Chapter 38
**BACKTICK**CHAPTER_TITLE: Erewon, Temporary Professor? (2)
No matter how I look at it, only three students. It’s truly shocking. After all, from the very beginning, there were almost no students taking basic swordsmanship classes at the academy.
Most students who enter the Imperial Academy come from noble families. Basic swordsmanship is considered general education, so they usually receive private instruction elsewhere before enrolling.
At the academy, students who have already learned the basics can still attend the course, and it even grants credit. They treat it as if the student is receiving instruction even if they simply practice on their own without attending the lectures.
In theory, I could have taught a course that no one else wanted to take, but only three students showed up. How unusual.
The feeling was the same whether in my previous life or this one.
Age has always been far too large a factor when judging a person.
At fifteen, I was hailed as a genius who had reached the fifth circle of mana.
However, no matter how I look at it, calling a fifteen-year-old professor would immediately raise suspicions.
I understood that, but it still didn’t sit well with me.
Even though I’m young now, I’m still a sword saint.
Can a sword saint really be expected to teach basic swordsmanship?
The number of students made me uneasy.
Lectures that are not properly conducted are canceled with the headmaster’s approval.
Aipman might cancel my course and demand back every credit he promised me.
I usually assumed he wouldn’t, but it was wise to assume the worst-case scenario.
In that case, Lua might be viewed with bad eyes for dragging one more student into my class when she was already the only one attending.
“You are all very fortunate,” I declared.
“Thanks to the other students not showing up, you will essentially receive private instruction.”
Only Lua and Macbeth seemed pleased with the word “private.”
Elson’s reaction was lukewarm.
“I know all your names, but let’s begin with introductions. I’ll go first. I am Erewon von Soleil, a prince of the knight kingdom Solea. I am your temporary professor for the time being. Students, who among you would like to introduce yourselves first?”
Both Lua and Macbeth raised their hands eagerly.
If not for their enthusiastic attitude, I might have shed a tear of joy.
One of them might have been a fluke, but at least two seemed like genuine students.
“Let’s let Macbeth student go first.”
“Yes, Professor!”
His loud reply echoed through the training hall prepared for the lecture, making Lua beside him flinch.
“I am Macbeth Woodman! I am twenty-five years old this year! My father is the head of the Woodman Trading Company! Since I entered the academy thanks to the expensive tuition my father gave me, I will do my best not to disgrace him!”
“Excellent. Why did you want to learn swordsmanship, student?”
“I want to become a knight! The easiest way to elevate from commoner to noble is to become a knight!”
If one listened without paying attention, it might seem as if he was carrying his father’s unfulfilled dream of social climbing, but the fire in Macbeth’s eyes was sincere.
“Macbeth student is already twenty-five years old this year. Have you never considered that you are a little late to become a knight?”
Most children who aim to become knights start young.
The sooner one begins training their body and swordsmanship, the better the results are.
But the most decisive factor for a knight is the amount of mana.
And the most important thing in accumulating mana is time.
“Of course I know that! But I will make up for it with blood, sweat, and tears!”
I liked it very much.
Even though I was ten years younger than him, he showed no hesitation in his desire to learn.
“Next, let’s hear from Lua student.”
“Yes, Professor! I am Lua von Soleil, a princess of the knight kingdom Solea. I applied because I wanted to understand what swordsmanship is and because I believe one must know how to protect one’s own body.”
Exactly as she had said.
In my previous life, Lua did not need to protect her body.
The knight corps of Solea, which had been absorbed into the empire, and the assassins of the female emperor’s direct unit that Lua herself founded, along with the mages from the Demon Tower, always protected her.
Because of the firm belief that her loyal subordinates would protect her, Lua’s actions as an emperor had been so bold.
But this life was uncertain.
Besides, if I taught her properly, no one would be able to defeat her with ordinary skill.
“Finally, please introduce yourself, Elson student.”
