The Youngest of the John Nassen Family
“Woooow…!”
Upon arriving at the Imperial Academy, Tisha was so astonished she hardly knew what to do with herself.
She had assumed a few large buildings would be the end of it. In truth, the Academy occupied an entire district as its grounds. This vast, lively quarter was, all of it, a single academy.
“Your jaw’s going to drop off, Tisha.”
“But it’s just so incredible! So this is why everyone keeps going on about the Academy!”
Tisha had agreed they should speak more casually—yet in the end she couldn’t manage it. Getting too close would be dangerous, so she refused to take that step. She did, however, accept the compromise of calling each other by name.
“Can you see it, Kyle? That building over there! It’s bigger than a noble’s castle—and they say it’s a library. A library!”
“Yes. And that’s only one of three.”
“How many books must be inside?! I heard they have every kind of text imaginable. There have to be volumes on shamanism among them, don’t there?!”
Whether there truly were, Kyle couldn’t say for certain. But he had no intention of answering as coldly as Ian standing beside them—“I don’t know.”
“Probably. They say every book in the Empire ends up collected here.”
“The moment the term starts I’m heading straight for the library. I’ll stay up day and night for a week if I have to and find them all…!”
Saying “day and night for a week” that easily? Those were not words that came from someone who had actually done it. She wasn’t about to invite him to pull all-nighters with her, was she?
“Hey. What’s that place over—”
“It’s Kyle. Kyle. I’ve told you several times already—call me by name, not ‘hey.’”
“Sorry. Then, Kyle. What is that place?”
Somehow apologies had begun rolling off Ian’s tongue with unnatural ease. The only snag was that his voice still carried not the slightest trace of actual remorse. It wasn’t that he was unrepentant inside; the man himself was simply that dry and barren. Knowing as much, Kyle decided to consult the map instead.
“Let’s see. Hmm. That area is where Academy students train their bodies, spar with swords, or hold magical duels.”
“…They compete in swordsmanship?”
“Yes. They can use wooden swords or live steel… Ian? Where are you going?”
“I want to go down and take a look. See how fine a place it is.”
Without further ceremony he set off toward the training grounds.
“Kyle? Where’s that man off to?”
“He wants to inspect the training grounds.”
“Because he’s a swordsman, maybe? Let’s go too. I want to see how big it is.”
Tugged along by Tisha’s hand, Kyle ended up trailing after Ian. Descending into the grounds revealed a space far wider than expected. And it was not merely an outdoor yard.
“Oh? Kyle! Looks like there’s an indoor training hall as well.”
An indoor hall? At Tisha’s words Kyle left Ian behind and stepped into the building. With the term not yet begun it was extremely quiet. One look around and Kyle reached a conclusion with remarkable speed.
This is a gym no matter how you look at it.
Yes. A gym. In John Nassen baronial terms: a physical conditioning room. Half the indoor training facility was a sparring floor; the other half was a gym. Amid the various machines, familiar barbells and dumbbells seemed to wave hello. He nearly spat out a string of curses on the spot. Was this some nightmare? Yet it was far too vivid for a dream.
“Looks like they do strength training here.”
Whether she sensed the turmoil in Kyle’s gut or not, Tisha began wandering about. Eventually she carefully picked up one of the dumbbells from their rack.
“Eek?!”
She barely managed a couple of proper lifts before setting the dumbbell straight back down. Then, with a thoroughly appalled expression, she parted her lips.
“Can a person even lift this properly?”
“…You think it’s heavy?”
“Yes. Extremely heavy.”
The words That thing? surged right up to the base of his throat. Fortunately he clamped his mouth shut in time and avoided the disaster of actually saying them. Kyle eyed a barbell for a moment, then lifted it once.
…No exaggeration—he could have raised it between thumb and forefinger. So light that if he tried to train with it, his older brother would chew him out on the spot. You had to use an appropriate weight; something this feather-light was useless.
“How is it, Kyle?”
“…Manageable enough.”
“Really? Ugh. I guess I’ve been cooped up in my room doing nothing but shamanism. Maybe I should exercise?”
He wanted to tell her you could eat well and live happily without ever working out!
“Once the term starts I’ll come by in spare moments and train a bit. I hear the Academy places importance on basic physical fitness too.”
“A sound mind in a sound body—something like that?”
“Something close, maybe? What do you think? Want to train together, Kyle?”
“…I’ve already done more than enough of that with my family.”
Tisha let out an “Ah!” of sudden realization. She had remembered that Kyle was the second son of the infamous John Nassen baronial house. The sole obstacle that had once hindered the Empire’s otherwise perfect campaign of conquest. A battle race said to topple ten fully armed imperial soldiers with nothing but a bare body and a single rock. They were the forebears of today’s House John Nassen.
