chapter_0013

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
13

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
13

With my skill called
[Unyielding Will], I never thought I would lose to anyone in terms of
perseverance.

But today, I realised
something.

There’s always a sky above a
sky. (*There’s always something higher.)

Possell’s stamina was at a
level that I couldn’t even fathom with my strength.

How is this darned man still
so energetic even after teaching me for 6 hours straight?

Just how high is his stamina
stat?

My hands holding the mace
trembled.

My arm holding the shield
hardly obeyed me after blocking so many attacks.

My lungs felt like they were
tearing apart from moving without rest, and my head had long stopped
thinking.

My skill kind of forced me on
my feet, but at this point, I was closer to a zombie than a human.

Like a zombie moving purely by
instinct.

“Miss?”

But even that had its limits
now.

I think I’ve held up
exceptionally well.

As I said before, willpower is
just willpower.

When my body reaches its
limit, I have no choice but to give in.

What am I trying to say?

“Possell.”

“Yes, Miss?”

“I’m going to sleep now,
so don’t touch me, you training-obsessed maniac.”

You’re seriously an extreme
training addict.

That evening. Possell, who was
preparing himself a drink in his room, sensed someone outside the
door and spoke up.

“Master. You can just
come in.”

“Ahem.
Did you know?”

“You never intended to hide,
did you?”

The person who opened the door
was Benedict.

Even though he usually locked
himself in the office until late at night, Possell wasn’t at all
surprised by his sudden appearance.

Possell had expected him.

“You’re here because of Miss
Lucy, right?”

“That’s right. May I sit?”

“Please do.”

When Benedict sat across from
Possell, both sides of the desk filled up.

For most people, this desk
could comfortably seat two and even three if arranged well, but with
these two large men side by side, it now seemed like a two-seater.

“It’s been a while since
we’ve had a drink together.”

“What kind of drink is it?”

“It’s something we took
when we raided the Vampire Duke’s Castle a while back. When I showed
it to a guy who knows his liquor, his hands trembled.”

“And the name?”

“I don’t remember. I can
only recall that he was so stunned by the sight of the liquor that he
passed out, so I couldn’t possibly remember the name.”

Possell laughed heartily,
joking that since it’s something precious, it must be tasty.

While Possell got up to find
glasses, Benedict spoke up. “Did you know I was coming?”

“Everyone in the mansion
knows that Count Allen can’t help but get involved when it comes to
Miss Lucy.”

“…Ahem.”

Benedict gave an awkward
cough, but he couldn’t deny Possell’s words. He had made so many
mistakes because of his deep love for his daughter that he couldn’t
argue against it.

“What do you think of Lucy?”

“She has talent.”

Possell answered without
hesitation. He had taught countless people up until now—from
geniuses who would become famous to those with no talent who became
knights merely through hard work.

From Possell’s perspective,
Lucy definitely had talent. Among the many abilities she possessed,
her skill with the shield was particularly outstanding.

Most people who first handle a
shield focus solely on defence, concentrating so much on blocking
attacks due to their overemphasis on its defensive nature.

But Lucy was different. She
knew how to harness the shield’s full potential.

Not only did she block
attacks, but she also disrupted the enemy’s flow with it, pushed them
back to create discomfort, and all the while maintained her defence.

This was no ordinary talent.
It could be said to be a divine gift in martial prowess.

She was already this skilled
without formal training. If she were to hone this talent over months
or even years, what kind of monster would she become?

“It seems the Allen family’s
blood doesn’t lie. Honestly, I’d love to continue training her
myself from here on out. Miss Lucy will definitely make a name for
herself in history.”

“Thank you for praising
my daughter, but that’s not what I was asking about.”

“Ah, I see.

Are you referring to the
changes in Miss Lucy?”

Miss Lucy has changed
dramatically over the past few days. One knight even remarked that
such a transformation couldn’t occur even if one came back to life
after dying.

Originally, Lucy was not
someone with much determination.

Whether it was studying or
exercising, she would give up as soon as it became even a little
difficult. She was so weak that it was hard to believe she was the
daughter of the Iron-Blooded Knight.

Other nobles who saw Lucy
often questioned if she was truly the Iron-Blooded Knight’s daughter.

But she changed suddenly one
day.

Possell witnessed this
transformation firsthand when she started coming to the training
grounds.

The word that symbolised her
was tenacity.

There wasn’t a day she missed.
She trained diligently to the point where even seasoned knights were
in awe. There was no denying her persistence.

Though her methods might have
seemed strange to the average knight, she undoubtedly produced
results in her own way.

“What do you think?”

“It’s a positive change.
Anyone would say the same.”

If asked whether they
preferred the old Lucy or the current Lucy, everyone would
undoubtedly choose the current Lucy.

It’s true that she’s still not
very noble-like in her behaviour and speech, but compared to her past
mischief, this is nothing.

“Indeed. That’s true
but…”

“Are you worried about
something?”

“To be honest… yes.”

