Top Instructor of a Third-Rate Academy

Chapter 2

“Instructor, don't be surprised! I am a regressor who came back from 10 years in the future to save you!”

As I stood there with a bewildered expression for a good while, Rozalin started explaining to me with an awkward smile.

Where did that aristocratic young lady who always looked down on people with an arrogant expression go?

The way she used her facial muscles was no different from a street ruffian, a mercenary from the streets.

“So, you said it's Imperial Calendar, year 65, right? Year 66! That's when the demons will start a massive invasion into the continent, crossing the Demon Realm in the east! And the war will go on for a whopping 9 years!”

Rozalin's continuing story was utterly absurd.

She used her outstanding talent to be appointed as the great general of humanity's final front line.

And she fought hard against the demons, and finally.

“We lost. No, we got our asses kicked.”

They were magnificently defeated.

“Humanity was divided, and even in such a grave situation, there were many bastards who only looked out for their own interests. Still, well, we did fight hard.”

In the very end.

On the front line called humanity's final defensive line, there were individuals who revealed their skills.

The Saint, the Sage, the War Ogre, the Mercenary King, the Spear God…….

And at their center was a man called the Sword Saint.

“That was you?”

“Nah, I wasn't that good. His sword was, literally, just insane.”

The focal point and strongest of humanity, Sword Saint Pan.

“Pan?”

“Oh, you know him, Instructor? Right. I didn't know, but I heard he's a first-year at Akarind Academy right now. How did I not know such an awesome kid? Anyway, we called him the Sword Master.”

Sword Master.

As the title suggests, one who had reached the pinnacle of the sword.

With a concept called ‘Mana Road’, he scattered mana all over his body like a mage and then condensed it again in his sword.

By doing so, it was said one could materialize a cutting power through imagination that far surpassed the physical force of the sword.

That sword clashed with the demons.

“A power called aura tore through the demons' tough skin like paper. It was epic. You should have seen him fight, Instructor.”

At that moment, I realized something strange.

I was nowhere to be seen in any of the stories Rozalin was telling.

As if a person like me didn't exist in that timeline.

Hearing my words, Rozalin's eyes flared with anger.

“That! Is! Why! Instructor! I told you to take good care of your life! Do you know what you've done! You ruined the future of humanity!”

……Huh?

Stupefied by the sudden denunciation, I just stared at Rozalin, and she let out a deep sigh.

“Pan, you know what his favorite phrase was? It was, 'If only the instructor had lived just one more year.' You die three months after the war starts, to the demons who invade the academy.”

“I…… no, right, so, uh.”

Honestly, even hearing the story of my death, it didn't feel real.

It wasn't that I couldn't accept it.

Right. If demons had entered the town, I would have fought back.

And she said it wasn't even the town, but the academy.

Then, even if it meant losing my life, I would surely have stepped forward to fight.

Above all, Rozalin's expression, tone, demeanor, and so on.

Everything about her was telling me that what she was saying was 100% the truth.

But what did that have to do with the fall of humanity?

“He said the reason Pan could grow so strong was because of the instructor who theoretically established swordsmanship and taught him well. His specialties, Mana Road, footwork, phantom sword…… he said you created all the theories.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You, Instructor.”

In Rozalin's eyes as she said this, I could even feel a hint of madness.

No, even if she said that.

“You have no idea how incredible that knowledge is. Before our allied forces were defeated, that guy Pan must have realized something in his fight with a Demon Duke, because he split space-time and sent us back. Hmph.”

“Us, you say…….”

“Well, here and there? Pan opened it and kicked the bucket. There were nine people who entered before the rift closed, but who knows. I don't know who came in after me.”

Swordsmanship that could split time.

It was a level I had never even imagined.

No, wasn't aura itself like that in the first place?

To coat a sword with mana.

Why on earth would a swordsman need to do such an unnecessary thing?

As I was thinking that, Rozalin's hands wrapped around mine.

I looked at her, feeling the sudden warmth.

“So, Instructor. In this life, I'll protect you. I won't leave you behind like an idiot like that again.”

“Uh…… th-uh, honestly, I'm not so sure.”

I gathered my flustered thoughts and opened my mouth.

“You, it hasn't even been a minute since you said you were dropping out of school and leaving.”

“Aha, so this was that moment? Hmm hmm. Perfect timing.”

“And mana, uh, I don't get that either. I have no idea why a swordsman would need to learn something like mana.”

“Oh right, you were a fierce mage-hater, Instructor. We used to wonder if you got beaten up by a mage when you were a kid or something.”

“Fierce…….”

Her words were a bit harsh, but the content itself wasn't wrong.

I disliked mages and magic.

No, I didn't much like violence in the first place.

If it weren't for an incident in my childhood, wouldn't I have lived my whole life studying what I loved without ever even picking up a sword?

Besides, aren't those mage folks just parasites who, just because they have the innate talent of mana sensitivity, leech off of great intellect and learning, cherry-picking what they want?

And then they act like they're great scholars and philosophers who know all the world's knowledge, those narcissists. So what, do they know how to think, do they know how to philosophize, they're no different from con artists who just say, 'If it doesn't exist in this world, then tada, we'll just make it with magic'…….

“Instructor, stop hating on mages!”

Rozalin, who had cut me off like that, hummed in thought for a moment, then nodded.

“My decision to drop out won't change.”

“Huh?”

What's this all about now?

“For me, it was already 10 years ago, so my memory is a bit hazy, but I roughly remember why I decided to quit. I didn't like you being so stubborn, there was nothing to learn, it was boring, blah blah blah, right?”

She was right.

