novelraw Chapter 93 : Chapter 93
Chapter 93 : Chapter 93
093
A small sword suddenly thrust forward in front of my sliding blade.
It was a sword filled with a gloomy aura.
Whoosh—!
My sword and Avril's sword clashed, creating a strange noise.
It was as if the sizzling sound of boiling water was piercing my eardrums.
The power that cut through everything pushed the opponent back when they collided.
I relaxed my strength and let my body be carried back by the opponent's counter-force.
Then, a flamberge, broken in half, raged as if to cut through the empty space entirely.
'In times like these.'
But I had already blocked all my vital points with the sword I had retrieved when I leaned back.
Clang, the flamberge was blocked by my sword.
'The strength…!'
Raipen's strength was immense.
His purpose was not to cut me down, but to crush me.
With a thud, my back was slammed onto the floor.
I barely managed to twist my body to prevent the back of my head from hitting the floor.
Using my Aura, I even cut through the flamberge piece and immediately rolled on the floor.
Avril's sword plunged down like a grim reaper into that spot.
The sword, imbued with Aura, pierced the floor and was smoothly embedded in it.
“……”
We faced each other.
Raipen had lost his sword, and Avril's sword was stuck in the floor.
The sword, devoid of Aura, was stuck in the floor like a building and showed no sign of being pulled out.
I gathered myself and raised my sword again.
The space was narrow, and it was two against one, but as long as it wasn't a surprise attack like the first one, I could handle it.
No, the longer the battle dragged on, the more advantageous it would be for me, who could use Aura freely.
“…Were you dissatisfied with my plan? The academy would have continued to develop, and you would have gotten everything you wanted.”
“That’s your desire, not mine.”
Avril had never once asked me what I wanted.
He had judged me according to his own understanding and then pushed forward with his plans, assuming that this was what I needed, and that was what I needed.
“It’s because the results were good. Because it couldn’t be helped. Because the students would be harmed. I was only tolerating it for those reasons.”
But that could only go so far.
I had no intention of letting him continue to hold and wield me like this.
There was one more thing I didn't like.
I had never hidden my desires.
I raise my sword.
The Aura was still humming.
And my sword's intent, which maintained that Aura.
"I want to create my sword theory properly and teach the students correctly."
“Aren’t I doing all of that for you!”
“No. That’s not something that can be achieved with someone else’s help.”
Of course, it would help to convey my words to the students.
But all of this was ultimately something I had to solve on my own.
This wasn't just about Avril.
Rozalin, Ulf, Hati, Yuria…
Whether they were friendly to me or not, I could not tolerate them crossing the line I had drawn.
And that bottom line was the students.
"You're abandoning humanity for just one student?"
“That’s just your self-serving interpretation.”
They believed they could do better because they had seen and experienced it in the future.
But in retrospect, Jessie and Freizier, who had been living in this world, had awakened their Aura faster than the regressors.
Abrahal was better at reading and understanding people than Avril, who knew the knowledge of the future.
Yuria was in a dilemma because of the fact that she had regressed.
"This path I am walking is a path you have never walked."
The path you thought was perfect is only perfect in your own thoughts.
"The path I walked was the path that created the board."
At least my path was the one that created your opportunities.
That was my pride.
That was my sword.
My will stood stronger within my will.
The past they had experienced, and the future I had to experience, gathered in my will.
The faintly glittering Aura of my sword turned a deeper black.
It was a color so deep that the blade enveloped by the Aura was almost invisible.
Whoosh—!
The sword trembled as if it had a will of its own, unleashing a vibration.
I knew instinctively.
This sword could cut through more things than my sword from just a few minutes ago.
It seemed I wasn't the only one who felt it.
As I quietly took my stance, Raipen blocked Avril's front as if to protect him and took his stance.
It was now a short length, about the size of a hand, and looked almost no different from a dagger.
“…Teacher. You will regret today’s events someday.”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
"Because I live every day so as not to have regrets."
Upon hearing my answer, Avril swept his bangs back.
His eyes had returned to their usual unemotional, merchant-like gaze that seemed to view the entire world as money.
Only one thing.
The color of his deepened and gloomy pupils was the only thing that told me he was a different person from the Avril of a few days ago.
Avril turned his body without any lingering attachment and began to retreat.
Raipen only retreated backwards after Avril was far enough away.
And the next day.
Avril and the mercenaries left Akarind Academy.
Even the green-haired man who should have been in the infirmary had disappeared.
They left only one person behind when they left Akarind Academy, and they also took an unexpected person with them.
The person they left behind was Shasha.
"I-I didn't receive any contact. When I came to my senses, I was like this?"
I thought they might have killed her and left since she was involved with Abrahal.
But what was more surprising was the person they took with them.
