Ch 76
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 76
After finishing the match and returning to the hotel, I had just finished washing up when the phone rang.
I was supposed to have dinner with Se-jin, so I thought it was Se-jin, but it's the vice principal.
"Have you eaten dinner?"
"No. I just finished washing up. I was planning to go out and eat with Se-jin, but why do you ask?"
Since Se-jin came to England, she's been eating only hotel food, so she said she missed Korean food. We decided to go to a Korean restaurant around the hotel together.
"That Conrad fellow invited us to dinner at his house and told you to come along too."
"Me too?"
"He remembered that you sold the Giant Sand Worm corpse last time. It seems like Se-jin could come along too, so could you ask her about it?"
"Yes. I'll talk to her about it."
I was actually planning to visit the Rowell family once because of Bianca anyway.
I did receive Conrad's business card last time, but we don't have any personal relationship, so I was thinking I'd have to coax the vice principal or something, but they invited us first.
Anyway, this worked out well.
"Let's meet in the lobby in 20 minutes."
I said I understood and hung up the phone.
While changing clothes, I called Se-jin.
"Ah, Teacher, I'm all ready. I'll be right out."
"Um, I don't think we can go to the restaurant today."
"What? Is today a day off by any chance?"
"No, I just talked with the vice principal, and Conrad Rowell invited the vice principal and me to dinner."
"Conrad Rowell?"
"Bianca's father. He said you could come along too if you're okay with it, Se-jin. What do you want to do?"
"Um... then I'll go too."
"Alright. Then let's meet in the lobby in 20 minutes."
After getting fully dressed and drying my hair, I was going down to the lobby when I forgot my earphones and went back to my room.
These are earphones given to students participating in WHCU and related personnel by the World Hunter Association, with translation magic cast on them.
It supports over 60 languages, but it's not permanent and only lasts about 30 days.
For me, who's not good at English, it's an almost essential item, so I grabbed the earphones and went down to the lobby.
Se-jin was already waiting, so we talked while waiting, and the vice principal arrived too.
"I made a call while coming down, and they sent a car to the hotel. Let's go out first."
When we went to the entrance, a white-haired man in a neat suit approached us.
When you think of England, you think of gentlemen, and he fits that image perfectly.
He introduced himself as the Rowell family's butler, confirmed our names, and asked us to wait a moment. Soon, a pure white limousine appeared in front of us.
"Please get in."
"I've never seen a car like this before. Isn't this something that only appears in movies?"
"Right. I've never seen one either, teacher."
"Both of you stop acting like hicks and get in quickly."
After driving for about 15 minutes, we arrived at the mansion.
Conrad's house was a mansion that might appear in American movies. Even after passing through the entrance, we drove for another 3 minutes before the car stopped.
Once inside, I could see that there weren't just one or two buildings.
It only took 15 minutes from the hotel, so this must still be London, but to have a mansion of this scale in London where land prices are more expensive than Seoul...
I felt it when I sold the Giant Sand Worm last time too, but they really seem to have a lot of money.
"Tonight's dinner will be held in the banquet hall of the annex you can see over there. Please follow me. I'll guide you."
Following the butler for about 5 minutes, we arrived at the annex where Conrad Rowell, who spotted us, approached with a good-natured smile.
"Senior, welcome."
"The house is too big... And why is your arm like that?"
Conrad Rowell has a cast on his right arm.
"I got a slight crack while sparring earlier. Well, it'll heal in a few days."
"What kind of guy did you spar with to get a crack in your arm?"
"Who else could it be? That Habip fellow."
I was wondering who could have done that to Conrad, one of the Ten Stars, but Habip makes sense.
Habip is a member of the Ten Stars like Conrad, a martial artist representing America, and a sparring maniac just like the vice principal.
"That bull-like bastard? Tsk tsk, that's what you get for neglecting your training. You've become a has-been too."
"A has-been? My arm is like this, but do you think that guy is fine? I may have a crack in my arm, but that bastard broke his leg bone, so I won."
