[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]

Side Story Chapter 19: Academy (3)

Who is the person you respect the most in the world?

To that question, Geisel Huko had given the same answer since he was a child.

Damien Haksen.

The hero who saved the continent.

The swordsman who severed the heads of the Great Demon Kings.

The living Transcendent, and so on.

There were countless titles that symbolized Damien Haksen.

And every single one of them held a profound meaning.

The Imperial Supreme Sword, the Sword Saint, the Mercenary King, even Great Five Elders, were all but dust compared to Damien Haksen.

How could one not respect such a great being?

Even if one could never become like Damien Haksen, he was more than worthy of being a lifelong goal.

That was why Geisel Huko could never accept it.

‘Theodore Haksen! There is no way someone like you could be Lord Damien’s nephew!’

When he heard the rumor that Damien Haksen's nephew was enrolling in the Academy, Geisel Huko felt his heart pound in his chest.

The nephew of the man he so deeply respected!

Information about Damien Haksen's family was treated as top secret, so he knew nothing about the nephew.

But it was obvious he would be a remarkable person.

He was the nephew of none other than Damien Haksen, after all.

He would surely possess looks and an aura incomparably superior to that of ordinary people.

His skills, too, would be beyond question.

He would have been taught directly by Damien Haksen, of course.

But the nephew of Damien Haksen he met in person was a pathetic being.

His looks were quite, no, exceptionally outstanding, but his physique was too small.

There was not even a trace of training on him.

Just an ordinary boy with a pretty face.

That was the person named Theodore Haksen.

Honestly, if it had been just that, Geisel Huko would have been disappointed and left it at that.

But there was a decisive reason why Geisel Huko could not tolerate Theodore Haksen.

‘How dare a man shamelessly flirt with women without a shred of integrity!’

How could a man approach another woman when he already had a fiancée?

For Geisel, who had been raised since childhood by his father and brothers on the principle of single-minded devotion, it was an even more incomprehensible act.

Even the status of the woman Theodore Haksen had approached was a problem.

‘How dare he… how dare he approach the Princess… to do such an unthinkable thing to that noble lady…!’

Dorothea Adelard.

A woman who every noble man currently enrolled, or planning to enroll, in the Academy could not help but admire, had been sullied.

Therefore, Geisel Huko had absolutely no intention of forgiving Theodore Haksen.

He planned to punish Theodore Haksen in front of everyone and thoroughly humiliate him.

“Theodore Haksen, pick up your weapon.”

Geisel Huko shouted, gripping a practice spear.

* * *

‘As expected of a direct descendant of the Huko Ducal House.’

Oliver Fortina, the homeroom teacher of Class 3, thought to himself as he observed Geisel Huko’s stance.

The Huko Ducal House was a family famous for its spearmanship.

Within the Empire, there was no spear-wielding knight family that could compare to them.

‘They said a dragon was born into the Huko family. I suppose that rumor was true.’

Moreover, Geisel was a prodigy who had properly inherited the Huko family’s bloodline.

A strong body, a brilliant mind, and sharp instincts.

He was literally a person who seemed to be the real-life embodiment of the word “genius.”

Pundits were going around saying that Geisel Huko would become a pillar of the Empire within the next twenty years.

‘Compared to him, Theodore is… not good at all.’

Oliver shook his head as he looked at Theodore, who was holding a practice longsword.

His stance was sloppy, and the hand gripping the hilt lacked strength.

‘It was what I thought when I first saw him, but is he really Lord Damien’s nephew?’

A strong person always exudes a unique aura.

It was hard to explain in exact terms.

But there was something that made one feel they could not be ignored.

Geisel Huko also possessed such an aura.

But Theodore Haksen had nothing of the sort. He was as unthreatening as flowing water.

He just looked like an ordinary child.

‘But I cannot be hasty in my judgment.

If he learned from Teacher Damien, he must have a hidden card up his sleeve.’

The period Oliver had learned from Damien Haksen was very short.

Therefore, he did not know well what kind of ‘person’ Damien Haksen was.

But he knew all too well how frightening and incredible a being he was.

