[115] End-of-Term Report Card (7)
"Defeat can happen as many times as it takes. The shame you suffer to protect your conviction can be forgotten quickly. But the memory of running away in fear will follow you for life. Whether you're eating, sleeping, or on the battlefield—you'll carry it with you. That's why a swordsman's conviction is as precious as his life. Once it breaks, it never comes back."
No one mocked Rian after that.
"No one wants the memory of being a coward. Especially a swordsman. There'll probably come a day when you'd rather die than remember today. So end it here. If you want to hold your head high later, right now, in this place—"
Rian spat blood and shouted.
"Fight! Damn you idiots, fight!"
His shout cut through the cadets' chests. Blood boiled. Their skills varied, but the desire to be a battlefield demon, the best swordsman, a steel knight—was the same.
Hundreds of wills rose at once; they felt it on their skin. The air warmed. The old fear in the eyes aimed at Paiger was gone.
Paiger and the rest of Group 1 sensed the threat and each sent out a murderous glare.
"Shut up! No one listens to a loser! Want to take me down? Come on—I'll make you the same as that guy hanging over there!"
Tess smiled and touched her lip.
"Hmm."
Ozent Rian.
A candidate for entrance to the sword school.
"All right."
Tess pushed off and leapt. She vaulted over Paiger, untied the rope, and Rian dropped with a thud. Nursing his aching body, he sat cross-legged.
"You're Rian, right? I'm Tess. Let's fight together."
Tess offered her hand, but Rian only stared. He was tied to the rope and couldn't move.
Tess's appearance reverberated through the cadets. Though she was part of the girls' group, the skill she showed in training was considered on par with Paiger.
"I'll fight too! I won't stand for this!"
"If the girls are stepping up, the boys can't just sit still!"
One by one the cadets sided with Rian. Soon everyone except Group 1 had united and shouted.
"Show them what we're made of! Drive those brutes out of the school!"
"Drive them out! Drive them out!"
Paiger and his people were surrounded by nearly three hundred kids. No matter how much someone boosted their strength with skima, they couldn't face that number alone.
"You bastards! You really want to die?"
"If you can kill us, then try it, punk!"
A boy from Group 2 with some strength made the first move. Paiger's jaw clenched and he glared, but dozens of students rushed him and slammed him to the ground.
"W-wait! Stop it!"
Paiger shouted as reality hit him, but the cadets' fury wouldn't be quelled.
Group 1 members were getting the same treatment all over. Even students outside any group joined in, pounding them.
"P-please! Instructor! Instructor!"
Tess glanced at Rian, who watched the field impassively, and smiled.
"Heh—sorry about this. Feels like I just stuck a fork into someone else's meal."
"It's fine. I hate playing the hero. That's why I called everyone over on purpose."
"Oh? You really didn't know?"
Rian looked bewildered. Tess, realizing it was true, made an incredulous face.
"Are you stupid? Do you think the instructors would just let us run wild? Everything happening now is probably being reported."
Tess's guess was right. Paiger had been expelled for a fracture, and the other Group 1 kids who sided with him were denied admission after their probation.
And Rian… despite poor training results, he'd been accepted into the Kaizen Swordsmanship School as one of the top thirty—ranked first.
Tess remembered their first meeting and grinned.
"That Rian, huh—used to be that guy. Now he's circling the bottom."
"Shut up. Why bring up the past all of a sudden? Who asked you to make me first?"
"Heh, still, it's impressive. If it were me I'd be crushed. But you train without missing a day."
"I've long since graduated from that kind of self-pity."
"You're not worried? You got in, but you still have to graduate and make a name as a swordsman. At this rate you'll end up with nothing."
"…So you've made it your mission to crush my spirit."
"What? No. I'm genuinely worried. I'm curious—what drives you."
Rian looked up at the sky and thought. A driving force, huh. Compared to other cadets, he was actually in a relatively comfortable position.
"It'd be nice to make a name as a swordsman, but it doesn't matter if I don't. I just need to get stronger. For my liege."
"Your liege? What do you mean?"
"Oh—I made a knightly vow."
Tess's eyes widened. It was like asking a neighbor kid who he'd marry and hearing he already had a fiancée.
"Really? You're not even twenty yet?"
A knightly vow is a pledge a swordsman makes once in a lifetime after years of dedication. Choosing a liege means weighing the future and prospects carefully.
"Is that okay? Who is he? Do I know him?"
Tess assumed it must be someone famous—a war hero, a minister of the palace, or maybe a provincial lord. If you were going to entrust your life, he ought to be someone like that.
"Shirone."
"Shirone? Hmm… Shirone. Don't know the name. What does he do?"
"My friend. He's at the magic school back home."
Tess gaped. A friend? And not even a full mage—just a student.
"What were you thinking? No matter how close you are, you don't make a knightly vow for that. Wait—could it be—?"
Tess suddenly grew uneasy. Had anyone ever made a knightly vow to someone not famous or promising?
"Shirone… is he a woman?"
"Are you insane? What's wrong with you? Even if I lack talent, I wouldn't make a vow like that."
"Is that so? Hmm."
Tess let out a relieved sigh.
"Anyway, don't talk about it carelessly. I believe Shirone will be the best. That's why I risked my life."
Rian looked different today. Honestly, camaraderie among boys can be intense, but few would take a vow unless it was for someone remarkable.
Who on earth is Shirone…?
