Chapter 26
Thwack!
As the sound of another beating echoed, Sigrin shook her head and reconsidered.
‘No, it’s clear he’s being humiliated and bullied, but enjoying it?’
Allendo’s gang, the ones tormenting Bilha, seemed to hold considerable influence, as no one stepped in to stop them.
Only Apple fidgeted, her mouth twitching and her fidget spinner whirring wildly.
“Stop it~”
Though Bilha’s refusal was timid, it was clear, yet the bullying continued.
‘What do I do? He seems to like it, but should I stop it or not?’
A group of people ganging up on one weak person isn’t right.
Sigrin straightened her knees.
‘But what if the one being bullied is enjoying it?’
Sigrin’s knees bent again.
‘If he’s so worn down by the bullying that he’s decided to enjoy it, stopping it would be the right thing, wouldn’t it? The curse relief is just a side effect.’
Sigrin’s knees straightened again.
‘But what if the curse is more painful to Bilha than the bullying?’
Sigrin’s knees bent once more.
No, still.
Straightened.
…But!
Bent.
Huh?
Straightened.
Bent. Straightened. Bent. Straightened. Bent. Straightened.
My stamina ran out in no time.
‘It’s tough! Justice… what even is justice?’
The aimless philosophical musings of a teenage girl.
Time passed surprisingly quickly.
“Hey, hey! Teacher Jamal’s coming!!”
In the meantime, the self-defense swordsmanship teacher entered the training ground.
“Everyone, stop making a ruckus and be quiet.”
As a limping man appeared, Allendo’s gang nonchalantly let Bilha go.
Sigrin also quietly let her knees rest.
✦ ✦ ✦
Some elective classes were taught by external guest instructors.
The basic self-defense swordsmanship class was led by a swordsman from the Swordsmanship Union Guild, which supported Panoplia Academy.
The guest instructor, retired swordsman Jamal Kosak, spoke calmly.
“So far, you’ve been tediously practicing horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, and side thrusts. I think it’s about time for some practical training.”
The students, bored of repetitive drills, cheered.
“This class is ‘self-defense swordsmanship.’ As the name suggests, it’s swordsmanship for protecting yourself when cornered, primarily using short-bladed, portable weapons like daggers or knives. Now, everyone, take one of these wooden daggers.”
“Teacher Jamal…! We’ve been practicing slashes with wooden swords day and night. If we’re going to use daggers, why did we bother with wooden swords?”
Apple cautiously raised her hand and asked.
“Good question. I’ll give you extra points.”
Teacher Jamal tapped the ground with his wooden sword.
“Self-defense swordsmanship isn’t for killing magical beasts. You’ll learn lethal techniques for magical beasts in your major classes. Self-defense swordsmanship is survival swordsmanship for fighting people.”
He swiftly drew a dagger from his chest and held it in a reverse grip.
“After graduating from the academy and working in a guild, you’ll meet all sorts of people. Sometimes, you’ll encounter bandits trying to steal dungeon loot. Did you know that 35% of Core holders are swordsmen? Most non-swordsman professions are weak in close combat.”
Upon closer inspection, one of Teacher Jamal Kosak’s legs was a wooden prosthetic.
“People with Cores in their heart or brain are stronger than ordinary people, but they’re no match for those with lower abdomen Cores. If some cunning types restrict your ability usage and engage in close combat, you’ll be sliced up like pudding.”
A creaking sound came from his wooden prosthetic.
“This class is to prevent such situations. Of course, in the latter half, we’ll learn how to deal with non-swordsmen, but for the early and middle parts, I’ll teach you how to handle swordsmen in detail.”
Considering everyone in this class lacked a lower abdomen Core, it was a highly useful course.
‘Maybe I should’ve signed up for this class.’
Since I’m often exposed to threats, Sigrin was briefly tempted but quickly dismissed the idea, hating physical exertion.
“Back to Apple’s original question—why did I make you waste effort with wooden swords? To face a swordsman, you need to step into their shoes.”
Instead of sheathing the dagger, he drew a wooden sword.
“Today, each of you will come up one by one and train to dodge my attacks as a swordsman. If you can’t dodge, I’ll hit you, so evade desperately. Counterattacks for escaping are allowed.”
The students murmured at the instruction to dodge Teacher Jamal’s attacks.
“Now, the student who asked the question, come forward first. The rest of you, line up behind her.”
“Whaaat?”
Apple, who became the first batter because of her question, froze in panic.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Eeeek! How am I supposed to face Teacher Jamal!! I-I-I can’t do it!!”
