Chapter: 58
“Today was tough.”
At those words from Combat Studies Professor Anton, Karl put on a wry smile.
This morning, when Karl had stepped into Soul Academy, he had been bombarded with a multitude of handover tasks, leaving him dizzy all day.
When a different professor transfers, they usually give a month’s worth of guidance, but he had to swallow it all in a single day, so even with his familiarity with how Soul Academy operates, confusion was unavoidable.
“Let’s call it a day for now. We’ll dive into the rest during tomorrow’s class,” Anton said, handing over a hefty pile of documents to Karl.
“Professor, what’s this?”
“You need to read all of that by tomorrow. Got it?”
The pile was thick enough to rival two average-sized books, causing Karl to panic a bit, but he didn’t dare complain.
Though daunting, it was still manageable.
After greeting Anton, Karl left the professor’s office and stretched while watching the sunset.
Having spent the last few years grinding through rigorous training, being stuck wrestling with paperwork was itching to get out.
If it wasn’t for his duty to protect the Young Lady, he might have quit a long time ago.
As he chuckled to himself, thinking back, he set off to see Lucy.
Where might the Young Lady be right now?
From what Karl had seen, Lucy was never one to sit still.
It’s likely she was in training, especially since she had undergone a transformation after receiving blessings from the gods.
She clearly preferred moving her body over just resting.
Surely, she would be honing her skills.
Just as he concluded this, he overheard a young girl saying something nearby.
“Yeah. The troublemaker Young Lady talked to me.”
“Troublemaker Young Lady?” That was certainly a nickname for Lucy!
Karl slowed his pace to listen to the girl.
“She was sitting here at the table when she suddenly came over and called me the ‘sidekick Young Lady.’”
“Sidekick Young Lady? That’s just too harsh.”
“Right?”
So, Lucy’s habit of looking down on others hadn’t changed much, even after coming to the academy.
If she could refer to the Duchess of Partran as a dizzy Young Lady, it was no surprise she’d struggle to treat other people simply.
“I just listened and smiled because I wondered what kind of nonsense she’d say, and then she asked if I had any troubles.”
“Out of the blue?”
“Yeah. She goes, ‘I’ll solve whatever problems you have that a sidekick can’t.’”
“Just gets strong, but really hasn’t changed at all, huh?”
“For real. Honestly, if she weren’t from the Alrn family, I’d have knocked her down already.”
Hearing the decline of his mistress’s reputation made Karl grimace.
Ever since receiving Armedi’s blessing, Lucy could be a bit rough around the edges, but she genuinely had a good heart. Would she really be able to make friends with a reputation like this?
Hopefully, someone would realize her kind nature soon.
“But you know what’s interesting? I actually had something troublesome going on.”
Those words caused Karl to halt mid-step.
If there really was something going on…
Could it be that Armedi had said something to Lucy about it?
If that’s the case, it meant Lucy needed to help this girl with her troubles!
“Really? What is it?”
“It’s a secret.”
“Excuse me?”
As Karl spoke up, the two girls turned to look.
At first, they regarded him with suspicion, but their expressions morphed into curiosity when they saw his face.
“Who are you?”
“Hello. I’m the new professor for Combat Studies, but I’m not very good with directions.”
Claiming to be lost was just an excuse; there was no way he, who had attended Soul Academy before, didn’t know the way around.
He merely wanted to ease their defenses.
“Oh! You’re the new professor! Where are you trying to go?”
“I’m planning to head to the training grounds.”
“In that case….”
With mention of him being a professor, the girls seemed to relax and eagerly shared directions.
“…That’s how you get there! Should I explain it again?”
“No, thank you for the clear instructions.”
As Karl smiled and thanked them, the girl let some disappointment show.
Seeing her, Karl decided to drop the nonchalance.
“If you ever have problems, feel free to consult me. I’ll do my utmost to help.”
With that, Karl made his exit.
As he confirmed that the girl was watching him leave, he was certain she would come looking for him.
If he told Lucy about this later, she’d surely be pleased.
Imagining himself receiving praise from Lucy, Karl felt elated, but the moment he exited the school building, he came face to face with a somewhat familiar face.
“You’re from the Alrn family’s knights, right? What are you doing here?”
It was Joy Partran.
Lucy had given her the humiliating nickname of “Dizzy Young Lady.”
Upon seeing Karl, she reprimanded him with a stern tone.
Joy’s demeanor carried a heavy sense of intimidation.
Even a seasoned knight like Karl found himself unconsciously standing on ceremony in her presence.
How could Lucy call someone like her ‘Dizzy Young Lady’?
Perhaps it was simply because she was of Alrn lineage.
Internally screaming “Lucy is amazing!” Karl responded to Joy.
“I’m here as a professor at Soul Academy.”
