Chapter 10

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First class (1)

“First off, let me congratulate you on your enrollment.”

They were at the Knight School’s practice field.

Since the vast field was originally used by the royal palace, the school repurposed several gardens to build the training field.

A stone wall separated the field from its surroundings, and many wooden training dummies were lined along the wall.

At several points, sheds were built, containing practice swords that would be available when needed.

In a corner of the practice field…

Gathered there, were twenty of the new freshmen.

They stood around a gigantic man, who began to speak.

First off, I’ll introduce myself. I am your instructor for the first year, Aldo. I don’t care who you are or from where you came. Either way, be prepared to train until you can barely stand on your own two legs.

Aldo surveyed the students that encircled him.

He was surrounded by twenty nervous faces, students ranging from twelve years old to sixteen years old.

Since it was the freshmen’s first class, and he wanted to see their real ability, he wouldn’t be lecturing, and everybody was swallowed by the atmosphere.

He looked at the class register in his left hand.

The register contained all twenty names listed, but rather than only their first names, their full names were listed.

Within the Knight School, one was not allowed to use their family name, or call themselves acquaintances of the house, the school didn’t care about the students’ origins.

However, the faculty was an exception, and so such a list was prepared.

Scanning the list, Aldo singled out two names from the list.

Looking up from the list, he once again looked at the students.

“First, I want to see your ability. divide yourselves into groups of two.”

At his words, the students stood by their partners, promptly forming pairs.

‘As I thought, it turned out like that.’

Seeing the course of events, Aldo gave a slight nod,

As he had expected, the two students he noted were the last ones who remained unpaired.

Though they were standing idly to the edges of the group, the other students merely avoided them, and, in the end, nobody partnered up with them.

One of those students was Knight Cadet Wynn.

Having entered school four times, and being of lowly origins, he was a boy with an unusual background.[1]

And the other person was a female student — Knight Cadet Cornelia[2]

Among the students, those two stood out.

The reason being that they were both at least two years older than the other students.

At sixteen, they just barely met the age requirement to enroll.

Since most of the students were between twelve and fourteen years old, their ages would obviously stand out.

It was natural for the other students to avoid those two.

Moreover, Knight Cadet Wynn’s reputation as a four-time repeater may have influenced their actions.

In the end, the way the students divided themselves turned out as Aldo had expected.

“Yosh, the pairs should spread out, so that I can see your individual abilities. Show me both martial arts and magic. Each partner should take enough distance from each other.”

The students spread out in the practice field.

Among the students, Aldo especially observed Wynn and Cornelia, while crossing his arms.

‘Well, whether they have good or bad intentions, the other noble cadets’ treatment should push them to do better.’

After confirming that there were ten pairs, Aldo issued orders with a clear voice that had been tempered by many battles as a knight.

“Yosh, First off,”

With this, the Knight Cadets’ first class in Knight School began.

To the left of the group fanned out before Aldo, stood Wynn. [3]

Compared to every other student, he was one or two heads taller.

Of course, being two years older than them also didn’t help.

“First, I want to see your ability. divide yourselves into groups of two.”

At Aldo’s words, the class began to make pairs, and Wynn also called out to a few people. However…

“Umm…”

When he called out to one of them, the student would hurriedly flee, and partner up with somebody else.

Apart from the age difference, the already paired students were whispering behind his back.

Since none of the gazes directed at him contained favourable impressions, it seemed that they all knew Wynn’s background as a four-time-repeater and commoner.

‘I’ve had it…’[4]

Since there were twenty students, ten pairs would need to be made.

Hence, nobody should be left out.

If it ends up like that, then he would just find somebody who was wandering around aimlessly alone— Even if he made a pair in that way, he didn’t know if they would be happy about it.

Since he wouldn’t be able to get a partner without talking to someone, he first searched the students around him.

‘As for somebody who is the same age…’

Wynn spotted a girl in a similar situation.

‘It would be better if it were a male partner, but it can’t be helped.’

“Ano, excuse me.”

He approached her, and called out to her.

“If you’re alone, would you like to form a pair with me?”

“Ah, yes. I would be happy to, if that’s fine with you.”

The girl smiled, feeling relieved.

