Troublesome Pains
I felt a bitter taste in my mouth. The house I had spent days cleaning up was a mess again. Still, it wasn't like I hadn't gained anything from it. I now had a clear grasp of the skill level of the two knights who had charged at me. Thanks to that, I could calculate exactly how much strength to use so I wouldn't inflict serious injuries while subduing them. There had been a moment when the urge to smash their faces like I did with Marius nearly overwhelmed me, though. I couldn't treat the princess's loyal escort knights that way. Since this was a hard-earned job, I needed to protect my position. Besides, it was partly my fault for not suggesting we take the fight outside.
With a sigh, I switched to the offensive.
It sparkled.
Ditrua's eyes widened. What she had seen was undoubtedly light. It wasn't uncommon to see sparks fly when swords clashed, but the light from a moment ago was completely different.
I want to see it again!
As if reading Ditrua's thoughts, I began drawing starlight across my blade once more.
What the hell is this!
The two knights facing me were just as shocked. A sword technique that emitted such light from a blade? They'd never heard of anything like it. Even more astonishing was the fact that they were starting to be pushed back. One star struck the wrist. Another hit the shoulder. A third delivered a powerful shock to the elbow.
This is unbelievable!
The light she created was impossibly beautiful. How could someone radiating such an ominous aura produce something so radiant?
It must be an illusion.
It had to be some wicked trick meant to deceive their eyes. As if determined to overcome it, the two knights gritted their teeth and swung their swords with even greater ferocity.
You're not going to surrender? You'll get hurt at this rate.
Since both were skilled knights, even I found it difficult to subdue them using only the Holy Light Sword. My goal wasn't to kill them but to restrain them. To do that without causing major injuries, I needed to overwhelm them completely, which meant revealing more of my true ability.
I drew the Moonlight Blade for the first time in a while. Then I began to unleash the Yacheongeom in earnest.
What on earth is this…
It was clearly broad daylight, yet what unfolded before their eyes was an unmistakable night sky. In the midst of that incomprehensible scene, the two knights flailed their swords wildly until they finally collapsed, unconscious.
Professor Marius had been in a foul mood lately, but this morning was particularly bad. It was all because of one absurd rumor that had reached his ears.
Altair Auvergne.
That woman who had gotten lucky and beaten him in their duel. The same woman who radiated pure wickedness from head to toe had supposedly taken on two of the princess's escort knights at once and won.
That's complete nonsense.
This was an academy, a relatively safe place, but they were still royal escort knights. Naturally, they would have been handpicked from among the kingdom's finest. To claim she had overwhelmed both of them at the same time? His common sense simply couldn't accept such a ridiculous rumor.
In front of Marius, two students were still chattering about that very rumor. Their faces looked familiar; they must have attended a few of his classes.
"Shut up! How can you believe such ridiculous gossip!"
At his roar, the two boys jumped in fright and scurried away.
The semester starts in two days and they're still acting like this…
Tsk tsk. What a pathetic reality.
Could that woman have spread it herself?
The thought made him snort. That woman who had originally been slated to become a professor.
A greenhorn who still has milk behind her ears.
At best, she was in her mid-to-late twenties. If she had a knighthood, maybe, but her background couldn't even be verified. The only reason she'd been nominated as a professor was apparently someone's recommendation.
She must have pulled the right strings.
But after her meeting with the dean, her position had been changed to instructor.
A wise decision.
Dean Lopez had made the right call for once.
Spreading rumors like this, though.
She must have been pretty desperate. Imagining her fabricating stories to inflate her own value made him burst out laughing.
"Puhahaha!"
Marius clutched his stomach as he laughed. Passersby gave him strange looks, but he didn't care in the slightest. Finally calming down, he headed toward the dean's office.
Jean-Louis Lopez, Dean of the Swordsmanship Department, felt a pounding headache coming on.
"Of all things…"
Altair's quarters and the princess's were quite far apart. Yet somehow this had still happened.
"I never imagined Her Highness's senses would be that sharp."
He knew Princess Ditrua had performed exceptionally well in the East Nai region, but it seemed her innate senses were remarkably keen beyond just her swordsmanship.
