Chapter 70

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

First Meeting with the Hopeless Professor

「What did you do just now? Magic? No, it was too subtle, and I don’t feel anything either . But it feels like you scanned me or something . 」

She noticed Hikaru checking her Soul Board .

It must be the two points on her Instinct . What a pain .

「I can’t use magic . 」

「Then a magic item?」

「No . 」

「What do you hope to achieve by feeling my body?」

「You’re making it sound like I’m doing something awful . Why isn’t there an “I’m not doing anything” option, Miss Drunkard? Like I said before, I came here to attend short sword classes . 」

「What? You’re serious? I suggest you don’t . 」

「It’s the student’s right to take lectures . 」

「And the professor has a right to refuse . 」

「No, you don’t . 」

「Really?」

「Yup . 」

「Eeh…」

He didn’t have any basis for that claim, of course . Mille hung her head low . Her make-up made her look older, but her mannerisms were reminiscent of a twenty-two-year old .

「Why are you so against teaching? If you hate it so much, you shouldn’t have taken up the profession . 」

「I heard it was an easy job since there were no students . 」

Man, she’s really hopeless, Hikaru thought .

「Then again my salary’s decreasing since there aren’t a lot of students . I can barely buy a glass of beer . What to do? No one would lend me money anymore . 」

She’s so hopeless, it’s almost tragic, Hikaru thought .

「But you’re good with short swords, right?」

「Not at all . 」

「Of course you are . 」

「No, I’m not . 」

「You’re just saying that cause you don’t want to teach . 」

「Do you have proof?」

It’s written on your Soul Board . Three points on Short Sword .

「You being hired by the academy is proof enough . I don’t know how to use short swords . I don’t even know the basics . There are lots of things I wanna learn about, like how to maneuver in fights . I won’t demand for practical training . So please teach me!」

「Hmm… Nuh-uh!」

After being humble and asking nicely, all he got was a “Nuh-uh” . Hikaru was understandably pissed .

「Okay . Have it your way . I don’t mind filing a report to the principal and the prime minister . 」

「…What? Are you serious? There’s no way a mere student can make contact with the prime minister!」

「Zofira van Houtens . Judging from her name, she’s from the same place as you . I wonder what she would think if I told her about this . 」

「P-P-Please don’t!」

「I just hope the new instructor is passionate about teaching…」

「No! Please! If I get fired, the collectors will come for me! The academy walls are keeping them at bay for now!」

She’s really hopeless to the core, Hikaru thought . For her, the academy was an evacuation shelter .

「Okay, fine! I’ll teach you! You happy? Sheesh… Is this how kids behave these days?」she muttered as she got on her feet .

「All right, get your short sword out . You brought one, right?」

「Will this do?」

Hikaru showed a lone dagger he hung on his waist – his Dagger of Strength . Daggers belonged to the short sword category under “single-edged short swords” . Mille nodded and sat down, hands around her knees . Incidentally, she was wearing a mini skirt, exposing her panties .

It’s rare to see underwear and not feel anything, Hikaru thought as he held his dagger . He lowered his hips, the point of his dagger turned downwards .

「Not like that . 」

He was off to a bad start .

「That was bad, huh?」

「Absolutely terrible . You look like a complete amateur . Why would you even point your sword downwards?」

「So it’s easy to throw . 」

「Why would you throw your only weapon?!」

「What’s the right way to do it?」

「The right way to do it is to hide your sword along with the sheath . Don’t draw it . 」

「Ohh…」

「You know what makes the short sword superior to other weapons, right?」

「Its portability . The biggest advantage of a short sword is that you can lower your opponent’s guard by making him think you’re unarmed . Am I right? As for actual capabilities, short swords can never best long swords or halberds . 」

Hikaru was genuinely impressed . She easily negated the idea that weapons should be drawn at all times . Practical and logical, it fit Hikaru’s stealthy fighting style .

