The Dark Elf Who Got Called a Barbarian
“I am Nariel Beltar. You’re the one, aren’t you? The bastard who wrecked my house.”
I had roughly guessed as much. The headmistress had spoken as if someone lived on that mountain. I just hadn’t expected her to show up this fast.
That had been during morning class. Now the day was already sliding from afternoon into evening — and yet here she was already?
Then again, if someone had smashed her house to pieces, maybe the speed made sense.
But that body…
What kind of outfit leaves your breasts hanging halfway out of your clothes like that?
Sure, something that might have been a breast-binding or a support was holding them up from underneath. But she was dressed head to toe in tight black, and still her cleavage was left completely exposed, the soft flesh spilling past the edge of her top. It was… a lot.
Had I been staring too long without saying anything?
The woman — a dark elf with long silver hair swept back into a high ponytail — addressed me again.
“I asked if it was you. I already heard the story from the headmistress… but if you keep standing there silent, I’ll make the first move myself!”
Make a move? What kind of—
In the blink of an eye something flashed.
Clang—!
A dagger I hadn’t even seen her draw was already in her hand as she lunged at me.
“…That nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Good thing I had brought a sword from the research lab.
“Oh? You blocked that? Then how about this!”
The crazy elf’s eyes lit up as she seized daggers in both hands and came at me again.
Clang, cla-clang! Shiiing—!
She really was cut from a different cloth than ordinary elves. Drawing steel on someone she had just met was the height of rudeness.
I did feel a little guilty about wrecking her house… but she didn’t seem entirely serious either. There wasn’t much true killing intent in the way she swung those blades.
What the hell is she after?
Part of me wanted to just overpower her and be done with it, but I still wasn’t used to this body’s strength. Even the sword energy I had fired earlier had only been possible because I’d had time to stand still and concentrate. Right now, with my control still so crude and both of us constantly moving, it was a different story.
Even so…
Nariel Beltar, was it?
Her skill level was extremely high. If the academy had entrusted her with its protection, that was only natural.
Shiiing, shiiing, kaaang—!
And even though I still couldn’t freely dominate an opponent the way I wanted, I already knew this body’s physical power and raw strength were top-tier. She wasn’t being pushed around. More precisely, she was deflecting my strikes with those daggers, bleeding off the force rather than meeting it head-on.
Her eye for reading an opponent seemed solid. It was my own clumsy use of this body that was the problem…
From a short distance away, where she had been watching the fight, Linea’s voice drifted over.
“Amazing… That dark elf is incredible too, but Professor really is…”
“Is he that good?”
“Of course he is. You’re aiming for the priesthood, so you wouldn’t know, but…”
“Yeah.”
Erina answered as if that were obvious, simply accepting Linea’s words.
“Lady Nariel moves on a level we can’t even compare to — and yet every single one of her blades is being stopped by the professor’s sword, even though he looks like he’s swinging it half-heartedly, almost carelessly.”
“Is that what I’m seeing…?”
Even standing in the same place, Erina clearly didn’t get it. Linea let out a frustrated sigh.
“Ugh. This is why clerics…”
“You’re aiming to be a holy knight yourself.”
“Holy knights and clerics are completely different— Anyway! Look at Professor Kyle’s eyes. Does that look like a man fighting in earnest? There’s not a scrap of fighting spirit in him. That means he doesn’t even need to go all out against her.”
“Oh…! Now that you mention it and I look at his face, you’re right…!”
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
What on earth were those two talking about…
It’s not like that at all…!
Clang—!
Screeeech…
Our blades locked — her two daggers crossed in an X against my sword — and for a moment we ground to a halt.
“You bastard… Are you mocking me?!”
“…What? What are you talking about?”
“Even if there are young students watching and you don’t want to show them anything too brutal — to keep putting on such limp, half-hearted swordplay and toy with me like this! Do I look that much of a joke to you?!”
“…No, that’s not it.”
“…I never imagined you were this skilled.”
“Hey, could you calm down a little? I get that you’re worked up because your house got blown away, but—”
“No. That no longer matters. What matters now is between you and me — no. My pride alone!”
“What?”
The house didn’t matter anymore?
“Let’s see how long that smug composure of yours lasts!”
What.
Was she about to do something?
If I just left this alone, was I going to end up in real trouble?
That was not a situation I wanted…!
Screeech…
Still locked eye to eye with our blades crossed, my sword began to tip, little by little, toward Nariel.
“Kh…! Y-you bastard…!”
A rough sound tore from her throat. She couldn’t hold the bind. She tried to roll my attack downward and deflect it, and—
Kaaang—!
