“Everyone’s skill level is so different… Since we never know when we’ll have to enter a Demonic Realm, making those who already have a solid foundation start from the basics again would be a waste of time. But I can’t just skip the basics for those who are lacking… I’m not sure how to balance the pace…”
After observing us hitting the sandbags for a while, Vanahilda muttered to herself with a troubled expression.
After some deliberation, she seemingly reached a conclusion and told the students to stop what they were doing and gather around.
“First, Reysir Daudabina?”
“Yes.”
“Once my class starts, you will hit the sandbag for about 15 minutes. After that, you’ll rotate through sparring sessions with the Imperial Princess, Liolikin, and Pret for 15 minutes each. For the final 30 minutes of class, you’ll spar with me.”
“Understood.”
Although Reysir’s major wasn’t Martial Arts, as expected of the protagonist of this novel, his skills were already top-tier, to the point where he didn’t need any more foundational training.
As I was thinking that, I noticed Vanahilda’s expression as she looked at Reysir turn slightly wistful.
Just like in the original work.
She was likely thinking that if her own child had lived, they might have grown up to look just like him.
Reysir, who couldn’t possibly guess the truth, wore a puzzled look on his face.
Only then did Vanahilda turn her head to look at Fjodra and speak.
“And as for the Imperial Princess…”
“Since this lady is currently in the position of your student, there is no need to use formal titles.”
Contrary to the content of her words, her tone was not that of a student at all.
This happened because Fjodra, as a member of the Imperial Family, couldn’t use polite speech with just anyone.
Vanahilda pondered whether it was okay to use the Imperial Princess’s name so casually before coming up with a bizarre title.
“…Yes. Then, Student Princess, you will spar with Student Reysir and Student Liolikin. When sparring with Student Reysir, use your Familiar, but when sparring with Student Liolikin, it would be best to do it alone. The rest of the time, you will hit the sandbags.”
“This lady is always with her Familiar. Is there a specific reason why I must do that?”
“Even so, while searching for a Boss Monster, you might get surrounded by a large number of regular monsters, or the Boss Monster might command minions. Depending on the situation, your Familiar might have to deal with other enemies, leaving Student Princess to face one or more enemies alone.”
“Those are truly wise words.”
Despite the setting that she possessed a brilliant mind, Fjodra questioned something obvious and then nodded as if she had just learned a profound truth.
I suspected the original author temporarily sacrificed Fjodra’s intelligence because they wanted to emphasize Vanahilda’s side as an educator.
“Furthermore, looking at Student Liolikin’s movements earlier, he was so focused on dodging or blocking the spin bar that he couldn’t even hit the sandbag properly. If Student Princess and the Familiar attack at the same time, he won’t even be able to counterattack and will spend the whole time blocking. That would halve the training efficiency for both of you.”
“Oh, I see. You have observed the students’ characteristics well.”
It seemed the author, Senna, had set Fjodra’s concept as ‘contradiction and dislikeable.’
If not, there was no way her way of speaking could be like that.
‘How could she speak as if she were evaluating and praising a professor not even three minutes after saying she was the student?’
Unlike me, who felt bewildered, Vanahilda seemed to take Fjodra’s attitude as a matter of course.
Without showing a hint of embarrassment, she bowed her head and thanked her.
Well, Vanahilda’s salary came from the Imperial Family’s vaults, and Fjodra was the person directly involved in her hiring.
From that perspective, this situation might actually be natural.
“Student Liolikin will spar with Student Reysir and Student Princess. Student Pret will spar with Student Reysir and Student Vigdis. And Student Vigdis, I think it would be good for you to alternate between sparring with Student Pret and sandbag training.”
Seeing how Vanahilda matched the sparring partners, I could roughly guess the hierarchy of their skills.
First, Reysir was the strongest, followed by Fjodra and Liolikin at nearly the same level.
Below them were Pret and then Vigdis.
‘Well, it can’t be helped since Vigdis only started learning Martial Arts last year.’
In that sense, it was also natural that Vanahilda didn’t assign a sparring partner for me.
I had only encountered sparring early because of the lecture curriculum and the Bimu Tournament.
Since I only entered the world of Martial Arts last semester, I was still at the stage of building my foundation.
“Now then, Student Reysir and Student Princess, please begin sparring. The rest of the students, please start sandbag training while paying attention to your posture and steps. Ah! Student Svein needs to learn the basic stance first, so come over here.”
At Vanahilda’s words, the students moved to their respective positions.
I also stood facing the sandbag again, but I was very curious about the spar between the original protagonist and Fjodra.
To be precise, I wasn’t curious about the spar itself, but rather how the two would treat each other.
‘But I can’t just slack off on my own training to watch them…’
Fortunately, I had someone who could be my eyes and ears.
Before I could even ask him to watch them, my baby dragon had already flown over there to watch Reysir and Fjodra’s spar.
I decided to start training with a peaceful mind.
‘Though it’s just hitting a sandbag like before.’
Once Vanahilda finished teaching Svein the basic movements to some extent, she would come to check the posture of the other students, including me.
As I was hitting the sandbag with all my might while thinking that, a voice that brought immense embarrassment reached my ears.
“Good bo~y, goo~od bo~y! Right~ foot, left~ foot! Right~ hand! Yah, yah! Oh, you’re doing so well~!”
