Episode 231: The Academy (3)
The lesson wrapped up quickly.
“Teacher! This foolish student failed to recognize your greatness and acted disrespectfully! I beg for your forgiveness!”
Oliver was on the ground, bowing repeatedly and shouting. Damian watched him with a satisfied expression.
“Good. It seems my persuasion worked.”
“Persuasion, you say…?”
Oliver looked up at Damian, as if questioning whether it was persuasion or something else entirely.
Instead of explaining, Damian ran his fingers along the club, producing a chilling sound as skin met wood.
“Yes! Persuasion indeed! I, Oliver Fortina, am deeply moved by your eloquence and have decided to change my ways!”
“That’s the right attitude. You’ve reformed admirably.”
Damian nodded, looking even more pleased.
“Now, let’s go find the other students.”
“Understood!”
Oliver immediately took the lead, and together they set off to find the students.
Following Oliver’s lead, Damian traversed the academy.
“Isn’t that Damian Haxen?”
“Where on earth is he going?”
Damian’s presence drew the attention of every student. He was the winner of the Helian Tournament and the one who had crushed the pride of the Empire’s people. Whether in a good or bad way, he was bound to attract attention.
“Who’s that with him?”
“That’s Oliver Fortina.”
“Oh, the one they call the disgrace of the Marquis’ family?”
The students’ whispers reached Oliver, and his face turned crimson with embarrassment.
Damian silently observed Oliver, recalling something Blanca Roche had said.
—Because that’s what the family wants.
As Damian pondered Blanca’s words, they arrived at their destination.
“Here we are.”
Oliver had led Damian to an old building on the outskirts of the academy. It was overgrown with vines, and all the windows were shattered.
“So, this is where the students of Class 13 are?”
“Yes! But not all of them. Only three are here.”
“You seem to know quite a bit.”
“They’re friends I usually hang out with…”
Oliver replied sheepishly.
“So, these are the ones you wanted to inform about me being the new teacher for Class 13?”
They have time to gather here but not to attend class?
Damian felt his anger rising.
“Let’s go in.”
Suppressing his anger, Damian entered the old building.
Inside the auditorium, three male students were huddled together.
“Who are you?”
“Isn’t that Damian Haxen?”
“What? Why is Damian Haxen here?”
The three stood up abruptly, glaring at Damian.
Their defiant attitude made Damian’s hands itch.
“Oliver, did you bring Damian Haxen here?”
“You little rat. No wonder people talk about you.”
“See you at the dorm. You won’t get away with this.”
The three shot Oliver threatening looks. Oliver quickly hid behind Damian.
“I thought you said they were your friends?”
“They are! I give them pocket money, buy them snacks, and help carry their heavy stuff!”
Is that really what friendship is?
While Damian pondered deeply, one of the students spoke up.
“Hey, Damian Haxen. Why are you here? What’s your purpose?”
“A teacher only seeks out absent students for one reason, don’t you think?”
At Damian’s words, the three students exchanged glances and laughed.
“So it’s true that Damian Haxen is our new teacher for Class 13.”
“Listen, just leave us alone. Do you really think we’ll attend your classes?”
“Yeah, we have no intention of learning from a knight of a tiny kingdom.”
Damian clicked his tongue. Not a single one of them seemed reasonable.
“Oliver.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Stand guard outside.”
”…What?”
“Even though it’s secluded, someone might come by.”
“Oh, understood!”
Oliver hurriedly left the auditorium.
Once Oliver was gone, Damian tapped his palm with the club he had brought.
The three students found this amusing.
“Are you going to threaten us with that?”
“It won’t work. Do you know who my father is? He’s from the Count of Daige…”
“Shh.”
Damian put a finger to his lips.
“I don’t care about your family. Knowing won’t change what I have to do.”
Damian stroked the grain of the club.
“First, I’ll ‘reform’ your disrespectful attitudes.”
Outside, Oliver closed the auditorium door and stepped away.
Soon, the sound of something being struck with a club echoed out.
“Argh! Is this guy insane?”
“How dare a knight from the Apple Kingdom touch a noble of the Empire?”
“You’re dead! I’ll tell my father and…”
Listening to the students’ words, Oliver couldn’t help but be impressed. They were saying exactly what he had said before.
There’s no way Damian Haxen would tolerate that. Sure enough, retaliation began immediately.
“Stop! Stop hitting me!”
“I was wrong! Agh!”
“I won’t tell my father! I promise!”
Oliver sighed inwardly. They weren’t even using formal speech. They still hadn’t learned their lesson.
The sound of the club striking grew louder and more frequent.
“Teacher! I was wrong! Please forgive me!”
“Teacher! I’ll follow you with my life from now on!”
“I’ll serve you like my own father!”
The auditorium door opened with a click. Damian Haxen emerged, the club slung over his shoulder.
“Everyone, come out.”
At Damian’s command, the three students filed out in a line.
They were unscathed, but their faces bore the terror of death.
“Oliver.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Where to next?”
“I’ll show you.”
With Oliver leading the way, Damian moved on.
The three students followed behind like criminals.
