The Academy’s Hard-Headed Swordmaster

When people think of Academies, they usually imagine youth and love, effort and passion. Dairus Academy, as implemented in the game, was no different.

Players could do anything they wanted.

They could become knights, magicians, soldiers, artists, or even civil servants.

In the process, they could seduce royalty, date a beggar from the back alleys, or even buy slaves and create a slave harem.

Naturally, I imagined something similar would happen in reality.

I thought the Academy would be full of dreams, hopes, and love.

The Knight Department was not.

“Next!”

‘BEEEEEP’—!

As the instructor blew the whistle, the students, who had been catching their breath, immediately raised their wooden swords and pointed them at their opponents.

These training swords were heavier than real swords, weighted down with metal inserts.

Naturally, if you got hit properly, something would break, and if wielded skillfully, they could even kill. Despite this, the students pointed and swung their wooden swords at each other without hesitation.

There was no wavering. This was training to ensure they wouldn’t hesitate in real combat.

‘WHACK’—!

“Uwaaagh—!”

“……You okay?”

The fact that they were wooden swords and not actual bladed weapons eased the guilt of swinging them.

The student who was hit screamed in pain, but nothing broke or resulted in death.

And as long as no one died, the Academy would use all its resources to treat injuries.

Glancing over at where the priest students were gathered, one of them, who had been reading scriptures, cautiously approached and checked on the student rolling on the floor.

“Are you alright? Where…?”

The priest student recited a prayer over the reddened, swollen wound.

The healing was ridiculously slow compared to the bishop-level priests who had already spent years on the battlefield, but the injury slowly began to mend.

After finishing the prayer and the healing, the priest smiled brightly and returned to their place, telling the injured student not to worry and to continue training.

Watching this, I wondered if priests were all psychopaths.

‘They’re practically asking people to get hurt…’

I shrugged at the healed student, as if asking if he wanted to continue.

The student, whose bones had just been broken and re-mended, looked at me with a hesitant expression, then sighed and stood up.

“……Let’s do this.”

“Let’s do this.”

The next moment, the student got a sword to the gut, collapsed, groaned, and fainted.

I lifted the completely unconscious student and donated him to the priests as a human experiment subject, then returned to wait for my next turn.

The instructor blew the whistle again, and the students, who had been diligently swinging their swords, exchanged light bows and moved one space to the side, ready to spar with a different partner.

The one who came before me was a blonde kid hiding his strength. A commoner pretending he hadn’t mastered Aura yet.

“Uh, hi. Nice to meet you….”

“Yeah, you too.”

Facing him, I realized his eyelashes were surprisingly long. What’s with this guy having such delicate features? He’s not a girl.

While internally dissecting the unnecessarily handsome fellow, I realized I didn’t even know his name.

“Hey, you— what’s your name?”

“Huh, me?”

“I’m Kyle Meyer.”

“Arthur, I’m Arthur.”

“Alright, Arthur.”

Gripping my sword, I grinned at Arthur.

“You— why are you hiding it?”

“……!?”

Arthur looked at me with a shocked expression, as if wondering how I knew. I just smiled back at him.

A moment later, I swung my wooden sword at the same time as the instructor’s whistle.

Watching Arthur struggle to block my attacks, I continued to swing.

Let’s see how long you can keep hiding it.

***

Arthur stared at Kyle in disbelief. He had seen through Arthur’s secret.

‘How… how did he know?’

He hadn’t told anyone about the secret he was hiding. Even the Academy principal was unaware.

A classmate he met for the first time today discovering his secret? It was difficult to comprehend. How was that even possible?

‘Could it be— this guy.’

Arthur recalled what the man who had sent him to the Academy had said.

—Those who desire your body will come after you.

The words about organizations that desired his body pursuing him, and that he needed to become stronger before they targeted him.

So, was Kyle a member of the secret organization the man had mentioned? An agent targeting him?

‘…Why would he reveal it now?’

Even Arthur himself thought something was off. If they were targeting him, why would they need to tell him beforehand?

Wouldn’t it be more normal to lull him into a false sense of security and lower his guard?

While Arthur was pondering this, Kyle spoke.

“Hey.”

“Uh, uh-huh?”

“Aren’t you focusing?”

Kyle frowned as if annoyed and swung his sword at the dazed Arthur.

It was a slow, predictable swing, clearly intended to snap Arthur out of his thoughts.

Blocking the sword and regaining his senses, Arthur realized he was in the middle of a sparring session.

He also realized that if Kyle had swung with intent, regardless of whether Arthur moved or not, he would be seriously injured by now.

‘Is this his way of lowering my guard?’

Slightly disappointed in himself for his persistent suspicion, Arthur looked at Kyle.

“Sorry. I’ll focus now.”

“Good. You’ll get hurt if you’re distracted.”

“……Hooo.”

Taking a deep breath at Kyle’s warning, Arthur felt his heart pounding.

