Top Instructor of a Third-Rate Academy

Chapter 5

Rozalin's eyes gleamed as if she were under a hallucinatory spell.

It was a look I had sometimes seen in the eyes of people who lived in the back alleys with nothing to lose, their lives on the line.

A primal look, the kind I had never seen at the academy.

I stealthily moved away from her.

"Wipe that look off your face."

"Aww, but I'm just sending you a look of respect 'cuz your eyes are so good, Instructor-nim."

Rozalin's voice was slightly slurred as she took a step closer.

It felt less like she was trying to be cute and more like she was so drunk her tongue had gone numb.

"Why didn't I recognize this value back then? I really was a fucking idiot."

"No..."

"How is it possible to see that kind of movement and think with such causality and logic? Even we can't do that. Wow, it's amazing. I want to pluck out your eyes and see."

"What, hey, wait!"

Thankfully, she still had some reason left, as Rozalin's body stopped in its tracks.

Though her eyes were still dangerous.

"Did you just understand what I said?"

"Of course?"

"No, just a few days ago, you were saying it was all nonsense, that it was useless..."

"Wow, shit, who! If there's anyone who says such ridiculous, nonsensical crap, bring them all to me, I can beat them half to death! I'm the guard captain, you know!"

It was you.

It was you.

I'm telling you, it was you.

Perhaps feeling my pointed stare, Rozalin discreetly looked away and let out a dry cough,

"Ahem."

"Well, it could be. I was just immature."

"That's a really self-serving excuse."

"Tsk, think about it. A guy whose body is creaking and who can't even swing a sword properly comes up and suddenly starts nagging you that this is wrong, that is wrong. Who would just accept that?"

My lips twisted slightly.

Not because I wanted to deny it.

But because I knew the reason she mentioned all too well.

"Right. That's why I just tell them. And I tell the ones who follow to work hard."

"Are there any who follow?"

"There are a few."

For example, Pan over there, and there's one each in the 4th and 5th years...

"There are about 300 students in our academy, and if there are only three of them, isn't it time to submit a letter of resignation and do some soul-searching?"

I knew it was true, but having it pointed out was another matter.

Feeling dejected, I sighed and turned my head.

In the meantime, the students continued their mock spars with their partners.

The students here were first-years who would soon be promoted to second-years.

In other words, they were students who had been taught by me for a year.

I had pointed out the weaknesses and habits of each student at least ten times.

And among them, the only student who had corrected their habits was Pan.

'...Of course, correcting something and being strong are two different things.'

Pan was still standing there blankly, looking around, unable to find a sparring partner.

Normally, the delinquents would have called him over, set him up like a mannequin, and bullied him by swinging their swords.

But now, those delinquents were just listlessly swinging their swords, keeping an eye on Rozalin.

The leader was still lying on the ground, unconscious.

Looking at his condition, it would be a relief if he woke up before the end of the day, let alone this class.

'Should I call him over and spar with him myself?'

As Rozalin pointed out, I'm not good at wielding a sword either, so it would probably be an ugly sight…

But still, I'm a teacher, so I should, right?

"Pan! Come here!"

But someone else spoke before I did.

It was Rozalin.

"Ye-yes?!"

Pan looked at Rozalin, startled.

From his expression, he seemed much more nervous and scared than when he was called by the delinquents.

Whether she knew that or not, Rozalin stood crookedly with a smirk on her face and beckoned with her finger.

"You don't have a partner. This guard captain will personally be your opponent, my little one, hurry up and come."

Her voice was so confident and loud that the students training nearby began to whisper and look at Rozalin.

'...Isn't that senior the one with the overflowing talent for swordsmanship? A swordsmanship talent that comes once every 100 years.'

'Didn't she drop out?'

'A person who dropped out is suddenly not just a guard, but a captain...'

'Scary, don't make eye contact.'

They probably thought they were lowering their voices.

But because several voices were whispering at once, it rang quite loudly in my ears.

