Time passed, and before I knew it, it was already mid-September. And meanwhile...

  - Fire Piercing Arrow -

  Chloe shot an arrow at me, but I managed to dodge it. After dodging the arrow, I immediately rushed towards Chloe. However...

  - ?Waves Slash -

  Charles came to block me and immediately launched an attack at me. However, I countered his attack with one of my own.

  - Flame Slash -

  Our attacks clashed for a moment, but I managed to push Charles back.

  - Fire Rain Arrow -

  Meanwhile, Chloe continued to attack me with her arrows. I continued to dodge them and advanced towards her, finally managing to point my sword at Chloe.

  "Looks like it's over here, Chloe," I said.

  "You're right, we lost again this time," Chloe said.

  This was my umpteenth victory against Charles and Chloe. This wasn't a daily match, but just a regular sparring match. About a month ago, Charles invited me to spar and brought Chloe with him. He said he wanted to practice his attack combinations with Chloe, so he chose me as his opponent to improve them.

  I agreed. We only sparred during practical lessons at the training ground because not all class time was devoted to practice. There was some free time for individual practice, so we used that time for sparring.

  "Rid is really strong, isn't he? During the remaining time during practical lessons, he always spars against princes and princesses, but he always beats them both."

  "You're right. If it were me, I wouldn't even be able to win against one of them, let alone both of them at once," said the students watching me.

  "You can't beat me yet, but at least with each spar, I can see your attack combinations improving," I said.

  "I feel the same way, although I'm a little annoyed that I always lose to you," Chloe said.

  Chloe was initially quiet and spaced out when she first learned about Irene and my relationship, but over time, her behavior returned to normal.

  "What can we do, Chloe? We're up against Rid, he hasn't even lost a single match in his daily matches," Charles said.

  "You're right, brother. Rid is the only undefeated student in his first year, and that's why many students are curious and want to try to beat him, but they still can't," Chloe said.

  "Doesn't that bother you, Rid? Because every day there are students who come to challenge you and want to beat you," Charles said.

  "That's actually good for me, because I don't have to worry about finding opponents to compete against me in my daily matches," I said.

  "Yes, you're right," Charles said.

  As we chatted, Mr. Alan suddenly spoke to us all.

  "Attention, everyone," Mr. Alan said.

  The students, who had previously been focused on their own affairs, turned to look at Mr. Alan.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Because the first exam of the school year is at the end of this month, from now until the exam arrives, you will continue to train at this training ground when classes begin. So when you arrive at the academy, just go straight down to this training ground and don't need to go to class anymore, because from the beginning of class until the end, we will be in this training ground," said Mr. Alan.

  "Ready, sir," said the other students.

  "That's all my notice, because today's class will be over soon. You should get ready to go home," said Mr. Alan.

  "Yes, sir," said the other students.

  "Since we will be in the training ground all the time, that means we will be sparring constantly. I'd like to ask for your help in the future, Rid," said Charles.

  "Yes, don't worry," I said.

  -

  That afternoon, after finishing the daily competition, I returned to my dorm. When I tried to unlock my dorm door, it was unlocked.

  "I think Irene's in there," I thought.

  I went straight into my dorm and saw Irene cooking in the kitchen. Realizing I was there, Irene turned to look at me.

  "Welcome, Rid," Irene said.

  "Yeah, I'm home," I said.

  Since the incident a while ago, I finally agreed to give Irene my dorm key. But I gave her a duplicate key that I made myself because if I gave her my dorm key, I wouldn't have a key to lock it when I left. And since I gave her the duplicate key, Irene has been cooking in my dorm every day, both when I'm not there and when I'm there. After she's done cooking, we usually eat together, but sometimes Lea and Lily also join us. Many other first-year students saw Irene constantly entering and leaving my dorm, and they began spreading rumors that Irene and I were getting closer.

  "Well, I'm happy if people think our relationship is intimate and doesn't raise suspicions that it's fake. But every time I come home to the dorm and see Irene cooking, I somehow feel like I'm already married to her,"

  "But seeing a Duke's daughter cook is a rare occurrence, so I don't think much of it," I thought again.

  After Irene finished cooking, the two of us ate together.

  -

  A week before the exams began.

  "I'm going to teach you a technique that will be very useful when facing enemies. But some of you already know how to use it, so I'll teach it to those who haven't," Mr. Alan said.

  I was curious about Mr. Alan's claim that some of us could already use the technique he mentioned. When Mr. Alan put it into practice, it turned out to be a technique involving magic and mana manipulation.

  "No wonder he said some of us already know that technique. It seems like this technique should be taught at the academy, but I ended up teaching it to my friends first," I thought.

  I listened to Mr. Alan's explanation as he taught the technique to the other students.

  "Hey Rid, since we've mastered the technique, why don't we have a sparring session? Rather than getting bored just listening to Master Alan's explanations," Charles asked.

  "Okay," I said.

  "Chloe, do you want to come too?" Charles asked.

  "Sorry, bro. This time I want to spar against Irene," Chloe said.

  "Okay then," Charles said.

  After a few days of my relationship with Irene being discovered, Chloe also became closer to Irene. They often went out together or sparred together. Irene wasn't bothered by Chloe's invitation, even though she had previously seemed to avoid Chloe.

  "Then, I'll be your partner this time, Charles," Noa said.

  "Are you sure, Noa?" Charles asked.

  "Of course, let's defeat Rid together in this sparring match," said Noa.

  "Okay, you don't mind, do you, Rid?" asked Charles.

  "No problem," I said.

  "Okay, then let's attack Rid, Charles," said Noa enthusiastically.

  The sparring match between me and the two of them continued, and in the end, they still lost to me.

  -

  "Before I end this lesson, I'll tell you what the exam you'll be taking next week will be like," said Mr. Alan.

  The students listened quietly to Mr. Alan's explanation.

  "The exam you'll be taking is almost the same as the second phase of the academy entrance exam," said Mr. Alan.

  "The second phase of the entrance exam?"

  "So the exam involves destroying wooden dummies again?"

  "We fight against other students every day at the academy in daily matches, but on the exam, we're fighting wooden dummies again? Isn't that too easy?" said the other students.

  "Well, you'll see whether it's easy or not next week. Then, since the lessons are over, you can all leave," said Mr. Alan.

  -

  After our daily competition, we walked back to the dorm.

  "According to Mr. Alan, next week's exam is similar to the second stage of the entrance exam. It seems like it will be easy, right?" asked Noa.

  "I don't know, I'm not sure about that. Mr. Alan did say the exam is similar to the second stage of the entrance exam, but he didn't say the level of difficulty would be the same," I said.

  "You're right, Rid," said Noa.

  "Well, whatever exam we face, we just have to get through it, right?" I asked.

  "You're right," said Noa.

  -

  Then a week later, the first exam for first-year students of this school year began.

  - To be continued