232nd Episode
“Did someone from the 3rd tier students manage to ‘wobble’ the Sacred Sword?”
The dormitory where the 2nd tier students stayed became noisy.
Upon hearing the news that someone had managed to “wobble” the Sacred Sword, nearly twenty students gathered in the wide corridor.
“Wobble” literally referred to someone who had made the Sacred Sword wobble.
Even if one couldn’t pull it out immediately, making it wobble signified the potential to become its rightful owner in the future.
Besides Izhise students, there were a few other groups permitted to touch the Sacred Sword, but only an extremely small number of people had managed to make it wobble in their time.
If someone from the 3rd tier students had managed to wobble it, they would likely be the youngest among the current wobblers.
“So, exactly who is this wobbler?”
“Uh… I heard they’re the top student of this batch?”
“Top student? Isn’t he a commoner?”
“Probably a commoner, yes.”
“Aah, why does it have to be a commoner-!”
One of the noble 2nd tier students screamed, causing surrounding students to chuckle.
“What’s our noble master going to do with such frustration?”
Another burst of giggling laughter erupted.
After three years of seeing each other daily, these kinds of jokes could be shared with smiles.
Regardless of true feelings, as various jests continued, one 2nd tier student suddenly spoke up.
“Um… There’s a rumor that ‘Broken Straight Sword’ pulled the Sacred Sword halfway out and then pushed it back in?”
Some students who had been serious until now couldn’t help but snicker at how absurd it sounded.
Pulling the Sacred Sword halfway out and then pushing it back in—what kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?
“Haa, whatever that ‘Broken Straight Sword’ fellow is, he keeps stirring up strange rumors since last time.”
“But his attitude is respectful enough. Maybe he’ll show some determination when he gets a chance later.”
“Wow… Still, those guys who take off their pants first are definitely peculiar, aren’t they?”
Laughter broke out again.
*
In the principal’s office of Izhise.
Nelson, who was granted a private audience with Principal Carmine, immediately questioned.
“At least to my eyes, it looked like it was pushed back in after being pulled out.”
Nelson mimed driving a sword into the ground with his body.
It was quite a comical sight to see the usually composed Nelson gesticulating in the air.
However, Nelson was serious, and Carmine couldn’t laugh either.
After mimicking the motion of inserting the sword a few more times, Nelson asked again.
“What on earth is he doing? I heard he caused trouble during the entrance exam too?”
It wasn’t something one could simply brush off as madness.
Whether or not he truly pulled the Sacred Sword out and pushed it back in, the fact that it was pulled out halfway was undeniable.
Among the so-called “wobblers,” no one had pulled the Sacred Sword out as far as he did.
Moreover, the aura Ray momentarily displayed earlier far exceeded the average Expert Level.
He was clearly no ordinary student, which was why Nelson wanted to know Ray’s true identity in order to properly fulfill his role as an instructor.
Carmine sighed deeply before speaking.
“His Majesty the Emperor…”
“…”
“Ordered that he be treated like any other regular student.”
Nelson squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before reopening them.
“An imperial decree?”
“It is an imperial decree.”
This time, Nelson let out a heavy sigh.
Nelson couldn’t fathom what Ray, the student, was thinking by causing such a ruckus at Izhise.
If he was a secret agent, shouldn’t he just behave quietly? Why was he pretending to be a student while causing all sorts of incidents?
Despite the headache forming, Nelson nodded.
“I understand. I will observe for now.”
If told to do so, it must be done.
*
The 3rd tier students who had each held the Sacred Sword once returned to their dormitories.
Since it was the first day of enrollment, there were no additional schedules.
Listening to various instructions from Nelson and other instructors about living at Izhise took up most of the day.
As the sky darkened, the 3rd tier students, having completed the headcount, each entered their respective rooms.
Inside the room, Aaron hesitated before asking,
“Uh… Should I turn off the lights?”
