Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Skill Showcase and the Twins' Parting
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Philip strolled up to Felicia's side with light steps.
There was no need to draw everyone's attention. Aside from a few distracted new students, every gaze was already fixed on him.
"Nice to meet you all, students. Some of you might know me, others not, but one thing's for sure—you're lucky to have met me here today."
His looks were the kind that could make a mirror jealous, paired with a resonant baritone voice.
'If I'd been like this in my past life, my salary would've been through the roof.'
Philip thought as much while scanning the new students and their parents.
No one openly spoke up, but he could read the mood well enough.
Amid stares filled with doubt and contempt, Philip smirked.
"I can see the skepticism in your eyes, but stick around and you'll see. You'll get it quickest when you're facing a problem you think you can't solve on your own and come to me—like love advice, for instance. I'm something of an expert in that department."
Giggles erupted among the new students. Kids that age laughed easily.
Philip turned to Felicia.
'...?'
She tilted her head, eyes wide like a startled rabbit. Catching his glance, she cleared her throat and spoke.
"Ahem. Then why don't you show the students a bit of your skill, Instructor?"
"Yes, Professor."
Philip bowed politely, then drew the sword at his waist. Of course, it was Chatty Sword Neria.
―You're gonna do that? That thing you practiced all night yesterday?
"Yeah."
He murmured his reply and stepped up to the training dummy made of leather and sand. Unlike the one Diana Frenhal had struck, this one wore cheap iron armor.
Last night, in the dream Neria had shown him, Philip had fought over thirty mock battles.
He hadn't quite mastered Moonlight Sword yet, but he'd succeeded in embodying one of its possibilities. Neria's third owner—a magic armor with exceptional mana—had made for an excellent sparring partner.
Now, Philip was about to unveil the technique he'd perfected by slaying that nameless knight dozens of times.
"Hup!"
Neria's blade tapped lightly against the steel armor draped over the dummy.
It was as casual as a playful swat.
"...?"
Everyone who saw it flicked their eyes back and forth between the dummy and Philip.
"Philip... Oswald..."
Felicia glared at him, tears welling up. Something beyond hatred was starting to sprout in her heart.
'I've lost my mind. How could I trust a delinquent like him? Why is he doing this to me? What's his grudge against me...?'
And in that instant, the training dummy he'd touched crumpled to pieces.
Sand stuffed inside poured out along with shredded leather bits from between the steel plates.
Only a handful caught on immediately that Philip had done something. At the same time, Felicia's expression brightened dramatically.
For the first time in ages, her brother's face looked handsome.
"...What did he do? Is that supposed to be impressive?"
Someone muttered in the hush, and a reply came right away.
"Of course it's impressive. He struck through the armor? Means he formed aura inside it in that split second of contact. Not just anyone can pull that off."
"Forget the clever idea—his mana control is innate."
"Guess there's a reason the count's family didn't boot him out."
At least half the observing parents and VIPs were masters with over twenty years of sword training. Even they, who instructed sworn family knights, couldn't easily replicate what Philip had just shown.
It was different from Instructor Diana Frenhal's earlier display.
Her sword aura split was impressive for her age, but it didn't pack the same punch as Philip's feat.
The atmosphere shifted. The absurd talent from the twenty-two-year-old was shocking enough to momentarily erase rumors about him.
"If you follow Professor Oswald's lessons well, a few of you here might be able to do the same someday."
Philip bowed and returned to his seat.
Even as class resumed, some VIPs' eyes lingered on his face.
―Big success, right?
"Looks like it. Risk of getting fired is pretty much gone now."
―...Ah, yeah. That's what you were worried about?
"More importantly, check her out."
Philip glanced at Felicia and chuckled softly.
She seemed composed, smoothly continuing the observation class, but he'd noticed her pulse had skipped once.
Her slender legs were trembling intermittently.
―You're awful, Master. You did that on purpose just to see her reaction.
Neria grumbled.
"Nah. I picked the trickiest thing I could do."
'Though the effect was better than expected. Knew it'd work, but I can't shake the delinquent image overnight. Better they tolerate a flawed personality if the skill's there. That's my goal.'
Like a star athlete with a bad rep still getting game time and TV spots— that's what Philip was aiming for.
'Irreplaceable? You're set. No one can replace me, no matter how I act—as long as I hone my skills.'
With that in mind, he focused on the observation class.
"Now we'll have you grab wooden swords and strike the dummies. They're the same length and weight as real blades, so they might feel heavy and dangerous if you've never held one."
Just a simple practice drill, and the class would end.
"Urgh...!"
Seeing a new student girl struggling with her wooden sword, Philip hurried over.
"Hold it like that and your wrist will hurt. Here, you're still weak, so use both hands—one on the pommel, the other gripping firm under the guard... There. Good. Want to swing it once?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ It was afternoon, and the observation class had wrapped up.
Faculty headed to the staff room to prep for the semester; students to their new dorms.
But Philip had no time to lounge with paperwork.
―I give up on you. Don't we have better things to do? Like work or something back at the academy?
"You're surprisingly sensible."
―You're the weird one.
Philip agreed with Neria.
While his fellow instructors were swamped, he was climbing the academy's back mountain.
"Should be around here."
―What are you even looking for?
"Two kids. Brown-haired twins. New students."
