episode_0135

The date of Prince Richard’s inspection was confirmed shortly thereafter. It was said that the prince of the empire was coming in person to inspect the academy, not for anything else, but no one had the right to stop it except the emperor.

Even though he was second in line to succession, he had no idea what was going on in the world.

Wasn’t he even the famous Prince Richard?

Even Marquis Lucas, the head of Demeia Academy, had no authority or reason to stop his progress.

Rather, considering that the academy had just experienced an unprecedented attack on the academy, the prince’s inspection was natural.

This is where his younger sister, Princess Serafina, who entered the school to prove her blue blood, was currently attending school. As an older brother, his purpose of inspecting the academy’s safety was very reasonable.

However, from the Academy’s point of view, the prince’s inspection could not be viewed with joy. The fact that the prince, who had already completed the certification of blue blood, was coming out to inspect the academy in the name of safety could be seen as the imperial family doubting the stability of the academy.

Because of this, not only the student council but also the faculty of Demeia Academy were paying close attention to the prince’s inspection.

It was for that reason that the Academy’s defense facilities were reorganized. A security system that had already been breached was bound to lose reliability no matter how much it was improved.

Faculty members designated as security officers repaired the defensive magic circle and increased the number of security personnel to more than double the usual amount.

Although it was a blindfolded response, it was also an effort to avoid being caught by the imperial family.

“Why hasn’t there been repairs here yet?”

“What about over there? The inspection team will point out this!”

Just like Dottegi Market, bustling business continued. When I looked at one, the other caught on, and when I improved on those two, another problem popped up.

That was the original security system. No matter how well prepared we were, security was always lacking.

While the security officials were running around, Brianna, revered as a sword saint, was also preparing for the prince’s inspection.

Brianna was very dull in that regard, but she couldn’t remain calm during the prince’s inspection.

Since the head of the Lucas Academy personally came forward and asked her to take care of it, she, who had previously worked as his deputy, had no choice but to listen.

Even if that wasn’t the case, Brianna, who does her best at her job, planned to do it even without his request. Because dereliction of duty was unbecoming of a soldier and a knight.

As Brianna prepared for class, she suddenly looked back on the past.

Several years have already passed since I left the battlefield with the purpose of training younger generations.

She has made it her life’s goal to see the end of a sword rather than to see blood as she travels around the battlefield. A few years ago, she was invited by the head of Lucas Academy to become a swordsmanship professor and has been teaching cadets ever since.

The job as an academy professor suited her personality quite well. It was a pleasure leading talented cadets to the path of the sword.

Although there had been no cadets with talent that caught her eye over the years, it didn’t really matter.

But this year was different. There were many talented cadets who met her exacting standards. Among them, the most important was Gilbert, whom he took on as his exclusive disciple.

It was no exaggeration to say that she was already physically complete, and he was the person who matched the aesthetics of the sword she was pursuing.

Of course, I didn’t like it at first.

Gilbert was a fool recognized by the empire, and to Brianna, who loved the empire, Gilbert was like a parasite eating away at the empire.

But the Gilbert I actually met was different. Regardless of whether the rumors were true or not, his personality and talent with the sword captured her heart.

An honorable person who does not bend under external pressure and does not hesitate to raise his sword to protect his subjects.

A courageous person who can stand alone even when faced with dozens of giant gods.

This was all to describe Gilbert recently.

Didn’t even Braana, who didn’t like him at first, choose him as a companion to follow the infinitely expanding path of the sword?

That’s how much Gilbert’s talent and personality appealed to Brianna.

Of course, among the cadets in this class, Gilbert was not the only one I liked. Her standards were high, but apart from Gilbert, there were other talented people who seemed very good.

If we were to choose one person among them, Ian Tigris Linebarrel could not be left out.

At the beginning of the semester, he did not stand out much, but as time went by, his potential began to explode explosively. Recently, Brianna was showing rapid growth, enough to give her a passing grade.

If she hadn’t seen the rare genius named Gilbert, Brianna vaguely thought that she might have offered to become his exclusive disciple.

