The Academy’s Hard-Headed Swordmaster

On the first day of the entrance ceremony, while most students were socializing rather than studying…

The Knight Department was running.

“One, two! One, two!”

They ran in step, following the commands of the Knight Department’s representative student.

At a pace close to a full sprint for ordinary people. Even for students who had trained their bodies, by this point, their backs were drenched in sweat.

Of course, students of a certain level didn’t shed a single drop of sweat.

Like Hundred, who was rumored to have reached the Expert level, or… me.

Fortunately, there was no such brutal act as separate physical training for those who didn’t sweat.

It seemed their goal was to raise the basic physical strength of all students to a certain level.

Of course, I wondered if there would be any students who couldn’t keep up with this physical training, especially among those talented enough to enter the Academy… Surprisingly, there were a few.

“Those commoner bastards…”

Such words slipped from the mouth of a noble student as he lightly wiped away his sweat. That’s right. The commoners were the problem.

Those who weren’t born into knight families and trained from a young age, or educated to a minimum standard as nobles—those who had passed solely based on their talent, with absolutely no foundation.

No matter how outstanding the talent, physical strength isn’t innate. Physical strength is built.

“Now, if the physical training is over, next—”

The students who had been glaring at the commoners moved to their next activity at the Instructor’s words. After physical training, they proceeded to swordsmanship training, and then Aura training.

Like the adage that one day of rest requires three days of catching up, knights didn’t rest even for a single day.

Resting was considered a sin.

Even with all this effort, the reality is that we could die at the hands of those who sit around in the Magic Tower, scratching their asses and chanting a few spells.

“Students who haven’t learned the Aura breathing technique, come to the front.”

At the Instructor’s words, the hesitant commoner students gathered in front of him.

Commoners who hadn’t learned how to handle Aura.

The Academy had an Aura breathing technique prepared for such commoners.

The Empire’s standard knight breathing technique. It wasn’t a particularly great technique, but it was better than nothing.

“I’ll teach you the breathing technique one by one, so follow along.”

“Yes!”

The students attempted the Aura breathing technique according to the Instructor’s guidance. At the sight of them closing their eyes and trying to feel their Aura, the students who had already learned the technique chuckled.

Ignoring the students feeling their petty sense of superiority, I carefully observed a student with blond hair. He sat in front of the Instructor and carefully attempted the breathing exercise, but there was something awkward about it.

It didn’t seem intentional; he must have learned a different Aura breathing technique. He was probably hiding the technique he had learned and clumsily attempting the standard one, causing a conflict with his original technique.

‘Why is he doing that?’

Why was he hiding his true abilities like some kind of chuuni?

As I watched him, frowning as if something felt uncomfortable every time he took a deep breath, our eyes met as he turned his head, seemingly sensing my gaze.

Our gazes locked in midair, and the blond-haired student was the first to look away. I, too, turned my gaze away from him and began my training.

* * *

After the morning training was over, the Knight Department headed to the building where the Military Department was located.

The next class was the Military Department’s liberal arts course, [Understanding Strategy and Tactics].

As the sweat-soaked students entered the classroom, the Military Department students already seated inside frowned.

“Damn, the smell of sweat…”

As one of the Military Department students muttered, one of the Knight Department students, unable to contain his anger, yelled.

“What? What did you just say?”

“I said it smells like sweat. Don’t you guys wash?”

“Training just ended, so what are we supposed to do?”

“With magic available, do you really have to walk around reeking?”

At the Military Department student’s words, the Knight Department student shut his mouth. He wasn’t wrong. They could use cleansing magic.

The problem, however, was that magic wasn’t free.

Even a wealthy noble would struggle to afford the upkeep if they used magic to cleanse themselves after every morning training.

As the Knight Department students remained speechless, the Military Department students chuckled.

Sensing their mockery, the Knight Department student finally lost his temper and lunged at the Military Department student, grabbing him by the collar.

“You son of a—”

“Ahahaha! Stop!”

I, who had been quietly observing the scene, quickly ran over and grabbed the Knight Department student by the scruff of his neck, pulling him back.

Dragged away by my strength, the student looked at me with an expression that said, “What kind of brute strength is this?”

I grinned and immediately turned to the Military Department student. The guy, meeting my eyes, started sweating profusely.

“Sorry about the sweat. We’ll be more careful next time.”

“Uh, uh-huh?”

“Yeah, thanks for understanding.”

There was no need to threaten him.

These ordinary people tended to get intimidated just by making eye contact with me.

My robust physique naturally exuded an aura of intimidation, and the presence of a Master surrounding me instinctively made others shrink back, even without me intentionally displaying it.

After patting the frightened, sweating guy on the back, I laughed and went to my seat.

