Top Instructor of a Third-Rate Academy

017

"It's been a while! This is I, Freutche! I'm currently the swordsmanship instructor for Graduation Class B!"

Freutche's triumphant expression scanned the faces of the Class C students.

He had probably expected a reaction full of anticipation from them.

He liked to show off to others and was confident in his own skills.

"Woooow."

But the students only responded with a perfunctory cheer and applause that was clearly just for show.

Some students even had expressions that seemed to say they didn't know why Freutche was here.

Either way, it was far from the reaction he had expected.

"What is this?"

His eyes turned to me.

Well, you see. A lot has happened in just one week.

"Aren't you happy? I came to personally teach you how to fight Class A."

"...Isn't Instructor Cassian enough?"

"What?!"

Freutche's eyes snapped to one side.

It was Bridget.

"Huh?"

Freutche, who had confirmed it was Bridget, had an expression as if he had seen a monster.

"Your hair?"

And for good reason. Bridget had cut his characteristic, unruly hair short and neat, like a knight's squire.

Each strand was no longer than 1 cm.

Bridget turned his head and feigned ignorance, as if he had no intention of responding.

A week ago.

I don't know what he was thinking, but he came with that hairstyle.

'For a noble, it's a radical hairstyle.'

Nobles usually considered long, luxurious hair a virtue.

So much so that for official events, they would wear well-groomed wigs to make their hair look even fuller.

Because they believed it proved their noble and elegant lives.

But for Bridget, who valued his lineage and birth, to have such a style.

It must have shown his determination for training.

And that seemed to be why Freutche couldn't understand it even more.

"By any chance, did Instructor Cassian gaslight you?"

"Instructor Freutche."

"No, it doesn't make any sense. Why are they so obsessed with you? With you, who can't even handle a sword?"

"Our instructor is good with a sword!"

As soon as Freutche's words ended, a backlash came from the students.

It wasn't just one student, but a simultaneous reaction from many students.

"Of course, he doesn't handle a sword much, but!"

"And most of what he says is gibberish that we can't understand, but!"

"And he delegates everything to Bridget as if we're not even worth teaching, but!"

Hey, guys.

That sounds like gaslighting to anyone who hears it.

"He teaches us advanced swordsmanship!"

"Advanced? This person? How?"

"Now, now. Let's just skip the backstory."

I calmed Freutche down.

Because in the distance, there was a young lady with her eyes shining brightly, about to enter combat stance.

If I let him continue to criticize me, it seemed like there would be a disaster today.

"You know well. I deconstructed Rozalin's swordsmanship in theory."

"Ahem, can you even do something like that?"

"Roughly. Anyway, this class won't work without your help, instructor. There's only a week left."

At my words of praise, Freutche's shoulders slightly rose.

He snorted, "Hmph," so it seemed he liked it.

Freutche crossed his arms, showing off his biceps, and smiled.

"Ahem, right. This Instructor Cassian does have his strengths. But that's only in the theoretical part! I will supplement the practical side!"

"Now, now. Everyone. I told you before, right? Instructor Freutche will show you the swordsmanship of the Class A students. You will learn that trajectory and prepare for the spar with Class A. Bridget."

"Yeah."

At my call, Bridget came forward first with a wooden sword.

The students each took a seat on one side of the training ground.

Seeing this, Instructor Freutche let out a hollow laugh, "Hah."

"I don't know what you did... but right. You heard about the format of the performance evaluation, right?"

"It's a 1-on-1 match. We choose one student from Class A and have an evaluation match."

"Right."

This evaluation match was only for Class A and Class C, without Class B.

'If you want to get out of Class C, prove that you have as much talent as Class A.'

The Class B students, unlike the Class A students, had no particular complaints.

It wasn't that there was no one who envied the privileges of Class A, but it was because they were informed that they could move up to Class A based on their evaluation scores in the middle.

"So your opponent is?"

"Taylor."

The student Bridget mentioned was quite skilled, even in Class A.

I think his father was a baron of the empire.

Since he was a case of becoming a noble by achieving merit on the battlefield, he used a fairly solid swordsmanship.

"Instructor Freutche."

Freutche hummed and took his stance.

For the past week.

This was the swordsmanship of the Class A students that I had met with and trained with Freutche every night.

"Wow, that... really looks like Taylor."

"Amazing, as expected of Instructor Cassian!"

I could hear the students murmuring.

Amazing? I didn't do much.

I just analyzed the students' swordsmanship and passed it on to Freutche.

The truly amazing one is Freutche, who memorized and imitated all that swordsmanship in a week.

Bridget, who was standing in front of Freutche, held his sword with a tense, stiff expression.

"Now. The first attack will start like this."

Instructor Freutche slowly extended his sword.

Using his muscles to the fullest, the sword's form continued in a slow and precise manner.

A swordsmanship for a melee, designed to protect one's own body as much as possible while attacking an unspecified number of enemies on the battlefield.

"That's why this swordsmanship tries to maintain its center as much as possible."

The central axis must be fixed to allow for various changes.

So the sword does not extend far.

A swordsmanship not intended for 1-on-1.

The answer was there.

"Bridget. Basic stance!"

At my shout, Bridget took the basic stance of the Vürhelm swordsmanship that he had been practicing for days.

And that basic stance was.

Clang!

A stance that also served as a defense.

Instructor Freutche's sword was instantly deflected.

"Oh-ho!"

A spark ignited in Instructor Freutche's eyes.

He seemed pleased with the unexpected defense.

"Good, take this too!"

Then, naturally, Instructor Freutche's sword began to dance.

Taylor's swordsmanship has no continuous attacks.

If it's deflected, he retreats as it's deflected and prepares for a counterattack, or he strikes an enemy on the opposite side to induce a melee.

But.

"Ugh!?"