“You said you’ve trained a great deal, Kyle.”
“Yes. Until I was thoroughly sick of it.”
“Then… could you help me a little? I’ve always used shamanism research as an excuse and never actually conditioned my body. So, um… my stamina is pretty abysmal. Lately even climbing a hill feels like a struggle.”
Tisha scratched her head as if embarrassed. In truth there was nothing to be ashamed of—research work was fated to keep you glued to a chair. Why were mages rumored to have such terrible fitness? Because they had no choice. Time spent exercising was better spent on one more experiment or one more spell. Besides, exercise had never been easy or fun to begin with. Unless you were like the John Nassens, an entire clan gone mad for physical training, a normal person was supposed to find it hard and bothersome.
Tisha’s request itself was no difficulty at all. Kyle could confidently claim he ranked in the top 0.1 percent when it came to physical conditioning. The one thing that gave him pause was…
“Um. What about asking Ian instead?”
“…Why?”
Why? Because that man was her future boyfriend. He had no desire to deliberately disrupt the original flow. Who knew what changes might follow? All he knew was a handful of serialized chapters, and he didn’t want to erase even that into complete ignorance. Besides, plenty of the side characters were extremely charming. All in all, rather than staying tangled up with protagonists whose paths of hardship stretched clear ahead, Kyle preferred the company of side characters with whom he could enjoy a peaceful Academy life.
“Ian’s a bit cold and his way of speaking is strange, but his skill is solid. And as a swordsman he must have trained his body quite thoroughly.”
“So… Ian is stronger than you, Kyle?”
“That would naturally be—”
If he wanted to pair Tisha with Ian, the answer was already set. Say he was the weaker one and tell her to ask Ian. Get the two of them hanging around together!
But the blood of House John Nassen ran in Kyle’s veins as well. Thickly! Along with the curse that absolutely could not accept being called weak!!
“Naturally, I’m… stronger.”
That wasn’t what he meant to say. Not that answer at all.
“Really? Then you can help me, Kyle!”
“M-me?”
“Yes! Since you’re stronger than Ian, you’ll be able to look after me even better!”
Father. This curse is more serious than I thought. Recalling his father’s booming laugh as he told him to try whatever he liked, Kyle had no choice but to face the heroine gazing at him with expectant eyes.
In the end he promised Tisha he would train her.
The one silver lining was that Ian had been absorbed by the outdoor grounds and was nowhere near. Thanks to that, when the pride-pricking question of “which of you two is stronger?” arose, Kyle could boldly answer that it was himself. Had Ian been present as well…
It would have been a duel to the death.
As far as Kyle knew, Ian also took considerable pride in his own martial power. Chapter 13 had ended with him sparring against a student who looked down on him. Completely ignoring the instructor’s call to take it easy, he had wrecked his opponent. The fact that a man who normally restrained every emotional display had flown into a blazing rage was a bonus. If Kyle had said “Actually, I’m stronger than him!” in front of someone like that, the man would have drawn his sword on the spot and demanded a match.
…Though, honestly, I don’t think I’d lose even if we did fight.
At any rate, thanks to Tisha he had come all this way only to end up handling equipment again. He had thought he would be free of it for a good while and his insides had felt a little lighter. Was it only his imagination that even yesterday’s meals now seemed to be sitting heavy?
“Where shall we look next?”
Whether she knew Kyle’s true feelings or not, Tisha was bright with excitement about heading to the next place. Ian, for his part, seemed cheered by the vast training grounds. Watching the two of them carry on without a clue how he felt was starting to sour his mood.
“Student Kyle John Nassen?”
He turned his head to find two men he had never seen before approaching.
“Student Kyle John Nassen. You are the one seeking admission this term with a letter of recommendation from the Border Marquis, correct?”
“Uh… yes. That’s right.”
“The Headmaster wishes to see you for a moment. Please come with us.”
“The Academy Headmaster?”
“Indeed.”
“Why me all of a sudden?”
To Kyle’s question the two men only replied, “You’ll have to ask him yourself,” and urged him to hurry. What on earth was this situation? His mind blanked for an instant, but he quickly recovered. The Headmaster was the highest authority within the Academy. Step outside that man’s good graces and he would be expelled just like his older sister.
Absolutely not. Once you’re kicked out of the Academy, there’s no going back.
He could not roll back into the hell he had only just escaped. Even if he had to return someday, it was not now. At the very least he wanted this period to be one of carefree eating and play.
“I’ll go at once. Tisha? Stay with Ian for a bit.”
“Ah… yes. All right. Come back soon, Kyle.”
At the news that Kyle was leaving, Tisha’s spirits seemed to droop a little. But Kyle’s mind was already occupied by the Headmaster’s summons, and in the end he never noticed the change in her.