Top Instructor of a Third-Rate Academy

015

"My lifespan is being shaved off every time I swing my sword?"

This was the first I had ever heard of it.

"That can't be. Even Knight Commander Perdius never said anything like that."

He wasn't just anyone; he was said to be the most skilled swordsman in the empire.

There's no way a mere priestess would know something that even such an existence didn't.

Well, she's not a mere priestess, she is a Saintess (in-training).

"That person missed two of the Great Master's talents."

"My talents? Two of them?"

"A natural-born eye. And a cursed body of divine punishment."

...I don't think one of those is a talent?

"The Great Master's eye is abnormal. Just by looking, it imitates swordsmanship, grasps its essence, and reads its flow and trajectory. It is like the gift that shamans obtain by sacrificing their bodies or souls."

The Saintess's eyes stared at me.

"But I don't smell such a soul from the Great Master. That means it is truly a pure talent. To an unbelievable extent. A miracle. But the... the world is fair."

You were about to say God is fair, weren't you?

As if ashamed of her un-apostate-like words, the Saintess (in-training) quickly continued.

"Your body is the worst."

"I know I'm clumsy."

"It's not at that level. Your body rejects growth and flow."

Yuria shook her head.

It was the most serious expression I had seen on her since we met.

Her usually dead eyes stared at me, and they were the eyes that only one who sees through and knows everything can have.

For the first time, she truly looked like a Saintess.

"A person's knowledge develops through the eyes, the head, and the body. The eyes distinguish between good and bad, the head learns to judge it, and finally, the body becomes able to reproduce it."

What Yuria was saying was the basic process of acquiring knowledge.

The basics I had heard in an academy class.

"But the Great Master's body is rejecting growth. It is too saturated to accept new knowledge. The eyes are too strong and take in excessive knowledge, so the body cannot keep up."

"Then what if I downgrade the swordsmanship and use it?"

Yuria shook her head.

"The Great Master's body is at a level where it should be content with just living day by day. Above all, the Great Master's eyes and intuition are turning even the most basic swordsmanship into an advanced swordsmanship."

So that's why my whole body ached just by taking a basic swordsmanship stance.

I knew the reason for the pain, but I wasn't happy.

"Who does the Great Master think I am?"

"Yuria?"

"I am the final Saint of humanity who resisted as God's representative, filling the void at the moment the souls of my predecessors were dragged away by demons, the end of God, the apocalypse of God."

She's spouting off such self-praise without batting an eye?

No, in a way, it seemed like a characteristic of regressors.

Rozalin, too, whenever she had time, was busy boasting about what a great general she was.

Is it because that is an objective fact to them?

"Do you think it makes sense for me, even if my divine power has dropped a little since I abandoned God, to collapse, spilling blood, just by healing the Great Master's body?"

But Yuria's self-praise was brought up for the seriousness of the situation.

Her fine eyebrows drooped.

"So do not wield a sword. This is a warning. You are a teacher of humanity who must find the truth to save this world. You must know how to do what you are talented at and give up what you are not."

Hah.

I let out a long sigh to relieve my frustrated heart.

To have to give up the sword.

Yuria's words were strangely similar to Avril's logic, but I had no reason to refuse.

It wasn't a story about a student, but a story related to my life.

So I tried to change the subject.

"But why am I the Great Master?"

"Because you taught Pan."

Yuria answered immediately without hesitation.

"The me of the future did that, but... that's only about swordsmanship, right?"

"No."

Yuria's gaze followed the empty air.

A distant future from now.

And for her, it had become the past, a gaze that rummaged through the time that had disappeared in a double helix.

"Pan was a wise person. He was decisive in his judgments, and a person who took the lead and moved forward in what he believed was right."

For the first time, Yuria's lips drew a soft arc.

It was a very faint curve, but it was definitely a smile.

"If there were a god of war who had descended upon the human world, he would have been like that. And he always said he had a teacher. A great master who taught him both the sword and life."

"And that's me."

Yuria's eyes looked at me again.

The gaze from a moment ago was completely gone, and she had returned to her emotionless gaze, one where all interest and affection for the world had died.

"So I ask the Great Master. In a world where God is dead, why must humans live so diligently?"

I had thought about many things since I first received that question, but the answer did not come easily.

But not finding an answer doesn't mean I can't do anything.

"We have to find why, and for what, we live."

A world abandoned by God, or a world where God is dead.

But humanity is not yet dead.

"Rozalin, and though I don't like him, Avril too. They're all working hard to live somehow. So in this world, we have to find what we are living for."

"It's the same story as last time."

"If the answer to that question came easily, others would have already organized and presented it."

Yuria seemed to be about to open her mouth to say something more.

But faster than that, at an exquisite timing, someone came to the faculty room.

It was Pan.

"Instructor. If you could look at my training again tonight..."

And Yuria, looking at Pan, made a scary face again.

Pan's voice, terrified by Yuria's expression, trailed off.

"Don't look at him like that. You said Pan was a great kid."

"That Pan is not this Pan. That Pan is a trick of the devil to tempt me. Ah. Just because I abandoned God, God has put me in hardship."

It seems Yuria is still stuck on the image of the old Pan.

Did she like him or something?

"Go to the training room for now."

As I opened the way for him, Pan shouted "Yes!" and quickly disappeared.

Yuria stared at Pan's back, then sighed and looked at me.

"...You really are the Great Master. To make that Pan like that."

