The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 22 11. Our Lumian Has Changed (2)

Late in the evening, Professor Karin was reviewing notes containing evaluations of the cadets under his charge.

Though only a month had passed since the semester began, there were many parts to revise. Since the cadets were young, their learning speed was remarkably fast. Karin updated the children’s evaluations with a joyful heart.

‘Lus Gallon, improved stamina and enhanced thrusting proficiency. Still has the weakness of narrowed vision when excited.’

‘Lena Willington, significantly stronger will. The weakness of unstable sword path has been improved. Seems to need lower body focused training.’

‘Teoro Shutgarn, improved lower defense which was a weakness, smooth transition between offense and defense. Growing steadily. No advice needed at present.’

Which parts had grown how much, what weaknesses still remained, what advice he should give to improve them.

Writing everything down meticulously, quite a bit of time had passed before he knew it.

But it was fine. Having confirmed that most cadets were breaking through their limits and growing, there was nothing more rewarding for a professor.

Seeing dawn breaking outside the window, Professor Karin took a sip of tea and thought.

‘All the children have improved, but among them, Class E’s growth is particularly remarkable.’

In fact, Class E was the class Professor Karin had worried about most.

Though there was an outstanding talent named Teoro Shutgarn holding it together, the children supporting him from below were lacking. It was the consensus of all professors that their average skill was the lowest among the six second-year classes.

But now it was different.

The current Class E had achieved rapid growth that made the evaluation of being the lowest among second-years seem meaningless.

All the children participated in classes with more enthusiasm than before, and even after classes ended, they voluntarily stayed behind to devote themselves to training.

Even several cadets who had dull, unfocused eyes were now swinging their swords one more time, swept up in the surrounding atmosphere. It was a good phenomenon.

How on earth had this happened? What had moved their hearts?

Professor Karin knew the answer.

He stared at one spot in his cadet evaluation notes.

‘Lumian Calard.’

The second year’s biggest troublemaker.

Failing student, poor student, country young master. Each word describing him told the story of what kind of evaluation Lumian had received until last year.

But not now.

The weak child who received professors’ sympathy and classmates’ contempt had grown beyond recognition during the break, and achieved another growth spurt during the semester.

He had simultaneously acquired the virtues of a knight and the virtues of a leader.

‘He trains harder than anyone and shows an attitude of leading by example. Moreover, he shows thoughtful care even for classmates lacking in will and skill.’

Thanks to Lumian’s gentle leadership, Class E showed steep growth that surprised even Professor Karin.

The children didn’t seem to realize it yet, but they would probably be shocked when this midterm evaluation ended. And they would trust themselves more, growing into even more excellent talents.

Professor Karin, with a gentle smile on his lips, sipped his tea and thought.

‘Thank goodness. He’s doing so well that my worries from back then seem meaningless.’

In the case of geniuses who become aware of their talent, they often become uncontrollable eccentrics.

Lumian’s case had even higher possibility of this. He thought the stress accumulated over the past year might explode all at once and have a negative influence.

Fortunately, Lumian didn’t do that.

Rather, he showed a surprisingly exemplary appearance, giving good influence even to those around him.

This was something even Teoro Shutgarn, Class E’s greatest talent, couldn’t accomplish.

‘Thanks to Lumian, our overall strength has increased a lot, so this time there should be no problem having an exchange match with Class B.’

In the past he would have worried, but now he looked forward to it.

With a pleased expression, he picked up his pen again to arrange the brackets for the midterm evaluation.

* * *

“Damn it!”

“What, Class B?”

“The entire class’s wins and losses are reflected in grades too? Crazy, this is too much!”

The Class E cadets who confirmed the midterm evaluation method for swordsmanship class expressed their dissatisfaction.

And rightly so, because Class B’s average skill level was far superior to their own.

Cal Krone, Teoro Shutgarn, and Bumer Simpson, who were treated as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the grade, weren’t there.

But 4th through 6th place were all gathered in Class B, and those supporting them from below were also skilled fighters who absolutely couldn’t be ignored.

Having to compete one-on-one with such guys, with only the side that won more receiving bonus points, naturally caused groaning.

“Damn, if it’s one-on-one, they should only evaluate individually, why are they considering the entire class’s performance?”

Large Boy’s complaints were especially loud.

He prided himself on having above-average skills. So naturally came the thought of whether he might be held back by cadets inferior to himself.

He looked at Freckled Boy with a menacing expression.

“Ugh, am I going to suffer because of this bastard too?”

“I, I’m planning to do my best though…”

“What good does just doing your best do! Your skills are terrible! Damn, we’re screwed. How can we beat Class B?”

Large Boy continued his complaints, and the other Class E cadets looked at him with hardened expressions.

They felt unpleasant but no one tried to stop him.

Most of them were having similarly negative thoughts.

‘I have to suffer because of those guys…’

‘Damn, it’s not like I can’t do it because I don’t want to. Those guys themselves aren’t even in Class B’s upper ranks.’

The upper ranks had their own concerns, the lower ranks had theirs, and the atmosphere sank.

The weight of swordsmanship evaluation in the Knight Department was absolute. The Class E cadets wore gloomy expressions at the evaluation method that was more disadvantageous than expected.

