Chapter 84

On a certain holiday morning, following my routine, I went jogging to the main gate and there stood Godolphin.

"Good morning, Mr. Godolphin. What brings you here? At such an early hour, in such a place?"

"Well, now, even though I've stepped down, I can't say I'm not busy, but I've grown quite tired of endless meetings every day. I thought I'd join the young ones for some basic training once in a while, so I started running and waited for you here, watching everyone else get started. Would you mind joining me?"

"Of course not, sir. You seem to be quite busy even outside of school."

We began running clockwise around the perimeter of the academy.

Godolphin apparently has work at the knight's guild and the royal palace as well, and often leaves the school after morning classes.

According to rumors, there are days when he takes a nap on a custom-made sofa in the staff room.

It's hardly the life of a respected elder of the country.

"I'm sorry to cause inconvenience to the students. I've been scolded by you as well, and I've been thinking about showing up to this club activity sooner... but as you get older, you lose your stamina. The students in Class A can learn most things from the morning practical sessions, and thanks to the reports compiled by the managers, I can keep track of the club members' progress every day, so I'm not worried about this club activity."

"Of course. You always show up for the morning homeroom, and it's very helpful that we can ask you questions whenever we need to."

While chatting about such trivial matters, we gradually started overtaking the club members around the halfway mark of the run.

Now that I've completed Godolphin's challenge, I hardly ever use harsh words while running with the members.

However, there are some members with an M nature who say they can't get motivated without the heckling from the honorary supervisor, so I still throw in some casual insults for them.

In the past four months, I've improved to the point where I can complete a lap around the academy in just over an hour.

None of the club members can keep up with my pace.

Well, to be precise, if he pushed himself with his magic power, Ryo could keep up, but he's banned himself from doing so because it would neglect his magic control training.

"...Can even a teacher like you not run while compressing your magic power?"

Godolphin's magic control is impressive, and he can easily keep up with my pace with minimal magic consumption.

However, I can see that he's not compressing his magic power while running by focusing my eyes on the flow of magic.

Godolphin didn't answer my question but asked me something unexpected.

"...Do you know about the Five Founding Families?"

The Five Founding Families.

These are the five noble families with the oldest history on this continent, ruling as nobles long before the Kingdom of Ygria was established.

It is said that all the noble families on this continent trace their lineage back to one of these five families, much like the Minamoto, Taira, Fujiwara, and Kudō in Japan.

While few of these families have maintained their former power over the long course of history, the Rozamore family, which rules the northern empire, is one of them.

And in this Kingdom of Ygria, there are also noble families that belong to the Five Founding Families.

"Yes. I've heard that the Rozamore family in the north and the 'Sunset Marquis Family' among the kingdom's nobles are among them."

I nodded, and Godolphin continued.

"That's right. The Sunset Marquis Family, the Duperior family, has gradually lost its power due to its pride, refusing to change its unique educational philosophy and repeatedly marrying within the close noble families. However, the rare talents they produce, especially in magic control and physical enhancement magic, and their secret techniques, are still revered and respected by the entire continent, not just this kingdom."

Godolphin's face then twisted as if he remembered something.

"I lost a close friend in the last war. Baldy von Duperior, the heir to the Duperior family. At a certain campsite where he would die in battle, he casually taught me a secret technique of the Duperior family, which is the instant magic compression you're doing."

Godolphin stared at me intently.

"...My mother has severed ties with her family for some reason. She didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't ask for the details. I didn't learn it as a special technique, but was it a bad idea to teach it to the club...?"

Because I didn't think it was such a special technique!

"Foh foh foh! Don't worry. As the advisor, I also learned it from Baldy. Besides, he said, 'Instant magic compression is the foundation and the essence of the Duperior family. It's not something that can be easily imitated.' Even with years of training, I couldn't do it. I doubt many of your classmates, who gather the kingdom's talents, can manage it either. The training itself isn't a waste, but only a select few will likely master it. Did you do well? You admitted to the secret of your mother's family so easily."

Indeed, the technique of instantly storing and releasing magic power seems to be more challenging than I thought.

It's been about four months since I explained it to my classmates in Class A, but most of them are still struggling to improve the precision of turning on and off physical enhancement. Only Dan and Stella have started to work on magic compression, but they show no signs of mastering it.

Ryo, with his abundant magic power, is having more trouble with the fine control required for physical enhancement than others.

Well, with that much magic power, I don't think such fine techniques are necessary.

"It's not really a secret... I just didn't talk about it much, but I wasn't explicitly told not to. I think it's fine, but can you pretend you didn't hear it? My father talked about it when he was drunk, but my mother doesn't like to talk about the past, and I have a bad feeling about it."

"Foh foh foh. That naive country boy has learned a thing or two. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. I think it will eventually leak out, but for now, it's wise to keep it to ourselves. I'll pretend I didn't hear it either."

"Of course, after going through so much, I've learned a thing or two... Thank you."

I swallowed the comment that the exaggerated leak of the old man's challenge made the situation more complicated.

◆

Godolphin completed the same number of hill sprints as me and followed me back to the dormitory.

Since it's a holiday, he wants to see how the hill sprint club members live.

"Hmm. You look so calm, but the intensity is quite high. By the time you're a third-year, I might not be able to keep up. However, hmm. The atmosphere here is so different from when I was here. It's like the gloomy atmosphere of those days was a lie."

"Good morning, Mr. Godolphin!"

Many dorm residents, practicing with swords and spears in the front courtyard, greeted us as we returned to the dormitory.

However, after the greeting, they continued their practice without losing focus, each one swinging their weapons with single-minded dedication.

It's a common sight for me every morning, but Godolphin seemed impressed.

"You used to be in this dorm, didn't you? I preferred the quiet dorm before it got so crowded."

I took a wooden sword from the rack recently installed at the dorm entrance and did my usual 30 minutes of practice.

Godolphin, perhaps deep in thought, sat nearby in meditation, watching everyone practice without a word.