Chapter 106: One-Eyed Inspector (4)

After getting a clear answer,

we returned to the open training ground.

We had only been in the café for about thirty minutes, but in that time, other students had arrived and were practicing as well.

Most of them were commoners or international students, and they were all diligently training.

Moreover, it seemed they were already familiar with Sonia—they often gave her a polite nod in greeting.

Still, she acted as if that kind of noble treatment felt awkward, brushing it off with a modest smile.

She was clearly different from the other young noblewomen.

Much more humble, perhaps.

Maybe it was because she had worked so hard for so long to make up for her lacking vision in one eye—she seemed mature, mentally.

‘This is why people need to experience adversity at least once in their lives.’

“But, President Roger… may I ask what exactly you’re able to teach us?”

Sonia, standing in the open field, looked at me quietly—a person with not a drop of mana—before asking.

Ronie was the same.

He, too, looked puzzled, probably because he hadn’t heard much about my school days.

“I did hear from Father that you had talent… but I don’t know to what extent.”

I calmly looked at the young puppy and wolf staring at me with those curious eyes.

Then, I picked up a cane that had been leaning against the outer wall.

“Hm. So, what you’re really wondering is whether I’m qualified to teach you?”

“Well, I mean. You dropped out right after entering your final year. So I figured, as someone still attending, I might actually be better right now.”

Ronie gave a smug shrug, his face full of confidence.

I watched the gleam in his eyes with satisfaction—confidence forged from sheer effort.

After all, I had already witnessed his talent and hard work in my past life.

Unlike me, he had a natural gift for mana.

Thanks to that, he could enhance his body and fight using superior speed and strength.

I’d heard he was ranked among the top students in the intermediate class.

‘Was he third…?’

“Then how about this?”

I spoke to the two standing side by side.

Holding nothing but a plain stick in my hand.

“You two team up, and spar with me.”

Ronie let out a scoff, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

But Sonia remained silent, watching me intently.

“You’ve got an audience with His Majesty the Emperor soon, don’t you? You could get hurt before you even get to meet him.”

“Oh, look at our Ronie, worrying about his big brother. You’ve grown up so much…”

I teased him, pretending to wipe tears from the corner of my eye with a finger.

Then, I froze the moment Sonia finally opened her mouth.

“Ronie. Don’t let your guard down.”

She might have been behind Ronie in terms of skill, but Sonia had one of the most essential abilities for a knight: keen observation.

“I got the same feeling from your brother… as I did from the Captain of the Imperial Guard.”

An extraordinary instinct.

In truth, the Captain of the Imperial Guard had once been a professor at the academy—and my mentor.

"Still, we have to see for ourselves. Whether you really have the skill to teach us."

Ronie glanced at Sonia, then spoke confidently.

The kid was the embodiment of youth.

"Alright, here I come, bro!!"

Ronie Julius, ranked third in the intermediate class.

His main weapon was his fists.

Since he trained his body with mana, he didn’t particularly rely on weapons—his style was purely based on martial arts.

As expected, he closed the distance to me in an instant.

And, out of consideration, he aimed a moderate low kick at my thigh.

But—

――――――!!

I swiftly raised my leg and blocked his shin cleanly with my knee.

"Urgh…!!"

If it had been a regular student, their shin would’ve been left badly bruised.

But he had reinforced his body with mana, so he only let out a short, breathless grunt.

"You really do live up to the academy’s reputation…!!"

Maybe it was because I’d blocked his attack and landed a counter at the same time.

Ronie, too, seemed to get a rough sense of my skill and began to take the spar seriously.

He stopped aiming for areas that wouldn’t cause injury and started going for human weak points.

"Huup…!!"

He stepped quickly, moving with almost metronomic rhythm, aiming for my solar plexus.

But—

I knew his breathing, his rhythm, even his next move.

Because the one who had taught him martial arts was my own mentor—and I had learned directly from him, too.

Kwaaak—!!

"Your technique is perfect, but too straightforward. If you fight like that, your pattern gets exposed right away."

As his fist flew toward my solar plexus, I twisted my shoulder and dodged it lightly.

Then, just as he was about to counter with a strike of his own, I pressed the stick I held down firmly against his thigh.

"Uugh…!!"

The kid was flustered.

Embarrassed that I had read his pattern, he immediately swung his elbow, trying to end it in one blow.

That was praiseworthy.

If your opponent has completely read your moves, your best chance is to catch them off guard with a surprise attack.

However… he had chosen the wrong opponent.

"……!!"

Because I was his older brother.

As he spun, aiming his elbow—

I had already ducked down in anticipation of the move.

His strike sliced through the air, and from my crouched position, I—

smashed him hard in the side.

Back when I was in my first year of the final class—

I’d defeated a member of the royal family and the academy’s then-top student, now a Swordmaster—with that very strength.

"Huk…!!"

Overwhelming pain rushed through him in an instant.

His face twisted completely, like his skin was being crumpled.

He seemed to struggle to breathe, then collapsed straight to the ground.

And that sight…

was witnessed by every student who had been watching the duel between the academy’s intermediate third-ranker and a man in formalwear they’d never seen before.

‘…Did I hit him too hard?’

Still, kids ranked around third in the intermediate class used to be pretty strong.

At the very least, they could hold out against me for five minutes.

It seemed times had changed again.

“Ronie, are you okay…? Can you breathe…?”

I asked my younger brother cautiously.

As I slowly approached, he remained on his knees, urgently reaching out with one hand.

“I’m fine…!! I just got caught off guard!!”

Ronie forced a smile through his twisted expression.

At that, Sonia—who had been watching without emotion—let out a quiet laugh.

“………!!”

At his classmate’s laughter, Ronie looked as if he’d just lost everything in the world.

Like a puppy whose weakness had been exposed—something he desperately wanted to hide.

“Come on, get up. Why are you still kneeling?”

“I’m just…!! Gathering my strength for a moment!!”

His eyes, radiant like sunstone, finally curved into a faint, bashful smile.

She must have thought it was a rare bit of fun, because Sonia approached Ronie.

“Take a break. I’ll give it a try.”

The red-haired female knight patted Ronie on the shoulder.

And with just that touch, he was left speechless, lips parted.

As Sonia stepped forward, all he could do was stare at the spot on his shoulder where she had touched him.

“I humbly ask for your guidance, senior.”

Unlike Ronie, she was composed and dignified—the daughter of a bishop.

True to her sharp observational nature, she seemed to realize I wasn’t someone easily dealt with.

“What’s going on? Did Ronie just lose to that guy?”

“I didn’t realize ‘cause of the suit, but I guess he’s a senior who graduated…!”

The commoner students started to gather around.

Ronie was embarrassed by their gazes, but since he had the humility to acknowledge his defeat, he kept his mouth shut.

“Sonia. Don’t hold back—use your flames to the fullest.”

“Really? Your clothes might catch fire…”

She had never used elemental magic in actual combat before.

I looked her straight in the eye and said seriously,

“If you want to win a fight, you must never hesitate. Don’t worry about me—show me everything you’ve got.”

“…Understood.”

Sonia brushed aside her cascading bangs.

Her eyes—each a different color—flashed with intensity.

One burned with crimson passion.

The other, like Bennet Tolkien’s, was a swirling gray where black and white clashed.

As if shaped by the absence of her mother and the suffering she’d endured at the hands of the other royals.

“Here I come…!!”

Sonia’s scarlet hair rippled beautifully in the air.

Then, a spiral of brilliant flame burst to life along her sword.

――――――!!

Her flame-infused blade flew straight at my head like a shot.

Anyone who faced that blazing strike would either freeze in fear or recoil in panic.

But—

Would the royal heirs she had to fight ever react that way?

No.

Absolutely not.

They were the type to inwardly dismiss anyone who wasn't on their level.

No matter how powerful the strike, they would never fear a girl who couldn't see out of one eye.

On the contrary, they would exploit her blind left side.

“……!!”

I twisted my body to the left and easily dodged her strike.

Then, perhaps having picked up something from watching Ronie, she quickly spun her body to block my counter with the stick.

The same stick that couldn’t even scratch Ronie was cleanly sliced in half.

Sonia’s pupils dilated, crimson irises swelling as if she were convinced of her victory.

But that—was her fatal mistake.

“Ah…!!”

Even if the sword was cut in half, its edge was still sharp.

It was more than enough to stab—or kill.

I gripped the remaining half of the stick and took a swift step forward.