“I-I am Elson Bernard. I am sixteen years old. But I, I…”
Elson was clearly tense.
Moreover, something seemed off from the very beginning, and he couldn’t keep still.
“Don’t be nervous. Take your time. Whatever you say is fine.”
“I…”
Up until that point, I had been looking at Elson with kind eyes.
I didn’t know what he was about to say next.
“I applied by mistake.”
“W-what did you say?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know Professor Akan had applied for a leave of absence.”
I unconsciously clenched my fist.
Because it was trying to grow stronger again, I somehow managed to hold it back.
“Even now, if you want to switch to a different course, please say so. I will arrange it.”
“No. It’s not that I want to switch courses.”
“Not that?”
Elson couldn’t easily say it.
“…… I just want to quit.”
But my improved hearing clearly caught him muttering something in a small voice.
Elson had clearly said “quit.”
“You want to quit?”
Elson’s eyes widened.
Then, as if he had done something wrong, he began to cry.
“I’m sorry. Actually, I want to quit the academy completely. My brothers entered the knight corps when they were young and eventually became knights. But I applied to the knight corps and was rejected. That’s why I came to the academy.”
I understood.
If someone truly wanted to become a knight, they would apply to the knight corps rather than the academy.
But the knight corps didn’t accept everyone.
Physical strength, martial arts, and character.
Only those who met all three criteria were accepted and trained.
Elson had failed to meet these three standards, so he couldn’t enter the knight corps and had no choice but to pay the expensive tuition and come to the academy.
“How long have you been at the academy?”
“T-three years.”
Surprisingly, the information I received about Elson before starting the lecture said he was a first-year student.
He had no talent, and he hadn’t developed at all.
For a full three years!
He was only a year older than me.
It wasn’t too late to become a knight yet, but three years without any development was a very serious problem.
“I’m about to give up. Seeing a professor who reached the fifth circle at fifteen years old makes me feel even more pathetic.”
“What happens if you give up?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be kicked out of the house.”
“Even if that happens, it’s fine?”
“Yes, it’s fine. It’s because I’m a Bernard. It’s my own fault.”
I thought this needed to be corrected sharply.
For Elson’s future.
Of course, there was no reason related to wanting to keep even one student in my lecture, but…
At fifteen years old, when I, as a professor, was about to begin my sermon.
“Don’t say that!”
It was Lua who patted Elson’s back.
“Legendary hero Kyleon was supposedly the son of a common farmer. The story is that he was discovered as a hero by Master Merlin around the age of twenty. But Elson is only sixteen now, right? You can do it!”
Lua had clenched her fist as if to encourage him.
“And our oppa is a genius who will never exist in this world again, so you can believe in him!”
If only she hadn’t said that, it would have been better.
After Lua, Macbeth patted Elson’s back with all his might.
His body swayed greatly, as if Macbeth had hit him rather than patted him.
“Hey. If we assume that, then there’s a fool here, isn’t there? A fool who entered the academy to become a knight at twenty-five years old. I’m doing the same, but you’re the normal one!”
Among academy students, there was a culture where they used no honorifics and treated each other as equals before graduation.
It meant they were all the same before entering the outside world.
I felt how important that meaning was.
With the other two students giving warm encouragement, Elson’s tear ducts finally burst.
“Elson student.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“I reached the fifth circle of mana at fifteen and defeated Professor Akan, who is the best in swordsmanship at the academy. Do you not feel that I have a special secret technique?”
Elson gave some kind of answer to my question, but with my improved hearing, I couldn’t hear it.
By then, Elson was a mess of tears and snot, and his pronunciation was already slurred.
“Follow me with trust. I will make sure you advance. If Elson student does not develop, I will say it’s my fault and visit you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Professor!”
His slurred speech was still there, but those words reached me clearly.
Fortunately, my judgment was wrong.
I had thought this lecture would be the most difficult task since my regression, but I was grateful to have met blessed students.
And I decided.
I would definitely crush those who didn’t come to my lecture.