Ch.261-18. Academy (2)

# Chapter 18. Academy (2)

“Kid?”

That was definitely the word I hated most.

And they claimed not to know me… These people must be incredibly detached from the world.

“Yes, kid.”

The guy kept repeating that incredibly annoying word.

It felt like he was begging to be punched. However, I couldn’t just start swinging without thinking.

‘Dad told me not to do that…’

Instead, I expressed my feelings to them in a more peaceful way. I activated [Mortal’s End] and glared at them.

They must have been intimidated because they frowned and slowly backed away.

“Eek…!”

“What… is that…?”

“Isn’t that what that Alvar or Alber guy uses…?”

“It’s Alber, Alber Beros.”

“Whatever… Hey! Let’s go.”

They left, apparently scared of a mere “kid.”

Albert was still looking at me with bright, curious eyes.

“How do you do that? Can I do it too?”

“You can’t.”

“Why…?”

“I don’t know why, but you have something else instead.”

“I can’t use that very well…”

“That’s why you practice. Want me to help you?”

My brother still couldn’t activate his unique skill by his own will.

That’s why he needed help with the practice process itself. Of course, after going through the process a few times, he would get used to it.

Brother didn’t seem very enthusiastic, but he agreed anyway.

“Alright, let’s try it…”

***

“So you’re… the principal?”

Contrary to his expectations, Rachel wasn’t just a subject teacher but the principal of this academy.

Even though only a few years had passed.

Luna spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“It’s nepotism, pure nepotism.”

“…”

Rachel didn’t deny the nepotism comment. If anything, she seemed to acknowledge it herself.

Of course, Albert didn’t particularly mind that fact.

He thought Rachel was more than qualified, and besides, it was outside his realm of concern anyway.

He was more interested in what he was supposed to do rather than such trivial matters.

“What am I supposed to do?”

Luna, who was holding a thick stack of documents, answered his question.

“There’s an opening for… close combat class.”

“Close combat class… is that the same one we took in school?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Oh no…”

Rachel suddenly exclaimed. Luna knew why she had such a reaction.

Luna had experienced it herself and heard plenty about it too.

“The kids are going to suffer.”

“How intense can I make it?”

“That’s up to you. Make it as tough as you want. Everyone will keep up, right? Except for those delinquents.”

Luna was looking at four students visible through the window. They were smoking cigarettes, unbecoming of proper students.

And this was during class hours, no less.

Rachel raised her voice anxiously after seeing what happened next.

“Bellian is heading over there!?”

“Is she?”

Albert maintained a completely unfazed expression.

“Shouldn’t we stop her?”

“She’ll handle it.”

Only after witnessing the absurd phenomenon that followed did they understand why Albert was so calm.

Luna rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“Am I seeing this right? No way…?”

“Honestly, it was quite fascinating.”

“Is that even possible? At that age? Since when could she do that?”

“Not long, about three months?”

Bellian had recently achieved her first awakening during a sparring session with Albert.

A first awakening at age five was unprecedented in the history of the Kainis Empire.

It was a full four years earlier than Reinhardt’s first awakening, which had been the earliest on record. It was certainly a unique achievement, excluding the heroes.

“Now that I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.”

“Did you think it made sense at first?”

“A little bit. She is my daughter after all.”

“At that level… she could probably attend the academy at her age, couldn’t she?”

“Ah… speaking of which, Bellian wants to attend the academy.”

It wasn’t unusual.

Cases of students enrolling at younger than average ages were quite common, and if they had sufficient skills, everyone generally accepted it.

That’s why neither of them was surprised. Still, they had concerns in other areas.

“Won’t she have trouble getting along with the other children?”

“Maybe… but she doesn’t seem to need friends that much, so she might be fine.”

“Really…?”

In response to Albert’s somewhat clueless question, Luna pointed at him.

“Bellian only needs you. That’s the kind of child she is.”

“I’m already worried…”

“Afraid she won’t get married?”

“Not that… just somehow worried.”

***

After that, academy life began, and it was more enjoyable than expected.

The first class was fun in its own way, and watching the children grow was enjoyable too. It reminded me of my days as a knight commander and my school days, which now seemed so long ago.

