The Academy’s Doomed Young Lord Dies Ten Thousand Times

Chapter 31 - Teacher and Student (2)

“……You, you’ve killed people before, haven’t you? And not just one or two.”

“……”

The moment I heard those words, my mouth felt dry. It was a question I could neither deny nor affirm.

From Acaite’s tone and his preceding words and actions, it seemed he was about ninety percent certain.

Denying it in this situation would only serve to get on his bad side and have no other effect.

But on the other hand, I couldn’t affirm it either. If I admitted to his words here, they would become the truth.

I didn’t know for now, but…… what if, after my admission, Acaite decided to dig into my past in detail, and found out that ‘Rain Enlight’ had truly been a shut-in?

That wouldn’t be good. Fundamentally, the person named Rain Enlight had never left his seclusion, so what would happen if I admitted to something like having killed people? I wouldn’t just be branded a liar; I wouldn’t be able to make any excuses even if they claimed a demon had possessed me.

Even if Acaite had no such intentions, what if the fact that I admitted to this leaked to other people…….

It could become the very clue that reveals the identity of my greatest asset and absolute secret, 『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths』.

‘They probably can’t figure out I regress just from that alone, but…….’

Of course, I knew they wouldn’t find out from such a small clue. But if I kept leaving trails like this…… at some point, someone might step on that trail.

I clenched the fist resting on my knee.

‘Damn it.’

In that brief moment, all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind, making my head throb.

‘Still, Acaite is a cautious type. Even if I affirm it, he won’t go around blabbing about it.’

‘But what if, with Acaite knowing this fact, another person finds out about this information?’

‘And what if that information flows to someone belonging to a hostile faction?’

‘Even if it’s not an issue with 『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths』, if they notice the strangeness by comparing it with the real Rain Enlight’s actions and spread that around, it could have a negative impact on my standing.’

‘A shut-in who’s only ever been secluded suddenly claims to have killed people and shows off vastly improved skills. No, even I can see how damn suspicious that is. That’s a one-way ticket to a heresy inquisition.’

‘I can’t hesitate. Pausing is a virtual affirmation. But how should I answer? Should I stay silent? Neither affirm nor deny?’

‘Maybe I should just regress…….’

As I was trying my best to come up with a plan in that short time, Acaite continued speaking, waving his hands as if to show he was harmless.

“Hey, hey. I can hear the gears turning in your head from here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Well, rest assured. You’re definitely suspicious…… but I have no intention of digging into your background any further. I don’t plan on blabbing about this either.”

I couldn’t follow this man’s thoughts at all. What on earth was his intention, and how could I even believe…….

“Well- you’re on high alert. The story went in circles, but to get to the point, I was about to say that I’ll train you personally.”

“……Excuse me?”

How could that conclusion possibly come from the context of this conversation? The words rose to my throat, but I barely managed to hold them back.

“When you’re a knight, there are times you have to point your sword at people even if you don’t want to. No, actually, quite a lot of times.”

“……”

That was probably true. In the original story alone, the main villains were mostly human. Even I had ended up killing a human before a monster.

“The ones who can’t do it or hesitate die right there. It might sound like some spiritual argument, but this is the most basic of basics. It looks like I don’t need to teach you that from the start, so shall we say it was a topic I brought up just to check?”

“Ah, yes.”

“What a bland reaction……”

Because of the topic you brought up ‘just to check,’ I almost passed out, you bastard—the words once again rose to my throat, but I endured it this time as well.

“Anyway, no objections, right?”

“……If you’re willing to train me, I should be the one thanking you.”

Upon hearing my answer, Acaite stared at me for a moment. I couldn’t see inside his mask, so I didn’t know what expression he was making, but for some reason, I had a feeling he was smiling.

“You’ve got a smooth tongue. Then follow me! We’ll start right now. Ah, we’ll be doing this at this time every week, so keep that in mind!”

