Chapter 41: Group Assignment (1)
kOQ6QThe professors of the Knight Department gathered every month for a conference to share their evaluations of students and things to note.tBzLQE
dHdOGhdEven aside from that, this conference was a fairly important social event for all the knight professors for them to keep in touch with others.2zX8g3
615It was back in late April when the interim exam had just taken place. There were plenty of agendas for the monthly conference, such as the unfair treatment of the Magic Department receiving more budget and the equity issues of the payment for knights on the Mission Board but the hot potato this month was a Grade 5 Knight.Gpp8Rj
HWRkYKorin Lork.Von
FOvcVrThe topic was on how wrong it was to keep him as a Grade 5 Knight.vaT1FEW
KHvi“There’s a need to increase Korin Lork’s grade.”l8Hefu
oZjwThe proposer of the agenda was the old-timer of the Knight Department, Old Man Haman who had 30 years of service at the Academy under his belt.Fv8vX
Yi8XIt was rare for this stubborn old man to proactively support a student so his words gathered the attention of a lot of other veteran professors.wI7sup
7DJW“Korin Lork. He’s a freshman if I recall correctly, yes?”wfIsLT
wMu0v“Grade 5? The data seems horrendous. Why would you consider raising a student like him?”mZyyD
7mHvlcThe professors of senior students asked in confusion. They hadn’t attended the freshmen interim exam which had taken place 2 weeks ago.81H9oS
1iMjTit“If he’s just a Grade 5 Knight, then there’s no need to…”Ocj
6hX38X7“That Grade 5 Knight fought on equal grounds with Sword Master Lunia Arden. Only for 3 minutes though.”1pa
bjCJo“…!!”7WyVGar
KwUSVCJ“What kind of joke…”lKiV7
3K1CmstThe explanation of Professor Fermack, who was in charge of the freshmen students, caused voices of doubt to spread between the senior year professors of the Knight Department.vyoUX
egLLunia Arden? Wasn’t she the prime successor candidate of the renowned Arden family? Her unprecedented evaluation of being a semi-Unique Grade knight despite her young age and her performance were all proof that she was one of the representative heroes of this era.ByefFLE
obZbcOne flick of her hand should be enough to demolish dozens of Grade 5 Knights let alone a single one, so how could one possibly last 3 minutes?AOHq
xwM4aOZ“She must have been holding back.”32tlF
37bProfessor Royd, in charge of 3rd year students, raised a skeptical opinion but was immediately rebutted by Old Man Haman.Pexz2Qb
mmbq“Are there any professors among the ones that were present back then including myself who think Lunia Arden was holding back against Korin Lork?”WK61
9MFNvh“…”Q2mD9
O37q“…”DXQga
qmm4rWThe ensuing silence made the senior student professors even more flustered.LF5InZc
MMH92“But even so, raising the grade just because of an interim exam is a bit…”Nnq
ypGmU0Old Man Haman did not mention Marie Dunareff’s incident here. Unlike himself, a Grade 1 Knight and a central figure of the Knight Department, most of the professors here only knew about the publicly announced pieces of information.yw5iC
8k8mGDIn order to make sure, Professor Royd asked Professor Fermack.PxB8I
hYKI“Professor Fermack. Is there no room for doubt on the abilities of this student called Korin?”2aH
jTw2“There’s none. His skill with the spear is as exceptional as that of a demon. Frankly speaking, there’s probably no-one among the Grade 2 students who can fight against him.”dQlro
5XCKA“Is he that strong?”3dGld
4dav“Don’t we have another successor candidate of the Arden family in the 1st year?”hTVAZ
2UfJ“She was beaten up by him during the hunting grounds practical lesson. She stood no chance.”ZZ143I9
I0v“Hmm…!”qOp
Sy7Indeed, that meant there was no doubt on his ability. That meant it was certain that he was as strong as a Grade 1, but…UsMQouu
FF8U5R“Even if that’s true, we cannot increase his grade without any achievement. Since that is our rule.”e8s2El
WBebAll the participants here agreed with the fact that his Grade couldn’t go up immediately. Interim exams did not count as an achievement and were therefore not enough.20TRIy
