I Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the Academy Chapter 15

Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the Academy

Chapter 15

“How old are you this year?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Oh, you seem quite young, don’t you?”

“I’m a bit younger compared to teachers who teach general subjects. But compared to other practical subject instructors, I’m about average.”

“Could you briefly explain why there’s such a difference?”

“Simply put, it’s the difference in the appointment process. Teachers of general subjects finish university, take an appointment exam, and if they’re men, they also have to complete military service. On the other hand, instructors in charge of practical subjects can apply for the Hunter School teacher exam if they meet certain conditions, such as three years of service in a guild and fulfilling military obligations.”

Usually, most hunters don’t go to university and join guilds right after graduation.

Military service can also be fulfilled by fighting monsters as a national hunter, with a period of 1 year, which is a bit shorter than regular military service.

It has to be that way because hunters risk their lives fighting monsters.

Unlike the military, there’s no special training period, and they can be deployed to portals immediately according to their rank. Above all, while the normal hunter tax is about 20%, when affiliated with the nation, the government takes 50% of the earnings, so it’s natural for the period to be shorter.

“I see. Then let’s move on to the next question. I think many people are curious about this, but how much is the annual salary of a Hunter School teacher?”

“That’s a bit difficult to answer precisely because it varies according to allowances and years of service. Basically, it’s similar to regular school civil servants. Of course, there are allowances unique to Hunter Schools, including rank allowances.”

Without such allowances, if it were exactly the same as civil servants, no one would want to be a Hunter School faculty member.

“It seems a bit complicated. Could you explain it more simply?”

“Well, to put it simply, I earn less than a hunter of the same rank affiliated with a guild, but I do earn a bit more than regular teachers.”

“I understand right away. Now that I see, not only are you handsome, but you also speak very well.”

No, please stop framing me as a flower boy.

I really felt like this was too much, so I signaled to cut the interview briefly and asked them to stop mentioning my appearance as it was burdensome.

Fortunately, my request was respected, and from then on, there were no more comments about appearance, just questions and answers.

I was worried that the atmosphere might get awkward, but the kids might have thought they went too far, so it didn’t happen, and the atmosphere remained fairly good.

The questions were also ones I had seen in advance, so I answered carefully within what I knew to avoid any problems.

In the latter part, I was so relaxed that I almost answered the last question of why I became a Hunter School teacher when I earn less than a hunter of the same rank by saying, ‘Obviously, to become friends with the protagonist and reap the benefits later,’ which would have been a disaster, but otherwise it was perfect.

“Well, unfortunately, we’ve run out of prepared questions and it’s time to let Teacher Kang go. Actually, it’s evening now after class hours, so I’d feel too sorry to keep you any longer.”

It seems like the closing remarks.

Is it finally over?

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m disappointed too. And saying it’s all for the students… Would be a bit of a lie. Since filming can be considered work, I’ll be applying for additional overtime pay.”

“What?”

“If they say no, I can’t help it.”

“Ah, Teacher, you’re really something.”

“Um… Teacher, you said you were disappointed, right? If we end it like this, I think the viewers will be very disappointed too. How about a duel with me?”

I was trying to wrap things up warmly with a light joke, but suddenly what kind of nonsense is this?

Is this what they meant when they said the student council president was a bit peculiar?

It’s too bewildering to suddenly suggest a duel when we’re about to finish.

Not just me, but the vice president was also surprised and stopped the filming.

“No… Se-jin, I think this is too much of an imposition on the teacher when we didn’t even mention it to him in advance.”

“No, I just thought since the teacher said he was disappointed too, showing something more would be good… I’m sorry.”

“Teacher, our Se-jin really likes duels. Since the subject you teach is swordsmanship and Se-jin is also in the swordsmanship club, I think that’s why she thought of it. Then I’ll start filming again.”

When the vice president reprimanded her, the president looked dejected, and it seemed like she really made the suggestion sincerely without any bad intentions.

“Wait, I’m fine with it, let’s do it.”

Dueling with students is also part of the lesson.

Of course, she’s not a student I teach directly, but she’s still a student learning swordsmanship, and I think it’s okay to engage with her.

The practical training curriculum of Hunter School students is treated as confidential, but in fact, if you search the internet, you can roughly find out what they do, and duels are practiced in hunter educational institutions in other countries as well, so it doesn’t seem particularly problematic.

“Really?”

“Is it really okay when we didn’t tell you in advance?”

“Everything is fine, but are the swords prepared?”

Unlike an honor duel, a duel is customarily conducted with training swords without blades, not real swords.

However, the swordsmanship training hall where the training swords are kept is quite far from the school auditorium where we are now.

The president smiled and said not to worry, then brought two swords from the corner, but they look a bit different in form from those issued by the school.

“When did you bring these here?”

“Actually, I wasn’t going to the bathroom earlier; I was bringing the training swords.”

It seems she had planned for a duel from the beginning.

When I touched the sword, it was definitely different from the ones used at school.

The ones at school are quite good too, but this one is just without a blade; the weight and everything else are quite similar to a real sword.

“Shall we continue filming then?”

The filming resumed from the part where the president proposed the duel again.

I joked that I was disappointed too and that agreeing to a duel would surely guarantee my overtime pay, and I accepted.

Honestly, there’s zero tension.

Based on my recent experience with an honor duel with Teacher Jung, I know too well that the level of hunters is lower than expected.

I’ve been having quite a few duels during class hours, and although she’s a third-year and the student council president, so she’d be better than our kids, she wouldn’t be at the level of an active hunter.

Following the duel procedure, we greeted lightly in the middle of the auditorium and maintained distance.