This was none other than the words flowing out of Vanahilda’s mouth as Svein moved his body exactly as he had just been taught.
She even clapped her hands while saying those things.
It was more than just a little shocking.
Everyone present, including Reysir, Fjodra, and Lausa, who were in the middle of sparring, stopped what they were doing and looked toward Svein and Vanahilda.
“Ex… Excuse me, Professor…? Why did your tone and intonation suddenly change…? As if you’re dealing with a young child…”
“Ah, I’m sorry. My only experience teaching anyone was helping my son with his babbling and walking practice…”
To Svein’s question, asked with a face flushed red from embarrassment and shame, Vanahilda offered the above excuse with an awkward expression.
In reality, it would have been nothing but nonsensical babble, but since this world existed inside a novel…
‘Is this Senna’s build-up to make the readers feel even more sorry for her when the setting of her son’s death is revealed later?’
‘Or was it a gamble?’
Before the remake, readers had cheered for the way Vanahilda comforted the wounds in Reysir’s heart.
Some readers with strange tastes even claimed she was the true heroine material because she treated the protagonist like her own child.
‘Was she catering to them?’
‘But even if it was the latter, wasn’t this a bit too much?’
‘Or was it?’
‘Do people with those tastes actually like this?’
I didn’t know.
I just thought the author, Senna, had lost her mind.
And then I became afraid.
Afraid of the moment Vanahilda would approach to correct my posture.
***
After finishing the Martial Arts training, we returned to our respective dormitory rooms, showered, and gathered again in the dining hall for breakfast.
At that time, Liolikin looked at Reysir’s face and asked.
“Is your injury okay?”
“Yeah, the nurse in the infirmary treated it perfectly.”
Since the two were having such a conversation, Reysir’s childhood friend, Hailga, naturally showed her concern.
“What are you talking about? Reysir, you were hurt?”
“Uh… well… I got hit a few times while sparring with the Professor.”
Getting hit, hitting back, and getting hurt are common occurrences during sparring.
Moreover, if the sparring partner is a professor, it’s rare for anyone but a regressed or overpowered reincarnated protagonist to gain the upper hand.
Since Reysir was only a Second Year, it was only natural for him to be pushed back by a named professor character.
Of course, Hailga wouldn’t have gone through such a thought process.
However, after hearing Reysir say he had been to the infirmary because he got hit by the professor, she calmed her worry and replied, “I see.”
But Hailga couldn’t help but open her eyes wide in surprise soon after.
Reysir’s statement wasn’t the whole truth, only half of it, and Liolikin exposed the true story.
“It wasn’t because of the Professor. You went to the infirmary because you got hit by me, didn’t you? Because your eye turned into a bruised mess.”
“Reysir was hit by Liolikin?! Wasn’t the skill difference between you two quite large? Liolikin, your skills must have improved a lot during the break. No, but still, you should have avoided hitting his face…”
Last semester, Reysir had beaten Liolikin countless times while practicing for the Bimu Tournament, causing Liolikin to visit the infirmary multiple times.
Back then, Hailga had acted as if it didn’t matter, but this time she scolded Liolikin and meticulously checked Reysir’s face with a pitiful expression.
‘Did Liolikin feel hurt by Hailga’s attitude?’
“It’s not like I aimed for a blind spot and threw a punch… I swung it right in the open, so I thought he would obviously dodge it,” Liolikin argued with an aggrieved expression.
Normally, whether this kind of conversation happened in front of me or not, I would have started my meal without paying any attention.
But this time, I decided to take Liolikin’s side.
“Reysir getting hit was his own fault.”
“Nyao-nyang, nya.”
My wise baby dragon also nodded in agreement with me.
Liolikin’s eyes sparkled with a moved expression, while Hailga looked puzzled.
“His own fault? What does that mean?”
“Reysir took his eyes off his opponent during the spar to watch Kar getting embarrassed by the Professor’s feedback, and that’s when he got hit properly. I believe that’s what he meant.”
It was Vigdis who answered.
Upon hearing her explanation, Hailga’s face stiffened.
“A professor used insulting words to the point a student felt shame as feedback…?! Even though Lord Karbaldr is a member of a Ducal House?? Was the Imperial Princess just standing by while that happened? Or did it happen with her tacit approval?”
She poured out those words with a serious expression.
I truly debated whether I should tell her that the Imperial Princess had also received that embarrassing feedback.
However, before I could finish deliberating and make a decision, someone else jumped into the conversation.
“The Martial Arts Professor didn’t speak harshly. Rather, she spoke very kindly. To the point where an infant wouldn’t feel hurt at all. She also gave a lot of praise.”
Pret spoke as he set his breakfast tray down next to Yor.
For any readers who might wonder how Pret, a freshman, appeared where we were eating, let me explain briefly.
In Chapter 23, it was mentioned that the first and Second Years share the third floor of the dining hall.
“Reysir, you really are…”
Instead of saying anything to Pret for subtly joining the table, Hailga spoke in a sighing voice and looked at Reysir with incredibly pathetic eyes.
Since she didn’t know what kind of tone the new Martial Arts Professor used when teaching, she seemed to think Reysir had gotten distracted just to see me get embarrassed by the Professor’s praise.