WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel ◈
Chapter 26: The Academy Is Shutting Down (4)
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A few months before we were due to enter the academy.
It happened when I was still receiving instruction from the Commander as a royal Instructor.
Rather than perfecting the Doomed Sword, those were the days when I got worked like a dog trying to catch up with Prince Ellen, who had already outgrown the need for it.
That day, I was sprawled on the ground, panting.
“Ah, Commander.”
“What?”
A question suddenly came to mind, so I asked him.
“Then what happens to me if Prince Ellen becomes a Sword Master?”
“Obviously, you become a Sword Master too.”
“...Really?”
Among swordsmen, people said one could only become a Sword Master after being chosen by the gods.
Of course, I knew from the Commander that no actual divine selection was necessary.
Still, he had told me it was difficult enough that being chosen by a god would be easier, so I was dumbfounded.
“I’m lying.”
The Commander cackled at my expression.
“Royal Instructors exist for the growth of the royal family. Once that royal becomes a Sword Master, they won’t need to grow any further.”
“That’s a relief.”
It really was. Even the royal family had some flexibility in their rules.
“But it would be different if you could become a Sword Master. Do you think people say becoming a Sword Master is not the end of the sword, but its beginning, for no reason?”
The moment I finished that thought, I heard there was a chance my employment could be extended.
“Then I absolutely must not become a Sword Master.”
“Hey, that’s every swordsman’s dream. Are you really refusing just because you don’t want to work?”
The Commander gave me an incredulous look, but I didn’t care.
“I worked hard, so I should spend everything I earned.”
Once I had made my charge into a Sword Master, I would probably receive a title and live in luxury.
On top of being the prince’s closest friend, my own abilities would be among the best.
I was top-tier groom material.
Rather than becoming a Sword Master, my goal was to fall in love and marry a decent noble lady.
“I’ve said this several times already, but I have no intention of devoting my life to the sword.”
That was why I could say it sincerely.
No, if I had truly intended to devote my life to the sword from the start,
I wouldn’t have learned a sword technique with a bizarre name like Doomed Sword.
“If that’s how you feel, I have no intention of forcing you.”
The Commander smacked his lips as though disappointed, then added one more thing.
“Tell me if you change your mind later.”
“That will never happen.”
“Isn’t that a little too firm?”
“Please think of it as having strong convictions.”
“Can you even call that a conviction?”
The Commander let out a hollow laugh, then wore a sly expression.
“What is it?”
“Still, retirement has rules too. You can’t retire in the middle of a mission just because Prince Ellen becomes a Sword Master.”
“What are you talking about now?”
I really didn’t understand what he meant.
“If Prince Ellen becomes a Sword Master at the academy, then you’ll have to keep working hard for the mission too.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Even if it was Prince Ellen, becoming a Sword Master in his early twenties?
Back then, I hadn’t yet realized this world was a romance fantasy, so I couldn’t have imagined such a thing.
“Do you think the kingdom is sending royalty to study in the Empire for no reason?”
We were preparing to study abroad because of the Sword Emperor, so the Commander meant that it might be possible with the Sword Emperor’s help.
Did that make any sense?
“Even if he is the Sword Emperor, isn’t that a bit much?”
If that were possible, he wouldn’t be the Sword Emperor. He would be the Sword God.
“You’ll understand once you learn.”
His mischievous smile sent a chill down my spine.
That was why I couldn’t help remembering it for a very long time.
* * *
Because of that memory, whenever I ate with Prince Ellen, I often asked what he had learned from the Sword Emperor.
After becoming Violet’s ally, I even openly assigned someone to watch the Sword Emperor’s training in the Flower Arrangement Club and report anything unusual.
Yet from everything I had seen so far, the Sword Emperor’s teaching wasn’t particularly special.
How should I put this?
It was like when a professor told students to come ask later if they had questions.
He taught the students who actually came to ask.
For those commendable students who really showed up, he explained things in a little more detail than he did in class.
It felt like he taught them in a way they could understand.
Of course, because he was the Sword Emperor, his instruction would be more precious to students than anything else.
Still, the teaching in the Flower Arrangement Club wasn’t all that different from what he gave at the Swordsmanship Club, which he visited from time to time.
The Flower Arrangement Club members were simply so skilled that he gave them instruction at a slightly higher level.
According to Uncle Aryn, top-ranking upperclassmen in the Swordsmanship Club received similar instruction.
Knowing that, I was able to calm my unease.
He would probably teach me in roughly the same way.
The only difference would be that he would teach me one-on-one.
Since he was setting aside time just for me, he would probably pay a little more attention.
That was how I understood it when I agreed to receive instruction from the Sword Emperor.
To be honest, the little swordsman buried inside me had finally raised its voice after a long time.
That was why I was certain.
There was a reason the swordsman in my heart had always spoken so quietly.
It had been crammed into a monthly rental, probably some rooftop shack or semi-basement.
“Is this right?”
“It is.”
The Sword Emperor stood there with a sword in hand.
