How to Teach a Hero at the Academy

Chapter 17: Sword Forging Family (1)

Monika's breath stirred.

It melted powerlessly into the night.

“Ah, so that's what it was.”

Monika stood up from the bench. After taking a few steps, she looked back at Fleur. Fleur was staring at Monika with a neat smile and sparkling eyes. Monika put strength into her expression, which felt like it was about to collapse. Her tightly bitten lips twisted into what seemed like a messy smile.

“So what are you trying to say?”

Monika asked Fleur.

“Why are you telling me such a story.”

“Because you have to know.”

Fleur answered readily.

“You lost everything because of the Saint-Pierre family. Isn't it a bit strange that only I know that fact?”

My family is the perpetrator, and you are the victim.

Fleur's whisper, as light as a flower petal.

Monika furrowed her brow, then bent her upper body roughly towards Fleur. Her lusterless amber eyes were cast down at Fleur. Monika's breath poured onto Fleur's white skin.

“I'm asking what you want me to do, Fleur de Saint-Pierre. Do you want me to be confused? Or do you want me to be in pain? Do you want me to be so scared that I cry my eyes out, and shout that I can't stay in a place like this anymore.”

“I don't think I'm in a position to want anything from you?”

Fleur tilted her head.

Then she took out a handkerchief from her overcoat pocket.

“But I can give you a few pieces of advice.”

First of all……,

It's better to give up on revenge.

Fleur said, wiping the blood from her hands.

“After the Mirror War ended, most of the nobles who had supported the 2nd Prince were purged. But our family survived. Our power has diminished, but my father is still treated as a distinguished guest of the capital.”

Don't dream of reporting it, Monika.

“The experimental data has been thoroughly concealed, and if you try to track it, you'll be assassinated. My father leaves no room for error. So you can't achieve revenge in any way.”

But if you really want to resolve your grudge…….

That's right. If you're willing to throw away your life…….

“How about killing me right now?”

Fleur's hand delved into Monika's hair. A soft touch that wound through her black hair. The smell of blood, which hadn't been fully washed away, stimulated Monika's mind. The touch that had slid down, engraving the stench, reached Monika's prosthetic arm. Stroking the sturdily woven prosthetic arm with her index finger, Fleur whispered in a small voice.

“I swear to the main gods.”

I won't resist. You can choke my neck with this prosthetic arm right now. Look around, Monika. There's no one here. It's possible right now. Crush my neck bones, and engrave my face, gasping for breath with bloodshot eyes, in your memory. Revenge against our family can't be achieved, but I'll make it possible for you to at least kill the heir of the family.

Because you have the right to.

“Of course, if you kill me, you'll die too, and I don't want you to die. But even so, your will is the most important, right?”

How about it, Monika.

Are you going to kill me?

“You're full of shit.”

Monika brushed off Fleur's touch.

Then she threw down the trifoliate orange flower that Fleur had given her. The flower hit Fleur's face and scattered its white petals, tumbling down. Fleur picked up the scattered petals one by one. Then she stared at the back of Monika, who was taking a step.

“Fleur de Saint-Pierre.”

Monika said, turning her back.

“I was the youngest among the residents of Sarrifis. That must have been why. Everyone tried to evacuate just our family somehow. But my dad was killed by the pursuers, and my mom threw me and shouted for me to survive.”

She left a will for me to survive, no matter what.

Do you understand? It means you can rest assured.

“I have no intention of getting revenge to the point of throwing away my life. I will survive, and to do so, I can do anything. I will turn away from my grudge, and even hide my anger.”

So that's that.

Don't come near me.

Let me live as I am.

“Do you understand clearly?”

Monika smiled.

It was a conspicuously worldly smile.

“If my words sounded like an insult, please forgive me. I am an uneducated person. Please, let this lowly one live. I beg you, young lady of the Saint-Pierre family.”

A polite greeting that followed.

Monika lightly picked up the hem of her cloak, then bent her calves gracefully and bowed her body. And then she melted into the midst of the night. Her footsteps were as light as if she were snorting.

The white dog that had been following Monika stopped. Then it started walking again, and stopped again, and sometimes it would look back. Finally, as if it had made a decision, it ran after Monika's footsteps.

