Chapter 15: -i’m at me (5)

Chapter 15: Back in My Day (5)

I struck Lassian, whose black hair was flowing, without hesitation.

It was a pure sword strike, infused with no particular strong force.

Although I could wield a sword now, I didn’t think my understanding of swordsmanship was superior to Lassian’s, who was a reincarnated sword master from the Imperial Unification War.

Therefore, Lassian would have to fully reveal his true skill to parry this.

That was my intention from the start.

I had no intention of granting his wish to ‘live quietly as a guard knight in a rural noble house with a beautiful garden,’ just like the original author.

“Kuugh?!”

“Don’t hide it, reveal it.

Otherwise, there will be no bonus points.”

Lassian, the protagonist, was one of the most representative characters I wished would simply grow as he did in the original story.

He was someone who could do well on his own if left alone.

Of course, even he, whose inner self was already complete, would undergo several mental growths later.

But for now, I hoped he would reveal his skills and become the catalyst for the growth of those around him, just like in the original.

There was also a reason for me to observe like this, constantly looking for opportunities: to plant that seed.

It was about me overcoming the code of conduct and intervening to ‘recreate’ his incidents, which I had ‘removed’ through school policy reforms and curriculum innovations.

“That’s enough!”

Perhaps my true intentions were inadvertently revealed, as he, who had been defending my barrage, suddenly flashed blue light in his black eyes, then dashed forward and swung his sword at me.

My ice sword was pushed back by his, making it impossible to guard.

Eventually, I discarded my sword and, with a rising punch from my other hand, cleanly broke the dull training sword that was coming for my neck.

“You passed, Lassian.”

He was still aiming his broken sword at me and glaring, but I chuckled and lowered my fist.

“You seem to have a lot to say.

Do you think I’m tormenting you?”

“…May I ask why your left arm is injured?”

“This?”

His question was a bit unexpected.

I subtly hid my throbbing left arm, which I had used to parry his sword.

I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt under my uniform, so I never thought he’d notice it to this extent.

“Adults have things they can’t tell children.”

However, looking up at him, I continued to tease him, even though I knew he suspected me.

Since I couldn’t tell him the truth anyway, I had decided to endure it, even if he couldn’t trust me, hated me, or despised me.

Because I wanted him to grow stronger that way and change the future.

Like a protagonist.

“Everyone else failed.

Putting skill aside, your mindset is poor.

You showed courtesy because I’m the headmaster?

Don’t make excuses like that.”

After Lassian earned bonus points, several students gained confidence and challenged me, but most were shattered and fell after a single exchange.

Their swords carried an undeniable hesitation and fear that Lassian’s sword lacked.

Such things are inevitable due to inexperience, and only a very few overcome them.

While it was natural, I had no intention of giving points to those who couldn’t even manage such a basic mindset.

“What do you think, Professor Heinman?

Will students with such a mindset be able to perform well in future practical training?”

“Th-that is…”

I openly scolded the professor in front of the despairing students.

Whether it was professors or students, it didn’t matter if they cursed or chewed me out, as usual.

For better results, I would do even worse.

“Everyone worked hard.”

Having shattered the atmosphere, I simply left.

However, I didn’t return to the residence directly.

“Shall we go somewhere else, Illia?

As you just saw, the students are still very lacking.

They need more growth.”

“Headmaster, they are still teenagers.”

“…Precisely why.”

Illia seemed not to understand, but I shook my head.

Because they are weak and fragile, they paradoxically need to be tempered more fiercely.

Only then will they become stronger.

“Has anything unusual happened in the city lately?”

Following the flow of an academy story, once the period of internal school drama passes, it’s about time for incidents to start happening outside.

According to the matters I’ve been involved in so far, most have been concentrated on Lich, who is my financial backer, my support, and the Emperor, and within the school itself.

In other words, I lacked the time and effort to prepare for events happening outside in advance.

“N-no special news, I haven’t heard any.”

“Really? Then that’s enough.”

Illia replied that there was no news.

From what I remember, the protagonist Lassian’s first involvement in an external school incident was clearly during the early part of the semester, once he had somewhat adapted.

