Chapter 188
Chapter 188
Supplementary Class (2)
“Um. Senior.”
“Yeah?”
It was a peaceful weekend. Many people were busy because the midterms were gradually approaching, but it didn't matter to me.
I was taking all my exams through practical tests anyway. I spent my time in the chapel reading a book on military strategy. Winter, who had said she was going to the library for a while, called out to me as soon as she returned.
“Um, the Second-Year Combat Department's Dorm Supervisor Professor is calling for you.”
“Who's that?”
“Yes?”
I tilted my head. Someone was calling for me? Then a vicious-looking face came to mind.
“Ah. Gorilla.”
“G-Gorilla.”
Winter was flustered by my unrestrained words. A mere student daring to call a professor Gorilla. For a model student like Winter, it was bound to be shocking.
“It's fine. Everyone thinks that and calls him that anyway.”
“……I don't think that's the problem.”
“He probably thinks so himself. And I forgot his name.”
Winter let out a small sigh at my shameless attitude. I snickered at her reaction.
“No, that's not what's important right now. The Dorm Supervisor Professor is calling for you.”
“What does he want this time?”
I let out a huge yawn and got up. Well, if he was calling me, I had to go.
“Um, come back alive.”
“……I'm not going off to die.”
Winter saw me off with a wistful expression. I gave her an uncomfortable look and rebuked her. She looked like someone waiting for a man who had gone off to his death.
I immediately left the chapel. Fortunately, the chapel was inside the Academic Department, so it didn't take long to get there.
“Huh? What brings you here?”
“Hello, Professor.”
The moment I entered the academic affairs office, I met someone I knew. A poor soul whose hair had already begun disappearing from half his head.
I bowed to the balding professor, one of the professors I was relatively close to. Of course, he wasn't quite at the stage where he could be called bald yet, but his sorrowful future wasn't far away anyway.
“What brings you here?”
“Um, the Dorm Supervisor Professor called for me.”
“Aha.”
I almost said Gorilla for a moment, but stopped myself. That wasn't something I should say to a fellow professor. The balding professor beckoned me over.
I approached him without much suspicion. I sat in the chair the balding professor pulled out for me. He offered me some snacks.
“Hmm. Thank you.”
“Right. The Dorm Supervisor Professor stepped out somewhere for a moment. Eat this while you wait.”
I picked out a piece of candy from the numerous snacks and put it in my mouth. For some reason, I felt like a delinquent who had been summoned by his homeroom teacher.
“How have your classes been lately?”
“They're boring.”
“……You're too honest.”
The balding professor clicked his tongue at my completely unfiltered answer. Why would I say something was fun when it was boring? He wasn't an enemy, so there was no reason to bother lying.
“You don't care about your grades, do you?”
“That's right. I'm the Cult Leader of a Religious Order.”
“Ah. That's true.”
The Academy in this world was like a modern university. There were also clear reasons for attending it.
Children from noble families attended for wealth and honor, while children from commoner families attended to find employment. I had no need for something like honor.
I could build wealth by developing the Religious Order, and employment was meaningless when I was already the Cult Leader.
“Your future's looking bright. I heard you have the trust of Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess.”
“That's right. Professor, if you ever get fired, come to me. I'll give you a position.”
“Would you look at this kid.”
The balding professor chuckled at my words. He seemed to think I was joking, but I was serious. What I needed were trustworthy people.
Ability would make things even better, but the Religious Order's current members were already plenty capable. Aside from exceptions like Canis, I didn't particularly want to see any more traitor characters.
“You'd qualify, Professor.”
“……Qualify for what?”
“The Religious Order. Life's all about school ties, regional ties, and blood ties, isn't it?”
“You brat. Is there anything you won't say?”
I snickered. The repertoire was similar wherever you went. Even though this was a world where getting married in your early twenties was common.
“Can I bring the Dorm Supervisor Professor with me?”
“No. Only you, Professor.”
I shook my head at the balding professor's playful question. Gorilla was absolutely out. He wasn't someone who would come in the first place, and I simply didn't want him.
“Uh. Uh, sure.”
Perhaps my unexpected firmness had caught him off guard. The balding professor looked bewildered.
“Right. Since you're attending anyway, try studying a little harder too.”
“Yes. I'll try.”
“……So you're saying you won't.”
I snickered at his resigned tone. There was no reason to make an effort when I didn't need to study.
“Oh. There he comes.”
I turned my gaze while yawning widely. Just as the balding professor had said, Gorilla was coming out through the door of the Academic Department.
“Perfect timing.”
He was as imposing as ever. How could a human face possibly look that vicious? Just from his appearance, he looked like a giant carved out of rock.
“Why did you call me?”
“Supplementary class.”
“Yes?”
I was rarely this flustered. Supplementary class at my age? My eyebrows drooped into a frown. I'd never heard that the Academy had such a system or regulation.
“Sorry, but my class is somewhat unusual. It's a class that tests student assistants. It might be different for other students, but you were selected as one, so you cannot skip my class.”
“Hmm.”
“It was directly ordered by the Academic Department. You missed three days of my class. Without any reason and without consulting me beforehand.”
Those three days had been because Canis forcibly summoned me. I tilted my head. The Head of the Ulbushis Family had definitely said he would contact the Academic Department.
“Didn't the Head of the Ulbushis Family tell you?”
“He did.”
“Yes?”
Then he should have known the circumstances. I stared at Gorilla in disbelief. Gorilla wore a solemn expression.
“This is my gift to you for falling behind.”
“That's not a gift.”
“A gift is up to the person giving it. Unauthorized absence warrants disciplinary action. I'm taking your circumstances into account and letting you off with this.”