Fleur hugged the dead dog and crouched down. Fleur's long shadow. Monika's footprints were deeply embedded in it.

“So that's what it was.”

The front toe of her Flat Shoes, touching the shadow.

She swept it in all directions.

A vague smell of sand sprang up.

“Your mother……, told you to survive.”

Kkiing, and.

A whimpering sound was heard.

The dead dog stroked Fleur's cheek.

* * *

A few days later, at Cia-Harphe Academy's North Student Hall.

While a soft fragrance was etched in all directions,

The dead dog's front paw touched the mirror.

“Your appearance must be unfamiliar.”

Fleur's whisper to the dead dog.

“Then again. It can't be helped.”

Fleur crouched down beside the dead dog. As if its own form filled in the large mirror was strange, the dead dog let out a pained sound and crouched down. The rotten blood had been completely drained, and the flesh had also fallen off long ago. Eusha, and. Fleur smiled and lifted the dead dog.

“Will this make it a little better.”

Tuduk, and.

The sound of a flower on the flower crown breaking.

Fleur stuck it between the cracks of the dead dog's skull.

“Now you're pretty. Right?”

Fleur muttered, holding the dead dog out to the mirror. The dead dog's reddish-black glint of light narrowed. The dead dog, rubbing its face against the back of Fleur's hand. Fleur let out a sigh mixed with relief.

“Fleur, can you stop dawdling with the skeleton dog?”

At that moment, a voice from behind Fleur.

Fleur's smile vanished.

The North Student Hall, built in imitation of a magic tower, was a facility for small-scale research activities. A section of it. While various experimental equipment filled the narrow space, there were faces sitting around a round table placed in the center. They were all students from Abel's class.

“Please focus. I'm having a hard time.”

One of them,

A boy with a sharp impression and glasses, opened his mouth. It was Ernst von Tresckow, a 5th-year student in the Department of Theology.

“You know that everyone here except you and me is a blockhead. If you're not here, we can't proceed with the discussion.”

“I'm sorry, Ernst Senior.”

“As long as you know. Hurry up and come sit down.”

Fleur nodded her head and took a step.

As she was passing by the window that filled one wall,

“Ernst-oppa, I have a question.”

Roberta Sinclair, a 3rd-year student in the Department of Theology, raised her hand.

“What is it, trap brat.”

“We're having a class meeting right now, right? But why didn't you call Monika-unni? She's in the same class too.”

“Well, she's a commoner, and……”

I'm not good at talking to commoners.

Ernst muttered, scratching his head.

“I'm a commoner too?”

“Sinclair is a historic family of weapon merchants. You're different even though you're of the same status on paper.”

“So you're saying you didn't call her because Monika-unni is poor?”

“That's not it, you idiot. I'm just……”

I don't know the etiquette for dealing with kids like that. No one ever taught me.

So I couldn't bring myself to talk to her.

As Ernst confessed with a troubled look, Roberta clapped her hands with a bright smile.

“You were being shy. Right?”

“Have you been listening to my story with your armpits until now? It means I can't approach her because I'm afraid of making a mistake.”

Damn it, and.

Ernst let out a sigh, blushing.

“For Monika……”

Fleur opened her mouth, turning her gaze out the window.

“It's better not to approach her.”

The training ground visible beyond the North Student Hall.

At the edge of Fleur's gaze was Monika.

Monika was practicing swordsmanship with Dante. The white dog was running around near the two, and the janitors of CIAR were laughing noisily and chasing after the dog.

‘I'm glad she made friends.’

A smile spread across Fleur's lips.

Monika was thoroughly ignoring Fleur's existence. In the first place, the only chance for the two to meet was during the morning meeting. Although they were both 4th-year students in the same Department of Theology, the classes Monika was taking were only basic courses, and Fleur was taking classes at a level close to skipping a grade.

“I had a few conversations with Monika.”

Fleur said, sitting down at the round table.

“She seemed to find me very difficult.”

“That's to be expected.”

Ernst nodded his head.

“She's a war orphan, has lost one arm, and I hear she was living in the capital's slums? It's obvious she was harassed by the noble bastards while working as a janitor.”

“You're a noble too, Ernst-oppa.”

“Shut up, Roberta. I don't pick fights with passing janitors. I don't spit, and I don't trip them.”

