Chapter 30: The Academy's Service is Over (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 30: The Academy's Service is Over (8)
In any fight, there are two main categories.
Offensive and defensive.
This has been true since the ancient days of Go, Shogi, and Chess.
Even in PC games like the space-war sims that have now become "folk games," those tendencies are clearly defined.
Naturally, in swordsmanship—where lives are traded at the edge of a blade—these traits become even more pronounced.
And the Defeat Sword, as it happened, was a highly offensive style.
"That makes it easier to lose, after all."
I nodded at the Commander’s words.
The advantages of being on the offensive are numerous.
First and foremost, the best part is that you can end things by just one-sidedly pummeling your opponent.
The fact that you can create a situation where only you’re having fun while your opponent is seething requires no further explanation.
Beyond that, there are benefits like a high probability of seizing the initiative, and the fact that it looks flashy can be considered a plus if you look at it favorably.
However, the one disadvantage that outweighs all those perks is that it’s unstable.
"To maintain a magnificent offensive, only to lose due to a single mistake. For the Defeat Sword, that is the ideal scenario."
At a mediocre level, being offensive is better.
If both your offense and defense are clumsy, the one who strikes first usually holds the advantage.
However, for those who have reached the level of mastery, defense becomes more important than offense.
In a world where a single mistake with a sword costs a life, that tendency can't help but stand out.
That was why the Defeat Sword was an offensive style.
By aggressively pushing the opponent, you create a sense of crisis.
Then, falling to the opening created by that very aggression and losing was, as the Commander said, the ideal outcome.
"But you can't do that."
However, I—who had perfectly mastered the Defeat Sword as recognized by the Commander—couldn't do that.
Was it my fault? No.
"There is a fundamental problem with the Defeat Sword. Do you know what it is?"
"...You have to be stronger than your opponent."
"Exactly. The Defeat Sword only has meaning if you are stronger than the person you're facing."
The essence of the Defeat Sword is losing on purpose.
Not just losing, but losing by a hair's breadth. By the thinnest of margins!
It was a style designed to push the opponent's pleasure of victory to the limit while simultaneously instilling a constant sense of crisis—the feeling that if they slacked off, they could be overtaken tomorrow, or that today's victory was merely a stroke of luck that required even more effort to replicate.
"If you just lose, it's just a defeat."
Therefore, if the opponent was stronger than the user, the Defeat Sword became utterly useless.
The true application of the Defeat Sword lay in the ability to manipulate the royalty's victories and defeats under the precise analysis of the royal family and the instructors.
Based on that, it was used to adjust the royals' motivation according to their personality, recent actions, and psychological state.
If they were too overconfident, you broke them once.
Conversely, if they lacked motivation, you adjusted things to fill them with drive.
But because Prince Ellen was too strong, I—unable to manipulate Ellen—couldn't fulfill my proper role as an instructor.
Even so, the reason I wasn't fired was...
"The problem is, Adam, you are doing far better than we expected."
It was to the point where even the royal family, who should have reprimanded me, couldn't say a word.
"After all, what can a human do against a natural disaster?"
It was simply because the human known as Ellen was a monster on the level of a natural disaster.
And so.
"We have decided to change your sword style slightly."
On the day I experienced true defeat for the first time at Ellen's hands.
I had to relearn the Defeat Sword from scratch.
Its name: the Defensive Defeat Sword.
A swordsmanship style modified exclusively for me.
"For your information, it contains a bit of the royal swordsmanship, so if it leaks outside, it's the death penalty."
"Can I just... not learn it?"
The name sounded ridiculous, but it was a secret technique infused with the swordsmanship of the Leon Royal Family.
-
In the Defeat Sword, the most important thing is knowing your opponent's blade.
In that sense, the royal instructors were all essentially "counters" to the royal swordsmanship.
There was a reason they had to reside near the capital even after retirement, remained under royal surveillance, and faced restrictions on traveling to other countries.
Of course, they were compensated and treated accordingly.
It wasn't for nothing that I was able to easily acquire a mansion and buildings near the capital—properties that are hard to buy even with money at my age.
In that regard, the Sword Emperor's test was relatively easy for me.
The Sword Emperor was the progenitor of a sword lineage, one who had perfected his own blade.
In this era, there weren't many opportunities to see his sword directly.
Normally, it should have been impossible to know his style.
However, the person I had sparred with most at the Academy was the Minor Sword Emperor, who was learning that very style to perfection.
And recently, I had been experiencing life as a sandbag for the Sword Emperor himself about once every three days.
Because of that, I was starting to get used to the Sword Emperor's blade.
"Hup."
"Good."
Of course, being used to it didn't mean I could win.
Still, if I grit my teeth, I could at least manage to hold out.
This was possible because the Sword Emperor's style, like Leon's, was a swordsmanship based on defense.
People saw the Minor Sword Emperor's flashy blade and claimed the Sword Emperor's family style was offensive.
But that was only because Asran hadn't yet perfected the Aren-style sword technique.
The sword of the Emperor, Aren, might look flashy on the outside, but its movements were more static than one would think.
He moved quickly, but every single action delved into the gaps of the opponent's movements and sword paths.
Because of that, the opponent would slowly wither away, unable to complete what they intended to do.
He watched the opponent's movements and struck their weaknesses.
To a third party, it might look like the Sword Emperor was attacking unilaterally, but to the one on the receiving end, it felt like every single movement was being met with a counter.
"Come."
"I'd rather not."
Therefore, the counter-strategy was simple.
Don't move first.
That alone allowed me to buy a significant amount of time.
