Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 178: Demon
After completing a lap around the training ground, we moved on to strength training and form practice. After that, we paired up and began exchanging blows with wooden swords. Apparently, without my noticing, paired sparring had become part of the standard routine.
Naturally, I paired up with Axel. Though if I really wanted to make more friends, I should probably pair up with other children sometimes too.
I glanced towards the group of children. Ovidio stood in the middle of them, apparently teaching his followers swordsmanship.
Was it really all right for him to do that? At his current level, being taught was surely more useful than teaching others. There would be plenty of time to teach once he’d mastered the fundamentals himself. Commander Yeongseon, however, didn’t reprimand him.
“Was he doing that yesterday too?”
“Yeah. Apparently it’s pretty popular.”
Axel sounded dissatisfied. No, he definitely was dissatisfied. Maybe there was some envy mixed in too.
“Hmm. I see. Well, let’s practise.”
“Yeah. I wish you’d come every day.”
Axel’s expression clouded. The situation clearly bothered him quite a lot.
We began by lightly exchanging blows with our wooden swords.
Yeah. He didn’t seem to have improved much since last time. If anything, his movements were stiffer. Was he thinking about Ovidio? He was full of openings. What should I do?
“Axel, you’re using too much strength. Your movements are stiff. Relax your shoulders more.”
“I’m relaxed.”
“No, you’re not. Look. There’s an opening.”
I gave his wooden sword a light tap, and it slipped easily from his hands. His face turned bright red. Apparently he hadn’t noticed at all.
“Axel, Julius is right,” Commander Yeongseon said. “You’re not moving like you normally do. You can’t waste strength when you’re fighting. Your opponent will use that against you—just as Julius did now.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Oh, as expected of the Knight Commander. He was watching very carefully.
Where had he even been watching from? I’d better be careful.
After that, under Commander Yeongseon’s watchful eye, I went through several more exchanges with Axel. I held back while deliberately attacking his weak points. If he noticed them and overcame them, that should help him grow.
Eventually, Commander Yeongseon nodded and moved over to the other students.
Did it work?
Maybe his words had helped, because Axel was starting to let go of some of the unnecessary tension. He still had to think about it consciously, though.
“Axel, let’s take a break.”
“I can still keep going.”
“I can’t.”
We both lowered our swords and caught our breath. Axel insisted he could continue, but his breathing was heavy. Constantly putting everything you had into every movement wasn’t good. You had to ease off in moderation.
“The Knight Commander doesn’t say anything about Ovidio, does he?” Axel muttered.
“No. I think he approves of part of what Ovidio is doing.”
“Maybe he plans to leave the younger students to him eventually.”
“That could be it. Commander Yeongseon probably doesn’t have much spare time.”
Perhaps he was thinking of training someone who could take over that role later. Was that why he stayed silent? Though in that case, it might have been better to choose someone who was naturally good at teaching swordsmanship in the first place.
After the break, I shifted up several gears compared with before. It wasn’t really training if we just lazily tapped swords together.
Besides, this was for Axel’s sake.
A demon. I would become a demon.
Before long, Axel was stretched out on the ground like a flattened slime.
Maybe I’d been a little too much of a demon.
Now I was reflecting on it.
“D-demon…”
“I’m sorry. I think I overdid it a little. Next time, I’ll be a bit less severe.”
Hadn’t I said almost exactly the same thing to Ijidol yesterday?
Maybe I was the one who hadn’t grown at all.
In the common lounge, Axel steadily munched his way through the sweets on the table. But eating sweets alone wouldn’t restore his physical stamina. Should I give him an elementary stamina-recovery potion?
No. Better not. I didn’t want him making a habit of it. That pleasant fizz could become addictive.
“Julius, Axel, you’ve finished practice already? What’s wrong with Axel? Don’t tell me…”
It seemed Ijidol’s magic training had ended. As usual, the three of us gathered in the common lounge. A fresh cup of tea was added to the table for Ijidol, and he thanked the servant before accepting it.
What a good child.
“How are you not tired?” Axel asked me, staring with half-lidded eyes.
Ijidol was desperately trying not to laugh. I was sure he was thinking, Axel too?
But you won’t be laughing for long either, Ijidol.
“Come to think of it, I came up with a magic-training method for you, Ijidol.”
“Huh?”
Ijidol’s voice immediately lost strength. He probably hadn’t thought I would really come up with one.
How naive, Ijidol. If you wanted to increase your mana, you needed to put in effort every day. Every other day was inefficient.
“Ijidol, did you practise the Magic Arrow you used yesterday?”
“I-I did?”
His eyes swam as he answered. Axel looked at him sternly. Those eyes were saying, Suspicious.
I agreed.
Maybe Ijidol didn’t actually want to become a great mage? If so, it wasn’t my place to interfere.
“I thought you were going to become a great mage and prove everyone wrong,” Axel said.
“Well, yes, but…”
At Axel’s question, Ijidol seemed to shrivel like a deflated balloon. His mouth drooped, and tears welled in his eyes. He looked frustrated.
Maybe he thought he had no talent for magic.
You couldn’t know that until you tried. We were still children. There should be plenty of room left to grow.
“Then let’s train together. Axel will train with you too.”
“Eh? Me too!?”
“That’s right.”
“But I don’t have any mana.”
“Yes, you do.”
Axel did have mana. It was faint, but it was definitely there. He might not have enough to fire Magic Arrow outside his body the way we did, but he should at least be able to use enhancement magic internally.
“Is that true? The last time Axel had his mana measured, there was no reaction,” Ijidol said.
“I’m sure the amount was simply too small for the measuring device to react. If you train, you should be able to increase it. Probably.”
“Probably? So how are we going to train?”
Apparently their interest had been caught. Axel and Ijidol both leaned forwards.