Now You're the Swordsmanship Instructor, Right?
Brika glared at Rubelia with clear displeasure. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Yet Rubelia didn’t waver. She finished her statement with unwavering resolve.
“Professor Selene has been appointed as the swordsmanship instructor.”
“And what if I don’t acknowledge it?”
“If you have objections, please submit them directly to the academy. As someone who once served in the military, you should know better than anyone that this kind of behavior is completely pointless.”
“What did you just say?”
“The Shield of the Fatherland, Brika, once called the Empire’s Blade.”
“Excuse me?”
And then Rubelia, with her firm, unyielding expression…
She bowed her head in a perfectly polite, concise gesture.
“So… please stop this kind of behavior.”
“......”
Brika stared at Rubelia with an unreadable expression.
“You. What was your name again?”
“Rubelia. Rubelia von Estelle of the Estelle family.”
“I see.”
A brief silence followed.
“Hah! Fine. I’ve seen everything I wanted to see anyway.”
Brika sheathed the sword she had drawn.
“Give my regards to your father.”
“Yes.”
“Sorry for the trouble. I admit my mistake. If I have any complaints, I’ll follow the proper procedures like you said.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Brika quietly left the training grounds.
Only Selene and Leonia remained in the dueling arena.
“......”
Leonia stood frozen, sword still raised, completely motionless.
“There we go! Problem solved, right? Professor Selene? It was this Rubelia who fixed everything!”
“(Tilting head?) Problem? Was there a problem?”
“Yes, yes. No need for thanks, Professor.”
“(Tilting head?)”
“Now, Student Council President, you can stop being so worked up… huh?”
Rubelia, who had been smiling brightly at Selene, turned her head. But Leonia had already left the scene.
“Ugh… I was hoping to introduce myself to the Student Council President while I had the chance…”
“Rubelia. Do you know the Student Council President?”
“Ah, no. But it wouldn’t hurt to get acquainted with someone known as the Empire’s Blade. Especially since she’s from the famous Valteria family…”
“The famous one?”
“...How about we change locations first?”
* * * *
Selene’s dormitory.
“Professor Selene! What kind of mess did you get into this time?! It was just swordsmanship training—why are you covered in so much dust?!”
“Training ground. It broke.”
“What? Wasn’t the floor made of marble?”
“Sealing magic… first time seeing it. Couldn’t control my strength.”
Mona wiped Selene’s messy face with a damp handkerchief.
“Hehe. It would’ve been a disaster if I hadn’t been there. You almost dueled Leonia.”
Watching Selene, Rubelia crossed her arms with a triumphant expression.
“What? Leonia? Professor, what exactly happened?”
“Oh, it was an incredible duel. To last so many exchanges against the Empire’s Blade—Professor, you really are amazing. I was so stunned I almost forgot to stop it and just watched!”
“L-last? You mean Professor Selene actually knows swordsmanship? That wasn’t a joke?”
“(Nod)”
Selene tugged at Rubelia’s sleeve.
“Rubelia. Valteria story.”
“Ah, right. That story.”
The explanation to satisfy Selene’s curiosity continued.
“Simply put, the Valteria family lost in the struggle for the throne…”
“Struggle for the throne?”
“Yes. It’s about the previous emperor—the current emperor’s father.”
“There was no direct heir, so they had to choose a new emperor. The three families—Valteria, Valcazar, and Valerius—fought for it.”
Since it was a well-known tale, both Mona and Rubelia spoke with excitement.
“The most likely candidate was Valteria, right?”
“That’s right, Mona. They had support from many nobles, so normally Valteria should have become the imperial family. But…”
“But that’s when Valcazar betrayed them. There was an attack. Many died. After that, Valcazar offered the throne to Valerius.”
“And that’s how the Valerius dynasty was born.”
Selene nodded quietly, storing the information in her mind.
“Then. The current emperor is also Valerius?”
“Yes.”
“However, the current emperor is quite moderate. He’s lenient even toward the reformists who couldn’t gain any footing in politics before. Thanks to that, my father has been actively interacting with the reformists too. Though the atmosphere seems a bit different lately…”
“And because of this atmosphere, the Valteria family was restored. They had been wandering outside the capital, but now they’ve returned to noble society.”
“However…”
“However?”
Mona turned Selene’s face this way and that, checking for any remaining dust. Then she began removing Selene’s clothes and changing her into clean ones.
“The family has been restored, but the position of family head remains vacant.”
“Why?”
“Because of Valcazar.”
“When the news of the family’s restoration reached them, Leonia’s father—the previous head of Valteria—was already dead.”
“More precisely, the emperor decided on the restoration after hearing of his death.”
“Eh? Is that how it happened?”
“Yes. But this is a secret, so only you should know, Mona.”
“Understood.”
Rubelia helped Mona dress Selene, then sat down.
“Sympathy arose after hearing of the previous head’s death, which led to the family’s restoration. Normally, Leonia should have inherited the family.”
“Then Valcazar interfered?”
“Exactly, Mona. Valcazar, unhappy about Valteria’s restoration, raised objections. They questioned her qualifications.”
“But it probably won’t be a problem. Leonia is the Empire’s Blade, after all.”
“Yes. If she graduates safely from the academy, even Valcazar will have nothing to say.”
Selene, now in clean clothes, tried to sit on the floor, but Mona made her sit on a chair instead.
“Rubelia.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“If you’re the Empire’s Blade, can you become the headmaster?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure about the headmaster position.”
“Really?”
“Since the Age of Magic, swordsmanship no longer holds much practical meaning. It’s important in noble society, but at the academy, it’s good but probably not enough on its own.”
