I Returned with the Cheat Holy Sword

"…Wow."
The admiration slipped naturally from Carlyle’s lips.

The place the carriage had arrived at was an absurdly massive facility.
Actually—was facility even the right word? Looking at something this large—something the size of several cities combined—the word Academy felt almost meaningless.
He could even see buildings that towered into the sky, like the skyscrapers from the world he’d possessed before.

This is supposed to be an educational institution?
One thing was clear: the level of societal infrastructure correlated with technological advancement.
If a medieval fantasy setting had something on this scale, then calling it the best on the continent wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Technically, it was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Knight Order, but honestly… it might be even bigger than the Knight Order’s own headquarters.
"No wonder people say you learned a lot here."
Carlyle whistled as he spoke, and from the Holy Sword came a scoffing noise.

[No need to thank me.]
"Excuse me?"
[Thanks to me, you’ll end up one of the most noticeable first-years here.]

"…"
Was that something he should be grateful for?
It sounded more like a warning that things were about to get annoying.

Carlyle tilted his head and started walking again.
He had to keep following the signs set up to guide new students.
The sights he passed were full of energy. Vibrant was the right word.

Someone was blasted out of a building from the second floor after a magic formula backfired. Apparently, the spell composition they’d tried out wasn’t compatible at all.
In an alley, Carlyle squeezed past a man and woman in a heated argument. From the look of things, the man was at fault. A moment later, the woman pulled the hand cannon off her back and fired without hesitation. She must’ve been furious. And the student who took the bullet? Completely unfazed. The people around didn’t even blink. Impressive.
There was more.
A student from the Knight Division climbing a vertical wall barefoot before getting yelled at by a teacher. A foreign exchange student from the Orthodox Church pinning someone with divine power and forcibly proselytizing them. A mech engineering student screaming at a malfunctioning device mid-test…

It was chaotic and full of inexplicable superhumans. When you threw those kinds of people together, chaos and accidents were inevitable—but despite all that, the place felt alive and cheerful.
This was just a typical day at the continent’s greatest institution of learning: the Cradle.
Gray…

From what he’d heard, she’d already been called in to meet with the Academy leadership for a personal interview.
Which made sense. She was the Hero. Treating her like any other first-year would’ve been strange.
She wasn’t like the rest of the new students who were required to take the entrance exam.

As for her commentary on said exam—
Pass the test. If you fail, I’ll kill you.
Hmph.

…Hmph.
"Why the hell does an attendant have to take the entrance exam anyway? Can’t we just gloss over that?"
[Because there are too many people aiming for your spot.]

"Come again?"
[You’re not the only one trying to align yourself with the Hero. There are countless people who’d kill for the chance. And in order to reject all of them, you have to be spotless. If there’s even a single flaw, they’ll use it to dig in.]
"That’s… such a pain."

[Well, you might actually take it as a compliment.]
"What?"
[Think about it. She’s trying to keep you close by shooting down every offer. That’s why she can’t leave any opening.]

"Sounds like a reach to me."
[I am the one interpreting myself, you know.]
"…"

Fair enough.
Carlyle gave a quiet chuckle and kept walking.
The entrance hall for new students was now in sight.

"Welcome, new students!"
"…"
A woman with a very familiar dialect stepped forward—apparently one of the professors.

With striking red hair and a glittering smile, she cheerfully guided the students.
…Hero. That’s her, right?
[That’s the one you knocked out in a single blow. Shiona Libelle, the Spirit Knight.]

If she was a Spirit Knight, didn’t that mean she was a Templar? One of the Knights of the Round Table.
She was that important?
Carlyle scratched his head and stared at her.

"This year, even though it’s short-term, I’ll be your professor for one year! My name is Shiona Libelle. I look forward to spending a blazing-hot time with you all! Aren’t you excited to meet me?"
"…"
How to describe her…

Talkative.
Loud, cheerful, energetic, and all over the place.
The students, faced with this first encounter with a professor who talked way too much, were visibly zoning out in real time.

