Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 46

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

Chapter 46
Rocksbale was a knight of excellent character. Yet, as with all things, excellent character did not always work in his favor.
“Yes, please, try again.”
“Hagh, haaaagh!”
Evangeline tried once more, but the result was identical.
Of course it was. The Desant Sword simply read the Aura Stat.
A louder shout, a different stance—nothing would change the outcome.
Evangeline tried four more times before finally setting the sword down. And then—
“I think it’s b-broken!”
She began blaming the sword itself.
At that, Rocksbale’s expression darkened suddenly. To make Rocksbale frown—that was vintage Evangeline.
In the end, Evangeline was forcibly dragged out by Andy.
Next came Andy.
Andy’s light was slightly dimmer than Killian’s. Perhaps a B+ at best.
Evangeline, seeing this, tried to attempt again but was caught by Andy once more.
“As you all know, this is a basic Sword Arts lecture. A class designed for non-knights. There is absolutely no reason to be discouraged by a low Aura compatibility.”
Rocksbale tried to console them, but Evangeline was not about to listen to such words.
Just then, one student raised their hand and spoke.
“Professor, wouldn’t you try holding it once?”
Other students quickly chimed in, creating an atmosphere that could not be refused.
Rocksbale smiled wryly.
“Very well. But do not forget that I am a Sword Arts professor. That I differ from you is only natural.”
After cautioning them several times, Rocksbale took the sword.
Brilliant light poured forth from the blade. The light was so intense it completely engulfed the Lecture Hall. It was, quite literally, radiance itself.
The students stood slack-jawed before such overwhelming brilliance.
“Heh heh, truly the Radiant Knight, as they say.”
Hans turned toward me, speaking with grandiose flair.
I nodded readily.
“Not bad.”
“…What?”
“Not bad, I said.”
“Heh, such bravado—”
Hans let out a hollow laugh.
But I meant it sincerely. At that brightness, Rocksbale’s Aura Stat would be around S—the same as mine.
Of course, if we were looking purely at Aura, Rocksbale would surpass me. Even with identical Stats, he had devoted far more time to cultivating it than I had.
Still, an S was an S.
An Aura Stat of S was the minimum condition to face the Otherworldly Beings that would appear in the latter stages.
Which was why “not bad” was accurate. It was hardly praise.
“Then we shall begin the lesson. As I said before, this is a basic Sword Arts lecture. The goal is to teach non-knight students the fundamental knowledge of the sword.”
Rocksbale promptly began the class.
Just then, a female student raised her hand briskly.
“Tell us about your first love!”
The first question of the first class was about first love.
It was absurd, but the real problem was Rocksbale’s response.
“I have never been in a romantic relationship.”
“…I’m sorry?”
At Rocksbale’s answer, the student’s expression turned bewildered.
Rocksbale was undeniably handsome. Add skill and renown to that, and yet he’d never been in love—
“I’ve been too occupied with wielding the sword. You might say I’m married to the blade.”
Rocksbale tapped the sword hilt at his waist and laughed heartily, his voice full of sincerity. The students looked decidedly unimpressed.
“Well then, shall we commence? Unlike other affinities, Aura is a power cultivated through one’s own solitary effort. Because of this, its purity far exceeds that of other attributes, though conversely, its absolute quantity is comparatively limited.”
No one dared interrupt this time.
“To address this shortage of absolute quantity, we employ Aura breathing techniques. By distributing Aura appropriately through breath, we reduce wastage and, conversely, deliver explosive power precisely where needed. And if one applies this principle—”
Rocksbale took up the Desant Sword again. Brilliant light poured forth.
The next instant, the light dimmed sharply—fading to barely perceptible.
Rocksbale smiled at ease and thrust the blade into empty air. The faint light suddenly blazed far more violently than before, dazzling in its brightness.
“This too is possible.”
Clap, clap clap clap!
The students applauded in wonder. Rocksbale set the sword down with an embarrassed smile.
“This is nothing remarkable. Any seasoned knight can manage it.”
That much was true.
I nodded lightly.
Rocksbale continued with the basics after that.
As basics go, there was nothing particularly useful.
Ring.
At the clear bell, Rocksbale ended the class.
“Then we shall conclude for today.”
Students stirred busily. Some lingered to ask Rocksbale various questions, while others fled the Lecture Hall as if pursued.
Rocksbale made a request of Hans.
“Ah, would you take the Desant Sword to the Administrative Office for me?”
“Yes, of course!”
Hans answered eagerly and quickly approached the sword. He could have simply placed it in the case, but instead Hans took hold of it directly.
The sword emitted rather bright light—what appeared to be A-grade. Nearby students’ eyes sparkled in admiration.
“Oh, my apologies.”
Hans smiled with affected charm as he secured the sword. He was quite the showman.
I followed after Hans casually.
“Why are you—I mean, not that you can’t, but I should tidy up the classroom, and—”
“Ah, I’ll handle the cleanup. It’s my class, after all.”
Rocksbale smiled readily as he spoke.
