The S-Class Finally Submits
With ragged breaths clawing their way up my throat, I finally staggered through the academy gates. A low, heavy hum resonated around me as the massive barrier enveloping the entire campus rippled like water, letting my body pass. The damp, metallic air was instantly purified, and clean oxygen flooded my lungs.
Boom!Crash! The moment I crossed the barrier, the horde of monsters that had chased me right to the main gate slammed into the transparent wall and bounced off in gruesome heaps. Wolves with bloodshot eyes and venomous spiders clawed and gnashed at the barrier in a frenzy, but the wall—reinforced over centuries by the kingdom’s finest mages—didn’t even tremble.
“Haa… haa… I-I’m alive…!”
“Uwaaaah! Hic… sob!”
The twenty freshmen who had made it safely inside the barrier finally let their tension snap. Some collapsed onto the muddy ground, gasping for air, while others burst into loud, ugly sobs. The noble young ladies who had been so elegantly prattling about family honor were now slumped in torn uniforms, dry-heaving. Even Denin, who had strutted around boasting about his knightly lineage, lay face-down on the ground, his dirt-caked hand trembling around his sword.
I rolled my stiff shoulders once and tossed the troll’s massive log club I’d been gripping like a lifeline. It hit the ground with a thud that carved a crater into the earth. The absurd impact made the sprawled students flinch and whip their heads toward me in unison. Their gazes darted between the shattered ground, the abandoned club, and my mask drenched in monstrous blood.
“Everyone still got all their limbs?”
My voice came out low and gravelly from behind the mask. The students could only stare with mouths agape and nod like mute idiots.
“If your arms and legs are still attached and you’re breathing, that’s good enough. Today’s field exercise ends here. Go back to your dorms, wash up, and collapse.”
They remained completely dazed by my indifferent words. These were the same noble brats who would have thrown tantrums about my terrible attitude or complained that I’d abandoned them in a dangerous place. But now, not a single one dared utter a word of protest. They had just witnessed a monster turn an entire horde of beasts into pulp using nothing but a cheap iron sword and a wooden club.
The same went for Ien, who knelt at the front of the group. The girl who had always provoked me with casual arrogance now stared up at me with dirt-streaked cheeks and vacant eyes. The overwhelming display I’d shown—swinging that club to crush ogres and trolls—seemed permanently burned into her mind.
“Professor…” Ien swallowed hard before speaking carefully. The insolent suspicion and playful mischief that usually filled her gaze were gone. Only pure reverence for an untouchable powerhouse remained.
“That movement just now… you handled all those monsters using only your body’s fighting spirit, without even resorting to sword energy…”
“Stop talking and go wash up. You stink of blood.”
I cut her off bluntly. Ien quickly shut her mouth and bowed her head.
“What’s going on?! The barrier took a massive impact—huk!”
At that moment, the academy guards who had been stationed at the main gate rushed out fully armed. They froze at the sight of the insane number of monsters rampaging beyond the barrier and the bloodied, exhausted S-Class students. Their faces twisted in pure horror.
“P-Professor Kyle?! What in the world happened in the forest?! Why are all these monsters swarming the outskirts… and why are the students in this state?!”
“It was a slightly rough field trip. The kids don’t seem injured anywhere, so please escort them to the infirmary. I need to head up and file a report.”
I dumped all the annoying cleanup on the flustered guards and immediately turned away. I felt the students hesitantly bowing behind me but ignored it. Only one thought occupied my mind: I was going to grab the damn headmaster by the collar for ruining my peaceful afternoon and throwing these twenty burdens straight into hell.
Bang!
I skipped knocking entirely and kicked open the heavy door to the headmaster’s office on the top floor. My blood- and dirt-stained boots mercilessly trampled the expensive carpet. Normally Lucy would have thrown a fit about her precious rug getting dirty, but right now I couldn’t care less.
Behind the massive wooden desk in the center of the room, Lucy sat with elegant poise, legs crossed, sipping tea. Her crimson eyes held neither surprise nor panic. Instead, she had apparently been watching the spectacle I’d put on in the Forest of Darkness with great amusement through the large crystal orb floating above her desk.
“My, my. Our head professor Kyle. Did you enjoy your first outdoor exercise?”
Lucy set down her teacup with a bright smile. The moment I saw that seemingly innocent, clear laugh, rage exploded inside me like a volcano.
