The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 73

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

Chapter 73 31. The Handsome Man’s Burden (2)

“What? That person was a knight cadet?”

“Yeah. His clothes are knight cadet uniform too.”

She didn’t know. Because she had no interest in other departments. Especially the Knight Department.

She looked again at the swordsmanship competition winner, Lumian, who was walking slowly.

‘…He really is a knight cadet. He looks well-built.’

It was unexpected.

The knight cadets she imagined were all people with rough faces and crude atmospheres. Because the knights of her estate had that kind of feeling.

She never dreamed that such a handsome man, one who made her want to comfort him in her arms, would be a knight cadet.

She couldn’t take her eyes off Lumian’s back.

“What’s this. Do you like him by any chance?”

“Huh? No, just… he’s handsome.”

“Eh, is he handsome? I don’t think so. He’s charming though…”

“No! He’s handsome!”

When the female student raised her voice, Violet was startled.

She said.

“What? All of a sudden?”

“Ah, no, just…”

“You really fell for him, didn’t you. When did you say you weren’t interested in men…”

“No, it’s not like that… He’s really handsome, you know? Even if he’s not extremely handsome, he’s definitely…”

“Hmm… Really?”

Violet tilted her head.

Though she had felt Lumian was cool during the swordsmanship competition, now that the emotion had faded, she didn’t think much of it.

But seeing her friend being so enthusiastic made her feel confused.

‘Did he become handsome during vacation or something?’

No way, that’s ridiculous.

It was an absurd thought.

But she couldn’t help being curious. Violet said playfully to the female student.

“If I pass that person, call my name.”

“What?”

“I want to see how handsome he is. I didn’t get a good look earlier. Got it? I’ll be right back!”

“Hey!”

A plan to naturally turn around and check his face when her name was called!

It was a bit embarrassing, but her curiosity was too great.

She walked with larger strides than usual and overtook Lumian. Fortunately, his walking pace was slow.

And after a moment, her friend’s voice came from far away.

“Hilder!”

“Huh? Jessica!”

Violet turned around as if she had been waiting. But her eyes didn’t look toward where the voice came from.

Her target was none other than Lumian Calard’s face!

She quickly checked her target. She planned to glance over it briefly so it wouldn’t be obvious.

But.

“…Ah!”

Violet couldn’t do that.

She couldn’t.

His gaze that briefly met hers.

The moment she faced the anguish and pain felt from there, she had no choice but to stop in place.

‘This is… what…’

“Hey! Snap out of it!”

“Ah!”

The female student who had approached tapped Violet’s shoulder.

Even then, she had been staring blankly at Lumian as he walked away.

To her who finally came to her senses, the female student said triumphantly.

“Right? He’s handsome, isn’t he?”

“Oh, that’s right… What is this? He definitely wasn’t like that before…”

It wasn’t just his face that had changed.

The inexplicable sadness flowing from his body, from his eyes!

That heart-wrenching atmosphere was making Lumian’s appearance stand out even more.

“Haah… But what is it… Why is he making such a sad expression…”

“That’s right… I’m curious…”

The two girls worried about Lumian as if it were their own business.

And such phenomena were increasing in real time throughout the Academy.

“Ah!”

“Huh?”

“Oh my…”

Female students who saw the anguished Lumian stopped as if nailed to the spot.

And they stared at his back for a long time. As if bewitched by something.

They came to their senses when Lumian had moved far away and disappeared from sight.

“Oh my.”

“What’s with that person?”

“He definitely looks familiar… That person who participated in the swordsmanship competition…”

“Ah, that person?”

“Lumian Calard! Right, that was his name.”

“But was that person always so handsome…”

“That aside, it seems like something happened to him… Haah, what could it be?”

The women chatted for a long time at the spot he had left.

The atmosphere was completely different from the first semester.

Even then, Lumian’s recognition was quite high thanks to winning the swordsmanship competition, but he couldn’t draw this kind of reaction from women.

After the rumors with Cal Krone disappeared, he only heard things like ‘It’s Lumian’ or ‘He’s the swordsmanship competition winner, he was cool then.’