At that moment an idea sparked in Tess's head. While she'd been wondering how to bring it up, Shirone gave her the perfect opening.
"Can I meet him too? That Shirone kid."
"What? Why would you want to meet my friend?"
"You brag about him so much I can't help but be curious. Think of it as finding a contact before school starts."
"That doesn't make sense out of the blue. Besides, Shirone's in Creas. That's really far."
"So what? The term's almost over in a few days. My family's in occupied territory, so I don't have anyone to see anyway. I could go to Creas for a visit. There's an island down south that's a tourist spot I've wanted to see. Let's go with Shirone."
Tess spoke like she'd planned it in advance. Rian's attitude shifted as he listened. He didn't want to go alone with Tess, but if Shirone came along, that was different.
"Hmm, Shirone… but wouldn't it be awkward if it's just the three of us? I'm not very social, especially around girls."
Rian's willingness made Tess's eyes shine. He, who usually brushed off such things, suddenly agreed—and that made her a little jealous.
"Tell Shirone to bring someone too. He must know girls at the magic school. Make it two-on-two. A paired trip. How about it?"
A paired trip sounded fun. Above all, Rian had already been planning to hang out with Shirone after term ended, so he had no reason to refuse.
"Okay, I'll think about it."
He said that, but he'd practically agreed already. Tess nodded, satisfied.
"Good. Then let's make the final practical evaluation a dazzling finish for the vacation."
Most cadets had finished their evaluations, and soon it was Tess's turn.
"Number 47, Elazin Tess. Ready for evaluation!"
Standing at the obstacle-course start, Tess shouted and Kuan signaled with a curled finger.
"Begin."
Tess sprinted and smashed through the low, limbo-like barrier. But when she came to blades lower than a seated height, her body froze.
Although she'd mastered skima earlier than most, this was her first time facing external gravity.
Because skima affects the body, few master it during growth. Even if they do, it's not a recommended path.
Tess calmly executed a First Impact. The shockwave she drove into the ground transmitted through her skima.
"Shift your center of gravity outward now!"
External gravity isn't magic; it simply creates a powerful inertia to counteract gravity. With that confidence, Tess arched her torso.
"Got it!"
Her body traced a fan-shaped arc and slipped under the blades. It wasn't luck. All the training she'd done without relying on external gravity produced this result.
"Number 47, Elazin Tess. Obstacle course complete!"
Tess spread her arms and reported; the cadets applauded. But her heart pounded so hard she heard nothing.
"I did it. This actually works."
Kuan's instruction had not been in vain. He'd trained her with this goal from the start.
"Even a broken personality can still be a teacher," she thought wryly.
Having completed the urban-combat movement perfectly, Tess confidently took first place. With few participants left, no one would likely beat her score.
"Number 52, Ozent Rian. Ready for evaluation!"
When it was Rian's turn, Kuan's brow furrowed. He didn't expect much, but Rian was the kind of cadet who, oddly, inspired a bit of anticipation.
"Go ahead."
Rian pushed off and charged. He cleared obstacles that didn't require skima with impeccable skill. But the trouble came at the last barrier.
"First Impact!"
He slammed his foot down and arched his torso. At the same moment Kuan's eyes flashed.
Rian felt something was wrong. For some reason the blades seemed to be heading straight for his neck.
"Huh?"
Kuan flew forward at incredible speed and kicked Rian in the face. Rian tumbled along the ground and couldn't get up for a long time. When he finally hauled himself up, the furious instructor limped toward him.
"You idiot! Are you crazy? Want to die? Where do you think you're selling your skima, sticking your neck under blades like that?"
Rian snapped to attention and shouted.
"I'm sorry! But I did it! I used skima—"
"What nonsense? You don't know what skima is? Those who can't do skima are excluded from the practical!"
"No! I definitely succeeded! I passed the strength-enhancement test!"
"What, you punk? Strength enhancement? Where are you lying—"
The strength-enhancement test verified skima by having cadets lift twice their body weight. Kuan scanned the area and found a suitable heavy stone left from construction.
"Hey, come here and lift this."
Rian took a deep breath and walked over. He'd strained to pass the strength test before, so he couldn't help being nervous.
"Huuu—!"
Rian hugged the boulder and pushed with everything he had. His legs trembled as he found his balance, and he heaved the weight over his head.
Kuan pressed Rian's body with his fingertips. Feeling the vibration of his muscle fibers, his expression darkened.
"Damn."
That wasn't skima.
Kuan had trained countless cadets, but he'd never seen someone with so little natural aptitude.
Even lacking talent, the top facilities could usually teach someone to produce skima. But Rian couldn't even reach that.
Of course, if someone truly lacked talent, you could dismiss them. There were plenty of sword aspirants in the world.
But Kuan didn't want to abandon Rian. He was the kind of person who made you feel that way.
"How much must he have trained…?"
You couldn't hate someone like him. No—his will was something a swordsman should respect. But one problem blocked everything: no talent. If there'd been even a little, something could be done, but there was none.
"Rian, I'm sorry to say this, but you did not master skima."
The cadets' faces registered astonishment. It was the first time in half a year Kuan had said "sorry."
"That can't be! Look—this boulder I'm holding! Then what is this?"
Kuan sighed.
"That's… just your idiotically tough muscles."
Rian looked dumbfounded. The stone thudded from his hands and fell.
Ozent Rian. Confirmed dead last.
(End of Volume 5)