The Academy’s Hard-Headed Swordmaster

All the exams were over.

The students were buzzing, excitedly discussing the tests they had taken and how well they had performed.

The expressions of the Knight Department and Military Department students, confident in their high scores due to their outstanding performance, varied greatly.

However, the Magic, Art, and Administration Department students, whose grades were determined solely by the professors’ subjective evaluations, wandered around with disgruntled expressions.

Just by looking at their faces, one could tell how difficult the exam questions had been.

“—That’s all for today. Good work on the exams, everyone. Get some rest.”

“Woohoooo—!!”

The students waiting for the professor’s instructions in the classroom erupted in cheers at his words.

True to the Academy’s reputation for nurturing the best talent, they had the conscience not to hold additional classes on the day the exams ended.

The exhausted students headed to their dormitories to relieve their fatigue or left the Academy for the city to enjoy their long-awaited break.

Meanwhile, Kyle, accompanied by Gawain, visited the Magic Department with grim expressions.

“Now, what’s this?”

“They said Kyle’s exam results are missing….”

“Why?”

“We don’t know either. There must have been some kind of error, but we need to figure out why.”

The Magic Department professor said, scratching his cheek.

The Knight Department exams were all magically recorded, but for some reason, Kyle’s exam had no record.

In other words, there was no way to prove that Kyle had successfully completed the mission.

Upon hearing this, Gawain vehemently protested.

“Professor, I saw with my own eyes that Kyle successfully completed the mission. Shouldn’t that be enough?”

“Well, the exam scores are entirely left to the spirits, so professors and instructors can’t interfere. And those spirits read the recorded magic and determine the scores. No matter what you say, I doubt the spirits will listen….”

“Is that so? Those spirits will listen if they don’t want to die.”

Watching Gawain draw his sword with a ‘shling’, the Magic Department professor began to plead and beg him not to do anything rash.

Observing the two professors’ commotion, Kyle, who had been lost in thought for a moment, cautiously asked, “From when did the recording stop?”

“Ah, from this point.”

The Magic Department professor, realizing that persuading Kyle was faster than arguing with the formidable Gawain, immediately showed him the recorded video.

In the video, Kyle, as soon as he was dropped into the virtual world, checked his equipment.

He examined his compass and map, and also checked the condition of the sword at his waist.

The moment he drew his sword and lightly swung it up and down, the video cut out.

“The recording stopped here.”

“……Hmm, I see.”

After watching the video, Kyle understood why his test hadn’t been recorded. Aura Blade.

The blade of light that cut through everything had interfered with the magic’s core, preventing the test from being recorded.

Kyle glanced at Gawain.

As expected of an Aura Master, Gawain seemed to have realized what Kyle had done.

Since Kyle was hiding his Aura Master status under the orders of the principal and the Duke, the two exchanged glances and nodded.

“—Ahem, even so, does it make sense that they can’t give you a grade because there’s no record?”

“However, realistically, we can’t have Kyle retake the exam alone….”

“I’ll talk to the principal directly about this. We’ll make a separate arrangement. Understand?”

“If Professor Gawain says so….”

Leaving behind the Magic Department professor, who sighed in relief as if a troublesome matter had finally been resolved, the two stepped out of the Magic Department building and exchanged wry smiles.

“You used it?”

“Yes, as a test.”

“Don’t draw your Aura Blade carelessly.”

“Why?”

“I’m not telling you to hide your power. I’m telling you to be careful.”

Gawain’s eyes glazed over with nostalgia, and like an old man, he began to recount his childhood experiences.

“Do you understand, Kyle? This world is too fragile. It’s as fragile as a sandcastle that crumbles at the slightest touch.”

It was the sentiment of a hero who had lived in the world as an Aura Master.

This world is fragile. So fragile that even touching it requires caution.

“That’s why I told you not to draw it carelessly. Every time you draw it, many things that can’t withstand it crumble….”

“But, old man, you’re the one who’s always ailing because of the injuries you sustained during the war.”

“……Ahem.”

“And you’re talking about the world being fragile… It seems like you’re not in a position to say that.”

“You rascal! Be quiet.”

Scolding Kyle for teasing him, Gawain headed straight to the principal’s office.

“You go back and rest.”

“Huh? Is that okay?”

“I’m the proctor. What are you going to do following me?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Don’t worry and go.”

Leaving Gawain, who waved him off saying he should go and have fun like a student, Kyle headed straight to the dormitory.

His friends, who had already finished their exams, were waiting for him and greeted him warmly.