The Aura generated from his heart spread throughout his body, invigorating him.

Arthur had a Dragon’s Heart embedded in his chest. That was his secret. The Dragon’s Heart generated a significant amount of Aura with every second, every hour, every breath.

“—Here I come.”

The Dragon’s Heart burned hot, propelling Arthur forward.

Even if an Aura User recklessly poured out Aura, the efficiency would be minimal.

In other words, if one could disregard efficiency and pour out a monstrous amount— an Aura User could exert power beyond that of a typical Aura User.

“Ihyaaaaaat—!”

Arthur surged towards Kyle, overflowing with a substantial amount of Aura.

Kyle seemed skilled with the sword, but with this much Aura enhancement—.

“Hey.”

However, Kyle effortlessly kept pace with Arthur’s Aura-enhanced speed and blocked his swing.

After blocking the wooden sword, Kyle snatched it from Arthur’s grasp and frowned.

“No Aura allowed during sparring.”

“Oh……”

Belatedly remembering the sparring rules, Arthur fidgeted nervously and looked at Kyle.

He didn’t know what to say in this situation.

Seeing this, Kyle looked at Arthur expectantly.

“Aren’t you going to apologize?”

“S, sorry.”

“Oh, okay. Be careful next time.”

Seeing Kyle easily smile and move on after a simple apology, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t a bad guy trying to kill him after all—.

‘But.’

Arthur belatedly looked down at his hands.

His body, strengthened by the inefficiently poured-in Aura, should have moved at a speed even expert Aura Users would struggle to match.

‘…How did he take my sword?’

He didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Kyle, as if annoyed by the wasted time, tossed the wooden sword back.

The moment Arthur received it, Kyle swung—as if seeking revenge for the earlier incident.

Hit squarely in the jaw, unable to react, Arthur felt his mind go hazy as he glared at Kyle.

‘This bastard….’

***

“Ahahaha! Sorry, couldn’t help it!”

“You think it’s funny? I think I broke a rib.”

Men become friends after a fight.

Having become closer with the other students through sparring, I let out a hearty laugh and headed to the bathhouse.

The bathing facility within the Academy.

This facility was opened first to the Knight Department after their training.

Actually, “opened first” or not, the Knight Department was the only one who went straight to the bathhouse after classes ended.

On the way to the bathhouse with a group of Knight Department students, I spotted Arthur hesitating in the distance and quickly went over to him, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

“Arthur! What are you doing?”

“Uh, uh-huh?”

“Aren’t you coming?”

I dragged the hesitant Arthur towards the bathhouse.

He flinched and resisted, but he couldn’t overcome my strength. What’s a guy with such skinny arms going to do?

Arriving at the bathhouse, I chuckled at Arthur, who was glancing at the women’s bath.

“What, you— trying to sneak into the women’s bath?”

“N, no!?”

“Then why are you peeking? You’ll get expelled if you go in there.”

“……Um, I’ll wash later.”

“Oh, come on, what’s this? Walking around reeking of sweat is an insult to the entire Knight Department.”

I forcibly shoved Arthur, who seemed reluctant to enter for some reason, into the changing room.

He turned his head away as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

Puzzled by his strange behavior, I quickly took off my uniform and waited for him to undress.

“……Arthur, don’t tell me—.”

“D, don’t tell me what?”

“Are you embarrassed to show your body because it’s so pathetic? Sigh… I can’t help it. Compared to my physique, everyone else is just… subpar.”

I struck a pose in front of the mirror, flexing my muscles.

Arthur looked at me with a tired expression, then slowly started to undress.

He looked skinny with his clothes on, but Arthur’s body was even thinner than I expected. It was puzzling how such strength could come from such a frame.

I grabbed Arthur’s shoulder, my hand trembling as I spoke.

“Arthur…!”

“Wh, what? What is it!?”

“—What is this twig of a body? You’re practically just skin and bones…!”

“…Don’t scare me!”

After teasing him a bit, Arthur brushed my hand off and walked into the bath.

I followed him inside, a satisfied smile on my face as I took in the spacious facility, worthy of the Academy.

Before entering the bath, I moved to the showers to wash up. Arthur stuck close to me and asked cautiously,

“Hey, Kyle?”

“What?”

“Um… do people here, like, wash each other’s backs and stuff?”

“……What?”

I stared at him in bewilderment. Arthur’s face was slightly flushed for some reason.

As I looked at him, it hit me like a lightning bolt.

His reluctance to enter the bath, his apparent embarrassment, it all flashed back. I finally understood the reason for his strange behavior.

‘You… you…’

He was gay.

I took a step back from Arthur.

Ignoring his puzzled tilt of the head, I made sure to keep my back to him as much as possible while washing up.

The misunderstanding was cleared up after we finished bathing.

Arthur, noticing that I was still keeping my distance, found it strange and finally spoke up.