episode_0024

Today was a private lesson with Ms. Mion.

The lesson was in the form of students studying in a self-directed manner, then Ms. Mion approaching and checking how much each student understood from the previous lesson.

In short, a private tutoring session.

Cold sweat dripped from Jeong Yu-shin’s forehead.

Ms. Mion was excessively close.

She placed a chair next to his desk, leaned her upper body forward, and there was nowhere to look.

“Alright. Repeat after me and write it down in your notebook.”

“Yes.”

“I like young children.”

Mion’s breath tickled his ear.

“…”

“Shall I say it again?”

“…I like young children.”

He suddenly felt trapped in a close-up ASMR dictation brainwashing scheme.

A situation where a slight misstep could land him in jail.

He focused all his energy and wrote down each letter in his notebook.

“Mr. Sca, your handwriting is neat.”

“Thank you.”

Mion swept her stray hair back behind her ear. A sweet scent crossed his nose and tapped at his brain.

“The witch said again. ‘Young children are the best food because they are not fully ripe and their flesh is soft.’”

‘The level of this otherworld fairy tale…’

It was a crisis part from the fairy tale “The Earth Spirit and the Woodcutter,” which was a bit too cruel for a child to read.

He repeated and wrote it down.

“Hmm? Mr. Sca, this part is wrong. Please write it again.”

Mion leaned in a little more and tapped the wrong part with her finger.

A shocking sight entered his eyes.

“Ugh.”

No matter how baggy the priest’s robes were, they couldn’t hide the enormous milk tanks that were spread out like pudding on the desk.

It’s poison to the eyes.

I’m getting an erection.

His dick declared decisively.

‘No!’

An erection in a classroom full of children.

Iron bars flickered in his eyes.

Mion’s contemptuous gaze also flickered.

I rather like it.

‘No. Get a grip!’

Jeong Yu-shin widened his eyes. The warning from the temple receptionist flashed through his mind. A ‘scandalous incident’ would result in expulsion from the orphanage academy. He had to avoid it at all costs. Losing the chance to learn cheaply.

“Mr. Sca?”

“Yes. I’ll fix it now.”

He was trying to move the pen in a hurry to correct the wrong part.

He hit Mion’s chest with his right arm.

Jeong Yu-shin’s strong arm crushed Mion’s plump breasts and slightly grazed the nipple hidden in the thin lace bra.

“Ugh!”

Mion flinched and pulled her body back.

A major disaster.

“Kuk! I’m sorry!”

He immediately bowed his head and apologized.

“Ah… No. I was too close. I’m sorry.”

Mion’s face turned as red as a tomato. She covered her chest with one hand. But how could an H cup breast be covered with one hand? Rather, it added to the sexiness.

“Teacher, please look at me too!”

“That’s right. Teacher, why do you keep sticking to that Barbarian?”

The children sitting around complained with dissatisfied voices.

“Okay. Mr. Sca, rewrite the part you got wrong just now. I’ll check it again after class.”

“Yes.”

Mion got up and left with stiff movements.

Jeong Yu-shin began to correct the incorrectly written part.

But the soft touch of the milk tanks kept lingering.

“Gee! Teacher? Please concentrate.”

“Huh? Oh…I see. I’m sorry.”

“Huh? Teacher, there’s something pointy sticking out on your chest. Is it a bug…”

“Con…Concentrate!”

He tried to ignore the conversation behind him.

‘Am I going to get expelled?’

Nah, no way.

He suppressed his anxiety and focused on studying.

He tasted the feeling of sitting on a bed of thorns, reading fairy tales, writing them down himself, and memorizing the necessary words.

Time passed and it was almost lunchtime.

“Okay, that’s it for today. Thank you for your hard work today, everyone. I’ll check the homework tomorrow.”

“Yes! Teacher. Thank you. Are you coming tomorrow too, Teacher?”

“Hehe. We’ll see?”

“Please come tomorrow!”

“Shall I do that?”

Mion said in a slightly cooing voice and kept sweeping her hair back behind her ear. The back of her neck was slightly red.

‘Did we just make eye contact?’

Mion looked at the students and seemed to glance at him for a moment.

He couldn’t be sure because Mion had narrow eyes.

“Let’s leave which teacher will come as tomorrow’s fun.”

“Ehh.”

“Student Sca, please stay behind for a moment. Okay, everyone, go have lunch. Class dismissed!”

