Ch.351346 – Homework

A few days ago, the head of the Katsuhata clan visited the personal training room of his successor, who was practicing late into the night.

“I’ve decided we’re going to Korea, Emika.”

“Korea, sir?” Emika asked, somewhat surprised.

Korea had not been invited to the World Mage Federation’s National Exchange Competition for three consecutive years.

Japanese media unanimously criticized Korea’s inferior education standards.

“I don’t think Korean mages are behind world-level standards. They just have a different educational approach.”

Even in the Academy Tournament, the use of wands is prohibited.

Korea’s excellent students prefer to become theoretical magic scholars rather than dynamic combat mages.

Earning recognition within the academy is far more important than gaining acknowledgment from the world.

These factors combined explain why no national representatives had been selected, but while watching the Academy Tournament, Master Akitaro discovered new possibilities.

“The Korean Cardinal’s niece turned sixteen this year. I was certain she would participate in the exchange competition. With the ‘Sacred Object,’ external manifestation would be an enormous advantage.”

But perhaps due to her devastating defeat in the tournament, she disappeared.

Jo Su-yeon lost in a 5-to-1 fight.

To make matters worse, she was on the side with five people.

After watching the Seoul regional Academy Tournament, Katsuhata Akitaro couldn’t help but feel a thrill.

“It wasn’t a lie that the little one destroyed the ancestral sword. NoName’s aura control is nearly at world-level.”

“…!”

Emika trembled.

She had been mentally comparing skill levels, thinking NoName might be able to compete with national exchange competitors.

The clan head had just confirmed this with his own words.

“Then the reason for going to Korea is…”

The clan head nodded with a grave expression at Emika’s words.

“I hear you’ve hit a wall recently. The core task of this training camp is to develop your external manifestation.”

Master Akitaro gave Emika homework.

He told her to watch NoName’s Academy Tournament and Sports Festival videos dozens of times.

Emika couldn’t agree with this.

“But in our Katsuhata style, if you have a sword, external manifestation isn’t necessary…”

“What’s the point when you keep dropping your sword?” the master sternly rebuked.

“A swordsman without a sword is as good as dead. Yes, Master Otake’s teachings are famous. But there’s something more frightening than death, and that’s losing at Tokyo Stadium.”

Emika’s gaze dropped to the floor.

She realized she wasn’t trusted by the clan head.

If dropping her sword in competition was considered inevitable, what was the point of nearly ten years of training?

Emika bit her lip as her feelings grew complicated.

“NoName might participate in the national exchange competition within three years. No, perhaps the year after next, or even next year wouldn’t be surprising.”

“Do you not believe in my talent and effort, Master?”

“I’m saying a shameful victory is better than an honorable defeat. The former can be glorified in some way, so don’t be so rigid, Emika. From the moment you decided to participate in the national exchange competition, you represent Japan, not just the Katsuhata style. It doesn’t matter what methods you use to win, not just swordsmanship.”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind…”

Your swordsmanship skills alone cannot conquer the world.

This simple statement from Akitaro cut deep into Emika’s heart.

Sleepless nights followed for days on end.

* * *

The Katsuhata clan contacted me secretly.

They wanted me to advise Emika on external manifestation.

[Wouldn’t it be much easier for a peer to explain than adults talking all day?]

Isn’t there quite an age difference between Emika and me to call us peers?

Anyway, true to their Japanese nature, they didn’t forget to include compensation.

500,000 won per visit.

They promised to pay 500,000 won each day I visited, without asking or caring how many hours I stayed.

Two visits equals one level-5 circle magic… not a bad exchange.

If I use Wednesdays when the academy ends early, plus Saturdays and Sundays, that’s roughly 15 sessions.

With summer break starting the last week of June, adding five more days would make exactly 20 lessons.

[We would appreciate your advice on external manifestation in various ways. If successful before returning to Japan, we’ll double your compensation.]

Double compensation means 20 million won.

Since they were paying me to visit a friend, I had no reason to refuse.

So I headed to the Katsuhata camp with a light heart.

Adella stopped by a specialized kendo equipment store, a 1 hour and 40 minute round trip away, to bring a practice wooden sword made of ebony.

‘It was on the way to the camp, so I feel like I unnecessarily asked for an errand.’

