1. The First Letter (42)
It’s already been a day since the clash with Elsie’s gang.
Quite a lot has happened in the meantime. Not only did she get scolded by Celine for why she did such a dangerous thing, but she had to listen to a long speech from the saintess at the temple she stopped by just in case.
I insisted that it was inevitable to protect the honor of a nobleman, but in return I had to pretend to be influenced by the sermon that honor is not more important than life.
The priests of the holy kingdom did not know how important honor was to nobles. For them, life was like a mission given by the heavenly god Arus.
However, talking about ‘honor’ and trying to throw away that precious life like straw, it was absurd from the point of view of treating them. It was the nobles who took the risk, but it was the role of the priests to save their lives.
In the first place, it was unavoidable because each country has a different culture. Anyway, no matter how much I persuaded her, there was no way the saintess would break her will, and in that case, there was only one answer.
Listening to a boring sermon in one ear and letting it out the other, nodding as if impressed.
After a few minutes or so, most priests will nod with a satisfied smile. The saintess was no exception.
“Brother Ian, I am glad you were so impressed by my words. Imperial nobles usually don’t like to listen to me, except for you brother. This is also the grace of Arus.”
As she said that, there was a proud feeling that could not be hidden in her pale pink eyes. She straightened her shoulders, perhaps feeling proud, and the curve of her chest, which was already full of presence, stood out even more.
I cleared my throat and looked away. And he drew the sign of the cross.
Arus, forgive your son who was born in sin.
However, the saintess seemed to have misunderstood the sign I was making as a sign of being moved. I could tell just by looking at his slightly bigger movements that he was even more excited.
Thanks to that, her massive breasts boasted elasticity. I swallowed my saliva and crossed myself once more.
Arus, come to think of it, isn’t it my fault that I was born a male? I will know this also as your gift. Immanuel.
I finished rationalizing myself in an instant, and pretended not to, but glanced at the saintess. The saintess only left a benevolent smile until the end.
“Brother Ian, who has recently risen in fame, is so deep in his faith that even the Lord in heaven will be pleased. I hope to have a chance to talk with you in the future. Emmanuel.”
Then, she glanced at me and smiled. At the last moment, I couldn’t bear to face the saintess’s eyes with a sense of guilt.
According to mythology, humans are beings created together by the heavenly god Arus and the evil god Omeros. However, while the reason was created by the heavenly god Arus, the body was created by the evil god, Omerus, so it is said that the sinful nature still remains in the human body. It was as it was said.
It was indeed a sinful flesh.
Not me, but the saintess’ body.
I had to leave the temple with such immoral memories crumpled into a corner of my brain.
Besides that, there was a lot of work. First of all, the eyes and whispers that follow you wherever you go.
After I lost my memory, I remembered the day I first opened my eyes. Rather, it was more severe than then.
The rumor that Seria had been defeated in Dalian had no sense of reality, and there were only about 100 witnesses. It was a rumor that there was nothing to say even if it was summarized as luck.
However, the place where Elsie was attacked was in the middle of the academy. In the first place, within the academy where violence was prohibited, it was rare for such spectacles to be provided, much less a third-year student taking down a fourth-year celebrity.
Moreover, the fact that the opponent I defeated was senior Elsie also contributed to the spread of rumors. Who is Elsie Rainella, isn’t that ‘Little Villain’?
He would have to prepare for severe punishment if he mentioned even one letter of the word ‘kid’ in front of her, but in her absence, that nickname was already widely used.
Short stature, doll-like appearance. Looking at her appearance, she was obviously a cute and lovely girl.
However, her rough mouth, unsparing personality, and her gangster behavior, intimidating students, gave her a completely opposite image. It was because what he was doing was no different from a street janitor.
Hence the nickname ‘Little Villain’. It was a title that seemed rather cute, but there were quite a few people who trembled at her viciousness.
Then, senior Elsie couldn’t overcome a single junior even after leading the gang.