While preparing with Freutche, I had modified this swordsmanship for 1-on-1.

Because it was obvious that with a distinguished knight like Sordian in charge of education, the swordsmanship of the Class A students would be elevated.

Bridget took a step back at the sudden counterattack.

"Maintain your stance and protect your center!"

In Vürhelm swordsmanship, it was important to hold your center and endure.

He changed the position of his wrist and arm to block his entire upper body and read the opponent's sword moves.

A swordsmanship like a noble tree.

The branches could only extend straight if the roots were deep and the trunk was firm.

"First form, legs!"

At my shout, Bridget's body began to move.

The timing when the opponent's attack is deflected.

The sword begins to come forward, sliding along with that sword.

Bridget's breath is added to the opponent's, and the sword, sliding as if stuck to the opponent's, aimed for Instructor Freutche's wrist.

"Ugh?"

At the attack that coiled around his sword like a snake, Instructor Freutche wrapped his wrist with a flustered expression.

Bridget's sword uselessly cut through the air along the sword path that rotated in a semi-circle.

But.

"Good. Well done."

"No way..."

The final defense technique was not Taylor's, but Instructor Freutche's swordsmanship.

"If you follow the opponent's retreating breath like that, it won't be difficult to deal with them."

"Wait, this isn't something to be praised with just that!"

"Huh?"

"This swordsmanship, isn't it really Rozalin's swordsmanship? But how can you use it? And what I used was an advanced version of Taylor's swordsmanship!"

"What, are you getting mad because I beat you, instructor?"

"No, come on!"

Is it that hard to accept?

"I called you for that practice in the first place."

"No, no..."

Freutche looked back and forth between his hand and Bridget as if he was out of his mind.

Bridget already seemed to have no interest in his victory just now.

"Something wasn't smooth when I swung the sword just now."

"The opponent was retreating. It's because of the difference between the stride of a retreating adult and the stride of a still-young you. Use a wider field of view."

"Is that it."

By the time I finished the guidance, Freutche seemed to have come to his senses.

He let out a sigh, "Hah," and then looked at me with a serious expression.

"I don't know what kind of magic you used... but it seems you'll win this match."

"I don't know yet. You said Instructor Sordian is from the Imperial Knights. He'll have tremendous know-how and guide the students, so he'll surely come back after quickly補ing any weaknesses I can spot."

The mother of my swordsmanship was the Knight Commander Perdius.

He was a monster of a person, who could read people's minds just by listening to the sound of their breathing.

'That guy's a robber. He's even killed people a few times.'

'Can you see that?'

'It's not about seeing. It's about hearing.'

The Imperial Knights must be a place teeming with people like that.

So, preparations, huh?

"Why that look?"

Freutche was looking at me as if I were pathetic.

"You seem really smart, but you're out of it in these aspects."

"Hmm?"

"Sordian, he was fired."

"Huh?"

I blinked.

"I don't know the exact reason, but for health reasons, he stepped down from his position as the Class A instructor and went back to being an escort for the Goldline Merchant Guild."

So that's why Pan hadn't come to see me since then.

I had thought Avril went back, gave Sordian a scolding, and started taking care of Pan.

Freutche looked at me with an expression that said he knew.

"So that's why you did such a foolish training."

"Foolish?"

"You only think about swordsmanship with your head, so you don't know the students well. No matter how much the swordsmanship instructor is from the Imperial Knights, do you think swordsmanship improves that much in just two weeks?"

"But I'm telling them the correct theory and points for improvement."

"Actually embodying that is a completely different matter. Tsk tsk."

I glanced at Bridget.

He followed along well up to this point in just a week.

Pan also absorbed whatever I taught him well.

Am I misunderstanding something?

"Well... the Class A kids are in big trouble too. I thought I was just here to help with training, but it turns out I can give that merchant a good blow."

Instructor Freutche chuckled.

Something a little strange was included in that.

"Give Avril a blow?"

"Hmm? Oh, you probably didn't know that either. The vacant Class A instructor position, that merchant went in, saying he would teach them himself."

He snorted.

"I don't know what that merchant is thinking, teaching Class A, but it'll be a sight to see."

"Hmm..."

I became a little more anxious.

Avril would periodically inspect various places to understand how the academy was running.

He might have seen me and Freutche training at night.

He might even be analyzing the contents of this class somewhere.

"Instructor Cassian, aren't you thinking too highly of your opponent?"

That's because you don't know the regressor.

"Let's get on with the class."

I thought I should prepare for a more advanced course than the current one.

Hearing my resolve, Freutche looked at me with a somehow reluctant expression.

The students' expressions were similar.

Why?

* * *

After class.

I sat in the center of the town, watching the people as usual.

The townspeople passed by and greeted me.

"Instructor! I haven't seen you around lately!"

"I've been a bit busy for the past few days. Do you need anything?"

"Oh, no! The Goldline Merchant Guild is truly amazing!"

The town had changed in the week I hadn't come down to it for training with Freutche.

The Goldline Merchant Guild was changing the entire structure of the town.

They cleared the forest near the fief and attacked the source of the magical beasts, exterminating them.

They created a small merchant guild to assist with administrative tasks and began to handle the town's big and small affairs.

They started to pave the roads, providing jobs for the poor, and solved other big and small problems with money.

'Right, they completely squashed it with money.'

Thanks to that, it was my first time out of the village in a while, but there was nothing to do.

It wasn't a bad thing.

Originally, the area around Akarind Academy was a small town full of warm-hearted people.

But now, this town was bustling with energy.

'Should I head back now.'

I was about to leave with that thought.

"Teacher."

A large boy blocked my way.

"Bridget?"

He was a boy I hadn't expected to meet in a place like this.

"...I want to learn more swordsmanship."

And they were words I hadn't expected to hear from him.