By Zephyria 
This past week had been dedicated to physical training during beginner swordsmanship class, so this week was about refining the forms and styles of the sword.
I felt it was excellent and fortunate to be taking beginner and advanced swordsmanship classes alternately. By practicing the fundamentals in beginner classes and broadening my perspective in advanced ones, I could see my swordsmanship making considerable progress.
Though my eyes, having reached the realm of Transcendent Peak, the realm of a Sword Master, in my previous life, were set on higher goals, my young body often couldn’t keep up.
Sometimes, when I mixed and matched various sword techniques, my balance would falter. Each time, a teacher who wouldn’t miss a beat and would point out my mistakes, guiding me back to the correct Sword Path, ensured I didn’t lose my way.
If I had met such a teacher in my previous life, I would have paid my respects morning and evening and taken great care of them. Since I had no way to repay this debt, I decided I must at least express my gratitude promptly.
For this reason, after class, I followed Maelo Sanson and bowed deeply. Professor Sanson scratched his graying hair with a pleased expression.
“Well, if it helps you improve, I’m happy. If you have any more questions, feel free to come anytime. I’ll be waiting.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Coming to the Martial Arts Training Ground at dawn is fine. However, I don’t recommend training until close to midnight, as your body is still underdeveloped. Please make sure to adhere to the training ground’s operating hours.”
“Yes.”
I understood the meaning behind his kind words. I bowed deeply once more and left to have a meal with the children.
❖ ❖ ❖
In Jurgen Kaiser’s Artifact class, we briefly reviewed the previous lesson before learning new material. Thanks to Professor Kaiser’s voice amplifier or his coherent explanations, the class was not difficult at all.
Just as we had learned about explosive combat artifacts in the last class, this time we learned about target-seeking combat artifacts. Like explosive types, target-seeking types were divided into four categories: Fire, Cold, Electricity, and Other, and three sizes: Small, Medium, and Large, totaling twelve types.
The fact that they were further divided into three types—linear, arc, and tracking—based on their method of reaching the target made drawing a diagram a bit complex.
However, it was convenient because the naming format was fixed according to their function, so I only needed to memorize a few special cases separately.
Artifact class was scheduled for four hours on Monday afternoons, so we had two breaks in between.
Jurgen Kaiser rested behind his desk without going far. Although his small body was hidden behind the desk, no student was rowdy during the break, perhaps due to the pressure of the professor being in the same space.
They merely stretched their stiff bodies, went to the restroom, or ate snacks like water or small chocolates.
“Hello, Young Master Ernhardt.”
“Yes. It’s been a while, Senior.”
“Do you remember me? It was…”
“You guided me when I first enrolled. I remember.”
I greeted the timid, mouse-like young man with glasses who approached me cautiously.
Seeing the puzzled looks on Damian and Shayden, who were sitting next to me, I wondered if I was the only one who knew this young man with flushed cheeks.
The problem was that while I remembered his face, I couldn’t recall his name. However, I didn’t dare ask the overly delighted young man for his name, so I decided to ask someone else later and diligently answered his questions.
When asked how I came to take this class, I introduced my companions, Damian and Shayden. When he offered to share his summary notes if I needed them, I gratefully accepted. It was amusing to see Shayden’s expression, which had been visibly hesitant, brighten considerably.
The class resumed as Professor Kaiser moved away from his desk.
Shayden tapped my forearm with the feather end of his quill. When I turned my gaze, I saw he had written various things on the last page of his notebook. The very first line read:
-How do you know Hershey Milton?
Below it were various speculative remarks, but none seemed plausible, so I reached out and drew a line through the text, erasing them.
Shayden, understanding that none of them were correct, underlined the first sentence again twice.
“Just because.” I mouthed the words silently and wrote a short line in Shayden’s notebook.
-Work-study student. Guided new students.
-You shouldn’t get too close. There are rumors he’s doing suspicious things with Black Magic.
-Black Magic?
-Yeah. Like selling strange potions.
-You’re not even going to take the summary notes?
Shayden wore a look of deep contemplation.
I was not one to blindly believe baseless rumors circulating among young children. I felt it was unnecessary to believe any suspicion that might arise from the summary notes. Leaving Shayden lost in thought, I focused on the class.
