Izuna Hela was born with a different perspective from ordinary people. Her eyes could see the essence of others.
The identity, self, karma, and more that accumulated to form their essence. What ancient Greek philosophers named as ‘Idea’.
Thus, she had lived withdrawn from people since she was young. Through her eyes, everything in the world was far too dangerous for a mere child like her to handle alone.
Even after she grew somewhat accustomed to this sense, there were still beings whose mere presence terrified her. Masters who reached a certain level, serial killers who massacred countless people, veteran knights who survived on battlefields for ages.
Those who lived by killing others—just their visage alone made them horrifying entities.
Yeah, just like Kail in front of her.
‘……How is someone like him at the Academy?’
Izuna trembled as she gazed beyond Kail’s figure. After years of practice, her eyes had gained the ability to articulate what they saw, and now they began to reveal explicit information about Kail before her.
The information on Kail Meyer was as follows: Aura Master, Sword Saint, Brave Knight, Hero.
However, another shadow overlapping within him sent completely opposite details.
Human Slayer, War Maniac, Sword Devil, Psychopath, Demon King without blood or tears.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this.’
Seeing Kail, who carried enough titles to become a historically terrifying serial killer multiple times over, Izuna shook uncontrollably.
The thought that he might kill her with just eye contact overwhelmed her. Most of her predictions based on seeing essences came true, so her delusion that Kail would kill her felt all too real.
Thud, thud—footsteps approached. Her body, infected with fear, became overly sensitive, making Kail’s footsteps sound like thunder.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
As she screamed, light footsteps echoed from all directions. Maids sprinting from afar quickly surrounded her, carefully lifting her into their arms.
Only after being cradled in the maids’ embrace and carried away from the scene did Izuna finally feel relief wash over her—and promptly faint.
‘……That girl again.’
From afar, watching Izuna scream and disappear, Kail let out a wry smile, shaking his head in disbelief. He had seen her act like this at the party last time, but never imagined she’d scream and faint even in his own mansion?
While chuckling bitterly to himself, a maid from the mansion approached him.
“Sorry, sir. The young mistress occasionally has fits…”
“Can’t I meet her separately?”
“Sorry, but such arrangements…”
“Well, it’s not like I can have a private meeting with an unmarried lady.”
Kail scratched the back of his head and nodded to the maid, acknowledging her words. Truthfully, he was just relieved he wasn’t suspected of doing something to Izuna.
Had Izuna not frequently fainted like this, he might have been interrogated by the maids and almost falsely accused of harming the noble lady.
Though he was the heir of the Meyer Count family, known as the Empire’s Sword, the other party was a Duke—an existence that even overshadowed the name of the Empire’s Sword.
“Please tell the noble lady to take care of herself.”
“Understood.”
After leaving those words, Kail exited the mansion. He regretted not asking Izuna how her status window looked, but he had already achieved his purpose of visiting her.
Having accomplished his goal, Kail decided to stay overnight at his own mansion while he was out. Not long after, Yuri arrived and grilled him about why he visited Hela Noble Lady’s mansion alone.
* * *
“Kail Meyer. You’re truly impressive.”
“Hahaha.”
Wolfgang, the professor of Strategic Tactics Understanding, smiled slyly at Kail standing before him.
Kail awkwardly smiled back, only to realize moments later that his smile had completely disappeared, prompting him to shut his mouth tightly.
“I must have explained this several times. You shouldn’t move like that here.”
“But… it seemed like it would work.”
“Strategy isn’t done by intuition! There are rules that depend on the situation!”
There were indeed cases where generals with exceptional mercenary skills and tactics turned the tide of battles—but only when the allied and enemy forces weren’t equal in strength or power.
Assuming both armies had identical capabilities, strategy operated under set formulas. For instance, weaker forces would always lose to stronger ones, or three times the defensive force was needed to capture a fortress.
When Kail displayed actions seemingly breaking these formulas during the first class, Wolfgang thought he was a tactical genius.
He was a genius, though not the type Wolfgang had in mind.
“If you think all soldiers can act like you, you’re gravely mistaken! Mistaken! That kind of thinking will get them all killed!”