“I should have gone and at least talked to him…”

“Me too…”

Women regretting belatedly.

Men looked envious at their heartbroken appearance. Some glared at Lumian with faces full of jealousy.

Of course, they didn’t have the courage to pick a fight. He was the swordsmanship competition winner after all.

And Lumian was completely unaware of the current situation surrounding him.

‘It’s painful, so painful!’

He wanted to leave for Rhodesia but couldn’t readily do so, and because of his own circumstances, he had no leisure to look around.

If he had known about the effects of the Incubus’s demonic stone and the atmosphere he was emitting, he would have felt the women’s gazes and smiled brightly.

And he would have immediately escaped from his depression.

But Lumian was deeply immersed in his own world.

In the end, he entered theory class without noticing anything.

“Haah…”

And he let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

What happened next was surprising.

“Haah…”

“Aah…”

“Mmm…”

Right after Lumian’s sigh came out, voices of female students leaked from various parts of the classroom.

What moaning sounds, as if they had empathized with the protagonist of a tragedy.

Male students including Teoro frowned.

‘Why are those girls acting like that?’

Though they called it a class, they were people who had lived like knight order comrades for over a year.

What bloomed between them after seeing each other in all kinds of situations was closer to friendship than romance. Or hatred. Of course, everyone had gotten along well since the group battle that was the midterm evaluation of the first semester.

Anyway, there had never been any romantic relationships between men and women within E-class until now. At least not publicly.

But now the atmosphere was strange.

All the female students couldn’t concentrate on class at all. Their eyes were focused on Lumian.

Their gazes were also unusual.

The face of a girl looking at a male she was interested in!

Seeing this, several male students whispered among themselves.

“Have they all gone crazy together?”

“What the hell is this?”

“He did get a bit cleaner, but I still don’t understand.”

The current sense of disconnect was caused by the incubus’s charm not working on men.

Not knowing this, the students wore uncomfortable expressions throughout the class.

Of course, Lumian was unaware of this as well.

He was just continuously worrying about whether he had to give up going to Rhodesia, and whether there was no way to find a solution.

And after a while.

“Lumian, about the class content just now…”

“Huh?”

“Me too, I have a question too! I’m in a hurry, can’t you help me first?”

“What’s this? You never cared about theory classes before.”

“No, that’s why I’m trying to work hard from now on.”

‘What’s with these girls?’

During break time, Lumian looked bewildered as he watched the female classmates arguing in front of him.

Though they had shown interest in his changed self at the beginning of the first semester, that wasn’t the case now.

It was the same for him. They had already become like strangers to each other.

‘But why are they suddenly acting like this?’

He couldn’t understand it.

Shaking his head, he said quietly.

“Sorry. I have something to think about.”

Then he quickly left the classroom.

Since his head hurt, he wanted to get some fresh air outside.

“Wait, Lumian!”

“Something to think about? I’ll listen to you.”

“Lumian…”

‘Why do they keep following me!’

However, the female students were persistent. Despite Lumian frowning, they showed no signs of backing off.

Eventually, looking at the three female students who had chased him all the way outside the building, Lumian sighed again.

Why wouldn’t they leave him alone!

Why did they keep clinging to him!

‘If they’re going to cling anyway, I wish a stunning beauty would come…’

It was when he was having this thought.

From over there, a beauty who really was stunning enough to make his eyes light up was walking toward him.

The only unfortunate part was that her figure was lacking compared to her excellent appearance.

It was Tania Eloise. She approached with her black hair tied tightly back and said.

“I have something to talk to Lumian about, could you excuse us for a moment?”

“Uh…”

“Um, yes…”

“Understood…”

It wasn’t just words. There was a sharp aura accompanying them.

The second-year cadets couldn’t withstand the pressure from her, who had never missed being the top of the third year. The three who had been bothering Lumian hurriedly fled back into the building.

Seeing this, Lumian expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you, senior.”

“Don’t mention it. You looked a bit troubled.”

Tania said with a bright smile.

Unlike the female students from before, she seemed to have an attitude that wasn’t swept up in Lumian’s atmosphere.