A professor who would tidy his own classroom—truly a man of exemplary character.
But Hans’s face had gone ashen.
Hans and I exited the Lecture Hall together. Hans moved stiffly, like a broken automaton.
“Is there an empty classroom nearby?”
“An, an empty classroom? Why—”
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“Of course not! This way!”
Hans hurried forward. The boy had decent instincts after all.
We soon arrived at an empty classroom, shrouded on all sides in heavy blackout curtains—a gloomy space.
‘The Magic Arts Lecture Hall.’
I was currently in possession of an Aura-attribute Fragment of an Otherworldly Being that I had absorbed. Thanks to it, I could even wield sword techniques for brief moments.
So what was my Stat now? Still S, or had it risen further?
I intended to check with the Desant Sword.
“Give that to me.”
“Here you are—! Ah, let me open it for you!”
Hans opened the case containing the Desant Sword without a moment’s hesitation, quickly drawing out the blade and offering it to me. Perceptive boy.
I took the sword with a soft chuckle.
The cool, unique sensation of the hilt enveloped my hand.
Simultaneously, my palm grew hot.
Thump. A familiar alien sensation rippled through me.
Unlike other affinities, Aura is a power built solely through one’s own blood and sweat.
Yet this blade revealed Aura compatibility with merely a touch. Something seemed amiss—
‘There’s a Fragment embedded in it.’
I sensed the Fragment of an Otherworldly Being within the sword. It writhed—foreign yet familiar, simultaneously destructive.
A Fragment of an Otherworldly Being in a sword that freshmen held during their first lecture.
‘That’s why Evangeline produced no light when she grasped it.’
Her claim that it was broken was accurate. More precisely, it was broken for her. Evangeline and the Fragment were fundamentally incompatible.
Then the Fragment within the sword pulsed violently. Searing pain shot through my palm.
And—
Light so brilliant it seared the eyes poured forth.
So brilliant it pierced even the blackout curtains of the Magic Arts Lecture Hall. The light that penetrated those curtains engulfed the entire floor.
‘This is ridiculous.’
I cursed and released the sword. Or tried to.
The blade clung to my hand as if grafted to my flesh. The light grew ever more intense, until I could no longer see ahead.
Gulp.
Something seemed to pass down my throat.
The alien sensation from within intensified.
The light no longer emanated from the sword.
‘I’ve absorbed the Fragment.’
Far less than what I’d consumed at the Rift, but absorbed nonetheless.
Absorbing the Fragment was beneficial, but the problem was that what I held was the Desant Sword—the very blade the Radiant Knight had extracted with such care to avoid damaging it.
And I had just broken it.
How was I to account for this—
“Wh…what?”
Just then, a stupid sound came from beside me. I turned to see Hans, drool trickling from his mouth.
Hans gazed at me as though I were a god he had just beheld.
His expression was even more foolish than Mailo’s.
“Were you…the Sword Saint?”
Hans asked haltingly in an excessively reverent voice.
‘The Sword Saint?’
The Sword Saint was the realm beyond the Sword Master.
However, in practice, most considered the Sword Master the highest realm. This was due to the condition for attaining Sword Saint.
[The Sword Saint moves the stars with the blade.]
The Sword Master was a monster, certainly, but the Sword Saint—one who moves the stars with a blade—was a different order entirely.
This was why the Sword Master was pragmatically recognized as the highest realm. And even within that rank, degrees existed.
There was reason behind the Sword Saint’s condition of moving stars.
‘Only by moving stars can one reach the Otherworldly Beings.’
But that was knowledge not yet revealed to the world.
The Sword Saint remained a legend.
Yet Hans had just called me one—
‘Ah, it’s understandable that I’d appear as such.’
Even the Radiant Knight, considered the strongest among current professors, could only fill the Lecture Hall with light.
But I had not only covered the Lecture Hall—I had pierced even the blackout curtains of the Magic Arts Lecture Hall.
Of course, the foundation was the Fragment’s resonance, which Hans did not know. Unaware of this, Hans had mistaken me for the Sword Saint.
I rapidly calculated the gains and losses in my mind, weighing the consequences of Hans’s misunderstanding.
And—
“Ah, I’ve been discovered.”
I spoke with the grave expression befitting a saint.
“Sword Saint, what brings you to this place—”
Hans immediately prostrated himself flat on the ground.
The look in Hans’s eyes had lost all its irreverence. Only awe and fear remained.
I recalled the legends of the Sword Saint.
The Sword Saint belongs to no organization. Like the stars, they wander the continent, rising aloft only when the continent faces peril.
The Sword Saint appears only when searching for the next generation’s star.
In other words—
“I have come to seek the star of the next generation.”
I spoke in the grave voice of a Sword Saint.
“The, the next generation’s star!!”
Hans’s eyes began to glimmer, then positively shine.
For the Sword Saint’s words stir the hearts of knights regardless of rank or station.
“Boy, have you beheld the star?”
I solemnly held out the sword to Hans.
“Yes, my lord.”
Hans accepted the blade with the reverence of a knight receiving honors from the emperor.
It was a broken sword.

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