“Enjoy? Are you actually insane?! I told you to do some courage training, not stir up an entire monster colony from the depths of the Forest of Darkness and drive them all to the outskirts! If I’d been even a little slower or messed up my power control, those precious noble brats would’ve been digested in an ogre’s stomach!”
As I strode right up to her desk, Lucy rested her chin on her hand and looked up at me with sparkling interest.
“But you brought them all back alive without a single injury, didn’t you? The way you crushed that venomous spider with that log was pure art. Not using even a speck of mana—just a knight’s fighting spirit and raw strength to clean up that mess. It was worth forcing you to stay at the academy after all.”
“Keep your compliments! I’m billing you for my broken cheap iron sword, the laundry fees, hazard pay for risking my life, and overtime. Prepare a whole box of gold coins right now!”
I slammed my fist on the desk. Lucy giggled, opened a drawer, and tossed a heavy leather pouch onto the table. The clear, melodious jingle told me it was quite generously filled.
“There, there. Our Kyle went through all that trouble, so of course I had to prepare a proper bonus. I stuffed it full enough to make you forget all about breaking the contract and running away. So calm down a little.”
The moment I felt the pouch’s reassuring weight in my hand, the anger in my chest melted away like a lie. Money really is the best. I cleared my throat and carefully tucked the gold into the inner pocket of my robe.
“Money is money. But what the hell were you thinking? Were you trying to kill all the freshmen?”
My sharp question slowly wiped the smile from Lucy’s face. Her crimson eyes sank deeper and colder than before.
“I wanted to see those children’s limits. And I wanted to confirm your skills once more.”
“My skills?”
“I was curious how much more of a monster you’ve become since your back-alley days. I knew that as long as you were there, those kids wouldn’t die. You always complain about how bothersome everything is, but you never abandon the people behind you.”
Her words struck right at the truth. I pressed my lips shut. This woman knew me far too well. That was what I hated most.
“Now those arrogant freshmen have seen your real power with their own eyes. They won’t dare act up anymore. Your classes should be much easier from now on.”
“Easier, my ass. This is like avoiding a tiger only to fall into a dragon’s nest. I’m heading home for the day. If you call me again, I’ll really throw myself off the academy roof, so don’t even look for me.”
I snatched the blood-stained gloves I’d left on the desk and stormed out without looking back. Lucy’s delighted laughter seemed to chase me all the way down the corridor, raising goosebumps on my skin.
The next morning, I barely managed to open my eyes after suffering from muscle pain that felt like I’d been beaten black and blue all night. Using nothing but brute strength without mana had left every joint screaming. I forced myself up, changed into a fresh robe, and grabbed the heaviest, sturdiest greatsword from the storage room to replace yesterday’s broken iron sword, hanging it at my waist.
The hellish memories of the forest still lingered, so my steps toward the S-Class classroom felt twice as heavy as usual. After that mess yesterday, the classroom atmosphere is probably like a funeral. It wouldn’t be so bad if the noble parents all sent protest letters and got me fired.
With that faint hope, I roughly threw open the S-Class door.
Slide.
The scene inside was completely different from what I’d expected. There was no funeral-like gloom, no chaos from angry parents. Only a suffocating silence filled the room.
The students who had been covered in mud and sobbing yesterday now sat perfectly straight in their seats, uniforms immaculate. The moment I entered, twenty pairs of eyes locked onto me at once. Not a trace remained of the disdain or complaints they’d shown on the first day of class.
Denin shot up from his seat with a rigid expression and bellowed in a loud, disciplined voice.
“Attention for the professor! Salute!”
At his command, all twenty students rose as one and bowed to me at a perfect ninety degrees. It was a crisp, military salute that discarded all noble pride—the kind rarely seen even in knight orders.
“Good morning, Professor Kyle!”
Their voices rang out like thunder. I hid my flustered expression behind my mask and scratched my chin.
“What is this? Did you all hit your heads in the forest yesterday? Why are you doing things you never did before?”
I grumbled as I took my place at the lectern. The students carefully sat back down. Denin raised his hand with a face full of tension.
“We were all deeply impressed by the martial prowess you displayed yesterday! We bitterly regret acting like frogs in a well all this time. From now on, we will devote our lives to your teachings!”
At Denin’s earnest oath of loyalty, the other students nodded with burning determination. Even Ien stared at me with sparkling eyes and gave a firm nod. This is driving me crazy. I had planned to just lazily kill time, collect my paycheck, and escape, but if the kids were this motivated, it would be impossible to teach half-heartedly and move on. My stomach twisted at the thought that this, too, was part of Lucy’s meticulous scheme.