“Oh. Is that how it is? The Alrn family is putting in such sincere effort. Doesn’t look like the Alrn Young Lady is in any danger of collapsing.”
“That’s because she’s someone special.”
Someone special, huh?
Joy let out a sigh in response to Karl’s comments.
Being the daughter of a powerful count, it was appropriate to call her special, but she wished she would be a bit more careful with her words and actions.
Joy didn’t think Lucy was entirely bad, as she had saved her from an imminent crisis.
The sudden collapse of the ground.
The grotesque monsters they encountered.
And their master.
Even after considerable time had passed, Joy still faced nightmares featuring him.
The thousands of eyes boring down at her.
The rotten hands reaching out towards her.
And the voice proclaiming death that seeped from within.
And then, and then, and then…
“Lady Partran?”
At Karl’s voice, Joy exhaled deeply, snapping her out of her nightmare.
Ugh, this hasn’t happened in a while.
Either way, the Lucy they saw in that dungeon wasn’t the same irresponsible and prickly girl she remembered.
She was like a completely reliable knight.
Although her words were still harsh.
Since that day, Joy had changed her perception of Lucy.
Having had her life saved by someone, how could she continue seeing her in the old way?
That being the case, Joy figured that Lucy’s comment earlier, calling Arthur the “pitiful prince,” was simply her acting like that without understanding the situation.
After all, someone who could put their life on the line to save another wouldn’t mock someone’s vulnerable spots.
So, after contemplating this for a whole day, Joy decided she’d inform Lucy about Arthur’s situation to a certain extent.
She wouldn’t touch on anything too sensitive, but she wanted to make sure to explain how much he hated the word ‘pitiful’.
That way, Lucy would stop calling him the pitiful prince.
However, Joy’s plan was off to a rocky start.
She could not ascertain where Lucy had gone.
“Good timing. Do you know where the Alrn Young Lady is?”
“If it’s the Young Lady, she’s probably at the training grounds.”
“The training grounds?”
Was she really off moving her body instead of familiarizing herself with the academy on her first day?
Joy expressed skepticism, but Karl nodded confidently.
Sure, being a knight of the Alrn family, he should know her well.
And Karl was correct. Lucy was indeed at the training grounds.
What neither Karl nor Joy expected, however, was that she was causing a scene there as well.
“She’s battling someone right now, isn’t she?”
Lucy was engaged in a spar with a man wielding a spear.
By the color of the scarf on his academy uniform, he appeared to be a third-year student.
“With a third-year student, no less.”
“Looks like so.”
There was no need to wonder how these two ended up sparring. When considering Lucy’s usual antics, the answer popped out immediately.
“The Alrn Young Lady probably provoked him.”
“….”
“Does she not know the meaning of ‘staying still’?”
As Joy sighed at this, Karl couldn’t bring himself to defend his mistress.
“How on earth is she going to win against a third-year?”
There was a significant gap between first- and third-year students in the academy.
Soul Academy operated strictly on meritocracy.
This principle was evident in the academy’s grade system; to advance a grade, students needed to surpass the internal standards set by the academy itself.
No matter how high a status or influence one had outside, it didn’t matter.
Without exceeding the designated criteria, they couldn’t advance to a higher year.
Thus, being a third-year student meant they had passed multiple rigorous tests within the academy.
No matter how talented the Alrn Young Lady was, there was no way she could triumph against a third-year.
The gap between grades was that vast.
And the current battle painted an overwhelmingly one-sided picture.
The aggressor was the third-year senior.
Lucy appeared frantic as she fended off the onslaught of spears.
“Does Lady Partran believe our Lady will be defeated?”
Karl questioned Joy, who was taking Lucy’s defeat as a given.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“I believe our Lady will win.”
“You’re clearly seeing things through biased lenses.”
“I wouldn’t call it bias. I’m serious.”
“Why do you think that?”
Joy couldn’t understand Karl’s conviction, but she waited for his answer.
A knight of the illustrious Alrn family claimed that they would achieve victory.
Surely there had to be a valid reason.
“Because our Young Lady is unscathed.”
Karl stated.
In a spear fight, it was akin to a ticking time bomb.
If you take down your opponent before they close in on you, you win.
If not, you lose.
That said, if the opponent’s skill was high enough, things could change, but typically, this was how it went.
“In my opinion, the spear wielder isn’t at a level that surpasses their weapon.”
Karl calmly assessed the situation.
Quite some time had passed since the spar began, and Lucy had yet to sustain a single wound.
While the third-year senior continued to close the distance,
“You can feel the explosion is about to happen.”
Hearing that, Joy began to see the spar in a completely different light.
Lucy was steadily solidifying her advantage, while the third-year was doing everything they could to shake off the impending defeat.
Karl was right.
“Looks like our Young Lady will win.”
“Right?”
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