NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37
There was no time to be surprised.
If I got hit by that insane charge in my current state, my ribs would definitely shatter.
So, should I dodge? But Yurasia is standing in that path. Yurasia’s reactions are slow. She can’t respond.
I have to block it.
“Hey, you bastard…!”
I immediately flared my mana and wrapped my arms around Yurasia’s neck. I stepped on my center of gravity and twisted my body with force. I successfully turned my back while holding Yurasia.
“Eheheh!”
A bright laugh echoed.
I felt a soft sensation against my back, which was bracing for impact.
“Surprised? Scared? Huh? Huh?”
“…Ah, um…?”
The bare legs revealed under the skirt brushed against a ticklish fur, and I felt a playful breath on my nape.
I slowly turned my head.
“Nice to meet you! Congratulations on your enrollment!”
Fluffy golden hair like a lion’s mane.
Golden slits for pupils. Sharp fangs.
A mischievous smile and a ringing voice.
She was the one who suddenly kicked me during the entrance exam.
“…Vice Headmaster…”
I couldn’t remember her name.
“That’s right! I’m Vice Headmaster Leona Meganberta! But how about you add ‘nim’ after my name? Otherwise, I’ll scold you!”
In an instant, I relaxed.
I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of what had happened – it was a rapid and vicious charge. It seemed like it would never stop, yet she halted without any recoil and lightly patted my back.
I felt it during the kick I blocked during the entrance exam, too.
Her physical abilities are absurd.
It’s true that the Beastmen have superior physical abilities compared to humans, but Leona is on a different level even among them.
“Hehe. Do you seriously think I’d hit a student?”
“…Hah.”
I let out a sigh that came from my dantian, releasing Yurasia, who I had wrapped up.
“Uh, um…? Vice, Vice Headmaster?”
“Yup! Nice to meet you! Is it Yurasia Espirot? The top of this year’s class, right?”
“Yes, yes. Th-That’s right.”
“A wonderful student.”
Chuckling, Leona bent down to look up at me.
“Eliaernes!”
“…Yes.”
“Let’s go somewhere.”
“I need to eat.”
“Then let’s eat together.”
“…Why?”
“I want to talk about that accident from last time!”
“What accident?”
At the mention of the word “accident,” all eyes in the classroom turned towards us. Yurasia even gasped in shock.
“During the entrance exam!”
“…What accident did I cause back then?”
“I can’t say here! There are too many eyes watching, what am I supposed to do? It’s embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing…?”
At the mention of so many eyes, the hushed whispers of students began to swell.
Are they doing this deliberately to jab at me?
Or did I really cause an accident?
I don’t know. I don’t know, but it seems pointless to bicker any longer; word would only spread further…
“…Fine. Let’s go.”
Reluctantly, I nodded.
I then handed a card I took from my pocket to Yurasia.
“You go eat first.”
“Ah, um, yes! Th-Thank you…”
“Okay. See you later.”
“Good thinking! Hehe.”
With that, Leona crossed her arms and waved happily at the students while smiling brightly.
“Congratulations on your enrollment, everyone!! We’ll see each other again! Hmm, no wait. If you see me, it’ll mean you caused trouble, so let’s avoid each other as much as possible!”
“…Why are you saying that last part?”
“Huh? But meeting me isn’t a good thing, right?”
“No, you see, while I’m in the middle of going with the Vice Headmaster, what will happen to my image if you say that…”
“Hmm…”
Leona, who had crossed her arms, tapped her lips.
“By the way, Eliaernes isn’t the one at fault, so don’t misunderstand!”
I really don’t get how this person became the Vice Headmaster.
Are they out to get me because I cursed back then, just for fun?
I sighed heavily.
At the same time, my eyes met Silina’s.
Silina was giving me a glare that said she expected this.
A sigh escaped me again.
I just kept sighing.
“…Hah. Let’s just go quickly.”
“Sure!”
*
Slurp– slurp–
The lunch menu was noodles.
Slurp– slurp–
The location was the training grounds.
On the bare floor of the training grounds.
Slurp– slurp–
Leona was eating the noodles with an incredibly delicious expression on her face, utterly ignoring me. I’m already mad, and the noodles taste so good that it makes me madder.
Gulp– gulp– gulp.
“Eh, why are we sitting in the training grounds eating? We could’ve eaten in the restaurant.”
“Where’s the time for that! Eat fast so we can hurry!”
“…But it’s the entrance ceremony today, so we don’t have a schedule, right?”
“I’m busy!”
“Then can’t we just do it tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? We need to do it tomorrow too?”
“Tomorrow too? Do we have that much to talk about?”
“Yup!”
Slurp– slurp–
The cheerful reply from Vice Headmaster Leona made her plunge her face back into the bowl of noodles.
“Hah…”
I finally picked up my chopsticks.
Gulp–
Having finished six bowls of noodles, Leona patted her belly and jumped up.
