Chapter 32
Taking three steps back, Professor Plienta swung his sword with full force. He struck the blade near the grip of the child’s sword with strong power.
CLANG!
The metallic echo resonated throughout the training ground. Even though it was just a sword wielded with his left arm, the impact reverberated through Blair’s young wrist, where the bones hadn’t fully matured yet. His index and middle fingers gripping the handle trembled entirely. Eventually, Blair lost his grip on the sword as the entire blade shook, and it fell. The fallen sword bounced a couple of times and spun around. It was over.
Blair barely managed to gather his trembling arm and slightly hid it behind him, concealing his expression as he bowed. Beads of sweat had formed on his fair, smooth forehead. Sweat-soaked hair clung to his cheeks.
“Thank you,” Blair said, bowing respectfully.
“Who taught you? There aren’t many people who could train such a young person to this level of skill,” Professor Plienta asked with genuine curiosity. It was pure admiration. Blair Monetery wasn’t an 8th-year student about to graduate, but just a little boy who had barely shed his freshman status. Yet Professor Plienta had just needed to duel him seriously. If he hadn’t been serious, he would have been the one embarrassed.
“Just a wanderer, sir. We happened to connect, and I took him as my master. I heard he was in the military.”
Half truth, half lie. Blair Gladius’s swordsmanship had indeed been perfected on the battlefield, but Blair Shuho Monetery’s swordsmanship had an unclear origin.
“That’s why it’s so practical. Tell him it was good teaching.”
“Thank you.”
Blair bowed politely and picked up his sword. The once sharply honed blade already had several notches. It was natural, as it was a much inferior sword compared to the fine blade Blair used to carry.
“Today’s class ends here. I’m sure everyone learned something watching the duel. I hope you all can implement even slightly more accurate swordsmanship. The swordsmanship this student just demonstrated consisted of exactly two techniques: thrusting and cutting. Thrusting at vital points and cutting the body by blocking movement. These are the most basic movements in swordsmanship. Remember this teaching that should never be forgotten, no matter when or where.”
After saying this, Professor Plienta caught his breath. Even he couldn’t prevent his breathing from quickening.
“Well, hoping this duel was beneficial for everyone, today’s class is now dismissed.”
“Thank you.”
The training ground echoed with the students’ closing greetings. Professor Plienta nodded, accepting their greetings, and turned to Blair.
“Your grade is perfect. I’m sure the classes so far have been too easy for you. If you wish, you don’t need to attend from the next class onward.”
“Yes. Thank you very much for today, Professor.”
“Not at all, I should thank you for indulging me. I think you’ll become a good swordsman before long. Time will take care of strength and muscle. Keep up with your training.”
After seeing the professor off, Blair wiped his sweat-drenched forehead. Since they had used real swords and both had been serious, there were definitely moments when he had felt his life was in danger. As Blair gathered his sword, Aaron and Kyle, who had been standing quietly watching, came running over.
“Wooow, that’s amazing. When did you learn? Did Count Monetery teach you? No, who exactly is your master?”
Aaron fired questions like a machine gun.
“Ah, Aaron. Could you ask just one question at a time?”
Blair pressed his throbbing temple. Indeed, Aaron was a more formidable opponent than Professor Plienta. Blair had never been able to defeat Aaron in the past. From the beginning, the two were simply incompatible.
After rolling around on the training ground floor and swinging swords, Blair’s usually neat and tidy appearance was disheveled. Blair roughly wiped the sweat with the back of his hand and fixed his bangs that had fallen over his forehead. Sweat-soaked hair clung to various parts of his face. The hair he had been growing steadily since returning to school had come loose and was sticking out in all directions.
Clearly, when he first returned to the past, his hair had been quite short. When he first came to the Academy, his hair was short enough to expose his nape, but because he found it bothersome to cut, he’d neglected it until it had grown long enough to reach his shoulders. Once it grew long enough to cover his nape, Blair began tying it in a small ponytail. He was used to tying his hair, as he’d had very long hair in the past.
Perhaps his hair tie had broken during the duel, as strands of hair were sticking to his sweaty face. Blair roughly pushed away the hair clinging to his nape and face and gathered his belongings. He smoothed his hair with a comb, and it became neat again. This casual gesture elegantly captured the attention of those watching.
It felt good to swing a sword with full force without thinking too much after so long. After tidying his disheveled clothes, Blair strode out of the training ground. Before completely leaving, he stopped as he remembered something to tell Aaron.
