The student standing next to Matian also poked his side while holding his stomach.

“Did you see that, Matian? Rukna just looked so stupid, it was hilarious.”

“Well. I don’t think it was a funny scene.”

“It’s a mystery how such a sloppy guy beat Bolton in the last duel, you know?”

“He must have worked hard enough.”

“What effort? There’s a rumor he learned black magic to win. They say his sudden rise in test scores and brainwashing that thug were all because of black magic.”

“……”

“You actually felt uneasy about it too, right? You always help other classmates, but you only ever watch Rukna.”

At those words, Matian’s lips quivered before closing again.

He was never one to easily share his inner thoughts with others in the first place.

“Anyway, Rukna Golden, that guy is hopeless. Don’t you think so, Matian?”

“It’s you who can’t find the answer.”

“What?”

The student who had been mocking Rukna stiffened his expression.

Matian, still wearing a gentle smile, patted the student’s shoulder.

“If there was a chance you could find the answer, I would have watched, but since it’s unlikely even if you try your whole life, I should at least tell you. That’s why I helped.”

“What are you saying right now?”

“I meant focus on your own training properly instead of worrying about others.”

“Huh?”

“Cheer up. You can do it.”

“Ah… uh, right. Haha, I should cheer up.”

Because Matian’s tone was so kind from start to finish, the student unknowingly laughed along with him.

It felt like he had heard something unpleasant, but because he ended up laughing along with Matian, he couldn’t quite remember.

Matian left that student behind and strode over to Rukna, who was training with a broken club.

“I heard the taming exam will be held on the airship.”

“Matian?”

“If you don’t have a tamed animal, I’ll lend you one.”

He asked while picking up half of the club Rukna had broken and throwing it outside the training ground.

Someone could get hurt if they stepped on it.

“You’re saying the same thing as Chad.”

“……Chad did?”

Matian raised one eyebrow. This was internal student council information that was supposed to be announced to the students tomorrow.

Was it because he didn’t know Chad and Rukna were close enough to have such conversations? He felt extremely displeased.

‘It’s natural for Chad to look after Rukna since he’s in charge of students of concern, but…’

Matian ran his hand through his hair. Lately, everything related to Rukna irritated him.

He got annoyed when Rukna wasn’t visible, and even when right in front of him, he felt dissatisfied. It was the same when Rukna seemed close with other guys.

‘I don’t understand what’s what at all.’

His head throbbed. Anxious about what expression he was making right now, Matian once again reflected his face on the blade he was holding.

Rukna muttered ‘prince disease’ in a very small voice. Damn it, that prince disease talk again!

“Are you angry, Matian?”

“……No.”

“Anyway, thanks for your concern. I’ll handle the taming exam on my own.”

Rukna didn’t care what score he got. It was just that the holy sword was making a fuss like an overprotective parent.

“For someone who says they’ll handle it, you’re consistently training with a weapon that doesn’t suit you.”

“I chose the club because I like it. If you’re going to nag, why don’t you help a bit?”

And Rukna returned to focus on training in front of the moving target.

Thanks to consistent early morning training, his skills had improved, but his rotational force was still weak and he couldn’t get the impact he wanted.

He considered asking Matian but felt too proud to ask for help from someone who only helped others and left him out.

“The basics of all martial arts are the same. You figure out the problem yourself and find the answer.”

Matian left with those obvious words.

Right, Mr. Weapon Master is so great at self-educating his talent all on his own. Rukna pouted his lips.

‘That guy is only cold to me while being so gentle and kind to others.’

He was determined to accomplish it alone, if only out of spite.

With that resolve, she brought a new club and started striking horizontally, twisting her upper body. It’s really hard to put power into the rotational force here.

Rukna repeated the practice non-stop throughout the continuous sword training lectures. Then.

Thwack! Crack.

“I did it!”

The wooden sword attached to the practice target broke.

For the first time, she achieved the desired power without the holy sword’s help.

‘I only succeeded once, but I think I get it now.’

After class, Rukna hummed a tune as she left the training ground. As she passed by Matian standing at the exit taking off his gloves……

“Not bad.”

With those words, Matian ruffled Rukna’s hair vigorously before exiting in the opposite direction.

‘Wh-what was that.’

