Ch.15EP.5 – I’m Instructor Ihan

Pendragon Royal Academy.

A place commonly known as the Academy.

A hall of learning and a sanctuary of scholarship where the young pillars who will lead the kingdom’s future are taught, the Academy teaches countless subjects in various fields.

Not only swordsmanship and magic, but also medicine, statistics, astronomy, metallurgy, and more.

If you looked hard enough, you might find strange subjects you’d never expect, and because of this, the Academy taught over 30 different subjects.

Perhaps even more than that.

However, despite the multitude of subjects, the quality of instructors or professors who taught them was not lacking.

Why else would it be called the Royal Academy?

With the royal name attached, comparing it to other academies would be nothing short of an insult.

That’s why the faculty at the Royal Academy is uniformly filled with exceptional individuals.

As they are responsible for nurturing the talent that will be responsible for the kingdom’s future, their skills and experience must naturally be extraordinary.

However….

“Is that him?”

“Was the rumor true?”

“My goodness.”

“Shouldn’t we try to build a relationship with him?”

“Give it up. He must be in a bad mood right now.”

“…That’s true.”

A simple gathering held before the Academy’s entrance ceremony for professors and instructors.

It could be called a presentation for the teaching staff, conducted with the purpose of providing simple explanations and getting to know each other.

While those in charge of various subjects were getting acquainted and growing closer, they kept glancing with curious expressions at one man.

Unlike the others who had formed groups, he sat alone like a solitary wolf, eating a steak.

They already knew his name and identity.

“His name was Ihan, right?”

“Order of the Silver Lion, heh, I’ve lived to see such a thing.”

“I agree.”

Several professors with long careers murmured his name.

Knight Ihan.

An active knight dispatched as an Academy instructor.

Of course, seeing a knight wasn’t a first, but seeing an active knight—not a retired one—and a young one at that, at the Academy was unprecedented.

What did “young” mean?

It meant being at one’s prime, when combat skills were at their strongest and most vigorous.

The most dynamic period of one’s life.

Yet becoming an instructor during such a period meant missing out on one’s most dynamic years.

Perhaps that’s why people tended to avoid him.

They believed he was inwardly displeased with this position.

Although it might be considered a demotion, or rather a reassignment, it didn’t mean he was weak, and the professors saw him as a dangerous element and quietly avoided him.

Avoiding risk rather than taking it.

It was the wisdom of life.

Well….

‘Anyone watching would think I’m toxic.’

Though they tried to be discreet, they couldn’t escape his notice, and Ihan smirked.

Humans, really.

‘They’re playing cute.’

Being feared was better than being ignored, so he wasn’t particularly displeased.

Chomp.

Another piece of steak disappeared into his mouth.

*

*

A week ago, the sudden news of Ihan’s reassignment had become a major issue within the Order, and unusually, the knights “sympathized” with Ihan.

…This might be difficult to understand at first.

How could the task of teaching young pillars who will be responsible for the country’s future be considered a punishment?

Isn’t this literally an honorable duty?

But this is the perspective of someone who knows one thing but not another.

What was the Order of the Silver Lion?

They are the royal knights.

The pride of protecting the glorious and great royal family is an honor that cannot be exchanged for anything in this country.

Yet to abandon that honorable duty and become a teaching instructor?

It’s not a bad position, but that’s only for retired knights—for a young knight in his prime, it’s like a bolt from the blue.

So this is a severe punishment.

At a time when one should be honing skills and rising through the ranks, having to teach youngsters instead.

There’s no greater loss.

So it wasn’t strange that the knights rarely felt sorry for him.

However, for the person in question…

“Ah, so they’re going with this setup? Certainly, this kind of trick is needed to make everything consistent. That woman is really cunning.”

“Disrespectful fellow, what kind of language is that to use for the princess?”

“I see you understand the situation somewhat, old man.”

“Heh, I can only guess.”

“Hmm, will I still get my regular salary?”

“…Well, I expected that reaction, but I’d hoped you’d show at least a little disappointment.”

Though he knew Ihan didn’t have much attachment to being a knight, his complete indifference was rather disappointing.

