The Sword Demon Tears People Apart

On the night after the first class ended safely, or perhaps not so safely.
Zeron, somehow unable to sleep, walked around the academy grounds without any particular destination.
The academy was large.
It could be broadly divided into the education building, student dormitories, faculty lodgings, and amenities,
And on a slightly smaller scale, there were the swordsmanship department building, magic department building, academic department building, each with its own training ground, a large training ground… well, there were many facilities.
As he walked endlessly through such vast grounds, his thoughts wandered one after another.
They say that new alcohol that came out recently is so delicious. Come to think of it, didn’t they say there were many good restaurants near the academy? It wouldn’t be bad to take the kid there once after the midterms are over.
Thoughts like these.
Then suddenly, a thought made him stop in his tracks.

Lecturer.
It was a profession he thought he’d never be associated with in his lifetime.
Honestly, he still doesn’t think it suits him very well.
It’s not his aptitude to begin with.
Zeron wasn’t particularly talented at teaching others.
His swordsmanship was built up by himself without anyone’s help, and his personality wasn’t the type to take good care of others in the first place.
Rather, if it’s about looking down on, tearing apart, or criticizing others, that’s a different story.
Ah, he might have a talent for irritating students to ignite their motivation for learning.
Just today, didn’t he heighten the learning desire of that… what was it, Jeremiah? That rude noble lady.
“Well, she wasn’t that rude either.”
Yes, honestly, it was prejudice.
Zeron, born and raised in the back alleys, didn’t have a very good image of nobles.
No, to be frank, it was just bad.
When he was young, they were untouchable beings he couldn’t even dare to look at, and if he ever touched them, his head would fly off.
After he grew up a bit, they became stiff-necked opponents who would be troublesome to deal with if he cut off their heads.
Isn’t that right?
Thinking about it, it wasn’t just nobles.
Come to think of it, that bastard David once said.
You need to fix that rudeness of yours first, and also fix the habit of unnecessarily disliking people you’ve just met.
Truthfully, if he were to fix everything David told him to, there wouldn’t be a trace left of the human called Zeron, so he needed to filter it appropriately.
At least, that’s what Zeron thought.
“Always so nagging.”
Zeron grinned as he took out a cigarette from his breast pocket.
Putting it in his mouth and bringing his finger to the tip, whoosh-! The cigarette tip turned red in the rising flame.
“Phew…”
Thick cigarette smoke rose in the cold air of early spring.
The cigarette, which he seemed to have been smoking for 20 years now, was impossible to quit at this point.
Why did he pick up discarded cigarette butts from the street to smoke when he was young?
He couldn’t remember well.
Now he just smoked out of habit, and the smell had permeated his body.
It’s rather fortunate.
The smell of cigarettes was better than the smell of blood.
Whether it completely covered it… he wasn’t sure.
*
By the time he finished his late-night walk, it was already close to dawn.
Anyway, since he only taught first-year students, classes were only twice a week.
Tomorrow was free all day, so it didn’t matter if he stayed up all night or whatever.

He arrived at his lodgings, walking leisurely like that.
Entering the lobby, he saw a maid waiting for him.
He didn’t expect her to be awake at this hour.
“Why are you still up?”
“I am your assigned maid. I cannot close my eyes while you are awake.”
“…When you say it like that, it makes me feel bad.”
“You don’t need to. Being in charge of you is quite an easy and good position.”
The maid maintained an expressionless face and slightly drew a circle with her thumb and index finger.
It seems she was quite satisfied with the generous tips he gave whenever he asked for cigarettes or alcohol.
“That’s good to hear.”
He grinned and took out a silver coin from his pocket and flicked it.
The maid caught it deftly and put it in her pocket nonchalantly, then bowed stiffly.
“Then, rest well.”
*
Time passed quite quickly.
Before he knew it, about a month had passed and it was the end of March.
Except for occasionally teaching classes, it didn’t seem like his daily routine had changed much.
It was a repetition of sleep, drinking, smoking, and eating.
You could say he was maintaining a harder schedule than most unemployed people.
Of course, this was just about Zeron, and Medea’s daily life had changed significantly.
First of all, she had to attend classes every day.
“The relationship between mana and physical force, there is a clear hierarchy between them. If I were to give an example, we could compare it to dimensions.”
0-dimensional, consisting of points.
1-dimensional, consisting of lines.
2-dimensional, consisting of planes.
3-dimensional, consisting of solids.

