Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

The Sword Saint, with an excited face, kept urging me to face her with my sword again, endlessly prompting me to try to keep up with her speed. After seeing that I had not only caught up but surpassed her speed in the next spar, she let out a near-ecstatic exclamation.

On the other hand, I remained calm. It might have been a world-shattering event for her, but for me, it was only natural since I had grasped the principle of acceleration.

Due to mana breathing, my understanding of the concept was far superior to her. I could understand why the saying “half the battle is won” came about.

“I wonder how much more you intend to impress me, child…”

The Sword Saint, unaware of this fact, looked at me with honey dripping from her eyes and held my hands with all her might.

Because she had spent all his time with me, taking turns hitting and running away like beans in a frying pan, the other six, who had been consistently suffering, would have felt unfair if they had seen this.

“Would you please let go of my hand? It’s a bit overwhelming.”

“Oh, yes. Of course. I’m sorry.”

The Sword Saint apologized, but her expression was so full of regret that she reluctantly let go of my hand. My skin felt numb from how tightly she had been holding it.

“It would be better to set aside some time later to teach the child properly. You can rest now.”

He bowed his head slightly and sat next to Rosalia. Rosalia, with a smiling face, welcomed me with a clasped hand. The nearby shoulder was tightly pressed against mine.

Five of the others, excluding Aria, who was blushing, expressed their jealousy in various ways, with a mix of bewilderment.

“What are you looking at? Focus.”

And then they each received a hit from the Sword Saint.

Until now, the lessons had consisted of only one hit each, but as the lessons progressed with more controlled strength, short screams began to fill the room, starting with Leona.

The Sword Saint’s teaching method was effective, but the process was merciless. Without my healing magic, Priscilla and Aria would have collapsed and been unable to stand.

“Is that really true? Before Mira developed healing magic, you had to call a priest to substitute, didn’t you?”

Karna, who had finished a little earlier than the other five, confirmed it by saying that she had actually called a priest to teach while healing them. The title of the strongest human and her teaching skills seemed to be completely unrelated.

“But the effect will be definite. I guarantee it. The reason you sent me first is probably because you judged that the others still have room for growth, right? I’m done for today.”

“……That might be true.”

Aside from Aria and Priscilla, who grew more through theory than practice, the other three had definitely become more streamlined in their movements than when they first started.

Aria and Priscilla were relatively less affected, but they were not completely unaffected, and since their growth seemed slower, they definitely had more rest time. It was evidence that the Sword Saint was carefully managing them.

“Let’s call it a day. You’ve all done well.”

“Haaah…”

As soon as the training was declared over, Leona collapsed on the floor, and Elysier and Laura wobbled as if they were about to sit down. Aria was panting, catching her breath.

Priscilla, drenched in sweat, stumbled towards me and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back and wiped her sweat with my sleeve, when the Chairman, having heard the news, arrived with perfect timing.

“You’ve completely destroyed the training ground. Couldn’t you have taught them a little more ordinarily?”

The Chairman, with a sharp eye, first confirmed that I wasn’t injured, and only after she was assured did she begin to scold the Sword Saint.

“The child you gave the Dragon Fang Sword to, his talent is truly remarkable. I was very impressed.”

“Really?! You know a thing or two! Excellent taste!”

For some reason, it turned into a praise session for me. As soon as the Sword Saint praised me, the Chairman lit up and went into full-on proud parent mode, and the Sword Saint smiled contentedly, delighted to join in.

“Oh. That’s amazing, Mira. The two strongest people in the Empire are praising you like this.”

“Shut up. Be quiet.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be quiet. After all, you’re the ‘Empire’s Most Talented’, ‘Transcendent Student’, and the ‘Ultimate Embodiment of All Swordsmen and Mages’, Mira Crate. I have to listen to your every word. Hush!”

“……”

It was so embarrassing that I would have blushed to death, and Rosalia would have teased me about it.

“You two, that’s enough.”

In the end, I had to intervene and stop them. They made a special uniform just for me, and

it was around the time when the topic of granting the Crate family a ducal title came up.

The Chairman praised me wholeheartedly, laughed, and left, and the Sword Saint, along with Karna, turned to leave, saying she would see me at the next lesson.

“See you tomorrow. Have a good evening!”

As Karna, who was walking away in the distance, bowed her head deeply in greeting, Laura, Elysier, and Leona immediately took the empty seats, curious about how I had caught up with the Sword Saint’s speed. Aria and Priscilla also quietly approached, seemingly just as curious. The only one standing there nonchalantly was Rosalia, who knew she wouldn’t be able to do it anyway.

“Do you know mana breathing?”

“Yeah.”

“I know.”

Elysier and Leona, who had seen me use it before, nodded.

“Mana… breathing?”

On the other hand, Laura frowned.

“Why?”

“I don’t know why, but it sounds like a term I’ve heard somewhere, but I can’t remember where I heard it.”

It was probably from another novel. Laura was both a writer and a reader. Mana breathing wasn’t a concept unique to just one novel.

But I couldn’t bring up that story in front of Leona and Aria, so I just said that I had mentioned it to them before. I would explain it later when it was just the reincarnators.

“So, why mana breathing?”