Then, he kicked his chair back and stood up as he spoke.

Haa.

I didn’t know if this would be okay. Really.

***

After the meeting with Acaite, as Rain followed him to the training ground, he pondered endlessly, looking at the screen only he could see.

《 Skill List 》

『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths[Unique]』

: When you die, you regress to a point before your death. The number of regressions is limited to 10,000.

: You have overcome deaths.

: Remaining Regressions:

: Upon regression, all statuses are carried over.

: Current Checkpoint: Episode 2 (Completed)

‘……Should I just regress and find another way?’

The thought briefly crossed his mind, but even if he regressed now, Rain didn’t have any particularly clever plan.

The fact that the entrance examination was over meant that an advising professor had already been assigned……. That meant he had already been noticed by Acaite.

‘Then it’s all for nothing. There’s no way to escape his notice.’

Looking at it coolly, this situation—the discrepancy between Rain’s strength and his past actions—was actually unavoidable.

The strength Rain currently possessed, and the past actions of Rain Enlight.

In order to prevent the disparity between these two elements from becoming prominent, the conclusion was that he shouldn’t have gotten stronger in the first place—which was a nonsensical assumption.

‘Come to think of it, it’s not that bad of a situation. No, it’s actually close to being a good situation.’

The reason for thinking so was simple and clear. Acaite, one of the world’s most renowned warriors, had declared that he would personally train him one-on-one, and on a regular basis at that. This was, without a doubt, a golden opportunity.

While Rain was lost in such thoughts.

Thwack-!

A sharp wooden sword flew towards Rain’s side. Acaite might have said he was holding back……. but Rain felt a considerable amount of pain from his side.

“……”

“Your mind is elsewhere. Focus, you punk.”

“……Yes.”

Saying he would teach him what was necessary, Acaite instructed him to come at him with all his might.

After exchanging a few blows accordingly, there was only one conclusion Rain could draw.

‘There’s no answer.’

Clack-!

The light sound of wooden swords clashing echoed.

Even when he spotted an opening in Acaite’s defense and thrust his sword, Acaite’s wooden sword, which had started a tempo later, was already there.

‘Even this opening must be nothing more than something Acaite allowed.’

But contrary to Rain’s thoughts, Acaite was, in fact, feeling impressed by Rain.

‘This kid is something else.’

To test the extent of his combat intuition, Acaite intentionally left a few openings.

Step by step, from wide-open gaps to momentary openings that even active knights would find hard to spot.

Rain didn’t miss a single one of the openings Acaite allowed. In terms of simple sense alone, it meant he was already at the level of a veteran knight.

That wasn’t all.

“His fundamentals are excellent.”

The stance of holding the sword, the body’s center of gravity, the way he measured the distance to his opponent. Rain had perfectly mastered the fundamentals that were easy to overlook because they weren’t flashy or outwardly apparent.

Usually, kids his age who thought they were hot stuff tended to get caught up in cheap tricks or powerful single blows, but there was no sign of that either.

Tak-!

Tak-!

During the tedious exchange that was satisfying only to Acaite.

Acaite spoke again. Because he could clearly see that Rain had enough skill to move on to the next stage.

“It seems you’ve polished a few popular styles in addition to the Alles Sword Style. Among them, the Alles Sword Style seems to be the one you’re most comfortable with?”

“That is correct.”

“The Alles Sword Style, well, it’s decent. As a standard military style, it’s faithful to the fundamentals. But that’s about it.”

“That’s a harsh evaluation.”

While someone was desperately looking for an opening, Acaite continued speaking while striking a comical pose.

“Not really? I’d say I’m rating it quite highly. Each person has their own individuality, and it’s a sword style that guarantees a certain level of effectiveness no matter who you teach it to. However-.”

While having this conversation, Rain was able to detect Acaite’s movement. He was leaning his center of gravity forward, a move to crush him with power.