“Come at me first.”

“Then I’ll go first.”

The student council president charged forward with the sword in both hands. She’s definitely faster than our first-year students.

I thought she would attack with a middle cut or diagonal cut, but suddenly she lowered her body for a thrust, which is quite innovative.

There are thrust-based swordsmanship styles like fencing, but originally, cutting is the basic move with a sword.

Of course, I easily dodged it by moving my body to the left.

I also dodged the following upward cut, but since I was dodging too well, she seemed to be trying to close the distance, so I thought about backing away but decided to stay close.

After all, at this speed, it’s not that difficult to dodge even when close.

I continued to dodge her attacks while mentally organizing the problems I observed.

“How long are you going to just dodge?”

There seems to be some irritation in her voice.

I just followed my usual style, but… Well, since the president is new to dueling and hasn’t specifically seen what I teach, she might misunderstand and think I’m ignoring her.

Actually, it’s been several minutes since the duel started, and I’ve only been dodging without clashing swords even once.

Then let’s start guiding her now.

“I’ve been watching Se-jin’s sword, and the center of gravity is leaning too much forward. It’s good to put strength into attacks, but balance is also important.”

As I spoke, I stepped around to get behind Se-jin and lightly kicked her left leg.

I obviously controlled my strength because it would be troublesome if bones broke, but I thought she might fall flat, yet he didn’t completely collapse.

Well, her posture was completely broken, so it’s pretty much the same thing.

“If you receive an attack from another direction, this is what happens. Get up quickly.”

Though her expression is bewildered, seeing her get up and attack again shows that she is indeed worthy of being the president.

“You’re putting too much strength only in your hands and arms, which will tire you out quickly. If you develop the sense of using your body starting from the shoulders, your attacks will improve.”

When I pointed this out while dodging again, she hesitated momentarily before attacking.

“Good, like that. As expected of the student council president, you understand quickly. Let’s continue a bit more.”

It’s not perfect, but she seems to have understood to some extent, as her attacks have become a bit more fierce.

Still, I have enough leeway to dodge without necessarily using my sword, but I should probably engage with her now.

“Now I’ll attack too, so be careful.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I grabbed the sword with one hand, blocked her attack, deflected the sword, and cut toward the middle.

The president reacted quickly and barely blocked it, but due to the difference in strength, she was pushed back quite a bit.

“Wait a moment.”

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

I tried to control my strength, but I might need to reduce it even more.

“It’s not that… Teacher, can I use magic? Of course, I won’t use it on the weapon.”

She wants to use magic?

How can a student… Ah! Come to think of it, Hunter School students go for practical training at portals from the second semester of their second year.

Of course, for student safety, it’s limited to F-rank or E-rank portals, and teachers from the school accompany them as guardians, and sometimes national hunters provide support.

It seems she thinks she can’t match me in strength after being pushed back just now, so I told her to use it comfortably.

Well, even if students accumulate magic from practical training, it won’t be much.

“Here I come then.”

She definitely got faster using magic.

CLANG—.

It was difficult to just dodge like before, so I raised my sword to defend, and the sensation is quite heavy.

My wrist seems to be stinging a bit.

Is it a bit difficult without internal energy?

Still, I have my dignity as a teacher.

Since I didn’t say I would use it when we talked earlier, I intend to finish without using it.

CLANG— CLANG—.

After clashing swords a few times, I’ve gotten the hang of it.

Magic does enhance physical abilities, especially strength, but it doesn’t enhance all aspects comprehensively like internal energy.

Moreover, my basic physical abilities are far superior.

The president using magic is definitely stronger in terms of raw power, but I’m actually a bit faster.

My wrist feels fine now that I’m holding the sword with both hands instead of one.

CLANG—.

And the chronic problem with hunters is that their attacks are too straightforward and simple.

I notice her breathing has become a bit rough when attacking.

She seems quite tired, so I should end this soon.

This attack was a vertical cut, so the next will probably be a diagonal cut.

I dodged by slightly bending my body and tripped her at the same time.

THUD!

Even though I showed her once that I use my feet, not just my sword, she seems to have forgotten and loses balance instantly, falling down.

She seems to be trying to get up again, but my sword is already pointed at Se-jin’s head.

“I lost…”

I immediately withdrew my sword, but her expression is quite indignant.

I didn’t notice it well during our conversation, but this girl seems to have quite a strong competitive spirit.

“You showed excellent skill worthy of the student council president. However, your swordsmanship is too monotonous. While it’s important to follow what you’ve learned until you can do it perfectly, at Se-jin’s level, it might be good to think about applying variations.”

As I spoke, I extended my hand that wasn’t holding the sword, and she grabbed it and stood up.

Then the vice president joined us while applauding.

Starting with comments about how well the duel went, she naturally transitioned to closing remarks, and finally, the filming ended.

Looking at the students cleaning up, I checked the time on my phone and saw it was 8:30.

I ate dinner and came here around 7, so I spent about an hour and a half here.

I thought it would end quickly, but it didn’t.

“Teacher, we’ve finished cleaning up.”

Eunsu approaches and hands me the auditorium key.

“Good. I’ll return the auditorium key to the faculty office tomorrow morning when I come to work, so all of you should go back now. It’s almost 9 o’clock.”

According to Hunter School rules, students can only stay in the dormitory after 9 PM, and lights out is at 10 PM.

This aspect is somewhat like the military, but it’s not really the military, so there’s no night duty or anything like that.

“Um, teacher…”

Suddenly squirming, it seems like there’s something she wants to say.

As I was about to ask what it was, the president and vice president approach.