21. Newspaper Club Raid Incident 2 (Revised)
21. Newspaper Club Raid Incident 2 (Revised)
I had just realized it, but these guys seemed to have almost no experience fighting someone my size.
I could feel their techniques getting sloppy because they had to aim their center of gravity lower than usual.
It was a phenomenon often seen in inexperienced newbies.
It was unpleasant, but an advantage was an advantage, so I intended to make the most of it.
"Two Swordsmanship Research Club members already fell..!"
"Aren't they going to lose too?"
"Hey... Hey, hey, just push him back..!!"
"What?! Don't you come over here!!!"
The moment two Swordsmanship Research Club members went down in an instant, the Newspaper Club members panicked and all charged in, each brandishing a weapon.
The Swordsmanship Research Club members, who had been trying to gauge the distance and execute a pincer attack from both sides, were thrown into confusion by the Newspaper Club's sudden charge.
'This just made things easier.'
And for me, it was an incredibly favorable turn of events.
The encirclement the Swordsmanship Research Club members had been stealthily forming was shattered in an instant.
-Seogeok!
"Aagh!!"
-Seogeok!
"Aaaagh!! My leg!!"
In a flash, the Newspaper Club office had become a complete mess.
The untrained Newspaper Club members charging from all directions tried their best to stab me, but the moment they entered my striking range, their legs were cut and they all collapsed.
The fallen Newspaper Club members groaned in pain and became obstacles for their allies, while I harvested the ankles of the remaining members with even greater diligence.
Once it devolved into a brawl, the Swordsmanship Research Club members got tangled up with the Newspaper Club members and couldn't swing their swords.
"You... you morons, what are you doing!!"
In this situation, if they swung their swords, it was obvious the Newspaper Club members would get cut first, not me.
A Swordsmanship Research Club member whose face had turned bright red cursed at the Newspaper Club members, but it didn't reach their ears.
"Were you planning to look away?"
-Seogeok!
"Aaaagh!!!"
And I didn't miss that moment, slicing the ankle of another Swordsmanship Research Club member.
No matter how chaotic things got, for him to look away like that—he had too much nerve.
"You're... quite something. I can understand why Remnos lost to you."
The last remaining Swordsmanship Research Club member scanned the fallen people, cold sweat running down his face.
"Better than your club president, right?"
"What?! How dare you mention the president!!"
The moment I mentioned the club president, the Swordsmanship Research Club member snapped and swung his sword down.
It was a downward slash properly aimed at my torso.
Should I thrust and block with the cross guard?
No, that won't work.
I still didn't trust the cross guard on this sword.
Plenty of places make them shoddily, after all.
To handle this safely...
'Let's push through.'
-Kang!!!!!
Sparks flew as steel clashed against steel.
My sword blocked the Swordsmanship Research Club member's blade, making it impossible for him to cleave straight down into my torso.
The blades slid against each other until our cross guards locked, shifting into a contest of strength.
A smile spread across the Swordsmanship Research Club member's face.
He must have thought that now that we were locked in a power struggle, he had won thanks to his larger physique, since I had only been dodging until now.
On top of that, due to our height difference, the Swordsmanship Research Club member had ended up in an overhead pressing stance.
He probably thought that if he just put his weight into it and pressed down, it would be over....
'That's under normal circumstances.'
"Ugh?? How are you this strong??"
The Swordsmanship Research Club member's expression contorted.
He panicked when I not only held my own but actually started pushing him back in the power struggle.
Even though the Swordsmanship Research Club member was nearly twice my size, he was losing the contest of strength.
I kept pushing the sword forward, sending the Swordsmanship Research Club member flying.
"Uwaaagh!!!!"
-Kudangtangtang!!
The Swordsmanship Research Club member slammed into the door of the president's office and smashed it to pieces.
And then, the Newspaper Club president, who had definitely been said to be absent earlier, appeared, casually sipping his black tea.
So he wrote a bullshit article like that and was just sitting here sipping tea... My anger boiled over.
"You scribble that garbage with your pen and only post newbies as your guards? You've got some serious nerve!"
"You bastard.. Do you realize where you are?!"