But it was all an assumption. Although Ian is said to be showing explosive growth, if he were to be compared to Gilbert, it would be somewhat disappointing.

Brianna entered the sparring room, remembering the sword marks of Gilbert, who had performed a perfect iaiojutsu not long ago.

Her class today was a day of sparring based on the imperial swordsmanship she had learned so far.

“I will call attendance.”

She glanced at the cadets who were lined up in a formal manner and mechanically checked the number of attendees. There was no foolish cadet who missed the swordsman’s class.

Considering that there were quite a few people who brought thousands of gold coins to learn a little bit of herbalism from her, receiving her swordsmanship lessons as a privilege of an academy cadet was a blessing that could never be found in their lives.

“Professor, you seem to be in a good mood today?”

“How do you know that?”

“If you respect the Sword Saint, you will know everything.”

“Crazy bastard. That’s called being a pervert.”

Brianna saw the cadets whispering, but didn’t bother to point it out.

Actually, she was in a good mood today. No, it was correct to say that I was in a good mood not just today, but all these days.

There is no teacher anywhere who would not be happy when his or her exclusive student grows day by day.

Meanwhile, Ian, who was watching Brianna from a distance, was amazed at her. What I realized while receiving full-scale training from Pressia was that Brianna’s level was unpredictable.

Every single gesture of hers was not wasted. Everything was restrained and no more movement was shown than necessary.

I couldn’t imagine how long it took Brianna to endure even her daily life like that.

Even at this very moment, as Ian listened to Frecia’s voice nagging him not to break his breath, he could only say that she was amazing.

And she’s beautiful.

Ian wasn’t a crazy guy who couldn’t live with women, but he was still a man. Like men of the same age, he was moderately interested in women and had a crush on beautiful women.

Brianna was overshadowed by her reputation as a sword saint, but her unique cold aura and eyes made her popular among male cadets in her class. Although there were no cadets who made a big fuss at the academy professor, there were more than one cadet who secretly cared about her.

Ian sometimes felt his heart pounding when he saw her. As he received the hard training from Presia, his eyesight improved, and it was nice to see Brianna living up to the title of Sword Saint.

It had a different charm from Serafina.

Trained by humans, today it is the crystal of radish and sword.

It was the beauty of Brianna that Ian said.

“Today, as announced in advance, we will conduct a sparring based on imperial swordsmanship. A sword cannot be perfected through training alone. As I have said repeatedly, do not forget the essence of the sword. Then, I will tell you who the sparring opponent is.”

Ian looked at Brianna blankly and suddenly came to his senses. It seemed like the sparring that was announced in the last lecture was going on as planned. As they were evaluating each other’s skills, sparring opponents had no choice but to pair up two cadets with similar skills.

Ian’s eyes automatically turned to a man. To a person who quietly folds his arms.

Gilbert.

He caught the eye of a sword master and became his exclusive student. He was widely evaluated as having surpassed the level of an academy cadet in terms of swordsmanship. In particular, he was writing a legend after sparring with as many as 100 people in a row with a single sword at an exchange meeting held not long ago.

Precia, who has a very picky eye, said that while she never omits the word “badass” when evaluating Gilbert, she does acknowledge his ability. He also added that the efforts he made to reach that level should not be ridiculed.

In that way, he began to be called something other than a fool within the academy.

Swordsman

He is said to be a person who is skilled in swordsmanship.

“Finally, we will have Gilbert and Ian spar.”

It happens like that too.

Ian’s eyes now took on seriousness.

It was expected that this would happen. The fact that Presia treated him harsher than usual after the last swordsmanship lecture was planned with this sparring in mind.

He was already recognized as the best swordsman among his classmates. In the meantime, there was no one else who could match his skills, but he was following closely behind.

Sparring is best done with people of similar skill level.

[Don’t be nervous. It’s still impossible for you to defeat that bully.] ‘I understand.’

Ian answered in his mind, conscious of the gaze around him.

I was definitely looking away until I got Presia, but Gilbert is stronger than that.

