8. If you do it, it works. (6)
“It feels pretty refreshing to move for the first time in a while?”
“Dat’s it! That’s my owner! Ya got a similar personality ta me!”
Although the metal bat keeps saying only things that I want to deny, but since I’m in a good mood right now I’ll let it slide.
I’d used my body to train my disciples in the evil organization up til now, but since I’d only been doing classes and paperwork since becoming a teacher my body had rusted a fair amount.
I’d been aiming for the sickly cute boy… or not. The sickly handsome middle aged… or not.
To hold to my sickly middle-aged man concept I couldn’t even train or practice my swordsmanship I’d always done daily in the evil organization.
But Professor Harian gave me a reason to let loose for the first time in a while.
But perhaps age took its toll on me. It feels like my skills have died quite a bit compared to a year ago.
“No, owner. Owner’s not dead yet! Ya still got dem skills ya drubbed all ya old disciples with!”
Perhaps because she hadn’t gotten to move around as much as she used to after Aris became a swordsmaster, but the metal bat seemed to be in a good mood today too.
“Mm, mm! it’s been so long since I’ve had this electrifying feeling!”
“But the holidays end tomorrow, and so does your job!”
“Waah! No fair! No fair!”
Even if it is unfair there’s no other choice.
There’s not that long till the imperial festival either, and I need to take care of the kids’ physical… or rather mental health.
Even back in the evil organization when I trained my disciples, I always let them rest the day before important events like ranking matches.
Since I only ever raised a small number of elites even a single injury would be a significant setback for me!
And as if they understood what I wanted, they also stayed quiet on those important days.
“Wasn’t it just cuz ya healed them by beating them up with me?”
“That was also a factor. But back then I did it because it couldn’t be helped.”
“Whaddaya mean it couldn’t be helped! Ya think I wouldn’t know that the organization always sent ya healers on a daily basis just cause all owner’s trainings all had some ridiculous stuff in it!”
“Tch, quick on the mark.”
“Haang, owner and I can’t be separated even if we try! I know almost everything that owner knows!”
If you were to look at only the appearance of her smugly puffing out her flat chest she almost looks cute.
“I’m a goddess that’s cute on the inside too!”
“Did I say anything.”
Both me, and this one.
All we enjoyed was a single day out of our routine but it feels like we’d wiped out all our stress we’d accumulated so far.
“Owner, owner! Before the imperial festival ends, can we have fun like this once, just once, pwease?”
“Hm… I might have to think about that.”
Since that was good stress relief for me, and stress relief for this kid so that she won’t complain for the foreseeable future, even if it might not be possible to do it regularly, every now and then might be doable.
“Aris is a swordsmaster so it’s dangerous.”
How many of my former disciples want to stick a sword in my belly?
It’d be five at the very least.
And using that as a precedent, there is almost no doubt that among the students there might be some brats that want to shank my guts for inventing night study and all sorts of other assorted annoying crap.
And among them, the most dangerous one is obviously Aris the swordsmaster.
“But owner? Didn’t ya already beat the Sword Star, and thrashed ya hella clingy disciple? Aren’t ya being a bit too careful considering you’ve already beaten swordsmasters twice now?”
Well, that’s as far as my record goes.
“But it’s still a swordsmaster.”
They say the realm of swordsmasters is the beginning and the end of swordsmanship.
Meaning, to most swordsmen it seems like the end of swordsmanship, but you realise only when you actually become a swordsmaster.
That you’ve only started to understand the sword.
Of course seeing as the one who so seriously said these lines were the imperial court’s official pushover Sword Princess so the reliability of that statement drops a bit, but she was still once the empire’s youngest swordsmaster.
No, since Aris hasn’t been officially announced as a swordsmaster, she still is the youngest ever swordsmaster.
Either way, that’s what our Sword Princess said.
Meaning, Aris is currently piling up even more experience on another plane compared to all of us!
Even if I got the jump on her today, next time she might start throwing sword auras at me the moment she even sees me.
“And so our only chance is when we can blindside Aris unawares!”
“But ya still ain’t saying we’re not doing it owner! That’s my owner! The incarnate of desire!”
Kghh… but I’ve found this delightful pleasure, it’s hard to give it up now.
“Th’ things ya start late are always funner! Owner’s lucky. A hitting specialist like me’s owner’s partner!”
“You make me realise I really have been living my life wrongly after all!”
Something that’s good at hitting people is my life partner!
Is it not even more useless than the master of bottom dealing, the ancient pharaoh’s soul!
“Isn’t a pharaoh a king? A king’s hella useful!”
“No, he’s an idiot that bet his life on a card game. And in the end he lost to himself.”(1)
And in this fantasy world, there’s nothing that you can do by being good at card games.
Actually since he was the master of bottom dealing he might have earned some cash by gambling?
But unlike that place where you fought with card games, you fight with brute force here so if you lose all your money in the gambling ring without any money then you’re going to get screwed over by the organization running the ring.
Because gambling rings are a good source of income for evil organizations!
“So ya saying I’m really useless then? Then ima not gonna help ya out even if those really scary unnis come chasing after ya?”
“I’m sorry.”
“A fast apology, I like it!”
It might look pathetic but it can’t be helped.
When I meet those scary people that are chasing me, if I didn’t have this thing?
Each and every one of them have at least one swordsmaster attached to them.
Wait, hang on. Just what kind of life have I been leading?
“Owner? Din’t ya say before that only countries with a decent military had swordsmasters?”
“I did.”
“Then are ya pretty much being chased by an entire country’s worth a’ army or something?”
“Since the world’s strongest empire’s after me, an ordinary country is a funny joke.”
“And owner who’s surviving perfectly fine smack in the middle of said strongest empire’s also funny!”