A person who looked like a guard drew his sword.
He looked ready to charge at any moment.
"Put your hand down.. If you raise that sword, I'll cut off your arm."
"Are you threatening me right now?"
"Yeah, you heard me right. I'm threatening you."
Seeing the guard about to take a stance any second, I adjusted my grip on my longsword.
The moment he raised it, I would cut it off.
"That's enough."
But in the end, the guard lowered his sword. Because the Newspaper Club president raised his hand to stop him.
"My, my... to think all the Swordsmanship Research Club members have been reduced to this state.... Hera will be angry."
Even though the Newspaper Club was in shambles, the president was still sipping his black tea.
Where did this composure come from?
Was it the guard standing beside him?
Or his position as the Newspaper Club president?
Or did he truly believe in his status as a count?
"Keogh?!"
The Newspaper Club president's body, which had been wearing a relaxed expression, flew backwards.
Because in an instant, I had closed the distance and planted my fist right in his face.
His relaxed demeanor had been offensive.
"That's... quite a rough greeting..."
I grabbed the fallen Newspaper Club president by the collar and yanked him up. With his swollen face, he gave a distorted smile.
"You... bastard!! How dare you be so rude to the Count!!"
The guard, who hadn't been able to track my movement, immediately tried to draw his sword, but before he could even pull it out, my longsword stopped in front of his throat.
"Eut..?!"
"I have something to say, so stay still. You'll get hurt if you move."
Seeing the sharp blade aimed at his own throat, the guard swallowed dryly.
It seemed the preparations for a conversation were finally complete.
"You're the Newspaper Club president, right?"
"Th...at's right, I am the Academy Newspaper Club President, Malcolm Dunmore. Call me Earl Dunmore or Newspaper Club President, whichever you prefer..."
The Newspaper Club president, Malcolm Dunmore, was uniquely not just some heir but a Count of the Empire who had genuinely inherited the title.
Because he was both a count and the Newspaper Club president, even the professors at the academy couldn't treat him carelessly.
But I wasn't like them.
"Those titles are too much for you. You're just a giregi."
"Giregi? What does that mean?"
"It means reporter trash."
Hearing himself called a giregi, Dunmore's eyes went wide.
It infuriated me that he was expecting to be treated properly after writing articles filled with nothing but nonsense under someone's orders.
Thinking back on the humiliation I had suffered since coming here, even taking the time to talk like this felt like a waste.
"Ha..hahaha, you're... I see. You're the Halfling from the rumors. You came here because of today's article."
"Who told you to do it? It's one of Albion, Perda, or Phrygia. Just tell me that."
"Hooh... quite specific. You must have a hunch, then?"
"If it's not one of those three, there's no reason for this."
The list of people who could use the Newspaper Club president as a puppet was extremely limited.
The professors were out since they all had to watch out for the Headmaster and each other.
Someone who could pressure Malcolm, who held the rank of count, while also wanting to overturn the duel results... it had to be the Five Pillars or the nobles who lost money gambling.
But if losing money gambling was enough for the Newspaper Club to move, there would have been talk about it long before now.
So that left the Five Pillars... Russell was out, and Remnos, the actual party involved, didn't have the brains for this kind of scheme, so he was excluded.
That left three... Albion, Perda, Phrygia.
It could have been Albion, who zealously followed the two swords of the Five Pillars, or maybe Phrygia, worried about the Five Pillars' image being tarnished, or perhaps Perda read the thoughts of the other two and acted first.
Perda's reason might sound strange, but that bastard was 'that kind of person.'
All three had at least one plausible motive, so narrowing it down to one was difficult.
Or maybe all three of them did it together.
"Knowing... all that, you still intend to keep attending the academy?"
"If I didn't know, would I have dueled him?"
Malcolm's eyes rounded.
His face showed he found it amazing that I could be so confident despite knowing I had turned the Five Pillars into my enemies.
I knew well enough what happened when they became your enemies.
The Five Pillars turning against you meant every noble who followed them turned against you.
In academy terms, it meant everyone in each class who belonged to the Five Pillars' factions would become my enemy.
