episode_0020

“It’s late.”

Professor Rose, who seemed a little annoyed, had already finished setting up the training ground.

“I’m sorry.”

“The captain must have asked you to lead. Haven’t you been recognized as the captain yet? Well, forget it.”

Click. Click.

“!?”

As the wheel in front of the training ground turned, suddenly everything, including the body, even the air itself, became heavy. The pressure that suppressed the lungs made it difficult to even breathe easily.

“Hmm… I haven’t felt this in a long time.”

“Hey… You seem pretty… fine.”

David and other students, especially those in magic or support classes, were crawling on the ground or even fainting in severe cases.

“I suppose those Diamond Class guys are. It seems like a long way to go from here.”

“Sorry, ugh…”

One student tried to get up apologizing, but as soon as the pressure that weighed heavily on the lungs acted up to the top, causing the student to look like they were about to vomit, Professor Rose finally released the pressure again.

“I’ll warn you in advance, my teaching style is strictly focused on practical experience. It’s what I’m most confident in and what you all need the most.”

Tap, tap.

“Get yourself together. Are you going to faint and irresponsibly burden your comrades when facing strong enemies on the battlefield?”

“But war is clearly—”

“No. It’s not over.”

“Students, what do you think war is? A means for the interests of power groups? Horrific slaughter? Struggle for survival?”

“Whatever it has become. As long as one side does not completely disappear, the war will not end.”

What’s going on? Why is there a sudden genre shift from romance fantasy to dark fantasy…

“War with demons, conflicts or massacres with demons, disputes. Whatever it may be. Even now on the front lines, incidents happen unexpectedly. Repeatedly.”

“I hate the title, but a war hero. That title was also something I earned at the age of 20. It was the age when I stepped out of being just a student. But how did I achieve such feats?”

The students, who had just been complaining, were now all focused on Professor Rose’s words. His ability to concentrate and convey was not overwhelmingly good, but solely persuasive. And by expressing sincerity, he was engaging everyone.

“I wanted to live! Sometimes under the corpses of demons, sometimes using decaying allies’ bodies as shields when there were none! When food was scarce, I even ate demon carcasses, desperately, just to survive!”

“That’s the attitude towards war. Doing whatever it takes to survive. Everything else comes after that. Because somehow, you have to survive to see what comes next.”

“At least, I will instill in you students the ways to survive on the battlefield.”

***

“All right, everyone is back safely. Now, we need to assess each person’s level, so come in one by one.”

Saying that, Professor Rose drew a circle about 10m in radius under his feet, holding not a sword, but a scabbard.

“Well, I said come in quickly. The first person will have their attitude score reflected.”

“I-I’ll go first!”

“I’ll go first!”

Indeed, when points were at stake, it seemed like people worked hard whether in past lives or here. In an instant, they lined up in front of the circle, and the person at the front of the line was…

“David Protean! First! Going in!”

“Boldness is good.”

Perhaps he had forgotten about getting beaten up last time, but without fear, he was stepping forward first to face another round of beatings.

Thump, thump, thump—

No, it wasn’t that he was fearless; even waiting for the impending pain seemed terrifying. In a way, David seemed to have the best judgment on how to survive.

“If you step out of the circle or shout surrender—”

“Is it a disqualification?”

“No, there isn’t such a thing. I decide both the beginning and the end. Keep fighting until the end.”

“Ugh…!”

With a beautiful yet eerie smile, David was enthusiastically knocked down by the examiner, who threw David to the side and called the next person.

“Next.”

“…Can I go back?”

“Next.”

“Don’t hurt me, no. Please finish quickly, even if it’s fast.”

Professor Rose quickly finished with nearly ten people, then seemingly dissatisfied, began to fight without even using the examiner.

“I won, the Golden Generation is nonsense. The sprout hasn’t shown up yet. Next!”

“Oh! It’s my turn! Please take care of me!”

“What is this… There was another guy like David. Feeling a bit desperate at the fact, he observed closely. Muscles covering his body under tanned skin. A tattoo of some religious symbol on his biceps. And neatly cut sporty hair.

“The future leader of the Ishutal tribe, Orlando Ishutal.”

“Surprise, when did you come?”

“It was you in front of me.”

She was the girl who had grabbed me in the classroom and said strange things. Not belonging to the warrior class, she looked at me with a somewhat discontented expression while wearing a robe that completely covered her body on her thin arms.

“You said you fought with that professor last. How did you manage to pass?”