Then, just as Sonia landed from her spin, I gently brought the broken stick to the soft part of her neck.

“End.”

The two knights from the Empire’s finest academy had been subdued in an instant.

The training ground fell into dead silence.

“Ah…”

Sonia’s expression went vacant, as if something had just dawned on her.

I put the shortened stick aside and spoke to the two who had collapsed.

“Right now, the biggest problem with both of you is that you’re too honest.”

I crouched down to meet them at eye level, eyes narrowing subtly.

“Of course, that just means you’ve been taking your professors’ lessons seriously. That’s not a bad thing.”

At last, Ronie and Sonia began to truly listen to me.

Both looked at me with reverent expressions.

“But to win against your opponent… you need to become more ruthless.”

Back when I was a student dreaming of becoming a knight—

I was obsessed with ranking first in class to maintain my scholarship.

‘So I trained in my own way to beat the noble kids.’

I threw dirt in their faces if I had to.

I stomped on their feet with military boots.

I used whatever methods I could think of.

That’s why, when I finally beat the guy who had always been first in class, his family tried to bury the results of the match.

Still, I had no regrets.

Because that experience later became the reason I was able to become the secretary of the Grand Duke—

It gave me the drive to do anything to fulfill my lord’s wishes, and ultimately, to rise to the position of Chief Secretary.

These two would also need that same kind of tenacity to beat powerful opponents.

“Ruthlessness doesn’t come easy. You need to have a goal you’d die to achieve.”

A goal you’d die for.

Mine had been overcoming poverty and restoring my family.

To gather as much money and honor as possible, cut off anything that only benefitted others—

and live again as part of a proud, respectable Julius family.

“What’s your goal?”

“……”

As Sonia hesitated, Ronie spoke up first.

“My father and brother are both struggling just to pay my tuition… If I’m going to do this, I should at least show them I’m working hard…”

“I’m the same. Even though I’m not in the best health, I wanted to prove that I could still make it.”

I let out a short sigh.

“So in the end… it’s all for someone else?”

At my firm words, both students froze, their expressions blank.

Like a puppy and a young wolf, caught off guard.

“Let’s say you two become knights and put your parents’ minds at ease. Then what? How do you plan to live after that?”

“Well… I guess I’ll just work hard and live as a knight?”

Sonia answered with an expression that said she knew nothing outside of swordsmanship.

I found their naïveté endearing, but at the same time, I smacked my forehead.

“You’ve already achieved your goal. Do you really think you’ll be able to enjoy the harsh life of a knight?”

I let the stick in my hand drop carelessly to the ground.

“You’ll have to live the rest of your life as knights in return for easing your parents’ worries—because it’s the only thing you’ve learned. And what if you can’t handle the brutal life in the order?”

Neither of them had thought that far. Their lips parted slightly.

The hardships of knightly life were well-known, even long ago.

“Your parents would only end up worrying more because of that.”

Ronie let out a long sigh.

Sonia brought her hand to her lips, seeming to realize how short-sighted she’d been.

“Then what are you saying we should do?”

Ronie got to the point.

As if answering his question, I spoke coolly, with eyes weathered by life.

“What I’m saying is—if you’ve chosen the path of a knight, then you’d better have a damn good reason for walking it.”

A reason you’d pursue even if it killed you.

A conviction that you wouldn’t regret, even if everything went wrong.

“That way, when hardship comes, you won’t break so easily.”

I stood and straightened my knees.

Then, looking at the two of them, I gave them a piece of heartfelt advice.

“Don’t pick up your sword for someone else—do it for yourself.”

For yourself.

Hearing those words, Sonia swallowed hard, as if something had clicked inside her.

Then, for the first time in her life, she turned her head to look around, instead of charging straight ahead.

At some point, other students had gathered around us.

They all wore expressions of newfound resolve, as if my words had struck a chord.

“For myself, huh…”

Ronie, too.

He looked down blankly at the calluses on his hands—torn, and then hardened over again.

‘At this rate, they won’t collapse from pushing themselves too hard.’

“If everyone’s made up their minds… let’s practice together. Until the day of the match.”

The school’s founding day competition would be held on the same day as the audience with His Majesty the Emperor.

Until I met him in the afternoon, I spent my time guiding these two students.

Unaware of just how much chaos my meddling would soon stir up during this festival.

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