The Knight Department students, looking at me awkwardly, eventually found their own seats.

After the quarrel subsided, the Professor entered shortly after.

“Phew—Open the windows.”

After ordering that as soon as he entered the classroom, the Professor began his introduction once the room was ventilated.

“I’m Wolfgang, and I’ll be teaching Understanding Strategy and Tactics. My class is very simple: theoretical learning and practical application.”

Wolfgang said so and started scribbling the course outline on the blackboard. I yawned, trying to fight off the drowsiness that was already washing over me, and got caught by Wolfgang.

“…Your name?”

“Kyle Meyer.”

“Alright, Student Kyle. What do you think strategy and tactics are?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, I pondered for a moment before giving the answer that immediately came to mind.

“Hitting hard and hitting really fucking hard?”

“You have absolutely no understanding of strategy and tactics.”

“Is that so?”

“Tactics, as you say, is the method of hitting someone hard. And strategy is handing over the guy who hit you like that to the guards.”

Perhaps because he was a Professor, Wolfgang’s explanation felt like it was getting through to me.

However, a question soon arose because, according to him, tactics could overcome strategy.

‘Couldn’t you just beat up the guards too?’

That’s how it would work according to the Professor’s analogy. Once that doubt arose, my trust in the class itself plummeted.

With the loss of trust came the loss of interest, and since it was a boring class that I had lost interest in, I soon started nodding off.

I don’t know how long I dozed off, but I woke up with a start when the student next to me nudged me.

“Huh, uh, why?”

“…The Professor is calling you. He wants you to come to the front.”

“Really? Why?”

“He’d obviously call you if you were sleeping during class…”

It was a valid point, and I scratched the back of my head as I walked to the front. The blackboard was now filled with various things the Professor had scribbled, and something like a chessboard was placed on the desk.

Glancing at the writing on the blackboard, I walked to the front, where the Professor began to reprimand me for dozing off.

“Student Kyle. Is my class that boring?”

“Honestly?”

“…Never mind. Anyway—if you’re sleeping during class, you must be confident, right? Victor!”

Wolfgang called out the name of one of the Military Department students. The called-upon Victor quickly jumped out and stood in front of me.

“Were you paying attention in class, Victor?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Then you should be able to easily defeat this delinquent who was just napping.”

“Yes, sir!”

Looking at the rigidly disciplined Victor, I realized that Wolfgang was a Professor from the Military Department.

The Military Department was an elite course where students became officers in the Imperial Army immediately after graduating from the Academy—but in other words, it was also a harsh environment where they had to live like soldiers from their time as students.

Thanks to this, Victor, with his strict military discipline, started glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me after hearing Wolfgang’s order.

Wolfgang nodded in approval, seemingly pleased with Victor.

“Now, we will begin the practical exercise—a war game.”

As soon as Professor Wolfgang finished speaking, the chessboard in front of me began to expand, filling the entire classroom.

I frowned, thinking it might be an attack, but I realized that it was just an illusion that couldn’t affect us.

“You two will be given soldiers of equal strength and number. The first to defeat the opponent’s forces or destroy their base wins. Otherwise, you lose.”

“Hmm… Can I go in instead of the soldiers?”

“If you, a knight, want to go in, you have to subtract ten from your forces or add ten to the enemy forces.”

“The troop increase seems rather small.”

“You can’t use Aura in here. So, what are you going to do?”

After pondering the Professor’s words, I decided to subtract ten from my forces.

If I couldn’t use Aura, it would be better to have fewer troops than more enemy troops.

After hearing my decision, the Professor manipulated the war game settings and grinned.

“The loser gets a D.”

“And the winner?”

“—The winner gets an A. Then, begin.”

A moment later, the illusion that had spread out exploded once more with light, and I found myself standing in the middle of a battlefield.

A war game—I never thought I’d experience command training like this, as if it were a real battle. It was quite magical, befitting an Academy.

“Sir Knight. Your orders.”

Just then, soldiers approached and addressed me. I quickly realized that these soldiers weren’t human but artificial intelligence—something like golems.

Their eyes lacked focus, and their bodies lacked vitality. Thinking that magic was truly amazing, I gave my orders while watching Victor’s soldiers begin to form ranks in the distance.

“Alright then—everyone, charge.”

“Yes, sir!”

I took the lead, gripping my sword, and charged forward.

Twenty versus thirty? So what? I could win even if it were one versus thirty.

A Sword Saint was a Sword Saint, even without Aura.

In the distance, I could see Victor’s face contorting in bewilderment.

A look of disbelief, as if he hadn’t imagined I would do something so crazy.

I love it when these self-proclaimed smart-asses make that kind of face.

Foolish people don’t know.

That if you’re strong, you don’t need to use your head.