Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Around high noon.

Khal, dressed in his training gear, stood in line with the other students at the Partes Academy training ground.

The man appointed as the training and swordsmanship instructor spoke to the students.

“I am Lizark Baumann.”

The students tensed up at the sound of his low, gravelly voice.

“Before we begin training, I want to ask about your attitude toward holding a sword. You!”

The student Lizark pointed at flinched, trembling as they answered.

“Ye-yes!”

“What is a sword?”

“I believe it is something one must pick up to protect the weak and wield for the sake of one’s ideals.”

It was a textbook, model answer.

“Wrong.”

However, Lizark dismissed the answer with a cold voice.

“Th-then…”

“This is a murder weapon designed for killing. If you wield it well, honor and wealth naturally follow. Frank!”

“Yes!”

At Lizark’s call, Frank, who was at the very front, answered while standing at attention with his hands behind his back.

He looked more like a soldier than a student.

“I divide people into two categories based on my discernment and convenience. What do you think that criterion is?”

Grinning as if they had rehearsed this, Frank replied.

“Strength, sir. If you are weak, you are left behind; if you are strong, you can rise to the top.”

Lizark nodded and spoke.

“Exactly. Therefore, today I will begin the class by separating the strong from the weak. Understanding the plight of the weak or giving them futile hope is a waste of manpower.”

“…”

The students grew tense at his blunt declaration.

This was an era where those who could wield a sword and manipulate magic were held in high regard.

While most students at Partes Academy were of noble birth, being labeled as incompetent and discarded was the ultimate, bleak terror for them.

Heh.

Lizark wore a satisfied expression after driving the students’ spirits into a corner. He was already excited at the thought of carving his values deep into their bones.

Right then.

“Yawn.”

The sound of a languid yawn echoed through the students.

“…”

The students, dripping with sweat, looked toward the person who had yawned.

There stood Khal, with his crimson hair and eyes, looking bored as a single tear escaped one eye from the yawn.

Snap!

Fuming, Lizark threw a sharp question at Khal.

“What is your name?”

“It’s Kalliant.”

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“I’m bored. When are we starting?”

Every student’s eyes widened at the bold demand. Even Frank let out a gasp of shock; there was no need to describe the atmosphere any further.

Lizark glared at Khal with eyes burning with rage and said, “Kalliant. Before we start training, I want to ask you. What is a sword?”

Khal tilted his head as if he didn’t understand and opened his mouth.

“Why are you saying the same thing twice?”

Thump.

At his response, which suggested there was nothing more to say, the students simultaneously thought the same thing: *What kind of crazy bastard is this?*

On the other hand, Lizark’s mind was in total chaos. Anyone else would have been too terrified to even speak to him, but instead of being afraid, this kid was acting incredibly bizarre.

Not only did he lack any sense of the situation, but he also talked back. And the fact that his backtalk was so half-hearted was deeply irritating.

“It seems you are truly bored. In that case, I’ll make sure you’re not! Everyone, shirts off! Run thirty laps around the training ground! Understood?!”

“Yes!”

Overwhelmed by his intensity, the students answered loudly in unison and began running. Lizark didn’t stop there; he pointed his index finger at Khal.

“And you, add thirty more laps.”

*Did I do something wrong? Well, no need to worry about his feelings.*

Khal gave a short, nonchalant “Yes” and joined his classmates in the run.

* * *

The weak are discarded.

In large-scale battles, it is common for elite troops to stand at the front, but in Lizark’s opinion, that was a highly inappropriate formation. The front line should be filled with incompetent, useless people to serve as shields. One couldn’t afford to lose precious resources to stray blades.

He had won using that method until now, and he considered it an absolute truth. However, for a brief moment, he questioned the conviction he had held so far.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

The students who had finished thirty laps were on the verge of collapsing, struggling to regain their senses. Yet Khal, the one who had pissed him off the most, hadn’t slowed down at all, even as he surpassed fifty laps.

Though beads of sweat formed on his forehead, he looked like he was thinking about something…

Heh.

There was even a faint smile hanging on his lips. More importantly, the other students, stimulated by his performance, were starting to chase after Khal.

*How annoying.*

Those without talent should just act as shields as ordered. Having the hope that they could become strong was an absurdity in itself. Lizark, who had always thought this way, naturally felt a surge of resentment as he watched Kalliant provoke the incompetent students. He felt the need to break Kalliant’s momentum for defying his will.

Whoosh!

Just then, Khal, having completed all sixty laps, stood before Lizark.

“Sixty laps finished.”

Lizark didn’t even meet Khal’s eyes; he jerked his head away and spoke to everyone.

“That’s enough for today. According to the selection criteria, those who have the basics down will proceed immediately to swordsmanship training. The rest will focus on physical conditioning.”

“Yes!”

After hearing the students’ vigorous response, Lizark glanced at Khal and said, “Kalliant. You’re being charged with contempt; your training volume will be triple that of the others.”

“Sure.”

Lizark almost snapped at the look Khal gave him—a look that seemed to ask, *Is that all?*—but he barely managed to suppress his anger. There was still plenty of time, and he would have plenty of chances to mess with this kid later.

* * *

Participating in the swordsmanship class, which was a common subject, Khal’s daily life shifted into a completely different gear. Every day was a series of strength and endurance exercises that bordered on abuse. Because of this, his limbs, back, and shoulder muscles were screaming in agonizing pain as if they were about to tear.

