Sword, Magic and Academic Society

The examiner with the unkept beard, his wooden sword resting on his shoulder, was glaring at me. Never a day would pass by that he wasn't in a bad mood it seemed, huh?

I thought that the uncle was just a guard or something when I heard him being in charge of security. So he was also a member of the Knight Order? Hmm, he was the only one without a mantle but judging from Justin-san's speech, my guess shouldn't be wrong.

Ah, right. Didn't Godorfun say that the Knight Order had been in charge of the exam’s security ever since the Red Carpet inciden— delete, just delete this thought from my memory, oh brain.

Anyway, I didn't have any business with this drunkard today, unlike on the exam day (I didn't have any business with him that day as well though?).

If anything, it would be great if he stayed a mile away from me… I had just made up my mind to steer clear from crossing paths with him when Justin-san, with a madman-like grin that almost reached his ears, said "He's drunk and in a bad mood today, so be careful, got it?" in a whispering tone.

Not even a second later, that unkept beard blazed toward Justin-san to give him a taste of his full-power attack. High heavens, what monstrous hearing he has to hear all that from 10m away!?

His slash was fast and precise, incomparable to the strike he made to counterattack me during the exam.

Justin-san easily dodged the attack by twisting his body, but the wooden sword was now bearing down on me instead. This damned unkept beard, so his target was me all along!?

While such a possibility popped up in a corner of my mind, I barely managed to hold my ground against that incomparably sharp attack by blocking it with the midsection of my wooden sword. I used that force to leap backward and landed on the ground with my left hand before flipping back up.

I glanced at Justin-san who snickered and started moving anticlockwise with shuffling movements. I also immediately reacted, shifting my distance away from him, and began shuffling at the same speed.

However, before anyone else could make a move, Dante-san stepped in to intervene.

"Alright, that's enough fooling around. You two alone can't defeat Dew-san. And you don't want to get injured, right?"

"Damn you, Justin. Who are you calling a drunkard? Weren't you with me last night when we raided and captured what seemed to be a group of spies from another country right after the shift!? When the hell did I get the leisure to drink, for god's sake!? Hah, tell me when?"

...Haha, my ears seemed to be playing tricks on me. Did Dante-san just call that crooked manager Dew-san… Justin-san closed the distance as he rested his long wooden sword on his shoulder.

"Tsk. Just when it was getting interesting... Anyway, don't you think he needs to introduce himself now, Dew-san?"

You too, Justice-san... Don't tell me he's really that Dew-san? One could be wrong, but not two. So, he really was him!

Just as my train of thought was going through a futile debate to escape from reality, Dante-san introduced him in a very clear voice.

"I believe you may have seen him before. Yes, he is the very <Efficient Operatior> Dew Owiel-san, commander of the 3rd legion and the one in charge of your practical exam!"

For real...!? But with Dante-san saying it so clearly, there was no room for misunderstanding.

…Yes, it's not like this would be the first time I flatter a fool for expediency. As long he showed his worth, so be it, even if his nasty personality was worth no more than a single rea.

“I would like to express my gratitude for the practical exam! Once again, I'm Allen Rovenne from the Royal Academy! It's really a dream come true for me to meet my idol, Commander Dew-san, today!”

As I greeted him in a refreshing tone, a vein popped up on his temple.

“Oh~? Idol, huh? Then what have you been holding onto with your left hand?”

Crap, he knows?! What the hell, does this oldie also have eyes behind his back…

“...It's just a pretty stone I picked earlier. Look, its shape is so beautiful, no?”

It was taking my all to maintain my customer service-like smile as I quietly put the plain stone I had picked up earlier when I landed on my left hand to blindside him as soon as I had a chance on the ground.

◆◆◆

“Hmph. I'm Dew Owiel. And here I expected that the old man had beaten some sense into you, but you're still as mannerless as before, smelly brat… Your rustic and rigid sword has softened its stance somewhat. More importantly, I’m sure those… callouses weren’t on your fingers last time, were they?”

He managed to figure all that out from just a single exchange…?

I did manage to learn one or two things from observing Leo’s swordsmanship — I believe it should be a mainstream swordsmanship style in the Royal Capital — during our morning training following his obstinacy to have a spare with me each morning.

