To think I’d receive such a proposal just after hitting the limits of self-study?
Isn’t this a development where readers, too, would exclaim, “Ah, you have to accept this no matter what!”?
It’s as if plausibility itself is shoving me towards learning the Whip Technique from Skadi.
If I eat with the original protagonist but refuse to learn Whip Technique from a supporting character, wouldn’t that be a contradiction?
Besides, Skadi is a professor.
Her ability to explain far surpasses Vigdis’s, and she’s used to teaching others.
‘As expected, I have no choice but to accept this!’
Whether I was sorting out my thoughts or justifying myself, I finished my inner debate and reached that conclusion.
Still, instead of giving Skadi a positive answer, I kept my mouth shut. I just wore a reluctant expression and watched her warily.
All I needed from her was ‘instruction’—not ‘favor’ or ‘kindness,’ which I had to reject.
“Um… Hey~? Don’t refuse…. I feel so grateful and sorry… Mmm~, so I just think I have to do something for you to feel at ease…”
Just a moment ago, she was confidently rattling off her self-PR, but now her energy had deflated.
She twiddled her fingers timidly, glancing up at me, as if nothing had happened.
It was a reaction I’d expected.
‘Skadi is a person who knows propriety!’
She has the means to slip out of the Academy and hide without anyone noticing.
And yet, she quietly endures ostracism from her fellow professors and carries out her community service without complaint.
Moreover, she feels indebted to me.
Which means, even if I hesitate, she’s not in a position to play hard-to-get and say, “If you don’t want to, just say so.”
“Should I just think of it as a kind of reward?”
It was Skadi herself who solved the problem of ostracism, and all I did was run my mouth.
Talking about rewards is utterly absurd.
Even so, I downgraded the helping hand Skadi offered me out of goodwill into a reward.
I erased the wariness from my face and let a slight hint of interest show.
“Y-Yeah~. You can think of it that way~?”
Sure enough, instead of denying my words, she answered that I could think however I liked.
I felt a little bad for using Skadi’s sense of indebtedness, but there was no helping it.
I had no intention of getting close to her or considering her a mentor, so before we began private lessons, I had to draw a clear line between us.
“Professor Skadi? For now, why don’t we sit down and talk?”
Professor Radvisin suggested to Skadi that she join us.
Our conversation looked like it might drag on, and the staff member bringing our food was standing behind Skadi, waiting.
“Are you sure it’s okay…?”
This world’s foundational novel was written by a Korean author, after all.
So, even in this western fantasy setting, Confucian values are reflected in the worldview, creating a general atmosphere of respecting elders.
But perhaps because the author places importance on character personality?
As you can see from Skadi’s speech above, she casually uses informal language even with the elderly, along with her distinctive drawn-out way of speaking.
It’s because her upbringing left her without proper etiquette education.
Even taking that into account, Professor Radvisin could have easily taken offense at Skadi’s informal speech.
There’s at least twice the age difference, and while he’s a scholar of noble birth, Skadi is a commoner and former criminal.
Even so…
“Heh heh heh, of course.”
“Thank you~!”
The elderly professor only let out a hearty, good-natured laugh.
At that, Skadi cast aside her hesitation and sat down with a bright smile.
Once she, who had been standing in front of the table, moved aside, the staff brought our food over and set it on the table.
Our dinner menu had been unified to vongole pasta by Professor Radvisin, but a steak plate was boldly claiming some of the table space.
It was Skadi’s portion. It seemed she had just arrived to have dinner herself and placed an order.
“Don’t mind us, feel free to talk.”
At this point, some readers might have a question.
‘Radvisin has already marked the protagonist as his research student, so why is he not keeping Skadi in check, but instead making things easier for her?’
For those readers, let me provide a tidbit: professors in the combat department don’t take research students.
They don’t even write papers, and focus only on their own strength—what use would they have for a research student?
‘Every once in a while, if they find a student they like, they might train them closely as a favorite disciple, but that’s all.’
Anyway, to get back to the main point.
Professor Radvisin told me not to worry about himself or the research student seniors, but I just couldn’t.
The research student seniors were looking back and forth between me and Skadi with faces full of curiosity.
Maybe it was Skadi saying she was grateful and sorry to me that sparked their interest.
‘Still…, since Skadi implied she’d wronged me somehow, even if I treat her a bit coldly, no one will find it strange or suddenly feel distant!’
‘Should I call this a blessing in disguise?’
Being able to learn Whip Technique is not at all an unfortunate thing.
But the fact that the person who would teach it to me is due to die soon is misfortune enough.
“When during the week are you available?”
Thinking I should bring up training before any unnecessary topics arose, I asked Skadi about her schedule.
She immediately turned the question back on me, as if willing to match my timing.