True, it’s funny even when I think of it.
“If ya know then obey this great goddess Arcadia!”
“Yes, yes.”
Normally I would have just brushed her off, but I feel good enough to humour this kid for a bit.
There’s nothing quite as good as exercise to blow off some steam, you know?
Good body, good mind!
Everyone, let’s all exercise… or would the microparticle pollution be too much of an issue for that?
#8 Their story: A certain teacher’s story.
‘Professor Nicerwin is the probleeeemmm!’
My back was stinging but I couldn’t look back.
Because I knew perfectly well why my back was prickling!
“Now, th, then… umm…”
“Professor, we would appreciate it if you spoke up properly.”
“Yes, yes! Understood! Today’s lesson is about!”
The moment I stuttered one student immediately cut in.
While it might seem extremely rude to a teacher, since I was the one who made this situation with my own mouth I couldn’t even say something about it.
Of course! Although the secondary, and tertiary causes was all Professor Nicerwin!
So all I can do is yell at Professor Nicerwin in my mind!
“Professor, the class has stopped.”
“I’m sowwwyy!”
On the last day of the holidays… if you put it like that that seems like it was as long time ago, but if you put it another way, just yesterday.
After Professor Nicerwin appeared and completely swept the students away, he made a face as if he was completely refreshed.
Fine, it was alright up to there.
‘Why… why did Professor Nicerwin appear all of a sudden?’
‘It was Professor Harian’s request. She suggested that I participate for once as well…’
Professor Nicerwin needlessly answered a dying student’s final words.
And that student etched those words in his heart before he died…
The moment he revived he spread the word to everyone else, that I was the culprit who summoned the demon named Nicerwin.
Rather than resenting Professor Nicerwin himself they went for the easier(?) to resent target, me.
And because of that I was getting a lot of prickling gazes from all the students!
Even for me this a bit, no, really painful!
“Professor, I cannot read what you wrote with that handwriting.”
“I’m sorreehh! I’ll do my best to write neatly!”
My handwriting shook a bit due to my shaking hand, but the students cut in immediately.
Scary. The students are too scary!
“And in the cases of high-ranking summons like this, the mana needed…”
“You’ve already covered that section.”
“Sorrrrryyyy!’
This is all Professor Nicerwin’s faaauuullt! The kids’ eyes are so frigid it’s impossible for me to carry on with the lesson.
And if the lesson doesn’t continue then the kids get even icier.
And I get flustered and stuff up the lesson again, and the kids get colder in turn…
How would I break this petrifying cycle!
A number of classes went and ended like that, and as I felt people’s gazes on me even as I was walking through the corridor I hurriedly escaped to my office and sighed in relief a few times.
“Ah, I really don’t want to do this…”
The time for night study came once again.
“Hahaha, did you not like it before?”
“Muamy, if you’re gonna be like this as well then I’m gonna cry, you know? The kids weren’t this scary back then!”
“Bully them when they’re not scary, running away when they are scary. As a teacher you should not do that.”
“Muamy doesn’t know! How hard today was!”
“So you really should have been taking care of what you said.”
“I didn’t know Professor Nicerwin would do that either!”
If I knew that was what would have happened then I wouldn’t have said that kind of bullshit either!
But it was already too late.
The reality was the students’ icy looks and pressure.
“I’m not gonna die today, right?”
If looks could kill me then I would already be dead ten times over today, but they’re not going to actually kill me.
Surely students wouldn’t try to actually kill their teacher, right?
“…Was the answer I wanted to hear, but why are you staying silent? Did I do something wrong to you? Lil’ Muam?”
“It is not that. Just that Professor Harian’s words were much too realistic…”
“Don’t say that! Why are you making such a serious face right now!”
“Do I really have to say…”
“Don’t say it!”
Since Muamy was serious it’s even scarier.
Since the eternally deadpan Muam’s making a serious expression it’s even scarier.
And that fear eventually became reality.
“There she is!”
“There’s Professor Harian!”
“Kill her!”
“Hiiiiik!”
As the students came down to the first floor unbelievably quickly, they immediately charged towards me.
Having said that, whaddaya mean, “kill her!” I’m still a teacher!
Even if the relationship between teacher and student is strange in this academy, but I’m still your heaven-like teacher!
They say to not even step on your teacher’s shadow, but these little brats are trying to get past by stomping right on their teacher!
“Lil’ Muam, help m… Muam? What are you doing?”
I pitifully looked backwards in the face of this savage pressure, but what I saw was.
“Boreas, that Professor Harian contracted with has poor compatibility with my Spirit King of Water.”
“So I’m really wondering what does that have to do with Muamy putting up a water barrier behind me?”
“Wasn’t there a strategy since long ago?”
What, this feeling that I perfectly know what he’s going to say.
“Is what Muamy’s thinking right now what I’m thinking right now?”
“Yes, like you’re thinking right now, you’re fighting with your back to the water.”(2)
“Muaaaahhhhhmm!”
I hurriedly banged on the water barrier, but Muamy’s face didn’t change at all and his expression was like a judge condemning a prisoner to execution.
“As the old sages said, you must undo the knot you make yourself.”
“This rage is all because of Professor Nicerwin, it’s not mine!”
“Even so, the beginning was definitely Professor Harian’s words.”
“I’m reflecting! I’m really, really reflecting!”
“The people that should accept that apology is not me, but those students.”
At some point all the students had come down from the second floor and began to charge at me as if they were all under berserker magic.
“I’m sorry, kids! I’m really really sorry!”
I defended against countless summons that charged at me, deflected countless blades.
Even so my mouth kept on with the apologies, but the students would only accept my apology a long, long time in the future.
Comments