The Academy’s Doomed Young Lord Dies Ten Thousand Times

Chapter 17 - Supervising Professor

The Masked Knight, Acaite, was a supporting character who played a fairly large role in the original . Though he wasn't part of the protagonist's party.

He wasn't a recruitable character either, but he had a role that made his presence known like a spice.

I thought he might have been a device to express that there are strong people even among the knights who are not in the protagonist's party.

Yes, just as it says, Acaite was strong. From the descriptions, he was a knight whose specialty was technique and judgment, and you could tell just by the fact that he was ranked at the very top of the Master Knights, the highest practical rank for a knight.

‘What did he like about me.’

I thought as I slowly walked down the hallway. The only difference from before was that this time, the one with his arm around my shoulders was not Jenna, but Acaite.

“Boy, I saw your spar yesterday. That's when I made up my mind. Wow~.”

He was still as talkative as ever.

“……Thank you.”

I replied curtly. Whether it was Rain's influence, I found such talkative people quite uncomfortable.

“Well, no need for thanks. By the way, boy.”

A moment of jest, then a change of subject. This pattern is…….

“You've fought in real combat before, haven't you? With your life on the line.”

In the original , Acaite was this kind of character. He would be affable, then suddenly ask a piercing question. The so-called ‘supporting character who seems to know something’.

Instead of answering rashly, I stared into Acaite's eyes. To be precise, it was the eye part of his mask.

What was his intention? Simple curiosity? Or was there another motive? Like trying to influence the House of Enlight in some way.

I couldn't judge rashly. I had almost no information.

“Well, I'm not sure what you mean……”

Therefore, I chose an ambiguous answer.

“Heh.”

Acaite snorted at my answer.

……I'm already worried. He's an excellent knight, but he's an unpredictable fellow…….

Fortunately, he didn't ask any more meaningful questions after that. Though there were quite a few questions for killing time, like what kind of swordsmanship I use, what kind of sword is my preference, and so on.

Since Acaite was my supervising professor, we were heading to the same place. I was trying to arrive at the classroom just in time to avoid attracting attention, but I never thought that would backfire.

Anyway, I arrived at the classroom with Acaite. Since I arrived just in time, all the students except me were seated.

And when Acaite appeared, the quiet classroom stirred. That's how special the existence of a Master Knight was in the world of knights.

In , the ranks of knights are broadly divided into three. Regular Knight, Senior Knight, and Master Knight.

There was one more rank above that, but it was practically a non-existent rank.

Regular Knights had an average of B stats, Senior Knights had an average of A, and Master Knights had stats ranging from A+ to S.

Master Knights were a very small number of monsters, barely exceeding 100 in the entire world, so what kind of reactions would they have upon learning that such a great person was their supervising professor?

-It's Professor Acaite……!

-Crazy. We're going to be taught by a Master Knight now?

-……But why is he coming in with the professor?

Being seen coming in with that special Master Knight, I once again drew attention for no reason.

As I entered the classroom, I saw about 20 people. Most of them were faces I didn't know, but……. there were also some noticeable figures.

The first one that caught my eye was a male student with a wild appearance. An animal hide cloak worn over the academy uniform, dark gray hair, a scar on his left eye that looked like an animal's claw mark…….

Yes, it was Khan, whom I had met during the monster suppression test.

Nod.

When Khan and I made eye contact, we bowed our heads to each other in greeting.

And there was another student who caught my eye……. and seeing him, I inwardly rejoiced.

To be honest, I had been worrying a lot about how to approach him naturally.

A girl with short-cut black hair, a lively expression, and golden eyes…….

The final piece of the playable characters of the academy's first year.

The Failure Knight, Yuna.

***

“It's Acaite.”

Tap, tap, tap. That was what Acaite said as he briskly wrote his name on the large blackboard. At the same time, it was the first thing said after the supervising professor's first lecture began.

Although it was a single, indifferent word, applause erupted from the 20-odd students. Was this the prestige of a Master Knight?

Clap-clap-clap-clap-!

When the applause died down, Acaite began to write on the blackboard again.

[Knight Theory.]

“Alright, so there was a guideline, right? For the first class, to inspire honor in the prospective knights……. well, to cover Knight Theory.”

Thump!

After he finished writing, Acaite lightly tapped the blackboard.

“Knight Theory, in other words, what kind of person a knight should be. Now, who wants to say what kind of person a knight should be?”

As Acaite said that, the students in the classroom raised their hands one after another.

The answers were varied.

“A sword that protects honor with its life.”

“One who seeks light in the darkness!”

“A shield that protects the weak……. by sacrificing its own life.”

Perhaps they didn't sense anything strange in Acaite's indifferent attitude, as there were many idealistic answers. They probably wouldn't get a very good evaluation from him, given his personality.

After the endless stream of typical answers, some quite unique answers also came out.

“A person who fights endlessly.”

Khan gave such a wild answer. Acaite……. I couldn't see because of his mask, but he seemed quite amused by the answer that broke the mold.

In Yuna's case, it seemed she was called on while spacing out with her chin in her hand and had to answer suddenly.

