

‘Yes, this is the feeling.’

The thrill of hitting the target exactly as intended was indescribable. This was precisely why she enjoyed shooting.

‘It’s really too fun.’

Ibnel continued the competition at her own pace. And with her final shot hitting almost dead center, she lowered her hand.

Only then did the surrounding scenery come into view, and she heard several voices in her ears.

“Ah, right. I was in the middle of a competition.”

She had been so completely focused on shooting that she even forgot she was in a competition. She belatedly checked Shan’s target.

His skills weren’t bad either, but there were a few major mistakes. As if his concentration had completely faltered during the competition.

But for Ibnel, the fact that she had perfectly won this bet was more important.

“It looks like I won.”

No one dared to voice any objection. The result in front of their eyes proved it.

In fact, she hadn’t noticed because she was so focused on shooting, but the knights had to barely suppress exclamations of admiration every time she pulled the trigger.

Her skills were that extraordinary. Enough to have to admit that her killing of the monster last time wasn’t just luck.

Shan looked at the two targets in front of him with a dumbfounded expression.

‘How could I make such a beginner’s mistake.’

He had lost his concentration after being too surprised by Ibnel’s skills. Moreover, his composure was shaken by her relaxed expression.

It felt more like she was genuinely enjoying it rather than competing. Perhaps the outcome had been decided from that moment.

“Then I’ll make good use of the training ground. You’re not going to change your mind, are you?”

Ibnel deliberately threw Shan’s words back at him.

“I… have lost.”

Although his eyes still showed dislike for her, the fact that he acknowledged the result without argument made her think they weren’t entirely bad people.

“What are you doing there?”

At the voice from behind, everyone’s gaze turned to one place, where Demil was standing.

“Captain.”

Demil looked at the knights bowing their heads towards him, then carefully surveyed the surroundings to grasp the situation.

And at the end, discovering Ibnel holding a gun, he asked again in a voice tinged with coldness.

“I asked what’s going on, Raul.”

Seeing the atmosphere that seemed about to erupt in anger, Ibnel hurriedly interjected. After all, she had started this.

“I was the one who first suggested we compete in skill.”

“I didn’t ask you, my lady.”

At Demil’s look urging him to explain quickly, Raul told everything that had happened without omission. Including all the conversations with her.

“So we accepted the bet, and Shan lost.”

Demil looked at the target in question, then gazed at Ibnel with eyes that showed little emotion.

“I’ll escort you to the palace.”

She quickly handed over the gun she was holding and followed him out of the training ground. Demil didn’t say a word until they arrived at the palace.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Ah, thank you. And about earlier, since I was the one who brought it up first, please don’t…”

“You did something unnecessary.”

“Pardon?”

Ibnel looked at him as if to ask what he meant. The reply was cold to the point of being frigid.

“Don’t think you’ll gain acceptance from this. Nothing will change no matter what you do. So don’t cause a commotion in the imperial palace by doing things that draw attention.”

‘So he’s telling me to know my place and just do as I’m told.’

But there was something Demil had seriously misunderstood. That she hadn’t proposed the competition just to gain acceptance.

“I simply wanted to use the training ground.”

“If that’s the case, His Majesty has already given permission…”

“This way, they’ll have no choice but to accept me coming and going there. Don’t you understand what I mean, Sir Demil?”

With the constant repetition of the same words, and him judging and speaking about her carelessly, even Ibnel couldn’t maintain a polite tone.

“If they feel I don’t belong there every time I use the training ground, they won’t be able to fully concentrate on their training. That was the only reason.”

But to Demil, her actions seemed like showing off her skills to gain everyone’s acceptance.

“I think… Sir Demil is the one who’s mistaken.”

With her smile completely gone, as she faced him with her sharp, differently colored eyes, Demil couldn’t say anything. For some reason he couldn’t understand, Shuher came to mind.

But as if all of that had been a mirage, Ibnel smiled the same casual smile as before.

“Well then, I’ll be going. Thank you for escorting me here.”

Demil stood in the same spot for a long time, watching her retreating figure. He couldn’t grasp at all the meaning of the ‘mistake’ she had mentioned.