Baron Pedroel noticed that Lynn and Evina remained silent and anxious for a long time. After some thought, he spoke to reassure them.

  "You don't o worry too much. Acc to Archbishop Anluke, most of the devil worshipers have beeed, and the Church has secretly statiohree thousand guards in the port town."

  "Three thousand?" Lynn's eyebrows furrowed. That seemed like an excessive number for a small town like the port town. In times of peace, towns like this usually had only a few huroops statiohe sudden influx of so many troops raised suspis.

  Lynn couldn't help but wonder if Lame Loude's identity had been exposed, and the Church nning to wipe out the entire Gang. "Father, what does Archbishop Anluke mean? Is he preparing for war?" Lynn inquired cautiously.

  Baron Pedroel shook his head. "It should have nothing to do with war, but I have limited information. I've heard that on his way back to the port town, Archbishop Anluke captured a wizard's apprentice who had escaped before. They're currently imprisoned in the port town and scheduled for a public execution on Monday."

  Upon hearing this, Lynn's expression became grave. Could it be that Jonny and Dove had been captured? Lynn couldn't help but sider this possibility. When he had parted ways with the two witches, their ditions were far from ideal. He couldn't even be certain if they had stayed together amidst the swift currents.

  If the Church had immediately anized a rge-scale search after the ret battle, there was a ce they could have been caught.

  "Father, do you know who these imprisoned devil worshipers are?" Lynn couldn't tain his urgency. He quickly added, "I've heard that witches are usually very beautiful. Is it true?"

  "Nonsense! Who told you that?" Baron Pedroel scolded. "These are all rumors! Listen to me, under no circumstances should you be associated with these devil worshipers in any way!"

  In the Sekast Empire, wizards were an absolute taboo. These devil worshipers possessed numerous strange magical abilities and had caused chaos everywhere, akin to living disasters.

  Under Baron Pedroel's stern reprimand, Lyantly suppressed his doubts for now. It wasn't the time to ask questions.

  After delivering a few more harsh words, Baron Pedroel returo the main topic. "This time, to deal with these devil worshipers, two priests lost their lives in battle. While that's certainly a cause for m, it's also an opportunity for us!"

  "In other words, there will be at least five slots avaible in this year's knight assessment!"

  At this point, Baron Pedroel looked at Lynn with great anticipation. The formal assessment was just two months away, and if Lynn could successfully pass it, there might be a ce for the Pedroel family to rise once again.

  "After we finish eating, you and Evina should spar again. I want to see how much progress you've made over the past few months," Baron Pedroel said straightforwardly.

  Spar again? Lynn couldn't help but g Evina, who was sitting across from him at the dining table.

  The young woman wore a fitted bck dress with a slightly open nee, revealing her fair ned colrbone. Her shoulder-length hair ulled back, leaving only a red ribbon to cascade down her shoulder. She looked quite posed, but her eyes were ice-cold, as sharp as knives.

  Maybe I should hold back a little this time, Lynn thought silently. After all, apart from having had an absolute advantage in terms of strength and stamina a few years ago, he had never defeated Evina once. On the trary, the gap between them seemed to be widening rapidly.

  His best record so far was losing withiy-three moves...

  ...

  "Right here!" After dinner, Baron Pedroel led the two to the practice grounds in the backyard of the estate aured for them to begin.

  Lynn ged into a training uniform and assumed the standard sword-fighting stance.

  However, the moment Baron Pedroel spoke, Evina had already dashed over.

  So fast!

  Lynn's pupils tracted, and he only had time to block her ining strike with his wooden sword.

  But uedly, when their wooden swords cshed, a sound remi of metal strikial resonated.

  The young woman shifted her body, and her dress swayed as she executed a whip kick.

  Lynn tried to dodge, but Evina was faster. She followed up by spinning her wooden sword, sending Lynn's wooden sword flying before bringing hers down from above.

  The sharp sound of the wind in Lynn's ears made him sense a hint of danger, which meant that her attack was far from holding back.

  If he got hit, it wouldn't be a simple injury...

  [Right hand up at a 37-degree angle, grab the wrist, take the sword back...]

  Lynn's gaze became serious. Thanks to his brain's analysis, he almost instantly identified the fw itack. Faced with her vertical strike from above, he chose to meet it head-on instead of dodging.

  "That's enough!" Baron Pedroel bellowed, interrupting Lynn and Evina's duel.

  Both of them stopped simultaneously. Lynn's right haended forward, and his wooden sword was now hanging above his head.

  Baron Pedroel first gave Evina a harsh gre and then turo Lynn, clearly irritated. "Lotte, what's gotten into you? trate during battles! If you stay in this state two months from now, you won't even pass the first round of the knight assessment!"

  Lynn silently retracted his hand, realizing that he had uimated her strength. Even though Lotte referred to himself as a "useless" in his diary, he had undergone more than a decade orous training. Evina, who could easily defeat him, was undoubtedly stronger.

  "Get back to your positions and tinue!" Baron Pedroel said darkly, his expressioremely displeased.

  Evina remained motionless, as if she hadn't heard Baron Pedroel's words. Lynn took a few steps back, iionally creating some distance.

  At the same time, the notification from his brain sounded in his mind.

  [Do you want to activate overload mode?]

  No! Lynn didn't hesitate to dee. This wasn't a life-or-death battle, and there was o waste energy here. Although the brain's analytical fun was useful, its effectiveness ultimately depended on his own abilities.

  Evina wasn't like Archbishop Anluke or the witch hunter he had entered before. She was far from reag the level required to overwhelm him.

  This was merely a suitable whetstone...

  The battle quickly resumed, and with the foundation id by his inal self, along with the experience from numerous life-ah duels, Lynn successfully blocked Evina's surprise attack...

  Weebkun