Chapter 6: No matter how I look at it, it's strange!
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: N/A
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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Having relaxed his stiff back, Eugene was sitting in his first class of the day, 'Theory and Basics of Swordsmanship II.'
In the actual game, the classes were summed up in just a few lines of dialogue, and after half possessing the body, he was unable to fully pay attention due to the incessant mumblings of the body's original owner.
However, after full possession, there were no swordsmanship classes to speak of.
Today marked the first 'Swordsmanship Theory class' Eugene could attend with a fully lucid mind.
With anticipation about what he would learn, Eugene was attending the class.
The lecturer turned out to be Fritz von Havel, a middle-aged noble from the Baron Oberman family.
"The most important aspect of mastering the sword is the body! Particularly the lower body! Having a sturdy lower body ensures that your stance doesn't falter when wielding the sword, allowing for precise and effective sword strikes!"
'Lower body! That's it!'
I will start training my lower body as soon as I get home!
Eugene was ardently absorbing all the content, his eyes almost sparkling with excitement.
His natural talent, his eye for learning the sword, was telling him that everything Fritz was saying was correct.
"Yawn."
"I'm sleepy."
"Can't you young ladies focus!"
A few female students, with no interest in the sword, couldn't hide their boredom.
'Why are they like that?'
Eugene couldn't understand these girls.
'Sure, the professor is balding, a bit on the chubby side, and not particularly handsome, and his voice is somewhat odd.'
But the class content is excellent!
Excluding his physical appearance, there was nothing to fault in his lecture.
Eugene clucked his tongue at the female students who wasted Fritz's excellent lecture.
By the time Fritz's passionate class ended, Eugene was deeply satisfied, having gained significant insights into his future personal training.
How satisfied was he?
It was evident on his face.
Fritz, seeing a uniquely shining student among the Blue Flower class, opened his mouth with a happy expression.
"Eugene over there! Your attitude in today's class was outstanding. I'm keeping my eye on you!"
"Thank you. I'll continue to work hard."
"Excellent."
With that, Fritz ended the class and left the classroom.
'It's so strange, no matter how you look at it!'
Looking at him, seemingly transformed into a perfectly normal person, Tina's eyes trembled with shock.
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Raei Translations
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Once the swordsmanship class ended, the other lessons began.
Second period, History I.
Third period, Theory and Advanced Techniques of Fire Magic.
Eugene paid attention, but it was inevitable that he found these subjects less interesting than swordsmanship, so he simply stored the essentials in his mind.
To focus on swordsmanship in the third year after passing the second year courses, it was best to avoid failing the basic subjects.
He learned enough to help him pass the exams.
'Magic seems like something that I can learn on my own without attending the classes.'
The History class during the second period had given him a bit of a headache, but he was comfortable during the third period class of Advanced Theory and Techniques of Fire Magic.
After all, he was a magic genius.
As the word 'Advanced' was in the course title, the other students strained their eyes and tried their hardest to understand the course content.
But Eugene, with his natural comprehension, quickly grasped everything without having to concentrate too hard.
'So this is the learning ability of a genius.'
With a small smile, Eugene continued to listen to the class.
After all the morning classes, it was lunchtime.
"Ugh, my head hurts."
"Let's go eat!"
"What are we eating today?"
"I don't know, we'll decide when we get there!"
Due to the mentally exhausting advanced magic class, the hungry students bolted out of the classroom.
The three geniuses who needed to use their brains relatively less, Tina, Celine, and Eugene, were the only ones left inside.
Usually, Tina and Celine would head to the cafeteria first, and Eugene would watch them, his mind fluttering with various questionable(?) fantasies.
"Tina, aren't you leaving?"
"Hmm, I'm not really hungry today."
"Okay. I'll be going then."
Celine was the first to stand up and leave the classroom, while Tina remained seated.
'No matter how I look at it, he's acting too weird.'
The questions that had been sprouting since morning were gently pricking at her mind.
Eugene, who was not doing any of his usual bizarre behaviors, was just too out of character.
She wanted to go ask him if something was up.
'Ugh.'
If only she hadn't been so harsh that day!
But on the rooftop that day, Tina spat out arrogant words saying that she and he were on different levels.
It meant a severance of the relationship between them, not just as potential lovers, but also as individuals.
Wouldn't it be absurd to be the one approaching him first?
She was also scared that if she approached him first, Eugene might suddenly revert to his old foolish self and cling to her.
'Ha, this is hopeless.'
The situation was hopeless in every way.
'But why isn't he going to eat?'
If he had left to eat, she would have lost the opportunity to ask him, so she would have accepted it and gone to fill her stomach, but he continued to stay like that, making her feel neither here nor there.
'Is it because this is the Royal Academy? The meal tickets are too expensive.'
Going out to eat would be best.
If Tina knew the fact that Eugene was not leaving due to his tight budget, she might have just fainted from shock.
'Ugh, so frustrating.'
Tina repeatedly thumped her chest in her frustration.
And after several more minutes, her hunger started to creep up on her.
It was reaching the point of regret for not having followed Celine when she left.
