Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 35
“Professor Leon took down twenty Demon Knights in a single stroke!”
“Twenty? I heard it was twenty-five!”
“Twenty-five Demon Knights in one blow? So it’s true that Professor Leon is an unofficial member of the Empire’s Five Swords.”
At the conversation drifting in from outside, Leon squeezed his eyes shut.
With the news that Leon had defeated Demon Knights, rumors about him—already exaggerated—spiraled beyond control.
As a result, course registration requests piled up like mountains on Leon’s desk.
Nearly every student had applied to attend Leon’s orientation.
Leon hadn’t even found a teaching assistant yet, given that he’d come to the Academy under orders from a man he’d met on the train.
If he started teaching like this, he’d be branded a fraud and driven out, without question.
‘Bolt.’
Leon grabbed the resignation letter he’d prepared in advance. He was planning to return to the Front Line.
The only thing gnawing at him was that he’d made a mistake with someone of impossibly high rank—surely he wouldn’t run into them again.
Bang-bang!
Just then, someone pounded on the door roughly.
“Open it before I break it down.”
Leon hurried toward the window.
Warm sunlight streamed in from outside. As if demanding he come this way immediately.
Opening the window, the crisp air of early spring brushed against Leon’s nose.
Poking his head out, Leon let out a quiet groan. The height was dizzying.
No matter how solid a knight’s body was, this was a bit much—.
Crash!
Just then, the door shattered violently.
‘Caught already?!’
Startled, Leon bolted. The fragrant spring breeze teased at his hair. The scent of freedom.
Then someone grabbed Leon by the back of his neck. It was a hand callused and hardened like an iron gauntlet.
“Where do you think you’re running?”
At the rough voice, Leon lifted his head and saw a familiar face.
The man was the legendary general of the 444th Unit whom Leon still saw in nightmares.
“I salute the Empire!”
Leon snapped to attention urgently. The man didn’t return the salute and simply asked.
“Running?”
“I wasn’t trying to run—no, some bastard spread vicious rumors about me!”
“Vicious rumors?”
At the man’s calm question, everything Leon had been holding back burst out.
“Yes! About me being one of the Empire’s Five Swords, a secret weapon of the Magic Tower Consortium, things like that! Because of it, I can’t live! Professors come by every day to poke around, students stare with hopeful eyes! And now they’re saying I defeated Demon Knights! Some bastard spread these vicious rumors—”
“I spread them.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m the bastard who spread those vicious rumors.”
The man answered flatly. Leon laughed awkwardly.
“Ha, quite the joke, sir.”
“No joke. I spread the rumors.”
“Really, sir?”
“Yeah.”
“Why! Why did you do that! Do you know how much I’ve suffered because of it!”
“Suffered? Why?”
The man asked as if genuinely confused. Leon was flabbergasted.
“Why? Don’t you understand how stressful it is! Everyone treats me like I’m someone great—”
“Leon.”
The man called his name in a grave voice.
“Captain Leon, sir!”
Leon straightened his posture and responded. Difficult though it was, suspended in mid-air.
Only then did Leon realize he was still dangling in the void.
Then the man asked seriously.
“Are you a coward?”
“……Sir?”
“I’m asking if you’re a coward.”
“No, sir, I’m not!”
“Then why—”
The man shook his hand gripping Leon’s neck.
At that, Leon flailed violently in the air. A cool wind whipped through his hair.
Even cooler was the man’s steady gaze as he stared at Leon.
“Why are you acting like a coward?”
……Am I acting like a coward?
Isn’t that a natural reaction when you hear you’re one of the Empire’s Five Swords and a secret weapon of the Magic Tower Consortium?
Many words climbed up to Leon’s throat, but the answer was already determined.
“I apologize!”
“Good. Let’s do this properly.”
The man nodded calmly. Leon stretched out his neck to make it easier to be pulled up.
But the man didn’t lift him up.
“Leon.”
“Captain Leon, sir!”
“As I mentioned before, I’m carrying out a classified mission under orders from the Commander.”
Commander—for a soldier like Leon, the name carried more weight than the Emperor himself.
Leon moved into a rigid at-attention stance. Suspended in air, his feet dangled freely.
“Will you cooperate?”
“Yes, sir! I’ll do whatever it takes!”
“Good to hear.”
The man’s mouth curved upward in a smile—one as dry as a winter wind.
Only then did he pull Leon up. Barely making it inside, Leon massaged his sore neck while looking up at the man. Now he could see what the man was wearing.
‘Guard’s uniform?’
The short blue shirt, which looked rather shabby, was unmistakably Guard Force clothing.
Why would someone of the 444th Unit general’s standing be with the Guard Force—?
Then the man spoke.
“The mission has two objectives. First: talent protection. Because of the Oracle, talent has flooded into Elysium Academy. Naturally, vermin come crawling with the flowers. The first objective is to protect the talented from those vermin.”
“Ah, so that’s why you joined the Guard Force?”
“Right. The Guard Force responds first to external intrusions, and it’s easier to avoid suspicion that way.”
The man replied lightly, nodding.
The man was a soldier of impossibly high rank. He had entered the Guard Force for this mission.
Leon felt the weight of the mission and swallowed dryly.
“The second objective is talent cultivation. Identify promising individuals early and develop them.”