…She seems like a good person.
[People like her are cold as ice on the inside. Don’t underestimate her.]
I know.

Carlyle had seen the power of the Templars firsthand even after the Hell Invasion.
Unless you were strong enough to wipe out a knight battalion solo, you wouldn’t even get a shot at joining the Templars. And among them, only the best of the best made it to the Round Table—true Templars.
He wasn’t too familiar with the Spirit Knight, though, since she’d already died before the invasion.

As Carlyle spaced out in his thoughts, the students obediently followed Shiona’s instructions and began moving to their assigned test sites.
Carlyle started to blend into the crowd, but then—
"Oh, Student Carlyle?"

"…"
Shiona called out his name with a twinkle in her eye, and everyone’s gaze snapped toward him.
It was the what’s with this guy being singled out look.

"You’ll be going elsewhere. I’ll be escorting you personally."
"…"
He had a bad feeling about this.

***
"—What did you just say?"
In the drawing room, Gray spoke in a voice that had gone cold as ice.

She was speaking to Shiona, who had just entered.
"…Um, you don’t really need to point your sword at me while saying that, do you?"
"I do what I want."

"You’re being very harsh—"
Gray, glaring at the sniveling Shiona, spat her next words like venom.
"Why did you people assign my attendant to some special exam without asking me?"

"Cardinal Felix’s orders."
Gray froze.
"…Why?"

When she growled the question, Shiona shrugged.
"I don’t know, honestly. Just that the Cardinal seemed very interested in seeing how far that man could go."
Gray’s expression twisted even more. Her hand hovered near her sword.

"You—"
"On the name of the spirits I’m contracted with, I swear—I didn’t report anything."
"…"

"I won’t be reporting anything else about that man in the future either. However, I can’t do anything about the Cardinal’s will."
"…"
Seeing Gray slowly lower her sword with a deep breath, Shiona’s perpetually half-closed eyes widened ever so slightly.

Even while being wrapped in the Hero’s killing intent, what filled those eyes wasn’t fear—but curiosity.
"—Unexpected, really. I honestly thought I’d take a hit."
"You swore on your spirits, so it can’t be a lie. No point hitting someone who didn’t do anything wrong."

"…"
Shiona looked at Gray with slightly parted lips.
Was this really the same person who used to draw her sword the moment something annoyed her?

"Hero, I think you’ve really been influenced by that man. In such a short time, too."
"…"
"If things keep going like this, you two might really become something special—"

Shiona’s body folded like a hinge.
Because Gray, still seated, had slammed a front kick into her stomach like lightning.
"…Yes, ma’am, loud and clear. Guess you haven’t entirely gone soft."

"Hmph."
Gray snorted and tapped her fingers on the table.
"Enough with the crap. Hand it over."

"Excuse me?"
"The magitech core. The test rooms are all being recorded, right?"
The dean she was supposed to meet would take a while to arrive anyway.

So in the meantime—
"I want to watch him take the exam."
"Eh—are you worried about him or something? What’s this, what’s this, such a warm and loving—"

"…"
"…Alright, alright, just please don’t draw your sword."
Shiona quickly retrieved a magitech core and placed it on the table.

A slit opened at the center of the core, and a visual projection rose into the air.
Gray’s eyes narrowed as she watched.
"They attach that to a first-year student?"

The scene displayed inside the core was of several magitech automatons approaching Carlyle.
Highly advanced combat dolls, modeled after various monsters.
Of course, they wouldn’t tear someone apart like real monsters—this was just an exam. But even so, it was clearly excessive for someone who’d only just entered the Academy.

"Ah, that’s the standard model."
"…"
"The lowest standard, mind you."

Gray stared wordlessly at Shiona.
Even at the lowest level, monsters were something active knights fought in live combat.
A student training to become a knight—especially one who had just stepped through the Academy’s gates—had no business facing them!