Sudden changes don’t always
lead in a good direction.

Even if everything seems fine
on the outside, she might be rotting away on the inside.

Benedict, having experienced
something similar before, couldn’t entirely welcome Lucy’s changes.

“You know, my daughter
has been greatly affected because of me as an inadequate father.”

“Yes.”

As Benedict blamed himself,
Possell nodded quietly.

“After your wife passed
away, you spoiled Miss to the point where she became incorrigible.”

Lucy indeed made many
mistakes.

However, if one were to ask if
all those mistakes were entirely her fault, the answer would be no.

Ultimately, a child’s faults
are the parent’s faults.

Had Benedict been stricter in
raising Lucy, perhaps her antics wouldn’t have become so excessive.

“A child like that
suddenly pulls herself together overnight. This isn’t normal.”

“That’s true.”

“Is there anything you
suspect? Didn’t you observe Lucy all day?”

“It’s the Count’s role as
a parent to find that out.”

As Possell gave his heartfelt
advice, Benedict averted his eyes. Even now, Benedict couldn’t
truly face his daughter.

Possell sighed as he looked at
this hopeless father who deeply cared for and loved his daughter, yet
feared approaching her sincerely.

Maybe Miss Lucy lived as a
hooligan because she took after the Count.

Running his hand roughly
through his hair, he gulped down his wine in one go and said,

“Miss might have been
blessed.”

“Blessed?”

“Yes. Karl, that fool,
mentioned that after hearing Lucy’s provocation, he found it hard to
control his emotions.”

Although he made an
unforgivable mistake once, Karl was a commendable knight until then.

Always performing his duties
calmly without any rash actions, no matter the extreme situation, he
was a reliable person.

There’s a reason everyone in
the knighthood wished he wouldn’t be punished.

If a person like him couldn’t
control his emotions, then Karl’s explanation yesterday might not
have been just an excuse.

“A blessing.”

“If it’s to that extent,
isn’t that a reason for someone to change overnight?”

“Indeed. Of course.”

It’s not uncommon for a divine
blessing to drastically change a person overnight. There are
countless such cases.

If Possell’s speculation that
Lucy received a blessing were true, her changes were likely related
to it.

“If that’s true, there’s
no need to worry too much… A blessing, you say.”

“It’s a good thing, isn’t
it? Miss Lucy will have to take on the family duties and noble
responsibilities someday. It will surely be helpful.”

Without replying to Possell,
Benedict took the wine bottle from his hand and poured himself a
glass.

After taking a sip, Benedict
frowned at the complex array of flavours that spread in his mouth.

“It’s fancy, I suppose.
But it’s not to my taste.”

“Are you telling me the
nobleman can’t even enjoy wine?”

“Dwarven beer suits me much
better.”

As Benedict grumbled, Possell
let out a hearty laugh and poured himself some wine as well.

“So, it’s a week from now
when we go to Evans Dungeon.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Until we return, I’m
counting on you to look after my daughter.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not
our first time training in Evans Dungeon. Nothing will happen.”

After spending what felt like
hellish days with Possell, one day at the training grounds, I saw
Karl already warming up.

He was running across the
training ground with weights that seemed twice his size.

Judging by the sweat pouring
off him like rain, it wasn’t just for ten or twenty minutes.

Considering he’s out of
prison, does that mean his punishment is over? Why is he doing this
then?

As I warmed up, watching him,
the bald knight who’d been quite friendly recently approached me.

“Good to see you, Miss.”

‘Hello, Sir.’

“Hello, Baldy. Shining as
always today?”

“Of course! I clean it every
day!”

This knight, who took pride in
his clean-shaven head, was an unusual person who took the word “bald”
as a compliment.

Because of that, even when
calling him names in Mesugaki, it didn’t seem to bother him at all.

‘Sir, why is Karl doing
that?’

“Bald knight, why is that
sloppy guy doing that?”

“He’s being punished.”

The bald knight explained that
the punishment from the family was separate from the punishment from
the knight order.

So, is this running his
punishment? Like in the military, where you run laps with full gear?

‘How long will he be doing
that?’

“How long does he have to
keep doing that?”

“Until we go on the
expedition.”

That’s excluding time for
sleeping and eating, right? Right? Surely, he’s not expected to run
without sleeping.

“It seems like he’ll be
doing it continuously.”

Wow. Is it because this is a
game world that the level of punishment is intense?

All day? Are they just telling
him to run until he drops?

That’s problematic. He’s
my subordinate, after all.

“He’ll be fine. There was
a time he did something like that for over a week.”

‘…How is he still alive
after that?’

“He’s still alive after
that?”

“Well, he is a knight.”

Is the term “knight”
in Soul Academy synonymous with being superhuman?

…Thinking about it, that
seems correct.

“Anyway, Miss. Possell has a
message for you.”

‘What is it?’

“What’s the message?”

“He said to warm up and head
to the training ground. He thinks you should experience real combat
before we set off tomorrow.”

Real combat? In this training
ground?

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