Certainly, because of the Oracle, every talented person on the continent had gathered here. There was no better opportunity to uncover talent.
However—
“Isn’t this Elysium Academy, sir?”
Elysium Academy was the finest academy on the continent. Its educational standards were beyond question.
Leon didn’t understand how one would further develop students already attending Elysium Academy.
“Correct. Elysium, the finest academy on the continent. Leon, you’re an Elysium graduate, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“Was what you learned at the Academy useful at the Front Line?”
At the man’s question, Leon couldn’t bring himself to nod.
Of course, Elysium Academy’s education was the finest on the continent.
But no one taught him that you had to twist the blade when piercing a demon’s throat.
“……It wasn’t useful at all, sir.”
“Right. Combat can’t be taught, only learned.”
As Leon nodded, a question suddenly struck him.
If combat can’t be taught—
“Then how do you plan to teach combat, sir?”
At Leon’s question, the man’s mouth curved upward. It was a smile that looked somehow dangerous.
“By working them like hell.”
At that harsh answer, Leon recalled rumors he’d heard at the Front Line.
There was a drill instructor at the Front, and his training was so brutal that soldiers at the very front couldn’t endure it—they’d run away crying and screaming.
‘No way. That can’t be.’
Leon shook his head deliberately.
* * *
“General Cassandra, Gohangja, vice-commander of the 444th Unit, has requested an audience.”
At her aide’s report, General Cassandra let out a quiet sigh.
The 444th Unit began as a prisoner battalion.
They took convicts deemed expendable, selected those with promise, and threw them beyond the Front Line. Those who survived with their lives intact became the 444th Unit of today.
They were men who ate and slept in hell. No one with a sound mind among them could be expected. In fact, sanity made them even more dangerous.
Despite that, they produced excellent results, which made the 444th Unit difficult for even General Cassandra to manage.
Now the vice-commander of that very unit had come to call.
“Let him in.”
Cassandra sighed and waved her hand.
“He is to enter.”
Clank, clank. The sound of armored footsteps echoed from outside.
Cassandra squinted. She knew what was about to appear.
The door swung open roughly, and the first thing visible was a pair of gleaming Iron Boots—thick and heavy, the kind a full-plated knight might wear. The problem was that those boots and a helmet were all the man had on.
Everything else was bare skin. Completely naked, without so much as a single scrap of cloth.
His exposed body was covered in scars. Some looked freshly carved, still beading with blood.
If he was going to undress, he should at least do it fully. This—wearing only Iron Boots and an Iron Helmet—looked positively obscene.
It was an outfit befitting Gohangja, vice-commander of the 444th Unit.
Clang.
“General, where is Jeron?”
His tone was unexpectedly formal and respectful, which made Cassandra’s eyes narrow.
Cassandra rarely suffered headaches. Usually, before getting a headache, she’d just smash her opponent’s skull.
But not this time.
Or rather, she didn’t want to.
This naked freak in just a helmet would probably groan in pleasure if she crushed his head.
“He’s on leave.”
“Leave? In a prisoner unit? That’s the first I’ve heard of it, ma’am.”
Clang.
“Jeron isn’t a prisoner like you. He just had bad luck ending up in the 444th Unit.”
“Ah, no wonder Jeron’s eyes are so clear. He wasn’t a prisoner. Now I understand his kind heart.”
Clang.
“……How do I make that sound stop?”
“Ah, my apologies. Though my appearance is rather unconventional, shall I wait?”
The urge to crush his skull arose again, but she couldn’t.
With Jeron gone, the 444th Unit’s efficiency had already declined.
No matter how much Jeron denied it, he was the unit’s anchor. Since his discharge, the 444th Unit had deteriorated rapidly.
Losing the vice-commander too would be catastrophic.
Cassandra grimly suppressed her killing intent.
“Without Jeron, who will help with my Ascetic Training? If this continues, I fear I’ll develop relics in my body. My fellow unit members are voicing similar concerns. I’ve come here as their representative to suggest we search for him immediately.”
Gohangja spoke earnestly. His words dripped with sincerity.
Jeron had overseen the 444th Unit’s training. Given how excellent their results were, Cassandra had once assigned Jeron to train another unit.
‘They all rather preferred discharge.’
Even soldiers at the Front Line couldn’t endure it. Jeron’s training was savage.
Could it even be called training? It was just beatings—beatings refined to the level of an art form.
Yet the 444th Unit men, unable to receive that training, had come seeking it, itching for it like addicts.
Insane deviants.
“He used up all his accumulated leave. Said he’d discharge if I refused, so I had no choice.”
Cassandra spoke while suppressing harsh curses.
“Discharge? Terrible to even hear. Oh, but it doesn’t matter. If Jeron discharges, I’ll go with him. Rather, that’s better.”
Clang.
There was not a hint of laughter in Gohangja’s voice.
He seemed fully prepared to follow even to the Capital.
Gohangja going to the Capital—
The mere thought horrified her.
The real problem was that among the 444th Unit, Gohangja was the tame one. There were far worse.
If those monsters came looking for Jeron and traveled to the Capital……
‘Civil war.’
Cassandra reaffirmed her resolve.
She would tell no one of Jeron’s discharge.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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