3N1g1Old Man Haman, who had been at the Academy longer than anyone else among these professors here, shared a different perspective as if he had been waiting for that statement.3LwdC7g
iyTdeOZ“Let’s entrust that to the Alliance’s official grading test. There is a limit to how much we could increase his grade by, but it should be okay if we let him take a reassessment for an ‘official’ guardian license.”Hk2vw
FklZR“Hmm…”SZsuh
zVG“But if we do that, the student would need to be accompanied by a professor…”aql
pRc5U“Professor Haman… or should I say Instructor Haman. Since you were the one who proposed this, how about you take charge?”Vb5bj
CZcSN“I would be glad to.”n5Gsq5
oHxZaxNInstructor Haman volunteered for the reassessment as the Knight Department came to a conclusion.VrX
71KFirstly, they would have to prepare a test to reassess Korin Lork’s grade. If he passed it, then his grade would officially be raised up.WhRAu
bzm1“Huu… Korin Lork, huh.”pQR64kZ
YMBiProfessor Fermack, who was also in agreement with the reassessment, thought about the person in question.PwrL
KAQV0c2Korin Lork.SugL
OC6AIGrade 5 Knight.8Dg0
esYLxBoth his Aura Rank and Mana Rank were at Low, and he didn’t have much aura either.DkzK
o9jkEv2However, his fight against Lunia Arden implied that there was something wrong with that evaluation.W2fOv4
v8eHis weapon proficiency was one thing, but his stats were incomparably different to the one he had before the grading test. Fermack quickly came to a conclusion… that he was hiding something.Udp
wmiVlThe reason he could quickly come up with a hypothesis was because he had an idea about the power Korin Lork was using – the secret technique of the ancient warriors of the Shadow Paradise: the high-risk and high-reward ability – Precept.G3Evi
PcLR‘Besides, that spear… it’s that person’s spearmanship no matter how I see it.’k7IO2r
ltyFermack’s master and benefactor who taught him how to use runes – that person was a great spear wielder. Although Fermack didn’t have any profound knowledge on spearmanship, he could still say with certainty that Korin’s spear was the same as the one he had seen several times from his master.rsO
fD6P‘Don’t tell me… Is he also his disciple just like me?’0BhAHr
a0Ya2CIt was still just an assumption but there were a lot of clues. If Korin was that person’s disciple just like him…8vT
ViBY“I’ll have to test him out a little.”CLiiHE
y0UtLbWhile hiding his sharp gaze behind the sunglasses, Fermack returned to the usual frivolous young professor.4rFoL
UUv57q1****Zeefeo
hb4jIt had been a rather noisy start to the semester but it was already May.TGI
2goAfter spending an eventful early semester, Alicia hopped up the stairs with more expectation than usual.l64V
WpglTGJAlicia was like every other student. She found lessons boring and wanted to skip them whenever possible but today’s lesson was different, because it was one she shared with a specific student.gegtgFW
4bMPushing open the door of Lecture Room 4012 on the 4th floor of the Knight Department’s Liberty Hall, Alicia greeted everyone.TuvJkoO
ide3“Hello~!”XCbPs
uKKA“Hi Alicia.”SWSk
dQyL0Since she was one of the few Grade 2 Knights among the freshmen students, everyone knew who she was.6dMO
MlWclnBesides, she was the successor candidate of the Arden family which was known for their incredible swordsmanship. It was impossible for the students to not know her considering the newspapers and the rumors around the campus.XxI
cvgGAlicia was a fairly sociable person so she showed a friendly smile to all her peers that were greeting her as she hopped across the room.94bD
KVG1p“Mr. Korin~”80Nh
dnAlThe place she settled in was the seat next to Korin.ym5ViA
oHbMeBQ“…”BhFvSQ
UJSXfIJaeger, who just returned from the bathroom and realized that his seat had been taken, squinted his eyes. With a sharp gaze that couldn’t be hidden despite his narrowed eyes, he glared at Korin.bvY6dLg
rhDThese days, there was always someone amazing by his side.KpZZ