Surprise, luck, and various circumstances favored me. However, there were no rumors spreading by counting down the details.
Already in the rumors, Elsie-senpai had become an ugly senior who suffered a great disgrace among disgrace, and even peed because she was afraid of me.
There was no noble honor or anything like that. He would have to bear with the dark history for the rest of his life.
Regarding the rumors that he urinated among them, he did not know if he would have to come forward at the family level. I was born with a beautiful appearance, but if such a shameful rumor spreads, the road to marriage will be blocked.
As time passed, I felt a little sorry.
Didn’t all Elsie-senpai do is bring his gang and drag the helpless junior to a deserted vacant lot and try to beat him until he’s half dead?
Of course, this was also just an attempt, and it was not known what kind of vicious act Elsie senior was actually plotting.
Looking back, I wasn’t too sorry. Justice always wins.
Naturally, the rumor continued to spread even after a day. Rather, it was undergoing transformation and evolution. It was a characteristic of rumors.
It seemed that such a rumor had reached Leto’s ears as well. He giggled as soon as he saw me.
“Hey, who is this? Isn’t that the famous ‘Hatchet Confucius’ of the academy?”
“What is that nickname?”
‘Confucius with the hatchet’, my impression was immediately frowned at that strange nickname. However, after seeing my reaction, Leto raised his voice as if he was going to die of pleasure.
He tapped me on the shoulder and said. It meant that it was difficult to hold back laughter.
“Puff, poop… No, I heard that someone likes to use a hatchet like that whenever they’re grinding? Tean was also hit by a hatchet, and Elsie-senpai was also hit by a hatchet… Thanks to that, hatchets are popular as a secondary armament at weapon stores these days.”
When I heard that, I laughed like I was dumbfounded.
The reason why he used the hatchet was simply because it was unexpected as a secondary weapon. Most swordsmen find it difficult to handle even one sword.
The path to becoming a prosecutor was long and arduous. Most swordsmen preferred to hone their auras as an investment of time to properly master a single weapon.
But as my case proves, even a secondary armament, once skillfully handled, provides a powerful advantage in combat. He could fight even if he lost his sword, and the mere appearance of a new weapon with completely different reach and speed could confuse the opponent.
Even if, like me, he had a knack for throwing weapons, that was the icing on the cake. Whether it was a sword or a hatchet, it was possible to create various variables by throwing it.
However, this was all thanks to me satisfying such a demanding condition.
The use of inexperienced secondary armament entailed the concern of exposing a fatal flaw. Not to mention, the secondary armament, like the hatchet, had a shorter reach than the main armament. Naturally, the risk increased.
After I lost my memory, if my body hadn’t handled the hatchet like instinct, I wouldn’t have dreamed of adding a second armament. But suddenly the weapon I use is in vogue.
It was absurd. It didn’t seem like a very practical choice.
It wasn’t Leto who didn’t know this. No, maybe that’s why he didn’t know that he enjoyed it even more.
He was the epitome of a twisted mage who knew how to turn other people’s pain into his own pleasure.
I couldn’t help but lament inwardly why all the magicians were just people like this.
“Isn’t it funny? Someone just, seriously. Actually, your main weapon is a hatchet, but you were hiding your skills with a sword… Fuhaha!”
“Don’t laugh.”
I said that because I was strangely offended by Leto’s overjoyed appearance, but Leto’s laughter continued. He even complimented me.
“Still, keukku… Well done though, dude. Like that to make a name for yourself, huh? There should be at least one impressive image. Wherever you go now, if you sneakily raise a hatchet, everyone will scream and run away?”
“However, will that be the case… … .”
At Leto’s insistence to give it a try, I pulled out a hatchet. Then, the current students who were walking in the middle of the academy started moving around me with fearful eyes.
No matter how you think about it, it was an unfair reputation. I’m not that scary
The evening training time with Seria was no different. It was because the conflict between me and Elsie-senpai became a hot topic again.
Seria’s aquamarine eyes were sparkling. It was a look of admiration and respect toward me.