“Well, there’s no need to stake your lives on it. Just don’t get hurt. Today’s practical class will be a light warm-up at the training grounds, so everyone grab a wooden sword and head out.”
The students’ steps toward the drill field were lighter than they had ever been. I stood in the center of the training ground beneath the warm morning sunlight. They formed a circle around me, holding their breath as they waited for instructions. Every one of them had fire in their eyes, desperate not to miss even a single movement I made.
I suppressed a huge yawn and picked up the most ordinary, worn-out wooden sword from the nearby weapon rack.
“Alright, since you all seem full of energy, let’s start with a test. Swordsmen, draw your blades. Mages, ready your staves.”
Srrrng.
The moment the words left my mouth, Denin and the sword majors drew their real swords while Ien and the mages began gathering mana at the tips of their staves. Having experienced real combat yesterday, the speed with which they formed up and raised their power was incomparably sharper and faster than on the first day of class.
“Good. From now on, I’ll give you exactly ten minutes. You know what to do, right? If all twenty of you attack at once and manage to even brush my clothes, I’ll end class immediately and give everyone full marks.”
“What? All twenty at the same time?”
The students murmured in confusion. No matter how monstrous I had looked yesterday, standing still with a single wooden sword against twenty elite S-Class freshmen probably sounded arrogant. But for me, it was simply the most efficient way to end this annoying class as quickly as possible.
“Did you not hear me? Begin.”
I let the wooden sword hang loosely toward the ground, exposing my entire body. The students exchanged glances, then gritted their teeth and charged all at once.
“Let’s go!”
Denin led from the front, radiating fierce fighting spirit as he brought his greatsword down toward my head. At the same time, three students from the sides cut off my escape routes with thrusts while, from the rear, fire and ice spells rained down under Ien’s command. It was actually quite an excellent coordinated assault. An average knight would have panicked and focused entirely on defense, leaving openings.
I let out a light sigh and lifted the drooping wooden sword.
Clang!
A simple flick sent Denin’s greatsword rebounding with enough force to shatter his stance. I didn’t miss the chance. My feet slid forward as I dodged the incoming blades from both sides by a hair’s breadth, then lightly tapped their solar plexuses with the hilt of my wooden sword.
“Urk!”
All three collapsed, gasping. At that exact moment, bright red fireballs and sharp ice spears poured down from above. Instead of jumping, I stomped the ground hard and focused my fighting spirit at the tip of the wooden sword.
Whoosh!
One wide horizontal swing sent a heavy blade of wind bursting from the tip. It tore through every spell in the air without leaving a trace—pure power and speed, no mana involved.
“That’s impossible…”
Ien muttered in disbelief, still holding her staff. If yesterday they had seen brute strength against monsters, now they were witnessing refined technique against humans.
I didn’t stop. I slipped through their broken formation and moved with light, flowing steps as if taking a leisurely stroll, knocking away their weapons one by one and laying them on the ground.
Thud. Ack. Ugh.
Groans filled the training field. Students fell like autumn leaves with every step I took. Not one of them could even graze my clothes, let alone my shadow. Some trembled where they stood, swords in hand, crushed by the aura I emitted.
Exactly two minutes. That was how long it took for all twenty S-Class elites to end up sprawled across the dusty ground.
Without even breathing hard, I rested the wooden sword on my shoulder and looked down at them.
“Did anyone touch my clothes?”
No one answered. Denin stared blankly into space, completely out of it. Ien bit her lip, her face a mixture of frustration and awe.
“No matter how much expensive education you received from your noble families, without knowing the bloody stench of real combat, you’re still nothing but babies in my eyes. Starting today, during my class time, throw away your pride and your fancy magic. Prepare to roll around on the ground from the very basics.”
I spoke in the strict tone of a proper teacher while inwardly cheering. If I thoroughly crush their spirits from the start like this, they’ll quietly follow the simple repetitive training I assign and leave my free time alone.
“First, everyone get up and run a hundred laps around the field. No exceptions for the mages. If you lack stamina you’ll bite your tongue and die while chanting spells.”
At my harsh order, the students staggered to their feet. Even Ien—who would normally have protested about mages having to run—silently set down her staff and joined the line.
Watching the twenty students panting and sweating under the blazing sun as they circled the field, I sat in the shade and fiddled with the gold pouch in my robe.
Well… if I get treated like this while earning money, I suppose I can endure a few more days.