If only he had shown passion for the Order, he would have already secured a position.

“Don’t you want to try harder even now? If so, I’ll speak to the princess and have this mission canceled.”

Baltar Grace had that much authority, so he made the offer, but.

“No thanks.”

“…At least pretend to think about it for a second before answering.”

With things turning out this way, Ihan had already decided not to refuse, and Baltar ended up clicking his tongue.

And now.

Ihan was studying things that didn’t suit him at all in order to go through the course process and various other procedures, and his head was quite painful.

‘Just try not giving it to me.’

Though he maintained a calm appearance, he wasn’t exactly pleased about being dragged along by Isis.

She must have been confident he wouldn’t refuse.

But she should be prepared.

If she had promised medicine but was playing tricks…

‘Then sister or not, it doesn’t matter.’

Ihan was confident.

Confident that he could definitely deal with someone who had stabbed him in the back.

Even if that person was the heir to the country.

* * *

After finishing today’s curriculum and returning home, he saw three letters placed there.

One was from Jake.

Being perceptive, instead of worrying about his well-being, he seemed to think the secret mission was related to the Academy, so there was only a simple greeting: [Good luck].

In contrast, the next letter was from Yord, who, despite not knowing him for long, wrote worriedly, [I will petition the commander, so…] and so on, full of concerned content stemming from some misunderstanding.

…What’s wrong with this guy?

“Did I hit him wrong last time?”

I didn’t hit his head, though.

Feeling awkward, he checked the last letter, which had no addressee, and the paper was just plain white.

However, catching a faint scent of perfume, he had an idea who it was from, and Ihan soaked the blank paper in a bowl of water.

Then the writing appeared.

[Ihan, my trustworthy brother, if you have received this letter-.]

-beginning with this and filled with elegant handwriting and poetic expressions.

As expected of royalty, it was full of tedious content.

To summarize briefly:

‘I’ll keep my promise, so do your best too.’

There were embarrassingly flattering phrases like [I believe in you] and [I will trust your autonomy and judgment], but they didn’t particularly move him.

Some might consider it a three-generation honor to receive such excessive praise from Isis, but for Ihan, it was just annoying attention.

After roughly reading through the letter’s contents, the paper dissolved in the water.

The thorough destruction of evidence was impressive.

“I heard that sister was interested in alchemy and magic, and she’s good at this.”

Ihan burned the envelope with a zippo lighter.

It burned well, indeed.

“…Where should I start?”

The entrance ceremony was four days away.

From then on, he would be able to meet all the persons of interest.

But his sister hadn’t specifically told him how to test them.

According to the letter, she was entrusting everything to his subjective judgment.

Perhaps considering his character that disliked orders.

So if that’s the case, he needs to act autonomously, and Ihan thought carefully about what to do while writing on the blackboard.

It was like writing out a thought process, a habit Ihan had practiced since his previous life as a non-commissioned officer.

To solve unreasonable orders from superiors according to procedure.

…A habit learned in truly ironic circumstances.

But right now, it’s a rather good habit.

Perhaps because his thoughts were somewhat organized.

Ihan realized the first task he needed to do.

“First, I need to make them come close to me. And if there’s one thing that light novel protagonists and regression novel protagonists have in common, it’s that they’re all curious.”

Curiosity killed the cat.

And as if to prove this saying, light novel protagonists and regression novel protagonists are crazy people who can’t resist their curiosity and deliberately rush into dangerous places.

Getting kidnapped every day, stabbed, and putting themselves in dangerous situations, these guys can’t resist their curiosity.

They have a disease where they can’t stand not getting involved personally.

So…

“Let’s roll it out, shall we?”

Ihan quietly wrote it down under the section where the two people’s names were written.

What he thought would best reveal their true nature and create the most damnable situation.

“Hmm, not bad.”

A refreshingly pleasant smile automatically formed on Ihan’s face.

The act of passing on the pain he had experienced to someone else.

It was quite a rewarding thing to do.

The word [Guerrilla Training] was clearly written on the blackboard.