Ch.73Looking at Me…

Even though it was just walking about a hundred meters, an intense fatigue washed over me as if I’d marched for ten hours.

I truly wanted to turn back.

Until now, not a single person had ever made me retrace my steps, but these people might achieve that difficult feat.

Sigh… Right. Since I’ve come all this way, I should at least attend the lecture.

Let’s think of enduring these stares as practice for later.

At least these are just students, so it’s only this bad. The gazes of proper nobles would be far more sinister.

Imperial maggots.

I steeled myself and entered the main building.

The situation inside was no different.

Students who had been chattering among themselves suddenly fell silent upon seeing my face.

Then they started whispering to each other again. The content was obvious.

Ignoring the piercing—no, scanning gazes, I walked down the corridor with confident steps.

As I advanced, students before me parted to the left and right.

In the past, they would part like this when I walked by too, but…

I had planned to improve my image someday, but not in this direction.

The feeling of gazes following me from behind continued to bother me.

Almost to the point where I resented my gradually returning senses.

My nape, lower back, and buttocks kept itching.

“Excuse me… I haven’t seen you before, and you’re not wearing a uniform. Are you visiting from outside?”

Suddenly, some guy approached me.

He was tall with the look of a gigolo.

Despite his innocent-looking face and gentlemanly attitude, I wasn’t fooled.

That slightly upturned, vile corner of his mouth, those eyes full of desire like a predator eyeing its prey.

Even his gaze that subtly dropped below my face.

He’s definitely a pervert who pretends to be harmless while seducing women, only to show his true colors once they let their guard down.

I’m certain of it. I could swear on Faelrun’s name with absolute confidence.

“Only Academy students are allowed in here. If you’re lost, I’d be happy to guide you…”

He even had the audacity to reach for my hand.

What nerve.

“Get lost.”

“Pardon? I didn’t quite catch that. Could you repeat it? By the way, you have a lovely voice.”

I couldn’t tell if he genuinely didn’t hear me or was just pretending, but he was quite persistent.

What nonsense is he spouting, saying my voice is nice while claiming he didn’t hear me?

“I said, get lost. Please.”

I blew cigarette smoke right in his face.

The man, suddenly washed with mint scent, took a step back.

“What the…!”

His expression twisted, as if he hadn’t expected me to react this way.

Just go when you’re told to go. Don’t make me question my efforts.

The man’s shoulders trembled with anger, but he hesitated when he noticed the surrounding gazes.

That’s right. It wouldn’t look good.

Regardless of my attitude, if a sturdy man laid hands on a seemingly frail woman, his reputation would plummet.

“Just my luck, seriously…”

After hesitating, the man finally turned away.

You’ve got it wrong. It’s not your bad luck, but mine. You’re actually the lucky one.

If you had moved your hand any further, both it and what’s between your legs would have been crushed.

You should go offer a sacrifice to your ancestors who protected you.

After that, thankfully, no one else dared to block my path or flirt with me.

Well, anyone with a properly functioning brain would have guessed from my attitude and appearance.

That I was a high-status person who shouldn’t be approached carelessly.

It was fortunate for them too.

If more people had approached me so brazenly, I might not have been able to suppress my irritation.

With a painful groan, a family line might have ended, just like what Asha did.

Perhaps it would have been better if I had done that, as it might have reduced these stares…?

—-

“Ah, Haschal! Have you been discharged?”

“Lady Haschal!”

As I entered the classroom, Millia and Lena greeted me with welcoming faces.

The murmuring behind me briefly subsided, then turned to shock.

Not a single one of them had recognized me.

‘Haschal…? No way, really?’

‘The Were Eater was such a beauty?’

Were Eater?

Is that the final form of my reputation?

Honestly, just hearing the rumors was absurd, but somehow the sound of it seemed kind of cool, leaving me with mixed feelings.

The students’ chatter continued to ring in my ears.

‘Is that even possible? That woman who was like a man-eating tiger…’

Man-eating tiger, huh.

Well, after seeing Jahan or Orhan, I’d probably look more like a house cat in comparison.

Not that I want to be seen as an actual cat.

‘Originally, her fierce glare made it hard to even look at her properly. But now she looks even better than Lady Lacy…’

‘Keep talking such blasphemy and you might get struck by lightning.’

‘Saulite will protect me.’

‘As if she would.’

Lord Elpinel, if you strike that guy with lightning, I’ll convert to the Great Divine Faith.

Though I guess it’s just the Church of Elpinel now. Anyway.

