Free Web Novel"Their skill levels are all over the place..."
After watching us work the sandbags for a while, Banhilda sighed to herself.
"I don't know when they'll be entering a Demon Realm. Making students who already have solid fundamentals relearn the basics would just waste time... but I can't skip the basics for the ones who still need them, either. How am I supposed to balance this...?"
She looked genuinely troubled.
After thinking it over for a long while, she finally seemed to reach a decision. She called everyone to stop training and gather in front of her once more.
"First, Student Reisir."
"Yes."
"Once class begins, you'll spend the first fifteen minutes on the sandbag. After that, you'll spar with Her Highness the Princess, Student Ríolíkin, and Student Pret, fifteen minutes each in rotation. During the final thirty minutes, you'll spar with me."
"Understood."
Martial Arts wasn't even Reisir's major.
Even so, as expected of the protagonist of this world, his 【Martial Arts】 skill had already advanced beyond the point where drilling the basics served any purpose.
As that thought crossed my mind, I noticed Banhilda's expression soften with quiet wistfulness as she looked at him.
Just like in the original novel.
She was probably imagining the son she'd lost.
If he'd survived...
Perhaps he would have grown into someone like Reisir.
Completely unaware of what lay behind her gaze, Reisir merely looked puzzled.
Only then did Banhilda turn toward Fjodora.
"And as for Her Highness the Princess—"
"At present, this humble one is your student. There is no need to address me with such honor."
The words sounded humble.
Her tone did not.
Royalty couldn't simply use honorific speech with everyone.
Caught between etiquette and practicality, Banhilda hesitated over whether it was acceptable to call the princess by name and ultimately settled on an awkward compromise.
"...Very well. Then, Student Princess. You will spar with Student Reisir and Student Ríolíkin. When facing Student Reisir, you will fight together with your familiar. When sparring with Student Ríolíkin, however, I would prefer you fight alone. During the remaining time, you'll continue your sandbag training."
"This humble one is always together with my familiar. Is there a particular reason for separating us?"
"Even if that's normally the case, situations change. While searching for a boss monster, you may be surrounded by ordinary monsters, or the boss may command subordinate creatures. Your familiar could end up occupied elsewhere, leaving you to face one or more enemies by yourself."
"Indeed. Your reasoning is sound."
Despite supposedly being exceptionally intelligent, Fjodora had questioned something fairly obvious, then nodded as though she'd learned an entirely new lesson.
It almost felt as though the original author had temporarily sacrificed her intelligence just to highlight Banhilda's competence as an instructor.
"Besides," Banhilda continued, "from what I observed earlier, Student Ríolíkin was so focused on avoiding or blocking the rotating arm that he could barely land any attacks on the sandbag. If both you and your familiar attack him simultaneously, he'll spend the entire match defending himself without ever getting the chance to counterattack. That would cut the effectiveness of the training in half for both of you."
"I see. You observed your students quite thoroughly."
It really seemed as though Author Senna had based Fjodora's character on contradiction itself.
Otherwise...
How could someone declare herself a student one moment, then evaluate and praise her own professor less than three minutes later?
Unlike me, who found the exchange bewildering, Banhilda accepted it without the slightest discomfort.
She simply bowed politely.
"Thank you."
Well...
Her salary did come from the Imperial Treasury, and Fjodora herself had played a direct role in appointing her.
From that perspective, perhaps this interaction was perfectly natural.
"Student Ríolíkin will spar with Student Reisir and Student Princess. Student Pret will spar with Student Reisir and Student Vigdís. Student Vigdís will alternate between sparring with Student Pret and practicing on the sandbag."
Looking over the pairings, I could roughly infer everyone's level.
Reisir was clearly the strongest.
Fjodora and Ríolíkin occupied roughly the same tier beneath him.
Then came Pret.
And finally...
Vigdís.
Well, she only started learning martial arts last year.
Seen that way, it was only natural that Banhilda hadn't assigned me a sparring partner.
I'd only gotten an early taste of sparring because of the class curriculum and the Martial Arts Tournament.
I'd begun formal training just last semester.
This was still the stage where I needed to build a proper foundation.
"Very well. Student Reisir and Student Princess, begin your sparring. Everyone else, continue practicing your footwork and stance with the sandbags. Ah, Student Sveinn—you still need to learn the basic stance first, so come over here."
Everyone dispersed to their assigned places.
I found myself standing before the rotating sandbag once again.
Yet my attention kept drifting toward Reisir and Fjodora.
Not because I wanted to watch the spar itself.
I was curious about how the two of them interacted.
Still... I can't neglect my own training just to watch them.
Fortunately...
I had someone who could act as my eyes.
Before I even asked, Yor flew over to observe the match between Reisir and Fjodora.
Feeling considerably more at ease, I returned to my own training.
Though all I'm doing is hitting a sandbag.
Once Banhilda finished teaching Sveinn the basics, she'd probably come around to check everyone else's form, mine included.
Thinking that, I threw myself into the exercise.