“Kyle!”

“Oh, Arthur. How was your exam?”

“So-so. You?”

“Phew… Don’t be surprised when you hear this. I’ve got the top spot.”

“Ahaha, I figured. I’d be more surprised if someone else took first place.”

Arthur laughed. She seemed to have done well on the exam, judging by her laughter.

Well, she possessed the Dragon’s Heart, with an unmatched amount of Aura.

There weren’t many students who could stand against her.

Next—Kyle turned his gaze to Yuri and Sera.

The Academy’s top two students, and also the top two in the Magic Department, had surprisingly gloomy expressions.

“……Why are they like that?”

“……They said they messed up the exam.”

“No, how badly could the top students have possibly done…?”

Puzzled, Kyle approached the two with a smile on his face. Laughter is contagious, and he thought seeing his smiling face would cheer them up.

“—Yuri, Sera. What’s wrong? How badly did you do on the exam?”

“……It’s void.”

“Void? What does that mean?”

“For some unknown reason, the magic didn’t work properly, so it’s practically void.”

“……Don’t tell me.”

Kyle, just in case, asked what kind of virtual world they had been assigned to.

The exam content was confidential, so as students of the Magic Department, they wouldn’t know the details of the Knight Department’s exam, but… this much they would know.

“It was a large world, big enough for a Knight Department professor to enter.”

“Dozens of Military Department students entered as well.”

A virtual world where a Knight Department professor and dozens of Military Department students entered at the same time.

And for some reason, the magic malfunctioned.

No matter how much he thought about it, the only virtual world that fit both conditions was the testing ground he had entered.

“……Uh, cheer up.”

Kyle consoled them and looked away.

Even a manly man like him couldn’t reveal something like this.

He could only pray that Gawain would reach an agreement with the principal and that their voided results would be rectified.

***

The week after the exams.

The students were dissatisfied with the delayed announcement of the results, but none of them openly protested.

Their curiosity about the results was just that, curiosity. It wasn’t enough to warrant confronting the professors.

As the exam scores remained a mystery, the professors brought up a topic that would excite the students.

“There will be a festival at the Academy soon.”

“A festival? What kind of…….”

“A Cultural Festival.”

At a word he’d only heard in anime from the island nation, Kyle perked up and focused on Gawain’s words.

“For those who haven’t heard of it, I’ll explain briefly… It’s just a festival held by the students.”

“A festival? Why are we suddenly having one?”

“It’s the Art Department’s practical exam. His Majesty the Emperor believes that popular art is true art.”

The Emperor was extremely wary of the idea that only the art claimed by a small number of learned artists and old, rigid professors could be considered true art.

True art should be appreciated even by the ignorant masses.

That was the Emperor’s philosophy of art, and the Art Department professors, unable to change the Emperor’s mind, adapted to survive.

“They evaluate their artistry by involving the entire Academy.”

Thus, the Art Department’s practical exam became a Cultural Festival involving the entire Academy, and the other departments didn’t have much to do.

They just had to enjoy the festival and give their honest evaluations.

“Oh, and—we’re choosing people for security duty on the day of the festival. Anyone interested?”

“Are there extra points?”

“Okay, you, the one who just asked, you’re in.”

‘Pwahahaha—!’

Amidst the students’ laughter, Kyle remembered that some incident was supposed to happen at this Cultural Festival.

He couldn’t remember clearly, but he was certain that the Dairus Academy was like an action game where fights broke out at every event.

Something would probably happen this time as well.

‘I don’t remember, but… does it matter?’

If it were before, he would have racked his brains trying to figure out what happened, but not anymore.

He had an external memory storage device now.

***

“—It’s not there?”

“What?”

Sera, the external memory storage device, tilted her head and replied.

There was no combat event at the Cultural Festival.

I told her that couldn’t be true.

“No, I definitely remember. Dairus Academy is a game where you fight everywhere, right?”

“……Wait, don’t tell me. You were picking fights with everyone you saw throughout the entire game?”

“Huh? They attacked me when I hit them. Weren’t all the things that could be hit enemies?”

“No, they weren’t!? Dairus Academy is a god-tier game! You can even attack allied NPCs!? This guy, he was playing a different game!”

Hearing Sera yell, I finally understood why the game’s difficulty had been so absurdly high.

‘Of course it couldn’t handle me picking fights with everyone…’

In the game, I wasn’t fighting enemies, but the entire world.

That’s why Masters and everyone else kept dying so easily.

Realizing this belatedly, I couldn’t help but let out a wry chuckle.