It was hard to admit it at first, but surprisingly, once I did, my feeling of jealousy every day calmed down.

I acknowledged that Gilbert was strong, but I didn’t think it would be that way forever. He had talent, and he had Precia as a guide to guide that talent.

In the end, it all depends on how you decide.

This time, we may lose according to Precia’s analysis, but it was enough to learn something from this defeat.

He quietly composed himself and engraved Precia’s advice into his mind.

The sparring progressed without stopping. Cadets who wanted to get good grades used their energy and tried to beat their opponents.

After the cadets finished sparring, Seraphina spared no effort to advise them by pinpointing their mistakes and what needed to be corrected. The cadets listened to that golden advice with sparkling eyes.

The remaining cadets became ten, then four, and finally two.

The only cadet who did not spar.

It was Gilbert and Ian’s turn.

“Cadet Gilbert.”

“Yes.”

“I will limit the amount of mana used to half.”

“Okay.”

Ian’s eyebrows twitched. Brianna, who had not said anything before the start of sparring, put restrictions on Gilbert.

Even though Gilbert was said to have higher skills, this kind of treatment was not something Ian could tolerate. He had high self-esteem as he considered himself the main character of the world.

Even if defeat was accepted as a fait accompli, sparring with such restrictions was an act of ignoring Ian.

“Professor.”

“Speak, Cadet Ian.”

“Please allow Cadet Gilbert to do his best.”

” Cadet Ian’s competitive spirit and will to improve are highly regarded by this professor. But this is for the sake of fairness.”

Although Brianna was partial to Gilbert, she excluded that aspect when it came to education. Favoritism breeds convenience, and convenience breeds exclusion.

Brianna, who wanted Gilbert to go to a higher level, did not favor Gilbert as much as he did on the path of the sword. For that reason, she did not show favoritism to any cadet.

The reason we restricted the use of mana to Gilbert in this sparring was not to favor Ian, but for fairness.

He and the cadets’ sparring, who can split a spherical giant god soldier in half, are of no help to either of them.

The same was true even if it was Ian, who was recognized as having excellent skills.

Sparring did not suit the two.

Because I didn’t say that grown adults spar with children.

“Professor. Please. Even if I lose to Cadet Gilbert, I will learn something from it.”

Brianna thought for a moment.

The purpose of learning from the strong was worthy of evaluation as excellent.

But that was during the map sparring. If the level difference is too extreme, the only thing to gain from the defeat is a sense of self-destruction at the insurmountable wall of talent.

Brianna has seen it too many times. Those who faced her when she first picked up the sword were like that.

Would it be any different just because it was Ian?

No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem likely.

“Cadet Ian. This is the professor’s idea to evaluate the cadets fairly.”

“I know. But I’ll have to see. Where is Cadet Gilbert, his classmate, looking?”

When she got to this point, Brianna couldn’t help but sigh. I didn’t think I could break Ian’s strong will.

On the contrary, even if she forced him to proceed, his pride would be greatly hurt. Brianna, who had seen many people like him, could not make a decision easily.

“Please. Professor.”

Ian lowered his head and Brianna looked at Gilbert. Her exclusive student looked like he always did, wondering what he was thinking.

Bria made a decision here. I got to this point and it was impossible to stop it. She just nodded, hoping that her student would do the right thing.

“I understand. Let us praise Cadet Ian for his undying fighting spirit. Then, we will proceed with sparring.”

Ian stood in front of Gilbert, his eyes shining.

Even then, he was looking at Ian indifferently without uncrossing his arms.

At the sight of this, Ian’s desire to become a champion burned brightly and he pulled out his sword. Only then did Gilbert uncross his arms, lightly grasp the hilt of his sword with his right hand, and take his stance.

What is a foot sword technique?

Ian’s eyes twitched.

Showing off swordsmanship in a sparring match like this was deceiving him.

Although he was excellent at concentrating his strength on one sword, when facing such a close distance, the posture of using the sword with the sword was rather disadvantageous.

