Quit The Hero Party

EP.42 Class Observation (1)

There are various ways to gain enlightenment.

Most wizards seek answers from the teachings of others. However, there are often those who cannot attain enlightenment from others.

Those who have already established their magical path.

Those with a clear sense of self.

That firmness is both a strength and a weakness.

The strength is that they are unwavering, but the weakness is that there is no gap to get inside.

How should one teach those who are solid in their beliefs and have no room for someone else to squeeze in?

‘They must be made to realize it themselves.’

Rosel already knows that answer.

For he has nurtured such peculiar beings before.

“Raniel.”

Rosel quietly called out to his disciple.

“Do you remember what I said before?”

“Oh, yes. I remember.”

Raniel nodded.

Ahead of her work in Apuria, she is seated in a suit.

“Hmm.”

Seeing his disciple’s change from her usual robe outfit, Rosel smiled with satisfaction. Not a bad appearance at all.

‘If I had known, I should have bought this for her sooner.’

Neatly dressed with her hair meticulously arranged.

When she roamed around in robes, she often looked like her classmates, but…

‘At least now, she won’t be mistaken for a student.’

Dressed like this, she looked fit for her position, more mature.

“Hmm.”

Rosel nodded in satisfaction and opened his mouth.

“From today, Raniel, what you have to do is to attend the classes of the professors you’ve applied to observe and learn from.”

Raniel’s gaze shifted to the paper laid on the table. It was filled with the names of professors.

Originally, when teaching assistants attend a professor’s class, they roam around seeking consent from the professors. However, in Raniel’s case, she didn’t need to do that.

‘In just a day after posting it, it looks like this.’

Rosel checked the names of the professors densely filled on the application form. Even some quite famous professors within Apuria were listed.

‘With this, no one knows who the main professors are.’

Seeing the professors who seemed eager to boast about their prowess by hastily signing their names, Rosel smiled wryly.

“There are many capable professors in Apuria. Having worked as educators for a long time, they have reached a certain level in the act of teaching.”

Rosel said.

“What you should pay attention to while attending their classes, Raniel, is the following.”

Rosel spread his fingers, folding them one by one.

“How do they approach the students? Where do they focus when explaining? How do they understand the students’ levels?”

He handed the paper with that written on it to his disciple.

“While the above three are important, other things will also be greatly helpful.”

“Hmm… you want me to learn how to teach, right?”

“It’s different from learning.”

Rosel said flatly to his disciple, who tilted her head.

“Interpret their classes in your way. There’s no need to blindly follow them.”

Rosel knows.

In the five years she has left his side, this disciple has changed, but her essence remains the same. Saying to learn blindly would only lead to poorly imitating them.

That would be worse than doing nothing at all.

To imitate doesn’t mean one can become the real deal.

‘So, I must teach like before.’

Instead of explaining everything from one to ten, give hints and let them find the answers themselves. That’s how to teach this peculiar wizard.

“See with your eyes, hear with your ears, and interpret in your own way.”

He added one more word.

“As always.”

“As always?”

“Yes, didn’t I tell you?”

Rosel smiled faintly.

“Let’s take it slow.”

Raniel nodded slowly.

She seemed to have grasped the general idea.

“Then, which professor’s class should we go to first? Your class, Master?”

“No. Come to my class last. Let’s see which professor is good first.”

Rosel examined the paper with Raniel.

The professors’ names densely filled the page, but one name stood out the most.

—Battle Magic / Mackhart.

Compared to the neatly written names of other professors, Mackhart’s name was written in large letters. On top of the names of other professors, no less.

“How rude as always.”

Tsk, Rosel clicked his tongue briefly.

‘To be honest, there’s not much to learn from that man…’

Rosel squinted at Raniel.

And he recalled the habitual phrases she often said.

—You can do it, right?
—Why can’t you?
—If it doesn’t work, just keep trying until it does.

Those catchphrases are remarkably similar to Professor Mackhart.

Of course, the addition of malice in Mackhart’s words makes it different… But from the listener’s perspective, they would sound similar.

‘In a way, it might not be a bad first observation.’

In terms of being a lesson from a teacher.