“I see.”
Selene nodded quietly.
“Then. I don’t want to be the Empire’s Blade.”
“That’s not something you can just decide so easily.”
“Leonia will be sad. So I won’t be the Empire’s Blade. I’ll become the headmaster instead.”
“No, no, that’s not the issue here…”
Knock knock knock.
At that moment.
“Selene, are you in there?”
“Ah? Instructor Brika?”
A familiar face opened the door.
“What brings you here?”
“I have one last thing to confirm.”
“What?”
Tap tap. Brika patted the sword at her waist.
“Instructor Brika!”
“Don’t worry, little Estelle. I won’t bring up any more issues about Selene.”
“Then what…?”
“This is purely a conversation between one swordsman and another.”
“What?”
“SeleneSeleneSelene!”
Brika pointed at Selene with a serious expression and shouted.
“One last time. Please be my duel opponent one last time!”
* * * *
A short while later, at the swordsmanship dueling arena.
Thud.
“I apologize! I didn’t recognize you—please forgive me!”
After several rounds of sparring, Brika bowed her head once more.
Weapons from the training ground lay scattered all around her.
“I acknowledge you, Professor Selene.”
“W-what? The Professor is this strong? In a swordsmanship spar?”
“Oh my… Professor, you’re incredible…”
Brika, still on one knee, looked up.
Selene simply stared at her with an expressionless face.
Mona was flustered, while Rubelia’s cheeks flushed with admiration.
“You are stronger than me. No… you are undoubtedly the strongest sword in the empire.”
“......”
“So tell me.”
Brika’s expression turned cold.
“Why did you hold back against Leonia?”
* * * *
Meanwhile, late at night in the Student Council President’s office.
“......”
Leonia replayed the swordsmanship spar from earlier in her mind.
And she reached a conclusion.
‘It was practically my defeat. Professor Selene…’
That duel had only been possible because Selene had gone easy on her…
If Selene had fought seriously, the result would have been exactly the same as before…
‘The Empire’s Blade… Can I not even protect this empty title on my own?’
As Leonia sank into despair, someone approached her.
“Oh? Student Council President?”
“Damian.”
“What are you doing here so late?”
The vice president approached Leonia with a friendly smile.
“By the way, that was impressive.”
“Hm? What was?”
“The duel earlier today.”
“Ah…”
“Professor Selene, was it? She did well, but she couldn’t keep up in the end, right?”
“That’s…”
“If it had continued, she would have been utterly crushed. Thankfully, that young lady from the Estelle family stepped in and ended it at the right moment.”
“......”
Damian swung an imaginary sword through the air, dramatically reenacting the scene.
“But you know, something really annoying happened today.”
“What?”
“There are people spreading strange nonsense rumors.”
“Nonsense rumors? What do you mean?”
Damian looked at Leonia with a displeased expression. Leonia maintained her usual composure, but—
“Some people are questioning today’s duel.”
“Questioning?”
“Yes.”
Damian knew. That expression was actually one of someone desperately trying to stay calm…
“They’re saying Professor Selene was holding back against you.”
“What?”
“They claim they saw it clearly. Before class that day, they saw Professor Selene completely dismantling you with swordsmanship!”
“Ah…”
And the moment Damian struck with his tongue, not missing the opportunity—
“T-that’s…”
Leonia’s expression began to crumble without her realizing it.
“President. Malicious rumors like this need to be corrected immediately.”
“Corrected… immediately?”
“Yes.”
Damian didn’t miss his chance. He grabbed Leonia as she tried to turn her head away, pretending to whisper.
“I’ll take care of it. Let’s do it again.”
“D-do what?”
“I’m planning to hold a tournament soon.”
“A tournament?”
“Yes. A swordsmanship tournament. You know the one—the Emperor’s personal swordsmanship competition that everyone in the capital participates in. It seems the schedule has been moved up.”
“What?”
“Yes, that’s right. The very tournament that made someone as young as you the Empire’s Blade.”
“......”
Where Leonia couldn’t see, Damian’s expression began to change.
“Prove it there once more. Show them that someone like Professor Selene is nothing to the Empire’s Blade.”
“I-I…”
With a sly smile, Damian slowly swallowed Leonia whole.
“You’re not… thinking of running away, are you?”
* * * *
A short while later, in an alley on the outskirts of the capital.
“Did you make good use of the item?”
“It wasn’t bad, but…”
Damian looked at the magic pendant containing the spell he had just used on Leonia with dissatisfaction.
“The magic in this pendant. You said it was yours?”
“Yes. It’s my special ability. You could call it the power to move people’s hearts.”
“It’s pretty weak. I paid that much for it, but I had to use three just earlier. And the pendants are single-use.”
“Hehe. The target must have quite a strong mind.”
“Well, she’s broken now, but…”
“Still, it went according to plan, didn’t it? It works even better on someone who’s just experienced a major event and whose heart is shaken. That’s how my ability works.”
“Sigh… That cost a fortune.”
“So. The swordsmanship tournament will be held early as scheduled, right?”
“Yes.”
Damian paid no attention to the masked man speaking in front of him—the one-armed man wearing a prosthetic.
“But why are you so eager for the tournament to be held early?”
“Hehe. Big tournaments always involve interests and power, don’t they?”
“That’s true.”
He simply thought of his prey—Leonia—and turned away.
“Anyway, let’s both do well.”
“Yes. Just like you, I’m also…”
As he watched Damian leave…
“Because I’m doing this to claim the person I love. Hehe.”
Cassian smiled.