Relay Sparring (1)
The long day that had combined my first class with an awkward reunion with Yustina finally came to an end, and a new day dawned with a fresh sun.
"Basic Combat Lecture, huh."
Today was the day for basic combat instead of basic magic. Unlike the basic magic lectures held inside the academy building, this one took place on the outdoor training grounds. Some students grumbled about the outdoor class, while others—chiding them with "Then why'd you sign up?"—seemed thrilled at the prospect of a fight. It was only the third day, but had everyone already made friends and gotten used to Denebergen Academy? The training grounds buzzed with chatter before class started. Fortunately, the spot where I was standing was just as lively. In other words, even I—with my mental age far beyond that of my classmates—had adapted just fine.
"Hahaha! Luckily, I've snagged the seat next to you this time!"
"Hehe, me too, young master."
"Good. Unlike yesterday's lecture hall, the spots here aren't spaced out, so we can just huddle together."
As expected of first-year classes that nearly everyone took, there were several familiar faces in this one too. Charlotte and Yozef went without saying, but for some reason, that southern sun warrior boy who kept popping into my line of sight was there, along with Yustina—going by the name Yuz—standing right behind me.
I turned to glance at Yustina, who was keeping her distance without coming too close, just watching. I nodded at her.
"Yuz, why don't you come closer and make friends with them?"
"Hmph! This Yustina has no need for friends or the like!"
And yet she'd been trailing after me like a shadow since earlier. Apparently, her social skills hadn't improved a bit in the last 500 years. Maybe the way to derail her confinement plan was to help her make a bunch of other friends? As I pondered how to naturally draw Yustina into the group, Yozef suddenly stepped forward.
"Oh ho, isn't this the girl who pushed me aside for Deneb's seat yesterday? But now that I look again, she seems kinda familiar..."
"You've met Yuz before?"
"Hmm, not sure. But I feel like I've seen someone who looks just like her."
As a member of the imperial family, Yozef must have caught a glimpse of Yustina in her role as academy chairwoman. Even if Yustina ran the school independently, she must have visited the imperial palace now and then. Come to think of it, I'd heard Denebergen Academy received imperial sponsorship.
The empire's royal family has connections like this, so she must have been pretty serious about running the school.
Realizing Yustina's accomplishments anew, I cleared up Yozef's confusion.
"She's the daughter of the Denebergen family—the academy's board chair."
"Ah, got it! That's right. They're a veiled, mysterious house. I think I saw her face a few times at the palace when I was little, though the memories are fuzzy. What stands out is how stunningly beautiful the head of the Denebergen family was said to be back then."
"Of course. Even children have an eye for beauty, after all."
"Hahaha! Seeing the daughter so delighted by praise for her mother—your family must be close-knit!"
...I didn't bother pointing out that it wasn't praise for her mother, but a direct compliment to the person standing right there.
"So, when does class start, anyway?"
"Professor still isn't here, it seems."
As we chatted, class time arrived, but the professor was nowhere in sight. The freshmen glanced around in confusion, wondering if it had been canceled. That's when someone pointed to the sky and shouted, drawing everyone's attention.
"L-Look! Something's in the sky!"
"Kuhahahahaha!"
A massive, dark shadow fell over us from the heavens, accompanied by booming laughter. Students who'd been scanning the ground for the professor all looked up in unison. Eyes widened, fingers pointed, screams erupted.
"W-Woah! He's riding a dragon!"
"The professor's a dragon rider?!"
"It's not a dragon! It's a wyvern—a wyvern! Dragons wouldn't carry humans, would they?!"
Yustina snapped in sudden fury, but her shouts were drowned out by the students' gasps, the wyvern's wingbeats, and the professor's whoops up above.
"Ughhh..."
Clenching her fists as if holding back rage, she scurried over to me and pleaded.
"That's not a dragon. Got it? Not a dragon..."
"Y-Yeah, yeah. Of course a mighty dragon wouldn't carry a human."
"You get it. I'll tell Mother to give you a store."
"Th-Thanks? You really love dragons, huh."
Yustina nodded silently, pressing against my side. She insisted it was just dragon enthusiast anger, nothing more. But no matter how I looked at it, that wasn't the reaction of someone whose hobby had been insulted.
You're being way too obvious, Yustina...
I swallowed the words bubbling up inside and kept my composure.
Fwoosh!