Throb, throb.

It was a strange sensation, as if the moisture in his body was drying up and being replaced by pain.

Before long, the sun set, and evening returned. Rain, his maid, placed an enormous amount of food on the table again today.

Khal was stuffing turkey legs into his mouth, one after another.

“Yo-young master, please eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion.”

“I’m hungry, what do you want me to do?”

Even so, he didn’t seem to ignore Rain’s words entirely; he sucked the grease off his fingers and looked up. Sitting across from him was Lily, who had been invited to dinner, looking at him with a grumpy expression.

“What now?”

“What do you mean, ‘what now’? You’re suffering through absurd treatment, and it’s unlike you. That instructor is clearly conducting lessons that go against the education of Partes Academy. Do you really not see that?”

Khal wiped his mouth with a napkin and replied.

“Which part are you talking about? Distinguishing between the strong and the weak in a place where discrimination is taboo? Or forcing training that others couldn’t possibly handle and that would ruin their muscles?”

“Everything! All of it! If you know, why haven’t you reported it to the Inspection Committee?”

Even though it wasn’t her own business, Lily seemed frustrated enough to stand up and argue.

“Because it’s actually helping.”

“It’s helping?”

Lily questioned him in disbelief, and Khal nodded.

“From what I’ve seen, his swordsmanship is a crude, combat-oriented style. It’s utterly useless to me.”

“You said you’ve never even swung a sword before.”

“I have a good eye. To my eyes, having seen my family’s swordsmanship, his level isn’t that impressive.”

“Then how does that mindless physical training help?”

“I’m doing it alongside my Mana Cultivation Method. Occasionally blood vessels burst and muscle pain makes things difficult, but I can use mana to temporarily alleviate the pain and immediately increase regeneration to build muscle.”

As if to prove it wasn’t a lie, Khal rolled up his sleeve to show his wrist. His forearm was now defined by thick veins and smooth muscle that hadn’t been there before. Seeing this, Lily’s eyes widened involuntarily.

“N-now that you mention it… Khal, your impression has changed from before.”

In the past, he had a somewhat frail feeling about him. Now, he looked like nothing less than a sturdy young man with a handsome physique.

*…He might even be a little… a little handsome.*

It was a bit annoying to admit Khal’s charm, but she thought that if he could just add some composure to it, he would be perfect.

“Because I’m keeping up the effort.”

“…”

At those words, Lily stood dazed for a moment before breaking into a grin. His attitude was a bit arrogant, but hadn’t she seen for herself how much effort Khal was putting in? She felt that his hard work was definitely paying off.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Just because. You often seem eccentric and dangerous, but seeing that Khal is getting the proper reward for his efforts makes me feel relieved.”

“…”

Usually, he would have brushed it off as something natural. But for some reason, Lily’s compliment felt good today, and Khal found his lips curling into a smile despite himself.

“Ho ho ho, are you blushing? That’s a rare sight.”

“…Shut up.”

Thinking his inner feelings had been exposed, Khal quickly looked away from her.

* * *

Day broke, and swordsmanship training began again. The students, who had complained at first, were now showing motivation and dedicating themselves to the training. However, some were falling behind due to the excessive workload.

“Huff, huff.”

The first student to drop out was Lowell, a boy with dark auburn hair and chestnut eyes.

Boom!

Under the guise of a duel, he was currently being ruthlessly toyed with by Frank.

“What? Is it already over? Get up, Lowell. I’ll at least play with you for fun. This is the last chance your family is giving you, isn’t it? Does a concubine’s child have no persistence?”

Grip!

At Frank’s mockery, Lowell clenched his fists. Based on the tone of the conversation, it seemed Frank knew about Lowell’s family background.

“A-again…”

Lowell painfully raised his wooden sword, his eyelids trembling. His stamina had already reached its limit, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up.

“Ah, seriously, do you know how annoying that look is? It’s like you’re saying you’ll beat me someday.”

Before Lowell could even fix his posture, Frank swung his wooden sword with all his might.

“D-dangerous!”

At this rate, it would lead to a serious injury. Yet, the instructor, Lizark, merely watched the situation with his arms crossed.

Squeeze!

The moment everyone closed their eyes and turned their heads away.

Crash!

A broken Wooden Dummy that had been kicked from somewhere slid across the ground and struck Frank’s foot.

Clatter!

Thud!

“Aaaargh!”

Frank lost his balance and tumbled forward, and the wooden sword he was holding narrowly brushed Lowell’s hair before striking the ground hard and flying away.

“Who was that?!”

Veins popped! Veins popped!

Frank, with veins bulging on his forehead, glared in the direction the wooden dummy had come from. There stood Khal in front of the remaining half of the wooden dummy, throwing words at Frank with an utterly nonchalant expression.

“Seeing how often you fall, you must have a pretty weak lower body despite your rugged looks.”

“You again?!”

He could tolerate it once, but twice was deception and provocation. Frank looked like he was about to step forward, unable to take it anymore, but Lizark stood in front of Khal first.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

In response to the reaction that suggested he would be held strictly accountable, Khal shrugged and pointed his thumb at the broken wooden dummy.

“I pay expensive tuition, but the maintenance is a total mess. Aren’t you the one in charge of managing this place, Instructor?”

Khal responded to Lizark’s interrogation with another provocation, acting as if it were no big deal.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Lizark’s face contorted hideously at a situation he had never experienced before in his life.