Reasons to Protect the Witch's Son

Even after dropping the applicant with a single swing, there was no change in his expression. The merciless appearance sent chills down the spines of the others waiting. As soon as he finished speaking, the supervisor called the next competitors name. His face was extremely calm, making it obvious that this was a familiar scene.

Cezanne scowled as if he was fed up.

“He’s so relentless. Are they planning to reject all of the applicants this year? What is their reason for doing something like this?”

“Well…”

Elaine answered with a blank expression.

The 33^rd candidates name was already being called. Meanwhile, out of all the applicants who had already had their matches, all but 5 had been eliminated. As Cezanne had said, there was not a single trace of mercy in Ash’s actions.

He did not tolerate even the slightest mistakes. The applicant held out until the 59^th second and then stepped on the line with only one second remaining. Many people would have taken into consideration the skills of the applicant to have made it this far, but even for this, there was no exception.

She had finally met Ash, whom had grown up to be surprisingly strong and handsome, but had turned into a cold-blooded person.

From Elaine’s perspective, who had been asleep for 20 years, it had only been 15 days since they had last seen each other. It was shocking for her to learn that the child she remembered smiling brightly not long ago had turned into a cold person. Of course, no matter what Ash was like, she would still always take his side.

It is said that after the Seveka incident, Ash was referred to more as the child of a murderer than as a noble member of the royal family. She couldn’t even imagine what kind of life he had lived beneath those cold gazes.

She had wanted him to be bright and pure his whole life, only seeing the clean and good things in life. But he could not have lived an easy life. He must have had a lot of difficult and painful experiences. This was what bothered her the most.

Elaine’s name was then called loudly from the mouth of the supervisor.

“The next competitor is Elaine. Please prepare.”

Elaine jumped up from her seat and, putting her thoughts aside, started walking toward Ash.

***

Ash fixed his gaze on the silver haired woman who entered the circle in the middle of the training grounds. The moment he saw her, her appearance reminded him of someone and he froze for a moment. Bright silver hair sparkled and fluttered in the afternoon sunlight, green eyes blinking gently.

Wasn’t this what he had imagined that person looked like? However, their names and appearances were just coincidentally the same. She had only briefly reminded him of a person from the past who had already passed, there was no further meaning.

Ash watched the woman standing in front of him with a stern gaze. She was the woman he had heard about from Lowell that morning. He said she had come through the Solv Mountains to take the entrance exam. Moreover, she said she had entered the monsters’ nest, albeit briefly.

Although Lowell appeared to be clumsy, he was in reality a person who completed all of his duties flawlessly. If he had thought there was anything suspicious, he would have reported it to his Lord, Ash. If this person had been strong enough to cross the mountain range single-handedly, their name would have been spread all over the continent by now.

However, he had never heard of this person called Elaine. Additionally, the career experience section on the application had been left blank. In any case, the fact that she had made it to the final exam, still proved that she was a very capable person.

All that was left to do, was to see whether this woman named Elaine was the real deal or just another fly buzzing around.

Elain was so stiff that she hadn’t noticed Ash observing her with eyes narrowed. She had thought she’d calmed down already, but when Ash was right in front of her, her mind turned blank again. She couldn’t hear what the supervisor was saying anymore. She bowed almost mechanically and raised her sword reflexively.

When the stating bell rang, Ash took a step forward, approaching without hesitation, swinging his sword. It was a simple frontal attack, however, there were more than 5 applicants who had been defeated with this single blow. The technique itself was simple, but the power contained in the swing was enormous.

She took the attack head on without thinking. Even though the blow was strong, she was not pushed back nor did she let out any sound. She still had a calm expression on her face, as if she had been struck with a feather.

Everyone who had witnessed this dropped their jaws in shock. They had seen how many people had been knocked down by this single blow, yet she was fine. However, unlike her calm face, Elaine’s thoughts were a mess.

As the distance decreased when their swords clashed, his face could be seen in more detail. Every time he blinked his eyes, his long eyelashes fluttered, casting a shadow. His eyes followed the path of their swords and his hair fluttered in the wind, rising and falling with every movement. Shallow lips opened while exhaling. The movement of his muscles revealed through his uniform were clearly visible.

The memory of people dying, losing their lives in the burning castle, and the last moments of Bella bleeding to death were overshadowed by the appearance of Ash.

She was mesmerized. Her eyes constantly following his every move. As if she was trying to engrave every single one of them with her retinas. And the expressions of the other applicants who were following Elaine’s movements gradually turned into looks of astonishment. It wasn’t because she wasn’t fighting back against Ash at all, that was the same for most of the applicants. Just being able to block was difficult enough, but counterattacking? That was something none of them even dreamed of being capable of.

There was another reason for their surprise. No matter how they looked at Elaine, she looked like she was only half paying attention. Despite this, she was able to counter all of his attacks without fail. She even almost lost her sword a few times. It was like it was a skill of hers to be able to adapt without missing a beat, even in her dazed state. In this situation, it wouldn’t have been surprising even if she had stepped on the line, but she never left the circle, moving back and forth.

At that moment, her sword collided with Ash’s and vibrated strongly, letting out a strange noise similar to a groan. Elaine who had suddenly come back to her senses at the sound swallowed her moan of frustration.

‘Uh oh, now we’re in trouble.’