'I need to get out some snacks.'
As was her routine, Tina rummaged around for the snacks that were usually stocked under her desk each day.
However, no matter how much she groped around, she couldn't lay her hands on anything.
'It was him who provided those!'
The person who had regularly stocked her snacks had unexpectedly become someone else.
"Ugh……."
She clutched her famished stomach and buried her face in the desk.
As she had previously told Celine she wasn't hungry, she couldn't go back to the dining hall now.
If she went and bumped into Celine, she'd likely look at her with a subtly upset expression and ask,
"You said you weren't hungry?"
It was possible that Celine might think Tina had lied about not wanting to eat together with her.
Celine did have a subtle sensitive side, after all.
"Ugh, I'm hungry…….”
All Tina could do was keep her face buried in the desk and regret her past decisions.
'Why is he like that.'
Eugene, showing no interest in Tina, simply napped until the afternoon class.
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Raei Translations
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Afternoon class, Swordsmanship Practice.
Avel, who was in charge of today's practice, gently smiled at the eager students wielding wooden swords.
"You're all used to the lessons by now, so you know what to do, right?"
"So we're just swinging around again today?"
"Of course. The key to swordsmanship is repetitive practice. It needs to become second nature. For a light warm-up, let's repeat downward strikes. No gender distinction, 200 times. Can you girls handle that?"
"Yes!"
"Good, start~"
As Avel clapped her hands, students started practicing their downward strikes based on what they'd learned so far.
"Your stance is off over there! Properly fix your lower body!"
"Yes!"
"Kovin, you're losing grip strength. You can't do it like that!"
"I'm sorry!"
Avel, with her eagle eyes, pointed out areas for improvement while memorizing each student's progress, continuing the lesson.
She came to a stop in front of a particular student.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
'As expected.'
Celine, a genius of swordsmanship, was causing a notable breeze.
Swinging her long silver hair and maintaining an accurate and perfect posture, she was repeatedly executing superior downward strikes incomparable to other students.
"Celine, you're indeed amazing. It seems your skills have improved even more?"
"Thank you."
'She really is a genius. Impressive.'
There was no doubt that she was the daughter of the continent's most prestigious swordsmanship family, the Luberuta.
Celine's ability was simply on another level compared to other students.
Whoosh!
Watching Celine practice her swordsmanship, other students barely seemed to exist.
Whoosh!
Even if there were students with extraordinary talents, they would merely seem average before Celine.
Whoosh!
'But where is this continuous wind sound coming from?'
While admiring Celine's talent, an odd noise echoed from a corner.
Her ears, honed by years of practice, heard the unusual sound of a sword cutting through the wind more distinctly.
Despite years of training students, she had never heard such a sound from a first-year level.
'What on earth. Is it coming from over there?'
I should check it out.
Normally, she would have stayed a bit longer in front of Celine.
Her steps quickened.
Her brisk pace stopped in a remote corner of the practice ground.
There was Eugene, a student rumored amongst the teachers to be an odd one, and who hadn't appeared for the past two days after being hit by a carriage.
Whooooosh!
As she approached, the sound was different.
The sword ripped through the air, creating a strong sonic boom.
This wasn't caused by brute force.
It was a perfect downward strike executed without a hair's breadth of deviation.
The sword descended just before hitting the ground, scattering nearby dirt and sand with its force.
The swordplay wasn't just perfect, it was stunningly beautiful.
"What's going on? Why are you working so hard?"
"Eugene, you've got good arm strength, huh?"
While the other students simply regarded Eugene as working hard and having a good strong swing, they didn't quite understand the whole picture.
For over a decade, Avel had trained in the way of the sword.
Eugene's sword was not merely of that level.
"What on earth... what happened?"
What she was witnessing, was a wonder.
It was a fragment of a grand talent that was so far-fetched it was difficult to look up at.
There was never a moment she had felt this while guiding the students at the Royal Academy.
'No, I think there was one.'
There was.
And it was the same person.
‘I’m sure that happened...’
Half a year ago, during the first swordsmanship practice for first-grade students.
Avel had gathered the students of the Blue flower class like today and let them swing their swords without any specific instructions.
To assess the extent of the students' current achievements.
There was a world of difference between students who were born into a swordsmanship family and had been training with a sword since childhood, and those who hadn't, so she had to adjust her lessons accordingly.
That was why she had them do it.
But then, she witnessed an unusual spectacle.
His gaze was elsewhere, there was no concentration in his posture holding the sword.
It was merely a casual, swinging motion here and there.
Yet oddly enough, she smelled the extraordinary talent from that movement.
She had gone to talk with him privately after the swordsmanship lesson had ended.
She realized then that it didn't matter how much talent this boy had, and lost interest.
'But now, it's different.'
Look at that boy.
She could see intense focus from the hand that firmly gripped the sword.
The sword swung in a proper stance showed nothing but sincerity.
His face, too; he appeared to be a man who put his whole heart into every swing of the sword.
‘I don't know what happened, but!’
This boy has changed!
At least, certainly when it comes to the sword!
Avel's eyes sparkled as she watched Eugene.
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