Today is Friday, and I have only one class to attend: ‘Martial Arts’.
And on Monday, there’s just one class as well, which is ‘Aether Cultivation’—a training period equivalent to ‘Qi Breathing’ in martial arts novels.
All the students will just sit quietly and cultivate Aether, so there’s no chance for any incidents.
‘In other words, it’ll just get skipped over without any special narration.’
So once I get through this Martial Arts class, it’s not just the end of a chapter—it’s fair to say I’ve cleared a major hurdle.
But the world inside 《Nas-e》 wasn’t that easy.
Because throwing punches is considered inelegant, this course is classified as unpopular. But who would’ve thought three named characters would take it?
“This, this semester, there seem to be an unusually large number of overlapping classes. Including the required courses, there are a wh-whopping three….”
As you can tell from that line, one of the three named characters is Liolikin.
The other two are Reysir and Vigdis.
That means most of the original novel’s revealed characters are in this class—including the protagonist.
Even the Martial Arts professor’s gaze toward me was anything but friendly.
‘Still……. If you want to handle emergencies where you can’t even draw your weapon, learning unarmed combat isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity. Besides, the Dagger Arts and Swordsmanship intro classes don’t do sparring, so if you want real combat experience, you have to take this class!’
Whether it’s monsters from the Demon Realm or just regular people—
Fighting something alive and moving is never easy. Especially if your life is on the line.
But.
How much will trading punches with mere students actually help in real combat?
Still, it’s better to have tried than never tried at all.
‘At least the troublemaker Tridric isn’t in this class, right?’
Liolikin may be big and intimidating, but he’s timid, so he wouldn’t pick a fight with Reysir or Vigdis.
And Vigdis, who suffered from the original’s obsession, won’t approach me first.
As for Reysir… I’m not sure.
When we talked in the hallway before the semester started, he acted like he’d invite me to be his reading buddy any moment.
But a few days ago, during the ‘History and Ethics’ class, he seemed to be avoiding me.
‘Maybe he finally realized it’s not realistic for Karvald Austri and himself to be friends anymore?’
‘If that’s the case, maybe we can go on living as perfect strangers, never interfering in each other’s lives?’
…That was the hope I held in my heart.
It was then that the Martial Arts professor, wearing a deeply displeased expression, called my name.
“Karvald Austri, my syllabus includes ‘sparring’. Did you enroll in this class knowing that?”
The main character is sitting quietly, so why is an extra character getting picked on?
Suppressing my urge to sigh deeply, I replied, “Yes, that’s correct.”
I thought it was a completely unremarkable answer.
Even so, at that moment, the Martial Arts professor’s mouth twisted into a strange shape.
It almost looked like a sneer, or maybe he was gritting his teeth to hold back his anger.
What’s with that expression?
“Have you ever learned martial arts before?”
“No, I haven’t.”
Not after transmigrating, and not before, either.
My family wasn’t well off, so I couldn’t even attend a basic taekwondo school.
I hadn’t served in the military yet, either.
I kept putting it off while serializing web novels, and now that I’ve died and possessed someone in another person’s novel, should I be glad I procrastinated?
“Hmm… Still, I need to see your skills, so let’s start with a sparring match. Come this way.”
Correction.
If I’d gone to the army and learned taekwondo or bayonet skills, it might actually help me now.
I never imagined a professor would call up a student who’s never even learned the basics of martial arts and make them spar.
“What skills could I possibly have when I haven’t learned anything….”
“You’ve managed to use your arms and legs just fine so far, haven’t you? Then you should be able to throw a punch or kick, right?”
The absurdity of that statement almost made me laugh.
If you just swing your fists and kick without any training, how is that sparring?
That’s nothing but a brawl, no more, no less.
Especially since I’m a complete beginner and my opponent has martial arts experience? I’d just end up flailing my limbs in the air, looking ridiculous.
“No matter if you’re a son of the Austri Ducal Family, I can’t give you special treatment in class.”
The Martial Arts professor put on a serious face and spouted nonsense.
I had read the syllabus cover to cover before registering for the class.
According to it, sparring only begins after the Midterm Exam.
And even then, it’s for students who’ve taken the class in previous semesters, not for first-timers like me.
So I’d expected this class would be tough for a beginner like me.
But to do this on the very first day of class was completely unexpected.
“Your opponent will be…, let’s see. Reysir Daudabina? Please come forward.”
And that opponent is none other than the protagonist of the original novel that forms the background of this world, and the very Reysir that this possessed body bullied all last semester?
Of all the extras, why him?
I couldn’t help but think that.
‘No matter how coincidental this seems… Is it really? He may not know Reysir is the protagonist of this world, but he likely knows Karvald Austri bullied him, right?’
The professor’s tone was also incredibly irritating.
Why am I ‘Karvald Austri’ while the protagonist is ‘Reysir’? And why is he only using honorifics with me?
It’s hard to believe he’s being cautious just because the possessed body is from a ducal family.
