Top Instructor of a Third-Rate Academy

011

I immediately took Pan and moved toward the Basic A class.

Just in case, I wrote 'self-study' on the blackboard.

I wasn't worried about the students, as they would be rummaging through the old building for two hours.

Glancing back, I saw Pan following me with a worried expression.

'He's anxious.'

He had been hesitant when he first came to see me.

He was unsure if it was okay for him, a student in Class A, to come to me with such a request.

For him to come and ask me directly despite that, what on earth was the teacher of Class A doing?

I was so angry that my thoughts wouldn't connect.

'This timid boy.'

When I first saw Pan, he was rolling in the dirt.

A timid personality and a feminine appearance.

Not long after enrolling, he became the target of delinquent students and was bullied.

'But he was a student who endured.'

A student who endured by curling up his body to avoid getting hurt as much as possible.

A student who would smile at the teachers' concerns, and yet was the most diligent in class.

A student who had talent but had difficulty getting it properly evaluated, a student still full of potential.

For such a Pan to be in Class A must have been Avril's doing.

After all, based on professor evaluations and grades alone, Pan belonged in Class C.

But Avril knew the future.

'He doesn't want to leave a risk factor in Class C, is that it?'

He must have put him in Class A seeing his future potential, and then wanted me to teach Pan in Class A if I lost the bet.

If that's the case.

"Shouldn't you not discriminate against students?"

I approached a man who was walking around the training ground, instructing students.

The man was about 180cm tall, with long, flowing red hair like a lion's mane.

His eyes were sharp like an eagle's, and his body was well-balanced and solid.

As I came here, I briefly saw his movements as he instructed the students.

He used a fast sword, thrusting his blade without a sound.

Like a sinister assassin.

"...Who are you?"

He pointed a finger at me.

Then, a student who had just been receiving his instruction snickered and said.

"He's here. The swordsmanship instructor. I heard he's in Class C now. Unskilled, but all talk."

"Ah, that Ca-something guy. The one the young master mentioned."

His eyes rolled and landed on Pan, who was standing behind me.

The emotion in his eyes was annoyance.

"So? Why shouldn't I discriminate?"

"What did you say?"

"The units A and B are for dividing the students' grades in the first place, aren't they? So why are you saying such stupid things about discrimination now?"

What does that mean?

I was about to argue further, dumbfounded, when the man took a step toward me.

I unconsciously took a step back diagonally, preparing to cut the man at any moment.

Seeing this, the man smiled slyly.

"On the contrary, I'd like to ask, why are you and the young master so obsessed with a student like that?"

"What?"

"It's strange. Why did he tell me to take charge of Class A, but then make a point of leaving that trash-like brat alone, and not teaching him anything?"

Avril...!

"And what's even stranger is why he said to just leave it be if he goes to someone like you for help. What the hell are you?"

But before my anger could react, my eyes and body did.

The muscles in the man's chest twitched strangely.

If I stand here, I'll be cut.

I unconsciously took a step back and drew my sword to swing.

No, I tried to swing.

Zing!

My right arm spasmed from the sudden movement, and I couldn't hold the wooden sword.

Instead, as soon as I awkwardly swung my arm in the air, it was caught by the man's hand.

"Huh?"

The man's expression sharpened.

A cold sweat ran down my back.

A well-honed human's killing intent, different from a monster's, was aimed at me.

"You, what did you just do?"

"Hk, hkk..."

But I couldn't respond to the man's words.

My hands, and my arms and legs.

My whole body ached as if it were being pierced.

It was the aftermath of suddenly moving my body.

'Damn, this, body...'

It wasn't this bad even when I was taking classes at the Imperial Academy.

I learned martial arts as a basic liberal arts subject, and I lived well without any minor illnesses, so why.

Ding—dong—!

Just then, the bell signaling the end of class rang.

A commotion arose from inside the building with a murmuring sound.

It was the sound of students and teachers coming out.

The man, who had glanced at the classroom, let go of my arm.

I collapsed powerlessly to the floor.

The tingling pain in my entire arm was unbearable.

"Instructor!"

Pan rushed over, his voice choked with tears.

The gazes of the students watching us brushed past.

Gazes full of contempt, as if to say, 'Is this all you've got?'

"The bell saved you. Anyway, take that oaf and teach him well. He's a kid who belongs in Class C."

The man moves away.

And behind him, the students slowly leave.

The murmuring noise of the crowd passed by as if they were watching from afar.

In the midst of the countless gazes and voices, I composed my breath and organized what I had seen.

"Pan."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, instructor...!"

"Let's get revenge."

"Sorry... what?"

It's very difficult for a Class C student to beat a Class A student.

But it might be possible for a Class C student to hold their own against a Class A student.

And if it's a Class A student.

If it's the swordsman Pan, whom Rozalin praised as the most talented in the world.

'Couldn't he even hold his own against a teacher?'

For that, I needed information.

'I saw everything.'

From his movements while instructing the students to his actions just now.

I had figured out all of his swordsmanship.

* * *

The man appointed as the swordsmanship instructor for Basic Class A, Sordian, walked with a stiff expression.

