Academy’s Barbarian

Even though I’m right in front of you, you’re speaking quite arrogantly.

Is it because you’re a high-ranking noble of the Empire?

“Yeah, do you have business with me, redhead?”

“…I’m Ophelia. The second daughter of the Sigmilus Count family, Ophelia van Sigmilus. It seems like you’re looking for additional sparring partners, but those idiots don’t seem too keen on fighting you. Right?”

Ophelia sneered at the freshmen’s attitude with disdain.

Well, I can see that too. So, are you suggesting we spar?

That’s unlikely.

Even if you fight me here, you won’t win, and you’ll just attract unnecessary attention.

Weren’t you the type who dislikes being in the spotlight?

“So, what? You want to fight me? Well, facing a magician wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Me? No, not at all. It’s just that if you’re looking for opponents, I can help you out.”

Ophelia shook her head and pointed toward the other freshmen.

“Help me?”

“If you just ask them to spar, they’ll obviously refuse. But if you offer to pay them a semester’s tuition later, the commoners who are short on money might agree. The academy’s tuition is quite a burden for them.”

“…I don’t have money either.”

Marquis Ludwig doesn’t give me any, except for tuition.

“I’ll cover that for you. In exchange, you just have to do me one favor later.”

“A favor?”

Ophelia lowered her voice and leaned in close to whisper in my ear.

“I plan to kill someone later, and having a capable warrior with no ties to the Empire would be a huge help.”

Her voice was as cold and quiet as a snake slithering through the grass.

So, her goal is a murder contract?

This girl’s got quite the personality.

“…Who are you talking about? I’m in a pretty tricky position myself when it comes to causing trouble in the Empire.”

“If you agree, I’ll tell you later. But don’t worry, it won’t be a big deal. I’m just targeting someone who hasn’t touched certain people yet.”

Hard to trust her words. She doesn’t plan to tell me who it is, huh?

Who could Ophelia want to kill at this point?

……Family?

Let me guess.

“You’re talking like you know them well… someone you want to kill, whose influence you understand, and whose death wouldn’t cause problems but needs to be kept secret… By the way, you said you’re the ‘second’ daughter of the count family, right?”

Ophelia’s expression stiffened slightly. Did I hit the mark?

“…You’re surprisingly sharp. Is it some kind of barbarian intuition or something?”

“Siblings always want to kill each other, you know.”

“Haaa… Yeah, you’re right. My older sister, Claire van Sigmilus. I want to kill that despicable woman.”

As expected. That was the answer.

So, she’s been planning to kill her sister from the start, huh?

“It’ll be a while before I act, but I promise to arrange a position for you where it won’t be a problem. So, what do you say? Will you agree?”

Well, I was going to deal with the Sigmilus family later anyway.

And properly nurturing Ophelia is part of the plan too.

“Alright. I agree. Just gather some sparring partners for me. Preferably ones who won’t mind getting hurt.”

“Don’t worry about that. As long as you don’t chop off any limbs. Well then, I’ll count on you later.”

After hearing my answer, Ophelia headed toward the freshmen.

…So, no dismemberment, huh?

Guess I’ll just break them then.

—-

Ophelia kept her promise and prepared four opponents for me.

One man with a shield and axe, one youth with a longsword.

Two guys from the magic department.

Four men in total agreed to spar with me.

I also liked that she didn’t pick any women.

Even though they’re fellow women, smashing female students would probably earn me more contempt and disgust than fear.

Though these guys don’t seem much stronger than the other freshmen.

Except for one, they all had fear mixed in their eyes when they looked at me.

Only one of the magicians had a challenging look instead of fear.

…Well, at least there’s one decent guy.

Anyway, if they’re willing to step up despite being scared, they must be really short on money.

Ironically, they’ll probably end up richer than me after this sparring session.

—-

After the third group’s sparring ended, it was time for additional matches.

Maybe they didn’t want to push themselves too hard on the first day, but only about eleven people volunteered for additional sparring, including me.

And if you exclude the ones who agreed to fight me, it’s only six.

“Is this all for the additional sparring?”