‘I’ll parry with my sword to scatter his center of gravity and then counterattack. If it seems I can’t handle it, I’ll just dodge it altogether.’

Rain came up with two options. But in that situation, something unexpected happened.

‘……He’s too fast?’

Acaite, who had been matching Rain’s level, suddenly accelerated. To a degree that was impossible to handle.

“This is……!”

Thwack-!

Immediately after, Rain somehow raised his sword to block the attack, but…….

He was overwhelmed by the sudden display of strength and speed from Acaite and ended up dropping his sword.

“What do you make of that situation just now?”

What Rain heard as he stared at his dropped sword was a single sentence from Acaite.

“I believe I was unable to respond due to the overwhelming power and speed.”

“Wrong. You could have blocked it.”

“……That just now?”

Rain blinked once. No matter how he thought about it, the only conclusion he could reach was that it wasn’t an attack he could have handled.

“Was the choice to block it wrong?”

“No, it’s not a matter of choice. You made what you thought was the best choice. That’s right. The problem was that among your options, there was nothing but wrong answers.”

“Nothing but wrong answers?”

Acaite nodded, then lightly swung his sword, demonstrating a sword technique that deflected an attack.

“You lack physical strength but have outstanding speed, and your swordsmanship skill is even better than that. Such traits can’t be properly expressed in the balance-oriented Alles Sword Style. Do you know what I mean?”

“……Do you mean I need to learn a sword style that capitalizes on my strengths?”

“Quick on the uptake.”

Whoosh, Acaite lightly tossed the sword towards Rain. Rain caught it lightly.

“I happen to know a fitting sword style and will teach it to you, but don’t think you’ll only be learning swordsmanship during our training sessions. I’ll cram every useful weapon technique into you. Dagger techniques, marksmanship, throwing arts…… I’m looking forward to it.”

Acaite usually had a voice tinged with laughter, but for some reason, those words seemed to be mixed with an even more sinister laugh.

Along with that intuition, Rain came to a thought.

Ah, my path of suffering has truly opened up.

***

After the first private lesson ended, Acaite was lost in thought.

‘I just don’t get it.’

It was hard to discern with swordsmanship because of what he had already built up, but when he taught other weapon techniques from scratch, he could tell.

Rain was not a ‘genius’ like the other top-ranking students at the academy. Acaite, having seen numerous geniuses, could feel this for certain.

‘At best, he’s a talented student. Looking at it coolly, my impression is that he’s somewhere between an ordinary person and a talented one…….’

He didn’t possess outstanding talent. If so, where did he accumulate all that experience?

Even setting aside such suspicious points, the fact that he had experienced killing people several times was also quite bothersome.

Acaite was not the type to think that one should never kill a person under any circumstances.

He was more of the opinion that those who point a sword at others should also be prepared to be struck by a sword, and that it was just deserts if those who drew their swords first met their end.

“Which side is that kid on, I wonder?”

As he was a kid who hid his inner thoughts behind a consistently dark expression, there was no way to grasp him accurately.

A person with a suspicious background, whose inner thoughts were impossible to read.

Considering these conditions alone, there was no need for Acaite to go as far as teaching Rain personally. No, if anything, he should have been wary.

Nevertheless, Acaite chose to foster Rain’s growth. The reason…… could be described as a simple outburst of interest, but it was of a slightly different nature.

There was a raw gemstone before him. Unlike other common gemstones, it was a gem that, if cut, would become a beautiful jewel unseen anywhere else.

Among those who could recognize the value of that gemstone, would there be a craftsman in the world who could refrain from trying to process it?

Of course, the person named Rain was a human-shaped bundle of suspicion.

If, by any chance, the person named Rain, whom Acaite had nurtured, turned out to be a threat to the world, and that was revealed later on…….

“When that time comes, I’ll have no choice but to resolve the problem I created with my own hands.”

Acaite looked down at his own hand and muttered so, feeling as if it was stained with the countless blood that had been buried until now.