“I'm sure you don't. I don't know about the people of your family, though.”

“Fleur, are you going to do this to me too?”

Anyway……, and.

Ernst continued with a sigh-laden voice.

“The reason I called you all here is because of the semester assignment that Professor Argento gave. As you know, the semester assignment given to each class has a big impact on the final grade. It must mean that since we're receiving special management, we should work hard.”

“Ernst-oppa, I have a question.”

“What is it now, Roberta.”

“Everyone's been talking a lot. About Professor Argento.”

Roberta said, rolling her large eyes.

On the first day of the fall semester, the 「Application of Divine Magic」 class conducted by Abel had caused a great stir within the Department of Theology. Because the groundbreaking method of shortening the cast was a matter that should have been submitted through a thesis, not a lecture.

Although it was only about shortening a basic spell, Abel had revealed it in too narrow a setting.

“……Professor Argento's lectures target the existing system in a way that is almost malicious. That is precisely why. A strange rumor is spreading among the readers of ‘Yesterday Clairvoyance’. That Professor Argento is an apostate like the former professor, Vincent Tremblay……”

Roberta read aloud, with a copy of ‘Yesterday Clairvoyance’ spread out on the round table. The form of Abel, appearing small beyond it. The translucent form of Abel wore a mischievous smile.

“So I wanted to ask. Ernst-oppa and Fleur-unni are taking the 「Application of Divine Magic」 class, right? Is Professor Argento a bad person?”

“I think the newspaper club guys exaggerated.”

Ernst said, tilting his head.

“From the perspective of having heard that day's lecture……, that man seemed distinctly different from Professor Tremblay. Isn't that right, Fleur?”

“I agree. Besides, he's not someone who makes that kind of expression.”

Fleur covered her mouth and held back a laugh.

The shrunken form of Abel was puffing out his chest with all his might.

“But it's true that questions arise about Professor Argento's resume. I don't think he's just an ordinary Holy Knight commander. The Papacy is a place with many secrets in the first place……”

That's why……, and.

Fleur voiced the hypothesis she had in her mind.

The Papacy's deep inner circle had discovered the shortening of the cast a long time ago.

Abel Argento is one of those from the Papacy's key positions.

The reason he became a professor at CIAR while hiding his resume is……,

“I don't know that either, but……, in any case, wouldn't it be more reasonable to think that he has a separate identity?”

“Fleur-unni, I have a question.”

“What are you curious about, Roberta?”

“Can't you just give me one flower from your flower crown? The red flower there. It's so pretty.”

“Sorry. This flower crown is precious to me.”

“Stingy. Then next question!”

“Go ahead.”

“According to you, unni, in any case……, Professor Argento is not a bad person, right?”

“Probably. He even took your trap himself, didn't he.”

“That's quite a problem.”

Roberta puffed out her cheeks with her arms crossed.

After thinking for a moment, she presented the most important question to everyone.

“We have to stab him with a knife, right? His back……”

“That's why I called you all here.”

Ernst adjusted his glasses with an annoyed expression.

“He probably doesn't literally mean to stab his back. Unless he's a madman who likes getting stabbed. I think he might be metaphorically implying something else……, does anything come to mind?”

Silence.

I knew it, and Ernst grumbled. The requirements of the professors through the semester assignments were similar. Because they aimed at deriving results that took a long time, they ended up giving rather uniform assignments.

Solving an academic thesis, renewing a stage of martial arts, or grasping the principle of a tricky spell. Of course, there was no case of telling them to stab him in the back.

“Ernst.”

It was at that moment.

“You are underestimating Professor Argento.”

“……What?”

One of the four people sitting around the round table.

As the boy who had been silent until now opened his mouth, Ernst's expression crumpled.

“What are you trying to say, Demian?”

“He is testing our chivalry.”

Swish, and.

Demian said, standing up from his chair.

Demian's blond hair, which had been hidden in the shadows, stirred.

A 5th-year student in the Department of Theology, the eldest son of the Farenheit family, a renowned family that had produced masters of swordsmanship for centuries.

Demian Fernando von Farenheit took a step with his hand on his hilt.

“A true knight does not stab an opponent's back. Even if they are an enemy, one must face them properly. Let alone to stab one's benefactor's back. It's absurd.”

