My Beloved Princess ~The Boy Called Incompetent Rises with Only a Sword and the Princess's Devotion~ - Chapter 77: The Shaken Upper School Teachers

Chapter 77: The Shaken Upper School Teachers

The grounds of the Upper School were vast.

The site area was four times that of the Lower School. Besides teachers, employees of the academy also lived there, forming a small town.

The grounds were broadly divided into three classifications: the Academic District, the Residential District, and the Commercial District.

The Main School Building was in the Academic District, and student dormitories were in the Residential District. And in the Commercial District, a huge shopping mall, which served as its symbol, had been constructed.

Each store in the shopping mall was cut into squares.

A vast section where sixty-eight stores were lined up. All items necessary for life could be obtained in this place. The number of items was abundant enough to truly be said so.

In one corner of that, there was a small tea house.

Red brick interior. The inside of the store had a calm, adult atmosphere and was a cozy construction with only counter seats and one table for four people. As it was the only shop in the academy where coffee could be drunk, many teachers patronized it.

Morning classes had ended, and it was early afternoon after lunchtime had finished.

In the store where a laid-back, peaceful time was flowing, the flow of time accelerated due to the angry voice of a thick-voiced woman.

“Foolish, impossible! Are you saying such a thing is possible!?”

A sturdy, large physique. Dreadlocks and dark skin. Instructor Riju, also known as Muscle Daruma, stood up, squaring her shoulders. The tea utensils placed on the table made a clattering sound as if criticizing that violent behavior.

“However, because it is a fact, you see~.”

Instructor Hyōri, who sipped on Gyokuro (high-quality green tea), responded nonchalantly.

“Is this the time to be calm!?”

“Even if one panics, nothing can be done about it, you see~.”

“Do you understand? The targets for Ki breath used in the Upper School are special-made, you know. He pierced that by throwing a mock sword, you say? Asking me to believe it is unreasonable.”

“Are you trying to say I am lying?”

“I am not saying that. But, wasn’t there room to set up some kind of trick? Thinking so would be more natural.”

“It’s his first time on the grounds of the Upper School, you know. How do you say he set it up?”

“Princess Kuroyō is there, right. She is also an accomplice.”

Placing the teacup down with a clink, Instructor Hyōri nodded slightly, saying, “I see.”

“That possibility is not zero either, I suppose~.”

“Far from zero, I can only think so!!!”

The small store shook greatly at the angry voice of the Muscle Daruma. Letting that strong vibration pass by holding both ears, Instructor Hyōri started talking with, “For example, though~.”

“I cannot see it, but [Sword Aura] has tremendous power, right? For example, if it’s Riju’s [Sword Aura], wouldn’t you be able to do something like piercing a target?”

“If speaking of possible or impossible, it is probably possible.”

“In that case, didn’t Kishō-kun also shoot through the target using [Sword Aura]?”

“That’s why, I am saying that is impossible!!!”

A fist struck down with force enough to smash the table.

The clatter screamed of tableware echoing in the store.

The coffee poured into the teacup rippled violently and splashed onto Instructor Riju’s hand.

At that impressive volume, a crack ran on Instructor Hyōri’s swirly glasses. Seeing the clerk who was serving at another table standing petrified out of the corner of her eye, Instructor Hyōri shrugged her shoulders as if saying, good grief.

“Riju. Every time you raise an angry voice, their work is interrupted. Even if tentatively, we are Warrior Princesses. If we hinder the work of the lower ones, aren’t we disqualified as superiors?”

“Gu… Sorry. I just got excited.”

The rugged colleague with dreadlocks apologized honestly. Instructor Hyōri smiled wryly and conveyed “Sorry” with just a hand gesture to the shopkeeper at the counter who was wide-eyed. Then, urging her colleague to sit down again,

“So, what do you mean by impossible?”

Having water directed at her (being prompted to speak), perhaps to calm her mind, Riju took a deep breath.

“[Ki] becomes unable to maintain its shape when separated from the practitioner’s body and disperses, right? That is the same for [Sword Aura]. Even if one houses [Sword Aura] in a mock sword, if the practitioner releases their hand, decay begins in an instant. Even if it didn’t take one second for the mock sword fired at super speed to shoot through the target, the [Sword Aura] would decay not just by half but by more than ninety percent.”

