Chapter 8: Star Instructor Kang Geomma (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8: Star Instructor Kang Geomma (1)
Saki Ryozo and Princess Victoria. From the start, a taut tension hung between the two women.
Even though the Academy Principal was seated, the stance of Victoria, a cadet, looking down at her created a strangely tense atmosphere.
“Princess.”
It was the Principal who spoke first. A heavy sigh ruffled the feather of her quill.
“Barging into the Principal's office like this violates school regulations, you know.”
“If I had requested a formal meeting, you wouldn't have accepted anyway. Honestly, I think it's you who's neglecting your subordinates, Principal. When I said I was coming in, she just let me right through.”
“……”
Ryozo glanced at the closed door. A moment later, the hinges twitched slightly. Choi Seol-ah, who had been pressed flat against the door listening, had flinched.
That's a pay cut for this month. Ryozo gave a subtle nod to herself before returning her gaze to the princess.
“Well, fine. I suppose the law can't bind someone of Your Highness's stature. After all, you are a princess of the British Empire.”
A furrow formed between the princess's fine brows.
“…Whether during the entrance ceremony or now, you look down on people so blatantly, Principal. If you at least tried to hide it, I wouldn't say anything. Isn't that a lack of basic socialization?”
“Cadet Victoria.”
Ryozo warned, her eyes narrowing sharply.
“Do not cross the line.”
At that moment, the window hinges creaked under sudden pressure. A release of energy. Victoria's pride, which had towered high enough to touch the ceiling, instantly plummeted.
“I guess I'm far from being a proper adult myself,” Saki muttered, pulling back her flared anger.
“Cough, gasp—!”
Only then did Victoria choke out the breath she had been holding. She clutched her throat, coughing repeatedly.
Saki observed the princess quietly. Only when the coughing subsided did she speak again.
“You know as well as I do, Your Highness, that the measures taken against Marquis Sade were not personal retaliation.”
“Grrrk.”
As Victoria glared at her while catching her breath, Saki continued.
“I fully understand Your Highness's perspective. However, it was a fair measure. The shadow family, Auditore, intervened directly.”
“Does being an Auditore mean they can stand above the system?!”
To the cadet's outcry, the Principal countered dryly, “Let me ask you in return. Is Your Highness above school regulations?”
“……”
“Then close the door on your way out.”
Saki gestured toward the door with the tip of her quill.
Victoria parted her lips as if to speak, then bit down hard.
Swish.
In the end, she whipped around and stormed off, leaving a cold draft in her wake.
“Princess.”
Just as Victoria was about to grab the doorknob, Saki casually remarked while twirling her quill.
“It's not particularly pleasant for me, but I have a duty to protect any cadet here.”
“…Rich words coming from someone who just unleashed energy against a student…” Victoria retorted, turning her head halfway.
“If that's how you react to just a fraction of my pressure—” The sharp, piercing gaze unique to an archer landed squarely on Victoria's profile. “—you might die if you ever face the Heavenly Sword.”
“……”
Victoria swallowed hard. She knew that the current Principal rarely, if ever, joked.
* * *
At that very moment.
In a corner of the Joaquin Academy grounds, a monumental meeting was taking place.
To be exact, it was on a secluded tree-lined path near the Special Pavilion. More specifically, on a bare branch shivering in the March chill.
There, clustered together like a pack of rodents—or rather, actual tiny mouse-sized shadows—were huddled together.
Arranged in a neat line for inspection, the squirrel standing in the center declared the opening of the meeting.
“(Did everyone sleep well through hibernation?)”
In truth, it was merely the squeaking of rodents, translated here into human speech for convenience.
“(Your Command! Did the Corps Commander also have a peaceful night?)”
“(Fufufu.)”
The leader squirrel flashed a confident smile.
“(I am free from the bounds of hibernation. While you slept, I stockpiled a bountiful supply of acorns for spring!)”
“(Ooooooh! Truly our Sovereign!)”
“(We worship only you. Ramen.)”
