chapter_0168

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
168

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
168

“You want me to teach you
how to become stronger?

Why me, though?

I couldn’t understand why
Arthur would bring this up.

He’s the Third Prince of the
Soladin Kingdom, a name renowned across the continent.

Even if he has the relatively
lowly blood of a baronial family, as a prince with royal blood, he
has the power to obtain pretty much anything he desires.

He could receive training from
excellent knights, be taught by renowned scholars, and if he pushed a
little, he could probably even have any Academy professor as his
personal tutor.

So he had no reason to ask a
mere student like me for help.

I thought he might be joking,
but Arthur’s expression was very serious.

‘Why?’

“What’s this, Pitiful
Prince? Didn’t you say you wanted to defeat me? And now you’re
asking me to teach you? That’s quite pathetic, don’t you think?”

“Ahem.
I’m not joking. If it were a joke, why would I stand before you
knowing how you might react?”

He had a point. When he asked
me to teach him, he must have known what kind of response would come
from my mouth. He had anticipated the harsh words that would come out
of my mouth and still chose to stand here.

That determination couldn’t
have been taken lightly. Especially for someone with such a high
self-esteem.

“Excuse me, you two. Just
a moment.”

As we were talking, Joy
interrupted.

“It seems like this
conversation won’t be short. Let’s move to a different place.”

Only then did I realise that
all eyes were on us.

Wow, everyone’s staring at us.

It made sense, considering we
were blocking the grade report board and attracting even more
attention with our noticeable presence.

Thinking that staying here was
a nuisance, we left the crowd.

We headed to one of the
Academy’s private rooms.

These rooms were packed during
exams, but now, with final exams over and the break was approaching,
the place was pretty empty.

So empty, in fact, that the
staff at the entrance was dozing off.

Therefore, it wasn’t hard to
find a spot for the four of us.

“As for why I’m asking
you to teach me, it’s because those around you have been rapidly
improving.”

As soon as the door of the
private room closed, Arthur began to speak.

“First of all, Joy. This
airhead.”

“Prince?”

“Oh, right. I apologise.
Anyway, although she’s clumsy, sloppy, and foolish—”

“Just call me an
airhead…”

“The abilities of Airhead
Lady are something even I acknowledge. However, Joy’s recent growth
is beyond substantial. To the extent that the professor teaching
Magic Manipulation Studies calls her the best student he has ever
taught.”

Well, of course. The knowledge
I shared with Joy is from a culmination of the tens of thousands of
hours I spent playing Soul Academy.

Even without this, Joy was a
character who could catch up with users through her own talent and
effort.

By giving her optimal guidance
for developing a magical character, her growth was bound to be
exceptional.

“Frey Kent is the same.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Frey Kent had
impressive innate talent, enough to be considered the best of the
generation, but she wasn’t overwhelming. However, that’s no longer
the case. Frey Kent, who has grown rapidly by your side, has become a
formidable monster.”

Huh. It seems like there’s a
misunderstanding here.

I haven’t taught Frey anything
special. We just did physical training together, sparred, and ran
dungeons.

If someone asks who influenced
her growth, I’d have to say it was Karl, not me.

“Yeah. Lucy is amazing.”

I wanted to correct the
misinformation, but Frey nodded first, blocking my attempt to speak.

Hey. Do you understand what
Arthur just said and are you agreeing?

Or are you just nodding
because you think you were being praised?

“More importantly, Lucy
Allen. Your growth is abnormal. I understand that you have the
exceptional talent that comes from the Allen Family bloodline. But
even that has its limits. How can someone who struggled to climb
stairs rise to the top in just over a year?”

Oh, um, I have nothing to say
to that.

When I first possessed Lucy’s
body, I struggled even to climb stairs, but I’ve come this far.

Looking back now, it was a
series of unbelievable events.

What if I hadn’t persuaded
Benedict to drink the Elixir?

What if I hadn’t embedded
passive skills into Lucy’s body?

What if there hadn’t been
the extreme, nearly abusive training of the Allen Family?

What if I hadn’t surpassed
Ruel’s Trial and met Grandpa?

There were countless what ifs
in the path I’ve taken. If any one of them had gone wrong, I
wouldn’t be standing here now.

But do you know what really
makes me mad? I’m still just a first-year at Soul Academy!

In game terms, I haven’t
even entered the first chapter!

I’m still in the tutorial!

How many times did I have to
escape death during what should have been only a few hours’ worth of
gameplay!

“Based on these grounds,
I have concluded that there is something about you, Lucy Allen, that
I do not yet understand.”

Regardless of the fact that I
was growing more depressed about the need to keep struggling, Arthur
continued with what he had to say.

“Therefore, I ask you.
Teach me how to become stronger. I will do whatever it takes.”

Arthur bowed his head in front
of me.

Even though he was far from
the line of succession, a prince lowering his head before a Count’s
daughter wasn’t a trivial matter.

Even Joy, who stood beside
Arthur, looked visibly flustered.

If I were to ask Grandpa, who
seemed to be humming in amazement, he would probably start talking
about political implications and what not.

Hmm. So he wants me to help
him become stronger.

Helping Arthur wouldn’t be a
bad thing.

