The Hero Who Refuses to Faint
“Let’s get started right away.”
Ellic said this while beckoning with his hand. Normally, such provocation would be enough to make someone charge in blindly, but there were plenty of past examples of people who had done exactly that and gotten wrecked for it. So rushing in without thinking clearly wouldn’t do any good.
“Hmm. At least you’re not the mindless type.”
He muttered to himself with an expression of understanding. The brief opening Ellic had created was all Sigh needed. Without hesitation, he kicked off the ground.
The next instant—
Whoosh!
He swung the wooden sword with both hands in a wide arc. And, as expected—
“Ten out of a hundred. That’s it.”
Ellic dodged the attack with ease. At the same time, he brought his magic staff down hard on the crown of Sigh’s head.
Crack!
“Aaaagh?!”
A sound like something shattering echoed through the training ground. Sigh clutched his skull in agony he had never felt before and rolled across the floor in pain.
What the hell is this?!
What had hit him was nothing more than a flimsy wooden branch that looked like it would snap with the slightest pressure. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet the pain that assaulted him felt as if his entire body had been beaten black and blue.
While Sigh stared in utter confusion, Ellic spoke again.
“What are you doing? Get up. I went easy on you.”
Ellic wore a devilish smile as he tapped the magic staff against his palm like a switch. For a split second, Sigh seriously wondered if this man was even human.
“You there! That look in your eyes is downright disrespectful!”
As if he had read Sigh’s thoughts, Ellic swung the staff again.
Whoosh!
Facing imminent death, Sigh rolled backward and barely avoided the blow.
“Haa… haa…”
There had been moments when his life had truly been on the line before. Like during the last practical combat class, when a monster suddenly went berserk and nearly killed him. Even then, he had felt like he could somehow push through. In those critical moments, he had sensed his strength surging for some reason.
But this time…
This doesn’t feel like that at all.
This was on an entirely different level of danger. The moment he took even one solid hit, he was certain his mind would shatter. And yet, somehow, he felt a strange surge of power rising within him…
“Professor! I was in the middle of thinking!”
Ellic attacked Sigh while he was lost in thought, wearing a wicked grin.
“It’s your own fault for getting distracted in the middle of a fight!”
“That’s cowardly!”
“Thanks for the compliment!”
With that, Ellic unleashed a barrage of attacks at blinding speed.
Calling me cowardly and then complimenting me? When an enemy calls you cowardly, it means you’ve landed an effective blow. So it’s basically the same as receiving praise.
“Uwaaaaaah…”
After taking a righteous strike from Jukchang, his mind had completely checked out. Seeing him like that almost made my own sanity want to flee.
If anyone saw this, they’d think I was actually going all out.
For the record, I hadn’t used my full strength on the students. I had minimized Jukchang-i’s curse, and all it did was inflict pain. And yet, with just this much…
“Waaaaah!”
“I don’t want this anymore…”
“Hic… sob…”
The other students, including Sigh, had even started crying. Seeing this made it clear just how sheltered these kids had been.
Sheesh. Kids these days have zero grit. They need to get chased around by yanderes before they’ll grow a spine.
“Hey now. I’m perfectly normal, Jukchang.”
I retorted as I approached Sigh, who was drooling and on the verge of passing out. The moment I got close—
Flinch!
He jerked his shoulders as if suffering from PTSD. Come on. Anyone watching would think I was about to beat him again. That wasn’t it at all. I was trying to do something nice.
Just then—
“P-Professor… isn’t my turn over yet?”
The boy was even stuttering, clearly traumatized. I shook my head at his question.
“No. Unlike the others, you haven’t passed out yet. And I’m not going to hit you, so there’s no need to be scared.”
“Ah… yes…”
Sigh let out a sigh of relief. For his sake, I—
Tap!
Gently tapped the crown of his head with Jukchang-i.
“Huh?”
His eyes widened like someone whose mind had suddenly cleared. Thanks to Jukchang-i’s recovery effect, both his body and mind had been restored.
“Ah, thank you.”
“No need for thanks.”
I waved off his gratitude and added one more thing.
“The spar isn’t over yet anyway.”
“…Pardon?”
He looked utterly dumbfounded. Without hesitation, I swung Jukchang-i at him.
“Uwaaaaagh!”
He took a quick step back and barely dodged. I was genuinely surprised.
Oh? Not bad. Guess even a hero is still a hero, rotten or not?
Even though we had only done one round of sparring, his movements already seemed sharper. Wondering if it was just my imagination, I attacked again. Sure enough—
Whoosh!
The strike missed once more. It clearly wasn’t my imagination.
“Huh?”
Maybe because he had dodged twice? His eyes widened for a moment before he broke into a triumphant grin.
Our hero still has a lot to learn. He doesn’t even realize I’m holding back tremendously, so he charges in with honest, straightforward attacks. For that kind of guy, I—
“Who told you to come in so honestly! Scolding time!”