Then—
"That's riiight! Very good! Good job! Right foooot! Leeeft foot! Right haaand! Yes! Yes! You're doing great~!"
...
The voice belonged to Banhilda.
She was enthusiastically cheering Sveinn on as he practiced the stance she'd just taught him.
She even clapped her hands.
Clap, clap, clap.
The shock was indescribable.
Not just me.
Reisir.
Fjodora.
Even Lausa.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Banhilda and Sveinn.
"U-Um... Professor...?" Sveinn asked, his face burning bright red. "Why did your way of speaking suddenly change...? You're talking to me like... like I'm a little kid..."
"Oh..."
Banhilda looked equally embarrassed.
"I'm sorry. The only experience I have teaching anyone was helping my son learn his first words... and encouraging him while he learned to walk."
That was her explanation.
If this were the real world...
It would have sounded like utter nonsense.
But this world existed inside a novel.
Is this Author Senna laying the groundwork so readers will pity her more once her son's death is revealed?
Or perhaps...
Back before the remake, some readers had loved watching Banhilda heal Reisir's emotional wounds.
Maybe they commented that she treated him like her own child.
Maybe they even declared she was the true heroine.
...Did Author Senna really change her character because of a handful of readers with questionable tastes?
No... even if that's true... isn't this going a little too far?
Or is it?
Do people who like that sort of thing actually enjoy this...?
I had no idea.
The only conclusion I reached...
...was that Author Senna had completely lost her mind.
And suddenly...
I became terrified of Banhilda coming over to correct my posture.
After martial arts class ended, we returned to our dormitories, showered, and later regrouped in the Academy cafeteria for breakfast.
As everyone settled down, Ríolíkin looked closely at Reisir's face.
"Your injury... is it alright?"
"Yeah. The teacher at the infirmary patched me up."
Naturally, Helga, who had been listening nearby, frowned.
"What injury? Reisir, you're hurt?"
"Uh... well... I got hit a few times while sparring with the professor."
Getting hit—and getting injured—was perfectly normal during sparring.
Especially against a professor.
No matter how talented the protagonist was, unless this was a regression novel or an overpowered reincarnation story, a second-year student wasn't going to overpower a named professor.
Besides, Reisir's only a second-year. It's perfectly natural that she'd be stronger.
Helga, of course, hadn't followed that line of reasoning.
Even so, once she heard he'd been injured while sparring with a professor and had visited the infirmary, she relaxed.
"I see..."
But only for a moment.
Her eyes widened when Ríolíkin exposed the rest of the story.
"It wasn't the professor. You went to the infirmary because I hit you, didn't you? Your eye... turned black."
"Ríolíkin hit Reisir?! Weren't the two of you worlds apart? You must've improved a lot over the vacation. Even so... you should've been more careful not to hit his face..."
Last semester, Reisir had beaten Ríolíkin countless times while preparing for the Martial Arts Tournament.
Ríolíkin had visited the infirmary more than once because of it.
Back then, Helga had simply shrugged it off.
Now, however, she scolded Ríolíkin while examining Reisir's bruised eye with obvious concern.
Perhaps feeling wronged, Ríolíkin hurriedly defended himself.
"It's not like I aimed for his blind spot and sucker-punched him. I threw it right in front of him. I thought... he'd obviously dodge."
Normally, I would've ignored the entire conversation and started eating.
This time, however...
I sided with Ríolíkin.
"Reisir brought that on himself."
"Nyaonyaong, nyanya."
My wise little dragon nodded in complete agreement.
Ríolíkin's eyes immediately lit up with gratitude.
Helga, meanwhile, looked confused.
"What do you mean, 'brought it on himself'?"
"It's because Reisir got distracted," Vigdís answered. "He was busy watching Kar's embarrassed reaction to the professor's feedback during their spar, and that's when he got hit. That's what Kar means."
The explanation made Helga's expression instantly harden.
"A professor humiliated a student under the guise of giving feedback...? And Young Master Karvaldr is the heir to a ducal house! Did Her Highness the Princess simply stand there and watch? Or did she tacitly approve of it?"
I genuinely struggled with whether I should tell her that Her Highness the Princess had received equally embarrassing feedback.
Before I could decide...
Someone else joined the conversation.
"The martial arts professor didn't say anything insulting," Pret said as he set his breakfast tray down in the seat beside Yor. "Actually, she spoke very gently. Gentle enough that even a toddler wouldn't have their feelings hurt. She praised him a lot, too."
For any readers wondering why a first-year student like Pret had suddenly appeared at our table, here's a quick reminder.
Back in Chapter 23, I'd explained that first- and second-year students shared the third floor of the Academy cafeteria.
"Reisir... honestly..."
Helga ignored Pret's attempt to casually insert himself into our table.
Instead, she let out a weary sigh and looked at Reisir with profound pity.
Since she had no idea how Banhilda spoke while teaching...
She naturally assumed Reisir had gotten distracted because, as usual, he'd wanted to watch me squirm after receiving praise from a professor.
