Chapter 15: The Duel Challenge

Lying on the desk, Anne felt utterly defeated. Whether as a teacher or a martial artist, it was a double failure.

“Ugh…”

“What’s wrong, Teacher Anne? You look upset.”

Christine, sitting beside her, asked kindly. Unlike Anne, who mainly taught theory, Christine was a practical combat instructor. Practical classes were usually in the afternoon, so she had a lighter morning schedule. But seeing this now…

“Practical classes are so nice. Ah, I wish I could be a practical teacher too~”

“Haha, if you want, I could let you substitute for a few days. It’s not impossible.”

“Haha, no thanks. I have something more important to do now… You probably don’t know, but a student from the first year challenged me.”

Thinking of this, and her own response back then, Anne sighed again—from the bottom of her heart.

“A challenge?! To a teacher?! Who?”

Christine exclaimed in surprise. In her eyes, it must be hard to imagine a student challenging a teacher. There was no doubt—it was entirely the teacher’s failure. If she taught well and earned the students’ love, such a thing would never happen.

“I envy you, Christine. No one challenges you.”

“Them?! Who dares?! I’ll break their legs… Ah, no, let’s talk about you. Teacher Anne, who challenged you? Some clueless boy?”

“No, actually it’s a girl. A child.”

“…A child?”

Christine’s voice changed slightly. The moment she heard ‘child,’ a figure surfaced in her mind. Honestly, once it appeared, it was hard to dismiss—an ominous premonition.

“I remember, her name is Liya. A cute little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes~”

The premonition became reality, unfortunately.

“Ugh… She’s such an adorable girl. What did I do wrong for her to go so far as to challenge me, to not want to attend my classes… And I actually accepted her challenge! Waaah! As a teacher, I’m too immature. Failure!”

Anne tearfully buried her face in her arms on the desk.

Seeing Anne like this, Christine was also troubled. As colleagues for three years, Christine knew Anne quite well. Anne’s obsession with teaching was the deepest among any teacher Christine had met. She was very strict with herself, often blaming herself for even minor student issues and scrambling to find solutions.

In short, she was the type to get discouraged easily but ultimately persevere.

On the other side, Liya—the student who challenged Anne—was also, in Christine’s experience, the most gifted genius she had ever seen.

Yes, the most gifted genius—that was the highest praise Christine could give. Extraordinary combat sense, extraordinary mana, extraordinary combat skills. In every sense, Liya was far stronger than her peers. She was probably comparable only to the top students in the entire academy.

On one side, a genius student; on the other, a gentle teacher.

“…How should I put it? I’m kind of looking forward to your duel.”

“What?! Christine, you’re kicking me when I’m down! You can see how upset I am!”

“Haha, sorry, sorry…” Christine waved her hand in apology.

Unlike Anne, Christine remained cheerful and relaxed. Why?

“And you don’t need to be too sad. Just use some real skill to knock Liya down and make her study hard, right? I’m sure it’s not hard for someone of your level.”

Christine said casually. As a colleague for three years, how could she not know Anne’s true strength? A gentle personality didn’t mean gentle skills—quite the opposite.

‘She’s actually a very formidable martial artist.’

As a martial artist, Anne was far from ordinary. Perhaps this time, she could teach that little genius a lesson—at least make her understand that there are always people stronger.

“B-but! She’s a student! Such a cute girl! I have to lay a hand on a ten-year-old girl? Use force? Shameful, too shameful!”

Anne wailed on the desk.

‘…Of course, her weak personality can’t be denied either.’

Christine smiled wryly, thinking to herself.

‘Maybe I should go see Liya and understand her thoughts.’

“Huh? What do I think? It’s nothing, really. I just want to test the teacher’s level and skip class on the side.”

Liya answered Christine’s question while punching a sandbag, her tone unconcerned.

“I think it’s better to focus on practical combat rather than studying all that theory. Challenging Teacher Anne is for that too… It’ll definitely be an exhilarating duel!”

“In a sense, this is quite serious…”

Christine murmured, looking at the Liya before her. How to put it? Not just the duel, but also what she had learned about Liya’s personality—this kind of Liya…

‘She really is too boyish. If she were a boy, I’d probably think he was quite handsome.’

But that won’t do. After all, Liya is a girl. A cool girl doesn’t fit the contemporary aesthetic. This mistaken value and personality must be corrected…

Watching Liya still training hard, completely unconcerned about her appearance, Christine nodded thoughtfully.

Finally, Christine reached a conclusion.

‘Indeed, Liya needs to experience defeat.’

How to put it? Liya’s personality likely developed because no boy had ever been her match since childhood, fostering this boyishness. To solve it, the best way is to have someone stronger defeat Liya. Then she’ll realize she’s a proper lady, not a tomboy.

“Yes! That’s it!”

“Right! Teacher, you think my idea is great, don’t you! I told you!”

“…Huh?!”

Christine stared blankly at the delighted Liya, stunned. It took a moment to realize that Liya had just said something to her. She replayed it in her mind. What was it? She remembered, remembered… it was something like…

[By the way, teacher, for the duel day, how about we hold it in the arena? I recall that if you defeat a teacher, you can directly advance to the top twenty. It’s a rare opportunity, isn’t it? How about it?]

Oh, the arena.

“Ah!”

Christine yelped. The arena? No! That place can’t be used for a duel between a student and a teacher!

Why? The answer was simple—

Being defeated in front of everyone would greatly damage a teacher’s authority, even affecting the relationship between all teachers and students. Similar challenge matches were held privately. Generally, teachers wouldn’t accept public duels.

But if it were Anne… She already felt indebted to Liya and thought the fight was unfair… In that state, she might not refuse Liya’s invitation.

This is bad.

At that moment, Christine fully sensed the ominous atmosphere.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Night Has Fallen, Mafia—Send Your Text Messages

BLDramaModern

Read Now →
Not interested