episode_0035

* * *

After finishing the dungeon run with Professor Luken, I returned to my daily life.

Fortunately, Professor Luken was busy for about a week and said we should meet again in a week.

So I got a week of freedom.

Even though I gained my freedom, nothing much changed. I still went to the academy.

“Raon, wake up.”

“Hmm.”

“Raon. Should I go first?”

“Um, no…no. Let’s go together.”

“I’m late. Bye.”

Yesterday, Raon asked me to wake him up before he went to bed, so I tried to wake him up, but no matter how much I called, he had no intention of waking up.

You sleep a lot.

I looked at Raon who was sleeping.

A rather handsome face for a man. His disheveled golden hair was shiny.

That face will set many women’s hearts on fire.

The heroines should also know that he is such a sleepyhead…

I clicked my tongue and left Raon without any regrets and headed to the academy. We couldn’t be late together.

The first class was about dungeons.

It was a lecture that taught about the monsters that appear in the dungeon, traps, and how to survive in the dungeon.

“…..There are various types of dungeons. There are regular dungeons, but there are also special ones called magic dungeons.”

“Magic dungeon?”

A student asked a question as if curious to the professor who was explaining in detail.

“Yes. It’s a magic dungeon. They say there are ancient relics with mysterious powers inside that magic dungeon.”

The students’ eyes sparkled at the mention of ancient relics. The professor looked around at the students and said.

“About 5 years ago, a magic dungeon was discovered in the forest around here. So for a while, knights from the palace and mercenaries from all over the country were in chaos. Unfortunately, the dungeon was too difficult, so everyone failed.”

“…..So that dungeon still exists?”

“No. It was really strange, it just disappeared without a sound. So everyone was sad. They missed the chance to get their hands on the ancient relic.”

The professor thought for a moment and then added.

“And this is one of the hushed stories, but there were also many stories about seeing a dragon in that dungeon.”

“A dragon?”

“Yes. Dragon. Lastly, there were knights of the palace who went to the dungeon before it disappeared and came back alive. One of them is Sir Aren, whom you all know well.”

“If it’s Aren…!”

Everyone’s mouths dropped open at the mention of Sir Aren.

……Aren? Aren, who has a future where she loses the hand I met in the dungeon?

“He is currently a Sword Master and a great swordsman who is aiming for the next level. He is currently working as the commander of the Imperial Knights. It is credible because he said it himself, but everyone is keeping quiet about the mention of dragons. That is because dragons are legendary creatures that are not easily believed.”

It felt strange to hear something from my not-so-distant past from someone else’s mouth.

Fortunately, there was a future that was different from the original.

It was Aren.

Fortunately, I think I escaped safely that time.

Aren, who managed to escape, did not lose his arm, and unlike the webtoon, it seems that he is still doing well even after five years.

“And….”

“….Sorry I’m late!”

The professor, who was about to continue speaking, stopped talking when Raon came running in hurriedly.

The professor glared at Raon fiercely.

The professor sighed deeply and said a word to Raon, who was acting all cute as if he was really sorry.

“Minus 2 points.”

“Ah! Professor!”

It feels like I’m seeing deja vu every day.

How can it not change like that…

I lost interest in the sight and looked out the window.

* * *

“Jodel, Professor, aren’t you really going too far?”

“….No, I think it’s more of you being late every day.”

“Jodel~ My partner! You do that to me too? Huh? I’m really hurt…!”

“Let’s go change into clothes or training clothes. Then we have fencing class.”

“Ah, ah… I don’t like swordsmanship… Why is there a swordsmanship class in our special ability class!”

That’s right.

The academy had quite a few classes that made you wonder, “Why are we taking these classes?”, perhaps to develop a variety of abilities.

It’s swordsmanship…

How many of these people can handle a sword?

Oh, there’s Remy. He uses a sword to assassinate people, after all.

“Let’s go. We’ll be late.”

“Ah….”

As I urged Raon on with pointless thoughts, Raon sighed as if he had forgotten something and hurriedly got up from his seat and said.