“Let’s start with this professor, then.”

“Mackhart, professor?”

“Yes, it happens to be Battle Magic.”

“Isn’t Battle Magic that unremarkable class?”

Twitch.

Rosel’s eyebrows twitched.

“‘Unremarkable’ what?”

“That unheard-of, unremarkable class. Basic job with no foundation.”

“…You think so?”

“No, I don’t judge classes based on their merit… but that seems kind of lacking in foundation, doesn’t it? A wizard prioritizing physical training? What lunatic does that?”

A voice just about to say “Aren’t you doing the same?” lodged in Rosel’s throat, but he held it back.

“Hmm…”

He thought about adding something, but Rosel couldn’t find the words. How could he say anything when the creator of the class himself calls it lacking in foundation?

“…If you say so, then I suppose that’s how it is.”

He simply said that.

2.

Introduction to Battle Magic.

Instructor, Mackhart.

Students who chose the Battle Mage class learn the basics in Mackhart’s class. The basis of Battle Magic is martial arts, as Mackhart says.

“The decisive difference between a Battle Mage and other classes lies in the operation of martial arts.”

He spoke as he walked among the students gathered in the auditorium.

“Battle Mages do not remain in one spot. They constantly move. In battle, Battle Mages do not stay in the rear like other wizards.”

Revealing a subtle wound on his forearm, Mackhart talked about the battlefield. The students’ reactions were rather disinterested.

‘Not that story again.’

It was a story they had heard countless times now.

Suppressing a sigh internally, the students listened to Mackhart’s story with one ear and let it slip out the other.

“Battle Mages are assigned to the frontlines or strike teams. The advantage of a Battle Mage lies in their ability to respond to most emergencies. Though they may lag behind in firepower compared to the Wizard Class… in terms of usefulness, it can be said that Battle Mages are a step above.”

There must be a reason he mentions the Wizard Class.

Mackhart’s gaze shifts.

Where his gaze landed was on a girl sitting.

“Don’t you think so, Professor Rania?”

A subtle smirk formed on Mackhart’s lips as he looked at her.

Rania van Trias.

Mackhart knew she was a wizard registered in the Wizard Class.

‘Her main magic is elemental magic, right?’

While powerful, elemental magic takes a long time to prepare.

‘The most impractical magic.’

It is, in fact, a class that is in direct opposition to Battle Mages.

Recalling that fact, Mackhart sneered.

“…?”

However, the girl receiving that gaze merely tilted her head. She seemed not to understand.

“You were in the Wizard Class, right?”

“Oh, yes.”

At that answer, several students’ eyes shifted.

‘…She’s in the Wizard Class?’

They were the ones who had witnessed the incident in the Spell Training Room. Those who had seen Professor Rania in battle.

‘The person who smashed the floor of the training room with her bare hands?’

Regardless of the students’ reactions, Mackhart continued with what he wanted to say.

“Well, since you’re attending this class, why don’t you experience what being a Battle Mage is like?”

“Yes.”

“First, can you come down here? My class is aimed squarely at practical application.”

Mackhart emphasized the word ‘practical.’

That blunt provocation was something even the students noticed. However, the one being provoked remained expressionless.

“Yes, understood.”

She nodded shortly.

Standing up, she walked to the center of the auditorium.

“Hmm.”

Mackhart observed her delicate frame from top to bottom, and a sly smile crept onto his face.

“I will teach you all about the basics of a Battle Mage’s martial arts, step by step.”

3.

The sorcerer and Battle Mage, Belnoa.

He found no particular interest in Mackhart’s class. There was nothing to spark his curiosity.

First, the martial arts Mackhart emphasized.

‘Isn’t that just the basics for knights?’

Belnoa thought that wasn’t likely to be very helpful. In fact, it raised more questions than it answered.

‘Why even bother with strikes? Wouldn’t it be more effective to just break their joints?’

Having gained plenty of experience from the slums and learned ancient martial arts saved by Cardi, Belnoa views Mackhart’s martial arts as utterly crude.

‘Then again, if I were to learn spell stocks or physical enhancement spells…’

He could go find the Master of the Black Tower.

