A Regressor's Guide to Hunting in the Academy

Chapter 53

Chapter 53

A heavy silence lingered.

All the students were staring at Henrik, sending him pleading glances for salvation.

Then, Isaac spoke up.

"Hey, Hunter."

"Henrik."

"Fine, Henrik."

Isaac threw a wooden training sword at Henrik. Whoosh!

"You. Let's have a sparring match."

"Sparring? What about the lecture?"

"Quiet, Ted. If we spar, the kids will figure it out and learn by watching with their own eyes."

At Isaac's sudden remark, Ted stamped his feet in frustration.

Isaac had been harboring thoughts about the incident where the Death Knight ignored him and headed straight for Henrik.

He was curious about the attitude of the Death Knights, who judged a mere Grade 3 Hunter to be more dangerous than the world-renowned Sword Emperor.

"……."

Henrik, having caught the wooden sword, looked at Isaac calmly. Isaac swung his wooden sword—Swish!—and tapped it against his shoulder. Tap, tap.

"I became curious about your skills. Without Aura. Let's go at it with just technique."

"Fine."

When Henrik nodded, Ted grabbed Henrik in a panic.

"Why are you agreeing to this? What about the lecture!"

"He's not the type to sit still just because I say no. So, let's replace the lecture with this sparring match."

"No, does that even make sense?"

"It's not bad for them to watch and learn directly with their eyes."

Henrik agreed with Isaac's words and stood in front of him holding the wooden sword.

A sparring match between the Sword Emperor and the hero who saved the Academy.

It wasn't a spectacle easily seen. Students swarmed out to surround the two, witnessing a level of sparring they might only see once in a lifetime.

Tension hovered in the air.

The two finished their preparations and aimed their wooden swords at each other.

And the moment the spar began,

Isaac shot out like the wind, thrusting his wooden sword at Henrik.

―Clack!

However, Henrik barely managed to deflect the attack with his sword and attempted a counterattack.

―Clack! Clack! Clack!

The students couldn't take their eyes off the fierce exchange of blows. Isaac, driving forward with attacks like a storm while generating sword wind, was amazing, but Henrik, who received and deflected all those attacks, felt equally amazing.

"Ha! Haha!"

Color returned to Isaac's face.

'Look at this guy. He knows all my attacks?'

Henrik was figuring out exactly where Isaac's attacks would come from and where they would lead, like a ghost.

But following all those sword paths with his eyes was impossible. Because that was something even Isaac himself couldn't do.

Especially with a Grade 3's level?

The current exchange wasn't about moving while tracking with the eyes.

He was grasping the movements beforehand, predicting the point where the attack would come, and blocking it in advance.

In his previous life, Henrik had sparred with Isaac until he was sick of it, so he knew Isaac's movements very well. That was the reason Henrik could see several moves ahead of Isaac.

The students gulped and watched the spar.

―Whoosh! Whoosh!

The students' hair scattered in all directions from the raging sword wind.

Henrik was holding out well, but the gap between Grade 3 and Grade 4 was too large. Moreover, Isaac was a Grade 4 who was closest to Grade 5, likely the strongest individual among all Grade 4s.

Henrik started to get pushed back little by little.

Cold sweat ran down Henrik's back. Isaac drove Henrik into a corner with impacts so strong they made his hands numb.

'Is this as far as I go for now?'

Just as Isaac was gauging Henrik's skill and about to deliver a finishing blow,

Henrik's eyes shone sharply.

―Shhhwick!

A very brief opening.

Henrik didn't miss it and aimed for Isaac's head as if stabbing with a sword. At his sudden counterattack, Isaac was greatly startled and leaned his body back to dodge.

A chill ran down Isaac's spine.

The concentration to endure attacks until the end and not miss a fleeting moment.

He had properly targeted the opening.

He realized he had let his guard down.

Swish, Isaac twisted his body and dug into Henrik's guard.

'That was close.'

―Thwack!

Isaac's wooden sword struck Henrik's abdomen hard.

With that, Henrik's body launched into the air, flew over the surrounding students, and crashed into the middle of the training hall. Thud.

"Ah. I couldn't control my strength."

At Henrik's unexpected counterattack, Isaac had unleashed his swordsmanship with full power.

"Henrik!"

Ted and the students turned pale and hurriedly ran toward Henrik. Then, Henrik stood up while dusting the dirt off his clothes—pat, pat—as if nothing had happened.

Seeing Henrik perfectly fine, Isaac liked him even more.

'Good durability. Good reflexes, too. It won't be boring.'

Isaac grinned.

But the students, who had no way of knowing his inner thoughts, looked at Isaac with pale faces.

"He's a psychopath."

"He beats someone up himself and then laughs like he's enjoying it."

The students whispered among themselves.

Isaac, who slowly approached Henrik, extended his hand.

"It was a good match."

Henrik took his handshake grumpily. It seemed Henrik wasn't satisfied with his current level yet.

"Let's spar again if there's another chance."

"Next time?"

"Yeah. Next time."

Henrik, who had been playing along with Isaac reasonably well, furrowed his brow.

"Hey, Ted."

"What is it?"

"Change him from a guest instructor to a part-time instructor."

"……What?"

"Since he'll be teaching the kids every now and then. Do me a favor."

Thus, the Sword Emperor Isaac Wolfwood came to work as a part-time instructor at Sephira Academy.

A few days later, Isaac would occasionally spar with Henrik or barge into his office to hang out.

Since ignoring him didn't work, he just latched onto Ted.

Because it was tiring to have Ted come and whine, Henrik sighed and agreed to Isaac's sparring requests.