That was when I began to feel something was wrong.
According to what I had heard, the Sword Emperor rarely even drew his sword when teaching.
Even then, it was only to demonstrate a slight adjustment in posture, not to face someone directly.
But when I said I wanted to learn from him, he immediately drew his sword.
Then he told the dazed me to draw mine.
It would have been nice if he had simply meant for me to hold my sword and imitate him.
“There is no better way to learn the sword than by clashing blades.”
The kindly Sword Emperor, my friend’s grandfather, changed expression.
It was even a very familiar expression.
The Commander sometimes wore that exact look when he came at me with everything he had.
The Commander wasn’t his direct disciple, but the resemblance between master and disciple suddenly felt far too strong.
No, that couldn’t be right. This was the Sword Emperor.
There was no way the Commander, who acted like an immature child despite being a Sword Master, could be the same as the Sword Emperor, who had left countless achievements across the continent.
“Come at me.”
My hopes were brutally crushed.
The sight of him crooking one finger at me was completely identical to the Commander.
* * *
Aren, the Sword Emperor, thought.
‘Is this what they call the waves of a new era?’
A new age was approaching.
He was now experiencing the words he had heard when he first began making a name for himself.
‘How interesting.’
He had been half-forced into taking a professorship at the academy, but he had enjoyed it more than expected.
The Swordsmanship Department students had many shortcomings, but their level was better than he had thought.
The Swordsmanship Club students who studied the blade more seriously reminded him of people he had met in the past.
For some reason, the Flower Arrangement Club students were even more outstanding than those in the Swordsmanship Department, making him feel that a new era was arriving.
Among them, the skill of two people made him think that the day the waves would wash over him might come.
‘Ellen. Adam.’
Was this what one should expect from Leon, the kingdom known as the nation of knights?
The prince of Leon was far more exceptional than Aren had been in the past, and Adam, who gave off the strong impression of being an oddball, was excellent as well.
Excellent enough to utterly defeat his grandson, who had no rival among his peers.
It pained him to see his grandson despair after repeated defeats, but it wasn’t a bad experience.
No, in real combat, defeat meant death.
Getting used to defeat this way could only be a good thing.
That was why he had kept an eye on Ellen and Adam.
He wanted to teach them, but unlike Ellen, he had no connection to the student named Adam.
So he summoned Adam to his office and offered to teach him.
Even the Sword Emperor had been somewhat shocked when Adam flatly refused.
That was why, when Adam agreed to receive instruction by using his connection to Aren’s grandson as an excuse,
Aren decided to teach him quite seriously, with just the slightest bit of resentment mixed in.
“...”
Then he was rather surprised.
No, very surprised.
‘In raw physical capability, he is actually ahead.’
The best swordsman among the freshmen, no, among the entire academy, was Ellen, the prince of Leon.
Even Ellen’s father, one of the finest among those Aren had taught and someone with whom he had shared a slight connection in the past, had not been this good.
They had only clashed swords three times, and none of those exchanges had been serious.
Yet Ellen’s sword showed a caliber of talent that made Aren’s past self seem shabby.
Compared to that, Adam’s talent was only a pale glimmer.
If someone asked whether Adam lacked talent, Aren could confidently say no.
But compared to Ellen’s radiant talent, it was faint, like the difference between the sun and a firefly.
That was why Aren could be certain.
“You are used to fighting stronger opponents.”
Unlike Ellen, who clashed swords with him using flashes of brilliant wit, Adam dealt with his sword as though it were familiar.
He was clearly accustomed to fighting opponents far stronger than himself.
And he had the raw physical ability and fundamentals needed to make that possible.
It was a refreshing quality that ordinary students did not possess.
And then there was this.
“...”
Look at that reaction.
Adam was gritting his teeth, wearing an expression like the effort was killing him.
Aren tried not to be conscious of his own fame.
Still, he was the idol of every swordsman on the continent.
Even if he tried not to be conscious of it, those around him couldn’t help being aware of that fact.
Yet from their first meeting, Adam had tried not to think of him that way.
Not as the Sword Emperor, nor even as a professor.
More like a calamity god who would be a pain to get involved with.
Interesting.
Even those called his rivals in his youth had never made him feel that way.
So he got a little too excited.
“Ah...”
With one mistake, Adam fainted before he could even cry out.
“...Oh dear.”
What a mistake.
It was the worst kind of mistake for a professor, but as a swordsman, it couldn’t be helped.
“Still, it isn’t too serious.”
Fortunately, he had unconsciously held back at the last moment.
Conversely, that meant he had barely held back before then.
He had not even used aura, the symbol of a Sword Master.
Yet an academy freshman had endured this much.
Before coming to the academy, he could never have imagined it.
“My old age won’t be lonely.”
He had only become a professor because of personal circumstances.
Yet the Sword Emperor now understood, at least a little, how professors felt when they found a prospective graduate student.
Author’s Note
The support page, built on trust and faith, is now open.
As long as this isn’t a rug pull, I’m not going anywhere!
Footnotes:
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