A thin smile hung on Demian's lips.

“If an opponent reveals their back during a duel, it is polite to wait. If you stab without waiting, you have lost to the temptation of victory. Professor Argento must be hoping that we overcome the temptation.”

So, we don't stab the back.

We stab the front.

Demian muttered, facing the arched door.

“Are you saying……, the part about stabbing the back is a trap, and stabbing the front is the real semester assignment?”

“Of course.”

Demian nodded his head.

“Ernst, I heard it clearly during the first morning meeting. Professor Argento's true voice, telling us to stab our own hearts with our chivalry.”

“Oh my, is that so? So what, are you going to go and challenge Professor Argento to a duel right now?”

“Naturally.”

Kkiiik, and.

The sound of an arched door opening.

“Everyone wait. I will go and stab his heart.”

Again, kkiiik, and.

The sound of an arched door closing.

“What in the world is that crazy logic……”

Ernst stared at the place Demian had left, with his mouth agape. A hand that was cast over Ernst's glasses. It was none other than Roberta's.

“Ernst-oppa, I have a question.”

“……What is it.”

“When did Demian-oppa become like that? He's acting like the protagonist of a third-rate knight literature.”

“Since he was 8. After reading a book I lent him……”

It's all my fault.

Ernst muttered with a hollow smile.

“Ernst Senior, I have a question too.”

“……Speak, Fleur.”

“Are you going to stay here like this? If you follow Demian Senior, you'll be able to see an interesting spectacle.”

“Unfortunately……, I've been watching Demian go around like that for over 10 years. I'd like to stop watching now.”

But well……, and.

Ernst muttered, scratching the back of his head.

“Shall we follow.”

I'm also curious about Professor Argento's reaction…….

“Besides, that guy……”

He's gone crazy like the protagonist of a knight literature,

and he's as ignorantly strong as the protagonist of a knight literature.

.

.

.

Cia-Harphe Academy's 0th Academic Hall, also known as the ‘Professor's Tower’.

──Jjaenggang!

Along with the sound of a window shattering,

“Professor Abel Argento.”

Demian's voice that followed.

Abel, who had been walking down the hallway, stopped.

“On the honor of the Farenheit family, I challenge you to a duel.”

Demian declared with a gallant smile.

Abel tilted his head for a moment, then looked at Demian, who was standing with his feet on the windowsill. Amidst the shattered pieces of glass, a blade-like wind pouring in from outside was shaking Demian's hair. Abel, noticing that Demian's legs were trembling,

“You just broke the window here and barged in. And this is the 47th floor. Did you climb up the wall or something.”

He asked a question to grasp the facts.

“That is correct. It is a strategy to seize the initiative. You will not be able to forget my name now, Professor.”

“I do not forget a student's name. I know well who you are. But……”

Yes……,

Seizing the initiative must be important.

I'll praise you.

As Abel spoke with an indifferent expression, Demian's face lit up.

“Thank you, Professor. For your information, I suffer from a severe fear of heights. If I had looked down even once, I would have lost consciousness and fallen.”

“Your legs are trembling even now.”

“I can overcome it.”

Kkeueuk, and.

A pained sound leaked out regardless of Demian's will.

“You've overcome it well enough. Come down now.”

“My legs won't move.”

Here……, and.

Abel sighed and held out his hand.

“Hold onto me and come down.”

“To offer a hand to a duel opponent. You are truly a true knight, Professor.”

“I suppose so. Next time, don't rashly climb a wall.”

“I cannot do that.”

Demian said, gripping the hand Abel had held out.

“Because a true knight climbs a fortress wall with his bare body.”

“A true knight should be able to distinguish between what is possible and what is impossible.”

Abel pulled Demian's body.

A suppressed groan flowed from Demian's tilted mouth. Demian, while struggling, steadfastly maintained his expression. Then, gripping the hem of Abel's formal coat, he once again stated his purpose.

“I challenge you to a duel, Professor Abel Argento. On the honor of the Farenheit family……”

“No need to say it twice.”

“You did not answer me earlier.”

“I'm very sorry about that.”

Abel brushed off the glass fragments from Demian's clothes.

“Yes……”

Finally, after straightening Demian's collar,

“……Let's duel.”

He muttered in a worried tone.