“Yeah, turn them off. And why are you using honorifics among classmates? Be casual, be casual.”
“…”
Aaron had much to say.
Ideally, he wanted to question what exactly Ray thought he was doing, but for now, he decided to follow Ray’s words due to caution.
Click!
Aaron pressed the button on the wall cautiously.
The light from the ceiling went out, plunging the room into darkness—or so it seemed.
Whoosh!
“…?”
“…?”
Both Ray and Aaron simultaneously looked towards one spot.
Bright light was emanating from Ray’s uniform hanging on the wall.
It hadn’t been noticeable under the sun, but now that it was dark, the glow stood out.
Ray inspected the uniform curiously.
When he had removed the uniform, the brooch he had kept in the inner pocket was emitting a bright light.
‘…Holy power?’
Ray lifted the brooch given to him by Karen.
Compared to when she initially gave it to him, an unimaginable concentration of holy power now resided within it.
That day, when pulling the Sacred Sword, Ray finally realized where part of the flowing holy power had gone.
“Hmm…”
The newly infused holy power significantly enhanced the functions of the brooch blessed by Karen.
To this extent, wearing it alone could alleviate physical fatigue and heal minor wounds.
Unlike its previous state as a failed product, the brooch gifted by Karen was now strengthened to a level comparable to high-quality relics.
Whether this happened purely by chance was unclear, but Ray certainly wasn’t upset about it.
Ray stroked the brooch and placed it inside a drawer.
Light still seeped out from the drawer, but not excessively.
Lying back down on the bed, Ray said,
“Let’s sleep.”
“Eh, eh, okay.”
On the first night in the dormitory, Aaron tossed and turned in bed for quite a while.
*
The second day of enrollment.
The official training at Izhise began.
Specialized training started after an adaptation period, but even more intense physical conditioning awaited.
“Run!!”
From early morning, the 3rd tier students ran hard around the exercise field.
Nelson was running alongside them, matching their breathing rhythm, but Ray muttered to himself about how well the old man was keeping up.
Most Izhise students were seasoned runners.
Of course, physical conditioning wasn’t solely filled with running at Izhise.
About halfway around the field, an artificial cliff appeared.
It was nearly 10 meters high, and naturally, they had to climb it.
“Climb the cliff!!”
“Uaaaaah!!!”
Students rushed forward and clung to the cliff.
Using mana, one could jump up and climb quickly, but using tricks like enhancing muscles with mana would result in immediate punishment.
Lightweight students climbed swiftly, whereas more muscular ones struggled more.
Still, everyone was elite in terms of physical training, so they easily scaled the cliff, grabbed ropes, and descended on the opposite side.
After repeating this several times, Nelson stopped the students and ordered,
“Change uniforms!!”
In front of the students lay new training outfits and thick armor.
Technically called armor, but in reality, it was just an incredibly heavy chunk of metal meant to cover the body.
The students hesitated briefly because the command involved changing clothes in front of others.
Undergarments didn’t need to be removed, but changing clothes openly among mixed genders was somewhat awkward.
“Change uniforms!!!”
Nelson shouted again.
Eventually, they’d see each other in worse states during training anyway.
With Nelson’s shout, the students hurriedly stripped off their outerwear.
Ray also changed into the newly issued outfit after removing his training uniform, naturally drawing attention.
“…!”
The students murmured briefly, glanced at Nelson, and quickly changed.
Of course, Nelson was equally perplexed but tried not to show it, continuing to look at Ray.
“Run!!”
At Nelson’s shout, the 3rd tier students, burdened with the heavy metal, resumed running.
Groans began to emerge from the students.
Running itself was tough, but climbing the cliff with the cumbersome weight left them breathless.
Nevertheless, Nelson relentlessly pushed them.
After about three laps, a few collapsed, granting a brief rest.
While everyone was panting and sitting down, Aaron hesitated before speaking up.
“Uh… Ray.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Um… How did you get those scars on your body?”