"Teacher, can't something like a crack be healed with magic?"
"S Rank Hunters with a lot of magic like Conrad don't respond well to healing magic."
Whether you use a spear, sword, or fists, they all use the same magic, but magicians use completely different properties of magic.
These two types of magic repel each other, so they can't be accumulated simultaneously.
Therefore, to heal S Rank Hunters with a lot of magic, you need at least an S Rank magician with equal or more magic.
As a side note, Internal Energy is free from this problem because it's refined magic.
"If a swordsman injured his right arm, he lost. I was thinking of having a meal and then sparring once, but I guess that won't work."
"Did you already forget that I'm left-handed? And I won't spar with you, senior. It's been a while, Shin-hyeok."
"Thank you for remembering and inviting me."
"You gave our daughter the greatest gift, so of course I had to remember. Oh, isn't the lady who came with you Korea's representative? Your name was Kim..."
"It's Kim Se-jin."
"Ah, that's right. I'm really bad at remembering people's names. I watched today's match well. Your skills were impressive."
"Thank you."
"Your daughter was quite formidable too. Not only magic but she even uses a sword."
"Our Bianca is quite a genius. Let's go. I'll introduce you to our family."
Under Conrad's guidance, we were introduced to his family.
His wife who works as a high-ranking executive at the British Hunter Association, Ryan who becomes friends with Lee Ji-sung after fighting him in the original work, and Bianca who will face Se-jin in the finals.
His wife is beautiful, but she doesn't look very happy, as if something unpleasant happened.
It doesn't seem to be because of us, and she's glaring at Conrad, probably upset that her husband came back injured.
Ryan is only equivalent to a second-year middle schooler by Korean age, but he's almost as tall as I am.
Of course, his face still has a distinctly youthful appearance.
Finally, Bianca has been staring intently at me since Conrad introduced her.
I wondered if something was on my face, so I checked with my phone while sitting down, but there was nothing particularly strange...
Ah! Could it be that?
They say handsome faces work regardless of East or West, so maybe Kang Shin-hyeok's appearance has stirred the heart of this British young lady.
Anyway, being too handsome is also a problem.
After brief introductions and greetings, we sat down and began the meal.
There are rumors that British food is tasteless, but from the bread that came out first to the salad and the wine accompanying the main steak, everything was excellent.
The hotel we're staying at isn't bad either, but this place seems much better.
Well, someone living in a mansion of this scale would have hired a famous chef separately.
While eating, I was able to satisfy my curiosity.
I didn't ask the question, but the vice principal was also curious about how Bianca, being a magician, could use a sword, so he asked Bianca about it.
I thought she might avoid answering vaguely like during interviews, but Conrad, who was beside her, seemed to think it was an opportunity to brag about his daughter and readily explained everything.
According to him, Bianca's research involved not only the Giant Sand Worm corpse I sold but also much rarer materials that even S Rank Hunters would find difficult to obtain, such as a Triple Head Ogre's heart and a Lich's Life Vessel.
He said they had collected all the other materials long ago, but they couldn't obtain the relatively less rare Giant Sand Worm corpse.
If I hadn't taken the A Rank promotion exam, killed the Giant Sand Worm, and sold it to Conrad, Bianca's research would have likely failed.
Monster corpses, unless specially processed, gradually lose their effectiveness over time, no matter how well they're treated and preserved with magic.
Bianca does run away to obtain the Giant Sand Worm corpse herself, but by then the materials they had already collected had lost their effectiveness and failed, which is probably why it wasn't mentioned in the original work.
It was all a butterfly effect from my actions.
I had even wondered if Bianca had learned Internal Energy like me, or if she might be a hidden character that the author deliberately didn't mention in the original work to use in a side story...
It was a somewhat deflating result, but well, it's fortunate.
Now that my curiosity was resolved, I focused only on the food.
"Was the food alright?"
While I was enjoying the pudding served for dessert, Conrad spoke to me.
"It's much more delicious than the hotel we're staying at."