“That’s great. My name is Wynn.”

“I’m Cornelia. Please take care of me.”[5]

It seemed that the girl named Cornelia did not know about Wynn’s circumstances.

Rather, it seemed to Wynn that she was also avoided by the other classmates.

Which seemed odd, since she wasn’t an ugly person.

With shoulder-length pale blonde hair, good looks, rather than a beautiful woman, she would probably be described as lovely.[6]

For this reason, Wynn thought that it was strange that she hadn’t been called out.

‘Perhaps,’ Wynn thought, ‘the reason she is being avoided is that she is older than the rest.’

Following the instructor’s directions, Wynn followed her, moving from their location, but, for some reason, Leticia’s figure overlapped with hers, and he stopped paying attention to their destination.

‘Leti… ‘

While he walked, he recalled the morning’s events when he left Leticia.

He had suddenly lost his cool, and he regretted it.

He was aware that he had acted harshly.

He selfishly distanced himself, even though her attitude after revealing that she was the Brave didn’t change.

Even so….

If he thought about how he should act around Leticia, he couldn’t think of what was best for her.

She was the “Brave”, and the “Third Daughter of a Duke”.

‘There has to be an appropriate partner fitting those titles.’[7]

‘Either way, it wouldn’t be good if I hung around her.’

“Umm…”

‘Come to think of it, I also left Locke behind at that place. I’ll have to apologize to him tonight at the dorm.’

“Ahem!”

“Oops…”

Turning his head, he saw Cornelia pulling at Wynn’s right sleeve.

“Mou, don’t you think we’ve gone far enough?”

While he was deep in thought, they had already walked a good distance away from the other pairs to spar freely.

It seemed that they were now the furthest group from Instructor Aldo.

“Ah, yeah.”

They stood, waiting for the instructor’s directions, and soon after, Aldo raised his right hand.

“Yosh, first is the one-on-one mock battle observation!”

Although they were so far away, Aldo’s voice was able to reach Wynn and Cornelia’s location.

“Today, no special restrictions were prepared. Fight freely. Only, do not inflict grave injuries on your opponent! Well then… Begin!”

Wynn drew his sword when the instructor signaled the beginning.

The the edges of the swords used for training were dulled.

He gripped his sword while observing Cornelia, who had drawn her sword and began chanting her magic.

“Strengthen me!”

She was instantly wrapped in a faint light.

It was the most basic spell of the Enhancement System Magic, Strengthening Magic.[8]

Among the other students scattered across the field, it wasn’t only Cornelia who was wrapped in a light.

Only Wynn was the exception.

“Are you not going to use magic?”

Cornelia was doubtful of Wynn, who didn’t chant magic.

Using Strengthening Magic to increase speed and strength was the foundation of a knight’s combat style.

In spite of this, Wynn, who invited her to pair up, only calmly held his sword.

“Un. Don’t mind me. Whenever you’re ready.”

“If you say so…!”

She stopped hesitating.

While calling out, Cornelia kicked the ground, springing towards Wynn.

The difference in strength between somebody strengthened by magic and somebody who was not was like the difference between an adult and a child.

Closing the distance, she thrust her sword at Wynn.

However —

At the same time Cornelia leapt, Wynn also leapt forward.

‘It can’t be!? Fast!’[9]

At about the same time — No, Cornelia was quicker— despite this, Wynn closed the distance faster than her.

Before Cornelia could think, Wynn had taken the initiative.

With a horizontal slash, his sword locked with hers.

Then, Wynn was able to gradually push Cornelia back.

To Cornelia, it seemed unlikely that Wynn had used strengthening magic.

That meant that his speed was his own ability.

Deciding to power through the resistance,Wynn pushed aside the sword with a burst of strength.

At the moment Cornelia lost her balance, Wynn leapt back.

Cornelia immediately fixed her stance and prepared to attack, but at the next moment, Wynn closed the distance and attacked again.

Without being able to react to his speed —

“Ah…”

Her sword had been sent flying to the ground.

Cornelia looked at Wynn with amazement.

Wynn took one step, two steps backwards, and lightly sheathed the sword in his right hand.

It was so sudden, she was unable to believe it.