Once Aaron gathered the courage to ask, other students perked up their ears.
Though it was impolite to ask, it was impossible not to wonder.
Almost half of Ray’s upper body was covered in burn scars, and there were countless other marks.
“…”
Would he slap someone for being too presumptuous?
Aaron worried belatedly and observed Ray’s reaction.
However, Ray answered in a much gentler tone than Aaron expected.
“Oh, these scars? They’re all from when I was a kid.”
“…When you were a kid?”
“When I was captured as a slave as a child and abused. Boiling oil was poured on me, or I was stabbed with iron rods… The injuries from that abuse turned into scars.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The atmosphere grew completely awkward.
Some students suspected he might be lying, but it was difficult to confront Ray directly about it.
Only Johanna and Delun exchanged glances and blinked.
Was Ray really enslaved as a child? Hadn’t Ray lived treating Jimmy and Matthew like slaves instead?
Anyway, after Ray shattered the mood,
A sobbing sound began to emerge from somewhere.
Looking around, Ray soon noticed Jusephin with reddened eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
Wiping her eyes, Jusephin responded with a choked voice,
“Sob… I… I never imagined that your personality flaws stemmed from such a past.”
“…”
Watching the empathetic and sensitive Jusephin, Ray wore an expression filled with complicated emotions and eventually confessed,
“The story I just told… was a lie.”
“…!”
Jusephin’s eyes widened in shock.
She couldn’t imagine Ray telling a lie.
Seeing Jusephin reminded Ray of Alesya.
If Alesya had her stats adjusted—raising her charisma by 3 points and lowering intelligence by 2 points—wouldn’t someone like Jusephin appear?
While Ray pondered this, Nelson’s shout interrupted.
“Did I ever allow idle chatter?!”
The students closed their mouths and resumed running.
*
The grueling day of training ended.
The initial training prepared for the 3rd tier students aimed primarily at establishing discipline.
Therefore, it wasn’t entirely without brute force, and even Ray found it challenging.
By the second day of enrollment, Ray already felt a strong sense of regret.
‘It won’t work. I should just reveal my identity and relax.’
Ray couldn’t afford to damage his joints again, which had healed after being severely strained during the selection process.
Anyway, the situation at Izhise wasn’t as bad as Ray had feared, so he decided to relax and enjoy himself while observing Johanna and Delun adapt for a semester.
‘Speira’s fiancé status should suffice.’
For now, he’d reveal his identity when the opportunity arose.
With that thought, Ray headed toward the Izhise bathhouse.
Although there was an unwritten rule that 3rd tier students could only use the smaller attached baths except on special days, Ray naturally paid no heed to it.
According to the rules, there was a designated time when 3rd tier students could use the large bathhouse.
And Ray, upon checking the rules, entered the bathhouse and submerged his body in the water.
“Why is no one here?”
Truly, there was no one else, so Ray splashed around and voiced aloud.
Only Ray’s voice echoed throughout the empty bathhouse.
Then, two 2nd tier students entered the large bathhouse.
The two 2nd tier students, rejoicing that they could now freely use the large bathhouse, entered only to meet eyes with Ray, who had arrived earlier.
“?”
“?”
“?”
All three simultaneously raised question marks.
The 2nd tier students couldn’t understand why a 3rd tier student was occupying the large bathhouse, and Ray couldn’t comprehend why the 2nd tier students had entered at this hour.
One of the 2nd tier students with brown hair blinked in confusion before getting angry.
“Hey, you’re a 3rd tier student, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“This brat… Hey, scram!”
“?”
Ray’s irritation flared slightly, but he initially complied and stood up from the bath at the brown-haired student’s request.
The brown-haired student was about to continue shouting angrily when he froze upon seeing the extensive scars covering Ray’s upper body.
Meanwhile,
Sebas Rilford, the other 2nd tier student standing beside the brown-haired one, was shocked by something else about Ray.
“Wha… Is that…?!”
Izhise (7)
