Something Good

“…Perverted brat.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.”

Why was she suddenly spouting nonsense?

Though I didn’t know the reason, Orca seemed dissatisfied about something.

But that wasn’t important right now.

I grabbed Orca’s shoulders and shook her back and forth.

“Stop saying weird things and look at that! Isn’t it amazing?!”

“…Uh, yeah. Impressive.”

“That’s all you have to say?! He just sliced through that thick wall like it was nothing!”

I couldn’t understand Orca’s reaction at all.

How could she remain so indifferent after seeing that?

She just witnessed someone performing a long-range attack with a sword – something that should be impossible – yet she acts completely unfazed?

All the other students are marveling at it too. You should be amazed.

It’s cool!

“If you want long-range attacks, wouldn’t it be easier to just use guns or magic? I don’t get why you’re so excited.”

“…I can’t let that comment slide.”

“Huh?”

She was right.

Objectively speaking, being able to perform long-range attacks with a sword is highly inefficient.

While sword aura users are indeed stronger than gun users, that advantage doesn’t come from range.

There exists an insurmountable gap between swordsmen and gun users.

Mastering sword aura takes at least years of training.

Meanwhile, guns? Even a middle schooler could fire one, though their aim might be terrible.

Everything Orca said was factually correct.

If you want ranged attacks, carrying a gun or learning magic would be far more practical.

Rather than struggling to manipulate mana to shoot sword aura.

…But that’s exactly why everyone is fascinated by sword aura.

“Calling sword aura a trash skill that buries accessibility underground… I’ll admit that’s true.”

“…I didn’t phrase it quite like that.”

“But listen! The most useless things are often the coolest!”

Orca didn’t understand.

What truly creates coolness.

“Four-sided swords, scythes, fists… No matter how you look at them, they’re completely impractical trash!”

“…”

“That’s exactly where romance comes from! Coolness is born from things that seem unusable in real combat!”

Just look at Orca herself.

In a world filled with guns, blades, and magic, she beats enemies down with nothing but a demon’s arm.

How cool is that?

Of course, practical weapons can be cool too.

But the things that truly drive people wild, that leave a deep impression in your heart, always come from objects others wouldn’t even consider using.

I opened my mouth to explain to Orca just how cool sword aura was.

Had someone not suddenly tapped my shoulder, I would have kept lecturing Orca about sword aura for quite a while.

“Good evening, Teacher Ophelia.”

“…Ah. Teacher Ian? Good evening.”

A familiar face.

Teacher Ian. We met while preparing for the friendly match.

…And I’d frequently encountered him in the game too, not just in reality.

The Academy’s swordsmanship instructor.

An NPC you often meet when playing as Leo or Eileen.

“Your arguments are fascinating, Teacher Ophelia… but perhaps you should restrain yourself a bit right now?”

“Huh?”

He gestured behind my shoulder as if telling me to look back.

…I immediately regretted doing so.

Shouldn’t have looked.

“So that’s what the counseling teacher is really like…”

“Unexpected. Didn’t think she’d be interested in this sort of thing.”

“…”

Students were whispering while looking at me.

Had they heard everything I said to Orca?

My face burned crimson under their gazes that seemed to say they’d found something strange.

“Teachers should maintain decorum. Getting too excited isn’t proper.”

“A-ah, ah, ah…”

“…Teacher Ophelia?”

My mind went completely blank.

I’d done it. I’d really done it now.

What had I been thinking? Of course everyone would hear if I shouted like that in such a crowded place.

No ideas came to mind about how to fix this situation.

The only thought in my blank mind was that I had to resolve this somehow.

I quickly turned to face the students.

I could almost see my reddened face reflected in their pupils.

…Probably just my imagination.

“No need to be embarrassed, Teacher. Now, calm down and return to your… ah…”

“Forget everything! All of it! Understand?!”

“Yes… We’ll forget everything…”

“You were all just watching Leo’s victory and thinking how amazing it was! Nothing happened earlier!”

Huff, huff.

After shouting, I glared around with fiery eyes.

Just in case someone resisted the hypnosis.

“…None left. Now, when you open your eyes, you’ll all feel very tired!”