“In other words, Kishō-kun’s [Sword Aura] had enough power to shoot through the target even after decaying ninety percent?”

“That is why, I am saying that is impossible. To shoot through a target after decaying ninety percent, whether even His Majesty the Dragon Emperor can do it…”

The great leader to whom they should pledge loyalty. Having her own master brought up as a comparison, the smile disappeared from Instructor Hyōri’s face.

“That doesn’t become a joke.”

“Irreverent wording is unintentional for me too. But, just how detached from reality shooting through a target after decaying ninety percent is. I think it was appropriate as an analogy for that.”

To the colleague who declared confidently with her arms folded firmly, Instructor Hyōri sighed, “I understand.”

“In that case, he might be able to use some magic.”

“What did you say? He is a half-dragon with no aptitude attribute, right.”

“That is why that might be a mimicry, isn’t it. Rather than thinking Princess Kuroyō tampered with it, thinking he committed fraud using some kind of magic… is more realistic.”

“I see. As expected of Hyōri.”

“Ah, but I cannot see [Sword Aura], after all. Whether it is truly magic, or off-the-charts [Sword Aura], Riju. I will leave the judgment to you.”

“Hmph. I think there is no need to confirm, though. Very well. In the swordsmanship class coming up tomorrow, I shall ascertain its true value.”

Perhaps feeling like the mystery was solved, Instructor Riju laughed heartily “Hahahaha.”

Instructor Hyōri also smiled faintly as if lured by her, and sipped a mouthful of Gyokuro.

“However, if it wasn’t a petty trick, it will become a truly bad situation, you know. Because rumors about him are already beginning to circulate among the Upper School students.”

“What? Rumors, you say?”

“Having done something contrary to common sense like shooting through a breath target, there is no way he wouldn’t stand out. Since I glossed it over skillfully at that place, the students are probably in a state of being half in doubt, though. If his ability is genuine, the flow should change eventually.”

“Does it mean the more time passes, the more disadvantageous we become?”

Instructor Riju, who carved deep wrinkles between her eyebrows, groaned “Muu.”

In contrast to the colleague who seemed serious, Instructor Hyōri was nonchalant.

“It has become quite interesting, hasn’t it. Let us look forward to what he will show us next.”

◇◇◇◇◇

“No, I didn’t do any tricks.”

The girl usually with sharp eyes directed rare scornful eyes (jitome) at him. Those eyes were suspicious, and she didn’t even try to hide her attitude that found it extremely shady.

“It’s true. How am I supposed to do a trick in an Upper School facility I visited for the first time?”

“In that case, how are you saying you did it? Such an act, even Onee-sama cannot do it, you know.”

The Upper School Main School Building, which looked like a castle when viewed from the outside, had a courtyard.

There, which was crowded with students during break time, Kōran leaned forward as if blaming Kishō, who was sitting on a bench. A will that she wouldn’t let go until she received a convincing explanation was glimpsed. Kishō responded reluctantly.

“You know too, right. I used [Sword Aura]. Because I can cut Black Dragon Stone in two.”

“You, you know. Are you making a fool of me?”

“I’m not particularly making a fool of you. If you think it’s a lie, ask Kuroyō.”

“Your [Sword Aura] is to the extent that Onee-sama recognizes it, so I won’t be surprised now even if I hear you can cut Black Dragon Stone in two. But you know. [Sword Aura] is also a type of [Ki] after all. In that case, even if you housed [Sword Aura] enough to cut Black Dragon Stone in two, the decay should be too intense to be of any use.”

“What is it? Unexpectedly logical… possibly is Kōran a type of girl who can also have decent conversations?”

“Don’t make fun of me and answer.”

The sunlight in winter was weak. Suddenly removing his gaze from Kōran, he gazed at the chilly trees with fallen leaves visible in the distance. Kishō sighed heavily. Clenching his own fist tightly,

“I don’t understand difficult things either. Just one day, I noticed. If I clench my fist tightly like this, the order of [Ki] becomes harder to disturb. Then the decay also becomes slower. It’s not logic. I understand by sensation… something like that.”

“What is that. I have never heard such a story.”