“The acceleration technique used by the Sword Saint and the operation principle of mana breathing are the same.”

“……How?”

When I explained the principle of mana breathing simply, the three of them nearby, as well as Aria, Priscilla, and even Rosalia, all made disgusted faces.

“Seeing each and every mana particle and understanding it… Is that something a human can do?”

“It’s just hard at first. Once you understand it, it’s easy.”

“You, my dear, have a very bad habit.”

“What?”

“You have a habit of presenting utterly absurd actions that only you can do as if they were incredibly easy. My advice is to fix it as soon as possible.”

“I never said it was easy from the beginning. I said it would be easy once you understand it.”

“That doesn’t seem much different from saying it’s hard from the beginning.”

It was exactly what was written in the ancient books I had read and what I had experienced myself, but I gave up without arguing because I knew it would be futile. They would find out when they tried it themselves. Anyway, I was going to teach them later.

.

.

.

“Welcome back, young master.”

“Oh, you’re here. Master.”

“……Why are you doing this?”

As I returned to my room, Beatrice, with her hands politely folded in front of her, and Nika, kneeling with her hands raised, greeted me. I asked, puzzled.

“While I was away doing the laundry, this impudent girl was using your pillow for self-pleasure. The inside was soaked with fluid, so I burned the pillow after washing it, and I have prepared a new one, so you can rest assured, young master.”

“Is that enough to punish her?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Master! I won’t do it again! Forgive me! I couldn’t help it because your scent was so good…”

As Beatrice turned away, Nika desperately begged for forgiveness. I knew she didn’t really mean it, so I signaled for her to stop at an appropriate point.

It was a natural instinct for a succubus to do such things, so what could I do? As Beatrice handed me my pajamas, Nika stood up awkwardly and stood straight next to her.

“Oh, right. Yustera.”

Suddenly, I had a good idea and opened my mouth.

“Yes, yes! Master! Do you have something for me to do?”

“You went to the Demon World the other day. Was there anything unusual?”

“Unusual…?”

“Like what happened after the Demon King disappeared.”

“Oh, there was!”

Nika immediately brightened up. She seemed eager to tell me about her experience.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“Well…”

Nika glanced at Beatrice with her brown eyes. Beatrice, who had heard the top-secret news that the Demon King had disappeared, showed no change in expression as she continued to fold my pajamas.

“Beatrice is fine. Right, Beatrice?”

“Of course, young master. Didn’t I tell you? This Beatrice, even if you rebel against the Empire, will stand by your side until the very end.”

I assured her that I had no such plans and patted her head a couple of times, then urged her to continue.

“First of all, a lot of demons witnessed the light you used, and since the Demon King disappeared, the Demon World is now divided into two factions. One side believes that the Demon King was killed by the Hero, and the other believes that she is still alive, either because she was badly injured or because she has temporarily gone into hiding for some reason.”

“Do you know which side the remaining Legion Commanders are on?”

“Both of the remaining Legion Commanders believe that the Demon King is alive. The First Legion Commander, Durahan, is a staunch knight who would cut off anyone’s head for even mentioning the Demon King’s death. On the other hand, the Fifth Legion Commander, Elder Lich, maintains his loyalty but is cautiously testing the waters.”

The First Legion Commander was Durahan, a straightforward knight who would never compromise. On the other hand, Elder Lich seemed to be maintaining his loyalty while cautiously feeling out the situation.

“Most of the others, excluding the Legion Commanders, seem to be on the side that wants to seize the Demon King’s position. They all seem to be united under the belief that the Demon King is dead, but there are some who are waiting for the right time to make their move.”

“They were too busy fighting with their own troops to unite. The front line troops need to be commanded by a Legion Commander, but with the Demon King gone, anyone with a bit of power will try to reclaim command. That’s probably the case on the front lines as well.”

Nika’s insight was surprisingly sharp, unlike her usual self. The reason for the civil war within the fortress could be explained by the division over whether the Demon King was dead or not.

“Good job. You know quite a lot of details.”

“They all tried to recruit me. Unlike those idiots of the same race who just fight each other over who’s stronger, a succubus absolutely obeys only the Queen. Over a hundred demons came to me during that short time I was in the Demon World.”

Nika stuck out her tongue and smiled.

“But I rejected them all. There’s only one person I will serve in this world, and they probably think I’m on the Demon King’s side. By the way, I had them suck some blood from my children…”

“You’re out of your mind, Yustera. How dare you be so rude to the young master.”

Beatrice immediately hit her, but.

‘It’s more of a mess than I thought.’

That was the first thought that came to mind as I watched Nika, with her hands raised, looking sullen.

The front line was in a civil war over who had command, the First Legion Commander was killing anyone who showed signs of betrayal, the Fifth Legion Commander was still pretending to be loyal while secretly testing the waters, and the rest of the demons were divided and fighting each other.

It seemed like the butterfly effect of Astaroth’s actions.

‘Come to think of it…’

I looked at Nika, who was standing there with her hands raised and a sullen expression.

Nika was also a succubus, and a demon. Astaroth had also once been a Succubus Queen and a Legion Commander.

‘…Then, shouldn’t Nika also try to seize the Demon King’s position?’