The startled Rukna felt her head where his hand had been.

Did that mature model student just smile like such a mischievous kid?

Wanting to see that smile one more time, Rukna turned to look back at Matian.

But unfortunately, the back view of him walking away with his back straight and overwhelming his surroundings was not that of a mischievous kid, but of the student council president she knew well.

A few days later.

A white, massive dwarf airship like a cumulus cloud appeared in the bright blue sky.

Every time the airship blocked the sunlight, a large black shadow fell over the rooftops, but no one was afraid.

“To float something that huge without magic. The dwarves’ technology is truly amazing!”

Many citizens of the empire exclaimed in admiration as they watched the dwarf airship.

Bolton, who was staring at the sky with his neck craned, was no exception.

He had moved the eyepatch covering his artificial eye up to his forehead like a headband and was gaping with his mouth wide open.

Yet he carefully covered his eye area with his hand, worried that dust might get into the artificial eye.

“Did you hear that, punk? They say that thing can float in the sky without magic. Is this your first time seeing something so amazing?”

“Yeah. It’s amazing that such technology exists in this world.”

Airships originally floated using the buoyancy of the gas, but four round propulsion units lifting the body were visible beneath that massive airship.

‘It’s an interesting shape I’ve never seen even in my past life.’

The hot wind blown out by the propulsion units was strong enough to reach the ground, and Rukna’s hair fluttered in the breeze.

When the soap scent still lingering in Rukna’s hair reached Bolton, he sniffed around asking where that nice fragrance was coming from.

“What are you doing?”

Rukna pushed away Bolton’s face as it approached the top of her head.

Startled by his own unconscious action, Bolton hurriedly straightened up.

“I did it because a man was smelling nice, so what!”

“You say I smell?”

Didn’t he just say there was a nice fragrance? Rukna lifted her arm and sniffed.

Is my nose weird? I don’t smell anything strange.

“Anyway, that hair is just like its owner, fluttering weakly without any strength. Put some force into your hair roots, you bastard!”

Bolton grumbled that he might start balding at this rate when even the master couldn’t create a hair loss elixir.

“Drink this, punk.”

“Why this all of a sudden?”

“A man being pretty and smelling nice… how can you be a proper man like that? You need some muscle too. Even your hair is all weak and fluttery, tsk.”

Pretty? He should look more manly in appearance after taking the gender potion again recently, but Bolton still described him as pretty.

Anyway, that guy sure likes to talk nonsense too. Rukna smirked as he accepted the elixir.

“Oh, okay. I’ll drink it well.”

Rukna downed the elixir in one gulp, recalling the ones he occasionally received.

Drinking this didn’t give him bulging muscles like Bolton. It just recovered fatigue and made his body feel lighter than usual.

It must be the limit of a female body, but Bolton, not knowing that, lamented each time that it seemed Rukna’s constitution didn’t respond well to the elixir.

“By the way, punk. Didn’t you know dwarves hate magic and achieved everything with science and technology?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. They often use these amazing glowing stone tablets that can summon someone’s voice or exchange text without paper. They say you can even summon the image of someone far away and communicate face to face?”

Bolton snorted, saying a punk like you probably can’t even imagine it.

But as Rukna heard those words, his eyes began to roll busily.

Weren’t those descriptions… very similar to smartphones?

Rukna immediately called upon the holy sword to start the verification process.

‘Hey Bixby, do dwarves use smartphones?’

「Are you having a hard time lately, master? Smartphones in a fantasy world?」

‘Hey, you were in smartphone form at first too.’

And fantasy world?

For an otherworld holy sword, that’s an awfully modern way of defining the world.

If this was also upgraded during that brief trip to Korea, I have nothing to say, but.

「It’s true that dwarf technology has developed uniquely. If you look carefully, you might find similar items.」

‘You’re giving vague answers and changing the subject?’

「If you go see for yourself, you might obtain some very important information.」

‘Is this related to you somehow?’

The holy sword’s initial form mimicking a smartphone and its AI-like functions.

Somehow it felt like there might be a connection with the dwarves.

「That information cannot be verified at this time.」

‘You always give that answer when it’s inconvenient.’

You sneaky bastard. Fine, I’ll go to the airship and find out myself. Rukna rolled up her sleeves while looking up at the airship.