“Long ago, I heard from my mother. What is the highest reaching point of [Ki]? Ahead of [Sword Aura] there is a height one step higher, and when one reaches there, one becomes able to master [Ki] in the true sense, she said. I think this might be a glimpse of that.”

Dragonkin enter a growth period from fifteen years old.

In the three years from fifteen to eighteen, that growth was particularly dazzling, and students who extended their ability by hops, steps, and jumps were not rare.

And that was the same for Kishō. Perhaps the training of [Ki] that he never missed every day bore fruit; recently, his feeling toward [Ki] seemed to have become sharper than before.

“Hmm, it’s hard to believe immediately but… well, fine. Even so, who exactly is your mother?”

“Who, you ask, she’s a normal mother.”

“You, you know… in what world is there a mother who knows the height of [Ki] which is untrodden by others? Absolutely, she is not normal. Your mother.”

There, Kishō remembered the days with his mother.

Fluffy hair with waves. Gently drooping eyes. A mouth tied softly. A slender body. Should I describe her appearance as neat and clean young lady (sickly) style?

Actually, she with a gentle personality got along well with the residents of Argant too. However, in truth, she was also a person of fierce temper, and her face when changed completely was terrifying enough to make one shudder.

Kishō, who remembered that threatening attitude, trembled under the cold sky.

“Honestly, I’m a little bad with Mom. That I volunteered to go to the academy was also just wanting to run away from Mom’s strict special training—would you laugh if I said so?”

“Hee. Even you say whining words.”

“Well, yeah. Though I say that, it’s also true that I yearned for academy life. Over there, only the privileged class can attend school, after all. Well, that illusion of a rose-colored academy life—was smashed early on after enrollment, though.”

Hmph, snorting, Kōran sat down next to him. The wooden bench creaked slightly. Her line of sight, whose height didn’t change, was almost at the same height.

“I think your badness at giving up is number one in the academy.”

“Sorry about that. I hate losing.”

To that manner of speaking like sulking, however, Kōran did not laugh even a bit. With her usual sharp expression, she closed her eyes as if remembering something.

“To protect the flock, a time comes when one must discard pride. No matter how much one is laughed at as unsightly, a time comes when one must not yield even out of stubbornness. Or, even in a desperate situation like having limbs torn off, one must bite and hang on to let comrades escape. Such a day will definitely come someday. But, if it’s you, I think surely, you can do that. That is why Onee-sama is placing full trust in you.”

Huh?, Kishō tilted his head.

“Ah? Could it be you are following up for me?”

“W-Wrong! I am saying protect Onee-sama desperately!”

To that manner of speaking that wasn’t honest, the man who was similarly not honest laughed “Heh.”

“Did you finally go for me? Until now you were tsundere, after all.”

“Haa!? When did I go for you!!”

Tearing off the earring attached to her left ear, Kōran put [Ki] into it.

Roar! Raising a groan, a Crimson Spear appeared.

“Oi, wait a minute. If you hit me with such a thing, I’ll die.”

“No questions allowed.”

“I got it. My bad. Just now I was bad so—”

Whoosh, the cold wind that ran through the courtyard changed into a gentle spring breeze in an instant. At the heat quantity of that Fire Ring Spear, Kishō took distance with a backstep. The sharp blade swept greatly past as if reaping the space where he was a few moments ago.

“Idiot! If you rampage with such a thing, it will become a commotion again.”

“I don’t care. I will turn you into charcoal on this spot.”

“You will be scolded by the Headmaster again!”

“Gu… Compared to the humiliation I received, that much is nothing!”

Kōran, whose face turned bright red, breathed fire together with an angry voice.

It seemed she hated the Headmaster’s scolding as expected, and although she flinched for just a moment, it seemed the anger of being treated as tsundere exceeded it.

Catching out of the corner of his eye that the surrounding Upper School students were wide-eyed in surprise, Kishō felt impatience inwardly that the commotion seemed likely to become big. Towards Kōran who tried to rush in recklessly, he shouted desperately while backing away.

“If such a thing is known, you will be scolded by Kuroyō too!”

In an instant, Kōran’s movement stopped abruptly.

Thump, the blood drained from her expression.

Tears floated faintly in her spirited eyes, and her teeth were sounding as if frustrated. And she said as if clenching her teeth.

“Only that… please… stop.”