"I don't think that's a good thing."

"By the way, it's a relief. The Great Master's body is so bad that his swordsmanship is only half-baked."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You saw it, the swordsmanship of the Lionheart Commander."

I did see it.

When the Lionheart Commander fought the Twin-Head Ogre, I hid at a little distance and watched.

"Have you ever tried to swing it?"

Of course, I had.

It was the strongest swordsmanship I knew.

And that's when I knew.

That my body would cry out in pain if I even tried to swing my sword once.

"It was fortunate that it was the swordsmanship of the Marquis of Vürhelm today. If it had been the Lionheart Swordsmanship, the ultimate swordsmanship the Great Master knows, both the Great Master and I might have died."

After saying that, Yuria pleaded with me.

But there was an error in her words.

"No."

The strongest swordsmanship I knew was not the swordsmanship of the Knight Commander Perdius.

At my words, one of Yuria's eyebrows twitched.

"A swordsmanship greater than that of Lionheart, I have never heard of such a thing."

"Because I've never shown it before."

"...? No way."

"No one can be a swordsmanship instructor without their own swordsmanship."

The strongest swordsmanship I know.

It was the swordsmanship I created.

"No way."

Yuria looked at me with her mouth slightly open.

"There's no reason why not."

I was at the Imperial Royal Academy and saw the swordsmanship of many people.

And on my way here, I met many knights and saw the swordsmanship of instructors.

Above all, I saw the person who was said to be at the pinnacle of the sword.

I gathered all those essentials and created a basic swordsmanship.

It was the very textbook swordsmanship I was preparing with Freutche.

'I'll die just by using the swordsmanship of the Lionheart Knight Commander, huh.'

Then what would happen if I swung that swordsmanship?

"So the problem is the body, right?"

If so, I thought I should build up my body for the time being.

"Simple exercise won't be enough. Since it's a problem with the constitution and the body itself, we need to bring some elixirs and have you take them."

"There's someone who said she'd bring them."

My disciple who left this academy and is wandering around.

Rozalin Vürhelm.

Hearing her name, Yuria opened her mouth in surprise.

"Did she also attend here?"

"You really have no interest if it's not the real Pan."

"Come to think of it, I've heard that they are from the same place."

"Not from the same place."

It seemed the solution to all the problems lay with Rozalin.

She said she'd bring good elixirs, so if I believe and wait, this body will get a little better.

I wonder if she's doing well.

Of course, before that, I have to do my part.

I moved towards Pan, who was waiting in the training room.

* * *

The red sunset and the blood flowing on the ground were indistinguishable.

The corpses of monsters.

And among them, the scattered corpses of humans.

"Hk, ptooey!"

A huge man spat on them.

He was only 170cm tall, but his shoulders, which were three times wider and stronger than others, were impressive.

He was a man covered in muscles, and the black snake tattoo engraved on one side of his shaved head made his impression even stronger.

He shook the blood off the morning star in his hand and then started walking.

There, a beast was sitting on the corpses.

"Sister."

"You're late. Why did it take you so long to deal with those bastards?"

"You're the fast one, sister."

It was Rozalin.

The man shook his head as if he was fed up.

"No way! I have to bring a mandrake to our teacher! A thousand-year-old mandrake! They're going to take it all!"

"Well, even if you look at all the regressors, there are only ten of them, and the only one who would take that is the Wolf King. And the Wolf King is busy with a tribal war right now."

"He has minions! Like you!"

"Don't call me that, hey. Geez."

Even as he said that, the man walked diligently.

Because what Rozalin said was not entirely wrong.

The 'Wolf King' they were talking about referred to the ruler of the barbarians who were currently expanding their power in the north.

He was the leader of the place Rozalin had once belonged to, the world's strongest mercenary.

And the one with the world's most evil ambition.

"That bastard will be thrilled as soon as he regresses. He might even try to kill Pan."

His favorite saying was that everything could be solved with power.

He had also said that the reason for humanity's downfall was because Pan, who had great power, did not rule the world and put it under his feet.

Since such an existence had regressed, his actions were obvious.

'He'll unify the north faster than before he regressed and march south to attack the empire.'

So before that, she had to gather the power of the empire and build a defensive shield.

Only then could she return to the academy with peace of mind.

"By the way, you said there's a zombie there too, right?"

"Yeah. The Saintess is also by his side. And from the looks of it, she seems a little obsessed with our teacher?"

"That's a relief."

The man stroked his beard and nodded.

Avril wasn't bad, but he often disregarded people's feelings and acted as he pleased for the sake of efficiency.

If Instructor Cassian was that weak, a stronger, more reliable person was better.

In that respect, the Saintess was the optimal condition.

But Rozalin didn't seem to like it.

"Damn, he's my teacher."

"Tsk tsk, get rid of that obsession. You said you quit school both in the past and now."

"Ah, that was just a rebellious phase when I was young! I was going to bring him over! I'm going to bring him over this time!"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with."

The man's flashing gaze was directed at the dark forest.

There, people who had yet to hide their killing intent were spying on them.

"Sister, that teacher, is it really because the energy in his body is broken?"

"Of course. Trust me. I've seen people with similar symptoms, you know?"

Rozalin shook her sword once and stood up.

"Our teacher, he'll be flying around if he just drinks a good elixir. I'll make it so."

Thinking of the unseen appearance of the person who was not here, Rozalin smiled savagely.