“My mere boredom killed the instructor! Dammit!”

Stop being so self-absorbed!

“So I'm going to save you, Instructor, but I don't have to be a student. What's the point of learning this and that at the academy? In just one year, it's humanity's final war.”

“B-but the academy is where one can learn about human intellect, ethics, and social responsibility…….”

“All that stuff dies when a war breaks out. It's useless. Besides, I've spent 10 years roaming the world and I've seen it all, the good and the bad, you know? It's because Pan said what he said that I came to protect you, Instructor. I'll wander around preparing to slice up those demon bastards, and find some elixirs to strengthen our frail instructor's body. Then later, I just need to study the swordsmanship genealogy you theoretically organized.”

After saying that, Rozalin, with a strange kiai of “Iyop,” began to swing her sword back and forth.

Her sword began to strike the empty air, drawing a strange trajectory like a whip.

A violent swordsmanship closer to striking than cutting.

But the power of that swordsmanship was incredibly ferocious and cruel.

‘It bursts.’

It wasn't a swordsmanship that cut with a sword, but one that induced the opponent to burst from pressure and compression.

Swordsmanship for fighting beasts and monsters, not humans.

I subconsciously backed away, out of the range of her swordsmanship.

Seeing me, Rozalin's eyes widened in surprise before breaking into a grin.

“Kiya, you saw through that perfectly. It's killer, right?”

“Uh, umm…….”

“Ahem, uhum, after I dropped out and went home, I had some problems with my father, something about forcing me to marry, and then he kicked me out.”

It was an understandable course of action.

The greatest talent of Akarind Academy.

No, the reason she, a talent said to appear perhaps once in 100 years in the entire empire, came to a third-rate academy in the countryside like this.

It was because she had been confined for her ruffian-like behavior.

I heard she got into a scuffle with the daughters of counts in the capital.

Her natural personality was arrogant, and she had the skills to back it up.

With her fiery temperament, she had ruled the pubs of her fief since she was young, and apparently beat up mercenaries.

Just when it seemed like such a hooligan was finally adjusting at Akarind Academy and showing a more lady-like side, she suddenly dropped out.

There was no way her family would let it slide.

“So I joined a mercenary corps, and this is the swordsmanship I learned while wandering around. I learned it to survive, but everyone said it was awesome. Even Pan was about 50/50 with me if we fought without mana, you know?”

And looking at Rozalin with that expression on her face.

With what I myself thought was an awkward expression, I hesitantly opened my mouth.

“Is that all there is to it?”

“……What?”

Rozalin, who had been puffed up with pride and in high spirits, stopped dead in her tracks.

“Are you picking a fight with me because you can't grasp the situation? Wanna go a round with me?”

“No, it's not that, uh.”

Hmm, how should I explain this?

“You, you got weaker in just a few minutes.”

“……Seriously?”

Rozalin's eyes filled with doubt.

So I drew my sword.

“It's true. I saw you swing your sword earlier.”

“Earlier, no, I mean, uh, did I fight again at this time? Now that I think about it, I think I might have…….”

“Your attack back then was very clean, but now you, th-like this? You push the sword outside your center of gravity at the moment of impact.”

“……Huh?”

“At the moment you should be pulling the sword to cut, you're instead pushing the opponent away. You should be using the muscles in your arm to cut with force, but you're acting as if you're missing an arm.”

“Ah?”

I slowly swung the sword I was holding.

I drew a point of impact in the air, and the moment the sword reached it, I gave elasticity to the trajectory itself, swinging the sword like a whip.

It was certainly a powerful, violent, and unpredictable swordsmanship with many variables, but.

‘The original Rozalin's swordsmanship was more upright and strong.’

A swordsmanship that was honest yet beautiful, that drew trees and bloomed flowers in the empty air.

A nobility like drawing a flowering tree in the harsh northern lands.

The elegance that came from its straightforwardness could not be felt at all.

That meant that, beyond the sword's momentum being strong or weak, the aura of the swordsmanship itself had weakened.

And a weakened aura of swordsmanship… also meant that it had reached its limit.

“Uwat.”

So, as I was trying to show her the difference, I missed my step and fell.

I managed to push myself up with my arms, but I couldn't help but end up in a rather unsightly posture.

Rozalin's swordsmanship was of such a high level that even properly recreating it was a strain on this body of mine.

The moment my arms and legs took the angle, they cried out in pain and spasmed.

Did I even explain it properly like this?

To hide my embarrassment, I hurriedly continued speaking as I got up.

“Uh, anyway, its destructive power is good, but it's a swordsmanship that extremely ruins your body's balance. Yes, it feels like the swordsmanship of the Western Barbarians. Your original swordsmanship was more static, clean, and…….”

However, Rozalin was staring intently at me, but her focus wasn't quite on me.

“Fuck, it was at this level?”

“Rozalin?”

“Right, I have two arms now, not one, so I'll have to change. Wow, shit, I never thought he'd figure out the swordsmanship I created following the Barbarian kids for 7 years, all at once. Even Pan didn't know, tsk, wow, woah, for real.”

No, she seemed completely out of it.

Muttering this and that in a barely audible voice I couldn't understand at all.

“Instructor-nim, you were imitating my swordsmanship just now, right?”

“Uh, uh-huh.”

“Tsk… It's impossible to learn just by watching that. Fuck, this means I'll have to go back to my original swordsmanship all on my own in the end.”

Rozalin looked up at the sky with a look of despair.

No, to be more precise, it was a rather complex expression.

Because the corners of her mouth, at least, were furtively turning up toward the sky.

“Still, it was fucking worth coming here.”

Somehow, her voice sounded weary.