The students left and only Mion and Jeong Yu-shin remained.

“Mmm, mmm. You fixed it well. Excellent.”

“Thank you.”

“Um… do you have time perhaps?”

“I can’t for long. I’m sorry.”

Mion’s face became shocked at Jeong Yu-shin’s curt reply.

‘I’m sorry. I spent 30 silver coins at the swordsmanship guild.’

“Then…shall we talk while walking?”

“Yes.”

He packed his writing utensils and put them in a small bag. It was a bag that Darmong had given him as a memorial for entering the orphanage academy, and it had a cute bear face drawn on it.

He slung the bag over his shoulder and walked with Mion.

“Ann told me everything. That you saved your colleagues.”

“I was lucky.”

It wasn’t a lie. Really. He had his own troubles then.

“Still, it’s rare for a new explorer. And you readily handed over silver coins. Even if they were in the same party, it’s an amazing act of kindness.”

“It’s just a few silver coins.”

He felt awkward at Mion’s sudden praise.

“It’s a lot of money for a new explorer. I know. I was an explorer once.”

Mion said seriously.

‘She was an explorer?’

He didn’t know.

“You were an explorer?”

“Ahahaha. Yes. It was a long time ago, though. Not now.”

He decided not to ask any further at Mion’s bitter smile.

“Anyway! Our temple has decided to give kind Mr. Sca some convenience.”

“What do you mean by convenience?”

“Tada! You can use the Earth Mother Temple’s confessional for as little as five copper coins!”

“The confessional?”

Holy communion?

Isn’t it a religious act of confessing sins with a wooden partition in between?

“Yes! How is it? Good, right? Outrageous, right?”

“Do I look like someone with a lot of sins?”

He asked honestly.

Mion waved her hands with a flustered expression. Her large baby milk tanks shook along with her.

“No! That’s not what I meant. It’s not really a confessional, it’s just a place to open up about things you’ve kept in your heart, things you can’t tell other people.”

“Is there really a need to do that?”

“The labyrinth is a place where the heart is easily hurt. Alcohol and entertainment, and just chatting happily are not enough. The thorns stuck in the soul don’t come out that way.”

A voice full of conviction.

Mion’s narrow eyes were already open.

Jeong Yu-shin silently stared into Mion’s golden eyes.

Petals announcing the end of spring fluttered between the two people on the wind.

“Some people relieve their resentment with food and conversation.”

Jeong Yu-shin opened his mouth.

Darmong and warm food.

“…”

Mion looked at Jeong Yu-shin with pity.

“Still, thank you. I’ll use it someday. Can I say anything in the confessional?”

Mion smiled slightly.

“Yes. Anything.”

* * *

After finishing his conversation with Mion, he shoved something to eat into his stomach at the temple cafeteria and ran to the swordsmanship guild.

“You’re late!”

The elf standing in the training ground stood with a very angry expression.

“I’m sorry, guild master.”

“Look at your relaxed face? Did you perhaps go on a date with a beautiful woman?”

It was a very specific guess. His spine tingled.

“No.”

“Nuh-uh. Don’t lie, look at your flustered expression. Your face is already relaxed, so you just need to loosen up your body. Run 40 laps around the training ground.”

“Yes.”

He ran without complaint.

10 laps.

20 laps.

Even if his feet slowed down a little, the elf’s taunts and shouts would erupt.

“Is that all you’ve got? Your lower body is so weak. Are you even a Barbarian?! Run!!”

30 laps.

“Even a snail runs better than you. Lift your head! Grit your teeth!”

He completed 40 laps under the elf’s fierce supervision.

“Hoo, hoo, ugh. Keoeoeok.”

“Don’t make pig squealing noises, grab your sword. Get in the stance you learned yesterday.”

“Keueueueup. Yes.”

He grabbed a wooden sword without being able to rest, soaked in sweat.

The sword trembled.

Middle stance.

“Here I come.”

The elf didn’t go easy on him and drove him hard.

Yesterday was just a taste, she swung her sword like a storm.

Jeong Yu-shin was tossed around like a sailboat adrift in a storm.

But he didn’t capsize.

He gritted his teeth and endured. Blood flowed from his tightly closed lips.

There wasn’t even time to breathe properly.

He drew a sword path with his cramping arm.

A simple sword path he learned yesterday.

Downward slash.

Upward slash.

Horizontal slash.

Finally, a diagonal slash.

Clang!!