“Isn’t it fine if I just move alone?”
“Are you an Aura Master? No, even an Aura Master isn’t enough. Can you swing your sword once and split mountains or cleave seas like the Grand Masters of legend?”
“No, I can’t do that, but…”
“Then please follow what you’ve learned!”
As a knight, as a single combat unit, Kail possessed outstanding performance. Even Wolfgang, unaware that Kail was a master, could see that much.
However, on the battlefield scale, even someone as talented as Kail would eventually be consumed by troop numbers and strategic tactics.
What Kail would become in the future remained uncertain, but given his enrollment in the Knight Department, it was most likely he’d become a knight—and someday lead vassals to fight against knights from other territories.
If he kept acting based on himself alone, countless soldiers would die.
“If you keep this up, I’ll have no choice but to fail you!”
“Ahh, that’s a bit…”
“If you don’t want extra lessons, then behave yourself!”
“I’ll try harder next time.”
Kail returned to his seat, muttering inwardly but knowing Wolfgang’s words weren’t wrong—they were ultimately for his benefit, so he stayed silent.
Truthfully, Wolfgang wasn’t wrong. While living as an academy cadet, whether it was mercenary skills or strategies, there wasn’t much use for them—but once everything ended and he returned to his territory as a knight, strategy would become necessary.
For now, brute force was easier and more efficient, but as he aged, he wouldn’t be able to rely solely on physical prowess forever.
‘If I’m not careful, I might end up cursed like Sir Gawein.’
Lost in thought, Kail suddenly noticed himself face-planting into his desk after 3 minutes and 54 seconds of class.
“Ah.”
Staring at his desk, which had sucked him in like a black hole and somehow warped time itself, Kail slowly raised his head upon noticing Arthur watching him. Class had ended, and lunchtime had arrived. He should have rushed to the cafeteria by now, but for some reason, Arthur hadn’t woken him up.
“What? Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were sleeping so soundly. I figured I’d watch for a bit.”
“Why would you stare at a guy’s sleeping face anyway…”
Sighing deeply, he headed to the cafeteria with her. Eating the usual set meal, Kail started feeling bored with this familiar school life.
Whenever this boredom crept in, something eventful usually happened.
* * *
“Does anyone know the role of a knight? Explain it.”
“—Yes, a knight is a superhuman surpassing regular soldiers… responsible for troop management, neutralizing enemy commanders, subduing enemy generals, exterminating monsters, and more…”
A knight is a superhuman.
All knights are overwhelmingly powerful entities beyond the reach of ordinary soldiers, and thus, they bear special missions only they can undertake.
Among these, monster hunting was more often handled by mercenaries or adventurers rather than knights. Knights trained to fight humans, not monsters.
“That was true in the past. Not anymore.”
But as the times changed and peace settled in, knights found themselves facing fewer human opponents.
Modern knights rarely faced humans; they fought more monsters. From Kail’s perspective, having faced more humans than monsters, this statement was hard to relate to.
With the times evolving, the academy adjusted its curriculum accordingly.
“Starting tomorrow, for one week, you’ll leave the academy to hunt monsters.”
“…Which monsters will we hunt?”
“It depends on where you go, but mainly—”
Gawein began explaining the monsters the cadets would encounter. Most were monsters easily defeated by aura users.
However, Kail tilted his head curiously. The monsters Gawein described were the kind that wouldn’t even show a glimpse of themselves even if a hundred cadets attacked together.
It seemed others shared his confusion, as one cadet asked the exact question on Kail’s mind. Hearing the question, Gawein chuckled.
“Good question. For this training—our instructor professors won’t supervise you.”
“…What do you mean?”
“You’ll hunt monsters alongside senior partners assigned to you.”
The cadets began murmuring amongst themselves.
Hunting monsters with fellow cadets?
But hearing this, Kail somehow felt he’d meet a familiar face.
* * *
“Hmm… Kail Meyer?”
“Long time no see, Senior.”
“Ahaha, indeed…”
His hunch was correct.
On the day of the training.
Senior Ruby greeted him with an awkward smile upon seeing him.