「So you already know . We can call it a day, then . 」

「Ah, yes . It’s time . It was more like you sulking the whole time, though, Professor Mille Crepes . 」

「Call me that again and I’ll send you flying . 」

「How about you use a short sword then? Anyway, I’d like to train alone . Can you teach me some forms and regimens I can follow?」

「Go run laps . 」

「Okay . 」

Hikaru bowed before leaving . He was in a great mood, thinking Mille’s lecture might actually prove useful .

「What’s his deal? I think I got roped into something weird . 」Mille grumbled . Yawning, she entered the building to take another nap .

After the lecture, Hikaru went back to the apartment to change clothes and went jogging . Once he started running, he noticed the activity was draining . He thought he’d gained stamina ever since he came to this world . Now he realized walking for hours and jogging were two completely different things .

「Haa… ha… haa… This is rough . 」

There he was, in the academy sports ground – or rather what seemed to be a parade ground . He took a break after a few laps . Next he tried a hundred-meter dash . He was fast with his two points on Power Burst, but his muscles were screaming immediately after .

It was necessary to actually build muscles to combat the recoil . He could put more points into his Strength, but muscle strength differed from muscle flexibility . By performing calisthenics to loosen his muscles, he should be able to make good use of his Power Burst .

「Running laps… that drunkard sure has some good ideas . 」

Students watched him from afar with puzzled expressions .

「What’s he doing?」

「He’s doing some kind of a strange pose… What a riot . 」

「What does he hope to achieve by just running around without even swinging his sword?」

While this world had proper sword training regimens, they didn’t have sports science – basic bodily exercises . And so a rumor was born of a “crazy student” .

「Wow… It’s unusual for you to give someone recognition . 」

It was evening . Hikaru and Lavia were making dinner . The menu was stir-fried vegetables, meat, and bread with cheese .

「It’s not purely academics . It’s fun and I’m going back tomorrow . 」

「If it’s that fun, maybe I’ll attend the lecture as well . 」

「…I suggest you don’t . 」

「Why not?」

Hikaru felt reluctant to let Lavia meet that mess of a woman .

「The lecture is worthless to those who don’t use short swords . By the way, what were you up to?」

「I was surrounded by books…」

Lavia sighed absentmindedly . She stayed in the library all day . With over 20,000 books, one could say it was almost a complete collection .

「That’s a lot… What kind of books do they have?」

「There are lots of research thesis . No stories whatsoever, but there were compilations of folklores from other regions . And some statistics . 」

「Statistics?」

「Public documents from the establishment of the allied nations . Back then, Rumania had the largest population with 900,000 . The smallest was Zubura with 20,000 . 」

「That’s a huge difference . I’m surprised they were able to be part of the alliance and live on equal terms . 」

「Apparently there’s a reason for that . Rumania, Kirihal, and Ludancia were known as the Three Powers of the North . Yet individually, they were nothing compared to Ponsonia . 」

Ponsonia’s population was over four million .

「Euroba, a small nation like Zubura, excelled in magic research, while Kotobi excelled in metal engraving . That’s how they built a strong presence . As for Zubura, they produced artifacts from the ruins . 」

「Artifacts?」

「A product from an ancient civilization . The manufacturing process is unknown . But they possessed extremely powerful weapons, apparently . 」

「………」

「Hikaru, are you thinking what I’m thinking?」

「Probably . Revolvers . 」

Something clearly not of this world, produced from the ruins in Zubura .

Someone from another world might’ve been in Zubura at one point, Hikaru thought .

「Wait a sec… If they had such a thing, why didn’t Silvester have one when hunting the Lesser Wyvern?」

「When Forestia was founded, they decided the weapons should be common property . Although it seems defensive artifacts were left in Zubura . 」

「I see . 」

We’ll be on equal terms if you hand over your weapons . That was probably how it went .

「I’d love to see these artifacts from Zubura . 」

There should be researchers around as well . They might be able to explain the mechanisms of the revolver .