Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 281

Ludwig had never lacked skill, and his skills had grown even more as compared to the first semester, surpassing the original work.

Sabioleen Tana crossed swords with Ludwig five times in a row. As expected, she subdued him in just one move each time. Since the gap in skill was so great, she didn’t use Mana Reinforcement and relied solely on her technique to overpower him.

She was very different from Ellen. She did not let Ludwig get an inch closer to her than necessary, and used the minimum necessary movements to deflect his sword without exerting much force. Holding the training sword in her right hand, a light tap was enough to disrupt the trajectory of Ludwig’s sword and push it away.

At that time, Sabioleen Tana had no equal in close combat. She was far, far better than Ellen was, and even Olivia Lanche.

It was a truism of life: there was always someone better.

If Ludwig and Reinhart were crawling on the ground, Ellen was in the stratosphere, and Sabioleen Tana was on the moon. No—she might be in a different star system altogether, considering how she could summon a sword of pure mana without relying on a physical blade.

An insurmountable wall...

Ludwig scratched his head, showing no signs of self-deprecation or loss of confidence from being so easily subdued.

“I’ve practiced a lot, but it seems I’m still lacking, Dame Tana.”

“Call me teacher. I’m not here in my capacity as a knight.”

“Yes, teacher!”

“...”

Sabioleen Tana told Ludwig to hold his sword and take a stance.

“Ludwig, your understanding of the sword is very shallow. You’ve learned mechanically. You know what paths the sword should take, but you don’t understand why they are necessary. Therefore, without this understanding, you apply excessive force. Swordsmanship fundamentally doesn’t require excessive force. All universal swordsmanship theories are based on the premise of not using Mana Reinforcement. You need a deeper understanding of the techniques.”

“Yes, teacher!”

“If you have detailed questions, approach me separately to ask them. That’s all. Next.”

As the overly enthusiastic Ludwig stepped back, Delphine came forward this time.

“Name?”

“Delphine Izadra... Thank you for doing this.”

Delphine Izadra was usually always cheerful, though not as much as Ludwig, but she was extremely nervous as she stepped forward. It was only natural when facing someone of Tana’s caliber.

No matter how elite the class was, it was like having Feynman or Einstein paying a visit to a class of gifted science students to personally observe and give advice on their studies.

Ludwig, who hadn’t been nervous at all, was the strange one.

Delphine thrust her training sword towards Tana. As before, Tana tilted her sword to deflect Delphine’s thrust, altering the sword’s trajectory.

“Ugh!”

Delphine’s wrist twisted and she lost control of her sword, eventually dropping it.

“Hmm.”

Tana tilted her head and looked at Delphine, whose face turned bright red as she hurriedly picked up the training sword.

“You’re not a swordsmanship major, are you?”

“Ah, no... I am not.”

“Archery?”

“Y-Yes. How... How did you...”

“The calluses between your thumb and index finger. That can be the only explanation.”

Delphine stared at her blankly. Somehow, Tana had noticed the natural calluses that had formed from her frequent handling of a bowstring.

“I have nothing to teach you. Next.”

Tana dismissed Delphine without offering any advice on archery. Delphine, embarrassed, retreated, her face red.

Couldn’t she have said a few words at least? She was quite merciless.

Next up was Scarlett.

Scarlett, visibly nervous, parted her lips slightly. “I’m Scarlett... It is my honor to train with you.”

“Come.”

“Yes.”

Scarlett probed slowly rather than thrusting her training sword directly at Tana. She was looking for an opening to strike.

In terms of pure skill, Scarlett was the best among those present. Unlike me, she did not rely on anything other than pure swordsmanship.

“If you don’t come, I’ll come to you.”

As Tana took a step forward, Scarlett, whose sword was pointing forward, took a step back. She seemed to think that she would be completely overpowered the moment their swords touched.

Tana’s steps weren’t hurried. When she took a step forward, Scarlett took a step back. But she couldn’t keep retreating forever.

Tana’s sword wasn’t particularly fast. It was so slow that it seemed deliberate, as if she was posing a question: ‘If I approach with this sword path, how will you respond?’

Her sword swung down towards Scarlett from above.

Scarlett recognized that the moment her sword touched Tana’s, it would be deflected or knocked away.

Scarlett chose to evade instead.

As she stepped slightly to the side to avoid the trajectory of the sword, Tana pulled her descending sword in towards her body and transformed her motion into a thrust.

The two motions were almost simultaneous, as if she had anticipated Scarlett’s evasive move. Tana’s strike had changed from an arc to a thrust the moment Scarlett moved.

However, it wasn’t impossible to counter.

Scarlett pushed her training sword towards Tana’s changing sword path.

Scarlett’s sword was positioned more inside.

If she pushed outward, Tana’s sword would be deflected outward, away from Scarlett’s body.

That would give Scarlett a chance to thrust at Tana while Tana’s sword went wide.