Isn’t it true that the reaction speed of the person who drew the sword and the person who did not draw the sword cannot be the same?

Ian gritted his teeth and waited for Brianna’s signal.

“Start!”

As soon as Brianna gave the signal to start sparring, Ian quickly dug into Gilbert. Precia also advised to take advantage of Gilbert’s unguarded actions.

Gilbert’s sword was still in its sheath by the time it reached him.

“Ha!”

I gathered my spirit and swung my sword. It was calculated that no matter how fast it was, it would not be possible to block it at such close range without causing any damage.

Ian didn’t think he would end the sparring with this one move, but he had no doubt that he would at least gain an advantage.

however.

Winter Sword – Iihap

split the winter sky

Ian’s eyes lit up and he saw the sky split open.

Of course, it was an illusion created by Gilbert’s imagination, but for a moment it seemed that way.

– Sigh.

[This scoundrel?!]

Ian came to his senses at Fresia’s cry of astonishment.

I looked around and saw that everyone was watching their sparring process with their mouths open. When I looked at the hand that was holding the sword with difficulty with eyes that were not working well, I saw a long sword cut in half.

Why is this?

Ian was not thinking smoothly.

Before he knew it, he saw Gilbert sharpening his sword.

A single sword.

Gilbert ended the sparring with that one kick.

***

As soon as the lecture ended, Ian left Precia at his lodgings and headed to the academy lakeside. Although I came back to my senses, it was a decision I made because I wanted to be alone.

Ian’s dazed mind returned, but he still had no sense of reality. That’s how much of a shock the sparring with Gilbert had to him.

He felt that Gilbert did not raise his mana with all his might. He simply filled the sword with as much as he needed and used it to cut Ian’s sword in two.

Is that possible?

Precia saw that and said she had made a mistake in judgment. Since I wasn’t watching him all the time, I didn’t have accurate data, so I didn’t know if I had made a misjudgment.

Fresia was certainly omnipotent, but that did not mean she could foresee or predict something she had not seen.

In fact, something similar is possible, but it is possible to make predictions similar to future predictions when there is sufficient data, but it is impossible in a situation where there is no such thing.

That was why she made the wrong judgment about Gilbert this time. Gilbert’s growth rate simply exceeded her expectations.

Is that why?

Ian’s pride was once again hurt by this sparring.

I made such a bold request to Professor Brianna, but I lost without even being able to mix my swords.

He knew it too. I also received a confirmation from Presia.

In my current state, I couldn’t beat Gilbert.

He knew that very well.

But I didn’t think there would be this much of a difference.

I thought we could at least have a decent sparring.

However, the result was an overwhelming defeat. It was the first time in my life that I had experienced such a huge defeat.

It felt like I was facing a natural disaster.

It cannot be helped by human power.

Ian shook his head, finding himself weighed down by Gilbert’s shadow. I couldn’t defeat him with this feeling of defeat.

Didn’t I proudly say that I was the main character of the world?

In order to keep his word, he should not have collapsed.

Because it was a given, and it was the right thing to do.

Damn it.

Still, I couldn’t shake it off completely. Quiet jealousy and even more sticky emotions gripped his heart.

Feeling of defeat, shame, jealousy, jealousy

A variety of emotions raced through Ian’s heart and mind.

“Are you a cadet Ian?”

Ian, who was struggling in pain, suddenly turned his head reflexively when he heard a voice calling him.

There, a middle-aged man with a stylish beard was looking at him.

“Who are you?”

His eyes were wildly raised as he felt like he was going through the worst, and his voice was not good. Nevertheless, the man smiled as if he had finally found it.

“There is someone who wants you. Could you please spare a moment of your time?”

“Me… . What do you mean? Who is that?”

“You will find out when you go. It is not permitted to speak of him indiscriminately.”

He is a person who should not be spoken of indiscriminately.

Ian was intrigued when he heard that.

I felt like a mess anyway.

It was clear that I would feel ashamed if I stayed alone, so I decided to follow him.

With very light thoughts, Ian followed the man.