If that were the case, he wouldn’t set things up like this.
So, on the contrary, it’s probably meant to humiliate me.
“Both of you, hurry up and come forward.”
When Reysir and I stood frozen in place, the Martial Arts professor urged us on.
He was trying to sound solemn, but his gleaming eyes betrayed his anticipation.
That kind of look only brings up bad memories.
‘I don’t know exactly why he’s doing this to me, but I think I get the gist of his intentions.’
I glanced over at Reysir.
He, too, must have sensed something was off, because he kept sneaking glances at me, and our eyes met.
He didn’t look like he was itching to get revenge for last semester.
Rather, he seemed extremely uncomfortable with this situation.
I felt relieved and took a step forward.
“Reysir, aren’t you coming?”
“…I’m coming.”
***
And so I found myself face to face with the protagonist once more.
About to trade punches in front of a crowd of extras.
It happened less than ten minutes after I’d hoped Reysir and I could go our separate ways as strangers.
“It’s just sparring during class, so don’t feel too pressured. No matter how pampered you are, surely you wouldn’t use your family’s power to retaliate just because you got hit during a spar?”
The Martial Arts professor told Reysir, in effect, ‘Don’t worry about the consequences—feel free to beat him up.’
That was nonsense, too.
If this were the original Karvald Austri, he’d find an excuse to harass Reysir anyway, so there’s no need to make an issue out of sparring.
Of course, I have no intention of doing that, but how can the professor be sure?
“Then get ready, and—start!”
At the professor’s command, Reysir took his stance and charged at me.
‘So did I dodge?’
‘No. I just stood there.’
‘I’m going to get knocked down anyway, so it’s cleaner to just let it end in one hit.’
If I roll on the ground trying to dodge and flail my fists in counterattack, I’ll just make a fool of myself.
Besides, if I act like I’m taking the spar seriously, my opponent will too, and I’ll get punched several times.
But if I stand there defenseless, it’s a different story.
Reysir is the lawful good protagonist.
He might throw one punch, considering what Karvald Austri did to him last semester, but he won’t be able to hit me more than that.
‘Or maybe, since I apologized, he might not hit me at all…!’
With that in mind, I closed my eyes and waited, and only a faint breeze brushed my face.
***
The sound of footsteps charging at me stopped, and I didn’t feel any impact anywhere on my body.
Just as I expected.
‘The Martial Arts professor probably thought Reysir, who has a grudge against the possessed body, would use the spar as an excuse to hit me. But I know Reysir’s personality better than anyone!’
When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw a fist stopped right in front of my face.
I gently pushed it aside with my palm.
Then, Reysir’s dissatisfied face came into view.
“You just stood there on purpose, didn’t you? Why did you do that?”
“What about you? Why did you stop? If you’d finished your punch, you could’ve gotten some payback for last semester.”
“That’s… It’s fine now. You apologized.”
Reysir withdrew his fist and straightened up.
Hearing that, I wanted to ask if an apology was really enough to make up for what he’d suffered.
If it were me, I could never forgive that.
“Is that why you didn’t dodge? Did you feel bad for bullying me last semester and want to get hit on purpose?”
While I was at a loss for words, overwhelmed by complicated feelings, Reysir said something completely off the mark.
So I couldn’t help but let out a short laugh.
It’s not like I did those things—’why would I feel guilty?’
“That’s not it.”
“Then why did you just stand there?”
“I just figured out the professor’s intentions in making us spar.”
A web novel protagonist can’t be dumb.
Readers would get frustrated.
Especially when someone is trying to use you, you can’t just be clueless and manipulated.
So Reysir must have picked up on something too.
“The professor probably wanted to see if I could stay calm and not get angry even if I got beaten up and humiliated in front of everyone. If I can’t, then letting me take this class would only cause trouble.”
“…That’s how you saw it? I thought there was another reason behind it.”
Of course, I think so too.
But I feigned ignorance and asked with a puzzled expression.
“Another reason? You don’t think the professor made me, someone who’s never learned martial arts, spar just to humiliate a high-ranking noble’s son, do you? And that he picked you as my opponent because he thought you wouldn’t hesitate to hit me? Even if I bore a grudge and sought revenge, you were the student who got bullied, so he could rationalize that it was only fair for you to get a chance to hit me?”
When I said that, Reysir’s face twisted with disbelief.
I looked away from him and glanced sidelong at the Martial Arts professor as I continued.
“I’d call that malice, not intention. Would a professor really harbor such ugly feelings toward a student and set up something so petty? If so, he’s not fit to be a professor and should be expelled from the Academy.”
I doubt Hard Austri would step in, but even if the Duke did, he couldn’t pressure the Academy to fire the professor.
That’s because Valhalla Academy was founded by the Imperial Family.
But what if the professor is acting not out of personal dislike for ‘Karvald Austri’, but out of malice toward ‘children of high-ranking noble families’?
If that’s the case, most of the noble parents who send their children to this Academy wouldn’t stand for it, and the professor would have to be dismissed.