"…Are you insane? What if he actually dies—"
"Of course, the test will be stopped immediately if it gets too dangerous."
The casual way Shiona smiled as she said that made Gray shut her mouth.

"Ah, Hero, are you worried about that man—"
"Shut your damn mouth."
"Yes ma’am!"

Gray continued to watch the projection play in the core with narrowed eyes.
Worried, huh?
It wasn’t that.

But still—
"…"
If something went wrong, she would have to save him.

That much, she had decided.
"…Huh?"
Until the moment Carlyle made his move—and made her unconsciously let out a dumbfounded noise.

She clutched the magitech core in her hand. Her eyes said she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
After a long silence—
A stunned voice finally escaped her lips.

"…How the hell do you know how to use that…?"
***
No matter how he thought about it, something wasn’t right.

…Hero.
[Hm.]
These things—they’re not meant for first-years, right?

As the automatons crept closer, growling with ferocious synthetic cries, Carlyle thought to himself.
These were the kind of things regular knights might ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) use for live combat training. To a civilian, they’d tear your entire body apart in one second flat.
[Right. Whoever designed this exam must’ve had a nasty streak.]

So you’re saying this isn’t normal?
[Still, this is also a good opportunity to test yourself.]
What?

[Could work in your favor.]
What kind of bullshit was that?
Carlyle frowned at the thought—but the Holy Sword’s voice continued calmly from within.

[Things like these… you can smash them to pieces without worrying about consequences.]
If he had to face some half-assed opponent, holding back would’ve been required, and that would’ve been harder.
Understanding what she meant, Carlyle chuckled faintly.

So optimistic. He ought to learn from that.
Well, alright then.
Let’s give it a shot.

It wasn’t his first time wielding a sword. Across countless loops, he’d enhanced himself and stepped into battle directly more than once.
Still, Carlyle—no matter how generous the wording—had only ever had the talent of an ordinary man. By any standard, facing opponents like this with his current body was suicide.
Unless he had a cheat.

Heroic mana surged into the Holy Sword.
And then—the three skills he had copied earlier under the Hero’s guidance began to activate, one by one.
[Skill Info]

◆ Body Technique: Wind Talker
[Basic body enhancement created by the legendary warrior 'Knight of the Storm.' Slightly improves physical ability by channeling the energy of the wind.]
◆ Footwork: Floating Grass (Bucho)
[Basic footwork developed by the first boxer, 'Wanderer of Spring.' Lets the user maintain balance softly but firmly like swaying grass.]
◆ Swordsmanship: Three Fundamentals (Sanjae)
[A basic swordsmanship set founded by an unnamed Eastern swordsman. Simple, but contains the foundation of all techniques.]

As expected of a Hero—Gray had mastered a vast number of martial styles. To the point that even disparate ‘combat techniques’ like these had become systematized skills within her.
Back when she told me to copy these, I didn’t get what she meant…
It was like taking three completely unrelated beginner-level skills from different trees in a game. A total waste of skill points—on paper.

But—
Before coming to the Academy, Carlyle had trained with them on his own… and was stunned by the result.
He finally understood why old-school veterans insisted on min-maxing a certain way.

In other words—
[Skill Info]
[Activating Skill Chain: Wind Talker – Floating Grass – Three Fundamentals.]
[Special Skill ‘Mind’s Eye’ activated!]

He had never expected that these basic skills would hide this kind of effect.
Carlyle took a deep breath and gripped the Holy Sword tightly.
He visualized it—the combat forms he had seen in previous loops, the battles Gray had shown him firsthand. The very image training the Holy Sword had drilled into him.

Certain strike.
Certain hit.
Certain kill.
If the sword is drawn, the enemy must die.
He closed his eyes and adjusted his stance.

He no longer read his surroundings with his eyes—but with his senses.
Then—
[Now.]

A clean strike swept out—
And one automaton shattered instantly into pieces.