“Wait? Is that Yuri?”
“I thought he gave up when he submitted his answer sheet in just three minutes, but he ended up getting a perfect score…?”
Imperial Magic Academy.
Yuri entered with a large travel bag.
At this, the students who were enjoying a brief respite after the end of the exam period began to stir.
“They say he completely gave up on the last day of exams. And yet, he’s the top scorer because of his practical scores?”
“What in the world could he be doing to forgo the exams?”
“Have you not heard? He’s working at Vermont Security.”
“Oh. He was an apprentice guard?”
“No, he’s not an apprentice; he’s active duty. He’s currently returning from a mission escorting the daughter of the Archduke of the North.”
“…!?”
Clearly, information that only a select few should know began to spread like wildfire.
It was astonishing enough that he was balancing academics and a job. Maintaining the top score in academics while building a career with a successful escort of a princess.
Yuri had already become famous within the Imperial Magic Academy from day one.
Now, however, he attracted attention not as a troublemaker but for a different reason.
Upperclassmen who had challenged Yuri and been defeated often harbored feelings of inferiority.
They were jealous of him.
But by this point, they had long since passed the stage of feeling inferior.
From an outcast of the Imperial Magic Academy, to a source of pride for it.
Amidst the admiration, Yuri was currently deep in serious contemplation.
‘What can I do to make Aslan Vermont see me as a woman…?’
Do I look that much like a boy?
Am I really lacking in femininity?
Suddenly annoyed, Yuri glanced at herself in the mirror and bit her lips in frustration.
Should I grow my hair out?
Maybe I should dress up a bit?
But even so, wearing a skirt to work seems a bit much…
Even Instructor Sylvia comes dressed in neat pants and a coat.
Then why doesn’t anyone mistake her for a man?
This thought crossed her mind.
Looking down, she saw her visible ankles and suddenly realized, ‘Ah’.
It was clear that no matter how hard she tried, the instructor probably couldn’t see her own ankles while standing…
‘I have no choice but to take the initiative…’
Tightly clenched, Yuri’s fist became firm.
She had come to accept that Aslan Vermont wasn’t as bad as she initially thought.
She had also confirmed with her own eyes that Charlotte and Julia were not being treated horribly.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t need to save Charlotte and Julia.
Aslan Vermont was devising plans that were far more terrifying than that.
Aslan Vermont did not look at Charlotte and Julia with the innocent gaze that the Archduke thought he did.
In order to accept them as wives.
To make them into brides, he was ‘educating’ Charlotte and Julia by feeding them from dog bowls!
The sight of Julia, who was defending Aslan, claiming that the dog bowl was actually a good thing, made Yuri’s heart ache.
Just recalling it felt like her heart was being torn apart.
Without the hypnosis, it was clear that Charlotte and Julia were being thoroughly brainwashed under Aslan Vermont’s ‘education’.
‘What if, what if Charlotte and Julia became engaged to Aslan Vermont and bragged to me about it…?’
Ah. I can’t breathe.
My chest hurts too much.
Yuri ground her teeth, enduring the pain.
Something had to be done before that happened.
However, it was impossible to barge in without justification and take them out.
All that was left was a non-violent method.
No matter how hard she tried, the only idea that came to her was to catch Aslan’s interest directly.
‘I need to buy time somehow…!’
Only until I can retrieve the two!
I thought I could draw Aslan Vermont’s attention to me until then.
Who would have thought I’d hit a snag at the very beginning of making him recognize me as a woman!?
Ah, it’s frustrating!
It’s irritating!
Dressing up like a girl and going to see him is a blow to my pride!
Isn’t there any good way?
A way for Aslan Vermont to notice me without me making it obvious…!
“Ah!”
Yuri clapped her hands as she came up with a brilliant idea.
Until now, she had always struggled to solve things by herself.
Now was the time to leverage her connections.
***
“Phew…”
If everything Jacob said is true,
Sylvia’s sword has already undergone changes and is in a fully settled state.
That means it’s impossible to extract it from my body without destroying the sword.
This form is supposedly the optimal form for Sylvia, or the state in which she can exert the greatest power.
How this could take the form of using my body as a sheath was completely incomprehensible.
However, when examined closely, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
“How does it feel?”
“I’ll try pulling the sword out again. Huh!?”
Swish.
The sword was drawn from my mouth, startling me.
Thanks to that, she almost sliced my cheek.
“Mana is being charged…!”
“Just as I thought.”
I noticed the moment Sylvia took hold of the sword and her performance visibly improved.
Sylvia could not generate mana herself.
Yet, the output far exceeded her usual physical abilities, indicating that mana was being supplied from an external source.
