“Indeed, an exceptional knight is different…”
“Without even using aura, he subdued him!”
“To utilize a weapon like a shovel that way…”
“That fireball just now was magic, right? He can use magic too?”
Ignoring the loud comments from the spectators, I quietly gestured for Karina. Karina approached me as if she understood my gesture and checked Kaimak’s condition.
“His face is a bit swollen, but other than that, he’s fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Heal.”
With a single use of Karina’s Sacred Magic, the swelling on Kaimak’s face subsided. Although it might take some time for him to wake up from fainting, I figured there wouldn’t be any side effects.
“He’ll wake up soon.”
“Thank goodness.”
“I think we should move him to the infirmary for now.”
“Understood. Gilliam! Thomas! Move Kaimak to the infirmary!”
“Yes!”
With a booming response, the two huge men took Kaimak and disappeared with him. I watched the diminishing figures of the three men as they navigated through the crowd, and politely bowed to the professor, who played the role of both judge and participant.
“Thank you for your assistance. Now we have some business, so we’ll take our leave.”
“It was quite the sight to behold.”
We left the dueling area behind, away from the audience.
—————
“Johann, are you hurt at all?”
“No, so don’t worry. He was an easy opponent.”
“Johann! That was amazing!”
“Wow, Uncle just played around with him, huh?”
“T-That was incredible.”
Why are they surrounding me like this? I found myself inadvertently trapped as I walked towards Yeomyeong-gwan. After quite some time, we were getting closer to Yeomyeong-gwan.
I looked back and forth at Millia and Elisa, who were holding my hands, then met Karina’s gaze as she held hands with Millia.
“Karina, how were the first-year students from the Theology Department?”
“Um… I don’t really know. I didn’t experience the first semester…”
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that. It seemed to darken the mood, so I hastily changed the subject.
“Do you think the second-year course registrations went well? I heard everyone submitted them together.”
“Yeah! Claire-senpai helped me, so it was easy-peasy~”
“Who’s this Claire-senpai?”
“She’s a senior from the same class! We have math lectures together! Sometimes she gives me snacks too!”
…What is she, a person who can’t make friends? At this point, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have a boyfriend at all. Should I yell that I wouldn’t allow her to bring one near my sight?
No, maybe just glaring would suffice.
“I-I matched my classes with Martina…”
“See? It feels like I’m the only one without friends. I matched mine based on what I wanted to take.”
Viola spoke up with a slightly sad expression. While others got help from friends to create their schedules, it seemed she had put hers together all on her own, and that made her a bit downcast.
I gently ruffled Viola’s hair as a form of comfort.
“But when we all come back, we’ll all be together.”
“Y-Yeah, I guess…”
I wonder if it’s a bit much to comfort the older kids like this. I withdrew my hand from Viola’s blushing head and let it fall back to my side. My empty hand quickly became Millia’s property.
“Johann is being naughty.”
“What?”
What is she talking about again? I turned my head to give a sideways glance at Millia, who had made some unexpected remark. Millia clung to my arm with a pouty expression.
“Hmph. I want you to pet me too!”
“What are you, a dog?”
No, the way she clings and begs for attention is just like a puppy.
“Yep!”
Now that she put it that way, I had nothing to say. I continued to pet Millia’s head. She held onto my wrist as if determined not to let go.
Karina even burst into laughter at that scene.
“Haha. Millia is such a spoiled one.”
“You’ll end up bald like that.”
“Not with this much!”
Millia pouted, puffing her cheeks at Viola’s joke. Then she clung even more to me, as if demanding more head pats. Is she a puppy or a Dullahan?
With my left hand feeling sore from petting, I glanced at Karina standing to my right. She smiled softly as she watched us. Was this scene peaceful?
“Karina. I remember this semester had a lot of Theology Department lectures, but is that alright?”
“You can’t avoid it forever, can you?”
Karina was right. The attention of the Theology Department students might be excessive, but it’s not something one can avoid indefinitely.
As they say, if you can’t avoid it, you should enjoy it instead. It seems Karina has chosen to get used to it.
Is this also an influence from the original work being twisted?
In the original, Karina’s exclusive quests mostly revolved around overcoming the excessive attention she received as a Saint, but to make a resolve to overcome it already? To resolve half a year earlier, no less.
As a fan of the original work, it was touching dialogue.
“I will help with everything I can.”
“Me too!”
“Thank you.”
Karina’s refreshing smile reflected in my eyes.
…I decided to buy a screenshot of this moment later.
—————-
“Sir Quartz! Kaimak has been deeply moved by your extraordinary martial arts!”
…What now?
I gasped as I stared at Kaimak, who was babbling rapidly like a machine gun. Although not quite at my level, he was still a hefty guy, and the air around us felt stiflingly thick.
“Calm down for a moment. We need to get to class soon.”
“Ah! As expected of Sir Quartz! You have mastery over our Academy’s timetable!”
Was this guy really this foolish? He was indeed a simple, reckless character in the game, but… no, getting too caught up in the original work would be a problem.
If I were to get too caught up in the original, I would have a bunch of kids around me by now who either would have died or come close to dying.
“Since I’ve already sparred with you, I guess there’s no other matter.”
“Please, will you accept me as your disciple?”
“No.”
I barely had time for Karina, let alone take on a disciple. Luis didn’t even bug me this much. But then again, Luis was the type to manage things by himself, so that’s a different case.
“Could you at least consider it a little…? I want to become a magnificent knight like you, Sir Quartz…”
What the heck does he find admirable about me? I stared hard at Kaimak, who was completely inscrutable, but all I could see was the pure admiration shining on his face, leaving me utterly clueless.
“…Alright, but just make sure to pay attention in class.”
“Thank you! Then I’ll take my leave!”
Kaimak disappeared at about the same speed he approached.
“Johann, are you really going to teach him?”
“I’ll just have him match up with Luis.”
Luis also needed a practice partner, so maybe I should make him do a lot of sparring to boost his skills, then take him to a dungeon for some experience as well… It’s uncertain if he’ll become a meaningful combatant.
But still, he’s the son of a duke, so it wouldn’t be too shameful for him.
If it doesn’t work out, then it can’t be helped.
Even if he ends up just being a dedicated sparring partner for Luis, that’s not a bad thing.
“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Luis yesterday, have I?”
“Shuri said she was off for a date yesterday…”
Elisa answered.
“So, he’s enjoying his youth…”
“How envious…”
Huh? I glanced at Karina, who mumbled softly beside me. As I turned to look at her, she turned her head away from me and said,
“I’m envious…”
Even if she says that to me, there’s nothing I can do. I scratched my head and averted my gaze. I found it hard to open my mouth due to the piercing gaze on my cheek.
“Do you want to go on a date?”
“Isn’t that what any ordinary female student wants?”
“Um… Karina, haven’t you had a lot of that kind of experience?”
Elisa also nodded at Viola’s statement.
“Hmm? There are lots of couples around me! Sion said he’s going on a date after today! Leo too!”
“Millia. Sometimes staying quiet will help us out.”
“Huh? Why?”
“If you say that, it’ll make us look like we’re a bunch of outsiders with no friends.”
It was undeniable and fitting, though. It’s not that I had few friends, but many were completely detached from dating.
Millia might not know, but Karina has it hard as a Saint, and while Elisa thinks otherwise, she’s the socially awkward witch who dreams of romance, and as for Viola…
“Viola, do you have someone you like?”
“What?”
Viola kept repeating “uh, uh, uh,” like a broken machine as she looked at me.
“Me?”
“Yeah. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
I felt a bit bad, thinking I might have touched on a sensitive topic with Viola.
“Um, that… it’s not like that…”
Viola turned her head outward to hide her face, hesitating and then murmuring softly.
“…It’s a secret.”
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.