“Stand up if you’re done!”
“…Wasn’t it supposed to be a talk?”
“Yep. Now we need to.”
“Hmm…”
I put down my empty bowl and stood up.
“Eliaernes Eustetia.”
“Yes.”
“You’re a martial artist, right?”
“Uh, well, sort of…”
Leona chuckled.
“Karela Academy is an institution responsible for nurturing and educating talents. It was created in preparation for the unpredictable demon war. So what do you want to do in an academy like that?”
“Of course, I want to get stronger—”
“Liar. You trust your skills. You have tons of confidence. And your skills are excellent to match that confidence. But do you really want to get stronger in the academy?”
Her slitted golden pupils glimmered sharply.
“Eliaernes. I really hate lies.”
“…I came here to graduate.”
“Huh? What do you want to do after you graduate?”
“I’m going to Gebihenum.”
“Why?”
“That’s…”
To find traces of my comrades.
To kill Kaloso.
To eliminate the demon race.
To slay the Demon King.
All reasons I cannot share.
So, just as I was about to explain what I reluctantly told my parents, she spoke.
“Eliaernes. Do you want to kill the Demon King?”
Leona opened her mouth.
“…What?”
“Even if the previous heroes succeeded in sealing him, and a temporary peace has settled, it’s not true peace, right? You think so too, don’t you?”
I didn’t answer.
I have no idea what she is trying to feel out.
In this era, to unseal the Demon King and say you want to kill him sounds almost the same as declaring war.
To put it badly, it sounds like rebellion.
I’m not the kind of idiot who would say such things carelessly.
“I want to kill the Demon King.”
But it seems she’s the one being idiotic.
“I want to kill the demon race, wipe out the remaining three Legion Commanders, unseal the Demon King, and kill him.”
“That sounds like extremely dangerous talk.”
“I’m okay. And you can be honest with me.”
Pat-pat–
Leona, chuckling, stepped forward.
“Eliaernes. Do you want to kill the Demon King?”
“…Why do you think that?”
“Just a feeling. I’ve always had a good intuition for these things.”
She tapped her nose and stepped one step closer.
So close I could touch her if I reached out.
I didn’t answer, just stared at her in silence.
“Sure. It’s okay if you don’t answer right now. But it’s certain that you hate the demon race. Right?”
“Who doesn’t hate them?”
“No. You hate them more than that. It’s almost a feeling of hatred.”
“I don’t know what you’re basing that judgment on.”
This was the first time we were having a proper conversation.
During the entrance exam… I felt like I was just talking nonsense with her; it wasn’t a real conversation.
Moreover, I was only really seeing her for the first time today.
Even if she had known about me from documents or heard rumors, that’s all a surface-level understanding.
How could she be so sure just from what she’s seen?
I don’t get it.
“Hehe.”
Leona, who had been smiling brightly, clenched her fists.
“Shall we get to the main point now?”
We clashed.
Bang—!
A deafening sound echoed throughout the training grounds, like two rocks crashing together.
Seeing this, I cautiously asked a question that popped into my head.
“The main point, is it…?”
“That’s right! I’m a martial artist just like you! So, come at me!”
“…Weren’t we supposed to talk? Is this about me cursing during the entrance exam?”
“Cursing during the entrance exam? Hahaha! No! It’s just that it’s more convenient and faster to take a hit than to just talk!”
“What… You mean a conversation of the body, or something?”
Leona’s eyes widened.
“Oh, that’s right!”
“Hah…”
I sighed and rubbed my face.
Are all martial artists like this – such apes?
What’s going on in their brains that make them say the same things that Arisa does?
Do they become like this after throwing punches and kicks?
Will I be like that in the future?
“I’m wearing a skirt right now, you know.”
“That’s fine! No one will come here because it’s prohibited to use the training grounds on the day of the entrance ceremony!”
“But why are we using it, then?”
“I’m fine! So you’re fine too!”
“…So does that mean I have to do this with the Vice Headmaster every day, that… that I have to talk?”
“That’s right!”
“What about my classes?”
“You were going to do personal training after regular classes anyway, right?”
“That is true. But I need my own time.”
Leona grinned.
“Your own time? Weaklings such as you needing your own time?”
I was briefly taken aback.
“…Yes?”
“Since you said you’re going to the demon realm after graduation? Three years here and it seems you’ll still be as pathetic as you are now, huh?”
“Huh.”
I clenched my fists.
“Eliaernes. Do you have any idea why martial artists are called chimpanzees, brutes, gorillas, and lesser beasts?”
“Because we don’t use weapons.”
Leona’s finger popped out from her tightly clenched fist, whipping side to side.
“The ‘mu’ (武) in ‘martial arts’ (武鬪) is because you don’t know ‘mu’ but only know how to ‘duel’ (鬪).”
Her moving finger halted, pointing toward me.
“Eliaernes. Just like chimps like you.”
The moment those words left her mouth…
“Nya-hahh!”
