The Academy’s All-Master Player – Episode 10 (10/300)
Revenge is Dangerous – 2
“……What are you?”
It was only now that the Southern Warrior’s sharp senses detected something amiss.
He noticed it.
Blanche looked at him, puzzled by his surprise.
“What are you talking about?”
“Exactly what I said. We’re being followed.”
Ian placed his hand on the hilt of his newly purchased sword.
“If you want to confront them, let’s find a deserted place. Ah, is it okay to kill them?”
“If it’s justified, they’ll just overlook it after a faculty meeting, right?”
“Who are they after?”
Blanche looked at Ian and Valla.
Valla looked at Blanche and Ian.
Ian looked at Blanche and Valla.
When their eyes met, they exchanged warm smiles, as if they were in unspoken agreement.
“Then what should we do…….”
Either way, even if they’re following us, they can’t enter the Academy grounds.
So, we can just ignore them whether they follow us or not and head back.
“Still, it’s better to catch them, don’t you think?”
“Stating the obvious.”
“To presumptuously follow us. Unforgivable.”
When both agreed, Ian nodded.
“Such warlike guys……. I like it.”
“Myaah~ Mya~”.
“Myane agrees too.”
As they chatted and started to leave the market, the killing intent directed at them grew stronger.
After walking for a while, Ian glanced back.
A familiar face was visible in the crowd.
When their eyes met, the person hurriedly tried to hide, but it was too late.
“It’s one of my customers.”
“Who is it?”
“Isaac.”
“Wow…… how did you spot him?”
Blanche was amazed.
How did he find him in this crowded place?
“It was like that in the Miyal Mountains earlier too.”
Ian’s observation skills and senses surpass those of most hunters.
It’s hard to find a hunter of this caliber even in the South.
So, recognizing people’s faces must be easy for him.
“Do you want help?”
“Is it necessary?”
“Still, you never know. Ah. Myane might get in the way, so I’ll take care of her.”
Valla quickly reached out to Myane.
“Myaaaa~.”
“Wow~ fluffy fur~.”
Myane, nestled quietly in Valla’s arms, yawned lightly.
Watching that, Blanche felt a surge of wanting to hold her too.
“I’m next!”
“Are you guys trying to help me, or are you just staying because of Myane?”
Ian, saying a word to them as they bickered over Myane, continued walking.
How long had it been?
When he arrived at a deserted place, he stopped.
“Come out now, right?”
At Ian’s words, Isaac slowly emerged from the alley.
“Ian, you son of a bitch…… Because of you, I…… I lost everything. Did you think I’d just let this go!!”
“I was wondering when you’d show up.”
The leather of the sword hilt felt firm against his palm.
Isaac, glaring at him as if ready to fight, gritted his teeth.
“Do you think you can win a life-or-death fight just because you won once in a mock battle by chance?”
-Kuuuung!!
A blue aura rippled from Isaac’s body.
The two, who had retreated from the aura that was almost solid, gripped their weapons.
Isaac was trying to fight by channeling even his life force into his aura.
“Instructor Isaac is from the Forest of Warriors, I heard…….”
“Hey, Ian. Are you going to be okay?”
Blanche and Valla looked at Ian with concern.
Isaac seems stronger than they thought.
Besides, as he said, there’s no guarantee that you’ll win a deathmatch just because you won in a mock battle.
Especially since he might have been careless in the mock battle.
But this time it’s real.
He was trying to fight with his life on the line.
“Valla.”
“Yeah.”
When Blanche spoke, Valla put Myane in her pocket and tightened her grip on her weapon.
Ready to jump out immediately if necessary.
“Myaaaa~.”
Only Myane was maintaining composure in the icy atmosphere.
The moment Myane, who was whimpering softly and yawning, stretched in Valla’s pocket.
“Hiss!!”
Isaac’s fist aimed at Ian.
Ian dodged it lightly, and Isaac amplified his aura even more.
“Haaaap!!”
Kirke, confirming his surging aura, quickly analyzed it.
He’s forcing himself to use aura even though his injuries haven’t healed yet.
Of course, his body will be strained.
If he just endures, Isaac will either die or become a cripple.
But Ian reached for the sword hilt.
Why should he look at an ugly face for 360 seconds?
Watching Isaac rush at him, Ian channeled his internal energy.
Demonic Divine Art, Chapter of Shattering Heavens.
Flash.
-Click!!
The sword was drawn, and lightning-fast swordsmanship unfolded.
“Cough!!”
He has to block it.
He has to avoid it.
But by the time he had that thought, Ian’s sword had already passed.
There was only one thing Isaac could do.
Raise his hand to stop the blood flowing from his split neck.
But that alone couldn’t stop the overflowing blood.
Eventually, Isaac collapsed, and Ian didn’t even glance at him as he looked at his sword.
The sword was stained with the blood of the enemy he had cut down.
‘Still far from it.’
He can defeat someone at Isaac’s level with just this much, but if he wants the power to become a hero, this is not enough.
‘I need to work harder.’
Ian, scattering the blood remaining on the sword, returned the sword to its sheath and turned his head.
Blanche and Valla.
