What the Hell, Give Me Back My Sword
After that day, Wi Seoyeon changed completely.
"I shall conclude today's lecture."
There wasn't much difference during class time. She wanted to keep teaching, and it was more convenient for me if she continued working as an instructor.
"And Master... no, Hwanhyeon-yi, please stay behind for a moment."
"Yes, Instructor."
Every time class ended, she pulled me aside.
-That guy's always dragged off somewhere.
-He's properly brainwashed, isn't he. What a sight.
-I dunno, doesn't our instructor seem to be getting hornier by the day?
-Honestly, she looks like she could handle the Saintess.
The male students who'd always glared at me were busy snickering about karma. They had no idea how their instructor had changed.
"...Master, this way..."
The moment she pulled me into the secluded spot, her entire demeanor shifted.
"Awooo... Master, please take Amkae Seoyeon for a walk...!"
The collar hidden under her coat the entire lecture finally revealed itself.
She'd gotten so used to handing me the collar and walking on all fours like a dog that it had become routine.
"I told you not to talk like a human, didn't I?"
"...Woof! Woof! Hahahaha..."
An empty back alley, an abandoned outdoor training ground.
She marked her territory everywhere with her scent.
Sometimes she'd even call me out the moment I woke up in the morning. The purpose was slightly different, though.
"Wi Seoyeon? Let's head to the training ground."
"Yes? Understood. I'll grab the collar right away..."
"No, we're going to train with Seol-hwi. I just want you to watch me work out."
"...Oh."
She'd been planning to take me to watch her morning exercises with Seol-hwi, but she'd started reaching for the collar on her own.
"Do you like it that much?"
"..."
"Aaah... I love it...! Having Master treat me like a dog and drag me around... my whole body goes tingly...!"
That's how it was.
After receiving two hundred doses of pleasure all at once, she'd completely abandoned her pride.
"Master, if you're ready, let's head outside..."
"I'm sorryoooo!!! A pathetic slave like me getting lectured by an instructor... I'm so sorryoo...!"
"...What did you make the instructor do this time."
"Nothing. I was going to take her for morning exercise and ask her to watch us train, but she suddenly started grabbing the collar. When I asked what she was thinking, that's the reaction I got."
"Ugh... just forget it. Let's go."
At least Seol-hwi treated Seoyeon well. She judged people based on their strength, so even in private she didn't treat others poorly like the rest.
"Though, I'm surprised. I never thought Master would be a color-essence type who knows how to please women, not a diligent student who exercises every morning..."
"What? I do it when I do it."
"I'm the one dragging you out when you don't want to go, Master. You shouldn't go along with it, Instructor."
"..."
I really shouldn't have said that!
"Alright then, let's warm up with a light run. I'll go first, so please follow, Master and Seol-hwi Senior."
Our Instructor Wi Seoyeon had started calling the students "seniors." Since they'd become my contracted servants before her, it was only natural she'd address them that way.
Of course, that look in her eyes made it clear she was terrified of Jinyul.
"Heh, as expected, real instructors are on another level, aren't they?"
"What? So you're saying the duels we've had so far didn't satisfy you?"
"Ah."
The duels with Seol-hwi were just mindless sword fights. The only thing you could gain from them was realizing something eventually, and all you did was keep clashing blades every day to accumulate experience.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Seoyeon's outfit was now decided by Jinyul and Yu-ryun's collaboration.
Under Jinyul's forceful argument that "slaves should be dressed to look appealing," what had originally been entrusted to Yeoryeongi was taken over by Jinyul, and in the process Yu-ryun got caught raiding her wardrobe.
-But Senior Jinyul always buttons her clothes all the way up and wears her skirt long, doesn't she?
-...Be quiet! I'm not a slave like the instructor, I'm an honorable virgin!
Even though I thought "that's the same thing," I had no choice but to follow along.
"Now let the two of you spar. I'll watch."
"My arm strength is lacking."
"You need to twist your body more from there."
"Rather than doing that... wouldn't this counter be better?"
This was the individualized training of a former close-combat A-rank hunter.
True to her role as an instructor, she pointed out appropriate movements and improper ones with precision, and I gradually started getting used to the sword.
Wake up in the morning, exercise, during class time grope the students' bodies as usual.
At night, handle at least one, sometimes two at the same time.
That was my daily routine.
After a few months passed,
[Clang!
The Hwanguk Sword Method (C) is growing.
Hwanguk Sword Method (C → B)
Warning!