However, this was a pretense.

Her inner state was completely different from her exterior.

‘What’s this, why does he feel so different?’

Her heartbeat quickened slightly.

She desperately managed her expression to avoid showing her confusion. Without realizing it, her fists clenched.

Actually, her earlier display of authority wasn’t to help Lumian.

It was because she couldn’t stand the sight of the women clinging to his side.

‘And why does he look so… sad? Like someone with serious worries?’

Tania’s eyes trembled slightly.

She wanted to take Lumian’s hand.

To ask why he was like this. To ask if he had any worries. She wanted to ask right away.

But she, who was proper in conduct and a model to others, couldn’t suddenly do such a thing.

The reason she came here was to strengthen connections with a promising talent, not to share romantic feelings between a man and woman.

‘Rather, at times like this, I should show a cool appearance as a senior!’

A reliable senior who listens to her junior’s worries!

What a beautiful sight that would be!

Having thought this far, Tania shook her head to regain her composure.

She couldn’t show such a foolish appearance anymore.

‘I don’t necessarily have to solve his worries.’

Just by listening well, Lumian would feel trust toward her. Through that, the bond between them would become even stronger.

Having finished her thoughts, Tania made a worried expression.

Unlike the other women, it was an appearance that showed no ulterior motives, seeming to care only about Lumian’s wellbeing.

“You look somewhat depressed, do you have any worries?”

“Mm. It’s nothing much.”

“Nothing much my foot, you look completely dejected.”

“No, it’s not that serious…”

“Whatever, let’s have lunch together later. You didn’t forget there are still nine times left, right?”

“Are you talking about the nine-tenths that’s left now?”

“Yeah. I’m going to use those nine times efficiently. But.”

“But?”

“But, I’ll listen to your worries. I don’t know what it is, but don’t suffer alone and at least talk about it.”

Hearing her words, Lumian looked slightly flustered.

But soon he looked at her with suspicious eyes.

Seeing this, Tania’s eyes widened.

“What’s with that expression?”

“No, uh…”

“Don’t tell me you don’t trust me?”

“Mm…”

“Don’t be like that and tell me. Even so, this big sister is a senior in life, wouldn’t I be better than you?”

“Pfft. Haha, hahaha!”

“What? You’re laughing? Laughing?”

Tania’s expression crumpled even more. She seemed hurt in her pride.

However, Lumian couldn’t stop laughing.

Seeing her, who was much younger than his previous life’s self, acting like a big sister felt quite different.

‘How amusing, and cute too.’

Of course, Tania didn’t know what Lumian was thinking.

She just thought she was being ignored. That made her feel a surge of emotion.

‘This bastard!’

It was strange. She wasn’t like this with other people, but only in front of this guy did her emotions fluctuate so severely.

She raised her voice.

“You keep laughing? Are my words so…”

“No. I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”

“Something else my ass, you were laughing because of what I said…”

“Let’s eat together, lunch.”

Cutting off Tania’s words, Lumian suddenly jumped in.

He wore a much brighter smile than before. His expression also looked much lighter.

Without realizing it, she took a step back.

Her face also turned slightly red.

“You said you didn’t want to, so suddenly, why?”

“You said you’d give me advice on my troubles, right? Isn’t that so?”

“Th-that’s right. Yeah. Let’s do that.”

“Yes. Let’s meet at the Clock Tower by 12:30.”

Having set the time and place, Lumian returned to the classroom.

Tania stared blankly at his retreating figure. It was a reaction similar to what other girls had shown.

If there was one difference, it was that the time it took her to come to her senses was much faster.

“Huh.”

Tania belatedly realized she had been spacing out.

Her face turned even redder. She could even feel her heart pounding.

‘Did anyone see me?’

She quickly looked around.

It seemed no one had seen her. Thank goodness. It would be terrible if someone misunderstood.

But staying here any longer felt unnecessarily burdensome.

Managing her expression, she quickly left the spot.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap.

A sight that had none of the dignity of a senior.

But it was a sight that truly suited her blooming age of sixteen.

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