However, as Scarlett’s thrust and push met Tana’s sword...

Whip!

Tana rotated her wrist, reversing the direction her sword was going.

In an instant, she took up the inside position, easily pushing Scarlett’s training sword away and pointing her blade at Scarlett’s neck.

That whole sequence was one move. By including the previous action, the bout had ended in two moves.

Tana nodded. “Hmm. Not bad.”

She seemed to appreciate Scarlett’s judgment and quick reflexes instead of being focused on the number of moves.

“... Thank you.”

Scarlett seemed puzzled as to why she was being praised despite losing in just two moves.

After that, Tana sparred with Scarlett four more times.

Of course, things did not go too differently. The only notable thing was that Scarlett, unlike Ludwig, who relied solely on brute strength, engaged in psychological warfare and tried to find the best move in urgent situations by utilizing her quick reflexes. Sabioleen Tana seemed to take notice of this side of Scarlett.

“You’re an excellent student. Keep up the good work.”

“Th-Thank you...”

“Next.”

Sabioleen Tana moved on without giving Scarlett any feedback.

Shouldn’t she have taught her something properly? Although, purely in terms of swordsmanship, Scarlett was far beyond my reach.

However, judging by Scarlett’s expression, it seemed that feedback wasn’t necessary. Her face was flushed, and she looked excited and pleased. Ludwig and Delphine were naturally envious, while Erhi couldn’t even bring himself to look at Scarlett properly.

Being praised by the continent’s greatest swordsman—what better motivation could there be for a swordsmanship trainee?

Those with great power and authority could change others’ lives with just a few words. Sabioleen Tana was such a person. Scarlett would now use these words as motivation to work even harder.

Perhaps, at her level, there was no need to go over anything in detail. It was just me and Erhi de Raffaeli left. Erhi hesitated.

“Hey, what are you doing? Go ahead,” I said.

“H-Huh? Me?” Erhi responded.

Scarlett had gone just before. Erhi knew well enough that he was far inferior to Scarlett. He didn’t want to go after her and make a fool of himself.

It was a wonder that Erhi had even come. But the name Sabioleen Tana was enough to excite even him. The look on his face said he didn’t want to go out and embarrass himself.

“... Do you want to go after me then?”

“N-No!”

He stepped forward.

If he didn’t go now, he would be the last one. Even though my swordsmanship was inferior to Scarlett’s, my overall abilities were certainly stronger.

“I-I’m Royal Class first year, A-9, Erhi de Raffaeli.”

“You’re in Class A?”

“Yes.”

“...”

Tana planted the tip of her training sword into the ground and quietly observed Erhi. Countless thoughts seemed to swirl in Sabioleen Tana’s expressionless face.

‘Hmm... This kid is scared. He looks clumsy at a glance... Is this kid really from the Royal Class? Has the Royal Class fallen this far?

But that other kid did fine earlier on. What’s going on? Hmm... I feel like I’ll only end up saying harsh things to this kid...’

“You don’t need to be tested,” she eventually said.

“S-Sorry?”

“I don’t want to embarrass you unnecessarily. Don’t do it.”

Sabioleen Tana seemed to have decided not to even bother with Erhi after assessing him with a glance.

‘Isn’t hearing something like that even more embarrassing...?’

“Next.”

Sabioleen Tana looked at me this time. I was the last one left.

“I’m Reinhart.”

“Alright.”

I picked up the training sword. Sabioleen Tana and I were officially acquainted. We had met at the Royal Class sponsorship gathering event, and our club had received sponsorship from her, but there was no official relationship beyond that. What happened at the Spring Palace was top secret. So, while Sabioleen Tana knew me, everyone knew we weren’t particularly close.

So... this was a bit of a strange situation.

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“Well done. Yes, good. You’re trying to infer the sword path from the opponent’s shoulders and stride. It’s not easy to grasp, and your reading is not quite precise enough. Don’t worry, though. It’s due to a lack of experience. With continued training and study, you’ll naturally get better.”

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“Good. But a bit more, like this. Grip the sword tighter... a bit more. A bit stronger. Ah, maybe you aren’t that strong yet. Hmm. I see. Yes, that makes sense. You’re still young.”

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“It’s excellent that you’re able to do this much already. But it would have been better to do it like this. Look. Like this. Do you understand?”

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“No, no. Not like that. Like this. Yes. Yes, that’s it. You’re learning quickly.”

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“A bit more, a bit more, no, one more time. Hmm. You’re getting better. Try it once more.”

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‘She’s been working with me for thirty minutes. Why is she showing such blatant favoritism?’

I finally understood why Sabioleen Tana had offered to teach swordsmanship to the students in the middle of the night during the exam period. I also understood why she had only offered a few words to the others before moving on quickly.

This person wanted to teach me something.

“Good. Good, Reinhart. Excellent.”

All the other students were staring blankly at the overwhelming display of favoritism.