After that, Damian and Oliver roamed the academy, subduing the students of Class 13.
“Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?”
“I’m your teacher for Class 13. Stay still, and I’ll only hit you a little.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you know which family I’m from? You’ll regret this!”
Naturally, every student in Class 13 resisted Damian.
Each time, Damian swung his club without hesitation.
“Teacher… I was truly foolish. Meeting you has enlightened my life. So please… please stop hitting me!”
“Now you’re worth sparing. Follow quietly, and I won’t hit you anymore.”
Faced with Damian’s relentless club, the students had no choice but to join the procession obediently.
“T-Teacher! This one isn’t from Class 13! You can’t hit him!”
“Oh, is that so? My apologies.”
“Y-You think an apology is enough after hitting someone on the head with a club? This won’t just… Okay! I’ll let it go! Just don’t hit me!”
“As expected of an academy student, you can be reasoned with. Class 13, take note.”
There were minor mishaps, but fortunately, they didn’t escalate into major issues.
Damian had the perfect tool for communication in his hands.
“There’s one more left here.”
Finally, Damian arrived at the last location.
He was puzzled by the place Oliver had led him to.
“There’s a Class 13 student here?”
“Yes!”
To his surprise, Oliver had brought him to the outdoor training ground.
“This place doesn’t suit Class 13 at all…”
Class 13 students typically used places like the old building, forest caves, or restricted rooftops as their hangouts.
So finding himself at the outdoor training ground was unexpected, even for Damian.
“Teacher, the others are listening.”
Oliver glanced at the Class 13 students gathered behind them. Damian, however, paid no heed.
“Teacher, be cautious with the one inside.”
“Cautious?”
“Among Class 13, they’re known as the biggest troublemaker.”
Damian’s interest piqued at this.
From what he’d seen, Class 13 was full of hopeless cases. A student who was notorious even among them?
He couldn’t help but be curious about what kind of person they were.
“Let’s go in.”
Damian entered the training ground. The sound of a sword being swung reached his ears.
A female student, dressed in workout clothes, was practicing with a wooden sword.
“Hah! Haah!”
The ground was already soaked with sweat, evidence of how long she’d been at it.
“Teacher, that’s the one.”
Oliver pointed at the girl, and Demian tilted his head in confusion.
“Is she the troublemaker?”
No matter how he looked at her, she seemed more like an exemplary student than a troublemaker.
“Who’s there?”
Sensing their presence, the girl turned around and shouted at Demian.
“Spying on someone else’s training? Who are you to be so rude?”
It was clear she had no idea who Demian was.
“Penelope, this is Mr. Demian Haxen. You’ve heard of him, right?”
“Demian Haxen…? The knight from the Apple Kingdom who won the Helian Tournament? What’s he doing here?”
“He’s been hired as the academy’s new swordsmanship instructor. He’ll be in charge of our Class 13 for a while.”
Penelope’s face showed a mix of surprise and disbelief at Oliver’s words. It was indeed shocking that the winner of the Helian Tournament had suddenly become an academy instructor, and for Class 13 no less.
“So, you’re Mr. Demian Haxen. I apologize for not being aware of external affairs.”
Demian was taken aback by her formal tone. Class 13 using honorifics? Was there some clerical error that landed him with this class?
“Did you say your name was Penelope?”
“Penelope Borja, sir.”
The name Borja caught Demian off guard. The Borja family was one of the only three ducal families in the empire.
‘A diligent, polite student from a ducal family, yet she’s in Class 13? How curious.’
Based on what he’d seen so far, Demian had a high opinion of Penelope.
“Penelope, you seem to have a great passion for the sword. Why don’t you come back to Class 13 with me? With my guidance, you could become even more—”
“No, thank you.”
Her response was so immediate and firm that Demian wondered if he’d misheard.
“If you’ve heard of me, you must know my skills.”
“I have no intention of accepting help from anyone, especially not from teachers or instructors.”
Her eyes burned with a fierce hostility, as if she despised the very concept of teachers.
“And I’m not training with the sword out of passion. I have someone I need to take revenge on.”
She gestured towards the exit of the training ground.
“So please leave. I’m busy training.”
Demian turned to Oliver, who wore a look that said, “See, I told you so.”
Indeed, there wasn’t a single normal student in Class 13. Demian felt a twinge of melancholy.
“It seems you have your reasons. I understand.”
“You do?”
“Of course. I have someone I need to take revenge on too, so I get where you’re coming from.”
Penelope’s expression shifted slightly, surprised by his words.
“But you see, I have my own reasons as well.”
”…What?”
“My situation is more urgent, so I’m afraid I’ll have to take you with me.”
Before she could react, Demian knocked Penelope out with a swift blow to the head.
“Yikes!”
With a strange cry, Penelope collapsed unconscious.
“I can’t indulge this nonsense any longer. Oliver, carry her. We’re taking her back to Class 13.”
”…”
Oliver looked at Demian, utterly bewildered. Demian frowned and asked, “What’s with that look?”
“Oh, nothing at all.”
Hurriedly, Oliver hoisted Penelope onto his back.