Ch.37EP.11 – The Knight Hate Spellcasters (5)

…In conclusion, Ihan and Odwal were summoned by the Chancellor and scolded.

In Ihan’s case, it was for breaking Odwal’s wrist.

However, this was considered a mitigating circumstance since Odwal had grabbed his collar first, and it was an accidental mistake that occurred while trying to remove his hand.

As for Odwal, he was severely reprimanded by the Chancellor.

Not only had he barged into another department’s territory, but causing trouble was simply unacceptable.

He ended up receiving a six-month pay cut.

‘That’s hardly a punishment for someone with massive sponsorships.’

Ihan knew that this penalty wouldn’t be a significant blow to someone who reportedly received enormous sponsorship money on a weekly basis, far exceeding a regular instructor’s monthly salary.

The Chancellor probably knew this too.

Yet the fact that the Chancellor gave such a punishment meant…

‘Has this old man been taking bribes too?’

Ihan couldn’t help but suspect this.

However, he soon realized this was a misunderstanding.

“The Chancellor isn’t in a position to be concerned about pleasing nobles.”

“The Chancellor’s family is extremely wealthy. They’re among the top five in the kingdom. They wouldn’t flinch even if five major merchant guilds pressured them.”

“He’d send any noble who tried to bribe him to the guillotine tomorrow, haha.”

…So he’s an even more unreasonable person than I thought?

Ihan blinked as he learned these new facts from the instructors he had recently befriended.

“Then why did he only give that level of punishment?”

“To protect you, Sir Turtle.”

“Me?”

“Yes. While you might not fear Lord Odwal, dealing with others—specifically the nobles who sponsor Odwal—would be troublesome.”

“…?”

Me?

This response almost escaped his throat, but Ihan decided to keep listening.

“I believe the Chancellor made that judgment to prevent you from suffering harm from the nobles.”

“Fighting against nobles would cause various problems, no matter how strong you are, Sir Turtle.”

“Nobles are such troublesome people.”

They showed somewhat bitter expressions.

They probably had their own unpleasant experiences with nobles.

Well, being commoners or fallen nobles with exceptional abilities, they must have encountered various troubles.

“Well, the Chancellor made a wise decision. Sir Turtle should let go of his anger now. Without significant backing, it would be foolish to provoke Lord Odwal, wouldn’t it?”

“Hmm.”

It was their genuine attempt to comfort him, and Ihan nodded slightly.

The instructors smiled gently.

They commented that despite his behavior at the entrance ceremony, he wasn’t simply a violent person but an intellectual knight.

…However.

‘Backing, they said?’

That night, Ihan unusually took out a sheet of paper, wrote a single sentence, sealed it, and handed it to the seemingly naive maid.

And a few days later…

“It’s you! It must be you…! It can’t be anyone else…!!”

Odwal once again disrupted the Swordsmanship Department’s class in a rage, and Ihan simply…

“What are you talking about?”

…shrugged his shoulders.

As if he knew nothing.

He had merely…

‘I just had a [consultation] with someone I know, so why is he acting like this?’

Ihan looked at Odwal as if he were insane, and eventually, Odwal collapsed, clutching the back of his neck.

Half a day later, news secretly spread that the nobles sponsoring Odwal had withdrawn their support, causing a commotion throughout the Academy.

Fighting poison with poison.

Just as poison must be countered with poison, those with power must be countered with power.

…Though he wondered if he might have used too strong a poison.

*

*

*

The Academy had been anything but boring lately.

More precisely, there had been a series of attention-grabbing topics that kept everyone busy gossiping.

-Professor Odwal picked a fight with a knight from the Swordsmanship Department.

-The Swordsmanship instructor broke Odwal’s wrist.

-Professor Odwal and the Swordsmanship instructor are competing for Duke Galahad’s adopted daughter.

-Actually, the Swordsmanship instructor is favored by a great noble.

Rumors of the “they say” variety have existed throughout all ages.

For the vigorous young students always hungry for entertainment, fun, and excitement, the fight between a magician and a knight was the perfect entertainment.

They wondered who would win between the two, finding it all quite fascinating.

And a certain gray-haired student who heard these buzzing topics became troubled.

“This isn’t right, this shouldn’t be happening…”

The gray-haired student’s concern wasn’t about the childish entertainment of betting on whether the magician or knight would win.

…It was because of the clearly changed “story.”

‘Odwal should be one of the main villains who helps the villainess antagonize the protagonist, but he’s already appearing on stage?’

Originally, there should have been half a year left until the [main story] began.

But things were already progressing in an unsettling way, and the gray-haired student was endlessly troubled by the fact that the information they knew kept turning out wrong.

‘If this continues, everything I know might become meaningless.’

The gray-haired student was intelligent and quick-thinking.