I put more strength into it this time and swung Jukchang-i three times in rapid succession.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He took all three hits at once.
“Kuhuuuugh…”
The triple strike must have been too much. His mind had flown off again.
Guess I’ll have to heal him again.
“Hmm?”
This devilish little thing. She calls me a demon every day, but I think she’s the real demon here. Healing while beating him basically meant pummeling him until he completely passed out. I had no idea how she came up with such ideas.
I think you’re the real demon.
“Huh?”
Of course I was going to do it! While I couldn’t deny it was a demonic idea, in terms of efficiency it was several times better. There was no reason not to!
Tap!
I healed Sigh once again. His eyes snapped open.
“Hup!”
He came back to his senses. Then, in a trembling voice, he asked,
“U-um, Professor…”
“Opening!”
“Uwaaaaagh! Wait! Time out!”
It was ridiculous that he was calling for a timeout, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to hear him out, so I stopped my attack midway.
“Fine. I’ll listen to you once.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you!”
He bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle, clearly grateful. Then he continued.
“I-it’s just… when does my turn end? It feels like I’m the only one getting rolled around more than the others.”
“Hmm. You seem to be misunderstanding something. The reason it feels like you’re getting rolled around more is simply because your endurance is exceptionally high. So blame that tough body of yours.”
With that, I unleashed a continuous barrage of attacks on the dazed boy. While humming the children’s song about head, shoulders, knees, and toes!
Thanks to the professor’s unexpected surprise attack, I got hit in the head, shoulders, knees, and toes. Normally, this would be enough to make anyone lose consciousness, but…
Huh…?
Contrary to expectations, both my mind and body were perfectly fine! What the hell? Why am I fine?! I want to pass out now!
I was sure I would faint this time, but I was annoyingly lucid.
“Hey now. Who told you to space out like that?”
In that moment, Ellic swung his magic staff—scratch that, a weapon that could easily be called a magic club—toward me again. Desperate to faint, I let myself get hit once more. But—
Uwaaaaaagh!!! Why won’t I pass out?!
Instead of fainting, my body and mind remained perfectly clear! Of course, unimaginable pain came crashing down on me at the same time.
“Hmm. There are other students waiting, so stop holding out.”
“I want to stop too, you know!”
He wanted to end this quickly as well. Who in their right mind would enjoy getting beaten while savoring the pain?! The problem was that despite constantly getting pummeled, he remained perfectly fine.
Okay, this isn’t working. I’ll run first and think later!
Having made up his mind, Sigh bolted without a moment’s hesitation. At that moment—
“Ah, Se-na. I have a job for you.”
Ellic turned away from the fleeing boy and looked at Se-na. She tilted her head at him.
“Yes, Professor. What is it?”
“Mmm. Set up a barrier at the training ground entrance so no one can run away during sparring.”
“Hmmm. That’s easy enough.”
Se-na released her divine power. The next instant—
Vwoong!
A holy barrier strong enough to emit light appeared at the entrance.
What the—? What is this now?!
Caught off guard by the unexpected wall, Sigh pounded on the barrier. But contrary to his hopes—
“What the hell? Why won’t this break?!”
Not even a scratch, let alone a crack. Ellic watched him and smirked.
“Yeah. This isn’t bad either. Let’s add one more way to earn early dismissal.”
At those words, life returned to the dead-fish eyes of the students. Ellic smiled at them.
“If you manage to break Se-na’s barrier during sparring, I’ll allow you to leave early.”
““…….””
For a moment, the students clamped their mouths shut and remained silent. Every single one of them, including Sigh, knew the truth. There was no way they could break Se-na’s barrier. They couldn’t even put a crack in it.
“What about me? Don’t I get anything?”
At that moment, Se-na looked at Ellic with eyes full of expectation. He stared down at her indifferently before slowly opening his mouth.
“Hmm. I’ll grant you one request within the range of what I can do.”
“?!”
Her eyes widened in shock. Then she spoke with a passion she had never shown before.
“Please keep that promise, Professor.”
“Yes. Within what I can do. Keep that in mind.”
“Understood.”
“Ah, and just so you know in advance—don’t even think about bribing Se-na. The moment you’re caught, you’ll get penalty points and be beaten with this.”
Ellic smiled brightly as he held out the magic staff. A few students’ shoulders twitched. It seemed some of them had indeed been planning to bribe her.
“Anyway, let’s continue the lesson.”
“Uwaaaaaagh!”
And so, that day, Class A tasted Ellic’s Jukchang. Among them, Sigh was beaten the most. As a side note, after that day, Ellic came to be called the Demon King among the students of Class A.
A few days after Ellic’s after-school lessons had begun.
Meanwhile, the future Archmage and Student Council President, Rose of the Campbell family, heard the news about Ellic’s after-school classes and curled her lips into a smile.
“Hmmm… It looks like it’s about time for me to make a move as well.”
My beloved Professor♥