I delivered a punch to Leona’s face.
*
“Considering how you fight, you’re better than I expected, but still just as pathetic!”
“Ugh… Hah, cough, gag, ugh…”
How many times has it been?
I didn’t even remember anymore.
It felt like I had gone over fifty times, at least.
Exhausted, my legs felt wobbly, I was dizzy from the blows to my jaw, my arms had no strength left to lift, my vision blurred, and drool was hanging from my mouth.
I must have gone past fifty times by now.
The sky visible through the window of the training grounds was already dark. Sounds of students that had occasionally been heard and the bells signaling curfew were both nowhere to be found.
My body ached all over. Finding a spot that doesn’t hurt would be faster than finding a place that does.
Yet, amidst all this, there wasn’t a visible wound on me.
Sure, if I stood naked in front of a mirror, I would be covered in bruises, but except for some dirt, my skin was clean.
No broken bones. No cracks.
No torn ligaments. No ruptured muscles.
As I tried to cross the line, Leona’s fists struck my jaw, preventing me from crossing.
That punch was skilled enough to knock me down but not to make me lose consciousness.
“Do you understand the difference between you and me?”
Leona, handing me a towel, chuckled.
“So, do you want to talk with me again tomorrow?”
Staggering, I took the towel and nodded.
“…Yes.”
“Hehehe. Good! Starting tomorrow, let’s do this properly!”
Ruffling my hair, Leona turned swiftly, her tail swaying happily.
“I’ll head out now, so you can reflect on today’s events, or go in and sleep! Good work, Eliaernes!”
“…I want to ask something.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Who is the Vice Headmaster’s master…?”
Her steps halted with a thud and her tail became stiff.
The cute bob haircut swayed instead of a lion’s mane as Leona turned her back on me.
Her face wore a playful smile.
“As I said earlier, I’ll tell you when you can beat me one day.”
And then, she swiveled around to leave.
“Who knows, maybe I won’t even let you hit me! Hahaha!”
When the Vice Headmaster’s figure disappeared…
“…Damn it.”
I muttered faintly.
Every time I cursed, my palm hit my lips so hard that I could barely hold back tears because it hurt so much.
“Hah…”
Taking a deep sigh, I buried my face in the towel.
Then I reflected on the duel we had today.
I recalled Leona’s movements.
My fist clenched tightly.
“…It was similar.”
Leona’s movements were remarkably similar to Arisa’s.
*
“Sedil!! Give me a potion!!”
“Whatchu doing out at this hour? What happened? Were you attacked or something?”
“Attacked? Hahaha! Nah, just had a duel with Eliaernes.”
“A duel? What kind of duel could cause you to get so dusty?”
“Forget that! Just give me the potion. I’m hurt!!”
Sedil’s expression turned skeptical at Leona’s words.
“Are you hurt…? Did you injure yourself or something?”
“What?! No, I didn’t hurt myself! I just got a small crack in my arm!”
Shaking her head, Leona sank into a fluffy sofa.
“You…? Why?”
“Because I was dueling with Eliaernes.”
Sedil’s puzzled expression contorted into one of shock.
“So, what you’re saying is… you got a crack in your arm from being hit by Eliaernes?”
“I wasn’t hit! I blocked it! Also, I didn’t even use mana!”
“Even so, do you think it makes sense that you got a crack in your arm trying to block a new student’s attack? Especially since it was you?”
“Yep. It makes sense because it’s Eliaernes!”
Of course, I could have avoided it.
But if I did, the next attack would have led to hurting Eliaernes myself, so I had no choice but to block.
But it’s true that my arm has a crack.
So, without bothering to explain the circumstances, I just smiled brightly.
“That’s our Eliaernes! Heehee.”
“Ugh…”
Sedil tossed a potion from the A-Space Pocket to Leona without saying a word.
Meanwhile, Leona, who had downed the potion and closed her eyes, found herself lost in thought about Eliaernes’s figure she had seen during the duel.
Her movements were unnaturally focused on offense.
They seemed closer to a warrior using weapons than a martial artist.
The foundations and basics of martial arts.
Her movements appeared devoid of any backup plans, resembling almost a demon’s movements.
But that wasn’t the case.
Her hands clenched and unclenched.
Punches extended and curled.
Legs lifted and lowered.
Breaths inhaled and exhaled.
Even every blink of her eyes was calculated, responsive to the opponent’s actions.
“In five years, she might add another pillar. Who knows, it might even remain or decrease. Either way, a new pillar will definitely be established. Everyone better stay on their toes.”
With a chuckle, Leona stood up, her tail swishing as she headed out the door of the headmaster’s office.
“Anyway, starting tomorrow I’ll be playing with Eliaernes, so don’t look for me! Goodbye! Goodnight!”
“Ugh, ugh…!”
Having been the headmaster for 128 years, Sedil had never heard such praises from Leona before, leaving him utterly speechless, not knowing how to react.