Therefore, after examining what obstacle had interfered with all the past events, they reached a conclusion.

‘…The Swordsmanship Department instructor.’

Ihan Turtle.

The center of attention and the unexpected [character] whose existence they hadn’t known about.

Thinking about the instructor with the somehow familiar name, the boy pondered.

He wondered if he should meet him once.

If he could just talk to him, he might be able to solve some of his questions.

…But the problem was…

“Hey.”

“!!?”

“Oh my? What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing. I was just surprised.”

The boy had an extreme communication disorder that made it difficult to talk to people.

Not only that…

“I see, huh? You’re not catching a cold, are you? Why is your face so red?”

“W-well…”

“…Oh my.”

As the beautiful female student who appeared to be a noble approached, the boy’s face grew redder, and amused by this fresh reaction, the female student approached with a smile.

Apparently, the mischievous girl had noticed the boy’s condition, and realizing this, the boy tightly closed his eyes and recited a magic spell in his mind.

‘E-east sea and Mt. Baekdu shall wear away…’

The boy not only had a communication disorder but also zero immunity to the opposite sex.

A rural elementary school with only five male students and male teachers, followed by all-boys middle school, high school, engineering college, military service, and a male-dominated game company.

This was the boy’s life tech tree, and he had never had a proper conversation with the opposite sex in his life.

The boy tried to calm himself by reciting the spell up to the fourth verse, but apparently…

“What’s your name?”

“…!!”

This mischievous girl didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving him alone.

The scent of lilac flowers, too stimulating for someone with zero female immunity, overwhelmed him, and the boy immediately turned around and fled.

“Huh, hey… w-wow, he’s already that far away?”

The gray-haired boy was exceptionally fast, and seeing this, the girl blinked.

She wasn’t surprised because the boy was particularly fast.

She was blinking because her sensitive ears had caught what the boy had muttered.

“Did he just say ‘[Acceleration]’?”

Unfortunately, the boy who could answer the girl’s question had already fled far away.

* * *

Thwack!

“Pick it up, swordsman!”

“…You must have finally gone mad.”

Over the past four days, the relationship between Odwal and Ihan had formed into an even more vicious hostility than that of sworn enemies, creating an increasingly hostile atmosphere.

Well, most cases involved Odwal picking fights with Ihan and then getting beaten…

But even a worm will squirm when stepped on, and how could that proud magician endure the humiliation of being defeated by a knight?

With his sponsorship cut off and having suffered all sorts of humiliation and disgrace, the magician seemed to have finally lost his mind, coming to throw a glove at Ihan.

A custom popular among nobles.

Throwing a glove meant challenging someone to a “duel” or “combat.”

Ihan looked alternately at the glove thrown on the ground and the spellcaster, with a sneer on his lips.

“Have you given up on living?”

Shing.

Instead of picking up the glove, he pointed his wooden sword.

There was no reason to be intimidated by a mere wooden sword, but Odwal suddenly felt a chill.

It was just an insignificant old wooden sword.

Yet why did it feel like a sharp spear tip was about to pierce him when that wooden sword was pointed at him?

Odwal wiped away the beads of sweat that had begun to form and waved his hand.

“Th-there’s been a misunderstanding. Of course, I’m not talking about fighting you, swordsman.”

“Are you spouting nonsense? What are you—”

“I mean a duel between my student and your student!”

“…What?”

For a moment, Ihan thought it was nonsense, but the man quickly offered an explanation that didn’t seem entirely nonsensical.

“I-I, regrettable as it is, fights between instructors are not permitted at the Academy. This is a direct royal decree.”

“……”

“Ahem.”

As Ihan finally lowered his wooden sword and silently listened, Odwal continued.

“Wh-what I want to say is this. While duels between instructors are impossible, there aren’t many obstacles to duels between students. No, rather, competition is encouraged.”

“Hmm.”

Unlimited competition principle.

The Academy’s thesis that people grow through competition.

Well, it’s not particularly strange.

There are numerous instances of competing in wisdom or skills, and it’s not strange that the item of competition is ‘force’ either.

However.

“So, you’re suggesting a ‘proxy war’?”

“That’s right.”

“…What a pathetic guy. You’re sending your disciples because you know you can’t win yourself…”

It seemed like he was dragging students into this because he knew he had no chance of winning in a direct fight, which was absurd.

Ihan clicked his tongue and shook his head, to which Odwal exclaimed angrily.

…He exclaimed, but…

“You bastard!”

“You’re younger than me, aren’t you? How dare you call me ‘bastard’! You disrespectful brat.”

“……”

He was immediately subdued.

“You green little punk, how dare—”

“G-green is…”

“Hey! How dare you speak to your elder like that!”

“……”

“Damn it!”

“……”

Before the power of Confucianism that had awakened within Ihan after a long slumber, the magician was truly powerless.