Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: End-of-Term Report Card (7)
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“It’s okay to be defeated, no matter how many times. The shame you endure to protect your beliefs can be quickly forgotten. But the memory of running away in fear will follow you for the rest of your life. When you eat, when you sleep, even on the battlefield, you’ll be tormented. That’s why a swordsman’s conviction is like his life. Once it’s broken, it never comes back.”
No one mocked Rian any longer.
“No one wants to carry the memory of their own cowardice. Especially not a swordsman. A day will likely come when you’d rather die than recall this moment. So end it here. If you want to be proud in the future, then right here, right now…”
Rian coughed up blood and shouted.
“Fight, you idiots!”
Rian’s cry pierced the cadets’ hearts. Their blood boiled. Though their skills varied, their desire to be called demons of the battlefield, the strongest swordsmen, knights of steel, was all the same.
The fighting spirit of hundreds of students ignited simultaneously, a heat that could be felt on the skin. The air grew warmer. The fear that had once been in their eyes as they looked at Paiger was gone.
Paiger and the rest of the first group sensed the crisis and unleashed their own killing intent.
“Shut up! No one listens to a loser! You want to take me down? Then come on. I’ll make you just like the guy hanging over there!”
Tess smiled, fiddling with her lips.
“Hmm.”
Ogent Rian.
A candidate for the sword academy.
“Alright.”
Tess kicked off the ground and launched herself forward. Leaping over Paiger, she untied the rope, and Rian fell to the ground with a thud. He winced, his bruised body trembling as he forced himself into a cross-legged position.
“You’re Rian, right? I’m Tess. Let’s fight together.”
Tess offered a handshake, but Rian, still bound by ropes, could only stare back, unable to move.
Tess’s appearance created a stir among the children. Although she belonged to the female group, she was known to be Paiger’s equal in skill during training.
“I’ll fight too! I can’t stand this anymore!”
“The girls are stepping up! The guys can’t just stand by!”
One by one, they began to side with Rian. Soon, every cadet except for the first group had banded together, shouting in unison.
“Let’s teach them a lesson! Let’s drive those brutes out of the academy!”
“Drive them out! Drive them out!”
Paiger’s group was surrounded by nearly 300 children. No matter how much they enhanced their strength with Schema, they couldn’t possibly fight this many.
“You bastards! You really want to die!”
“Kill us if you can, you son of a bitch!”
A boy from the second group, known for his strength, threw the first punch. Paiger’s jaw snapped to the side. As he grimaced and glared at the boy, dozens more rushed in and slammed him to the ground.
“Wa-wait! Stop!”
Paiger, facing reality, shouted, but the children’s pent-up anger was not easily appeased.
Here and there, the cadets from the first group were receiving the same treatment. Even boys from outside the groups joined in, beating them to a pulp.
“He-help! Instructor! Instructor!”
Tess looked back at Rian, who was watching the battlefield with a detached gaze, and smiled.
“Haha, my apologies. It feels like I just stuck a fork in a meal someone else prepared.”
“It’s fine. I hate playing the hero. That’s why I called them over here in the first place.”
“Oh? You really didn’t know?”
When Rian looked at her with a puzzled expression, Tess realized he was telling the truth and looked dumbfounded.
“Are you an idiot? There’s no way the instructors would just leave us to our own devices. They’re probably getting reports on this whole situation right now.”
Tess’s prediction was spot on. Paiger suffered a fracture and was expelled. The other children from the first group who had sided with him were also denied admission, despite completing the training period.
And Rian… despite his mediocre training results, was admitted to the Kaizen Sword Academy as the top student among the 30 who passed.
Recalling her first meeting with Rian, Tess’s lips curled into a grin.
“And that Rian~ is now stuck at the bottom of the class.”
“Shut up. Why are you suddenly bringing up the past? Did I ask to be first place?”
“Haha, still, it’s quite amazing. If it were me, I’d be wallowing in self-pity, but you train every single day without a break.”
“Self-pity, my ass. I graduated from that a long time ago.”
“Still, aren’t you worried? You got into the academy, so you have to graduate and make a name for yourself as a swordsman. At this rate, you’ll end up with nothing, won’t you?”
“…You’re really determined to crush my spirit, aren't you?”