Both were in awe of Ian’s swordsmanship.
Ian said to them in a plain tone, as if nothing had happened.
“Call some guards.”
When the guards called by Blanche arrived, Ian went with them to the guardhouse.
But when the two testified that it was a defense against an attack due to a grudge, the matter was turned over to the Academy.
Going to the Academy made it even easier to settle.
Isaac was dishonorably discharged because he caused trouble with Ian.
He harbored a grudge over the matter and attacked, but he was defeated and died instead.
Therefore, justification was recognized, and there was no punishment.
“It ended quickly.”
“There has to be a crime. Thanks for the testimony.”
“It’s nothing. But what was that?”
“What.”
“The attack that cut Isaac at the end.”
“What else? Just swordsmanship.”
Ian answered casually and shook off Myane, who kept clinging to him.
“Why is she like this?”
“She’s been like that since you attacked earlier.”
He was having a hard time stopping her from going only to Ian.
Hearing Valla’s words, Ian picked up Myane.
“Myaah~?”
With sparkling starlight eyes, Myane waved her cotton ball-like legs.
Watching that, Ian waved his hand at the two.
“Then I’m going.”
“Aren’t you going to the dormitory? Let’s go together.”
“I have to bring my luggage from the lower-class dormitory, so go on ahead.”
* * *
The intermediate dormitory was so good that it was like heaven and earth compared to when he was in the lower class.
The building was new, and the furnishings were much more luxurious.
There was no unpleasant creaking sound every time he climbed the stairs.
Ian went up to the third floor and entered the room assigned to him.
While looking around the inside of the room, which seemed to be for two people, the bathroom door opened.
“Oh. You’re here?”
What emerged was a boy wiping his wet hair with a towel.
With dark navy blue long hair and a rather handsome face, he put on the crystal glasses he had placed next to him and said.
“You know my name, right?”
“Was it Graejin Urkul?”
“Yeah.”
Graejin Urkul.
One of the four mages in Intermediate Class B.
Drying his wet hair with a towel, he pulled out a chair from the table in the center and sat down.
“Finally, I have a roommate.”
“Do you have any complaints?”
‘Then I’ll throw you out the window.’
When Ian said with a smile, Graejin shook his head.
“What complaints? I was rather dissatisfied with using a single room.”
“Is that so?”
“Unless we get promoted or demoted, we have to live in the same class until graduation, whether we like it or not.”
As such, there was no need to have a bad relationship.
Also, when they graduate from the Academy, they will each be active in their own positions, so why bother getting angry?
Considering such aspects, Academy life can be seen as a kind of social circle.
“Having a roommate means having a closer friend than others. So, it’s better to have one than not.”
Graejin smiled.
“And it would be even better if that roommate is strong. Let’s get along in the future.”
He dried his hair with magic and continued.
“Ah. Of course, there are cases of competition depending on one’s family or disposition.”
“I heard that from Instructor Aranse.”
“Is that so? Then we can talk faster. And one more thing. We’re not on good terms with Class C right now. Their representative is a bit annoying.”
Graejin tied up his completely dry hair and lay down on the bed.
“I’m going to sleep. Let’s get along in the future.”
“Okay. Sleep well.”
Watching him fall asleep as soon as he lay down, Ian sat cross-legged.
“It looks like there will be a lot of work to do in the future.”
Ian opened the window and meditated, receiving the moonlight, circulating the Demonic Divine Art.
* * *
At dawn, Ian took Myane to the rooftop.
He meditates while welcoming the rising sun.
Meanwhile, Myane sat on Ian’s lap and enjoyed him receiving the energy of the sun.
After his usual morning meditation and personal training, he returned to his room.
Graejin was not in the room, having left earlier.
After roughly washing up, he entered Class B’s classroom, and Blanche and Valla rushed over.
“Oh! My friend of the heart!”
“Hey! Did you become friends with Graejin yesterday?”
“We talked for a bit and he went straight to sleep.”
“Damn it.”
“Is it difficult to bring him in as a team member when we go monster hunting next time…….”
Ian chuckled at them, who were feeling disappointed.
“You have to think of ways to survive on your own.”
“No, but wouldn’t it be better to take the easy way if there is one?”
“A warrior from the South must use everything they can.”
“Okay. Try to live hard.”
As Ian passed them and sat down, Aranse entered shortly after.
“Survival training starts this afternoon. Those taking liberal arts classes should apply for a leave of absence until the afternoon.”
In addition to the main classes, the Academy also offers liberal arts classes, allowing students to freely take the classes they want.
In order to graduate, Ian also had to take some liberal arts classes, so Blanche immediately asked.
“Hey. What liberal arts classes are you taking? What did you take when you were in the lower class?”
“I didn’t take any.”
He was too busy keeping up with the main classes, so he had put off liberal arts classes.
Blanche smiled at Ian’s answer.
“Then how about tax accounting? Or public administration. Aren’t you going back to your family when you graduate too?”
Go back?
Ian shook his head.
He has no intention of going to such a house.
“I’m a disowned child, so there’s no reason to go.”
The students in Class B’s eyes sparkled at his words.