I’m just paying a bit of attention because the timing seems similar.

However, it’s still frustrating that I know everything but can’t directly intervene.

“Who are those?”

“They appear to be second-year students.

I believe they are magic students.”

“Looks interesting.”

Then, a new target appeared in my sight.

If they were second-year magic students, I might be able to meet Lizel Rotten von Eisenberg, one of the heroines, or the supporting character Marcus Fallen.

“H-Headmaster, if you overexert yourself, your wound will worsen.”

“This much is fine.”

Illia seemed displeased, but I was the one in charge anyway.

I took her and eventually approached the magic students who were conducting their outdoor practical training.

****

“Ugh, a supplementary exam, all because of the Headmaster…”

“You’re right, Karl.

The Headmaster is a strange person.”

After Eve left, Lopez Heinman, the swordsmanship professor, who couldn’t hide his anger, naturally took it out on the students.

He announced that there would be a supplementary exam next class, telling them to train diligently on their own.

Karl, who had been too afraid to even challenge Eve, groaned, and this time, even Lassian agreed.

‘Is she the type who enjoys being cursed behind her back?

Or is she a pervert who enjoys seeing people unable to utter a peep in front of her?’

Lassian had also realized that Eve had deliberately provoked him.

He had fallen for it and ended up revealing his skills, and the result was other students glancing at him as they passed by.

Not knowing Eve’s true intentions, he couldn’t help but feel, no matter how rationally he thought, that Eve was simply picking a fight with him.

‘Indeed, I shouldn’t have acted so rashly that day.’

Lassian smiled bitterly, recalling the day he first conversed with Eve.

The incident where she snatched the student council’s core.

The core he obtained then had been very helpful, but he frowned, thinking the price was Eve’s attention and interest.

It was by no means a gain.

“I don’t know if I can endure it.”

“Even though the Headmaster’s words are irritating, they aren’t wrong.

Mindset is the most important thing, Karl; if you don’t even have the will to do it, you can’t do anything.”

Though ostensibly only a year apart, he, with a vastly different inner self, soothed Karl as if he were a nephew and moved to the next class.

Sitting at his desk and listening to the class, it was a bonus that Eve hadn’t shown up this time.

“Is that her..? That first-year…”

“Yeah.

Black hair, black eyes, commoner background, and even the kid she always has by her side.”

However, that evening.

As Lassian walked down the dormitory hallway with Karl to eat dinner, he sensed a changed atmosphere and his tension rose.

“I’m the only one who got the bonus points the Headmaster offered?”

“Swordsmanship, Magic Coordinate Studies, Continental History, Magical Pharmacology, Group Tactics…

These are the subjects the Headmaster swept through today.

Regardless of year or department.”

It was only in the dining hall that Lassian understood the reason for the gazes still fixed on him.

It was because he had heard what Eve had been doing all day through the testimony of another friend named Paul.

“No, this wasn’t her first observation, so why…”

“Who knows what goes on inside that Ice Witch’s mind?

Anyway, she’s a truly crazy monster.

Her magic, swordsmanship, and academics are unapproachable.

She speed-reads thick books in a minute and memorizes everything; who could possibly pass a test given by the Headmaster?”

A slightly agitated Paul shivered as he recounted the rumors he had heard.

Eve presented tests of brutal difficulty, as if to say that no one could easily earn bonus points, and indeed, no one managed to pass them and gain the points.

However, today, there was one sole existence who passed that test: Lassian of Swordsmanship.

Moreover, the rumors were inflated and exaggerated, to the point where people were circulating that Lassian had confronted Eve head-on and almost cut her down.

‘Crazy talk.

If the Headmaster had just extended a single finger, I would have exploded and died right there.’

Lassian, the one involved, couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Because he had experienced firsthand just how strong Eve’s power was.

But what did it matter?

Lassian had already become a fighter among the students, one who had shown meaningful resistance against the tyrannical, peerless Headmaster.

“Anyway, the two major student councils are looking for you, they say.”

“…What?”

Moreover, that wasn’t the end of it.

Lassian, who had been listening with a semblance of composure, eventually dropped the chopsticks he was awkwardly holding in his hand.