“Student, your dodging skills are impressive. But your movements aren’t efficient. You’re bouncing with every step—tch, this isn’t a dance.”
Swish, swish, swish.
Apple dodged all of the teacher’s attacks with excellent reflexes and flexibility.
While crying.
“You seem to have room to counterattack, so why aren’t you drawing your wooden dagger? Don’t be scared for no reason.”
“Waaaah! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!”
Whoosh!
Thwack!
After a series of attacks, a strong blow followed immediately.
Apple, starting to tire, took a hard hit to her side and rolled on the ground.
“Memorize the spot you got hit—it’s where your defense was breached.”
“Waaa! Haha! It’s over, it’s over!”
Smack!
“You. Extra points deducted.”
Ignoring Apple’s wails, Teacher Jamal called the next student.
“Now, next one, come up.”
The students behind Apple stepped forward one by one.
As if proving Apple did quite well, the following students were beaten to a pulp by Teacher Jamal.
“Aaaagh!”
“It hurts!!”
“Remember where you got hit! That’s your weak point!”
“I got hit everywhere!”
“You’re hopeless.”
The next student, and the one after that.
All the students facing Jamal had one thing in common: they were too busy dodging to think of drawing the wooden daggers he gave them.
There was no point in attacking when it wouldn’t land, and they couldn’t even track Teacher Jamal’s movements.
It was only natural. Just practicing horizontal and vertical slashes wouldn’t let you read a swordsman’s patterns and movements.
This training was simply to get hit a lot to forcibly develop reflexes.
After a few more turns, it was Bilha’s turn.
Facing Jamal, who held a wooden sword, Bilha stood blankly without taking any defensive stance.
“At least show some effort by guarding your torso with your arms.”
“…?”
Thwack!
Like the other students, Bilha failed to block and rolled on the ground after getting hit.
Unlike the others, who at least tried to dodge, Bilha didn’t even show that much effort.
He didn’t even flinch reflexively.
“Hmm…”
‘He didn’t even blink.’
That meant he followed the attack with his eyes until the end.
He wasn’t intimidated at all. Not a hint of fear.
Thwack! Whoosh!
Bilha kept his eyes on the sword’s tip throughout the beating.
Then, calmly, he drew the wooden dagger from his waist.
Shhh.
Sand leaked from the sandbags he wore on his limbs, crawling up his body toward the dagger.
Tiny sand particles began enveloping the wooden dagger.
“…Elemental Conveyance?”
Jamal muttered softly.
There’s something called the Five Stages of Swordsmanship, the five steps for swordsmen with lower abdomen Cores to become the ultimate swordsman.
The first is physical enhancement through ki.
The second is utilizing sword ki.
The third is Elemental Conveyance, wrapping the sword ki with an element.
The fourth is Elemental Hardening, condensing sword ki to make it solid or strong.
The fifth is Elemental Transformation, changing the element on the sword ki to one of the same type.
Swordsmen can’t summon elements from nothing like mages, but they can imbue their ki with compatible elements to enhance attack power.
Among them, the technique called “Elemental Conveyance,” which infuses a weapon with an element through ki, is the third stage of the Five Stages.
It wasn’t a technique someone like Bilha, known to only have a latent Core, should be able to perform.
Among the Five Stages, achieving the third stage, Elemental Conveyance, is unheard of among first- and second-year students, and even among third-year high school students, only one or two might manage it.
‘No, it’s a bit ambiguous to call it proper Elemental Conveyance…’
Slash!
While Jamal was caught off guard, Bilha swung the sand-wrapped wooden dagger toward his eyes.
The stinging sand grains got into his eyes, temporarily blinding him.
“…Hmm.”
Jamal regained his senses and swung his sword at Bilha again. His vision was blurry, making the attack far less accurate than before.
Though it was dodgeable, Bilha didn’t dodge and rolled on the ground again.
Even for Bilha, getting beaten by kids during break time and now thoroughly by the teacher was starting to make the pain tedious.
He’d have to suffer for half a day tomorrow because of this.
Bilha rummaged through his belongings and showed Jamal a nurse’s office pass.
“Near death. Student strike.”
“…Alright. See you next class.”
“Yup, good work.”
Nodding, Bilha started to leave.
“On your way out, can you take that unused dummy cart with you? It’s annoying that it’s here when it should be in the storage.”
“Sure.”
“Aaaagh! No way!”
“What’s the problem, Apple?”
“Uh, what? N-no, nothing??”
“Then, Bilharan, I’m counting on you. Thanks.”
“Sure.”