“I have somewhere to stop by for a moment. You change your clothes first. I’ll take care of something and then I’ll go.”

“….Uh. Okay.”

With those words, as if he had never complained before, Raon hurried out of the classroom.

‘It’s a little suspicious…’

This wasn’t the first or second time this had happened.

Whenever we have a class where we have to change clothes, Raon leaves the classroom saying he has something urgent to do, and comes back just in time for class.

‘…Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Raon change clothes?’

If you share a room, you inevitably have to see each other putting on and taking off clothes.

I also often change clothes when Raon is around. But Raon has never done that.

I can’t help it because I always sleep in late in the morning, and even when we go home together after work, I always go to the laundry room to change my clothes.

Is it because he is the crown prince? No, then wouldn’t the maids always be there to take care of his bathing and dressing?

“Hey.”

“Huh, huh?”

Just then, while I was lost in thought, someone called out to me. I turned my head and saw that it was Remy.

“Eat this.”

“Huh?”

I caught something Remy threw at me.

What Remy threw was milk.

Remy left in a hurry, leaving only the words, “Eat!”

I stared at the milk quietly.

I guess he’s thinking of putting into practice what I said on the bench back then.

Yeah. That’s good. First of all, give them something to eat, have a conversation, and increase your intimacy… But… It’s all good, but what if you give it to me? Raon already went outside?

I think I mistook you for someone else.

Is this how a future assassin should act? I was dumbfounded, but I thought I could take care of Raon later, so I put the milk down on Raon’s desk and walked away.

* * *

Assyria, dressed in a black kimono, was gaining fame as a promising prospect, the youngest sword master in this academy.

She was now deeply troubled.

‘……What on earth should I show you?’

That was all I had in my head.

As Assyria was training in the training room as usual, a professor he always respected came to visit him.

Assyria recalled the day he met the professor.

“Assyria, are you still training today?”

“….Yes, Professor.”

The professor spoke with his usual gentle smile.

“Wow… How much more are you going to grow… You’re on a roll these days?”

“….still not enough.”

“Yeah. I have to work hard with that kind of mindset. Oh, by the way, Assyria. Do you have time tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah. The kids in the special ability class have swordsmanship training tomorrow. They’re all not really interested in swords. If it’s okay with you, could you help out a little bit with the lesson?”

Anyway, Assyria’s schedule for tomorrow was nothing but training.

Since I was about to graduate from the academy soon, I didn’t have any special classes to take, so I had a lot of time to spare.

“….I’ll help you. But how do you say you want me to help you with class?”

“Well, it’s nothing. Just show off your swordsmanship once with what you’re good at. Then everyone will be interested in swordsmanship and participate actively in class. Please do it. There are a lot of kids who are quite excited about this time. There are quite a few kids who are talented in swordsmanship…”

“Yes.”

“Everyone lacks enthusiasm. If you show them what a sword is like, they will all become enthusiastic about it and become good at it.”

“Okay, I understand.”

That was the end of my conversation with the professor.

At the time, I accepted the request without much thought, but thinking back, I had never swung my sword to show off to someone.

He had never taught anything about swords before. That was why Assyria was troubled.

‘….It’s a request from the professor, so I have to work hard.’

How can we get children interested in swords and actively participating in class?

Suddenly, a boy came to mind who I had seen only once five years ago, but who had given me an unforgettable realization.

He was another teacher to me.

When she found out later that he was a man she had always hated, she at first gritted her teeth at the feeling of betrayal that he had deceived her, but that also became dull as time passed.

All he wanted was to mix swords with the boy just one more time.

He had been treated terribly back then, but he wanted to show the boy that things were different now… that he had grown this much.

‘But… no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find it…..’

Of course, if someone with that much skill were to disappear, there would be no one who could find them.

As I grew, the boy must have grown too…

Maybe he’ll grow from a boy to a man and become incredibly strong?

Even if it’s by chance…

I just wanted to meet you again and compete against you one more time.