MLnpWhenever there was a joint lesson with the seniors, the Number 1 celebrity of the Academy, potato senior, would be sitting next to him and when it was a freshmen Knight Department lesson, it would either be the frightening demon girl or that granddaughter of the Sword Emperor.WXKE3a0
O3K19pHThere was only one thing Jaeger could say as Korin’s friend (?).MQVu4
0Ntk8g‘I’m so jealous!!’4xNH8C
j5si3pNSince when did my friend have such an impressive set of female friends? What about my youth? Why is there no-one by my side!dRrn
DFfP9AHe groaned like that until the start of the lesson.EBM
jae6Xyr“Yo~. Hello freshmen buddies, are y’all ready?”ifycup
ccuaWalking into the room with a loud greeting was a funkish man whose afro-hair and sunglasses were very impressive. He was Professor Fermack Daman of the Knight Department.qvSx5N
m4NFlL0“As I mentioned last lesson, we will be starting a group assignment from today.”N2r2jPW
G2C1ao“Ahh…”joR
DbeThere were laments from everywhere but Professor Fermack Daman ignored their complaints with ease.7mp
AKHe“Now now. I know you might be thinking this is annoying, but this is very important and it’s going to help out in the future.”VfL
PulcWrzProfessor Fermack planted expectation into the minds of the students like a veteran professor. People might think of a group assignment as something tedious at a glance but as an education facility of guardians, the Merkarva Academy was very practical even when it came to group assignments.IQbtbdd
HyR69“Let me first describe what you’ll be doing before we start the lesson. We are the Knight Department so unlike the geeks of the Magic Department, we are not going to tell you to solve some difficult Math equations or tell you to plant mysterious plants.”CLBjwM
MnQ– Hahaha!C5M
nXl58b0Knight Department and the Magic Department. Although the conflict between the two wasn’t serious by any means, it was natural for some level of competitiveness to exist, which Professor Fermack made good use of.IcxFpw
XURaLp2– Click!04iM2
PCDqx1FHe clicked his fingers and created a pop of air which opened the documents that were installed on the board.VbTOSF
spd“Wow~. He added Condensed Aura into his fingers right? Did you see that, Mr. Korin?”yFl7
6pVE3zY“I did.”BGzc
elDqEProfessor Fermack was popular among the students for showing such attention-grabbing tricks.wte
LCfM“Now. Have a look at this paper.”8F96
1c3XThe papers he prepared had large drawings of human figures and appeared like they were explaining certain moves one by one. They were diagrams that you would find from martial art books related to knights and weaponry.rX7
0e8k“Mhmm?”sQb
m6j“Mr. Korin?”IlRjf
Fd2l5Vs“Nothing.”ENk62lg
qfjFNQjThe movements on the papers were showing a set of spear moves.L4d8
MVXMSeveral elementary spearmanship postures ranging from middle guard to high guard, advancing, walking, strafes and lunges were expressed in detail. Considering how I had immersed myself into basic spearmanship like crazy before learning Six Ways of the Spear, they were a set of moves that I knew off by heart.Og8C
rqocY‘But why? Wasn’t it boxing in the last iteration?’A1vQsV1
v7cImu0Fermack Daman was someone who fought with bare fists. He was a boxer known for controlling the gap, his dashes as well as his unique use of shadows. He was a famous Grade 1 Knight from the Berkut Academy of the North with Rune Magic installed in his gauntlets.q17YMY8
YVDbi0DHe was also known for changing the bare-handed fight curriculum of the army, which was why he picked boxing in the last iteration but…HvWeRu
NP6‘Is it because of me?’KCHgpH1
8j1DWDid he notice something from the spearmanship I showed against Lunia Arden during the interim exam? In a way, I guess you could say Fermack Daman and I were the nephew and an uncle of a martial family.4IWkyfA
HCJYphIt was normal for him to be in doubt after seeing my spearmanship – not that it mattered though.041
irAi“Why is it spear out of everything? No offense but don’t we have more students that are learning the sword?”mFDcl
ctR8Fermack replied to the question raised by one of the students.4CZGx