Philip was searching for the protagonist twins.
Orphans raised in the mountains by some nameless man. They should be here now.
―The ones who just enrolled today? Why would they be here?
"...Kids get adventurous sometimes."
The mountain-raised twins had parted with their guardian and entered the academy.
No parents or adults to lean on—it wasn't odd for them to seek the mountain for comfort.
"There."
Philip spotted a brown-haired boy and girl perched on a large rock.
"Ruen, why the long face? I love it here. It's huge, the buildings are tall, and the bread? Oh man, I've never tasted anything so soft."
"...I don't know, Lua. I just... feel uneasy. I wanted to stay there."
The bubbly ponytail girl was Lua; the boy with straight bangs, Ruen.
Philip watched them intently, a strange feeling stirring.
"You're always like that, Ruen. I like Uncle too. But we can't live in that tiny cabin forever, right? He said it himself: 'See the bigger world, Lua, Ruen. You deserve it.' I think he's right."
"But..."
"Argh, seriously! Come here, Ruen."
Lua hugged her twin and stroked his hair.
"You're with me right now, Ruen. If you're scared, it makes me scared too. Can't we just... think about the happy stuff ahead? Make friends... Maybe even a pretty girl you like shows up..."
"Never thought about that."
It was a beautiful sight, Philip thought.
Like baby rabbits or squirrels comforting each other—it tugged at his heart.
Especially knowing these siblings would soon be torn apart.
Time for him to step in.
"What are you two doing out here?"
The twins jumped off the rock in surprise at his sudden appearance.
"Wh-who are you?"
Wary of the stranger, but spotting his instructor uniform, they relaxed a bit.
"Teacher...? Instructor? What do we call you?"
Lua tilted her head.
"Whatever feels right. More importantly, dorm roll call's soon. What are you doing here?"
"Uh... Can't we be here?"
"...Well, not against rules, but you just enrolled today—do you even know if it's okay right now? Probably not smart."
"Ah, sorry."
"No harm done yet. An hour late, though, and the dorm supervisor prof would've been sweating bullets... Quick, behind me."
Philip pulled the kids behind him and drew Neria, aiming at empty air.
―Eek? Master, what's up?
'What is this?'
A sickening distortion hit from one spot in the air. Like a botched photoshop job over damaged footage.
'...Her.'
Philip sensed what was coming.
One of the world's three archmages, Ilroksina Tarameer, here to take one of the twins.
"Hold on, stay calm. I'm not your enemy."
Space tore, and the archmage appeared.
Archmage Ilroksina.
Lord of the Yellow Tower, master of space-time and wind magic—one of the world's mightiest mages.
Long past seventy, but magic kept her looking twenty-something.
She eyed Philip's appearance, briefly surprised.
"I'd ask how you sensed my magic, but no time. I'm Ilroksina Tarameer, Yellow Tower Lord. Need proof?"
Just as he knew her—a principled person. She showed courtesy even to the much younger Philip.
Philip swallowed hard, tension rising, and met her gaze squarely.
"...Who'd doubt after seeing that? Just curious why the Tower Lord is here. Not for me, clearly. If it's about my students, please tell me first."
Archmage Ilroksina glanced between the twins and Philip, sighing softly.
"I've already spoken with Dean Rosello Graham. Sorry, but I need to take one student."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm here for the boy named Ruen."
Lua darted in front of Philip, eyes wide with panic and fear.
"Huh? Why?"
Ruen clung to her arm, trembling in terror.
Ilroksina bit her lip. She knew full well what she was about to do.
Splitting siblings who'd spent every moment together since birth. The loss and pain for these innocents weighed on her too.
But for the children's sake, it had to be done.
"Sweetie, I can't explain everything. But if your brother stays here, you and the other academy kids will be in danger. Please forgive me..."
She raised her left hand.
Philip felt the mana shifting with it.
Then overwhelming drowsiness hit.
"...Ah."
Young Lua and Ruen collapsed asleep on the spot, but Philip gritted his teeth, veins bulging in his eyes to resist.
He forced his eyelids open through spasms.
He had words for Ilroksina—and needed to hear hers.
"Don't resist! You'll hurt yourself!"
She shouted urgently as he fought her sleep spell.
A mere 5th-circle spell from an archmage was no trifle.
Without innate anti-magic, it could tangle his mana and cause serious injury.
But Philip pried his bloodshot eyes open and forced words out.
His head spun, vision blurred, body limp.
"Promise... you'll take good care of that boy."
"...I promise."
"Can you love Ruen as much as that sleeping girl? You're taking the only family these two kids have left in the world. Shattering two children's worlds. Is this sacrifice for the greater good? What do they even know!"
Philip wiped his nosebleed. He couldn't hold much longer.
"Promise... again. That you can... really... take good care... of him?"
Regrettably, Philip didn't hear her answer. His mental limits hit, and he collapsed unconscious.
The archmage looked at him with wavering eyes.
He seemed to know why she was taking Ruen. She couldn't just brush that off.
'No connection to him, surely.'
His willpower resisting her magic, stepping up for unrelated kids.
Plus sensing her spell instinctively.
'I'll meet this man again someday.'
"...I'll do my best."
She murmured to the fallen Philip, then picked up Ruen.
"... "
Feeling the child's weight in her arms, the archmage vanished from the academy.