I don’t know how long it’s been since I held a properly sized sword.

Eager to swing it, I waved it in the air a few times, but the driver shot me a sharp glance through the rearview mirror, so I quickly stopped.

The Katsuhata camp was generally chaotic.

There were still unpacked belongings against the yard walls, and camp staff were bustling about.

I caught one of them and asked, “Could you tell me where Katsuhata Emika’s room is?”

“Kid, how did you get in here… Oh, you must be the friend coming today! Go straight around the back of the garden and you’ll find the junior suite.”

“Thank you.”

I crossed through a bamboo forest along the garden where a stream was trickling.

A hotel with an entire garden attached was quite novel.

While sparrows flew in to chirp spring songs, the powerful shouts of men resonated vigorously.

I entered through a half-open gate at the end of the garden and checked for signs of life.

“Anyone here?”

A pair of shoes was placed on the floor.

Judging by the size, they were definitely Emika’s.

I took off my shoes, went up, and looked around the hanok interior.

‘It’s only traditional on the outside; the interior is almost completely modern.’

Other than its cleanliness, I didn’t find anything special.

“The master will arrive in 15 minutes! Please have Miss Katsuhata ready!”

A booming voice calling for Emika came from across the garden.

I ignored this and moved toward the inner room.

Sure enough, through the half-open sliding door, I could see the back of a girl in a white uniform with a ponytail.

‘Is she meditating?’

I quietly approached her and lightly tapped her head with the wooden sword.

“Hey Emika, it feels like we haven’t seen each other in ages. How have you been?”

“…”

“Huh?”

Emika’s body wobbled and then collapsed helplessly to the side.

“Emika?”

There was no time to be surprised.

She had rolled her eyes back and was foaming at the mouth.

Unfortunately, the timing of Emika’s seizure coincided with the arrival of Katsuhata disciples.

“Miss Katsuhata. You didn’t answer no matter how many times I called, what are you… Miss Katsuhata! Why are you lying on the floor!”

“Aaaah! Young miss! Young miss, wake up!”

To avoid misunderstanding, I quickly put down the wooden sword I was holding.

Thud-

The sound of it hitting the floor seemed unusually loud today.

Rough-looking men gathered around and glared at me.

“Who are you! What did you do to our Miss Katsuhata?”

“I didn’t do anything…”

I pushed out my lower lip and pleaded my innocence.

How unfair this is!

* * *

Being a child saved me.

If I hadn’t been so young, I would have been pegged as the culprit without question.

Once the misunderstanding was cleared, their attitude completely changed, thanking me for finding the young miss early.

Well, I only came to see Emika anyway.

“If there are any fools who misunderstand that comfortable accommodations mean your body will be comfortable too, leave immediately. You all must have goals in mind for this training camp. Whether it’s the Emperor’s Cup, the Super League, or the National Exchange Competition! Never think you’ll easily achieve victory. Only those prepared to die can achieve their goals. Do you all understand!”

“Yes, we understand!”

“Good, dismissed!”

About 30 men and women dispersed at Grandpa Koizumi’s dismissal order.

I lay on the wooden porch, watching the solemn pledge of the Katsuhata disciples from a distance.

I could see a few kids around Emika’s age scattered among them.

Each one was praised as having the best talent in Japan.

But only Emika was designated as the next successor.

I suddenly thought how burdensome it must be for someone so young.

In such cases, jealousy and envy from seniors inevitably follow.

Still, on the surface, everyone seemed to adore her as their cute youngest member.

“Miss NoName. Miss Katsuhata has woken up.”

“Oh, really? Well, since I came all this way, I thought I should at least see her face before leaving.”

The clan’s medical staff guided me to Emika’s room.

I found Emika lying on a cotton blanket spread over a warm ondol floor, enjoying the cool air conditioning.

‘What a life of luxury.’

When she saw me, she quickly sat up and greeted me.

“Hi Name, I’ve been waiting for you.”

Her high ponytail swayed gently with her head.

“You just woke up, stop trying to save face. You suddenly fainted and scared me.”

“Ahaha.”

“What were you doing? Have you always had epilepsy?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“If not that, then what?”

Emika looked around cautiously and whispered in my ear.

There’s no one listening anyway, why be so embarrassed?