I was wrong. This man was thinking of nothing except tormenting me. I considered voicing my complaints, but remained quiet after hearing the words disciplinary action.
This was still better than Gorilla charging at me with his eyes rolled back.
“Follow me. Six hours. We'll finish it all today.”
“……It's the weekend.”
“Do you really think that excuse will work?”
I shook my head at Gorilla's words. I'd only said it to try my luck. I stood up when Gorilla gestured with his head.
***
“If you're a professor, it's only right to change the contents of your lessons to suit the student.”
After arriving at the outdoor training ground, I was warming up when Gorilla said something ominous.
“I'd rather follow the curriculum.”
“If that were true, you wouldn't have skipped class.”
I quickly tried adding an excuse, but it was meaningless. At this point, I wondered whether he was seriously sulking because I'd skipped his class or was simply using it as an excuse to torment me.
“So what are we doing?”
“Today, I intend to correct you.”
I flinched at the word correct. Something, something felt ominous. I swallowed dryly. This vicious Gorilla had picked today to deal with me.
“What do you think your problem is?”
“Lack of technique.”
“……You know it well.”
A strange gleam appeared in Gorilla's eyes. I prided myself on being a veteran player. Of course I'd know at least that much.
Without Trace of Anaye, my combat style was exceedingly simple. I used Adaptive Body and moved instinctively.
“You could definitely handle a sword to some degree. But after changing your weapon to a blunt weapon, you've become even simpler. You could say you've survived until now because of those absurdly instinctive movements.”
“Hmm.”
“Of course, your trained body has played a part as well.”
The assistant who had followed Gorilla out yawned and tossed me a weapon. It was a shovel that gave me a nostalgic feeling. Since it had no edge, I supposed it counted as a blunt weapon.
I swung the shovel around with a wistful expression. Its center of gravity was well balanced, but it didn't fit my hands at all.
“Let me ask you a question. A B-rank mercenary in his thirties and an A-rank mercenary in his seventies. Which one frightens you more?”
“The seventy-year-old A-rank mercenary.”
“Correct. The reason the seventy-year-old is more frightening than the thirty-year-old, despite the latter being in his physical prime, is the difference in technique and experience. The human body reaches its physical peak in one's thirties, then gradually weakens afterward. Technique is what compensates for that.”
Gorilla inspected the round shield he'd received from the assistant. It definitely wasn't small, yet in Gorilla's hand, it looked like a pot lid.
“The development and widespread use of weapon arts and martial arts was no coincidence. Attack me however you like, except without lightning. I shall defend using only my right hand.”
“Hmm. Understood.”
I quietly steadied my breathing and charged. An overhead strike aimed at the shoulder was an attack I liked and was confident in.
It was my main blunt-weapon attack, making full use of the shovel's weight. But because its trajectory was simple, he blocked it easily.
The moment it struck the shield, I frowned. It felt as though the impact had scattered into empty air. It reminded me of the deflection technique Soloven often used.
“Hup!”
I quickly pulled the weapon back and brought it down again. Refusing to be discouraged by the strangely diverted trajectory, I struck several times.
Gorilla effortlessly blocked the attacks without much change in expression. Along with my fifth attack, I moved my feet.
“Shallow.”
Gorilla twisted his wrist. The instant the shield collided with the shovel, it rotated, and Gorilla's strength sent my shovel flying away.
When he immediately tried to slam the shield into my leg, I hurriedly pulled back. I tilted my head. No matter how incredible Gorilla's physique was, he'd knocked my weapon aside merely by twisting his wrist.
It was an extraordinary feat that even Soloven couldn't perform.
“Blunt weapons are strong. They're just as simple. They're effective against armor, but this is how powerless they become against an experienced shield-bearer.”
“I see.”
I started moving seriously. I charged with the unpredictable movements I prided myself on, movements Soloven had described as resembling the hunting style of a beast.
I would make it look as though I were targeting one place, then change direction and persistently aim for his blind spots. But every attack was blocked by the shield.
I took the shovel in my left hand. I began using the gauntlet, which could easily be considered a weapon in its own right, alongside it.
“Not bad.”
For the first time, I received praise. Using the shovel and gauntlet, I tried everything I could to rip the shield away. To an outside observer, it probably looked like a somewhat ugly fight.
But Gorilla seemed to like the sight.
“However.”
The outcome was decided when I hooked the shovel onto the shield and pulled. As though he'd merely been humoring me until now, Gorilla pulled the shield toward his body.
Was it because I was using my left hand? My stance collapsed badly for a moment. I hurriedly thrust out the gauntlet, but Gorilla struck the shovel with his elbow, and the shovel slipped from my hand, struck the gauntlet, and sent its trajectory far off course.
“It's powerless before even greater strength.”
He immediately grabbed me by the collar with his right hand and shoved. There was no way for me to stop it. I ended up half-fallen in an acrobatic position.
I was bent so far that the backs of my calves nearly touched the backs of my thighs. Gorilla snickered and pulled me back up.
“This should be enough for you to understand the necessity of technique.”
“Yes. Well. I already knew that.”
“How admirable.”
Gorilla sneered at my words. I shrugged. It was true that I'd already known.
“What we'll be doing for the next six hours is simple. You'll learn a stance suitable for the way you fight.”
Gorilla rolled his shoulder, loosening the fatigue in his right arm. My attacks had still been fierce, so he hadn't taken them completely effortlessly.
“Your lower body is far too light. That makes you quick and unpredictable, but right now, you need something else more than that.”
I agreed with him. I no longer had much need to evade. I had the Circle of Reincarnation serving as a gas station, and even Lin's scales to protect my vital points.
“Let's enjoy studying.”
Gorilla smiled ominously.