Change (4)
The training grounds rang with bold battle cries and the clash of steel on steel.
While paired students from the Swordsmanship Department busily crossed blades, I wandered the area with my arms folded, watching the sparring matches.
It might have looked like I was leisurely spectating, but my eyes were darting everywhere.
I had feedback to give once each bout ended.
“Haaah—!”
A short male student gripped his sword in both hands and charged his opponent with terrifying momentum.
Too low.
His spirit was fine, but he’d picked equipment that didn’t match his height; the tip nearly scraped the floor.
Power wouldn’t transfer properly, and showing real skill became almost impossible.
Sure enough.
“Not a chance!”
The opposing student lightly slipped the powered-down slash and swung for the charging boy’s side.
Thud. A vital point left open—match over.
“Ah, shit…. It was definitely in range.”
“Idiot. Charge in like that and who couldn’t dodge?”
I watched them trade feedback for a moment, then casually approached the shorter one.
“Your sword’s too long and heavy. Switch to something shorter and try again.”
“Ah, yes sir!”
A snappy reply, and he bolted off to change gear.
Even the bottom-ranked class had attitudes that rivaled the upper ones.
This place has its own charm to watch.
I mainly gave feedback only to the students who lost.
Every teacher has their own style, but winning a spar means you’re already stronger than your opponent.
Superior skill is already there.
So even when I want to teach something, pointing out flaws gets difficult.
That’s why I only offer pointed advice to those who fell behind.
It looks simple, but there’s a surprising amount to consider.
How’s my little disciple doing?
After checking on the others, I finally headed over to Cheon Seo-hui, the one I’d saved for last.
And then….
“Ugh…!”
The moment I arrived, I walked into a shocking scene.
“Oh my. Are you okay? Should I go a little easier?”
A girl leisurely pressed the attack with a one-handed sword of her own.
Cheon Seo-hui still held her blade in her left hand, desperately defending while hunting for any opening, but—
“Think you can?”
“!”
The move was read in an instant; a vital point was left exposed instead.
Seo-hui was being thoroughly toyed with.
That stubborn girl….
Tsk tsk. Watching her drop to the floor and seethe, I couldn’t help clicking my tongue.
Knowing full well she couldn’t win in her current state and still forcing the charge—she really was no ordinary stubborn case.
“Want to rest a bit? You look exhausted.”
“…Just shut up and go again.”
“Well, if you’re fine with it….”
I’d planned to keep watching quietly, but I stepped in as the two prepared to continue.
“Can you two hold up a second?”
“…….”
“Oh, Teach!”
The girl facing Seo-hui trotted over with a bright smile, acting all familiar.
“Teach! Give me some feedback too!”
“…….”
Seo-hui’s face, glaring at her back, was pure contempt.
Their relationship clearly wasn’t great.
“You won. No feedback for winners.”
“Ah, is that so?”
The girl whose training uniform read Lee Sin-a smiled, satisfied, and gestured at Seo-hui as she rose.
“Seo-hui. Teach says he only gives feedback to the losers.”
The tone was endlessly friendly, yet it carried a clear mocking edge.
“…….”
Seo-hui ground her teeth, walked over, crossed her arms, and looked up at me with a murderous expression that said say something already.
“Take your time listening?”
Lee Sin-a left the spot with a teasing lilt, completely at ease.
I glanced between them, then lowered my voice for Seo-hui alone.
“Be honest. How many times have you lost so far?”
“Why do you ask.”
“I need to know if I’m going to teach you anything.”
“…Fourteen times.”
“And wins?”
“…None.”
A full fourteen-loss streak.
She must have been grinding herself raw trying to break it.
What do I do with this.
Stubbornness usually softens after it’s been broken once.
Just letting her keep losing might not be a bad approach.
In that sense, Lee Sin-a might have handed her a perfect opportunity.
But—
She’s a bit pitiful.
Looking at Seo-hui’s flushed face, I kept feeling a tug of concern.
Whether she realized it or not, she wore the most serious expression I’d ever seen on her.
A face packed full of the raw hunger to win.
Breaking that stubbornness would be good, but I also wanted to see her smile.
“Do you want to win?”
“…Then would I want to lose?”
At the sharp retort I simply nodded and gave her the same simple advice I’d given the others.
“If you want to win, give up on counters from now on.”
“What does that mean….”
“You’ve been hunting counters this whole time and getting hit in reverse, right?”
“!”
Her eyes went round with shock.
“You saw?”
“Didn’t need to. Anyway—stop flinching because of that arm and only aiming for counters. Stop leaving openings. Move so that she leaves openings instead.”
“Openings….”
“Feedback ends here. Go back and try again.”
“…Yes.”
Seo-hui returned to her spot looking deep in thought, turning my words over.
It was really just a simple shift in perspective, but—
This should be enough.
I didn’t bother adding more.
If it was the Cheon Seo-hui I believed in, this much would do.
Give up on counters….
Cheon Seo-hui returned to her place still turning Dohyeon’s advice over in her mind.
Lee Sin-a, already waiting, threw out a sneer.
“Learned well?”
At the openly contemptuous tone Seo-hui’s eyes narrowed to slits; she quietly gripped her sword again.
“Start.”