If I were a normal student, I would have been so anxious that my hands and feet would be trembling and I'd be dripping cold sweat, but I didn't care.
"Then publish a correction report along with an apology in tomorrow's paper."
"A correction report? What exactly are you asking me to correct?"
"Literally everything you wrote today was bullshit."
"Yes, it was all bullshit... but you know as well as I do that what matters isn't what's true. You've turned the Five Pillars into your enemies. If it were me, I'd just drop out and live quietly. Once people like that mark you, life becomes difficult not just in the academy but in society as well. If you go out there and lay low, everyone will forget."
What Malcolm was suggesting was to bow my head and act according to the intentions of whoever ordered him to write that article.
He thought he was being clever, but in the end, he was just telling me to grovel.
The position of Newspaper Club president was probably given to someone who knew their place and wouldn't rebel, so the Headmaster must have had excellent judgment.
But to fear the sword far away more than the sword right in front of your face.
I threw Malcolm aside and immediately stomped on his left arm.
-Udeuk!!
"Gaaagh?!"
"It seems you're under the mistaken impression I'm asking you for a favor."
Malcolm's entire premise was wrong.
"Well... with skills like yours, taking me down would be nothing. But it'd be impossible to take on the entire Imperial nobility... I hope you don't find my suggestion unpleasant."
The vile rumors I heard on my way to the Newspaper Club, the humiliation I suffered at the entrance, the arrogant tone as if he were sitting at the very top, absolutely certain that an invisible sword would eventually make me submit—every single thing made my blood boil.
If I kept accepting every fight that came my way like this, I'd turn the entire Empire against me? I didn't think so.
I leaned down toward Malcolm, who was bowing his head and clutching his broken left arm, and whispered in his ear.
"Did you think I'd be afraid of something like that?"
After hearing my incredibly confident words, the look in Malcolm's eyes changed.
He began to panic, wondering just what I was so confident about.
For someone to keep a completely untroubled expression when told they might end up fighting the entire Imperial nobility, there were two main possibilities.
They were either a fool who didn't understand what kind of threat that implied, or they truly possessed the 'power' to handle it.
I could feel his brain kicking into overdrive.
He must have wondered which one I was.
"You....bastard!!! How dare you!!!"
While I was whispering to Malcolm, my sword had lowered, and the guard seized the opening to draw his sword again.
His master was in a frenzy trying to draw a conclusion about me with limited information, yet this so-called guard was so hasty.
-Seogeok!
And the sword he had drawn fell to the floor again. To be precise, both arms he was holding the sword with had been completely severed.
"You...!!"
Malcolm spoke in shock.
Blood spurted from the severed cross-section of the guard's arms like a fountain.
The culprit himself couldn't even scream, only blinking his eyes as if he couldn't believe his arms had been made so much lighter.
"I still haven't gotten my answer yet, you know. I'll ask you one more time. Are you going to publish the correction report or not?"
Just when someone was about... no, when two people were definitely about to become cripples, a voice rang out from outside the office.
"Is... is this the Newspaper Club...!!"
It was the trembling voice of a woman.
I, who had been about to lop off an arm right then, the Newspaper Club president, and the guard—all of us turned our heads in a daze toward the person speaking in the ruined Newspaper Club office.
She had her eyes closed.
Her eyes squeezed shut tight and her face flushed bright red, she was shouting her opinion with all her might inside the Newspaper Club office.
"Wh... what is that stupid article...!! Atlas didn't... commit any foul play! I cannot... permit such a false article as a member of the Five Pillars..!!!"
Perhaps because she was nervous, she stuttered a bit and spoke slowly, but surely and clearly, she expressed her opinion.
"Russell?"
"Huh...?? "
As I spoke blankly, the woman who had appeared in the Newspaper Club office, Lucia Russell, opened her eyes and looked at me.
"Uh... Huh?? Is.. this the Newspaper Club office... right...?"
Only then did the sight of the trashed Newspaper Club come into Lucia's view.
"How could.."
Seeing that one of the Five Pillars, Russell of the Rock, had personally come to the Newspaper Club to defend me, Malcolm's expression contorted once more.