Cornelia didn’t think that she excelled, compared to the other students.

No, rather, she believed that compared to the others, she was slightly weaker.

However, she didn’t think that she would lose to an unstrengthened person.

Especially that slash that disarmed her.

Far from being able to react, she was unable to see the sword’s movements.

‘Why is this person at the level of a cadet? Couldn’t he actually be an instructor?’

She looked at Wynn with suspicious eyes.

“Ah, well, sorry. Though I intended to aim only at the sword, did I hurt you?”

Misunderstanding her gaze, Wynn worriedly asked her.

With enough strength in that attack to leave both her hands numb, she couldn’t accept this kind of defeat within the school.

Without responding to Wynn’s question, Cornelia picked up her sword.

As she picked it up, she saw that the other students were still fighting.

At the moment, only Cornelia and Wynn’s group had finished their spar.

“Umm, If you would like, we could have another match?”

The other students had not yet finished.

There was still time left.

‘There is an overwhelming difference between our abilities.’

‘Wynn’s abilities are definitely not on the level of a cadet.’

‘In that case, I want to test my full abilities.’

“Yes, please. I would like a rematch.”

Wynn once again prepared his sword.

From there, he stopped moving, waiting for Cornelia to chant strengthening magic once again.

‘If that’s the case…’

“Strengthen me!”

She once again cast strengthening magic.

But that wasn’t all.

“I, who understands the flame and the sword, show on my blade!” [10]

The blade became wrapped in red flames.

“Enhance magic’s ‘Enchant’!?”[11]

Wynn raised his voice in surprise upon seeing a magic rarely used in the Knight School.

‘That’s not all!’

“I, who understands the way of humanity, bind him!”[12]

“Ugh!”

Now, his swift movements felt heavier.

‘Enchant’ was a magic in the Enhancement System.

The Enhancement magic system involved strengthening the caster’s body, or magically enhancing other objects and people. [13]

However, few knights liked to practice enhancement magic.

First of all, the effective duration of enchantment magic was short.

At the longest, it lasted 10 minutes.

Engraving magic words onto the blade of the sword made the blade a permanent magic tool, but it would be too long-lasting for a short battle. [14]

Enhancement magic could also be used to strengthen others, but that also has cons.

Compared to using it on oneself, the effectiveness of strengthening magic was 3-5 times weaker when used on other people.

Even if the targeted person was willing, their body would still unconsciously resist the effects.

Since the town’s adventurers did not have enough time to study both magic and swordsmanship, and not many nobles and wealthy people favored Enchantment magic, there were few experts.

Therefore —

Although it was impractical on the battlefield, it was effective in a one-on-one battle.

Holding up her flaming sword, Cornelia once again attacked Wynn.

AN: Since it was long, I cut it here.

Is the explanation of magic here good?

Sorry for the poor explanation.

Translator Notes

Probably need to word the school process better. There’s a selection test/exam at the end of first year, that makes them knight apprentices(lit: quasi-knight; any suggestions with this term?). Wynn failed 3 times, and has to restart. —back

コーネリア —back

Wynn was on Aldo’s left. —back

According to the dictionary: Non idiom: I’m annoyed. Idiom: I give up. Mine took a middle ground… not sure which one he means, though he is a determinator, so… —back

Japanese politeness: Yoroshiku onegai shimasu… I think this is the usual translation… —back

Any synonyms that fit better for beautiful person (美人) sentence means that it’s a different sense of beauty. —back

inferiority complex? —back

I am open to suggestions for names of magic. Can’t recall the cliches right now… —back

literally: Uso(it’s a lie)!? Hayai(Fast)! —back

I must find my inner Chuuni to make a cool chant… not yet… Any WN suggestions with cool chants to reference (and more to my reading list)? —back

To george766h, and others who are curious: no element symbol. 「付与魔法エンチャント！？」 —back

More chants… 「我、人の理を知りて彼の者を戒める縛鎖を放つ！」 —back

OSO’s Yun’s enchant magic, it seems —back

Not sure what’s the drawback here… 剣身に魔法文字を刻みこみ、効果時間を永続させている魔法武器であればともかく、戦場において使用するには致命的に効果時間が短すぎた。 —back

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