novelraw Chapter 133 : Chapter 133
Chapter 133 : Chapter 133
133
"Teacher Cassian! I heard something big happened."
"I heard you were injured! You must be careful. This is a chicken, would you like some?"
"I heard you flattened the noses of those Imperial bastards?"
When I went down to the village, people recognized me.
More people gathered than usual when I walked around, and listening to their chatter, I thought it was understandable.
Since it was a small territory, rumors seemed to have spread quickly.
The collapse of the Academy was one thing, but the story of my visit to the Imperial Royal Academy had also spread.
And it wasn't just that we had visited; it seemed the details of what we did there had spread properly as well.
'Is it the students?'
It was possible.
While I was unconscious, the students must have come down to the village to relieve their stress.
From the dormitory to the old building, almost everything was smashed.
Since proper classes couldn't be conducted, the students' free time must have increased.
After giving simple replies to the people, I headed towards the Lord's Castle.
The area around the Lord's Castle was a bit noisy.
It was a slightly different scene from when I came last time.
It wasn't that new buildings had been erected or people had flocked there in the meantime.
Rather...
'The number of outsiders has increased.'
At a glance, it might just look like a crowd, but looking closely, the skin color and clothing styles of the people were different.
Faint accents remained like dialects in the language they used, showing in various ways that they were foreigners.
'Rumors spread from these people, not the students.'
Even with a rough look, more than ten teams of personnel were waiting on the street, unable to enter the Lord's Castle.
The Lord's Castle wouldn't have left foreign envoys on the street for days.
That meant the number of envoys visiting daily was roughly this much.
'This regulation thing might not simply be about the Academy's construction.'
With that vague expectation, I approached the castle entrance.
Then, the soldiers who recognized my face came forward and welcomed me happily.
"You're awake. I heard your injuries were severe."
"The students were making a fuss. Where is the Lord?"
"He has been waiting continuously. Since there are no prior guests right now, you may go up."
Just as I was about to enter the Lord's Castle guided by them.
"Wait! Who is that person to go up first like that?"
A noble speaking with the archaic tone unique to the East raised his voice.
"I have waited for three days starting from the village inn! Do you understand? Three days, three days! I am barely holding back my precious time being wasted, yet a person who looks like a beggar receives special treatment?"
The East, meaning there was only one nation east of the Belmein Kingdom on the continent.
The Kingdom of Namress.
One-third of the kingdom bordered the sea, and it possessed naval military power comparable to the Empire.
As people of the sea often are, their temperament was somewhat impatient and rough, and the nobles considered such character a complex, using exaggeratedly archaic vocabulary.
'It seems him stopping me isn't simply a personality issue.'
I looked at the other people lined up behind the man who stopped me.
Although they didn't step forward and raise their voices, they were glaring at me with expressions full of irritation.
He said three days.
If they waited that long, it was natural to be annoyed.
I tried to step back and apologize to them.
However, the gatekeeper soldiers stepped forward before me and sneered.
"Then three days might become four, no, five days."
"What?! Are you, a mere gatekeeper of a rural territory, trying to insult me right now?"
"That's not it, but because the very reason you guests came is because of this Teacher Cassian."
"Cassian? This shabby, no, ragged, no no, I mean, this fellow dressed comfortably and carelessly is that Cassian?"
.......
I looked down at the clothes I was wearing.
Having just come out after lying in bed injured, the clothes were indeed a bit shabby.
But it wasn't completely ragged attire.
Actually, this is what I wear when teaching students...
No, let's stop.
Thinking about it only made me feel somewhat sad.
"That is correct! Teacher Cassian must meet the Lord first for things to proceed quickly. Therefore, I ask for the understanding of the nobles here!"
"Ahem, well, it's not something I can't understand, so I shall take a step back."
The noble from the East cleared his throat and looked around.
He clearly said he would back down, but he was slinking closer to me.
"By the way, Teacher Cassian. Is it true that you turned the Lionheart Knights into a wasteland?"
"Pardon?"
"I heard you defeated the Chief Knight, placed your foot on his back, and laughed maniacally."
Who says they aren't people of the sea? Rumors spread fiercely.
"I hear you treat your disciples incredibly violently? That's why all your disciples use Sword Aura, isn't it?"
"I heard you are a master of squeezing disciples through hellish hard training."
"Outwardly, you don't look like such a person. Truly, one never knows with people."
It seemed my rumors had spread strangely not only in the East.
People watching from behind whispered and added strange stories, all of which were utterly bizarre.
"I am Viscount Welfes, an envoy from the Kingdom of Namress. I would like to have a talk with you after your private audience with the Lord."
"Aha, Viscount Welfes! Where are you cutting in? Look here, Teacher Cassian! As for me, I am Knight Pyros from the Margraviate of Semaris encompassing the North! Would you not share stories about martial arts with me?"
Now, people other than Viscount Welfes began to flock around.
If left alone, it was clear I would be trapped here, unable to move an inch.
"Please take care of this."
I left the people to the gatekeepers and moved towards the Lord's Castle.
Then, a few of the nobles gestured to the people around them, and people who appeared to be the nobles' guards quickly ran forward.
Are they trying to stop me even by force?