“What are you talking about! I’m saying this because I’m genuinely worried. And curious. About what drives you.”
Rian looked up at the sky and thought. A driving force. In a way, his situation was less complicated than that of the other cadets.
“It would be great to make a name for myself as a swordsman, but it doesn’t matter if I can’t. I just need to become stronger. For my lord.”
“Your lord? What are you talking about?”
“Ah, I’ve sworn a Knight’s Oath.”
Tess’s eyes widened. It felt like asking the neighborhood kid who they were going to marry, only to be told they were already engaged.
“For real? You’re not even twenty yet.”
A Knight’s Oath was a vow a swordsman could make only once in their lifetime. Therefore, when choosing a lord, one was expected to meticulously consider their future and potential.
“Are you sure about this? What kind of person are they? Is it someone I know?”
Tess guessed it must be someone famous. A war hero, a minister of the royal court, or if not, a lord of a provincial city. After all, if you were going to entrust your entire life to someone, they had to be at least that prominent, right?
“Shirone.”
“Shirone? Hmm, Shirone… I don’t know him. What does he do?”
“He’s my friend. He’s attending a magic academy back in my hometown right now.”
Tess’s jaw dropped in disbelief. A friend. And not even a certified mage, but a student.
“What on earth were you thinking? You don’t have to swear a Knight’s Oath just because you’re close friends. Wait, don’t tell me…?”
A sudden anxiety gripped Tess. There were cases where people swore Knight’s Oaths to individuals who were neither famous nor had any prospects.
“This Shirone… is she a girl?”
“Are you crazy? What are you thinking? No matter how little talent I have, I wouldn’t swear a Knight’s Oath like that.”
“Really? Hmm.”
Tess let out a sigh of relief.
“Anyway, don’t speak of him so carelessly. I believe Shirone will become the best. That’s why I bet my life on him.”
Rian seemed different today. To put it bluntly, it was just boys sticking together, but one wouldn't go as far as to swear a Knight's Oath unless the person was truly remarkable.
‘Who in the world is he? Shirone…’
At that moment, a brilliant idea struck her. She had been wondering how to bring it up, and Shirone had just provided the perfect opportunity.
“Can’t you let me meet him? This Shirone kid.”
“What? Why do you want to see my friend?”
“You’re bragging so much, I can’t stand the curiosity. In a nutshell, you’ve basically secured a job before even graduating, right?”
“Even so, isn’t this a bit out of the blue? Besides, Shirone is in Creas. It’s really far from here.”
“So what? The semester ends in a few days anyway. My family is in the occupied territories, so I have no one to meet. I can just go hang out in Creas. Oh, right, there’s an island to the south there, isn’t there? It's a tourist spot I've always wanted to visit. Let’s go hang out there with Shirone.”
As if she had prepared it in advance, Tess’s words flowed without hesitation. Hearing her out, Rian’s thoughts began to change. Of course, he had no desire to go on a trip alone with Tess, but if Shirone was involved, that was a different story.
“Hmm, with Shirone… But wouldn’t it be a bit awkward with just the three of us? He’s not very sociable. Especially with girls.”
Seeing Rian’s positive reaction, Tess’s eyes sparkled. At the same time, she felt a pang of jealousy that he, who usually paid her no mind, had changed his tune so quickly.
“Tell Shirone to bring one person too. He must know some girls at the magic academy. We can go as a group of four. A double date trip. How about it?”
A double date trip. It sounded fun. More importantly, Rian, who had been doing nothing but plotting to hang out with Shirone after the semester, had no reason to refuse.
“Well, I’ll think about it.”
Though he said that, it was as good as an agreement. Tess nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Great. Then, for the sake of our vacation, shall we finish this final practical exam with a flourish?”
Most of the cadets had finished their practical exams, and soon it was Tess’s turn.
“Number 47, Eljain Tess. Ready for evaluation!”
Tess shouted from the starting line of the obstacle course, and Kuan gestured with his fingers.
“Begin.”
Tess sprinted through the obstacles, which lowered like a limbo bar. However, she couldn’t help but freeze in front of the bladed obstacle, lower than her sitting height.
Although she had mastered Schema earlier than others, today was her first time attempting External Gravity.