No, I’m weaker than you.
However, I didn’t have the courage to shake off the respect of my dearest junior, so I didn’t bother to add anything.
Seria even brought a newspaper published by a school club, asking where she had brought it. It was the newspaper that used to write bad rumors about her.
Personally, it was a newspaper that I didn’t recognize since then, but Seria didn’t seem to care too much whether he hadn’t seen the article. Rather, it was to the extent that I was immersed in reading the article with my eyes shining.
She handed me an article. Its headline read:
‘Little Villain True Education Incident! How far can the rebellion of the lower nobles of the empire be neglected?’
“Rebellion, what kind of presumptuous remarks to the nobles… … .”
Even after reading that one line, I couldn’t help but mutter that in an absurd mind.
Treason was a felony. It was the same in any country. Therefore, nobles, whether from the Empire or the Ten Kingdoms, were usually reluctant to utter such words.
But no matter how much it is an academy, to use an expression like ‘rebellion’.
I was already feeling dizzy. Even more, isn’t it implied that at the symmetrical point of the expression ‘lower nobles’, ‘higher nobles’ are located, no matter who sees it?
Outside and in the academy, he had no chin to hate the high-ranking aristocrats who had vested interests. Even though I read only one line, it felt like mental fatigue was accumulating.
Contrary to my thoughts, Seria spoke to me in a slightly excited voice. Even so, it was only a very subtle difference that others couldn’t tell the difference.
“Senior Ian, to beat that Elsie Rainella… Be great.”
“No, I was just lucky.”
And there was also a virtue of suddenly pulling out a real sword, and also a virtue of the opponent being careless.
Would one or two of those gangs win if they went head-to-head?
Even that was a generous evaluation based on the fact that my skills were rapidly improving recently and the practicality of the hand axe.
Of course, at the point where the 3rd year was talking about ‘one or two’ with the 4th year, it meant that they already had quite a bit of skills. Thinking back on it, it was astonishing.
It’s been less than a month since I lost my memory, but my skills were growing rapidly as I went through actual battles.
However, there were limitations. Even so, it was enough to be evaluated as ‘strong in real combat’, and my basic skills and mana were still only slightly improved compared to the past.
In the end, true skill is not revealed in variables and unexpectedness, but comes from solid basic skills and mana. Complementing this would be the homework I had to solve in the future.
But no matter what I thought, Seria was just as happy that I beat a famous talented senior in the academy. There was a faint hint of pleasure in her eyes.
“Still, the fact that Ian sunbaenim is amazing doesn’t change. How did you come up with the idea of ambush at that point?”
“Well, I just wanted to.”
It was a remark that seemed a little strange, but Seria burst into admiration, saying that true masters have a different intuition.
At this point, I was ashamed of myself. Under the assumption that I was using an aura, if I were to face Seria now, it would most likely end in my defeat. I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable because I was being gilded by such an opponent.
I sighed and cleared the atmosphere. When Seria’s questionable gaze turned to me, I brought up a story that just came to my mind.
“By the way, I met you.”
“… … ?”
“Your half sister.”
Ah, a faint sigh escaped Seria’s mouth. Her countenance became somewhat gloomy. To be more precise, the expression ‘I was intimidated’ would have been appropriate.
To that extent, her half-sister seemed like a huge wall to Seria.
Among the 4th year, the highest grade of Hagiya Academy, he is the top of the swordsmanship department. Even without experiencing it, I could roughly guess what that skill was like.
Seria asked me cautiously.
“… … How was it?”
“It was too short a meeting to give a rating. Was it unexpectedly favorable to me? Oh, and.”
I clapped my palms and told Seria about a memory I had just recalled. A curious light stayed in Seria’s eyes.
and the next moment.
“Tonight, we decided to meet separately. Just the two of you.”
Seria’s expression hardened coldly.
The light in her jewel-like eyes went out for an instant. It was a dramatic reaction, so I couldn’t help but panic.
Why is Seria doing this?