Growth of 'Hwanguk's Sword (Replica)' has hit a ceiling!]
-Snap!
The sword said to be my father's keepsake had broken.
"Fuck!"
"No wonder. That sword was a replica?"
When I brought the broken fragments to Principal Yeoryeong's office, she stared at them in disbelief.
"It was definitely the sword that came out of the gate after the final battle, so how did it...?"
"Even so, I could learn skills when I held it, couldn't I?"
"That's a mystery too. Since your father used it, you must have absorbed the residual will embedded in the object to gain the skills."
She came right after morning training ended and pressed her forehead against mine, thinking hard.
When I held the sword, I was definitely of the right bloodline, and I could learn the skills. The skills were acquired naturally through the connection of will through the sword, or so I'd been told.
That meant it was certainly true that my father had used this sword. Though the will might have been small because he'd only used it for a short period.
"...S-So my fault isn't mine, then...? Right...?"
Since it happened while I was sparring with Seoyeon as practice, she was trembling beside me.
"It's fine. Our instructor didn't do anything wrong."
"Th-Thank you, Master!"
She looked so thoroughly cowed, like she was bracing for another orgasm denial, that it was starting to look pitiful.
"Master. But if that sword was a replica... doesn't that mean the real one exists too?"
"It would. This might be the one your father briefly used, but there must be something he used for a much longer period."
If there's a fake, the real one must exist somewhere.
The problem was nobody knew where it was.
"There's one place I'm suspicious of."
Cancel. Seol-hwi seemed to know something.
"Where is it? Are you sure? How did you find out?"
"W-Wait! I'll explain everything, so calm down!"
I was too hasty.
"Seol-hwi, tell me everything. Do you really know where the sword of the previous Sacred Water Deity is?"
"I'm not certain. It might disappoint you if I tell you, since you hold the Heavenly Fox in such high regard."
"Tell me anyway. And now that Seoyeon has also become a Heavenly Fox, it's better to just call her by name."
It turned out that way. Wi Seoyeon's hair was gradually turning golden, and now she couldn't even find her original color anymore.
Yeoryeong, who had been the sole Heavenly Fox, was jumping around at the news that her kind had multiplied.
"It's from when I was young. The previous Sacred Water Deity visited Baekho Dang, and I remember the sword hilt being brand new without a single smudge as she was leaving."
"You mean the sword changed at that time?"
"I think so. Baekho Dang is famous as a sanctuary of swordsmiths, so it seems she entrusted the inspection of the sword to them."
It made sense. If the real Hwanguk Sword existed separately and this was just a substitute she briefly used, everything fit.
"Then we need to go soon. The final exam is coming up."
"If we visit Baekho Dang, we should be able to find at least a suitable new sword, even if it's not the real one. First, I'll leave a message with Mother."
Just like that, the trip to the Spirit World was decided in an instant.
This was about two weeks before the final exam of the first semester.
"I see. Baekho Dang this time, then."
"Since it's Seol-hwi's family estate, it's been a while since I last visited!"
Cheonghwa and Jinyul agreed immediately.
"Ugh... do I really have to crawl through a field of muscle-brained idiots...?"
"Yu-ryun, speak properly. If you talk like that, Jujak Hall sounds like a drug den and brothel."
"Definitely sucks. It's even worse that it's actually true."
Yu-ryun scratched Seol-hwi again.
...I wonder what kind of place Jujak Hall is for those kinds of remarks to come out.
"Master, can I come along this time too?"
"Yeah. Last time I left you behind and I felt really bad about it."
"Yay! Master is the best!"
I decided to bring Ilena along too. The scent that she knew everything was too strong to ignore, so it probably wouldn't cause any major issues.
"Last time I was absent for several days like that too. I didn't know and misunderstood..."
Seoyeon apparently thought I was a delinquent student skipping class for days.
Now that she'd heard the full explanation, her gaze toward me seemed to soften.
"Master really is someone who flirts with women but also does what needs to be done when the time comes!"
"Hahaha..."
I am someone who does it when it's time to do it.
Seoyeon stays here. Since she's the instructor directly overseeing classes, she can't just skip several days.
Yeoryeong would obviously come along, and this time Harin had also agreed to join. She said she'd take the opportunity to meet Seol-hwi's mother, the head of Baekho Dang.
And so,
me, Cheonghwa, Yu-ryun, Seol-hwi, Jinyul, Ilena, Yeoryeong, and Harin.
A total of eight people formed the party.
...I'm slowly realizing how many women are following me.