Among the target-seeking artifacts, the one that most piqued my interest was the Type 5 Tracking Thermal Electric Projector.
It consisted of a main unit and a tracking unit. The main unit was quite large, but the device used for target tracking was as small as a thumbnail. The tracker was attached to the target beforehand, and the magic formula on the main unit was activated at the desired moment.
Upon activation of the formula, the temperature around the tracker would rapidly decrease, and an electric attack would be fired at the target, whose movements had been slowed.
Although attaching the tracker was a drawback, it was explained that it was useful for locating the lairs of less intelligent monsters.
It was also interesting that by drawing in surrounding Mana and Cold energy to reduce the temperature, the effect of the electric shock was maximized.
I deeply ingrained the idea that studying the elemental affinities beforehand would allow me to find more efficient combinations for using artifacts.
After class, on the way to find Benjamin with Shayden, we talked more about Hershey Milton.
To me, Hershey Milton seemed like a shy and timid young man, but Shayden said he was the subject of many rumors. He was considered one of the people to be cautious of in the Department of Magic, possessing exceptional talent in Alchemy and Artifact creation. He was always quiet and spoke little, so he had few friends his age and often ran errands for professors.
When I brought up work-study scholarships, Shayden nodded, saying Milton was the same.
“There are only three types of students who volunteer for work-study scholarships at Shierun Academy.”
“What are they?”
“Children of high-ranking nobles who need to manage their image, children of merchant families trying to build connections with those high-ranking nobles, or commoners who genuinely need the scholarship because they lack funds.”
“What about Milton’s case?”
“The second type. The Milton family is in the silk trade; why would they lack money? We are taught to be wary of merchants, as they often ask for favors based on familiarity, so we must always be on guard.”
“Hmm.”
However, I was skeptical of Shayden’s words. How much could family matters entail? If that shy boy merely wished for casual greetings, there was no need to be hostile. If he made unreasonable requests, I could cut ties then, so there was no need to worry unnecessarily. Most importantly, I was a martial artist born into a Count’s family, not a businessman.
Thinking about it, I asked about what I was still curious about.
“What do you mean by doing suspicious things with Black Magic?”
“Uh… you know what Black Magic is, right?”
“I do.”
In any world, white was associated with brightness and goodness, while black was associated with darkness and wickedness. It was the same here in Shierun. Among magic, the more malevolent-looking ones were called Black Magic. Black Magic involved dissecting animal or human corpses. It was known as evil and something to be vanquished in children’s fairy tales and popular rumors. However, the curiosity of wizards was immense, and since the development of medicine required the dissection of actual human bodies, it was a technique that had managed to survive precariously. Therefore, Shierun Academy had some introductory classes on Black Magic. Although the number of students was small, they compared White Magic and Black Magic, or learned how to use Black Magic correctly. However, due to the nature of the subject, students who consistently took Black Magic classes were easily ostracized, so only those with a strong curiosity took it as an elective once or twice. But Hershey Milton, now in his third year, had taken at least one Black Magic class every semester since he first enrolled. Because of this, some children avoided him, believing his tastes were clearly suspicious. I reprimanded them for ostracizing a child simply because he liked different subjects, saying it wasn’t necessary to openly shun him. Shayden waved his hands, saying it wasn’t like that.
“He’s only in his third year at the Academy, so how evil could he be? If he’s just taking classes that are meant to be taken, there’s no reason to avoid him.”
“It’s Milton.”
“Milton?”
“Don’t you remember what we learned in Imperial Genealogy?”
“You said he’s in the silk trade.”
“Yes, with Floyd! And Floyd is connected to the First Prince.”
“Ah.”
Only then did I understand the reason for Shayden’s inexplicable wariness. However, disliking the First Prince was one thing, but being hostile towards a boy who might be connected to him, and only through several degrees of separation, was another. It didn’t seem right to me to slander a peer for flimsy reasons, so I calmly stated my thoughts. Shayden, being inherently kind and gentle, listened for a long time and finally agreed, saying my words were indeed correct. Seeing his docile expression, I felt relieved and praised him repeatedly for being good and upright, but Shayden became sulky, telling me not to treat him like a child, and I had a hard time placating him.