GIAQL7“There are a bunch of other people that learn swords.”aX3Awv
1f00z0“…”IwwN
Ml6mrrQ“Weapons each have their own profound secrets. If you don’t know the secrets of these other weapons, you’re bound to lose in an interpersonal battle.”HtE
vHN1a4‘Sword wrestling’ was a prime example. This was something that was easily misunderstood, but the victor of a close combat fight with swords pushing against one another was not decided by pure strength.J8KmBEt
mLl9In fact, it was commonplace for those that overly trusted in their strength to allow a strike to their vitals instead.DV9i
H9sMV8As one of the prime examples, in a sword wrestle, the victor could be decided in less than 0.5 seconds with one of them losing their heads.5im
UGaThe only way to combat these techniques was to practice without an end.WzNYD
b905cH“You’ll have plenty of chances to see swords in the future but as for the weapons that are less mainstream like spears and fists, you will have less chances of seeing their skills. For example… Student Korin?”8cM
pKO“…Yes.”Vpx
EuC7tTIn this lecture room of about 40 students, there were only six spear-users including myself. And out of those 6 people, it was natural for me to be chosen as someone who was rising in fame despite being a Grade 5 Knight.Tkq4GvO
3LWAfter all, my stock price was breaking through the ceiling after the even fight against Sword Master Lunia Arden.kuq
wOvjq“What do you think are the advantages of a spear?”INfNE0t
NVWC90“I would say it’s the ability to pressure the opponent from a distance, as well as the destructiveness of a long weapon.”f2mdjUj
3JV“That is correct. Why is that the case?”Mpe
SDPFks“Because it is usually held with two hands, and it is easy to add weight and leverage into the spear.”A5uNFsJ
NzPQz8“Correct. It’s something you can also see by comparing weapons like greatswords and one-handed swords, but weapons always become more powerful the longer and heavier they are.” After saying that, Fermack pointed at one of the students who had their hand up. “Student Ranan. Do you have a question?”4x2fEA
7MzRanan replied, “Sir! Isn’t the sword still the strongest!? There are a lot of people learning it as well!”iE1N
NuGlBHis comment brought about a fierce retaliation.gBbhl
YSTVc“You’re saying that again! Long weapons are the best, okay?”obs0NeW
H5kXKF“Nope! Have you never heard of swords being the king of weapons? The sword’s definitely going to win in a close distance!”RnB
QzDcO“How about you try closing in the distance then~?”X9n5mv
cZjQFwAhh. There was never a conclusion to this long debate. Which weapon was the real king of them all?PPfQQQc
2cX5llIt was an important issue to young students. Actually, it was very important to adults as well.nOv0o8c
d2EWT“Haha. Then as someone who showed a wonderful fight against Sword Master Lunia Arden, how about you tell us, Student Korin?”vaGbQB
0rmcOOWhy was he calling me again? The sharp gaze behind Professor Fermack’s sunglasses headed towards me.cyR5J
8op“What do you think is the strongest weapon?”pHRS
yz4I could probably give the reply of a model student but I didn’t feel the need to do so. Fermack was probably trying to see through me but… there was no need to bother hiding it from this bastard.odOc
Fm8“Of course, the spear is the best and I am the strongest.”jKj
y6a“Boooo!!”VJRC4c4
dVU“He’s picking a fight with us!”IOFMSWH
AjZHaha. The jeers and irritated gazes of young and energetic students were all on me.258
JInjxWhat are you going to do huh? Fight me?SJln
q9tN“…”b6IArl
9agHfI could also sense Hua Ran’s gaze in the mix. Umm… she’s not going to say something about this later is she?4OD
Tupg6cUhh… not you, of course.7DdIY
Yy9***ozb2
sZnnw47Professor Fermack announced at the end of the lesson that the group assignment will be about explaining a basic spearmanship posture.BZPFKs
An0“In this assignment, you will form groups to freely choose a spearmanship style, research into it and demonstrate one skill.”TTB9Na
DZg“Sir. Wouldn’t that make it way too good for the ones that already use a spear?”WduEGl
