How many times had the strongest knight on the continent been saved by someone else? It must have been a long time ago, before she had reached a certain level of personal power.
She has probably spent her whole life saving others rather than the one being saved.
It was due to a confluence of circumstances, but in the end, I saved Saviolin Turner’s life.
I wonder if that triggered some forgotten emotion in her.
She certainly bowed to me and thanked me, but she seemed to think it wasn’t enough.
She wanted to do something for me, so she probably thought it would be helpful to oversee my training while she was wearing the title of Dormitory Supervisor and staying in the Royal Class dormitory.
But it’d be weird if it was just me and no one else, so she brought the others in and pretended to teach them, but she focused only on me.
It was fine..
It’s actually a good thing.
But this….
I end up being the weirdo again.
“Hey, you have to teach the other kids besides me…….”
“…Ah.”
Saviolin Turner, who had been focusing on me, turned her attention back to the students.
‘Oh.’
‘I completely forgot!’
Please tell me I’m the only one in the room who could subtly read her thoughts in that cold, blank expression.
“Well, okay. I think that’s enough for you, so let’s all have another round.”
At my request, Saviolin Turner once again observed everyone’s swordplay. Of course, she didn’t put as much effort into it as she did with me, but in the end, it was more than enough for our level.
Erich and Delphine, after all, received some advice.
Saviolin Turner’s teachings were definitely helpful, but her focus on me was a little too much.
It’s embarrassing to be told you’re great when you’re not even as good as Scarlett. This guy clearly doesn’t understand that too much praise could be poison.
“Well, I think that’s enough for everyone.”
After one last round, and another instance of grabbing me and teaching me a few things, Saviolin Turner announced that the evening’s extra class was over.
Everyone was pleased with themselves. Though they seemed to be in disbelief that they had seen a legendary being right in front of them.
Although she’s not really the stuff of legend.
“Winter vacation is just around the corner, I plan to have classes like this in the future. If I decide to hold these lessons again, I will announce them so that you can come to the training ground at the designated time. That is all.”
The lesson was over, and I went back to rest.
“Reinhardt, you’re amazing, you’re the only one who was praised by Lady Turner that much!”
Ludwig patted me on the shoulder in excitement, as if he’d received the compliment himself.
He rejoices in other people’s achievements as if it were his own.
Every time I realize that he’s actually a man of true character, I realize how much of a jerk I am.
“I’m sure she’s just saying that.”
“No, Reinhardt. It was great.”
Scarlett said, with a rare twinkle in her eye.
I mean, how can you say that when you know, objectively, that you’re better?
Ah….
Lady Turner must know something I don’t. I think they were having those kinds of thoughts.
Erich was walking lifelessly, looking severely worn out.
He didn’t receive a fierce reprimand, nor was he scolded for being so incompetent.
Saviolin Turner had simply said she wouldn’t look at his swordplay, which was, from her perspective, a kindness. She didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the other students.
You couldn’t receive praise for something you weren’t good at, after all.
He stumbled back toward the Class A dormitory, swaying from left to right.
Scarlett watched him go.
Scarlett, who he had labeled a witch, was called an excellent student, while he wasn’t even given the chance to step on to the stage.
It would have felt miserable.
Scarlett’s gaze on Erich was not one of schadenfreude.
It was just a stare, a stare given to a stranger. A stare that was neither negative nor positive. Just a stare.
The look in Scarlett’s eyes convinced me.
She was now completely free of the dark emotions that came from Erich’s bullying.
It’s better to move on from it than to wallow in it. Scarlett had undergone a positive change.
“When is the next class? I can’t wait for the next lesson.”
Ludwig scratched his head at my comment.
“I don’t think I’m cut out for that kind of theory work, I prefer to just swing my blade.”
What a crazy guy with nothing but muscles for brains.
I slowed my pace as I realized that if I stayed with him, I might catch his stupidity. As Ludwig, Scarlett, and Delphine headed back to their dormitory, I felt a hand tap me on the shoulder.
“Ah… Lady Turner.”
“Teacher.”
Saviolin Turner looks at me, requesting that I correct her title, as she’s a teacher now.
She’s always been sensitive about how she’s been called before. Last time, she wanted me to call her Lady Turner. Now she wants me to call her teacher.
“Yes, teacher.”
She glances around to make sure no one is watching.
“I have some additional things to say about today’s lesson.”
It would be a believable reason for us to be talking if someone saw us or overheard..
“Let’s take a walk.”
“Sure.”
She led the way, and I followed.
Me and Saviolin Turner walked outside the dormitory.
It was night, and it was getting colder, so the normally crowded streets around the Royal Class dorms were deserted.
“Royal Class is still a fun place, I see.”
“…Still?”
“Yeah.”
She walks with her hands in her coat pockets.
She was Mr. Epinhauser’s senior from Temple. A stoic senior. Not surprisingly, she was also from the Royal class.
