Chapter 186: The Knight Starts Anew (3)

“You guys were caught too? Kunta is glad to have more friends!”

“…”

Seeing a Barbarian wearing a yellow hard hat and safety equipment, the cadets immediately prepared themselves to run away. A single thought crossed all of their minds: They had come into an illegal labor site.

However…

“I brought you here by force, yeah, but I did it because this is part of today’s outdoor class. You guys only need to watch.”

“D-Do we really?”

“You came to the Academy to study, not to work. If there’s work that needs to be done, then I should be the one doing it, not you guys.”

“…”

Unexpectedly, the instructor showed them a rather affectionate consideration. The man had a lot of strange aspects about him, but he still occasionally showed them that he was a proper educator, and this was one of those moments.

“Are we not cadets too…?”

“What did we do wrong, Instructor…?”

At that moment, Arno and Galand, who were wearing construction equipment like Kunta, busily working on the tunnel, complained about the unfairness that they experienced.

‘This isn’t fair…’

‘We’re also cadets like them, why do we have to suffer on our own?’

To their question, the instructor…

“I heard you guys went on to catch criminals while I was away.”

“…”

“Rascals. Cadets aren’t supposed to do such a job behind my backs. Tsk tsk.”

“T-That… That was just for combat exercise…”

“So, you think what you did is right?”

“…No.”

“Then, you should know what to do next.”

Lee Han asked them with a frown, and immediately, they…

“Where should we start, Instructor?”

“Okay, I’ll shut up and do my things…”

Backpedalled to save their lives, prompting Lee Han to click his tongue.

Seriously, who do you guys take after to cause such a—

…It was me, wasn’t it?

A tiny grain of conscience that could just disappear at any moment attacked him the moment he thought so. Due to that, he had to shut his mouth for a while.

The reason why Lee Han started to dig a tunnel in the mountain behind his house all the way to the Academy after barely surviving the whole ruckus in the empire and passing out for two days wasn’t because he was going crazy, or because he was just bored.

“You see, the way I see it, the current state of the royal capital, including the Academy, isn’t safe at all. In a way, I could say that we’re in the ‘state of war’.”

“…”

“I’m not saying this just to scare you guys; I’m just telling you the facts. That’s why I felt that countermeasures are needed.”

“B-By any chance, those countermeasures are…”

“This is one of them.”

The words ‘state of war’ shocked the cadets, but that didn’t last long. It was only natural since they had already experienced a monster terror attack before. Thanks to that, they didn’t dismiss Lee Han’s words as mere bullshit.

If what that magic freak says is true, there’s a high chance that another attack will come soon.

The fanatics were after Pendragon, that was an established fact. Personally, Lee Han didn’t have much problem with it since he could easily cut those bastards’ heads, but he couldn’t say the same thing about his disciples or the other cadets.

After all, this wasn’t a matter of whether they were determined to cut off those bastards’ heads or not, but a matter of differences between the environment they lived in. Unlike him, these cadets had never experienced real war.

That was why the moment he woke up, he felt all antsy.

He quickly tried to devise means to keep the children safe, and so…

“We’re going to create measures for emergency situations.”

“Measures?”

“A typical example would be a shelter. When a crisis hits, there are times when you’d need a place to hide for a while, no? So, I figured that I’d create a shelter—a place of refuge for you guys to anticipate those times.”

“I-I can see your point, but… Won’t it be better if we were to wait for orders from above instead?”

By ‘above’, they meant someone like the dean, or maybe even the royal family.

“You think their orders will come out that quickly? Hell no. If we wait for them and neglect any kind of preparation, we’ll be doomed. The people above will only move when an incident has occurred. This is an immutable law that applies to all nations.”

“…I don’t know if those words are true or not, but I can tell that you’ve been through a lot, Instructor…”

At some point, they started to listen to Lee Han’s words properly. They could tell that this wasn’t a decision he made based on his emotion, but one that he made after serious consideration.

“…Anyway, it’s really surprising. I didn’t take you for someone who’d put so much effort to protect us, Instructor.”

“Huh?”

“O-Of course, I know that you aren’t a bad person, Instructor! I just never expected that you’d build such a facility to save our lives…! You really are an amazing person!”

The cadet who said those words probably came from a family that valued noblesse oblige.

That explained why he was making a moved expression when he said all that, but this only made Lee Han’s heart stung. It was only natural, after all the real reason why he built the bunker was…

I did it so I can let loose when I fight…

Still…

It’ll be better if I don’t say anything here, right?

Lee Han knew that sometimes it would be better to keep his silence so that he wouldn’t lose any favor points.

Master probably dug that because he thought the others would get in his way when fighting.

Hehehe~

Levy, who was smiling secretly, managed to see through her master’s train of thoughts.

Of course, it wasn’t like she could read his mind, it was just, her love towards him made her know about the man better than anyone else, and she had enough confidence that her guess was right.

And as she expected, the moment he received the other cadet’s respectful gazes, his smile stiffened for a split second—it happened so quickly, but her sharp eyes managed to notice it.

Looking at the fact that his pupils became 0.03 mm bigger than usual, he must have been quite flustered.

Seeing him acting like this from time to time, she came to the conclusion that he wasn’t good at hiding his feelings.

“He’s so cute.”

She had sharp eyes to the point that it was scary. After all, that meant she was extremely good at observing others. Considering the life she had lived, no one would disagree if one were to call her talented in this regard.

The girl had lived her entire life watching people to know what they thought; an ability that she had to learn in order to survive.

One wouldn’t be mistaken to say that her unfortunate life gave birth to such a talent.