They had surprisingly disappeared with the Chairman of Akarind Academy.
And in his empty office.
"Ahaha, ha…"
Gwen was sitting there with an awkward smile.
“Gwen?”
“Uh, yes, well, that’s what happened.”
“What is this?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’m a little easier to talk to and use than my father.”
She wasn't wrong.
Gwen's personality was similar to mine in many ways.
She cared deeply for her students and knew how to cherish each and every one of them.
She was willing to give up what she held most dear for the sake of her students, and she did her best for Akarind Academy.
As an alumnus of this academy, she knew the school's administration well, and above all, her father was the former chairman.
Before leaving, Avril had appointed her as the acting chairman with his authority as an advisor and left.
The chairman's seal was also present.
"Then what about the chairman?"
“I’m not sure about that.”
Gwen said that Avril had been asking her if she was interested in the chairman's position for a month.
Which means, Avril had been preparing a way to get rid of the chairman since then.
It wasn't just getting rid of him, but to the point of stamping a seal appointing his daughter as the acting chairman, there might have been some kind of deal with Avril.
'What kind of calculation is this?'
I tried to guess Avril's thoughts, but I couldn't easily find an answer to this one.
And that night.
Despite it being vacation, two students came to my dormitory.
It was Eleveth and Bridget.
"Weren't you supposed to have gone back to your hometown?"
It wasn't strange for Eleveth to be in the dormitory since she was a commoner student, but Bridget was not.
Why had he remained here instead of at the Chestra Viscounty?
That question was resolved not long after.
“I thought I would be training and working with the advisor’s people this vacation too.”
Bridget’s eyes briefly glanced at Eleveth.
There were subtle emotions in those pupils.
At the center was concern for Eleveth.
Come to think of it, Bridget had spent more time with Eleveth than I had.
They had partnered up to train their swordsmanship, and they had always been together, not only in class but also outside of class.
He would have noticed the change first and reacted sensitively.
'Is that why?'
There were emotions mixed in Bridget's eyes that Bridget himself probably didn't know the identity of.
It was a fresh emotion that one could only know after getting a little older.
"Are you disappointed?"
“No, well, I’m just worried and concerned, you know.”
"Don't worry, I have someone who can give you a similar experience."
I assigned Shasha to the two of them.
“……?”
Shasha seemed flustered by the two children she had been suddenly entrusted with.
"Take them on."
“Wh-why me?”
“They are children who have been hurt by their experiences in the mercenary world. I thought it would be good if you could tell them stories about the mercenary world together.”
“But even if it’s not me, there are the Firestorm mercenaries.”
“You’re from the military, aren’t you?”
At my question, Shasha flinched and looked at me.
You didn't think you wouldn't get caught, did you?
"You can't suddenly tell students who have had even a little experience in the mercenary life that that's bad and that they need to come back to the normal range. So I'd like someone who knows both discipline and mercenaries well to guide the two of them."
At my words, Shasha made a face as if she understood, but didn't quite.
After watching her for a few days, I found that she was a bit too rigid and simple to have been under that Avril.
'She's not under Avril. To be precise, she was under Abrahal.'
I hope she can be of help to the two students.
And during the vacation, there was another change.
The B-class seat that Gwen had left.
Sordian was appointed as an instructor there.
I was the one who recommended Sordian for that position.
“Me?”
When I first made the proposal, Sordian's tone was as if to ask why him of all people.
So I told him honestly.
“Because your sword skills are terrible.”
“What did you say?”
Sordian's remaining eye contorted.
"You have no talent, you don't even know why you should swing a sword, and yet you're spouting nonsense about not wanting to awaken your Sword Aura."
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me right now?”
“There are no emotions involved. I just sincerely think that for those reasons, you should be the B-class instructor.”
B-class was the class Gwen had been in charge of.
And Gwen had less talent for the sword than any of us.
She had not yet awakened her Aura, and at this rate, it seemed she would need to train consistently for about another year to establish her sword's intent.
And Gwen disliked me.
“Putting all those reasons together, it looks like a flaw. But those reasons are also reasons for the students to like their teacher.”
“The lack of talent for the sword, you mean?”
“But you were more diligent than anyone.”
“Not knowing the sword’s intent?”
“That’s why I believe you will be the best at understanding the students’ conditions.”
Sordian, who had been listening to my words, let out a smirk.
"Then what about me disliking you?"
I smiled back at him.
"I thought I would feel less sorry that our F-class students are the most outstanding."
“I really dislike you.”
* * *
A week had passed since Gwen had taken the position of department head.
Gwen, along with the head of the department, summoned a few key instructors to one place.
“…There’s a problem.”
“A problem?”
“To be precise, there’s a problem child.”
It was a week before the start of the semester.