Basking in the praise of the squirrels, 'he' chuckled.
His true identity: the man who once fought on equal footing with the Hero of the Origin, Balor Joaquin, and the sole mortal directly acknowledged by the Sword God. None other than the 1st Corps Commander, Lycan.
Once enjoying every glory as a demon and a swordsman, Lycan was now embarking on a new life as Ramji Thunder.
What had initially started as a half-hearted hobby—transforming into a squirrel—was now second nature to him.
“(Lord Lycan.)”
One squirrel folded its paws and bowed to Lycan. Because its back stripes were quite striking, he had assigned it the role of Secretary Squirrel.
“(What is it?)”
“(It is nothing else, but we have received reports that the acorns around here recently have been in a strange state.)”
“(Hmm? Show me.)”
“(I figured you would say that. I picked one up for verification.)”
The Secretary Squirrel pulled an acorn from inside its cheek. Its chubby cheek deflated in an instant.
“(As you can see from the color, it is different from ordinary acorns. Yet it isn't spoiled either.)”
“(Hmm.)”
Lycan held the acorn in both paws, rolling it around to inspect it closely.
“(This is…)”
“(Have you already discovered the anomaly?!)”
“(Ooooooh. Sovereign of Acorns. Ramen! Simply Ramen!)”
“(Silence.)”
At his solemn voice, the surrounding noise vanished. A night bird took off from a branch, sending a few leaves fluttering down.
“(This is… tainted with Demonic Energy.)”
“(Demonic Energy, you say…?)”
“(It means energy that shouldn't exist in this place.)”
The squirrels trembled in fear. Even though they didn't really understand what it was, their Sovereign was serious, so trembling seemed like the appropriate response.
“(Th-Then what shall we do?)”
“(Please give us an order… an order…!)”
“(Listen to my order.)”
The squirrels immediately stood at attention. It was a disciplined movement that put real armies to shame.
“(From now on, if you find acorns like this, report directly to the Secretary Squirrel at once. Report in detail exactly where and from which tree you obtained it. I state this clearly: under no circumstances should you eat it.)”
“(Understood!!)”
“(Good. Dismissed.)”
The squirrel pack dispersed in all directions with nimble movements.
“(Lord Lycan.)”
“(I wish to be alone right now.)”
The Secretary Squirrel was the last one remaining. Seeing Lycan's solemn expression, it respectfully bowed before vanishing into the bushes as well.
“(Things are taking a strange turn.)”
Lycan muttered, looking up at the crescent moon hanging crooked behind the clouds.
“I'll need to check this out personally.”
Fwoooooosh!
A sudden gust of wind blew past.
The next instant, the branch where Lycan had been perched was left scorched black, leaving behind nothing but yellowed ash particles.
* * *
Suddenly, memories of the past surfaced.
I had been cast into an unfamiliar world, entirely alone.
Compared to those days when I struggled with everything from start to finish…
I really have it easy now.
I could figure out the newly emerging questions step by step. Yoo Se-in had assured me with a serious look that she would investigate. Meanwhile, she told me to focus on my current life for now. So I decided to do just that.
The next day.
“Good morning.”
Just as I had done over the past few days, I stood at the podium. Then I took a sweeping look around the lecture hall.
“Hmm.”
The numbers had thinned out significantly. On the first day, there hadn't been room to budge, but now enough people had dropped out that I could roughly recognize every face.
The tough teaching style had swept the cadets away.
Did I overestimate them a bit?
Heroes were machos. Besides, this was Joaquin Academy, an institution that cultivated the machos among machos, so I thought they could handle it.
“Good… cough, morning… Heavenly Sword-nim.”
Everyone greeted reflexively. However, they squeezed out groans like patients who had just been given a terminal diagnosis.
Just because they had died a few times in the subspace, they were all looking utterly drained. Their pupils were so devoid of life they resembled the undead.
Seeing them like that, what Ryozo had said last night suddenly flashed through my mind.