The student who had been receiving his guidance until just a moment ago followed beside him, chattering.

"It's really unbelievable, isn't it? The chairman here is a psycho, so he even hires an instructor like that and puts him in charge of a class! Still, the young master of the Goldline Merchant Guild grasped the situation well and stuck him in Class C..."

"Hey."

Abruptly, Sordian's steps stopped.

And at the same time, a very strong aura exploded in all directions.

It was a violent aura, so much so that the student following him was startled, "Hiek," and collapsed on the spot.

It was on a different level from killing intent.

It wasn't the will to kill a single person.

It was the primal resentment to beat down and kill everything in sight on a battlefield.

"It's noisy, so shut up."

"U-uhh..."

The student, unable to withstand the pressure, foamed at the mouth and ran away.

A cry of "Uwaaang—" could be heard in the distance, but he paid it no mind.

Sordian's mind was filled with a single trajectory.

'I died once.'

The line drawn by a bookworm who should be sitting at a desk.

Just thinking of that line again made the hair on his back stand on end.

'No.'

No matter how he tried to respond from his current position, he couldn't see an answer.

He twisted his body and struggled.

He even tried to cut out the weakness using his prized fast sword.

He even tried to swallow his pride and just run away.

'Certain defeat.'

This was the first time he had experienced this since he was in the Imperial Knights.

No, even in the Imperial Knights, such experiences were extremely rare.

To think he would feel the pressure he had only felt from the highest-ranking senior knights.

'But for that...'

It was a pathetic body.

The muscles in his arm were worse than none, and his hands trembled as if he had a tremor.

Above all, he couldn't endure the pain.

It was proof that he had no practical experience.

'It's full of unknowns.'

A week ago.

The timid youngest master had changed.

He suddenly announced that he would quit all the businesses he was running and requested a private meeting with his father, the head of the merchant guild.

What was strange was that the head of the merchant guild was the same.

After a five-hour private meeting, the head of the merchant guild suddenly folded 30% of the businesses he was running.

He summoned all his sons to reorganize the business, and at the same time, began to invest excessively in a mere rural academy like this.

Thanks to that, he had ended up with an instructor's job he hadn't even thought of.

'It's not just a whim, is it?'

It seemed like it was going to be interesting.

Sordian smiled sharply and composed his presence.

* * *

"How did you get hurt like this?"

"By... moving... my body..."

In the end, I couldn't keep my promise for the evening spar.

The injury I sustained when I met the Class A teacher was severe.

I didn't realize it at the time, but there was a strong, dark red handprint on my right hand.

It seemed he had grabbed my wrist hard enough to leave a bruise.

"So why did you confront the Class A teacher when your body is so weak! Don't you know who he is? You're fearless!"

Freutche clicked his tongue as if he found me pathetic.

He had come to visit me after hearing that I wouldn't be able to train because I was in pain.

"So just quit the weird stuff like swordsmanship class and get some rest."

After Freutche left.

I lay in my dorm bed and blankly looked back on the day.

'What an unbelievably chaotic day.'

After meeting the Class A teacher, I returned to the classroom and barely managed to finish the class.

The students who returned from exploring the old building looked like they had enjoyed their adventure time.

Since it was an old building, looking around must have felt like exploring a dungeon.

Even the delinquents didn't look too bad.

'Until they saw Pan, that is.'

Pan was on the verge of tears and huddled in a corner of the classroom.

The kids looked at Pan with complicated expressions.

Even the delinquents were startled and kept their distance.

Whispers of "no skill but in Class A," "Rozalin," "backing," etc., floated around.

After finishing the class, I barely managed to soothe Pan and send him back.

He said that from tomorrow, he would come straight to our class without attending Class A.

'Avril.'

Changing the school is one thing, but to do this kind of thing…

I wanted to somehow show him something and end this 'proof' or whatever it was.

'Ugh.'

But right now, the immediate pain was more agonizing.

I should at least try to sleep.

That's the only way this eventful day can end.

"Heal—."

With an unfamiliar voice, a warm light began to swirl around my body, and the pain instantly disappeared.

I had a similar experience at the Imperial Academy.

"Divine power?"

Only the divine power emitted by a high-ranking priest could have this kind of effect.

I sat up and looked toward the door.

I don't know when she came in, but a small girl was staring at me.

She had purple hair and was wearing a silver sacred robe, and she looked no older than 12.

"Who...?"

Looking into the child's eyes, I had a strange intuition.

Eyes that were dead, as if she had seen too much of the world's filth, not befitting her age.

'A regressor.'

It seemed a new being had come to find me after Rozalin and Avril.

"I am the Saint. Not now, but in about three years. I'll be appointed after the current Saint's heart is devoured by a demon."

"...Uh."

I didn't want to know about the current Saint's gruesome death.

I tried to come to my senses and remain calm.

But.

"They say you are the great master who knows everything. So I ask you. If the world has been destroyed once, does that mean that God has finally abandoned humanity? Then why should I believe in God?"

It seems that this messed-up day is still far from over.