That sword was precisely the medium supplying that mana.
“A sword that emits mana? Is that even possible?”
“It shouldn’t exist. It’s not a living organism, how could it emit mana on its own?”
“Then what in the world…?”
“The source of the mana is me. I can’t handle mana in my body, but that doesn’t mean I can’t generate it. It seems your sword is absorbing the mana generated from my heart and transferring it to you.”
“Ah…! That certainly seems to be correct!”
The Optimal Form…
So, is it that Sylvia, who can no longer generate mana, can produce the output of a quasi-Sword Master by using my heart as support?
‘If that’s the case, then this state is Sylvia’s maximum. It means there won’t be any further development beyond this.’
I felt a strange sense of unease.
If this state is the optimal form, it means that Sylvia cannot become any stronger from here on out.
That her limits have surpassed the sword expert level but fall short of the Sword Master level is quite a mediocre state, isn’t it?
That can’t be right.
Sylvia was a talented individual who was once considered a candidate for a hero.
She had withdrawn from the front lines after injuring her heart during her prime.
For such a talented individual to have a limit of merely a quasi-Sword Master?
Something is wrong.
There must be something hidden that I do not know.
“I’ll be back shortly. We’ll continue the sword performance test when I return.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“…Why are you following me?”
“Well, I’m here to closely escort you.”
“Just wait here. I’m only going to the bathroom for a moment.”
“What if an assassin attacks while you’re gone? Without my sword, I won’t be able to respond at all.”
“…”
With a look of calmness that suggested it was only natural, Sylvia stared at me.
I was left speechless by Sylvia’s perfect logic.
Without me, Sylvia would become defenseless without a weapon.
And likewise, I would be just as vulnerable without her protection.
What am I going to do?
Just then, Charlotte, who had been practicing alone with the Super Super Strong Sword, rushed over.
“Mister, Mister! I have a good idea!”
“A good idea? What is it?”
“Use me as your escort instead of the knight! Unlike the knight, I won’t be hurting you by drawing a sword from your throat, and I won’t bother you by following you to the bathroom!”
“What!?”
Sylvia clearly showed signs of panic, visibly flustered.
Indeed, switching escorts would solve the problem.
If I were to dismiss Sylvia from the escort duty in the first place, I wouldn’t be in danger, and therefore, there would be no need to hold a sword.
It’s a tempting proposition, to be sure…
But there’s no one I trust with my life as much as Sylvia right now.
Of course, I trust Charlotte, but I don’t fully trust her skills.
Although I had already decided to refuse, as I pondered for a moment, Sylvia dropped to her knees on the floor with a thud. What a surprise.
“My lord, please! Reconsider my dismissal! Just being away from you makes me feel dizzy!”
“H-Huh!”
“…”
Charlotte, seemingly shocked by Sylvia’s bombshell declaration, covered her mouth.
For the record, the cause of her dizziness is her dependence on the sword.
Sylvia feels extreme anxiety when there’s no sword within reach at her waist or nearby.
“If you’re not by my side, I might go insane…!”
“Gasp!”
“…”
The symptoms of anxiety were worsening, to the point where she might literally lose her mind.
Beside us, Charlotte, who seemed to be lost in imagination, alternated her gaze between me and Sylvia while gasping.
“Enough. That’s enough. Charlotte is misunderstanding something.”
“Are you… dismissing me?”
“Who else could fill your shoes? However, there are two conditions for your reinstatement.”
“Conditions… Yes. Please tell me.”
“First, wait outside the door when I go to the bathroom.”
“Ugh… I think I can manage that for a moment. What’s the other one?”
“Second, you must spare no effort in striving to become a Sword Master.”
“…!”
Sylvia’s eyes widened in surprise.
Sword Master.
It’s the realm that every swordsman dreams of when they first hold a sword.
However, most swordsmen abandon that dream due to a lack of talent or realistic reasons.
But Sylvia doesn’t fit either of those categories.
“Now that you’ve resigned as an instructor, you must have plenty of time. Focus on your training to become a Sword Master. I want to obtain a Sword Master escort knight as well.”
“I… I might have already thought it was too late. I might have drifted too far from the path to become a Sword Master to return… I’ve made excuses to myself, but… Is it really okay for me to chase after that dream of becoming a Sword Master again?”
“Chase after it as much as you want. I won’t spare any support you need.”
“My lord…!”
Sylvia seemed to be deeply moved, tears welling in her eyes.
As she jumped up and wiped her tears, Charlotte tilted her head and asked.
“But what about when Knight Sister goes to the bathroom or washes up?”
“…?”
“…What?”
That was another problem altogether.