A line is a higher concept that includes points, and a plane is the same for lines.
Similarly, a solid is the same for planes.
“Of course, it’s not a perfect hierarchy like the example. Sufficiently strong physical force can overcome mana, and if one transcends the concept of physical force, the meaning of distinguishing superiority and inferiority disappears.”
It was Professor Depoid’s lecture time, “Understanding Mana.”
Medea was busy copying the dense writing on the blackboard and filling her head with knowledge.
The midterm exams were next week.
Due to the nature of the swordsmanship department, scores were more focused on practical skills than written tests, but she couldn’t neglect the written part.
This was all knowledge that would become her blood and flesh.
Dad always emphasized the importance of knowledge, and Medea agreed.
Probably only idiots like uncle would disagree.
While pouting at the sudden thought, Medea focused on the class.
*
The academy aims for practical education.
It was natural since the Kingdom of Zepheron was in a fantastic location surrounded by no less than four small kingdoms.
Sometimes barbarians living in the vast grasslands would attack, so… in a way, the academy could be seen as an officer training center.
But that doesn’t mean they forced practical training on freshmen who had just entered.
Classes close to practical training start after the first semester midterms.
It was early enough, but it was also a consideration in its own way.

“Wow, it’s Medea! Did you do well on the exam?”
“Ah, Flone. Well… so-so? I don’t think it was bad.”
“Eh? What do you mean not bad! I saw you shooting last time, you know? You were really good!”
Flone giggles and clings to her.
But they had to part ways here.
Medea waved her hand, primly fixing her disheveled hair.
“Do well on your exam.”

“Yes! Wow~ It’s finally the last exam.”
Yay! Flone bounces away.
She was such an energetic friend.
“Hmm…”
Medea stared blankly at the training ground attached to the swordsmanship department building.
In the center of that vast training ground, Zeron was sprawled on a folding chair, leisurely drinking alcohol.
Her entrance exam ranking was 15th.
This was close to temporary, and there would be countless rank changes after the midterms.
After the midterms, with the duels that would take place over a week, it would be hard to predict the rankings carelessly.
No, actually, rankings didn’t matter at all.
It’s not like Medea was going to enter politics or get a job, she was planning to inherit her dad’s company anyway.
She entered the swordsmanship department to build up her strength to protect herself.
The knowledge needed to lead the company was enough from the general education classes, and if it wasn’t enough, she could just learn from her dad.
Moreover, although Medea aimed to be a gun-sword user, she was practically closer to a pure gunner.
In other words, it didn’t matter much what score she got on Zeron’s test.
Even more so because his class time was little, so it didn’t account for much in the overall grade.
After all, the most important thing at the academy was connections.
But…
“If I mess up, uncle will tease me for the rest of my life…”
No, what’s this about the rest of her life?
Just thinking about seeing that annoying expression right after the exam made the back of her neck stiff.
Medea grumbled as she headed towards Zeron.
“Oh, you’re here, kid.”
“Shut up.”
Ignoring uncle and doing some light stretches, students started gathering one by one.
Among them was Lapien, who Medea judged to have the most similar mental age to uncle in the academy.
“Again, again! Is it right for a lecturer to drink alcohol before class time, and even before an exam!?”
“Stop, stop nagging. It’s noisy.”
“No, now think about your conduct…!”
As always, with their argument as background, she started swinging her sword when woo-woo- a small bell sound rang.
It was a strange bell sound that could wake up even sleeping students thanks to the mana imbued in it.
“Well then, shall we start?”
At the bell sound marking the time, Zeron scratched his stinging ear and got up sluggishly from the folding chair.
He picked up a practice sword and a pistol he had prepared under the chair, and yawn… With a long yawn, the exam preparation was complete.
“…As I said before, this exam will be in the form of a duel. Between me and you guys.”
Flick, as Zeron’s sword tip pointed at himself and Lapien, a faint vein popped on Lapien’s forehead.

“That rudeness seems to have no sign of improvement.”
“Oh, you want to go first? Good.”
“That’s not what I… Haah… Fine. You look like you don’t have any friends, so I should at least keep you company.”
A fierce atmosphere flows between Zeron and Lapien.
Fierce smiles were drawn on both their faces.
Medea sighed.
They were really just like children.

“First, I’ll swing the sword at a level you can see, and the speed will gradually increase. The power… I’ll adjust it myself because if I don’t, you’ll become Jeremiah / de / Lapien.”
“What? You, you remembered my name? Unexpectedly, you’re interested in…”
“Shall we start?”

Zeron grinned, cutting off her words.
Lapien drew her sword with a chilling feeling.
That bastard, judging by his expression, was full of thoughts of inflicting violence under the pretext of an exam.
“You delinquent lecturer…!”
He was a real bastard.