Chapter 30 : Instructor, the progress is too fast (1)

Tristan Academy of Heroes, Swordsmanship Department Administrative Office

The office was located on the third floor of Building 1, where all major Swordsmanship Department facilities were gathered.

By the first week of the semester, the area was bustling with crowds.

Administrative offices in each department were always busiest during the first week, tasked with managing the numerous cadets as they settled into academy life, handling their course adjustments and withdrawals.

They also had to process various requests from instructors, making every day of the first week a hectic one.

However.

Even with all of this considered, the Swordsmanship Department’s administrative office was unusually busy.

The reason was something shared by administrative offices across all nations—cadet “complaints.”

“Why isn’t this allowed? Can’t we adjust our courses as we please?”

A noble cadet protested passionately, his expression indignant.

The administrative staff member seated nearby answered without even looking him in the eye.

“According to the rules, course changes due to mere whims or personal errors are not permitted. I’ve already explained this several times.”

“It’s not just a whim! The instructor is…!!”

The instructor is crazy.

The noble cadet stopped short, biting back the rest of his words.

Although he was furious, the instructor was the son of the esteemed brandon Mulick .

He couldn’t speak so carelessly, considering the instructor’s status and the family’s renowned reputation.

One wrong word, and he might end up in court for slander.

If word spread among the noble circles, it wouldn’t just be his personal problem—his family’s reputation could be at stake.

Swallowing his words with difficulty, the noble cadet held his tongue, and the administrative staff member watched with a curious expression.

“The instructor is…?”

“He…he just keeps making us do the same training over and over! Why is there endurance training in a swordsmanship class, anyway? Isn’t that for general courses?”

The cadet quickly crafted an escape.

The administrative staff member clicked his tongue in mild disappointment, then turned back to his paperwork, giving a standard response.

“Well, training content within a practical course is at the instructor’s discretion. That’s not something the administrative office can meddle with. And basic endurance training is a recommended practice in the Swordsmanship Department.”

“Ugh, seriously…!!”

“Cadet Dwayne. Weren’t you the one who came to us just a month ago, asking us to open more spots in the course?”

“……!!”

Ironically, most of the cadets lodging these complaints were the same noble students who’d leveraged their family names to ask for additional spots in the <Balut Swordsmanship> course.

Now that classes had started, these same cadets were flocking in, whining for course changes and withdrawals.

While the Swordsmanship Department’s administrative office could be pragmatic, they couldn’t cater to every absurd request.

Furthermore, the instructor for the course was Edgar Mulick .

Given his family name, the staff could stand firm in their decisions.

“Is something going on?”

After the wave of complaints from the noble cadets had finally passed, a bright voice greeted the exhausted staff member.

It was Akina Crowflin, the most popular figure in the Swordsmanship Department.

“Instructor Akina.”

“There seem to be a lot of complaints from cadets today. Did something happen in the department?”

“Oh, well…”

The staff member explained what had happened over the past two days.

The first <Balut Swordsmanship> lecture had taken place the day before.

The instructor, Edgar Mulick , had essentially declared “war” on the noble cadets.

Due to a strong backlash, complaints had flooded in since that morning.

The administrative office had dismissed these complaints in line with regulations, but dealing with the frustration of noble cadets was still challenging.

Akina listened to the entire explanation, then laughed with an intrigued look on her face.

“Did Instructor Edgar really do all that?”

“Pardon? Oh, yes. Didn’t you know? The whole department was in an uproar yesterday.”

“He didn’t say a word about it while we were working on our joint research yesterday.”

“Well… maybe he didn’t think it was worth mentioning, or maybe he assumed you already knew.”

“Wow. I had no idea. I was too busy with the first lecture yesterday.”

Akina clapped her hands in delight, her bright eyes showing genuine amusement.

Some of the noble cadets, notorious troublemakers in the department, had always caught her attention.

Akina had wanted to discipline them herself, but they’d caught on to her attitude and avoided enrolling in her courses, rendering her efforts ineffective.

If a cadet didn’t register for a course, there wasn’t much an instructor could do.

As a result, it was difficult to find a proper solution for these unruly noble cadets.

“But Instructor Edgar dealt with it….”

This was the outcome of several combined factors.

Since the course was led by a newly appointed instructor, the cadets had assumed it would be easy.

Additionally, Edgar, as a noble himself, seemed like he’d go easy on them.

Most importantly, Edgar Mulick had a notorious reputation as a troublemaker during his own cadet days.

• “Would a hero who spent his cadet days slacking off really do his job properly as an instructor?”