Before heading home, I watched the students who were still sparring late into the night under my instructions.

‘They’re better than I expected.’

Perhaps because they were young, it was more efficient to increase their fighting time and let them discover things for themselves rather than giving difficult instructions.

The more they trained, the more precise their movements became, and their mana utilization improved dramatically.

One student approached me as I was watching and asked:

“Teacher, want to have a match?”

“Why not?”

These kids… they liked hitting walls.

They enjoyed challenging seemingly insurmountable obstacles and falling down in the process. Of course, whether they naturally liked it or I made them like it was debatable…

I took a stance with bare hands, not using a sword. Then I addressed the students, whose movements seemed stiff with tension.

“If you don’t come to me, I’ll come to you.”

As if they had been waiting for those words, the students charged. Normally, I would have given each of them a punch, but I’d grown softer after getting to know them.

I grabbed the collar of the first student who rushed at me and threw him at the one behind.

-CRASH!!-

Students came from the sides and from behind… They weren’t bothering with formations or tactics, which was a bit frustrating, but it was a somewhat wise choice, so I let it slide.

‘They probably figured they couldn’t win even with proper formations.’

I flicked each of the charging students on the forehead.

Kindly, one by one.

The students who received these flicks fell to the ground, nursing the red marks on their foreheads.

“It doesn’t even hurt that much. Don’t exaggerate.”

“It really hurts…”

“Teacher! Wasn’t that too hard!?”

“It needs to hurt a bit for you to learn to dodge. And in war, sometimes you have to take hits even when it hurts.”

After giving them some life advice, I said my goodbyes to the students.

“Have a good weekend, and I’ll see you next week.”

“Yes!!”

“Can’t you stay at the dormitory tonight?”

“That’s a bit difficult. I’m the head of a household, after all.”

With those words, I left.

Parting with the students was always a bit sad, but thinking about my family waiting for me improved my mood.

I headed to the train station to go home.

On the way… I encountered a somewhat unfamiliar sight.

Rachel was sitting alone in a pub I often used for work dinners, tilting her glass.

‘Why does her face look like that?’

Her makeup was smeared as if she’d been crying, and her eyes were bloodshot. Her face was also flushed red, suggesting she’d had quite a bit to drink.

Seeing a woman alone in that state at this hour, I couldn’t just leave her and go home.

I immediately headed to the pub.

“Welcome! Are you alone?”

“I have company here.”

Rachel’s eyes were glazed over with alcohol.

“Company? Who…?”

“You, you.”

“You came to hang out with me…!? But you said you were going home earlier!!”

“Just calm down. I came to stop you.”

Rachel put her arm on my shoulder and shouted to the owner.

“Owner!! Another glass here…!! And two more bottles of soju!!”

“I’m not drinking though?”

But Rachel pressed a glass full of alcohol to my lips.

“What do you mean not drinking!! Drink up! Hurry!!! You said you came to hang out with me…”

“I didn’t say tha-“

“Drink up! Hurry!!”

It seemed I wouldn’t be going home tonight.

I quickly took out my phone and captured Rachel’s disheveled appearance in a photo.

Then I sent the photo with a message to Ellie.

-I’ll be late tonight. Found her like this, alone at this hour.-

“Why are you suddenly taking pictures…? Because I’m pretty?”

“No?”

“Am I not pretty…?”

She was definitely in bad shape. She was doing things and saying things she normally wouldn’t.

I asked her in a serious voice:

“But why are you drinking like this?”

“So…! Am I not pretty?!!”

Since she wasn’t making sense, I just answered the question I’d asked.

“No, you’re not pretty. Happy now!?”

“That’s strange… he told me I was pretty… said I was the prettiest in the world…”

“So what?”

“But he dumped me today…? Ridiculous, right? I think it’s ridiculous too…”

Now the conversation was finally progressing.

Of course, it wasn’t because she understood what I was saying, but at least there was some progress.

However, that revelation was more surprising than I expected.

It was certainly possible, but since she hadn’t told any of us, especially me, I naturally assumed she wasn’t seeing anyone.

“You had a boyfriend?”