Return to Academy and Civil War [1] – part 1

After a month of training as magic swordsman, the three of us, who have served the suspension period, gathered in front of the director’s office.

As usual, I knocked, got permission to enter, and slowly opened the black door.

「Excuse me.」

There was the sight of Leia-sensei who seemed to be lively as usual, and No.18-san who seemed to be more tired than usual for some reason.

……He seemed to have been used by sensei very much for the past month.

「Oh, you’re back! Hou, you three have some strong-willed look on your faces now!」sensei expressed her impression, observing the three of us.

「A-Ahaha… yeah, a lot of things happened…」

「Yeah… There was a lot of events…」

「It was tense too…」

Calming down and looking back on it, the past month has been quite tense… Perhaps it’s more accurate to say『aged』rather than『strong-willed』 face.

「Fufuu, let’s hear about it then.」Leia-sensei said, laughing happily.「Yoshi, then I’ll dissolve the suspension of you three – and permit you to return to Year 1 Class A!」

She stamped the director’s seal on three pieces of documents that she had at hand.

「Thank you very much.」

「Hooray!」

「We finally returned.」

Now we can finally take part in the classes.

(Soul Dress class, huh… I’m really looking forward to it!)

Although the one month delay is worrying, the expectation and joy that came together with it cancelled out the worry. I’ve encountered a number of soul dress in this short period of time.

Ria’s〈Fafnir〉.

Cain-san’s〈Hell Hundred〉.

Sid-san’s〈Vanargand〉.

Dodriel’s〈Shadow Ruler〉.

Rize-san’s〈Withered Parasol〉.

All of them have tremendously powerful abilities.

(What kind of ability will my soul dress have…?)

To tell the truth, I was thinking a lot about that last night, so much so that I couldn’t sleep.

「Now, it’s time for the first period… Fumu, it’s going to start in 10 minutes, so I guess I’ll go with you three.」

So we went to Year 1 Class A together with sensei. The corridor that I’m walking through for the first time in a month felt a little nostalgic.

「There, we’ve reached.」

Sensei shifted one step sideways without opening the door of the classroom. Apparently, I have to be the one to open the door.

「Fuu…」

「F-For some reason… I’m nervous」

「It’s been a month after all…」

Of course, it was the first time in a month… but more than that, it felt kind of difficult to face everyone.

(I’ve caused a lot of trouble for everyone…)

The match with Sid-san at the Big Five Holy Festival.

(If only I was not controlled by the spirit core, and had controlled that power properly…)

Perhaps, Thousand Blade Academy would’ve won against it’s fated opponent, Ice King Academy.

I inadvertently think about that implausible『if』scenario…

「Fuu… I’m opening it.」

The two nodded silently. I was prepared for cold looks and abuse from my classmates, and the moment I opened the door.

「「「Allen, Ria, Rose! Congratulations on returning to academy!」」」

Several crackers crackled, and simultaneously congratulations were sent our way.

「「「…Eh?」」」

The three of us gaped at the unexpected situation.

「Ahahaha! Oi Oi, what’s with that face!」

「Great job!」

「Allen, Ria and Rose, thank you very much for your work! It must have been hard.」

Everyone in Class A ran up to us.

「N-No, umm… everyone, are you not angry…?」

I voiced out what I was constantly worried about.

「No, No! The other party went overboard first! Besides, he was a spoiled bastard!」

「Aa! Rather, it was refreshing to see him get beaten up!」

「Well, in the end, you did go slightly overboard!」

That said, everyone welcomed us warmly.

(……)

My eyes have gotten teary…slightly.

However, it was shameful to cry in front of such a large number of people, so I pinched my thighs and forcefully held back my tears. While doing so, questions flew at me rapidly.

「Hey, you were a magic swordsman while suspended, right? Tell us that story!」

「You registered with the Orest branch of the Magic Swordsman Association, didn’t you? There’s a rumor that there’s a super scary『baldy』over there…」

「Which reminds me. I want to ask about that! The incident during Daido Commercial Festival! In Rize-Dorahain’s interview, Allen’s name came up!」

「E-Err…」

While I was puzzled by the rain-like questions,

「Ahem, hold your horses. Save your stories for during break period. The first period has already started after all.」Leia-sensei said, pointing at the wall clock above the blackboard.

Looking at it, three minutes had already passed from the start time of the first period.

「Damnnnn, can’t be helped I guess.」

「Allen, Ria, Rose! Please tell us the story later!」

Then, everyone took their seats albeit complaining. The three of us also went to our seats – three empty seats by the window.

Standing on the podium, sensei said something strange.

「Now then, starting today – we will commence the soul dress class!」

「Hooray! I’ve been waiting for this!」

「This past month has been tough…」

「Fuu, my spirit core is roaring!」

At the same time, my classmates cheered,「I was waiting!」.

I, Ria and Rose looked at each other dumbfounded.

「Se-Sensei…? What do you mean by『starting today』?」

「Nn? …Oh, haven’t I told you yet? It’s been a month since your suspension to your return to the academy. All the students in Class A have been doing only strength training of their own volition. They wanted to undergo the soul dress class at the same time as the three of you no matter what.」

「That’s just…!?」

When I turned my eyes towards everyone, they smiled and nodded.

(Certainly, I’m very happy to learn soul dress with everyone…)

It would’ve been okay to learn with just Ria and Rose, but it’s probably more fun to learn soul dress together with the entire class.

(But, to waste a month of everyone’s precious time… is not right.)

I’m far sorry than I am happy.

Then, as though having read my mind, sensei laughed boldly.

「Oh, don’t misunderstand, okay? They did not waste a minute or a second, okay?」

「What does that mean?」

「Fuu, I trained them personally! I closely supervised them and worked really hard! Look properly. You can understand that everybody has leveled up quite a bit, right?」

……Certainly.

As I looked closely, everyone’s body was at a level which can’t be compared to how it was a month ago.

(They didn’t become like Paula-san or Bons-san, but…)

The boys’ bodies have swelled up a bit. As far as I can see for the girls, the fat around the legs transformed into fine muscles.

Strength is the basis of all swordsmanship.

In an extreme example, if a five-year-old genius swordsman child and a muscular amateur, had a serious match with the sword – no doubt, the amateur will win.

The foundation of『muscle strength』is that important.

「Hehe, Allen? Right now, I can keep up with your movements!」

「After overcoming a month of hell, the Iron Cutting Style has developed further – it is now different than how it used to be…」

「Let’s have a mock battle this time.」

The trio, who fought with me before, laughed confidently.

「…! Aa, of course! Let’s have a mock battle!」

Apparently, I was completely overthinking it.

All here are much more talented swordsman than me. They didn’t waste a month of time.

「Yoshi, let’s start the class right away! First, we’re changing classroom – follow me!」

Then we followed after Leia-sensei to a basement called『Soul Dress Area』.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep