No matter what, I still think it’s unfair to stop the duel.
That’s it, Amelia.
If Instructor Amelia keeps insisting, maybe even the headmaster will back down.
“Of course, I don’t quite have the authority to do that. Hmm, so you’re dissatisfied with Instructor Vio’s teaching methods, is that it?”
“Yes. Two straight weeks of self-study….even if it’s a theory class, that’s too much.”
“I see. Then how about this? The winner of the duel becomes the senior instructor of the Ranger class.”
“Senior instructor?”
“It’s not an official title, but every department except the Ranger class has one. They take the lead in things like coordinating schedules, setting exams, and making departmental decisions.”
Even at a glance, it sounds like a troublesome position.
“If every other department has one, why didn’t we have one until now?”
“Usually, the senior instructor is someone with experience and prestige within the department. But since both of you are new and there are only two instructors in the Ranger class, it wasn’t necessary to appoint one.”
“If I become the senior instructor, does that mean I can give orders to Instructor Vio?”
“That’s right.”
“In that case, I’m fine with it.”
As soon as Instructor Amelia answered, everyone turned to look at me.
What are you going to do?
What do you mean what am I going to do? Even if they handed me the senior instructor position for free, I wouldn’t take it.
That said, I don’t want to end up taking orders from someone as reckless as Amelia either. With how passionate she is, she wouldn’t just stop at banning self-study…she’d definitely interfere with everything.
Still, I don’t want more work, and if I become senior instructor, it’ll be harder to quit later. If I have to lose either way, there’s no point in fighting at all.
I didn’t want to become a spectacle for the other instructors either, so I was about to make an excuse and decline.
“Talking big earlier….what, did you get scared?”
I was willing to let it slide nicely, but if she’s going to act like this, I don’t have much choice.
Chicken?
I’m not exactly sure what this means, but from the tone, Ark was clearly mocking me. So that only makes me more certain.
“Fine. Let’s move somewhere else.”
I accepted and we moved to the backyard of the tavern.
It’s less than ten meters across in both directions, smaller than a typical dueling ground, but still enough space to exchange blows.
Aside from the headmaster, who volunteered to act as referee, every instructor in the tavern followed us out.
“Instructor Alex, deploy a barrier around the perimeter so the building doesn’t get damaged.”
“Yes.”
A transparent barrier spread out, and the headmaster called Amelia and me to the center.
“No need to go over the rules, right? As a personal request, since you both belong to Veliyard Academy, try to show some restraint.”
We gave our answers and took a bit of distance, facing each other.
Looking at Instructor Amelia, she opened a subspace and pulled out a large longbow and a dagger about half the length of her forearm.
A typical ranger’s loadout.
“I’m ready.”
“Instructor Vio, you should also draw your weapon and prepare.”
“This will do.”
I lifted a much smaller dagger from my waist, about half the size of the one Amelia had drawn.
“Just a single dagger?”
“Do you really need a weapon meant for killing ogres to deal with an orc?”
Her face twisted, clearly annoyed by the provocation.
“Quite bold. Very well. I’ll fire a flame spell into the air as the signal to begin.”
I nodded, and soon after, a small flame shot up into the sky from the headmaster’s hand.
At the same time, two arrows came flying at me.
They weren’t ordinary arrows, but magic arrows swirling with blue energy.
I had expected her to use magic arrows since she didn’t take out a quiver, but I was still slightly surprised.
Creating magic arrows itself isn’t that difficult, but she fired not one but two at once.
That kind of rapid shot is a fairly advanced technique.
Of course, even so, it wasn’t anywhere near beyond what I had anticipated.
Bang—bang—
I infused mana and threw my dagger.
After shattering the magic arrows, the dagger continued flying toward Amelia’s hand.
But after the two earlier collisions, its speed had dropped, and Amelia easily dodged it. The dagger flew a bit farther before losing momentum and falling.
“Looks like Instructor Vio is out of weapons now.”
“I knew it the moment he tried to act tough with just a dagger.”
“Guess he’s better with theory than in actual combat.”
The watching instructors seemed to think I was at a disadvantage.
It seems Instructor Amelia also thought she had the upper hand and tried to fire another set of magic arrows, but it was pointless.
Swoosh—
The dagger that had fallen to the ground rose as if it had a will of its own and sliced straight through her bow.
“Wh-What…?”
“How is the dagger…?”
After splitting the bow, the dagger floated through the air and smoothly returned to my hand.
“A relic?”
Wrong.
I do have a few relic daggers stored in subspace, but the one I’m using right now is just an ordinary dagger.
Hoh, you couldn’t figure it out before. Since when could you use that?
Even Ark sounded genuinely surprised. Not surprising, since this is a technique from the ancient magic era that he taught me.
Was it called telekinetic sword control?
Not long ago.
The way it uses mana is completely different, so I couldn’t grasp it at all at first. But once it clicked, it wasn’t that difficult.
Don’t get cocky. Among the Seven Stars, the Sword King could control his blade not with mana like you, but with his gaze and ultimately, just his mind.
Yeah, yeah. The Seven Stars are the best. Happy now?
I brushed him off casually and twisted my body slightly to the side.
Amelia, who had been flustered by her broken bow, had already closed the distance and swung her short sword.
I’ll give her credit for recovering quickly, but compared to those earlier magic arrows, her close combat is a bit clumsy.
Her movements are too large, and at this speed… honestly, it’s around the level of a trainee knight.
Then again, that’s not just Amelia. Most rangers have this exact weakness.
Dagger training is included in ranger classes, but only at a basic level for emergencies, so they tend to be weak in close combat.
Black agents, on the other hand, have to master not just dagger techniques but also spears, swords, bows, and all kinds of thrown weapons.
“You dodge pretty well…for a rat.”
Seems she realized she’s slower, judging by that half-baked taunt.
“It’s not that I’m good at dodging. You’re just too slow, don’t you think?”
I shot back with a relaxed grin, and Amelia’s face flushed red.
She swung her blade several times, but I didn’t counter even once. I dodged every single attack.
Just like before, my taunts only made her more agitated, which made her movements even bigger and easier to predict.
After repeating this for about ten minutes, I could hear her breathing grow heavy.
At first, I thought she might be faking it, but her speed has clearly dropped. So that’s not it.
It’s about time to finish this.
Instead of dodging like before, I advanced and met her blade head-on.
With a clear clang, Instructor Amelia’s sword flew from her hand and clattered to the ground.
She hurriedly stepped back to retrieve it, but I was faster.
“I forfeit.”
At the same time, I retrieved my sword and stepped back.
I gave another sly smile to Amelia, who had frozen in shock.
It seemed she wasn’t the only one caught off guard, as murmurs began to ripple through the arena.
“He had it won and then forfeited?”
“What is he even doing?”
Amid the confusion, the headmaster acting as referee approached.
“Instructor Vio? You’re forfeiting all of a sudden when the match was already decided?”
“As the headmaster presiding over this duel, since I forfeited before you could declare the result, this counts as my loss.”
“Why would you make such a choice? Anyone could see you had the upper hand. You had already won.”
“A true gentleman does not fight a frail lady. However, refusing a duel also goes against a gentleman’s honor, so I had no choice but to accept. But wouldn’t it be too cruel if I went so far as to claim victory?”
“What are you….”
Instructor Amelia trembled with rage, but I ignored her and continued.
“Judging by the look of things, Instructor Amelia seems quite eager to become a senior instructor, but I have no particular desire for such a position, so I simply chose to exercise a bit of generosity.”
I gave a rather long-winded explanation, mindful not only of the headmaster but also of the other instructors watching, but the summary was simple.
What do I gain from defeating a woman?
I just yielded.
If I had been on the defensive the whole time and then forfeited, no one would’ve bought such nonsense, but since I had calmly evaded her throughout the duel and decisively gained the upper hand at the end by knocking her sword away, everyone seemed to accept it.
Everyone except one person.
“What kind of nonsense is that! Fight me again!”
She must have been furious because she’d even dropped the honorifics now.
She shouted at the top of her lungs, demanding a rematch, her voice filled with a level of venom incomparable to before.
It was only natural.
Setting aside everything else, calling her a frail lady was a clear jab that I didn’t see her as an instructor but as a woman.
“Instructor Amelia, that’s enough. Instructor Vio even forfeited out of consideration.”
“Indeed. Have you no shame?”
As the observing instructors each threw in a comment, Amelia’s face turned even redder, looking like it might explode at any moment.
“I don’t need that kind of consideration. If anything, he insulted me. A frail lady? I’m not a lady. I’m an instructor of Veliyard Academy.”
“Enough!”
At the headmaster’s shout, everyone fell silent.
“Amelia, if, as you say, you’re not a lady but an instructor, then you shouldn’t be acting so stubbornly. Couldn’t you feel the difference in skill? The duel is over, and the result has been decided.”
At the headmaster’s sharp rebuke, Amelia made a face full of dissatisfaction and stormed off.
At this rate, won’t she get dismissed before you do?
Seems like it.
I may have started it, but storming out like that in front of all the instructors just because she was upset is quite rude.
Does she come from a powerful family?
Judging by how she speaks and acts, she’s definitely not a commoner, but there’s no Amelia among the high-ranking noble families of the empire that I remember.
Well, it’s not like I know every single one of them.
“Instructor Vio?”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“Vio, you always exceed my expectations.”
“Haha. You flatter me.”
“Not at all. Even when your opponent behaved rudely, you maintained your composure to the end and even yielded victory out of consideration. Everything about it was impressive.”
The headmaster looked at me with a pleased smile, so I awkwardly returned one, but in truth, I wasn’t happy at all.
It had been the perfect chance to get fired, but this old man stepped in to back me up and ruined it.
Not only was the opportunity lost, it feels like I racked up even more points today…this is going to be a problem going forward.
“Since it’s come to this, perhaps it would be best for you to take the position of senior instructor—”
Good grief, is this old headmaster seriously trying to saddle me with the senior instructor position now?
The whole reason I held back from just beating her outright and went through all that trouble was to avoid becoming the senior instructor. There’s no way I’m accepting that.
“No. We set the terms before the duel, so it’s only fair that the result stands. Instructor Amelia should take the senior instructor position.”
I don’t know about anything else, but this is one thing I absolutely won’t concede.
“Honestly, you are something else. Very well.”
I guess it’s a relief that he accepted it so easily, but the road ahead looks bleak.
Instead of getting closer to being fired, I’ve only gained more of the headmaster’s trust and even picked up an enemy in Instructor Amelia.
Especially Instructor Amelia.
Judging by what she showed today, she seems like the type to hold a grudge. Should I just run away overnight or something?
It’s a dilemma.
***
(POV change)
A week has passed since that humiliating gathering.
I even considered resigning after being publicly humiliated in front of all the instructors, but I couldn’t bring myself to quit because of what I told my father when I took this position.
Fortunately, if you can call it that, the headmaster must have kept things under wraps, because the rumors didn’t spread to the students.
Actually, it’s not fortunate at all.
– It’s not that I’m good at dodging. You’re just too slow.
– A gentleman does not fight a frail lady.
– I simply yielded out of consideration.
Even after a full week, those three lines keep echoing in my head.
There’s a limit to how much someone can be belittled.
“Amelia? Did I do something wrong…?”
It seems I let my expression slip for a moment.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about… Did you bring what I asked for?”
“I did, but you know this…if it gets out that I leaked a fellow instructor’s personal information like this, I’m…”
“I told you, I’ll take responsibility if anything happens. As long as you keep your mouth shut, there won’t be a problem.”
After a brief hesitation, Annie handed me a brown document envelope.
I was utterly humiliated in front of all the instructors. I can’t just let it go like this.
While thinking of ways to find a weakness on that insolent instructor, I remembered my friend Annie, who works in the academy’s administrative office, and asked her for his personnel file.
[Vio Rain
Title: Baronet (personal merit)
Age: 29
Territory: None
Family: parents deceased, only child
Experience: 10 years as a ranger in the Southern Legion
2 years as a ranger instructor at Sainty Academy
Notes: Lost right arm during a mission while serving as a ranger; eligible for disability pension.]
He’s missing an arm?
He always wears long sleeves, so I’ve never confirmed it for sure, but his right sleeve didn’t look empty.
Was it a prosthetic?
Come to think of it, he only used his left hand during the duel.
Losing to someone with only one arm makes it even more humiliating.
His record looks ordinary… no, wait, why is the information so sparse?
“Annie, is this all?”
I benefited a lot from my family background as well, but when I applied, I had to submit far more detailed information than this.
“The Sainty Academy he was at before was a private institution, so they didn’t receive official records.”
“He didn’t even submit basic information when he transferred to Veliyard?”
“He was already a public servant and came with a recommendation from the Imperial Court, so…”
“Got it. Annie, I’ll get going now. See you next time.”
Annie still looked uneasy, so to reassure her, I used fire magic to burn the document completely, leaving not even ashes behind.
I don’t like how lacking the file is, but it doesn’t matter.
If he spent ten years as a ranger in the Southern Legion, then once I start digging, something is bound to turn up.
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