Except for two people: Teoro, who was confident he could get good grades regardless of bonus points, and

‘If I step forward now… that would be pretty cool, right?’

The manipulated model student absorbed in his act, Lumian Calard.

‘Large Boy, he’s quite useful.’

Looking at Large Boy whining like a child, Lumian smiled inwardly.

He was truly an excellent character. If such a villain appeared and then he stepped forward to show a good side, the effect he could gain would be doubled.

Of course, that was only if he led the situation in a good direction.

If he couldn’t reverse this gloomy situation toward a hopeful one, he would just become the guy who stepped forward tactlessly.

‘It’s okay. I can do it.’

Lumian took a deep breath and steeled his resolve.

It was sufficiently possible. Thanks to his efforts so far, his image had risen considerably, and his relationships with the children had improved.

Above all, he had swordsmanship skills. For knight cadets, there was no weapon that wielded as much influence as swordsmanship ability.

Lumian believed in that.

He slowly moved his steps. As he pushed between Large Boy and Freckled Boy, he naturally drew the attention of all the Class E cadets.

“I… think we can win.”

“What, huh?”

Large Boy was flustered. When the class’s top skilled fighter suddenly contradicted his words, his head went blank and he broke out in cold sweat.

However, Lumian had no intention whatsoever of making him look bad.

He just wanted to look cool.

He turned his gaze toward the other children and continued speaking, maintaining the gentle expression he usually practiced.

“Of course I know the Class B kids are skilled, but I don’t think we need to have a bad atmosphere from the start. We’ve been working really hard lately, haven’t we? Even I’m different from last year. Ah, this suddenly feels embarrassing like I’m praising myself.”

Lumian scratched the back of his head with a bashful smile.

An appearance that seemed much more approachable and full of gaps compared to other top-tier cadets.

But such an attitude came across as even more friendly to the children.

“Anyway, um, what I want to say is… we have a high enough chance of winning too. No, we can win. Though I’m lacking, I’ll help more during the remaining week.”

“…”

“So, if we all work hard together, wouldn’t that be good? Haha, hahaha. I really think we can win…”

As if he hadn’t stood in front of others much, he continued speaking awkwardly and clumsily.

His voice and expression weren’t forceful either, so if someone who didn’t know him saw this, they might have snorted.

But the Class E children knew Lumian.

They knew how hard he had been working.

They knew what tremendous skills he possessed.

They knew how much his help contributed to skill improvement.

Therefore, even his appearance that might seem weak at first glance came across as reliable. Rather than a strong and intimidating tone, his will was transmitted deeper into their hearts without resistance.

‘Let me put some aura in my voice too…’

One more little trick was added to this.

When the previous life’s Lumian gave speeches before knights, he would subtly infuse energy into his voice. It was a high-level technique, but using it made it possible to produce a more trustworthy voice.

“I think I can do it too.”

Teoro supported Lumian in this.

Looking at the children staring at him, he bluntly added one more comment.

“If Lumian says it’s possible, then I think it can be done.”

With those words, he left his seat.

Before leaving, it was only natural that he exchanged glances with Lumian.

He thought to himself.

‘Now he’s getting quite good at knowing when to step forward.’

Feeling proud of his disciple’s growth, Teoro quickly walked away.

He had given his support, so now it was time to step back.

“Yeah, damn it, we can do this.”

“Right. What are we lacking? Lumian’s right. We can win.”

“Exactly. And we still have a whole week left. We just need to work harder than those Class B bastards during the remaining time.”

“I should go train right now.”

“Me too! Oh, Lumian! Could you take a look at my thrusting technique?”

“Me too, me too! I keep worrying about my counterattack after defending…”

“Teach me how to deflect attacks while moving sideways!”

The atmosphere had changed.

Teoro had fanned the spark that Lumian had ignited. The blazing heat spread among the Class E cadets.

Watching the children approach him, Lumian smiled innocently.

He specifically pointed out one female student among the many cadets.

Because she was the prettiest.

“I’ll help Emilia first. I’ll help the others whenever I get the chance too. Let’s definitely win.”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s go! We can do this!”

The Class E cadets all ran toward the training grounds with expressions full of enthusiasm.

Professor Karin, standing in the distance, watched them with a smile.

* * *

After helping the cadets until late at night and returning to the dormitory, Lumian reflected on the day’s events.

It wasn’t bad. It was quite good, actually.

The deliberately awkward yet pure appearance he had put on, while still showing glimpses of confidence, had further improved his image.

The girls’ gazes had also changed. Their favor had clearly deepened compared to before, and it seemed like one or two of them might be feeling something more than that toward him.

‘It might be my imagination, but anyway, good. It’s a good trend.’

Lumian briefly indulged in various fantasies.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Fantasies were nice, but today he planned to focus on aura training for the first time in a while.

‘It doesn’t have much meaning, but…’

Still, since it was the first midterm evaluation, he thought it would be better to put in at least some effort.

Lumian scratched his cheek as he thought.

‘If I work hard all night tonight, I think I could catch up to Professor Karin’s level.’

It wasn’t a thought a knight cadet should be capable of having, but he was serious.

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