Rozalin didn't seem to care about any of it.

Pan, who approached hesitantly, glanced at me furtively.

"Go ahead. It'll be a good opportunity."

I was serious.

Pan had never had a proper guided spar until now.

He was always too busy being defeated and rolling on the ground by others' swordsmanship before he could even unfold his own.

But Rozalin, who was favorable towards Pan, would probably accept his swordsmanship as it was.

"Instructor."

"Hmm?"

"You said I got weaker after just a glance at my sword movements earlier."

I did say that.

"I'll make you regret it. Watch carefully what kind of swordsmanship I use. Got it?"

...Uh, favorable, I mean.

Hmm.

Good luck, Pan.

But there's one thing I need to correct.

"Rozalin."

"Yes?"

"I've never looked at a student carelessly or without thought, so there's no need to worry."

Was my response unexpected?

Rozalin stared at me for a moment, then smiled with her eyes.

It was a different, bright, and cheerful smile from when she looked at Pan earlier.

One student and one hooligan stood side by side.

The students, stalling their own spars, began to glance at the two.

To be precise, they began to look at Rozalin.

'Her stance is really stable.'

Rozalin casually picked up a wooden sword from the corner of the training ground and took her stance.

It was slightly slanted, but there were no openings.

Her left arm hung limply, as if it wasn't there.

And her right shoulder and arm were loosely relaxed, as if they knew no tension.

Even her legs, planted on the ground, showed no signs of wavering.

For someone who had left one arm free, there were no blind spots to be seen.

'The power...'

Rozalin wasn't originally the type to fight with power.

She was the type to pursue a clean style, pursuing practical trajectories and beauty even in the process of swinging a sword.

But from her current stance, I felt a tension that made it seem like no matter when or where one entered, the sword would spring like a whip, wrap around the opponent's sword and arm, and strike down at their neck.

Of course, Pan didn't seem to feel any of that.

"He-here I c-come!"

Pan, so nervous his pronunciation was slurred, stepped forward with his sword raised.

First move.

Pan, who was charging forward, crouched as low as possible, then swung his sword diagonally from left to bottom right, aiming for Rozalin's ankle.

Rozalin took half a step back and dodged the trajectory.

For a very brief moment, I felt her eyes contemplate striking down at the still-crouched Pan.

'Thankfully, she's holding back.'

Because of that, Pan was able to calmly unfold what he had learned from me and what he had practiced.

Pan pulled his right arm straight back and thrust his sword, aiming for Rozalin's abdomen.

It was a thrust that used the full length of his body, springing from his crouched position.

Swish!

But Rozalin, with her right foot as an axis, just lightly flicked her left foot, twisting her body to evade.

It was light, and nimble.

'Her balance is insane.'

Even as she moved in response to Pan's attack, I couldn't feel any wavering.

I could feel a solid sense of balance from her right foot planted on the ground.

A few students who noticed it let out short gasps of admiration, "Waa."

"Ugh!"

Pan, unable to overcome the inertia of his entire body, awkwardly took a couple of steps forward before finally regaining his posture.

Rozalin waited for Pan once again.

"I've held back twice. I'll hold back three more times, then I'll attack too."

"I-I'm coming again!"

Pan crouched again and swung his sword from left to right.

A low attack.

"It's obvious."

'She'll think it's obvious.'

Rozalin took another step back with a bored look in her eyes.

At that moment, Pan took three steps.

"Oh."

Short steps, about half a step shorter than the steps normally taken in swordsmanship.

But with just those steps that changed the body's trajectory and angle while maintaining balance.

A downward slash from the side turned into a sword strike that went deep into the opponent, cutting from the left shoulder to the right side.

It was the footwork I had taught him, and that was tailored for Pan.

"This is it!"

Rozalin raised her sword as if she was amused.

The sword, moving in a whip-like, undulating curve, struck the center of gravity of Pan's thrusting sword.

"Ugh?"

It wasn't blocking, nor was it parrying.