The wooden sword collided with the wooden sword.

A contest of strength.

The wooden sword that Jeong Yu-shin was holding trembled.

The elf’s face was visible between the wooden swords.

The elf grinned.

“I heard you killed a hobgoblin warrior? In just two trips to the labyrinth.”

“…Are you also investigating me?”

“If you’re in this position, you’ll find out even if you don’t want to.”

‘She was the guild master. This damn elf.’

The elf put strength into the wooden sword and pushed.

Paaat!!

Jeong Yu-shin’s body staggered and was pushed back. Dust rose from the training ground floor.

The elf’s sword strikes followed. Overwhelming speed that he couldn’t possibly keep up with even if he leveled up.

Thwack!

A groan came out of him from the pain that felt like burning his shoulder.

“Keueuk.”

“Hurry up and come. I don’t have time.”

Like yesterday, the people around him gathered and surrounded them in a circle.

Thwack!

Waist.

Thwack!

Thigh.

Thwack!

Neck.

The place he was hit wasn’t good.

“Keueueuk.”

He curled up like a bug because he couldn’t breathe.

Saliva drooled from Jeong Yu-shin’s mouth.

“Guild master, isn’t that too much?”

A beastman with one horn broken frowned.

It was too harsh for a beginner swordsmanship class.

“He’s still doing okay.”

Jeong Yu-shin said as he got up, supporting himself with the wooden sword like a cane.

“Is that so?”

The elf shrugged. As if it wasn’t her fault.

“…”

The beastman crossed his arms and shook his head.

Jeong Yu-shin grabbed the wooden sword with both hands and raised it.

Upper stance.

The tip of the sword soared high as if to pierce the evening sky.

The elf smiled crookedly.

“Upper stance? This newbie has no manners.”

“Here I come.”

“Alright.”

* * *

The sword dance between the elf and the human stopped only after nightfall.

Everyone had gone home. The training ground was empty.

The elf looked down at Jeong Yu-shin, who was collapsed and panting.

“That’s it for today. Don’t be late tomorrow.”

“Hoo, hoo, ugh. Yes.”

“Good work.”

“Hoo, ugh. Guild master too. Keueueueheok. Good work.”

The elf left and only Jeong Yu-shin remained alone in the training ground.

“Haaigo. That was tough.”

He sat down on the training ground floor and massaged and loosened his body. He didn’t want to suffer with stiff muscles tomorrow morning like he did this morning.

He naturally reviewed today’s training.

‘I just got beat up. I also got a lot of criticism about my posture.’

He also heard several criticisms that his lower body was weak.

‘Should I do squats or something?’

He added squats to his dawn training.

He got up from his seat and left the training ground.

Darmong greeted him when he returned to the inn.

“You’ve become a tattered rag.”

“It was training worth the money. The guild master was guiding me directly?”

Darmong widened his eyes as if he was really surprised.

“Could it be that elf?”

“She is an elf. Is she a famous person?”

“She’s the city’s official Sword Master. Her name is Ashur Startree.”

“Sword Master?”

That Sword Master who cuts down everything in front of him with Sword Energy?

Could this otherworld cheat be in my hands?

His heart pounded violently.

“Do Sword Masters emit light from their swords and cut everything down?”

“A Sword Master can cut anything well even if they’re holding an old iron sword. And light comes out of the sword? Are you talking about Aura Blade? You have that too.”

“Huh?”

“Sacred Weapon. That’s also a kind of Aura Blade. It’s lower grade, though.”

“Eck.”

Darmong stroked his chin for a moment and continued.

“There was a rumor that a legendary swordsman used to use it, but it’s just a rumor. Don’t rely too much on the engraving and train honestly. That’s the fate of the vanguard.”

Darmong added a word as if he felt sorry for Jeong Yu-shin, whose shoulders were drooping.

“The title of Sword Master is only given to the strong. Not just any strong person, but a strong person who has received official recognition from the labyrinth city. That kind of person is teaching you swordsmanship? You can’t grab this kind of opportunity even if you have a mountain of gold coins.”

“Yes. I’ll work hard.”

“And…”

Darmong stopped talking for a moment.

“No. Let’s talk about it later. Rest today.”

“Yes. Darmong. Good work.”

Darmong sighed as he watched Jeong Yu-shin’s back as he went up to the second floor.

“Sword Master. Sca, what the hell are you doing?”

Darmong’s sighing murmur didn’t reach the second floor.