Think about it. I’ve already
amassed a debt with the First Prince, who is likely to be the final
boss. Though I don’t know for sure, the First Prince probably hates
me.

The Second Prince is in the
same boat. Right now, he may seem friendly, but it’s only a matter of
time before he flips out the moment I call him an Idiot Prince.

In a situation where I am
despised by both other heirs to the throne, my only chance of
survival is to cling to Arthur!

If I show him kindness now,
even if I commit some insane act due to my [Mesugaki] Skill, Arthur
will cover for me!

Alright. Let’s consider
helping Arthur for now.

A way for Arthur to become
stronger… If we exclude all other factors and discuss it plainly,
Arthur’s build is that of a Magic Swordsman.

Typically, characters of this
type are theoretically the strongest. They’re versatile, with both
powerful magic and physical strength!

But you know, the term
theoretically the strongest usually means they are only the strongest
in theory. When it comes to reality, they often end up struggling.

This was true even in Soul
Academy.

There’s so much to develop,
but the time given by the game is limited, so Magic Swordsman
characters often end up being failures.

However, here’s the thing.

This is not a game, but
reality. And Arthur is a rare genius with almost unparalleled talent
at Soul Academy.

If done right, it’s possible
to turn that theory into reality, isn’t it?

“Lucy Allen?”

‘Be quiet for a moment.’

“Pitiful Prince, be
quiet, your breath stinks.”

“…Oh. Well, okay.”

At one point, I also dreamed
of being the theoretically strongest Magic Swordsman character.

Do you think I, who enjoyed
all kinds of concept plays, wouldn’t consider a character that’s
the strongest in both magic and physical strength? Of course, I tried
to raise one.

But no matter what I did, the
character always ended up being lacklustre.

It made sense because the
growth resources in the game are limited. Without compromising with
reality, it’s nearly impossible to create a Magic Swordsman
character.

After countless efforts, I
succeeded in creating a Magic Swordsman character by focusing on a
physical build and using magic as a utility, but it wasn’t a true
Magic Swordsman.

It was just a Swordsman who
could use some magic.

After that, I became
disillusioned and gave up raising a Magic Swordsman, but now, all
this time later, standing before my eyes is a character who could
realise my ideal.

It’s a chance to fulfil my
dream!

The first issue is stamina.
With Arthur’s current stamina, he can’t keep up with a rigorous
schedule.

He needs at least enough
stamina to run with me from the 1st floor to the 100th floor of the
Academy Dungeon.

First, we need to start with
intense physical training. Then, we will polish his swordsmanship,
and finally, we’ll layer magic on top…

Hmm. It might be tough, but it
seems doable, right?

‘Grandpa.’

‘This is my current plan.’

Then, I explained my plan to
Grandpa. He is the person who could best judge if it’s
realistically possible or not.

After hearing my plan, Grandpa
let out a cynical laugh and said,

‘Is it really that
difficult?’

‘Where would be a good point
to compromise?’

After revising my plan under
Grandpa’s guidance, I lifted my head to see Arthur looking at me
with anxious eyes.

“Have you finished
pondering?”

‘I’ll accept your request.
However…’

“Alright. Since it’s a
request from the pitiful prince, I’ll help you. But there are a few
conditions.”

“Tell me.”

I only had two conditions for
Arthur.

He must follow my instructions
without question and must not give up halfway because it’s tough.

Arthur heard this and nodded
as if it was nothing.

“Ha. I was wondering what
you were about to say. I’m someone who doesn’t know the word
‘give up.’ You don’t need to worry about that at all.”

‘Really?’

“Pitiful Prince. Are you
confident? I think you’re a loser without perseverance.”

“Nonsense. I assure you, I
won’t give up. If I do, I’ll allow Joy to mock me.”

“Why are you suddenly
dragging me into this?!”

I got your assurance. So, from
now on, I can do things my way, right?

Arthur looked confident when I
first asked him, but seeing the greed in my eyes, his gaze started to
waver. It was too late now, though.

It wasn’t a private promise we
made; it was a conversation we had in front of the witnesses, Joy and
Frey. There was no turning back.

For now. Okay.

‘Arthur…’

“Pitiful Prince, let’s start
with some running.”

“Running? Physical training,
huh. Sounds good.”

‘Roughly…’

“Just roughly for half a
day.”

“…Uh. It seems you said
the wrong amount of time, half a day?”

“Yes, half a day. At a pace
that you can barely endure.”

Are you worried about whether
you can really run for half a day or not?

Don’t worry. I’ll make
sure you can’t help but do it. If I provoke you a little beside
you, you’ll grit your teeth and run, won’t you?

Lack of stamina? Don’t worry
about that either. I plan to involve Phoebe in the training.

If Phoebe helps with recovery
beside you, no matter how tough it gets, you will be able to keep
running.

In the same way, there’s no
need to worry about injuries or side effects.

There’s no way anything could
go wrong with the Saint providing recovery, right?

‘We don’t have time for
chit-chat. Let’s get going.’

“Now, Pitiful Prince. Shall
we get moving? Unlike the sloppy Pitiful Prince, my time is precious,
you know.”

This is the training you
chose.

Endure with all your might,
Arthur Soladin!

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