"Really? The head chef would be happy to hear that. How about a sparring session after the meal to help with digestion?"
"Sparring? But your arm..."
"As I said earlier, I'm left-handed so it's fine. Didn't I miss it last time because I had a schedule? I have plenty of time today."
Did he remember that?
As a swordsman, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to face Conrad, who's called the world's strongest swordsman, but I still don't want to fight when he's injured.
"Ah, I didn't bring a sword separately..."
Honestly, it doesn't matter what sword I use, but I made an excuse to decline.
"Would it be inconvenient if it's not your sword? If not, we have plenty of swords at our house too."
"Honey! What sparring with that arm?"
"Well, I made a promise when I went to Korea last time..."
"I don't think it's right to spar while you're injured. Your wife is worried too."
I was about to teach him a lesson for seeming to underestimate me too much, but I changed my mind seeing his wife's quite murderous expression.
"I'm really fine though."
"Are you really going to do this?"
"No, I made a promise and I'll really do it lightly..."
"You said you'd do it lightly earlier and ended up with a cracked bone."
"Ah... Alright."
Even a member of the Ten Stars and Britain's strongest swordsman can't help it when it comes to his wife.
"Then how about I spar instead of father?"
Huh?
Bianca, who had been quiet, suddenly steps forward.
Everyone looks surprised, and so am I.
She's been staring at me continuously... Wait, isn't she trying to get my attention?
Haha. Really, this damn popularity.
For me, there's no reason to refuse... No, it's actually better.
It's a good opportunity to analyze Bianca, who will face Se-jin in the finals.
"I don't mind, but Bianca, you have a match tomorrow. Will it be okay?"
"I don't think one light sparring session will cause problems for tomorrow's match."
I don't think I'd lose even against her father Conrad, but she's really bold.
Well, as a world-class prospect, she's probably only heard praise so far, so she'd be overflowing with confidence.
Analysis for Se-jin aside, I should let Bianca know.
That there's another sky above the sky.
***
It's slightly smaller than the WHCU tournament stadium we went to during the day, but it's much larger than the Hunter Association dueling grounds in Korea or our school's dueling ground.
To have facilities like this at home, they really must have a lot of money.
Conrad and his wife didn't object either, so the sparring was arranged. After finishing our meal, we followed Conrad to the dueling ground in the basement of the annex.
"Since Shin-hyeok is a swordsman, our Bianca will only use auxiliary magic and swords."
"I don't mind if she uses all her other magic too."
"That might lead to an embarrassing situation... Are you really sure it's okay?"
HUH, this is crossing the line a bit harshly.
Bianca may be a world-class promising prospect, but she's still just a prospective hunter, and I'm getting annoyed.
"Hey, you Conrad bastard, what's this and that about?"
"Senior, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong? You just disrespected our Teacher Kang!"
"It wasn't disrespect..."
"If it wasn't disrespect, then what? Your daughter might be decent among her peers, but that's only among kids. Stop messing around and tell her to go all out."
I was about to say something, but the vice principal beat me to it.
"For senior to say that much... I must have been very rude. Sorry. Then our Bianca will use both sword and magic."
"That's fine. Um, could I add just one condition?"
"What condition?"
"Since I'm sparring with someone the same age as Se-jin, whom I teach, shouldn't there be a penalty?"
"A penalty? Look here, aren't you underestimating our daughter too much?"
Wasn't the disrespect started by your side first?
Not only Conrad but the entire Rowell family, including Bianca, are frowning at me. The provocation seems to have worked properly.
"Excuse me. I know you're an A Rank Hunter, but I'm also going to take the A Rank Hunter examination in February. Don't be reckless."
"Aren't you not there yet? Whether it's disrespect or recklessness, we'll know after sparring... Hmm, alright. If Bianca lands even one effective attack on me, I'll consider it my loss."
Since it's the same condition the vice principal set when I dueled with him before, the vice principal looks at me with an awkward expression.
Of course, I don't intend to be unreasonable like the vice principal was.
"If that's really what you want, then fine. Let's do that."