Kal-lain looked at us with slight dissatisfaction.

From a soldier’s perspective, it’s not a good look for the future talents responsible for the Empire’s safety to hesitate in a fight.

But I can understand the freshmen not wanting to shed unnecessary blood on the very first morning.

Well, it’s not my concern anyway.

They’re only hurting themselves in the end.

Considering the chaos that’s about to unfold, it’d be best to build up as much strength as possible, but even if I give them advice, those guys won’t listen to me anyway.

The six people on my side paired up to fight each other, so the sparring matches were decided to proceed one team at a time, in order.

I volunteered to fight four times in a row at the end.

That way, it’d be more impressive.

“…Fine. Get ready. We’re starting now.”

—-

The six in front of me finished their sparring without much incident.

Edgar, as usual, cast healing blessings and engaged in a battle of endurance, trading blows with his opponent.

It was the typical underhanded tactic of a holy knight—his wounds kept healing through the power of blessings, so in the end, only his opponent ended up battered.

The match between a magician and a lance-wielding knight student ended with the knight student throwing his lance at the incoming magic and charging in bare-handed to win.

The magician did pull out a dagger to resist, but couldn’t withstand the knight student’s punches.

The following magic duel between two magicians was quite spectacular.

Fire arrows and lightning bolts collided, creating a fireworks-like spectacle.

In the end, one of them ran out of mana and conceded.

Finally, it was my turn.

Thanks to carefully observing the previous matches, I had a rough idea of how to fight a magician.

Throw a weapon to counter incoming magic, then close in for close combat.

—-

My first opponent was a slightly older-looking guy with a sturdy round shield and an axe.

His name was Hans, I think. Not that I needed to remember it.

Maybe because he saw me wreck Milia, Hans cautiously closed the distance while raising his shield.

…No need to waste time, right?

I let my sword hang low, then kicked off the ground and charged.

Hans, startled, thrust his shield forward.

Well, he’s not stopping this.

“Kaaah!”

I poured strength into both arms and slashed upward diagonally.

The longsword bent as if it might break, and the rising slash smashed into the shield.

– Kwaang!

With a loud crash, shattered wooden fragments exploded into the air.

Two fingers, mixed among the debris, left scattered red marks.

“Kuaaaah!”

Even as he screamed, I blocked the axe swinging toward my waist by slamming my arm down.

With a sickening crack, Hans’s right arm bent outward.

The axe fell uselessly to the ground, ringing with a clear metallic sound.

I twisted my body and kicked him in the stomach.

I felt two or so ribs break.

“Kuhuk!”

Hans flew backward, spat blood, and then slumped down.

That much should be within acceptable limits.

“Next.”

—-

A young man with a longsword walked out, looking like he really didn’t want to do this.

He had a pretty handsome face, the kind that could make girls cry.

Annoying.

I parried his thrusting sword with my longsword.

He must’ve learned swordsmanship somewhere, as he tried to twist his sword and entangle mine.

But to pull that off on me, you’d need to be at Nigel’s level.

I just overpowered him with brute strength.

“Kkkeuk…!”

The young man’s arm, crushed under my strength, was pushed back toward his torso.

His expression twisted in pain as his own sword pressed against his shoulder.

The sound of his shoulder bone cracking was clear.

Well, I could do this with one arm.

I let go of the hilt with my left hand, lightly clenched my fist, and tapped the young man’s face.

With the sound of an eggshell cracking, his facial bones broke just as much as I intended.

His legs gave out, and he crumpled to the ground.

On his knees, he buried his face in the ground, twitching and convulsing while showing only the back of his head.

Blood slowly seeped out from under his crushed face.

His raised buttocks trembled uncontrollably.

I thought about stepping on his head lightly but held back.

Even for me, that seemed a bit too much.

“Next.”

—-

A male student from the magic department walked out, clutching a short wand.

He looked about fifteen, with the expression of a starving tiger facing its prey.

Well, he’s just a kid. I’ll go easy on him.

The student muttered something and waved his wand vigorously.

My senses sharpened.

The anti-magic blessing reacted, and the flow of mana became vividly clear.

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