As if it was naturally meeting there in a coordinated exchange, the swords met without any particular impact sound, and Pan's sword was sucked in and thrown away.

In an instant, the sword flew out of Pan's hand and clattered to the ground.

"Hey, can a swordsman drop his sword? I was going to just block two more times, but this is too boring."

At Rozalin's words, spoken with a frown, Pan didn't know what to do and froze on the spot, babbling.

"Do something."

"Uh, th-this?"

Pan swung his fist aimlessly in the air a couple of times from where he stood, and then was struck by Rozalin's blow and collapsed to the ground.

Flop.

It was the end of the spar.

"Wow, woooow..."

The students, completely forgetting their own duels, looked at Rozalin with admiration.

And rightly so, for it was a truly enchanting move.

A single move that controlled the trajectory and speed of the sword solely in accordance with the opponent's strength, twisting it.

It was not a feat of skill that clumsy students at an academy like this could show.

"Hey, what are you looking at? Is this a spectacle?! Who do you think you are, looking at me like a monkey in a zoo? I haven't even broken a sweat, you want a piece of me too?!"

And it wasn't the kind of attitude you'd expect from an academy guard captain either.

The students, startled, went back to sparring with their partners.

"It is a spectacle."

The students must feel wronged.

If she was going to have a spar so openly, she should have expected it to become a spectacle.

But Rozalin just snorted once, "Hmph," and looked at me with eyes full of anticipation.

"Inst'ctor."

"..."

"Hey! Instructor! Hurry! You saw it! If you saw it, you have to tell me! Uh-huh, hurry! It was amazing, right?"

My thoughts.

I could tell her, but is this right?

I scratched my chin and opened my mouth.

"Rozalin. I can't praise a problem you solved with the answer key in hand."

"Eh."

"You, you knew all of Pan's moves, didn't you?"

At my words, Rozalin giggled like a mischievous child, "Hehehe."

"Aish. We fought together on the battlefield for a few years, of course I'd know that footwork. Not that, my swordsmanship! Praise my swordsmanship."

Hmm, praise.

I don't think I can do that.

I stroked my chin and thought for a moment.

"Stay behind after class. I have something to show you."

There were about fifteen minutes left of class time.

Rozalin grumbled about something, but not wanting to disturb the class, she sat down in a corner of the training ground with her arms crossed and watched the students train.

For the remaining time, I called each student one by one and told them what I had felt during their spars.

Of course, the students just responded with soulless answers like "Yes, yes," brushing it off.

Beside me, Rozalin glared as if she wanted to say something, but I just waved my hand.

This scenery was much more familiar.

Advice to be taken as needed, and not to be taken if not.

It was enough that there were a few students who cherished it.

After giving advice to all the students, I finally called Pan.

"You stay behind too."

"Ye-yes?"

"Next period is a free study period anyway, right? Let's borrow about 30 minutes of your free time."

"Yes..."

After giving the last piece of advice, time was up and the bell rang.

With the ding of the bell, the students gathered in small groups and left without even a dismissal.

I glanced over and saw that the delinquent leader had regained some consciousness, but he was still having trouble supporting himself and was being helped by other students as he left.

"Go to the infirmary. Show it to the cleric-teacher and get it treated."

"Yeah, well, sure."

The kids glanced at me, about to retort with something sarcastic, then fled.

Behind me, Rozalin was waving her hands and mouthing something, but I decided to pretend I didn't see.

It was a string of curses so foul that even thinking about them again was horrifying.

"Now, then..."

The only ones left were Rozalin, Pan, and me.

As if she had been waiting, Rozalin came running up.

"Instructor. Has my skill really declined compared to before? The number of demons whose heads I've taken off in the last 10 years is probably equal to the population of a small fief, you know? I may be missing an arm, but I'm not missing my pride or my skill."

I don't know what having no arm or pride has to do with skill.

Instead of speaking, I drew my sword.

"From now on, you and I will spar."

Showing would be more certain than telling.