CeMKb“I will take that into account for the evaluation, by either extra marks or increasing their evaluation threshold. Each group will have 4 people and we will decide the groups by drawing lots.”XuV
FK1rRWFermack placed on the desk a box with numbered papers inside, and made the students take them out one by one.4SeEJ5Z
MG1PjFThere were 40 freshmen students of the Knight Department inside the lecture room. It was four in one group so that would make about 10 groups, and Korin and the other spear-users had already been divided into separate groups.uyP
l0VKL2C“I’m in Group 3. What’s yours, Korin?”TGkbT
pvuEW“Group 3.”Sq4V
1Na“Ohh, nice~.”q6vQa
4R7G“…Mr. Korin is Group 3.”7j7ROHL
7Py1DxAfter listening to the conversation between Jaeger and Korin, Alicia walked towards the box of lots. There was a 10% chance, and she hoped that the goddess of fate would be standing on her side.DBt
GCKGoing up to the front desk, she lined up behind Hua Ran in her chained nun clothes who had just finished picking a number.JnTT99
7qkV“Student Hua Ran. What group are you in?” asked Professor Fermack.I75k
18ED2mF“Group 3.”hMqQ
CvoT“Okay. Korin Lork, Hua Ran and Jaeger Hinzpeter in Group 3.”dz8dT
WwS‘T, there’s only one left now!’Cw22v
q19wWouldn’t that lower the chance significantly? Alicia nervously threw her hand into the box of lots.syD7bsG
z0tX‘Group 3! Group 3! Group 3…!’tddSWKs
l5wWmTShe immediately took a paper out which read…ZJwLo8J
KRt6“Alicia Arden. Group 8.”154ctC
YIlR“…Ah.”DcRK
cqrlYThe goddess of fate wasn’t standing on her side. And immediately after that…o0tFp
pCn“Dorron Warsky, Group 3.”5wLDhm
HCb7“Ah…”8yb3o36
BkdNXj3Her lament reached the ears of Dorron who had just pulled his lot. He looked back and forth between his paper and Alicia before giving her a seemingly gentle suggestion.lSgn
ZbGGq“Do you want to swap?”klHQl
Mn4YF“C, can we please?!”Vu4C7
zqgJ“Well, it will be a slight loss for me, but it’s not like I can’t.”EUrs
zgjEU“Mr. Dorron… You were a nice person!”JBbz6W
18isTsqAlicia walked up to Dorron’s paper with sparkling eyes but Dorron retrieved it in the blink of an eye.93ciJFg
5Jsw“???”16E
ALFbc“20 silver coins.”YrEe
21kpbP“A, are you charging money for that?!”ilEky3w
YMGu“There’s nothing free in this world, Lady Arden.”k0Qyye
rR19“That’s too expensive!”P6K17Fu
w2Z“Well… if you think about the opportunity cost, I’d say I’m making a loss.”559AILD
s5Y“What do you mean?”oW32
GRyVjw“What I mean, is that you don’t have to buy it if you don’t want to.”Vklopa
middQHe cold-heartedly turned around so Alicia rapidly grabbed on the end of his clothes. She was so fast that even the veteran mercenary Dorron could not react in time.Slzu
0MNQ“I, I will give you the money.”8sID
9WenUThe purse of the poor girl opened with a shiver.LohAev
Fa65YM｢Group Assignment, Group 3｣8Kys
50lHua RanyxpBZVB
IwQFsKorin LorkyuTUq
vmFf3DTAlicia ArdenKw1xWrB
PZTXJaeger HinzpeterYxEF
1kHkXhkThere was a bit of corruption and a secret negotiation but the members of the Group Assignment were thus decided.ObhlTZQ
slUee“The assignment will be due 2 weeks later during this lesson. On the weekdays, you can study by borrowing some books from the library and you can practice at the training rooms or the festival hall.”H4vHi8c
uWcWith that, the lesson ended ahead of time for the groups to each discuss their plans.BLJ
6awT7F“First off. Who should we choose for our group leader?”u2NVV1
MvY3YX“…”xO8o9
G4fV“…”oa8qL
WHPaLUS“…”iALDtU
RNVuKorin’s words were like an own goal because the three of them all turned to him at the same time as if they had promised on it beforehand.8PD6B
I9g9ZsIt was going just like every other group assignment of modern Earth.pEYVbo
hfzFBgTranslator’s Note:5tk
FXO2Group assignments in Korea are infamous for having uncooperative members (it’s used like a meme at this point), and the group leader usually shoulders the blame if something goes wrong.98TqZ
What did you think of this chapter?
Report comment
Please select the reason for reporting this comment. False reports may result in account suspension.
0 Comments
There are no comments yet. Be the first!