Fortunately, everyone had the hazy eyes characteristic of hypnotized people.

…I got too excited.

Deciding to pretend nothing happened, I clapped loudly to wake everyone up.

“Ugh… uhn…”

“Haaam… So sleepy. Maybe I’ll head to bed…”

The students, thinking they’d briefly lost consciousness due to fatigue, began moving to retire early.

Orca was no exception.

Hypnotized into feeling tired, Orca started pestering me.

“…Teacher. I’m sleepy.”

“Alright. Shall we go to the counseling room once Leo arrives?”

…Perfect execution.

I’d cleanly erased the recent incident from everyone’s memories.

Though it was unfortunate that Orca thought sword aura was useless, I couldn’t leave such an embarrassing history intact.

Sorry, Orca. We’ll talk about coolness another time…

“Teacher, did you see it?!”

“Of course. It was very impressive. You did well.”

“Hehe…”

After the minor incident, Leo came running toward us.

He seemed eager to show off his achievement, and his happy expression when praised was heartwarming.

“Um… Teacher.”

“Yes?”

“You said you’d give me… something good…”

“Oh right. I almost forgot.”

“…”

Orca was acting strange.

She seemed displeased about something, but I couldn’t figure out why.

Had I done something to upset her?

“Ahem, then, please close your eyes!”

“M-my eyes?”

“Yes! Think of it as a surprise!”

“…”

Leo gulped audibly.

He looked curious about what he might receive.

But giving it directly would be boring, so I waited for Leo to close his eyes.

Eventually, he reluctantly closed his eyes, and I gently took his hand.

“?!”

“Oh? Your hands are quite sweaty. Do you have hyperhidrosis?”

But Leo’s hand was drenched in sweat.

…It seemed Leo suffered from hyperhidrosis. I hadn’t known that.

If he has sweaty hands, gripping a sword must be difficult, yet here he was aiming to become a knight – truly admirable.

“Why are you so tense?”

“W-well…”

“Relax. It’s something good.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Leo’s body stiffened even more.

Why was he acting like this?

Though puzzled by Leo’s behavior, I placed the “something good” in his hand since I didn’t know the reason.

“Now, open your eyes.”

“…?”

Perhaps feeling the object’s texture in his hand.

Leo looked at me with curiosity about what it might be.

“Teacher, this envelope…?”

“Something good. Want to open it?”

“Ah, yes…”

…Why did he look disappointed before even opening it?

Leo was acting strange today.

He’d been so cool just moments ago.

As Leo sullenly opened the envelope, he suddenly looked at me in surprise.

“T-teacher! This is…”

“…What’s so surprising? Let me see too.”

Perhaps curious about Leo’s reaction.

Orca peeked into the envelope in Leo’s hand and gasped.

Hehe, of course she’d be surprised. I even asked the Principal for help obtaining these.

“Meal tickets? Damn, that’s a lot. How many are there?”

“Hmm… Enough to last over three years with leftovers.”

“Must’ve cost a fortune.”

“Not necessarily. They’re not the most expensive kind.”

Whether because the Academy serves both commoners and nobles, or simply because this is a game world.

Meal tickets in this world are tiered by quality.

You know how games often have systems like that.

Where eating meals provides buffs or something similar.

The game I played was no exception.

Expensive meals for nobles, cheap ones for commoners – that sort of tier system.

I wanted to give him three years’ worth of top-tier tickets, but the Principal refused.

She said they don’t issue many premium tickets because few people buy them.

Since the students are quite capable, they make top-tier tickets complex to prevent counterfeiting.

Honestly, who would counterfeit meal tickets? But I understood after seeing the demonstration video the Principal showed me.

A single meal’s worth seemed to cost hundreds at minimum.

Of course they need anti-counterfeiting measures, right?

“So? Do you like it?”

“…Yes, thank you.”

Of course, given Leo’s monstrous appetite, three years’ worth of tickets wouldn’t actually last three years.

If he used them for every meal, they might last half a year at most.

Still, blocking his financial hemorrhage for half a year would be a great reward for him.

…So why did he seem slightly disappointed?

Was I imagining it?

T/N: You should’ve rewarded him with something more wholesome, Ophelia ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)