“It’s not ‘you,’ it’s Kidney. That’s my name.”

“I know…”

“If you call yourself ‘you,’ our characters will overlap, right? Anyway, if the professor hadn’t been lenient, I wouldn’t have made it here.”

“That’s obvious. By the way, that person fights for a long time.”

As Orlando was drenched in sweat, barely fending off the professor’s attacks, one thing about him was incredibly impressive.

“Yeah, is the professor really that strong barehanded? Oh, what should I call you.”

“That word? Just call me whatever. Hey you, over there. You know, something like that.”

“No, how can you call someone without their name…”

“That’s why. Since I don’t have a name, you can really call me anything.”

The girl who said that eventually seemed amazed as she watched the fallen Orlando. She seemed genuinely unconcerned about names, not caring at all.

“Anyway, what’s your specialty?”

“Stars.”

“Huh?”

As I looked at her as if I misheard, she spoke again.

“There are stars. Do you know the twinkling little star ~ that star?”

“You… really can’t sing.”

“It’s noisy!”

Pushing me away with a flushed face, the girl soon calmed down and spoke again.

“I have a story that comes from my hometown. The reason the stars are at the highest point in the sky is to watch over everything and remember.”

“I came here to record one of the most valuable stories among those stories. To record the birth of a hero like Professor Rose. You could say it’s like the role of a historian.”

“So, you. Are you not in that story?”

“I… Oh, it’s my turn. I’ll tell you later.”

Saying so, the girl took out a small book from her bosom, opened it, and entered the circle.

“Well, is there about two left now? Is that your weapon? Try attacking first.”

“Thank you.”

Flanca Style. Second Form

Azirang-i.

“!?”

Clang!!

Summoning a sword from the sky when she only had a small book in her hand, the girl reproduced Professor Rose’s technique. Professor Rose, looking surprised or flustered, unlike before when he faced barehanded, properly defended against the sword.

“Oh, how did you do that? Our family’s swordsmanship is based on one-on-one combat.”

“I heard the story of the stars.”

Continuing to press Professor Rose with his techniques, the girl attempted to overwhelm him.

“But, it’s just an empty bamboo inside!”

“Tsk… Caught…”

“Even if you mimic the technique, if you don’t understand the principles within it, you’re just a bright plum. Quite a promising fellow in your own way. Except for the fact that the sword isn’t your main focus.”

The professor who spoke like that seemed to have pleased the girl, not knocking her out but simply throwing her outside. And…

“Alright. Last one, come out.”

“Who’s the last one, we should turn off the lights and go. Hey, who’s going out last?”

“Don’t do useless things. Since you came out last, you should receive a bit more penalty.”

Saying so, Professor Rose drew the middle of the three swords at his waist from the beginning. In contrast, I said,

“Um, well. I haven’t found a sword yet…”

In the final test, the substitute for the broken sword that the professor lent had not been found yet.

“Hmm… Take this.”

Swish-

“This is…”

The sword that the professor had lent during the test. After gripping it a few times, the familiar sensation still remained.

“If you satisfy me this time as well, I’ll give you this sword.”

“Really? It looks expensive at first glance.. Is it okay?”

“Well, I also took this sword by fighting for it.”

“Then isn’t it even less okay..?”

Professor Rose, seemingly unconcerned, awaited my approach with a posture as if responding to his expectations, he thrust the sword. The sensation of the sword cutting through the air gave me a feeling as if my arm had extended as long as the sword.

“I also want to fight with a sword. Can’t I!”

“No. Who has been waiting the longest to fight?”

“No. It’s not because I want to do that..”

Even as we spoke, our swords clashed, creating a small fireworks display in the air. The professor’s sword gently pulled mine in, using just the necessary amount of force to deflect it.

“This is really unbelievable.”

“Still, you seem to have learned something from last time. Your swordsmanship is cleaner than before.”

As the professor raised his sword saying so, he parried and counterattacked, but annoyingly, the professor blocked the rush with his foot before that.

“You have too many openings. And when entering the opponent’s range, it’s better to use your feet as well.”

“That! Thank you very much!”

Seemingly indicating that just blocking continuously was insufficient, the professor instead seemed to be pushing back.

“Hey, that person fights well, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. He must have entered as a top student for a reason.”

“Hmm. I’m still not sure.”

“Indeed, he’s my friend!”

Suddenly, all the students were awake and watching me and the professor. No ticketing record, though..