True Top Instructor Ricarton
I became Imperial Princess Eris's private tutor!
I volunteered for this one hundred percent of my own free will.
How could I possibly pass up this ridiculously fun opportunity to legally torment a member of the imperial family?
Ah, let me correct that. Not torment—educate.
In the Seriel style of education, of course.
When I went to Seriel to ask permission for the job…
"If something like that causes any disruption to my escort, I will dismember you limb from limb. Cough, cough!"
"But who would dismember my limbs? Besides the Knight Commander, it would be pretty hard."
"I will do it myself."
"……"
I received permission, along with a blood-chilling warning.
I faced Eris in the Empress's private training grounds.
"Is this your first time holding a sword?"
"How old do you think I am, that this would be my first? Idiot."
"Hahaha."
Wow, she was already scratching at me perfectly.
What's with this Seriel Junior performance?
"Then why don't you show me what you can do."
I said it with a bright smile.
"Why should I swing a sword in front of the likes of you?"
"……Hahaha."
This wouldn't do.
My patience hit its limit within a minute of starting. Maybe because no one had scratched me to my face like this since Seriel became Empress, my maximum patience level felt significantly lowered.
"Hey, kid."
"Ha? What did you just say?"
"Get down."
"What?"
Rumble—!!
The mere light release of my mana glued Eris's body to the floor.
"Aaagh!"
She toppled forward, smashing her face into the ground and starting a nosebleed, then glared up at me as if she wanted me dead.
"Y-you bastard! Release this at once!"
"This is the proper eye level between you and me."
"You dare use magic on me?!"
"Not magic—mana. And from now on, you will call me Teacher."
"Kugh, what kind of bullshit—!"
"Is that any way to speak to your teacher?"
Crunch, crack—.
Her muscles and bones screamed.
"Aaaagh!"
"Teacher~. Say it."
"Y-you dare think to humiliate me like this?!"
She was holding out under this much pressure. She had some backbone, at least.
"If you say 'I'm sorry, Teacher' right now, I'll let you off."
"Kugh! You think so little of me!"
"I'll say it again: I'm the teacher, and you're the student."
"You bastard… you bastard……!!"
Eris struggled desperately to free herself from the pressure of my mana, but her small body didn't budge an inch. After thrashing a few more times, she finally—
"Hic! Waaaaaah!"
—hit the ultimate special-move button.
Tears first, victory assured.
"Wait……."
Caught between absurdity and shock, I hurriedly withdrew my mana. Her personal guard knights, waiting outside, came rushing in a flurry.
"Your Highness!"
"Waaah, waaaaah!"
"What do you think you're doing, reducing Her Highness to this state?!"
"Commander, aren't you going too far on the very first day?!"
The two of them glared at me with triangular eyes. For the record, these were my own subordinates.
"……Seriel used to do it this way, though."
Teacher Ricarton: total defeat.
"Hahaha! Boy, you used far too rough a method on a little girl."
Commander of the Pure White Knighthood, Rubellion, threw his head back and laughed after listening to my grumbling. I had installed a personal portal right in front of his house, so I came and went as casually as if I were visiting the neighbors.
"I'm a young man now, you know."
"Still a long way off. To me you'll always be a boy. You've grown quite tall, though."
"Ugh."
We were both 6th Core, yet the gap between us was roughly the circumference of the Earth—that was how impossibly far ahead he stood. Of course, if I added my 6th Class magic I might win, but against this man I wanted to beat him fair and square, sword against sword.
"Young girls are hard to teach. I was quite at a loss myself when I first took Her Highness Brunea as a disciple."
"But you raised her well, Uncle."
"Her Highness Brunea has such a good nature and works so hard……."
Bang!
The door flew open and a young girl came scurrying in with quick little steps.
"Ah, you were here! Sir Ricarton!"
Daughter of the Northern Grand Duke, Third Imperial Princess Brunea.
Her silver hair and sharp features were the spitting image of the Northern Grand Duke, yet her pink eyes and pure white skin were pure Seriel. I couldn't stand the Northern Grand Duke, but sweet-natured Brunea was impossible to dislike. She had been dropping by Rubellion's house constantly since she was little, so we had naturally grown close while I played with her.
If that other one were like this kid, teaching would be easy.
Brunea was a monster of talent. She had awakened her first Core at seven and become an apprentice knight; recently she had opened her second Core and risen to junior knight. On top of that, for a little girl her strength was absurd—she could pick up a boulder the size of her own body with one hand and hurl it.
"Speak of the white tiger and she appears. She's a ghost."
"Pardon?"
Rubellion gave a small snort of laughter at Brunea's puzzled tilt of the head.
"Nothing. More importantly, what brings you here?"
"I just had a feeling Sir Ricarton would be here. Hehe."
"……Did you install CCTV or something?"
"Hm?"
"Pardon?"
"Never mind."
Brunea sat down on the sofa right beside me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Anyway, I learned a new sword technique today. Want to see?"
"Sure."
She drew a sword nearly two-thirds her own height and began swinging it. Her form was still clumsy, but the earnest effort was pleasant to watch. It was one of the northern styles—elegant yet powerful. The Snowflower Sword. A blade that took the shape of a single flower blooming in the bitter cold.
"Hoo."
Clap clap clap—!
Rubellion and I applauded like a pair of uncles watching their niece's taekwondo forms. Should I give her pocket money for this?
"The downward cut just now broke off. Was that intentional?"
"Ah, no…… I only learned it today."
Brunea scratched her sparkling silver hair, looking embarrassed. She was so cute I ended up giving her a gold coin as allowance.
"As expected of the Captain of the Imperial Guard—your spending is as generous as a bee's. Hahaha."
"The Captain's salary is a pittance. Raises are slow because of all the nobles' side-eye."
"How much do you get?"
