An Old Man from the Countryside Becomes a Swords Saint: I Was Just a Rural Sword Teacher, But My Successful Students Won’t Leave Me Alone! - Chapter 112

112 - The Old Man From The Countryside Is Given A Request

“Speaking of which!” Cindy cried. “Are you strong, Mr. Beryl?”

“Huh? Hmm…” I went.

She asked while I was asking everyone to demonstrate their technique.

Hmm. Strength. Am I strong? I wonder about that. I don’t think I’m weak but it’s a bit much to say that I’m confident in my being strong.

The duels with Henblitz, Selena, and Alexia were taking advantage of their weaknesses, and the one forced by Lucy ended in a sloppy draw by her call.

“He’s strong. Amazingly strong,” Thyssel said while I was thinking.

And, of course, she’s got a smug face. I’m getting used to this script.

“I know that you’re strong, Professor Thyssel…” Feledora started.

“He’s stronger than me,” Thyssel replied. “Any complaints?”

“N-No…” Feledora said, “that’s not at all what I was trying to imply…”

“Then what is it?” Thyssel asked.

Thyssel’s voice slightly overpowers Feledora’s reluctant voice.

I want her to calm down. They haven’t seen me directly, and it’s only natural to question my skill. Especially at this time, I’m not just an observer, I’m teaching. It would be a reasonable idea to want to know the ability of your teacher.

“Then how about you show us?” Nazia asked. “That’d be a hell of a lot more entertaining.”

“Hmm…” I went.

Should I do a demonstration for them?

Well, Nazia’s proposal is plausible. What is the strength of an unfamiliar old man who suddenly appeared from nowhere? It’s natural to be concerned.

“Thyssel,” I said. “Can we move outside for now?”

“We can,” Thyssel said. “Perhaps the Academy playground is empty right now.”

And to tell the truth, I’m a little interested this time, too. I wanted to experience sword magic myself at least once.

I saw a hint of Thyssel’s sword magic when she fended off a pickpocket in the West District. Also, when she helped me arrest Bishop Lebios.

Of course, at first glance, I knew it was a great skill, but then how would it fare in a real fight against me? The interest and curiosity there is something that a swordsman would have.

“Alright, then, Thyssel,” I said, “let’s do a bit of sparring outside, huh?”

“… Mm. Understood,” Thyssel said.

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And with all that said:

We stopped the swinging technique instruction and moved out of the classroom to do a bit of light sparring with Thyssel.

“I’m looking forward to this!” Cindy cried.

“Yes, I do think this will be an excellent case study,” Lumitte said, broadcasting his interests.

Yeah, I’m looking forward to it, too, but I can’t guarantee that it will be a good showing for them.

I said I was interested, but I didn’t say I could win. To be clear, if the slashing is carried out from a medium-to-long distance in rapid succession, there is a good chance that I will be cornered and defeated.

“…… Hmph,” Miu went.

Of the students who stood up to go watch their professors’ demo, Miu was the only one who knew of my power and, curiously, was snorting derisively.

However, even if I lose to sword magic, I don’t think I can make a pitiful showing. I want to lose with honor, at least.

Of course, the most obvious reason is Thyssel, and there are also her students. But the biggest reason is that Miu is here.

I heard she’s longing to reach my swordsmanship. This is just Lucy’s second-hand account, and I’ve never heard it directly from her mouth.

However, even if it is indirect, knowing that does not mean that it is okay to lose. This old man has his pride to take care of.

“… Fufu,” Thyssel chuckles.

“… Thyssel?” I asked. “You’ll go easy on me, right? The purpose is just to demonstrate it to the students, right?”

“I know,” Thyssel said. “Fufu.”

She had an eerie smile the entire time we left the classroom and moved outside.

Maybe she’s really motivated. This could probably be a way to tell the students to keep their eyes open because it’ll be a story of an inevitable victory or loss if she goes full throttle with her magic, but regardless the feeling in my gut is not good.

I wonder if this will be alright. I’m getting a little worried.

“Mm, it’s free,” Thyssel said. “No problem here.”

“It’s a lot bigger than I expected, huh?” I said.

And so, we walked around campus for a while. We were in a corner of the Magician’s Academy, which boasts of its gigantic campus.

I’ve been thinking about it since I first came here, but this place is huge. I think it’s a good size so the students can spend their time leisurely, but even so, I feel this must be tremendously heavy on the national budget.

It seems the Kingdom of Rebelis is investing heavily in the training of their magicians. I have no idea if all that investment has actually been paying off. I’ll ask Lucy that next time. 1

“Then, let’s spar a bit without magic to start,” I said.

“Understood,” Thyssel said.

The “magic” part of sword magic is important, but it all rests on the foundation of swordsmanship.

So at first, without any spells, let’s see what a show of pure swordsmanship will be.

“What, you don’t want to use magic?” Nazia asked.

“Oh, no, it’s not that I don’t want to use magic, it’s that I can’t,” I said. “I’m just a pure swordsman.”

“Oh, is that so…?” Nazia said.

Ah, I can feel his tension dropping a bit. I’m sorry I can’t use magic but there’s nothing to do about that.

But this situation wasn’t my fault, it’s Lucy’s pushing me into it, so this Old Man doesn’t care. Because it was none other than the Headmistress of the school who said it was fine.

“It’s a pleasure to be sparring with you,” Thyssel said, bending at the waist as she holds her wooden sword.

“Yes, a pleasure,” I said, doing the same.

As with everyone else, I’m genuinely happy that the etiquette I taught at the dojo is being put to good use in a place like this. I don’t want the five students under the Sword Magic Department to become brutes who just swing their swords without care.

By the way, since the dojo, Thyssel’s sword technique has been rumored to be that of a genius.

Now that she’s in the Magician’s Academy, let’s see if her arm has gotten rusty.

“… Fuh,” I exhaled.

Now that we’ve finished the greetings, we took a certain distance from each other.

Thyssel steps sharply forward and extends the tip of her sword.

“Hup… oop.”

I move half a step and dodge.

However, at the exact moment I thought I had evaded it, the tip of the wooden sword retracted and made a second thrust.

I parry the blade with a sideways slash. The high-pitched clack of wood colliding on wood echoes in the playground.

“…!”

After her lunge, Thyssel doesn’t kill her momentum, she switches feet and comes up with a cut.

“There!”

I block the cut with the flat of my blade and struck it down on the return swing.

However, Thyssel calmly read the trajectory and dodged the attack by shifting her body to the side as I did.

“Hoh.”

“… Mmn.”

I step in and do a series of attacks, cut up, cut down, and cut away by switching my grips.

I try to attack with speed and power far from my 100%, but I can’t say I’m just playing around, but even then, those attacks are dodged and blocked, and none of them are effective at whatever distance.

“Umm, those are good moves,” I said.

“Bui,” Thyssel huffed.

She lightly takes two or three steps.

Both her sword-handling and footwork are the movements of the Thyssel I knew. Rather, it even feels more sophisticated and refined than it was when she was in the dojo.

It seems that she did not slack on her discipline even after becoming a magician. As a swordsmanship teacher, I’m happy.

“Woah. That’s so cool!”

“So fast…!”

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“Oooohh! That’s amazing!”

The students observing us cry out in admiration.

Of course, neither I nor Thyssel is seriously exchanging blows. It’s still in the warm-ups and wait-and-react stages. Still, regardless, Thyssel’s sword technique is quite complete.

Yes. She is in a fairly high position, in terms of perfection. It could be said that she has only a few weaknesses.

As far as my disciples are concerned, Alexia is probably the closest to a perfect swordsman. Selena is one step ahead of her in terms of physical strength and effort, and Kuruni has a lot to offer in terms of her power. Her defensive capability also gives Rose a leg-up.

However, her unique strength is that she has all of these elements at a high level and adds a means of remote attack, sword magic.

Thyssel’s skill is outstanding in terms of flexibility and versatility for the battlefield.

“Then, it’s about time to use it,” Thyssel said.

“Understood,” I said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Then, Thyssel’s wooden sword was infused with magical power.

It’s the third time I’ve seen this, but I’m still nervous. Just thinking that the sharp and fast sword attack would fly from so far away, even I was breaking out in cold sweat.

…… Isn’t this getting serious? Isn’t it just like when you caught that pickpocket? Even from the perspective of someone like me, without a magical background, I feel that the magical power of the wooden sword is quite intense. Please tell me I’m just imagining it.

“… Mmnn!”

“Woah?!”

And the next moment:

Thyssel swung her sword at incomparable speed from before.

A magical slash fires at the same speed, snatching the edge of my clothes.

Oh, that was close! I feel like that was definitely almost a lethal attack!