“It’s no different from my time. A guy who only relied on his talent and didn’t do anything else. A guy who worked hard despite having a lack of talent. A guy working so hard urgently….”
She blows out a white breath.
“And the one who was born with everything.”
Ellen wasn’t here today.
By which she means, the child who was born with everything was me.
How did I get to the point where I could hear that?
I’m not the same Reinhardt I was when I first came here, so I can’t really deny that I’m the one who has everything.
Not the guy who has everything, but the guy who’s always getting something.
That would be more accurate.
“Which person were you?”
“… You knew it already when you heard it, didn’t you?”
Saviolin Turner smiled at me.
I had no idea what her Temple days were like, no idea what her past history is.
I wonder what Saviolin Turner was like in Temple, in the Royal Class.
I could see it without looking. She must have been like Ellen.
“Ellen Artorius. She didn’t come in today.”
“Yeah, she had a few things to take care of….”
She knew who Ellen was, just like she knew me. I wonder what she would think if she knew that Ellen was currently working on her performance for the Miss Temple pageant instead of training.
Would she think it’s pathetic?
She walked through the dorm’s dimly lit park.
“Actually, I don’t remember much about Temple.”
“….”
“I’ve been here for six years, and all I’ve done is live in the training room. I had some friends, but I don’t even remember what I did with them.”
Saviolin Turner’s eyes were staring off into space.
She had spent countless hours in this place, and she had no memories of any of them.
She must have been an idiot who knew nothing but the sword.
That time might have been translated into skill, but she had made no meaningful memories.
So what should have been a place of memories was just some random place devoid of anything.
“After graduation, I joined Shanapell and made friends there. After a while, people started calling me the best swordsman on the continent, and then some time later, some guy named Ragan Artorius took the title of best swordsman on the continent, and now it’s back.”
She stopped before one of the park trees, and I stopped, staying silent behind her..
“You can’t just fill your life with titles like that.”
She turned to me.
“Reinhardt, don’t live too hard.”
“….”
She was born with everything.
Or rather, she was a human being who lived like she’s being chased by something.
She put her hand on its bark and softly stroked it, lost in thought..
“If you live too hard, you miss out on too much.”
I wondered what she was thinking. I can’t read the emotion on her face right now.
“What did you miss?”
At my question, she unfolded the hem of her coat and pointed to the scabbard at her left waist.
Tempesta, the Gale Sword.
No, it was probably not just the sword itself she was referring to.
“Everything but this.”
She had lived for the sword, had never had anything but the sword.
Someone whose life is all blank except for the sword.
Saviolin Turner was such a person, and I smirked at her wistful, sad expression.
“Isn’t that something you can fill in now?”
“…What?”
“No, don’t talk to me like you’re some old lady who’s been around forever. From the looks of you, you could be my junior right now.”
“…?”
‘What the hell is he talking about?’
She looks at me with that kind of expression.
“Ah, well, you’re probably the strongest guy around by now. So, isn’t it okay to have a little fun from now on?”
“…?”
“Don’t you have vacation days or something?”
“Vacation days… I do have some.”
Saviolin Turner nods blankly.
“So it’s not like you have no time at all. Have a relationship, go out to eat, travel. What are you doing with the money you earn? Aren’t you going to spend it at all?”
I can’t believe I’m lecturing someone who’s been around forever.
Actually, this senior, who I had a lot of similarities with, is much older than I am from before.
But who cares?
I’ve also been there and back too.
“This is ridiculous. You have to have experienced something to know how to enjoy it. Tsk.”
“I… How am I supposed to answer that?”
She was puzzled, as if she’d never heard anything like this from anyone in the world. She’s the most powerful person in the world, and I’m telling her to get a relationship if she’s feeling listless
I’m such a weirdo.
She doesn’t even seem to be angry because it sounds so outlandish.
When people hear something too outlandish, they get bewildered rather than angry.
“You told me not to live so hard.”
“….”
“But first, I want to see that from you, teacher.”
Superhumans not only age slower, but after a certain level, they don’t just stop aging, they stop growing old completely.
I don’t care what your actual age is, when you’re wearing a Temple uniform, I’m pretty sure you’re in the same grade as us.
Acting like you’ve experienced everything in life, this girl.
“….”
Saviolin Turner couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
“I’m not sure you’re the future of the Empire, Reinhardt.”
She patted me on the shoulder.
“But you are definitely the weirdest guy in the Empire.”
Weirdo.
That was one of the words used to describe me by others..
She hadn’t summoned me for small talk.
“Soon, the Emperor will summon you.”
The Emperor.
So be it.
“I’m just telling you in advance so that it doesn’t catch you by surprise.”
Is he going to summon me to thank me for saving Charlotte, or does he want something from me?
I don’t know.
But in the end, it was one of those things I would have to face anyway.
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