\- You shouldn't handle kids these days so harshly.
They say the position makes the person. It was quite cute seeing Ryozo spout such boomer-like remarks when she was technically one of "kids these days" herself.
Anyway, I decided to accept Ryozo's opinion and make some changes to my teaching style.
Above all, I didn't have many days left to teach anyway. Half a month at most?
After that, I had to return to my day job—crossing back and forth between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm to keep tabs on the situation.
Since it's near the end of the lectures, I might as well leave them with a good impression.
I spoke calmly.
“Today, we won't be doing the class where you die in the subspace.”
“Uh, u-uh… pardon…?”
Everyone blinked, caught entirely off guard.
Then, one by one, color returned to their faces. This must be exactly what it looks like when the undead revert back to living humans.
“R-Really?!”
“Yes. It seems my special training was a bit too severe.”
“Sob, f-finally…!”
“Of course, I personally still don't think I was wrong.”
“To pull out a 'we are never wrong'... but coming from the Heavenly Sword, it doesn't even sound wrong.”
Amid the explosion of various emotions, I continued.
“What I'm going to show you today is a demonstration.”
Hearing that, the students' faces didn't just brighten—they looked ready to leap for joy.
The atmosphere in the room heated up intensely.
Snap!
I snapped my fingers to calm down the overheating mood, simultaneously deploying the subspace.
[May the Blessing of the Hero be with you.]
By now, they should be fairly well adapted to this purple barrier. Having died miserably at my hands here so many times, some cadets might even struggle to distinguish it from reality.
Snap!
I snapped my fingers again. The surrounding space surged. The petroleum-colored mass soon began to shape a group of monsters.
“Hah!”
“C-Centaurs!”
I had projected—or rather, generated—centaurs inside the subspace. Although they were illusions, the sense of reality was vividly lifelike.
The virtual horde of centaurs surrounded the cadets, menacingly raising their cold steel weapons.
Since they weren't real, however, only their eye-lights gleamed dangerously within the shadows. To the cadets, that aspect might have felt even more terrifying.
“……” “……” “……”
Even so, the cadets quickly composed themselves. As I said before, this place was a breeding ground for machos.
Unlike when they were dying helplessly at my hands, the cadets clearly recognized humanity's primary enemy.
Their gazes, far from lagging behind compared to ten years ago, looked incomparably loftier and more resolute.
This was because the current academy was functioning healthily. The ones who laid that foundation were Ryozo and Abel.
Therefore, as their husband, it was time to live up to their efforts. My intuition told me so.
“Looking around, most of the remaining cadets seem to use bladed weapons.”
That was probably why they had gritted their teeth and stuck through it, keeping their seats here—out of yearning for the principles of the sword.
“I-I originally used shield-type armaments, but after seeing you, Heavenly Sword-nim…!”
“Me too! I'm the same!!”
“Your attitude is good.”
I chuckled softly and reached for my waist.
Slick.
Murasame shed its scabbard like molting skin.
The ripple effect was immense. A thunderous roar filled the lecture hall, sounding as if a swarm of bees had descended.
[The Blessing of the Sword God manifests.]
My world drained of color.
I loved this moment—this feeling of becoming detached from the world whenever I held a sword.
I erased the cadets' cheers one by one, pouring all my mind and focus into the voice within.
+++++++++++++++++++
《May the Blessing of God be with you》
+++++++++++++++++++
The sashimi blade scattered flashes of sword light.
* * *
Flash!
A bolt of lightning exploded in the cadets' vision.
They could see nothing.
Slicc-k.
A wind-rending sound struck their eardrums, followed by a ringing in their ears.
“Ughhh.”
Their ears felt muffled, as if they were submerged underwater.
And when the cadets opened their closed eyes once more…
“Ha, ha, hahaha.”
Dozens of centaurs had all been cleaved apart.
Along with the subspace itself.
“…So this is the legendary…”
The Heavenly Sword.
Just like in mythology, it was a blade that severed dimensions.