"This is an exam. I'm taking it easy on you, so feel free to display your swordsmanship as you wish."
That was both true and a lie.
Since a proper test couldn't happen if the Sword Emperor didn't hold back, the part about him taking it easy was true.
However, that old man gets excited and starts ramping up the power the moment someone manages to withstand his blade for a bit.
"Do you think this is my first or second time falling for that?"
How many times had I been beaten as a sandbag? There was no way I didn't know.
And.
"Besides, the style I learned is the Guardian Sword."
The first principle of protection.
Hold the line.
When I said that, the Sword Emperor frowned slightly but nodded.
"I suppose, being Kariks's disciple."
Of course, it wasn't the real thing.
When someone asks, "What kind of sword did you learn?" you can't exactly say "The Defeat Sword," can you?
Publicly, instructors are seen as aides to the royalty; you can't give such a pathetic answer.
That was why the internal protocol was to claim I'd learned something that sounded impressive, like the Guardian Sword.
I was reaping the benefits of that lie now.
"Then it can't be helped."
It had been three minutes since the exam started.
I thought I had held out quite well, but the unfair part of this exam was that the early testers had no basis to judge their own scores.
If I held out for three minutes but everyone else did too, a supplementary exam might be waiting for me.
Except for the geniuses, everyone's scores on the theory exam were more or less the same.
Though I was in the upper-middle rank, the Swordsmanship Department placed a much higher weight on the practical exam.
A slight difference in practical scores could send someone plummeting to the bottom ranks.
Of course, that was unlikely to happen, but...
"I have to be careful."
During the break, I had to return to my dear homeland.
It wasn't homesickness or anything; I just had to make sure a diplomatic disaster—like the Queen storming the Academy—didn't happen.
Also, if I stayed behind and got dragged into the Holy Kingdom expedition party, I'd be worked like a dog alongside Boradori.
Suffering through the original RoFan plot during the Silence arc was more than enough.
Even though I said all this, a terrorist attack was already scheduled for the second semester, so being worked to the bone was an inevitable future anyway.
Let's at least rest during the break.
With that thought in mind, I did my best to block the Sword Emperor's blade.
"Oho."
I heard a pleasant hum.
It was a very familiar signal—the sign that we were moving to the next phase.
"......Ha."
Blocking the Sword Emperor's accelerating blade, I barely managed to inhale and exhale.
I had reached the point where I practically had to ask for permission just to take a single breath.
No matter how much the Aren-style was rooted in counter-based defense, my opponent was the man hailed as the King of Swords.
With such a gap in skill, it didn't matter whether the opponent was offensive or defensive.
Another thirty seconds passed, feeling much longer than the previous three minutes.
I was reaching my limit, so I had no choice but to make a decision.
"Hup."
The deliberation was short, and the execution was fast.
Seizing a momentary opening, I immediately funneled mana into my sword.
"Good."
That was the signal.
As if waiting for my sword energy, the Sword Emperor's blade began to shimmer with its own.
The amount of mana gathered was far less than mine, yet the perfection of his sword energy was overwhelming.
It was as if he were giving a lesson, showing me that sword energy could be handled in such a way.
"You're acting like a professor."
"Because I am a professor."
Ah, right.
Since he caught me and beat me like a sandbag every time, I thought he was just a regular at my gym.
"Then, as a professor, how about giving your student some encouragement?"
"That's something that should have been handled at the teacher stage. I was taught that a professor must treat students with more severity."
For a first-year rookie professor, he sure acted like he'd been teaching for a decade.
Sword energy clashed against sword energy, and mana began to surge through my body.
The amount of mana consumed increased rapidly, but I didn't care.
The moment I started using mana, it became a race against time anyway.
I boasted an overwhelming physical foundation, but that was only in comparison to my peers.
For a man of the Sword Emperor's caliber, that was just a stage he had long since passed.
Even if he used less mana than me as a professor, the difference in optimization and perfection alone allowed him to overwhelm me.
So, I shifted gears first.
Always one step ahead. I struggled desperately to win somehow.
On the surface, it looked like a faster path to defeat.
However, if the Sword Emperor didn't see an increase in my output, he had the ability to judge that I'd reached my limit and end the exam right there.
"It's over."
Just like now.
Tap.
I fell backward as the sword lightly poked me.
It looked like a sharp burst of sword energy, but it felt like being nudged by a rolling stone.
"Haah... Haah..."
Having burned through most of my mana, I lay on the ground, breathing heavily.
How long did I last?
I'd had to give up counting the time after the four-minute mark, so I just lay there exhaling, waiting for the result to come from the examiner's mouth.
"Adam Smith. 5 minutes 21 seconds."
I lasted longer than I thought.
It was at that moment.
"Hmm..."
A short groan of dissatisfaction escaped someone's lips.
I squeezed out my remaining strength to push my upper body up.
"I played around too much."
I saw the Sword Emperor's crumpled expression, full of discontent.
"Shit."
I felt that something had gone wrong.
But I wasn't the one who would pay the price.
"Aargh!"
"Asran. 2 minutes 11 seconds!"
Unlike me, Asran was knocked out quickly.
But instead of their usual jeers of "Defeat Emperor" or "Sososo Sword Emperor," the other students stared at me in silence.
"Adam... the difficulty of the exam just went up..."
At Prince Ellen's words, which were thick with a sense of injustice, I replied by raising my middle finger to everyone around me.
If you're unhappy about it, you should have taken the test first.
"Ah."
...Now that I think about it, they were going to do that, weren't they?
What a shame.