“I tried running my aura in reverse to practice handling the aura heart…”

“What? Are you stupid, unnie? Why would you reverse a perfectly flowing aura?”

“Name, ‘stupid’ is a bad word. You shouldn’t use it.”

“What else should I call a stupid person? That’s like something people would get 1000 years ago.”

“Hmph…”

It’s a condition called Chronosensitive Epilepsy.

She must have tried to count time backward in her mental world by reversing her aura flow.

But the aura heart has a property that tries to return to a state optimized for the ‘present.’

Therefore, when there’s a shock from outside or great emotional disturbance during meditation, the time in the mental world flows rapidly, causing disruption of electrochemical signals in the brain.

To put it simply, it’s a weaker version of the cultivation deviation often seen in novels and movies.

The treatment is ridiculously simple.

Just look at a clock showing the current time.

That’s why modern people naturally can’t develop this disease.

It’s not some strange blood disease, and I’ve never seen anyone with Chronosensitive Epilepsy even in my past life.

As I continued to look at her with a pathetic gaze, Emika’s cheeks turned bright red.

She’s surprisingly clumsy.

“Oh right, the pledge ceremony!”

“It’s already over. Everyone’s dismissed.”

“Oh no! Master will scold me so much…”

“By the way, the Katsuhata clan holds training camps in the city too? I thought you’d be holed up in some mountain valley.”

“We are usually holed up in mountain valleys! This year is just different.”

So it’s true.

Emika’s words made me doubt Japan’s elite education system again.

Perhaps the reason the Katsuhata clan achieved excellent results on the international stage wasn’t because they taught well, but because they only recruited outstanding students from the start?

“Actually, we decided to come to Korea because of you, Name.”

I frowned at Emika’s additional comment.

“Because of me?”

“Yes. The master really wants me to achieve external manifestation. He says that’s the only way I can win at the exchange competition.”

Emika then showed me a stack of papers.

It was at least 1,000 sheets of A4 paper.

They contained frame-by-frame images of my performance in last week’s martial arts match.

“What is this…”

“There’s so much to learn from you, Name. It took me three days just to copy this stance?”

It was the martial art I displayed against second-year Kim Ye-ji at the sports festival.

Emika got up from her seat and opened all the windows in the main hall.

“Let me show you.”

Emika took a deep breath.

She brought her hands together to her side and released aura throughout her body.

Thump thump-!

She quickly alternated stomping her left and right feet.

The mana-treated floor shook from the strong impact.

Emika extended both hands with perfect timing and perfect posture.

Bang-!

The air in front of her palms compressed strongly, creating turbulence.

The wind, spiraling outward, swept through the leaves in the garden.

“How long did you say it took you to learn this?”

I asked to confirm.

“3 days. Exactly 3 days and 8 hours.”

“Hmm, I see.”

I slowly stroked my chin.

She definitely has tremendous talent.

Despite her young age of 15, I understood why they chose her as the successor to the Katsuhata style.

Not only is her talent outstanding, but her determination is also strong.

I could see traces where she had printed 300 connected movements and analyzed them with a red pen just to learn a 5-second motion.

I saw potential here.

“I don’t care about national exchange competitions or whatever, but I think we could aim for external manifestation within a month?”

“Really?”

Emika brightened up with a radiant expression.

“How about meeting on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays? Wednesdays for about 2 hours from 4 PM. Saturdays and Sundays, as much as we feel like.”

“Sure. The time doesn’t matter to me.”

“Alright. Actually, I’ve already roughly assessed your level from that movement, so I’ll think about and prepare a curriculum.”

“Hehe, this is strange. I’ve had guidance matches with seniors before, but this is the first time I’m getting them from someone much younger than me.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No, I was just saying!”

“If it bothers you, unnie should hurry up and graduate by achieving external manifestation.”

There’s nothing more enjoyable than teaching talented children.

I happily pondered the curriculum and homework I would assign in the future.

* * *

[NoName: Learn these basic movements by next Wednesday.]

[NoName: (Sent a photo.)]

[NoName: (Sent a photo.)]

[NoName: (Sent a photo.)]

(…)

[NoName: (Sent a photo.)]

[Unread messages: 101]

“Huh? How am I supposed to do all this in just two days? Is she out of her mind?”