‘Let’s just watch for a bit.’

Oliver crossed his arms and watched the two of them.

The one to take the offensive was Geisel Huko.

“Haaap!”

With a war cry that felt like it would burst his eardrums, he thrust his spear.

Speed, power, technique.

It was a perfect thrust, a harmonious blend of these three elements.

The air could be seen exploding from the tip of the spear.

‘A decent… no, a thrust that even a fairly skilled knight would have difficulty blocking.’

At that moment, Oliver predicted Theodore Haksen’s defeat. But the situation unfolded in a completely different way.

Clang.

Theodore had struck the spearhead with the blade of his longsword.

With a dull sound, the spear was flung upwards. Surprise appeared on Oliver’s face.

“Haaat!”

Geisel immediately righted his spear and thrust it out again.

A torrent of thrusts like rays of light poured out relentlessly.

‘Amazing. To be at this level at such a young age.’

The assessment of him being the prodigy of the Huko family was no exaggeration. He had already far surpassed the level of his age group.

But Theodore Haksen was no pushover either.

He had cleanly parried all of those attacks.

‘What in the world?’

Oliver could not help but be greatly bewildered by the sight.

‘How is he holding on with those thin arms?’

Theodore Haksen’s body was not trained at all.

Even Geisel had clearly defined muscles on the forearm gripping his spear shaft.

But Theodore Haksen’s arms were so thin it looked like one could break them with their bare hands.

Defense is not omnipotent.

When parrying and blocking an enemy's attack, the impact was bound to be transmitted to the body.

The stronger the enemy's attack, the greater the impact transmitted to the body.

Therefore, if the body was weak, one could not block more than a few times before reaching their limit.

‘In the first place, how is he even keeping up with that speed?’

Geisel Huko's thrusts were not only powerful but also frighteningly fast.

That was not all. They were also mixed with feints, making them unorthodox.

And yet, Theodore Haksen was blocking all of those fearsome consecutive attacks.

‘I need to look more closely.’

Oliver focused mana into his eyes. His vision was enhanced, and more things became visible.

‘What is this?’

Only then was Oliver able to solve his own puzzle.

He saw that a current of mana was enveloping Theodore Haksen’s body.

‘What is that?’

Even for Oliver, who had accumulated diverse experiences to the point of becoming a teacher at the Academy, it was a phenomenon he was seeing for the first time.

‘Normally, when you strengthen the body with mana, traces are bound to appear, but…’

Usually, it was just at the level of mana flowing out of the body.

This was the first time he had seen a current like this appear.

‘The traces are appearing strongly… does that mean the body’s enhancement rate is that high?’

It could not be that only his body was being strengthened.

If so, he would not be able to react to the speed.

Body and senses.

He was strengthening both.

To the point where he could fight on equal terms with the prodigy of the Huko Ducal House.

‘Fearsome… but is this all?’

It was certainly a great training method. To the extent that it would be hard to find even in the Empire.

But it had many shortcomings to be considered something made by a Transcendent.

‘If this is all he has, Theodore cannot defeat Geisel.’

Geisel not only had outstanding physical abilities but also possessed highly perfected techniques.

Oliver's prediction came true in a spectacular fashion.

A light gleamed from Geisel’s eyes. At the same time, the spear shaft split apart.

‘He’s even learned an ultimate technique?’

An ultimate technique was a skill meant to surely kill the opponent.

It was powerful but incredibly difficult to learn. To think he had learned it at such a young age.

A dozen phantom spears rained down on Theodore Haksen.

‘That’s dangerous.’

It was a blow too powerful to allow. It was the moment Oliver was about to intervene.

A light gleamed from Theodore’s eyes as well.

Theodore’s movements became drastically faster. All of the split spearheads were flung away.

“What?”

Geisel’s eyes went wide. It was an event worthy of surprise.

Theodore kicked off the ground.

He closed the distance in an instant and thrust the tip of his sword.

The sword tip, having pierced the air, struck Geisel’s solar plexus.

“Keok!”

Geisel flew backward helplessly. He fell to the ground and dry-heaved.

An utterly clean victory.