‘She looks a bit sickly. Maybe her injuries haven’t healed yet? Well, after fighting those werebeasts like that…’

‘Come to think of it, there were rumors about her being a Master…’

‘No way. If she were a Master, why would she attend lectures?’

Exactly. Why did I come here?

I don’t think I came to see this spectacle.

My steps faltered. I trudged over and sat down next to Millia.

Demian asked about my well-being.

“Are you feeling better? You don’t seem to have fully recovered your strength yet.”

“My spirit feels more broken than my body…”

I quipped with about seventy percent sincerity as I put out the cigarette I’d been smoking.

I had intended to extinguish it before entering the classroom, but mental fatigue had made me completely forget about it.

“Those folks are just seeing you like this for the first time. It’ll get better gradually.”

“That’s right, Haschal. Cheer up.”

Demian and Millia offered their awkward consolation.

Well… I’m not sure if my image will improve once my eyes recover, since the impression is already set.

Actually, you two weren’t particularly afraid of me even when my aura was normal, after we became friends.

“I like your current appearance too!”

“I don’t…”

I didn’t want to become some Academy idol.

Every time I saw men blushing at me, I felt my dignity cracking.

…Some women did that too occasionally.

While it’s welcome that Academy students are quickly recovering from the shock of the previous disaster…

I never wished for it to be thanks to gossip about my face.

I really need to recover my strength as soon as possible.

Perhaps I should just focus on eating and resting, nothing else?

—-

Shortly after, Professor Carlain entered.

“Everyone, quiet down. We’ll begin the lecture immediately.”

The students’ commotion subsided.

Their whispering about me instantly disappeared, and everyone looked at Professor Carlain with serious expressions.

Yes. At least their mindset seems to have improved.

That’s enough. I don’t ask for more.

“Today’s lecture will cover major magical warfare and ritual magic that requires caution. Though you nobles will rarely fight against mages, it’s still something you should know.”

Professor Carlain walked to the podium and began the lecture.

Only his voice echoed through the now-quiet classroom.

“First, let’s talk about close-combat classes… For knights, mages are the most dangerous enemies. Their firepower can render a knight’s armor useless, and they attack from a distance beyond the reach of a knight’s sword. Binding spells or mind-affecting magic are particularly difficult to counter.”

Indeed. Thanks to my Mana Resistance, I find such magic rather easy to deal with, but it wouldn’t be easy for others.

If you’re caught in a binding spell while attack magic flies toward you, that’s the end of your life.

“That’s why knights should always prepare equipment to counter magic. However, assuming you have no such equipment, how should you face a mage?”

“Um… just dodge well?”

A student answered with an uncertain voice.

“Right. The surest method is to somehow evade the magic while closing the distance to engage in close combat. However, if the distance is too great, it’s better to simply flee. Unless you’re exceptionally quick, narrowing that gap won’t be easy, so don’t be a fool who wants to die.”

I struggled with closing the distance against a mage back then too, though I was deliberately hiding my strength.

What was that mage’s name again…? Something like Ke-something, I can’t remember.

“The second method is to use throwing weapons. As the Aishan-Gioro princess demonstrated in the first day’s match… huh?”

Only now properly looking at my face, Professor Carlain let out a bewildered groan.

Come on, professor, not you too.

“Ahem. As demonstrated then, throwing weapons can disrupt the magic itself with their momentum. However, this method isn’t safe either. If there’s a large skill gap in your favor, it’s fine, but if the opponent is of equal or higher skill, the magic will swallow your throwing weapon and continue toward you.”

While it’s a standard method, his point is certainly valid.

Additionally, daggers have limitations in neutralizing magic, and if you throw longswords or spears, you’ll have to fight bare-handed afterward.

“If you have a dagger to throw at incoming magic, throw it at the mage instead. They’ll probably block it with a barrier, but you can use that time to approach.”

That was advice worth noting.

“Therefore, the third countermeasure I recommend to you nobles is this: by any means necessary, disrupt the caster’s concentration.”

Professor Carlain lightly tapped the podium for emphasis.

“Magic is like wielding a sword without a handle. It’s powerful, but at the same time, it always poses a risk to the caster themselves. So, if you can somehow provoke the mage by any means and make them lose control of the mana they’re channeling, the backflowing mana will attack them directly.”

Ways to fluster a mage, huh. It’s a rather abstract strategy.

Well, since every mage has different personalities and reactions, I suppose there can’t be a specific method.

“Remember this. A mage dies the moment they panic.”

In the heavy silence, only the scratching sounds of note-taking continued.