What?! You want me to be the Herrscher of the End?!

Durandal shook her head.

"Your Excellency, are you asking so many questions because you want to recruit her to headquarters?"

Seeing how much Otto cared about Bai Mo, Durandal couldn't help but become curious.

"It was just a casual question. After all, if I were to actually poach someone, Theresa would probably throw a tantrum at me, and then she could also extort some funding from me."

At this point, Otto couldn't help but give a wry smile.

"By the way, I've already sent Rita to St. Freya Academy. If you need any help with anything else these next few days, you can contact Amber directly."

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

After downing the red wine in one gulp, Durandal turned to leave.

"Well, if possible, I'd really like to have a chat with you here."

Looking at the closed door, Otto raised his glass and said softly.

"Bai Mo, he's quite an interesting variable."

3

Chapter Forty-One Competition

...St. Freya Academy Training Grounds.

"Come on, Mei, just use your full strength. Don't worry about hurting me."

After stretching his wrists and twirling his sword, Bai Mo signaled to Mei to attack him with all her might.

"Alright! Bai Mo, you'd better watch out!"

Mei took out her training wooden katana, chuckled, and then charged directly towards Bai Mo.

"Bang... Bang!"

The clash between the longsword and the katana produced a crisp sound, which continued to ring out as the two men swung their swords and katanas faster.

Dodging, drawing swords, swinging knives—both were highly focused on the battle before them, while simultaneously searching for a way to defeat their opponent in one move and to find their weaknesses.

"Not bad, Mei. The Hokushin Ittō-ryū style lives up to its reputation."

Bai Mo smiled as he deflected the katana aimed at his face.

"You're also Bai Mo. I never expected your swordsmanship to be so advanced."

Seeing her opponent easily break through her attack, Mei sighed from the bottom of her heart.

"No need for further words, let me see for myself!"

Creating distance between himself and Mei, Bai Mo changed his starting stance by raising his longsword.

If you look closely, you can see that this is clearly a sword move of the Taixu Sword Qi.

"Crescent Moon! Severed Sea! Rifting Sky!"

These three moves belong to the initial sword form of the Tai Xu Sword Qi, and are also the three moves that Bai Mo has practiced most proficiently.

Bai Mo shouted loudly, brandishing his long sword and rushing towards Mei like a dragon.

"Thunder Flash!"

Faced with Bai Mo's attack, Mei did not intend to take it head-on, but instead chose to dodge continuously while looking for opportunities to deflect the force with her blade.

In that instant, Mei's years of accumulated experience and swordsmanship skills were fully demonstrated, and these skills had become integrated into Mei herself, even forming a certain muscle memory.

Meanwhile, during her dodge, Mei finally caught Bai Mo pausing as he swung his sword, and seized the opportunity to abandon defense and launch a fierce attack on him.

"Five Thunderous Slashes!"

Adjusting her breathing, Mei swiftly unleashed five powerful and swift strikes at Bai Mo, attempting to reverse the tide of the battle.

"Weeping willows, sturdy bamboos!"

Realizing his mistake, Bai Mo had no choice but to defend passively. Feeling the force from the blade, Bai Mo's tiger's mouth was throbbing with pain.

As expected, this gap in skill and experience cannot be bridged by powerful sword techniques alone. I must practice even harder, otherwise I am simply too weak without using the power of the Herrscher.

Seeing himself being suppressed by Mei, Bai Mo couldn't help but think that he couldn't rely too much on the power of the Herrscher. If he were to be messed with by Judas or something, he would have to rely on his own physical strength.

"Rock Breaker! Thunderclap!"

Determined to train hard, Bai Mo, unwilling to be constantly suppressed, began to try to counterattack. Meanwhile, due to the sharpness of the Taixu Sword Technique, Mei's attacks gradually became more difficult.

"That's right, Bai Mo, given time you will definitely become a sword master. But right now you need to accumulate experience, instead of relying solely on sword techniques to break through!"

"Amaterasu!"

Mei was assessing Bai Mo's shortcomings while simultaneously increasing the force of her sword swings, seemingly intending to confront Bai Mo head-on.

"Mountain collapse! Break through!"

Not to be outdone, Bai Mo shouted loudly.

The fierce battle continued, with swords flashing and blades clashing in the training ground, leaving the Valkyries training nearby dazzled.

"Look, those two are working so hard!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's been almost half an hour already, and they haven't stopped for a second."

"Looks like we need to train harder, otherwise we'll all fail the practical exam at the end of the semester."

"Yeah, I don't want to be dragged into extra practice by Himeko-sensei again."

The Valkyries nearby whispered amongst themselves.

"Look, it looks like they're about to decide a winner."

Just as everyone was fretting about their grades, a Valkyrie suddenly pointed to Bai Mo and Mei's positions and said something.

In an instant, everyone's eyes were focused on the two of them, wanting to see who the final winner would be.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the sword and the blade clashed together.

………………

"Crunch...squeak...click!"

After a period of time, under the force of the impact, cracks began to appear on the weapons of the two men.

Such a crisp sound should have been audible to only two people, but in this quiet environment, the sound was amplified infinitely.

Finally, after the two of them worked hard, the two katana and longsword used for training finally broke apart under the strain, and the result of the competition was lost, so it had to be judged as a draw.

"It's been so long since we've practiced like this. Thank you, Bai Mo."

After the competition ended, looking at the broken wooden sword in her hand, Mei smiled and said to Bai Mo.

"It's alright, it's alright, after all, it was Mei's request."

Bai Mo smiled and replied. After all, Mei usually took good care of him, so when Mei asked him to be her sparring partner, Bai Mo agreed without hesitation.

...........................

"That was quite a good match, and the skill levels were impressive. I wonder if either of you would be interested in joining the headquarters?"

Just as the two finished their competition and were about to return to their dormitory, a round of applause came from behind them.

"you are?"

Turning to look at the woman in the maid outfit, Mei asked in confusion, after all, she had been in St. Freya for so long and had never seen such a person before.

Rita? What's she doing here? Did Otto send her to cause trouble?

Bai Mo, who also saw Rita, was puzzled. After all, if Rita was able to appear at St. Freya Academy, something must have happened.

"Nice to meet you. I am Rita Losweiser, the vice-captain of the Undying Blade Squad at headquarters, and also a maid."

Rita bowed slightly and said with a gentle smile.

"It's nice to meet you, but we haven't considered working at headquarters yet."

Bai Mo glanced at Mei beside him and said slowly.

I will definitely go to the headquarters of Destiny, but not now; at least I will have to wait until I am strong enough.

As for Rita's invitation? Let's forget about it. Otto himself probably had some influence on it, since Rita wouldn't concern herself with such things given her personality.

"That's a shame."

Having received the answer she expected, Rita didn't say anything more.

"I noticed many shortcomings in your match just now. Would you like to have a match with me and I can teach you a thing or two?"

Rita stepped forward, bent down, and picked up the broken sword from the ground.

"Well, I would be happy to receive your guidance if possible, but we are already tired enough today. I don't think continuing to train like this will be of much use. After all, we need to balance work and rest."

Bai Mo smiled as he politely declined Rita's offer. Mei, who was standing next to him, also thought it made a lot of sense and nodded in agreement.

3

Chapter 42 Island Raven: Is this guy Kevin?

…………

"Bai Mo, are you sure it's okay for you to just ask me out like this?"

Seeing Bai Mo buying takoyaki at a food stall next to him, Raven walked over and said softly.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's been like this the last few times anyway."

After paying, Bai Mo handed Raven a serving and said as he ate.

"Don't even mention it. Rita came to our academy yesterday, so I thought I'd come out and hide for a while. After all, I don't want to get involved with her."

Seeing that the raven remained silent, Bai Mo spoke up to explain.