Both of her arms were forced straight down as if flung open, leaving her completely exposed. I was still only using one hand on the sword, and I hadn’t put my full strength into it either.
I had simply, for a moment, felt a twinge of danger and put a little more weight into my arm.
In that same motion I drove forward and slammed my shoulder into her.
Thud—!
She couldn’t brace herself. She went over backward and hit the ground, and in that instant—
Thwack!
—my sword buried itself in the dirt right beside her face.
Nariel lay sprawled on her back. I stayed above her, the blade driven into the earth, our faces close for a long, silent beat.
“That’s enough, both of you.”
It was the headmistress’s voice.
Wmmm—
I hadn’t taken anything that really counted as a wound in the spar with Nariel, but Erina still came right up to me and cast a heal.
Well. Not every injury shows on the surface.
“Huh.”
Hm? Was something wrong?
“Erina? Is there a problem?”
“Ah—no. Not exactly… It’s just that the holy healing spell’s effect feels… stronger than before? Or something like that.”
“Mm… Isn’t more power a good thing? You’ve always been a hardworking student who participates well in class.”
Participation rate? Erina was the top student of the Holy Healing Department. What more needed to be said?
“Th-that’s… no. I’m always picking fights in your class… being rude… and also…”
“Then just tone it down from now on, all right? Anyway, if your heals really have gotten stronger and you’re that curious, why not ask Professor Bloomlein?”
“Okay… If I get the chance later… I’ll ask her. As for class… I can’t promise I’ll manage to hold back.”
What…
I did teach Holy Healing classes under my own name, but I alternated those sessions with Professor Selepia Bloomlein.
Even so… I was a holy knight at heart. Compared to Bloomlein, I was nowhere near specialized enough to teach the Holy Healing Department properly. I only knew the basics, so there was a hard limit to how deep my instruction could go.
That was why I had said I couldn’t comfortably take the post full-time. Instead, I had offered to fill in on the days when Bloomlein was busy.
Not that it mattered much. When I did step into a class, I mostly just rattled off whatever I happened to know in my own style and left.
Either way, the true authority on healing studies at this academy was Bloomlein. Better to ask the expert.
“Haa. Astria. Where in the world did you dig up a man like this and put him in a professor’s seat?”
Only then did Nariel break the stare she had been holding with me. She dusted off her clothes and stood.
Since she was up, I had little choice but to rise as well, feeling faintly awkward about it.
“My, Nariel. Didn’t I already tell you? The man standing there is Professor Kyle — the same Kyle Edelrein who was making a name for himself on the battlefield until very recently.”
At that, Nariel’s expression finally shifted into something like surprise.
“What… Astria. Would it kill you to pass on important information clearly and promptly?!”
“Oh, honestly… You were the one who wasn’t listening properly…”
“Even so, the man is ridiculous. I take pride in my own skill, but this bastard… he just shoved me back with pure strength alone.”
“That much?”
“…Yes. It was a short bout, but I couldn’t even try anything. Every technique I showed was simply stopped dead by raw power. A thoroughly unpleasant experience.”
“Uh… hello? I’m still standing right here?”
Only then—
“Ah! Professor Kyle! That’s right, you were here, weren’t you? I completely forgot without meaning to. I blanked out for a moment and forgot you were present.”
A lie… There were people who could forget, and then there was the headmistress.
“Mm. Indeed. I had forgotten he was even here as well.”
Coming from Nariel, it somehow felt plausible… We had only just met, but she already struck me as the blunt, straightforward type. It suited her.
“Anyway, Nariel! Why are you still living up on that mountain?”
“Because… I’m an elf?”
Saying ‘because I’m an elf’ does make a certain amount of sense…
But Astria only let out a deep “Ugh” of a sigh.
“Nariel… Stop living like a barbarian and come down already. You’re a civilized person, you know.”
“Then who is supposed to protect the students of this academy?”
“Please… just…”
She looked perfectly normal on the outside, and yet she lived up on a mountain. Some kind of natural hermit, then?
“I was living a reasonably civilized life, I’ll have you know. But today, while I was out working with the trees, a tremendous noise suddenly rolled across the entire mountain — no, across all of Eunhwi Mountain.”
“….”
I flinched.
“I ran to check what it was, and what do you know — not only was my house gone, the very terrain of the mountain had been completely reshaped… no. Destroyed…”
“I have no excuse…”
“Forget it… How long could it take to rebuild a house like that? However.”
“However?”
What was she about to say?
“I would like you to help with the work of restoring the mountain.”