Due to Schema's nature of affecting the physical body, it was rare for anyone to master it during their growth period. And even if they did, it wasn't a recommended practice.
Tess calmly executed a First Impact. The shockwave from striking the ground traveled through her Schema.
‘From here, I shift my center of gravity outward!’
External Gravity wasn’t magic. It was simply creating a powerful inertia that overcame gravity. With that confidence, Tess leaned her upper body back.
‘It worked!’
Tess’s body traced a fan-shaped arc, passing under the blade. It wasn’t a fluke. All the training she had done until now without using External Gravity had led to this result.
“Number 47, Eljain Tess. Obstacle course complete!”
As Tess reported with her arms spread wide, the cadets erupted in applause. But with her heart pounding, she couldn’t hear a thing.
‘I did it. This thing actually works?’
Kuan’s guidance hadn’t been in vain. He had been training them with this goal in mind from the start.
‘Even if he’s a psychopath, he’s still a teacher.’
After perfectly executing the Urban Warfare Movement as well, Tess confidently took first place. With few participants left, it seemed unlikely anyone would surpass her score.
“Number 52, Ogent Rian. Ready for evaluation!”
When it was Rian’s turn, Kuan’s brow furrowed. He wasn’t expecting anything. Yet, for that very reason, this was a strange cadet who made him feel a sense of anticipation.
“Go on.”
Rian kicked off the ground and charged. He passed the obstacles that didn’t require Schema with exceptional skill. The problem, however, was the final obstacle.
‘First Impact!’
He stomped the ground hard and leaned his upper body back. At the same time, Kuan’s eyes flashed.
Rian felt something was wrong. For some reason, the blade was approaching his neck.
‘Huh?’
Kuan flew forward with incredible speed and kicked Rian in the face. Rian rolled across the ground and didn’t get up for a long while. As he struggled to lift his upper body, the enraged instructor limped toward him.
“You bastard! Are you crazy? Are you dying to get yourself killed? Where did you sell off your Schema to stick your neck into a blade?”
Coming to his senses, Rian shot up and shouted.
“I’m sorry! But I did it! Schema…”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Do you even know what Schema is? Anyone who can’t use Schema is excluded from the practical exam!”
“No, sir! I definitely succeeded! I took the strength enhancement test and passed!”
“What, you punk? Strength enhancement? Where are you getting these lies…”
The strength enhancement test verified the presence of Schema by having the cadet lift twice their body weight. Kuan looked around, calculated Rian’s weight, and found a suitable object.
“Hey, you. Come here and lift this.”
It was a large chunk of stone left over from the training ground’s construction.
Rian took a deep breath and walked over. To be honest, he had used every ounce of his strength to pass the strength enhancement test, so he couldn’t help but be nervous.
“Hooooo!”
Hugging the stone, Rian straightened his back with all his might. Balancing on trembling legs, he heaved his arms up, and the heavy stone rose above his head.
Kuan pressed Rian’s body with his fingertips. As the action of the muscle fibers was transmitted through the vibration, his expression darkened.
‘Damn it all.’
It wasn’t Schema.
He had trained countless cadets, but he had never seen one with so little talent.
No matter how lacking in aptitude, one was bound to learn something like Schema after being educated at a top-tier facility. But Rian hadn’t even managed that.
Of course, if a student had no talent, he could just be cut loose. The world was full of aspiring swordsmen.
But Kuan didn’t want to give up on Rian. He was the kind of kid who made you feel that way.
‘Just how much did he train….’
He couldn’t hate a kid like this. No, as a fellow swordsman, he had to respect such willpower. But one problem was blocking everything. He had no talent. If he had even a little, something could be done, but he had absolutely none.
“Rian, I’m sorry to say this, but you haven’t mastered Schema.”
The cadets’ expressions turned to bewilderment. It was the first time in six months they had heard the word “sorry” come out of Kuan’s mouth.
“That can’t be! I’m right here… holding this stone! Then what is this?”
Kuan sighed and said.
“That… is just your own foolishly immense strength.”
Rian wore a look of utter disbelief. A moment later, the stone he was holding fell with a thud.
Ogent Rian. Last place confirmed.
(End of Volume 5)
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