“Karbaldr, when are your free periods~?”
“Monday and Friday afternoons.”
“Wow, that’s perfect~! I don’t have any classes then either~! Which of those days works for you~?”
As readers know, like Reysir Daudabina, Skadi is a character scheduled to leave the Academy at the end of this semester.
And the time left until then is less than two months.
‘But only once a week? Isn’t that way too little?’
I was afraid that spending too much time together would make us close, but is that scarier than death? Of course not.
Even though I tried not to, my voice naturally came out with a hint of regret.
“I have to… pick one day….”
“Hmm~? …Ah! Come to think of it, you said you wanted to enter the tournament but didn’t sign up because your skills weren’t ready~?!”
At my reaction, Skadi tilted her head in confusion, then suddenly seemed to realize something.
I honestly have no regrets about not joining this tournament.
If I didn’t have to gain real combat experience to prepare for survival, I’d never want to enter tournaments.
“Monday and Friday afternoons. From after lunch until just before dinner, I’ll teach you as best I can~! So let’s join the tournament~?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll even make you a proper training curriculum, so just leave it to me~!!”
So this development is…
‘Does this mean I have to join the tournament if I want to learn Whip Technique intensively from Skadi?’
“Let’s aim for at least the Round of 16~! Aja aja~!!”
“…Isn’t that aiming a bit too high?”
“Nope~! Judging from your movement during the last Midterm Exam, I think you have a good chance~. And the Whip is an unpredictable weapon, isn’t it?”
Indeed, among the students joining the tournament, how many have actually fought against someone wielding a Whip?
Besides, this body belongs to a duke’s son. Most students will hesitate at critical moments so as not to hurt me.
Some might even purposely lose to me.
‘If I get a good bracket, I really could make it to the Round of 16…?’
A victory handed over by others in a tournament means nothing.
But the tournament itself isn’t what’s important. It’s just a pretext.
Learning the basics and as many techniques of practical Whip Technique from Skadi in a short period—that’s my real goal.
If Skadi’s going to teach me aiming for the Round of 16 or higher, I should welcome it.
“Understood. I’ll give it a try, with at least the Round of 16 as my goal…”
“Yeah, yeah~! Good decision~, the higher the goal, the better~!”
Now, the reason why the subtitle at the start of this chapter is “Tournament Preparations” even though I declared I wouldn’t join, is revealed.
“Karbaldr, you said you weren’t entering the tournament, but I saw your name on the list?”
“How did you know that?”
“They posted the participant list on the first-floor bulletin board of the Academy Main Building? Yesterday was the deadline.”
Right after breakfast this morning.
Reysir said he had somewhere to stop by before heading to the Martial Arts Lecture hall, so I wondered where he was going.
Turns out, it was to check the tournament participant list.
Unless you’re someone who knows the students well enough to judge their ability by name, the list isn’t all that meaningful.
Still, you can at least check the total number of participants, so it’s worth a look.
And besides, I have the Book of Names, which contains information on key students.
‘I’ll have to go check out the list myself later.’
Learning of the list’s existence was good, but there was one problem I couldn’t just overlook.
“By the way, my sparring partner was supposed to be Vigdis, so why is it you standing before me, Reysir?”
The Martial Arts professor, rather than assigning sparring partners based on skill, just told us to pair up as we liked—a very careless and irresponsible approach.
That was last week, and I, of course, picked Vigdis as my partner.
I had to keep my distance from Reysir, and Liolikin probably wouldn’t even dare throw a punch at me, so a match wouldn’t work.
So Reysir was supposed to spar with Liolikin.
“You didn’t see my spar… well, can you even call it a spar? Anyway, you didn’t see what happened with me and Liolikin last week, did you?”
Of course not.
I was too busy blocking and dodging Vigdis’s attacks to pay attention to what anyone else was doing.
If I could’ve done that, I’d have managed to counterattack at least once.
“Liolikin was so scared of me that he just curled up and couldn’t do anything. So I asked to switch to Vigdis. I thought it might be different, since Vigdis only recently started physical training, so her muscles haven’t developed yet and she looks slim and weak….”
As Reysir spoke and glanced somewhere, his expression was thoroughly dissatisfied.
When I followed his gaze, I couldn’t help but wear a similar expression.
Rather than raising a guard, Liolikin was trembling in a pose that seemed to say, ‘Please don’t hit me!’
And Vigdis, standing in front of him with clenched fists, was at a complete loss, just shuffling her feet.
If I had to choose who was more pitiful, I’d pick Vigdis, whose precious sparring time was wasted.
“I guess it wasn’t because he had to spar with me…”
Only now realizing his mistake, Reysir shot Vigdis an apologetic look.
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