And thanks to the man who extended a helping hand for her, her talent could bloom and flourish properly. Needless to say, she was looking forward to her future.

However…

Hm? But, he feels a little…different than usual…?

Her talent was probably blooming a little too quickly.

Or maybe it was just due to him being unusually more restless than before.

As Levy used her observational power on Lee Han’s body, she was able to detect a strange oddity from him.

He wasn’t in pain or anything, of course.

It was just…

He looks a little uncomfortable?

Levy tilted her head. The instructor looked like someone who was wearing tight clothes that didn’t fit his body. At the same time, she wondered what it was that made him look so uncomfortable.

At that moment…

“Ah, finally, you’re here.”

“???”

The cadets immediately reeled after hearing Lee Han’s sudden remark.

Thud-!

Then, ‘someone’ appeared in the empty space where they were sitting.

“!!!?”

It was a man covered in black clothes. The unfamiliar stranger’s sudden appearance shocked them, and they tried to draw their swords, but…

“Not bad. But, you are too slow.”

Thud-!

“H-Huh?”

“W-What is this?”

“…?”

…The cadets failed to do it in time.

They clearly tried to draw their swords, but for some reason, their swords just went back on their scabbards. It was as if something had pushed them back in before they could even draw them.

Moreover, it happened at a speed that their eyes couldn’t catch.

And the only person who could do something like that was…

“Do you usually wear that kind of clothing? You were wearing a perfectly good pair of armor the other day.”

“There’s nothing good about selling my face. Also, I have no desire to be a performer.”

“Woah there, are you looking down on performers? That’s discrimination.”

“…I didn’t mean it like that, ahem!”

The black-clad man, whose identity they couldn’t figure out no matter—

“Oh, it’s Sir Lake.”

Or not.

Irene Windler. The beautiful girl with blonde hair and blue eyes pointed her finger at the black-clad man with a bright smile.

“Did the instructor invite you here, Sir Lake?”

“Y-Young Miss…”

“A-Ah! I-I shouldn’t have revealed your name, should I? S-Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose…”

“No… You did nothing wrong, Young Miss. So please don’t make that face.”

As soon as Irene Windler made an apologetic face, the man took off his black clothes. What was revealed was a surprisingly handsome man with green hair and red eyes, prompting the women cadets to quickly cover their mouths with their hands.

Just as men’s eyes were naturally drawn at a pretty woman, women’s eyes would also be drawn at a man with such a striking appearance and aura.

However, while some cadets were amazed by his appearance, there were more cadets who were drawn to his name instead.

“Lake? Lake de Duran?!”

“G-Galahad’s Mad Wolf.”

“Crazy…! Hey, didn’t you say he is your idol?”

“…”

“…Huh, he fainted…”

The weight of Galahad’s name was enormous. After all, that was a name that people who were aiming to become knights admired. Hence why when the cadets saw the man who was called Galahad’s champion standing right in front of them, they all felt moved.

Well, all of them, except for a few.

“What…is that…? Monster…”

“Kunta, you can’t call people that… Though, I understand how you feel.”

“…He’s someone that only monsters like our Instructor could handle, no? Seriously, what the fuck? Why are there so many monsters roaming around…?”

Those who had some skills, especially the trio, were terrified. Just like the other cadets whose skills had improved significantly compared to half a year ago, theirs, which had already been at the top, had blossomed to a whole new level. That was why they were quite confident in their skills. But seeing the knight only made their confidence drop again.

Thud-!

“You guys are doing well. Don’t compare yourselves with that guy. It’ll just make you feel miserable.”

“Instructor?”

“I didn’t call him here to make you guys feel bad, I did it to show you guys how strong someone could be. It’ll be a great help to you later down the line.”

“W-What…?”

Lee Han lightly patted the three boys’ backs and shoulders and then approached the unlucky handsome guy.

“You acted like you wouldn’t come, but you still came anyway, huh?”

“I came because you begged so much.”

“Bullshit. You came because you felt uncomfortable with the ‘unfamiliarity’ in your body.”

“…”

“…Forget it. I didn’t call you here to argue.”

“…For the first time, I agree with you.”

Then, Lee Han started doing light stretching.

Lake also did the same.

Sometimes, there were knights who’d stretch half-heartedly because they thought it made them look lame, but Lee Han could say for sure that those idiots who didn’t warm up their bodies just to show off were just second-rate, or even third-rate knights.

The more confident someone was in their skills, the more they should think about bringing their condition to its peak instead of trying to show off.

Lee Han stretched his entire body as if he were in a yoga pose, and the cadets couldn’t help but exclaim at his flexibility and dynamic muscle movements.

“Watch until the end. But, it’s just a simple sparring, so I don’t know if it’ll help you much.”

“…Huh?”

“Whew!”

Lee Han didn’t respond to his disciples’ confused exclaims and just spent about 30 more minutes stretching. It should be such a boring 30 minutes, but the cadets took it seriously.

The fact that even a knight of his caliber was serious about warming up piqued their interest.

“How do you want to do this?”

“Let’s do a 5 minute duel followed by a 1 minute break. The match will be decided after about 10 rounds.”

“Ten rounds, huh? It’ll be a little intense.”

“Are you scared?”

“Yeah. I’m scared that I won’t be able to properly control my strength.”

“…You rascal!”

“Hey, you’re the one who picked a fight with me first…”

At some point, Lee Han and Lake closed the distance between them.

The cadets didn’t know when it was made, but there was a circular mark on the ground, and the two knights faced each other while entering the circle.

“…”

“…”

At one point, the two knights stopped talking, and instead they…

Bang-!

Bang-!

Punched the other knight in the face without even raising a guard to probe each other.