‘…What was that just now?’

Oliver felt his mind go blank.

Geisel’s technique was fearsome.

For a moment, it had even reached the level of a formal knight.

To break through an ultimate technique, one had to crush it with an ultimate technique of equal rank.

But Theodore had responded by parrying all of them head-on.

‘And there was no wasted movement. It was as if he knew the ultimate technique beforehand.’

To Oliver’s eyes, it looked as if Theodore had moved knowing the future.

‘Could it be that he was hiding his talent?’

That could not be.

As a teacher of the Academy, Oliver's eye was accurate.

Theodore was a child who could by no means be considered a genius.

Even just looking at the duel proved it.

In the beginning, Theodore was unable to counterattack Geisel and focused on defense.

‘Could it be?’

What is the difference between a genius and a dullard?

It was too varied to explain briefly. Brains, physical ability, instinct, and so on.

But the decisive difference in Oliver’s opinion was the ability to read the flow.

A genius reads the enemy’s habits, gaze, and movements to lead the flow.

A dullard lacked such an ability. An attack was just an attack, and a defense was just a defense.

Because they could not read the enemy’s flow, they were bound to be easily defeated by a genius.

Theodore was clearly a dullard.

The proof was that he had allowed Geisel to attack him one-sidedly.

But just now, when he parried the ultimate technique, Theodore displayed a talent that surpassed Geisel.

‘If it’s inconsistent, it’s not talent. In that case…’

Oliver felt a chill run down his spine.

He had realized what Damien Haksen had created.

‘He must have created a training method that bestows talent.’

He could not tell what principle it operated on.

There were surely limiting conditions.

But what was certain was that Theodore, for a brief moment, had surpassed Geisel.

‘With a training method like that, the line between genius and dullard becomes blurred.’

If the existence of this training method became known, there was a high risk it would turn into a major problem for Imperial society.

The reason the Empire was in its current position.

The reason the Empire’s ruling class could enjoy all sorts of rights.

It was all based on skill.

The training method Theodore had learned was not just stepping into a forbidden realm, but completely immersing itself in it.

‘But who on earth could possibly take issue with Damien for this.’

It was a technique that could only be made because it was Damien Haksen, and could only be permitted because it was Damien Haksen.

Just then, Oliver noticed that everyone was looking at him.

Only then did Oliver realize that he had not yet declared the winner of the duel.

“Ahem, the winner is Theodore Haksen.”

Only then did cheers erupt from among the students.

* * *

“Dammit.”

Geisel gasped for breath and spat out a curse.

He had wanted to punish Theodore Haksen spectacularly in front of all the Class 3 students, but he had failed.

Rather, he was the one who had been punished. Theodore Haksen’s skill was far superior to his own.

Just then, Theodore Haksen approached Geisel.

He did not like it, but he had to say what needed to be said. Geisel spoke bluntly.

“…I lost.”

After saying it, he felt somewhat relieved. It was easier to say what came next, too.

“I acknowledge it. You are definitely Lord Damien’s nephew.”

The ultimate technique Geisel had unleashed was his trump card.

It was not a skill he had learned hastily, but one prepared for dangerous situations.

Theodore had blocked such a thing head-on.

It was Geisel’s defeat, with no room for excuses.

“I’m sorry for everything until now. I apologize for my actions.”

In this moment, Geisel let go of all his grudges and acknowledged Theodore Haksen…

“What are you talking about.”

…just as he was about to, Theodore Haksen spoke in a displeased tone.

“W-What?”

“Looks like getting your ass kicked by me finally snapped you to your senses, huh?”

“Th-That’s not it…”

“You started all that petty shit, so I thought you were something special, but you’re not a big deal, are you?”

Geisel’s face went blank.

He did not know it, but Theodore was currently using the exact lessons he had learned from his uncle.

“Don’t mess with me again. Unless you want to be beaten until you’re about to die.”

Leaving those words behind, Theodore Haksen turned and left.

Geisel trembled and then shouted.

“Theodore Haksen! I will definitely pay you back for what happened today!”

[Translator - Pot ]

[Proofreader - Kawaii ]