Suddenly, FLASH, the surrounding scenery flickered once.
Just like when I focused fully on the sword, the world slowed down significantly, and the trajectories of people were faintly drawn.
It was clearly visible, as if drawn in a picture, how people's hands and feet would move.
'Do I just walk like this?'
I moved my steps as the trajectories instructed.
As I took about five steps, the first knight tried to grab my arm.
I raised my arm as the trajectory indicated and then slightly twisted my body.
The knight's hand failed to grab my arm and brushed past below.
In the meantime, a guard who reached my side tried to put a hand on my shoulder.
With my raised hand, I pressed down on the back of the guard's hand, and the hands of the knight and the guard clasped together.
As I moved a few more steps in that state, there was now a man who completely blocked my way.
Since his center of gravity seemed slightly off, I extended my foot and struck his center line obliquely with my shoulder.
THUD, it was a light collision, but his balance collapsed.
The moment his body fell backward, I grabbed his arm and pulled him slightly towards where the previous two people were.
He flailed and fell onto the arms of the two, and naturally, the three tangled and rolled on the ground.
The moment all obstacles disappeared like that, the trajectories that bothered my eyes also subsided.
Standing in place, I blinked once.
'...It doesn't hurt.'
Even if I didn't swing a sword, can my body be this clean?
It seemed my body had changed while I was unconscious.
Since Yuria was unconscious, there was no way to know.
Ulf and Berlis also didn't seem to be in a normal state.
'Just in case, I should move carefully.'
Vowing so, I entered the Lord's Castle.
The interior of the castle was as noisy as the outside.
Maids who looked hurriedly hired were busily moving to prepare for guest reception, and guests who seemed to be staying at the castle moved busily here and there.
Nobles were visible, and there were many who looked like knights or mages.
They glanced at me a few times but soon lost interest and focused on their own business.
People outside recognized me because the gatekeeper said my name.
Here, no one recognized me, and thanks to that, I could move to the Lord's office without interruption.
A butler was out at the entrance of the office; seeing my face, he made a briefly glad expression and looked around.
After confirming no one was there, he approached me and whispered quietly.
"The Lord is waiting."
"Can I go in now?"
"If you go inside the reception room and wait, I will bring the Lord."
"Please."
Following the butler's guidance, I entered the reception room.
Unlike when I came just a month ago, the reception room had changed neatly.
Not a single liquor bottle was visible, and furniture that felt somewhat stained and dirty had all been replaced with new ones.
There was even a decoration with fresh flowers placed near the window, and the scent of well-managed fresh flowers full of moisture subtly filled the entire reception room.
As I was observing that appearance, the Lord entered from outside with the sound of footsteps.
"You came."
The appearance of the Lord, seen after a long time, had changed so distinctly that I wondered if this was right.
The flush that filled his face was gone, and along with it, instead of the smell of alcohol from his body, there was the smell of high-quality fragrant oil.
His belly fat seemed to have reduced a bit too; if I had seen him outside, I wouldn't have recognized him as the Lord I knew.
As soon as the Lord sat down, I couldn't hold back and asked.
"What happened?"
"With people flocking in, I had no time to drink. Since I didn't drink, the toxins naturally left, and since the toxins left, I just moved my body a little."
"It doesn't seem like just a little."
One month.
It's a long time if considered long, but also a time woefully insufficient for a body to improve that much.
That is a body properly trained and groomed.
"That, too, is because of people."
A sneer appeared on his face.
"People are all the same after all. Since I'm stuck in this rural territory, they act as if I'm a fool they can rip off anything from. Just because I'm a former knight, just because I'm soaked in alcohol. They think I'll fall for it if they just coax me a little."
I inwardly shook my head.
Lord Murray was not a person to be handled like that.
During the entrance or graduation ceremonies of Akarind Academy, numerous parents visit this Akarind territory.
And most parents do not see the Lord but just enjoy time with the students.
The Lord was a person full of inferiority complex due to many parts starting from such trivial encounters.
He just lacked motivation, a trigger.
"Countless pigs came here looking for you. I heard you scolded even the Empire's Lionheart Knights. Numerous parents looked for me like a substitute while you were unconscious."
I was his trigger.
And I was his motivation, and his greatest inferiority complex.
His eyes flashed.
"I have prepared to move as you said. Since there are many who want to come to the Academy. I will expand the territory and issue a reconstruction permit so the Academy can be built massively. So, in return, can you try teaching me?"
It worked out well.
Soon, Ulf will return to the Great Forest.
I was hoping for one person who could fill that empty space.
Having organized my thoughts, I answered the Lord.
"You just need to enroll in graduate school."
"...Enroll? And in graduate school?"
"Yes. Because I am an Academy instructor, not a private tutor. If the Lord enrolls in graduate school and becomes an example to students, wouldn't it look good in many ways?"
"You, are a demon."
"And using the stress of graduate school studies as an excuse, you can also chase away all the people who came looking for you, Lord."
"Hehehe, they said the devil's words are sweet."
The Lord seemed to misunderstand something.
So I kindly corrected him.
"I have met a demon, but his words weren't that sweet."
So my proposal will be much more satisfactory than a demon's.