"About this much?"
I leaned in and whispered so Brunea wouldn't hear. Rubellion's eyes went round. He casually slid the liquor bottle that had been sitting in front of me over to his own side.
"Shameless brat. From now on you buy the drinks."
"……"
I should have kept my mouth shut.
I spoke for nothing.
Teacher Ricarton's delightful private lessons. Session two.
Ricarton was having a great time.
He had begun to feel a sense of fulfillment in teaching someone.
Eris, on the other hand…
"You bastard……!!"
Tears were streaming down her face.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack-thwack! Thwack!
"Head, head! Shoulder! Head! Belly, head, head, head!!"
"Aaagh! Ow! That's not the head! Aaagh! You coward, ow! You coward—!!"
Ricarton was cheerfully thrashing Eris with a stuffed cotton training sword. The Imperial Guard had brought it after deciding that if he used a wooden sword he might actually break the princess in a few places.
The two guards leaning against the wall and watching the "education" stuck their tongues out.
"He's really enjoying himself."
"He's enjoying himself properly."
"I remember the first time the Captain trained us."
"Don't bring up that nightmare."
"Head, head, head! Heeead—!!"
"Aaagh! Aaaaagh!!"
By now he was only shouting "head" while beating every part of her body except the head.
"The most infuriating part is that after a month you look at yourself and realize your body and dantian really have been tempered."
"Right. That was the first time I learned that getting beaten half to death actually makes you stronger."
Ricarton's sword dance only ended after Eris had collapsed face-down on the floor and could no longer get up.
"Haaah, haaah……."
"Hoo, that was refreshing!"
"He said it was refreshing."
"I heard it too."
Having used the imperial princess as a stress-relief sandbag, Ricarton wiped imaginary sweat from his brow with a thoroughly satisfied expression. Of course, he hadn't broken a sweat.
"Attention."
"Uuuugh……."
Beaten so thoroughly that dust flew from the cotton stuffing, Eris had no strength left in her body and couldn't rise.
"If you don't stand at attention, this doesn't end, you know?"
"Uuuugh……!"
She clenched her teeth and forced her trembling body upright. Once she was finally standing, her whole frame shook like an aspen leaf.
"Attention, salute."
"Th-thank you for your hard work……."
Etiquette had been thoroughly injected into Eris; she bowed at the waist while using polite speech. A most desirable posture. Ricarton likewise treated her with proper courtesy.
"Your Highness worked hard as well. Let's have another fun lesson tomorrow. Hahaha!"
"Kugh……!"
It had been a private lesson enjoyable only for Ricarton.
"Wh-what is this……?"
Eris woke up and was startled. It wasn't only because of the full-body muscle pain.
Something like red flames was rising from her entire body like heat haze.
"I-is anyone there?!"
At her urgent cry the Imperial Guard knights came running at once.
"What is the matter, Your Highness?!"
"I-I can see something strange! What is this?!"
The knights who saw the sight broke into warm smiles.
"It is mana."
"Mana……? This is……?"
"Congratulations on the opening of your Mana Eye."
Eris stared for a long time at the red mana rising from her own hands.
"Please take good care of me, Teacher!"
The next day, Eris's bright, energetic greeting left me thoroughly flustered.
She looked up at me with sparkling pink eyes. Respect practically dripped from her gaze.
"Uh…… yes……."
Why did this kid suddenly become so obedient?
Did beating the living daylights out of her yesterday actually work?
Is the rod really medicine after all?
……Then what does that make me, who got the living daylights beaten out of me by Seriel?
No. The rod is not medicine.
My educational policy, carefully differentiated from Seriel's, had simply borne fruit. Yes. That's it.
"Ahem. Then shall we begin today's lesson as well?"
The moment I saw Eris draw her sword, I immediately understood why her eyes had changed.
"You've opened your eyes."
"Yes. This morning."
"Congratulations."
When I offered sincere congratulations, Eris's face flushed red. Even the occasional cuteness was exactly like Seriel.
"Then today I will teach you the basic breathing method."
"Mm. No—yes, Teacher."
"Please sit comfortably."
I observed Eris's interior as she settled into a cross-legged position following my lead.
Hmm…….
Thanks to being thoroughly beaten with a mana-infused Cotton-Doll Sword, her Mana Eye had opened, yet the mana inside her body was pitifully weak. Both her Core and her dantian were small and faint. Comparing her to Brunea, who had been born with both physique and mana, only made it more regrettable.
"Wh-why are you looking at me like that……?"
"It's nothing. Now, watch carefully what I do and tell me what you feel."
I took a quiet deep breath.
Natural mana mixed with the air filled my lungs completely; after a process of refinement it flowed through my mana circuits. The pure mana was inhaled and exhaled into the dantian and each Core connected at the end, transforming into my own complete mana.
For me now it was an action repeated every second, no different from ordinary breathing. But for Eris's sake I performed it slowly, broken into clear stages.
"Hoooo…… How was it?"
"Y-you breathed."
"And?"
"Th-that's……. You breathed very slowly?"
"……Anything else?"
"Uh, um…… you breathed really hard??"
"……"
Disastrous talent.
She had opened her Mana Eye and still couldn't perceive even mana flowing this slowly. I had seen everything after one day of getting beaten.
Apparently the education was still insufficient.
"On your feet."
At my words Eris didn't stand immediately; she watched my face carefully. Only when I picked up the Cotton-Doll Sword I had left beside me did she spring upright.
"Student, would you like to get hit?"
"……Pardon??"
"It seems your Mana Eye still isn't fully open. You'll have to take the beatings on an installment plan."
"I-installment?"
I slowly rose and loosened my shoulders. Eris's small body flinched.
"The contract is two years minimum."
"What on earth are you talking ab—!"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwaaack—!
"Kyaaaaah—!"