Thankfully, nothing serious happened to the princess, but…
Wait, could he really call it nothing serious? It might have been a misunderstanding, but her two escort knights had still fought Altair, and both had been thoroughly beaten.
The princess said she was fine.
She even claimed it was her own fault for failing to convince her knights. She wasn't wrong about that.
But still.
It could easily have escalated into a major incident. Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine and cold sweat broke out. Two royal knights being casually defeated by her could damage the royal family's prestige if word got out.
At least the fight had taken place inside Altair's private quarters, out of sight. But still.
Who the hell saw what happened there?
They say the birds hear daytime talk and the rats hear nighttime whispers, but the rumor was slowly spreading anyway. Many people dismissed it as nonsense, which was fortunate, but the mere fact that it was circulating was deeply unpleasant.
This won't be easy.
Altair. Even if she had no intention of causing trouble and truly focused only on her duties as an instructor…
Her very existence is a storm.
Because of that cursed aura, people around her couldn't help but get swept up in it.
What on earth was Theodore thinking when he made that decision? No matter how skilled she is…
Her ability to overwhelm two royal knights. Even if she lacked talent for teaching, students with discerning eyes might improve simply by watching her swordplay. But the risk posed by her curse was equally great. It was impossible not to worry.
Just then, there was a knock and someone entered.
"Is that you?"
The person who opened the door was Marius. For some reason, the smile on his face felt ominous.
"Is something troubling you, sir?"
"No. Care for some tea?"
"I'm fine. Why did you call me?"
He was being unusually polite, probably because he was in a good mood. But Jean-Louis didn't feel like prying.
Whatever it is, it's definitely not good for humanity.
It was bound to be a tragic event in the history of mankind.
"It's about the class placement exam. I asked before, but how is it progressing? Give me the details."
"It's going perfectly, of course. Did you call me just to ask about this again?"
Marius's confident declaration only made the dean more anxious.
"Make absolutely sure you don't forget that Her Highness is among the examinees this time."
"Do you not trust me? Stop nagging me already."
Of course I don't trust you!
How did someone like this ever become a professor?
Jean-Louis clicked his tongue inwardly. He'd watched this man since he was a student here. His swordsmanship might be decent, but as a human being, he was still unfinished.
Of all people, this guy is in charge of the class placement exam this year.
If he could, he'd ask another professor to handle it. But Marius had insisted so strongly that he wanted the job, and there were no other volunteers. With no good reason to refuse, he'd had no choice but to assign it to him.
In hindsight, that was a mistake.
He should have stopped him by any means necessary, even if it meant yelling at him. His right temple was already throbbing, and now the left one was starting to hurt too.
Two headaches at once.
One was a foul-tempered troublemaker of a professor. The other was an instructor who radiated such an ominous aura from her entire body that it wouldn't be surprising if someone filed a complaint at any moment.
"Professor? Why is your face like that?"
Jean-Louis gritted his teeth.
I really want to punch him.
But he couldn't say that, so instead—
"Write up a detailed plan for the placement exam right now and submit it immediately!"
As an apology.
Princess Ditrua had told me to say whatever I wanted. I'd said it wasn't necessary, but she looked genuinely sorry, so I thought it would be right to ease the burden on her mind.
I'm such a considerate person.
That's why I asked her to gather any information or items that might help weaken this curse.
Even my master couldn't find a way. It won't be easy.
Actually, I wasn't entirely sure. Maybe she hadn't been unable to find one; maybe she simply hadn't tried. Come to think of it, there was still so much I didn't know about her. Even after living in the same house for five years.
She had always kept so many things about herself hidden, and I thought it would be rude to pry, so I'd left it alone. Looking back now, I regretted that.
Still, maybe I can hope for something.
Ditrua was a princess of this kingdom. She had plenty of resources at her disposal. She might even come back with something in just a few days.
No. I should forget about it.
The higher your expectations, the more painful the betrayal. Just then, a student walking toward me from the opposite direction suddenly turned deathly pale and stumbled backward.
Ah, damn it.
My sour mood must have intensified the aura. I forced the corners of my mouth upward.
"Sorry about that."
"Hiiiieee!"
A textbook scream. Leaving him behind, I continued on my way.
"Why are you only coming now!"
The moment I stepped inside, someone raised their voice. It was that bastard Marius.