I usually managed to win 2 out of 10 times against him. But it was so vexing to keep eating so many losses. In fact, l had approached my other classmates to be my sparring partner but they all distanced themselves, quoting some incomprehensible ‘We can't be Leo’s opponent’ reason and so I was stuck with him.

As a matter of fact, the mob-faced Dan actually managed to pull even wins against me, while my win rate against Stella was roughly 7-3. So there was just a bit of difference between our abilities but none of them stood up to spar with him.

Maybe, after having his monster of a mother or sister as a training partner since childhood, Leo probably didn't pull his punches much when facing stronger opponents.

“...Yes. I slightly dabble in archery due to my explorer work that I'm doing as a part-time job.”

“Hmm, dabble slightly, eh? You can shoot with your small hands?”

Justin-san, still grinning, said while seriously taking a look at my rough hands.

“You're right. I wouldn't have such callous marks if I could properly pull the string. But as you can see, I'm still no better than an amateur.”

I wasn't being humble, that was what I seriously thought about my current archery skill.

Just as I said that a 40-something-old middle-aged lady appeared amidst the knights who had been watching our exchange.

“Boy. Show me your hand.”

I was perplexed by the sudden request from that stern-faced lady, fortunately, Dante-san gave an explanation.

“This person is Kiana. She's famously known as the ‘God Archer Kiana’ even in other nations and she is one of the very few Archers of this caliber this Kingdom has. She's also a former A-rank adventurer, so that makes her your senior in a sense as well.”

Woah~, I didn't expect such a highly capable person to be here in this military post… I quietly stretched out my hand.

After giving my hand a hard look, Kiana-san turned to the nasty manag— I mean, Dew-san.

“Commander, I would like to see his skills. Can I?”

“As it suits you. But it's really rare for you to show any interest.”

After receiving his approval, she turned towards me while maintaining her stern face.

“Boy, what have you used so far?”

“Huh, ah… Lygo No.5. It was all my meager budget could afford.”

Hearing my reply, Kiana-san finally cracked her stern mask as she grinned.

“Not bad. I believe there should be some lygo lying around in the warehouse for training. Wait a while.”

Rouge-san's recommendation surely did wonders, huh? Well, I guess that was why she managed to climb up to be a store manager at such a young age.

As soon as I had my pocket filled, I would surely visit the store for shopping as gratitude.

◆

I waited for just 2~3 minutes when Kiana-san came back with a Lygo No.5, a quiver filled with wooden arrows, and a strange birdie magic tool.

After she transferred some of her mana into that birdie, it flapped its wings and flew around like a swallow.

“Take aim, boy.”

The magic tool was flapping its unsteady wings without any intervention.

“Wait, isn't it dangerous?”

“What do you think this place is? There wouldn't be any fool here to get hit by a Lygo when it’s in plain sight. Just think about how to take down that pseudo-bird tool.”

I casually aimed at the birdie and released an arrow. It dodged it by lowering the altitude and my arrow, missing its target, bumped against the window of a building by the courtyard— and was repelled. Tempered glass, I guess?

“Again.”

Following Kiana-san’s urging, I closely followed that bird-shaped magic tool’s movement.

Time to show the results of my training. Ever since I missed that shot with the Runesheep, I had been practicing the impact timing of my arrows while learning about my current strengths and weaknesses. I looked for the best opportunity I could find and rapidly shot three arrows.

“Oh!!”

My second arrow struck that birdie dead on. However, my third arrow — that I had shot in anticipation if it once again lowered its altitude — flew near the face of the Commander who had been digging into his nose.

“You brat! You surely didn't need that 3rd shot! Just say it if you have a grudge against me!”

“Heavens no, Commander. It's all a misunderstanding. It's my first time training with such a magic tool, so the 3rd arrow was just in case it flew down, really. May my enemies burn, I really do not have an ounce of resentment against you! Nevertheless, you have once again put me in awe, Commander Dew! You had already noticed that the arrow wasn't aimed at you so you didn't attempt to dodge.”

The only one I resent is the section chief from my previous world… Well… he must have seen it coming, right?

I mean, Kiana-san had just said no one here was a fool to get hit in plain sight, so I didn't put up my guard. However, my aim was a bit off. Don't tell me the matter would have blown up if it really hit him?

Except for Justin-san who seemed to be getting the laugh of his life, everyone's strained expression filled me with uneasiness.