“Ah, Aaron. Today you two should have lunch without me.”
“Why?!”
Since that first time when Aaron had insisted on getting Blair to sit in the dining hall, they had eaten together for three months straight after swordsmanship class. It had become a routine that they took for granted. Even though they didn’t particularly exchange special conversations, it was a reasonably good, peaceful meal. Strangely, the people who usually followed Blair and Kyle wouldn’t approach when they were together.
Blair, who felt fatigued from people’s attention, didn’t mind that time. If he was going to be tired whether he was with Kyle and Aaron or with other people, he preferred the familiar. Building relationships with strangers was exhausting. And young Kyle was extremely quiet and well-behaved.
“I moved too much just now, my clothes are in a state, and I sweated a lot. I’m going to skip lunch today. I need to go straight to the dormitory and wash up.”
Normally, Aaron might have insisted on having lunch together, but anyone looking at Blair’s current state would agree with his decision. His white uniform, which was always immaculately worn without a wrinkle, was now covered in dust. In truth, it wasn’t so much the sweat as his appearance that was the issue. Due to a button that had fallen off without him even noticing when, his chest was exposed, revealing pale skin through the thin uniform.
“Then, I’ll see you next time. Aaron, I’m off. Enjoy your lunch.”
After saying goodbye, Blair left. Kyle’s eyes followed Blair’s retreating figure for a long time.
“Ah, what a shame. I was looking forward to having lunch with Blair. Looks like it’s just us today.”
Aaron interlaced his fingers and placed them behind his head. Once seated in the dining hall, Aaron started chattering. Kyle sometimes found it amazing how someone with such little stamina could talk so incessantly without pause. Kyle was the type who got tired from talking too much. Even now, he was quietly listening to Aaron’s words with his mouth shut. Such eloquence must also be innate.
“By the way, I had no idea Blair was so good with a sword. His family isn’t even a knight house. How and why did he learn swordsmanship to that extent?”
Aaron tilted his head in the middle of eating.
“Perhaps he learned it for self-defense?” Kyle gave a textbook answer.
“I may not be able to demonstrate it physically, but I have a good eye for these things. He seems to have learned formally somewhere. He came to the Academy at fifteen, so did a non-knight family teach him such swordsmanship until he was fourteen? To the point where he could duel equally with a professor? Something doesn’t add up. I smell something, sniff sniff.”
Aaron ranted with an exaggerated expression.
“I have a hunch but no evidence. What could it be?”
“Why don’t you just eat? What smell? It’s probably just talent.”
When Aaron expressed his suspicions with an exaggerated expression, Kyle cut him off sharply.
“Right~ Blair has talent in swordsmanship. I saw him in passing last time, and he’s also good at archery. I wasn’t born with any talent in that area. The gods are unfair, I tell you.”
- agilmente – with liveliness
After finishing lunch, soothing the grumbling Aaron, Kyle’s eyes caught sight of a sandwich. He picked up the wrapped sandwich. Leaving the dining hall, he diligently made his way to the dormitory. Although he had never been to Blair’s room before, he knew its location from conversations with Aaron.
Knock knock-
Kyle gently knocked on the door. His heart was pounding for no reason. It’s just taking care of a hungry friend who couldn’t eat, he told himself. Despite this self-hypnosis, his heart simply wouldn’t calm down.
“Yes~” A voice drawing out the last syllable was heard as the door opened.
“Oh?”
Blair tilted his head when their eyes met. He appeared to have just finished washing up and was in the process of changing clothes, as he was only wearing pants. Water droplets from his hair ran down his bare upper body. His straight shoulders and collarbone were visible in their pale whiteness. Blair, recognizing his visitor, asked with undisguised bewilderment:
“Your Highness? What brings you here?”
“Ah, um.” Kyle’s face turned bright red as he answered.
“Oh, this. I thought you might be hungry since you couldn’t eat lunch today, so I brought this for you.”
The words he had rehearsed countless times until the door opened flowed naturally. He was glad he had practiced. Kyle showed the sandwich he was holding. He had prepared it generously when receiving lunch earlier, intending to bring it to Blair.
“Ah, thank you.”
Blair, who had been drying his wet hair with a towel draped over his shoulder, made a troubled expression. After looking at his room and then at Kyle, Blair seemed to make a decision and opened the door a little wider.
“I’m not dressed right now. Would you like to come in for a moment?”
Blair took a step back and opened the door wide.
[To be continued…]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