Even when he came to the office annoyingly, Henrik didn't really kick Isaac out anymore.

Instead, the alcohol he brought was being usefully utilized as an ingredient for potion making.

"Putting alcohol in a reagent bottle... your attitude towards liquor is all wrong."

"If you don't like it, don't come."

As the time spent bickering increased, the relationship between the two was rapidly becoming closer.

Meanwhile, Amecitia's situation was serious.

A small letter was held in Amecitia's hand.

It was a letter from her mother, stamped with the insignia of House Flammeur.

[To my beloved Amecitia, I am very sorry that I cannot send the dignity maintenance fee that a noble should have. I will send money through the butler as soon as the situation improves. Even without money, do not forget that you are a member of House Flammeur.]

It was a brief letter, but Amecitia had heard that heavy rains had fallen on the territory, submerging all the farmland this year. If this year's farming was ruined, it was obvious that the territory's financial state would worsen.

"Sigh……."

Amecitia looked at her empty wallet.

All that remained was loose change; having received her mother's letter, Amecitia had sent all the gold coins she received from Carmine to the main house.

'If the territory is in trouble, it can't be helped, but…….'

As the family's situation was bad, Amecitia also had to tighten her belt.

Amecitia lay on her bed in her room, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Then, Amecitia's hearing perked up. Prick.

The sound of footsteps.

Following that, the sound of someone attaching something like paper to a door was heard.

Amecitia let out a deep sigh.

'It's finally here.'

Getting up from the bed, Amecitia quietly opened the door and tore off the paper stuck to her door to check it.

It was an application for dormitory extension.

Most students of the noble class used private rooms.

Partly because they grew up comfortably, but also because a sense of privilege had taken root, so noble students naturally used the expensive private rooms.

Although over time, this naturally hardened into a custom, creating an unwritten rule that all noble students must use private rooms.

Of course, there were multi-person dormitories that weren't private rooms.

They were much cheaper than private rooms, but all the students living there were commoners.

Originally, Amecitia was planning to go to a multi-person dorm.

However, her father insisted that she absolutely couldn't do that and registered her for an expensive private room in the end.

'It was probably his last shred of pride, but…….'

Of course, if she, a noble, went to a multi-person room, she might become the laughingstock of everyone. But she didn't care about such things. She was someone who even applied for scholarships meant for commoners to scrape by from the start.

Back to the present.

Currently, Amecitia was short on money to pay next month's dorm fee right away.

To get gold coins from Carmine again pricked her conscience and made her feel sorry.

'Should I try talking to Professor Henrik instead?'

She had a feeling Henrik would readily offer a solution. But that was only for a moment.

Recalling past events sent a chill down her spine. Henrik was not someone who gave anything away for free.

It was certain he would work her to the bone with intensely grueling training or menial chores.

"Hahaha. I'm in big trouble!"

Amecitia chuckled at her own plight and looked at the ceiling.

'Now, the only remaining method is…… there's no other way but to move to the multi-person rooms, the commoner dorms.'

Who cares? Face as a noble wasn't that important. Her immediate wallet situation was more important.

Amecitia jumped up.

'Let's go to Grimory right now.'

If it was Grimory, it might be possible. As a close friend who vaguely knew her circumstances, she would likely readily agree to share a room.

'Grimory said she didn't have a roommate right now, right?'

A memory of chatting with her previously came to mind.

Amecitia immediately ran toward the dormitory building where Grimory lived, which was a little distance away.

When Amecitia quietly opened the door to the multi-person dormitory, students' gazes poured onto her.

Although Amecitia was a noble on the decline, she was still undeniably of noble status. Inside the Academy, the issue of status difference wasn't highlighted significantly, but outside of education? Implicit discrimination based on status existed in other places.

"……Excuse me, are you looking for someone?"

Just then, the dorm supervisor passing through the entrance spotted Amecitia and approached cautiously to ask.

"I'm looking for Grimory. I'm planning to move dorms."

"Pardon? Move dorms? Don't tell me Grimory is moving to a private room?"

"No, I am coming here."

"……Aren't you a noble?"

Hearing Amecitia's words, the supervisor was momentarily flustered, but soon guided her to the room where Grimory was.

"Grimory is inside her room, so have a good talk. She's still using it alone without a roommate."

That was good news.

Hope filled Amecitia's face.

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

When Amecitia bowed to the supervisor, the supervisor smiled awkwardly as if seeing a strange noble and quickly disappeared.

Grimory's room was in the corner of the top floor of the dormitory.

"Phew……."

Amecitia took a deep breath once and—Clack!—opened the door.

"Grimory! Actually, I'm out of money, so could you let me stay here for a while?"

In front of Amecitia, who had opened the door and entered, was Grimory without her hat. It was the first time seeing her without a hat, as she usually went around wearing various hats.

"……."

Grimory froze in place upon seeing Amecitia barge in. Her face turned pale.

Her appearance without the hat felt like her beautiful looks, which she usually hid, were amplified several times over. Her shining silver hair and vivid pink eyes evoked a sense of mystery.

However.

Amecitia, seeing what was attached to her head, also froze in place.

Horns.

Something like the horns of a mountain goat was attached to Grimory's head.

Black, hard-looking small horns sprouted sharply on top of her head.

Is it a headband? She thought about it, but it didn't look like one.

Amecitia slowly turned around and looked at the sign attached to the door.

[Must Knock. Privacy Priority.]

"Ah……."

Looking closely, there were stars drawn on the sign.

[★Must★ ★Knock★]

"……Uh, uh, G-G-Grimory!"

Just as she was about to say something, Grimory quickly pulled Amecitia into the room and—Bang!—slammed the door shut.