After all, the Black Tower has been studying the concept of spell stock since ancient times.

‘Though that old man is quite sinister…’

At the very least, the Master of the Black Tower fulfills his obligations as a teacher. He would surely make time if one were to visit and ask to learn. As a mentor, the Master of the Black Tower was a pretty decent character.

‘Not the best when it comes to being a guarantor, though.’

In any case, it meant that there was not much to learn from Mackhart. But Belnoa wasn’t unhappy about that.

‘Just a warm-up time.’

That’s all he was thinking.

He had never really had high expectations from the start.

‘It’s been like that so far…’

However, today, that thought seemed to shift slightly due to a certain professor attending the class.

Sneak.

Belnoa glanced sideways at Mackhart, who remained stationary where he usually roamed among the students offering advice, today was hanging around with someone else.

“Again.”

“…What?”

“That’s not it. Do it like this! Your foot goes here! Your fist goes here! Put more strength into it! It’s basic!”

The Ashen-Haired Man sways slightly.

The students sparring freely kept glancing over there.

Rania van Trias.

Mackhart was teaching her martial arts.

Discussing the basics.

“…”

To Belnoa’s eyes, who knew Rania’s true abilities, that looked just like a child trying to teach an adult.

‘That movement she showed in the underground sewer.’

The movements Belnoa remembered were cleaner and more efficient than any Battle Mage he had seen. They were movements worth learning, in contrast to Mackhart’s crude martial arts.

“Hmm.”

Yet, watching Mackhart giving advice to her made him feel quite a peculiar sentiment.

‘…Why is she observing the class?’

Such a question arose as well. This was a lesson where even he, a student, felt there was nothing to learn.

As Belnoa mulled through that thought, Mackhart’s coaching continued.

“Give it a go!”

“Uh? Like this?”

“No, that’s not it. Do it like this. Why can’t you do it? Didn’t I show you?”

Mackhart stuck close to Professor Rania, pulling at her arms this way and that.

“This is how it’s done!”

“…”

“You have no foundation at all! Tsk tsk. This is why wizards…”

With every tug, Rania’s expression seemed to fade slightly. As her once vibrant blue eyes grew colder, Belnoa felt an inexplicable chill.

“Hmm.”

Just then, someone let out a short sigh.

Belnoa turned to see where the sound came from.

“Lac?”

“Hmm, is that you, Belnoa?”

The familiar white-haired boy trembled as he approached Belnoa.

“Belnoa, isn’t it a bit cold?”

“Cold?”

Belnoa tilted his head.

“I don’t think it feels cold.”

“It feels… it feels chilly somehow.”

“…What?”

“It’s cold, cold. Why? Is it just me?”

“It’s spring right now. And it’s warm.”

“It feels cold. Definitely from over there…”

As Lac stretched his finger towards where he felt the chill, he froze momentarily. He halted his words.

The finger pointed.

There, unfazed, Rania professor is receiving guidance from Mackhart. Her slender arms being pulled in various directions.

At a glance, she seemed lethargic, but…

While others might not see it, Lac, who had been praised for having the ‘eagle’s eye’ among the northern warriors, could see it clearly.

Twitch.

The slight trembling of Rania’s eyebrows, and

Pop.

The veins protruding prominently on her forehead.

‘Is she… angry?’

Lac gulped.

He recalled seeing a similar expression before. It was probably when he asked her about her master’s name.

—What was your master’s name again?
—Just trying to remember it.

A look like a predator selecting its prey.

There seemed to be a similar gaze sitting there, yet different.

‘It looks like the gaze of a predator watching a rabbit hopping in front of it.’

Lac imagined the sight of a rabbit hopping in front of a tiger, even kicking its nose.

CRACK.

The scene that follows is all too easy to imagine.

Lac shuddered at the thought of a tiger, having reached its limit of patience, tearing into the rabbit.

The author’s note (Author’s remarks)

The reason Rosel doesn’t say, “You are the creator of that baseless job!” is… because he hopes she realizes it herself.

Though, it seems like he might have missed the timing to say it…

*The subtitle of the previous chapter has been changed.