She wanted to smash that leisurely face that never showed a hint of strain.
Sin-a felt the same.
“Since you got a lesson from Teach, I don’t have to go easy anymore, right?”
She wanted to ruin that pretty, still-arrogant face of Cheon Seo-hui’s.
Even better if the girl ended up sitting on the floor crying in pure humiliation.
“Here I come.”
Sin-a wiped every trace of a smile away, gripped her sword, and strode forward.
This time she meant to show the real gap in skill with no games.
I’ll finish it in one go.
Slash—. Sin-a’s blade whipped toward Seo-hui’s left arm.
She planned to force a defensive reaction by targeting the injured arm, seize the initiative, and then overwhelm her—but—
“…Opening….”
“…?”
Seo-hui began moving in a way that didn’t match any prediction.
Swoosh. She suddenly dropped her sword completely, abandoned all defense, lowered her stance, and drove straight into her opponent’s body.
“!”
Startled for a split second by the sudden action, Sin-a recovered and yanked the hilt of her swinging sword back toward herself.
She intended to slam the blade—still carrying its momentum—into the back or neck of the girl who had dove inside.
You think I’ll stop just because of that?
She curled her lip, already picturing the pain on Seo-hui’s face.
Thud—!
Until an unexpected, heavy impact crashed through her entire body.
“Ugh!”
Seo-hui had simply body-slammed her.
Crash—! Caught completely off-guard, Sin-a and Seo-hui tangled and rolled across the training-floor boards.
“What?”
“Why are they…?”
“Are they actually fighting?”
Startled by the sudden chaos, the other students stopped mid-drill and stared.
“You crazy—!”
Sin-a lost all composure at the sudden hand-to-hand scrap, spat a curse, and started to rise—
Swoosh. The blunt practice sword pressed against her throat.
“Haa…. Haa….”
Seo-hui knelt, breathing hard.
She brushed her hair back, lifted one corner of her mouth, and looked down at Sin-a.
“I won, huh?”
That single act of revenge tasted sweeter than anything.
“Hey you crazy bitch! Who the hell body-slams in a spar!!!”
“If you’re jealous, you do it too.”
“What!? Fuck, what kind of psycho bitch is this!?”
“Watch your mouth. Did you put a rag in it or something?”
“Wh-what…? Hey!!!!”
Both girls had thrown their swords aside and were now shouting at each other, emotions fully ignited.
Watching the scene, I let out a long sigh.
What I’d expected was either seizing the initiative to force a mistake, or simply defending and waiting for an opening.
Attacker or defender—openings usually appear at least once.
But—
She just threw her whole body.
Cheon Seo-hui had hurled herself in a do-or-die dive and forcibly created the opening.
If the opponent had simply dodged instead of receiving it, the match would have been lost on the spot.
A completely insane gamble.
No… if she was certain the other girl would take the hit….
I pondered Seo-hui’s reasoning for a moment, then stepped in as the argument grew worse.
“Pick up your sword again, you fucking bitch!!”
“Is that how you challenge someone? Try saying ‘please’….”
Stopping student fights was part of a teacher’s job.
“You two—enough.”
“Teach!!! This crazy bitch tackled me mid-spar!”
Lee Sin-a shouted at the top of her lungs, insisting she’d been fouled.
“…….”
The actual culprit just stood there looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
How do I handle this.
Like it or not, the situation needed cleaning up.
After a brief think I raised my voice so both girls and every quietly watching student could hear.
“Everyone seems to be misunderstanding something. Sparring exists so you can win. Just crossing swords doesn’t make you better. To win a real match you have to be willing to do anything. You’re not going to lose to a dungeon monster and then ask it to go easy on you, right?”
Lee Sin-a’s face twisted in clear displeasure.
Of course I had no intention of simply shielding Seo-hui either.
“But deliberately injuring your opponent in sparring is still wrong.”
I met Seo-hui’s quiet gaze and spoke clearly.
“Even if you luckily didn’t hurt her, it’s the same.”
“…….”
“Leave your gear and come up to the second floor.”
Joy and resentment crossed both girls’ faces in the same instant.
“Hmph! I knew you’d do that.”
Lee Sin-a’s mood flipped instantly; she shot Seo-hui a look of pure smug satisfaction.
She clearly thought I was taking Seo-hui away to chew her out.
“Sit.”
“…….”
Empty teachers’ office. I pointed to an open chair.
Seo-hui sat carefully, looking like she was dying of injustice.
She also seemed convinced she was about to be scolded.
“Was it good?”
“……?”
“Did beating her feel good.”
I pulled two cans of the teachers’ drinks from the fridge and held one out to her.
“Ah.”
She looked back and forth between the can and me, completely lost—then finally realized I had no intention of scolding her. She quietly took the drink and answered in a small voice.
“…It was good.”
Seeing how secretly proud she looked, every last urge to lecture her vanished.
“Well done.”
“…What?”
Pssh. I cracked my can open, took a sip, and spoke casually.
“Actually, it was a little different from the method I had in mind…. But still—you did well. A win’s a win.”
Seo-hui stared at me with mild surprise.
“…….”
Then—
Pssh. She followed my lead, opened her own can, and quietly sipped.
A clear smile curved her lips the whole time.