Regardless of his known skills, people familiar with his personality had assumed the worst.

However, that assumption had been thoroughly shattered the day before.

Edgar Mulick was as passionate an instructor as Jackson and as unconcerned with status as Akina.

Every noble who tried to lean on their family names in front of him faced strict discipline.

“A troublemaker is teaching troublemakers!”

This was the joke currently circulating in the Swordsmanship Department.

“He really is such an interesting person, that Instructor Edgar,” Akina murmured with a smile.

Although I had already thought he was a junior worth teaching, he had now become an instructor indispensable to the Swordsmanship Department.

I imagined that even the fellow instructors who initially opposed selecting Edgar as a mentor had probably come to fully acknowledge him.

The impact he had made within the department was intense, even in this short time.

Akina turned to look at the administrative staff member.

“If any more noble cadets come here and cause trouble, just mention my name. Better yet, use my family’s name.”

“What? Pardon?”

The staff member’s eyes widened like saucers at Akina’s sudden bombshell declaration.

She smiled slightly and continued, “With both the Crowflin and Mulick families backing us, who would dare to complain and invoke their family names?”

“O-of course not!!”

In that moment, the last hope for the cadets taking <Balut Swordsmanship> vanished.

Swordsmanship Department, Building 1, Second Floor

This floor, where the research offices of each instructor were located, also housed my own office.

Office 217

• Instructor: Edgar Mulick (Mentor/Grade 3)
• Assistant: Ray (—)

There wasn’t even a training instructor or a cadet assistant, just Ray and myself.

With just the two of us, it was a modest research office.

Especially since Ray had been hired externally, she didn’t have an assigned position within the department.

Still, the work done in the office was handled nearly perfectly.

I never felt that we lacked manpower.

In fact, each time I came to my office, I felt it was full to the brim.

“Edgar, here are the theory materials for the next class.”

“Hmm.”

Ray handed me the compiled materials I’d requested, making class preparation feel complete.

Taking the documents, I started drafting the outline for tomorrow’s lecture.

“There’s a lot of talk around the department about yesterday’s class.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Most of the cadets are requesting to withdraw from the course, but it seems the administrative office isn’t allowing it easily. Some of them even said the basic endurance training we did yesterday was excessive.”

“Hmm.”

This reaction was exactly as I’d expected.

Honestly, I didn’t want to teach such unmotivated cadets, but if I let them all leave, our class size would fall below the minimum of thirty.

Dropping below the minimum enrollment would put the course at risk of cancellation, so I wasn’t going to let them withdraw so easily.

‘Besides… they’re worth teaching.’

Rehabilitating unruly cadets had always been a specialty of mine.

Even those who seemed hopeless now could grow into proper swordsmen through my course.

For the sake of my instructor record, I was willing to put in the effort to teach them.

“Is there something you’d like to say?”

Then, from my left, I felt an intense gaze.

I turned, and there was Ray, tilting her head curiously.

“I was wondering… do you actually care about teaching the cadets, Edgar?”

“That’s a misunderstanding.”

Though I’d said it countless times before, this time, I meant it.

“I’m confident I can change the minds of those who want to withdraw through the classes. Besides, the basic endurance training that felt like punishment yesterday was actually necessary.”

“…Was it?”

“Hmm. The Balut Swordsmanship is highly effective on the battlefield. Most of the techniques are specialized for defeating multiple opponents, which requires a lot of stamina. The reason the cadets need solid endurance before starting is precisely for this.”

It might have looked like I made them run out of frustration—there was some truth to that—but it was genuinely a necessary process.

I never conducted unnecessary training in my classes.

Even though yesterday’s events had caused quite a stir, I didn’t care much.

The reason was simple: I was satisfied with the class I had taught.

It seemed Ray understood as well, nodding thoughtfully.

Knock, knock, knock.

Just as we were busy preparing for the next lecture, someone knocked on the office door.

Assuming it was Akina, who had often visited me since the semester started, I opened the door without hesitation…

“…Hmm?”

Standing in front of the office was a cadet.

Dark gray hair, empty-looking eyes, and a clumsily slung sword at her waist.

I knew this cadet’s name.

“Cadet Reese?”

Of course I knew. She was one of the cadets enrolled in my <Balut Swordsmanship> course.

She was, in fact, one of the “victims” of yesterday’s grueling training disguised as practice.

As I called her name, Reese nodded, then spoke up.

“I came because I wanted to ask you something, Edgar Mulick.”

…Why was she speaking so informally?