“Uh, um……? A strong person…… sir!”

Perhaps thinking her own answer was foolish, Yuna buried her head after saying that……. and immediately blushed.

And, as expected.

-Pfft.

The sound of snickering was heard from nearby. It was a rather blatant snicker, as if meant to be heard.

The ones who snickered probably already knew through their own networks that Yuna was a commoner with no backing. She was an opponent they could openly laugh at without any loss.

‘A bit annoying.’

I frowned at the sight but didn't step in.

I just raised my hand to draw attention and stop the snickering.

When I raised my hand, all eyes in the classroom turned to me. Khan's gaze, Yuna's gaze, the snickering guy's gaze……. and Acaite's gaze.

“Yes, Rain Enlight. Go ahead.”

When Acaite called on me, I opened my mouth and honestly stated what I thought.

“A knight is one who survives.”

***

After hearing each student's opinion once, Acaite began to speak again. In his unique, nonchalant tone.

“Alright, I've heard our little knight hopefuls' words very well. Now, let's start the grading. Ah, it's my personal standard, so don't get too hung up on the results!”

Then, he raised his finger and, accurately reciting each answer one by one, began to grade them on the spot.

“A sword that protects honor with its life, too abstract. It doesn't show a course of action. 15 points.”

“One who seeks light in the darkness? You got that from the dean's speech. Play your own game! You copied, so you get zero points. Think again.”

“A shield that protects the weak by sacrificing its own life? Are the weak always good? And the choice of words is a problem. 25 points.”

As you can see, Acaite's evaluation was quite scathing. He had a tendency to be harsher on floating idealism. And it seemed he became even more scathing when certain keywords……. namely, life, were involved.

That was probably due to Acaite's own beliefs.

On the other hand, he gave a generous evaluation to the Knight Theory that had a ‘clear direction’.

“A person who fights endlessly, not bad. Fighting endlessly means continuing to live as a knight and completing missions. 80 points.”

At that evaluation, Khan nodded without any particular reaction. What a straightforward personality.

“And…… next is.”

The place where Acaite's finger arrived after passing Khan was, as you might have guessed, Yuna's seat.

“A strong person.”

As Acaite muttered as if savoring the words, chuckles were heard here and there.

But, what came out of Acaite's mouth was a little different from their expectations.

“Well, the expression is a bit crude, but I like the direction itself. 60 points. Better than something that's just flowery in expression.”

A concise yet simple evaluation. After hearing that, the snickering also quieted down.

“And Rain Enlight. One who survives……. Hah.”

Acaite let out a dry laugh.

“This is truly the strangest one I've heard. Let's hear the reason. Why do you think so?”

The reason. There was no particularly grand reason.

“Because if you die, it's the end.”

Therefore, I answered honestly. About what I thought.

At that-.

Clap, clap.

Acaite gave two short claps.

“The highest score among the answers I've heard today. 95 points.”

And at those words, the classroom stirred. Some students even raised their hands to ask questions.

“Professor, why is that answer the closest to the correct one? It's hard to understand!”

And to that question, Acaite clicked his tongue once and answered.

“Listen up.”

In a much heavier voice.

“You guys, you think dying is a joke?”

“Yes……?”

“You talk so easily about risking your life, about sacrifice. Have any of you ever killed a person? Or have you ever been on the verge of being killed by someone?”

When Acaite asked that, no one answered yes to the question. Generally speaking, it was normal not to have such experiences.

I had experienced both……. no, I had even died, but I just kept my mouth shut.

“The dean said it too. The path you walk won't be filled only with light. Do you really think it's such a sublime and noble path?”

I couldn't help but nod slightly at those words. After all, I had also died and killed hundreds of times to get here.

“On the battlefield, instant death is a blessing. There are guys who die slowly with their guts spilled out, and guys who die from bleeding out too much with their limbs cut off. Does death still seem honorable and glorious to you now?”

At such a detailed description, the atmosphere in the classroom instantly sank. The other students probably didn't expect the topic to become this heavy.

“In that respect, I liked Rain. I don't know if it's because he's really experienced killing and being killed, or if that's just how he thinks.”

Acaite said, looking at me. It was a tone that was practically certain.

“Then what is the answer you had in mind, professor.”

I quietly asked Acaite to change the subject.

And, to those words, Acaite replied.

“A knight is one who continues.”

To continue.

“To continue living, to continue missions, to continue fighting. It's like a combination of the ones I gave pretty good evaluations to earlier.”

When Acaite's words began, everyone in the classroom started to listen intently. That was partly due to Acaite's authority, but also because his words contained undeniable sincerity and deep experience.

“Life is something that. You keep on and on……. and when the time comes when you think it's okay to throw it away for some value.”

If something more valuable than life appears.

“That's when you think about whether to exchange it for your life. Stop with the flowery words and take care of yourselves.”

At those words, I raised the corners of my mouth and smiled.

In , Acaite was an enigmatic character whose inner thoughts were unknown…….

But meeting him in reality, I could feel that he had a rather warm heart.

‘I think I can trust this professor.’

Yes, it was new information that could only be felt by accepting this world as reality.