Moments later, the blue wyvern flapped its enormous wings and descended slowly to the ground. The wind from its landing kicked up dust, making some students cough, but I just covered my nose and mouth casually and peered at the professor standing tall amid the haze.
But the moment his silhouette came into view, I froze.
"Huh?"
"H-He has wings too?"
It wasn't just the wyvern—the professor had wings as well. I wasn't the only one caught off guard. Charlotte's eyes went wide, ignoring the dust entirely, and even Yozef tilted his head. Only Yustina, casually waving away the dust with a hand as if it were nothing, seemed unfazed.
"He's Jo-in Perkin—a knight who shone on the eastern front fifteen years ago. Personality's rough around the edges, but he's a solid professor. Learn what you can from him."
"Oh, uh, yeah. You know a lot about the professors, Yuz."
"Of course... I-I mean, Mother told me."
Well, yeah—she hired him herself, after all. As an assassin, I could tell from experience that Professor Perkin was a formidable warrior. Gauging if I could take him out in one frontal strike, or if I'd need traps or poison instead, was second nature; sizing up the opposition was assassin 101.
"Pleased to meet you all! I'm Perkin, the one who'll be teaching you starting today. As you can see, I'm Jo-in, so if you doze off in class, I'll zip over like lightning and smack your skull—keep that in mind!"
Like most humans who'd lived their lives as knights, Perkin was boisterous and honorable. But he also had plenty of experience as a professor, judging by how his jovial banter instantly hooked the students.
"You, baldy! Good fire in your eyes! What's your name, where you from?!"
"Konet Rodriguez! Sun warrior from the southern deserts!"
"Ha! Warrior my ass! To me, you're just a greenhorn still attached to the umbilical cord!"
"Kuh..."
"But by the end of my class, you might manage a toddler's waddle!"
He reined in the rowdy students with tough love, encouraging them that they could improve. It wasn't that I disliked Professor Dane, but the way he skipped straight to setting the mood instead of diving into lessons hooked even me, who hadn't been thrilled about combat class. Experience really was something—Perkin, veteran knight and professor, dominated the atmosphere like a whirlwind.
"Well, well! Even our prince is here. You know I taught your second and eldest brothers too, right?!"
"Of course! They told me all sorts of stories!"
"Talking back like that—bold, I like it! What'd they say about me?!"
"Mostly curses, so in one ear and out the other!"
"Kuhahahahaha!"
...And apparently, he clicked surprisingly well with certain students.
"Hmm, what're you?"
"Pardon?"
"You've been eyeing me with that creepy glare since earlier."
"...Who knows?"
His rounds of banter—or rather, barking—eventually reached me. Guess my assassin's occupational habit of instinctively appraising threats gave me away. It wasn't obvious, but this professor, hired directly by Yustina, was no ordinary man.
"Hmph, well, there are a few decent ones this time. Good ore is fun to smelt."
"Smelt? Ore?"
He snatched up the question from the students without missing a beat.
"Yeah, you're all ore! I'm the master smith who forges it! But no smith, no matter how skilled, can turn impure iron into diamond! Iron has its forging method, diamonds theirs—get it?!"
Perkin whistled, sending the wyvern off somewhere, then slammed his sword's pommel into the ground with a thud.
"So now, we'll classify the ore! Method: relay sparring! I'll gauge your levels and teach accordingly—prove yourselves!"
Relay sparring? What the heck was that? The name sounded vaguely familiar, but... Before the explanation of this unfamiliar test format, some voiced doubts. Mostly students more into magic who'd signed up lightly, thinking they'd learn combat while at the academy anyway.
"But Professor, we haven't learned anything yet—sparring?!"
"Got a problem?"
Perkin shut it down flat.
"Don't like it? Drop and retake with another prof! Might teach better, who knows!"
Age meant surviving with ironclad self-confidence. But it also meant becoming impervious to outside opinions. The student, flustered by his shameless retort, shot back.
"If we drop, can we take another prof's class right away?"
"What're you talking about? Next year, obviously! Kuhahahaha!"
A few students looked like they'd seen the devil himself.
"Hahaha! Now I get why my brothers cursed you out!"
I nodded at Yozef's words, but inwardly, I thought differently.
...This could be fun.
One thing I'd realized watching Perkin: not all "kids these days" were slackers. Coincidentally, Yustina and I both gazed at him with pleased expressions.