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“Don’t you blame The Faceless Hero?”

Osnia tried to understand the intent behind the question. However, reading Ion’s always expressionless face was harder than any magic.

“I’ve never thought that way.”

Thus, Osnia simply poured out her honest feelings in response.

“I was scared back then… but now I understand.”

“What do you mean?”

Osnia looked at Ion with calm eyes. Her voice was steady yet gentle.

“The fact that he saved me.”

As if Ion had rescued her himself.

It felt as though he had done just that.

Only genuine emotions came through in Osnia’s expression and tone.

Ion seemed to notice, falling into thought as he lapsed into silence.

Osnia watched the complex and mysterious expressions on Ion’s profile gradually fade, leaving only slight confusion.

Just like someone completely unprepared for such words.

“… I see.”

Eventually, Ion gave a short, indifferent acknowledgment, just as he always did.

Before long, sunlight had fully broken through the window. Ion realized it was time to let Osnia rest instead of dragging this conversation out longer.

“I’ll inform the other instructors, so you don’t need to attend class today.”

“Yes, Instructor.”

Ion got up from his seat and walked toward the door. Just before leaving the room, he turned his head slightly to glance back at Osnia.

“Get some good rest.”

And then the door closed.

“……”

Osnia felt a sense of familiarity from his departing figure.

She felt an intense yet indescribable déjà vu, but that moment slipped away in fleeting time.

It was a feeling difficult to explain precisely or organize in her mind, merely an instinctive sensation.

In the end, Osnia, unable to comprehend what she felt, simply stared at the spot where Ion had left for quite some time.

*

Monday, morning.

After the weekend passed and a new week began, the students of Opal Black Class, as usual, changed into their gym uniforms and headed for the forest for their morning physical training curriculum.

Marian wanted to know the reason why, even with a dedicated dormitory training ground, they had to go to the forest.

Finally, as the students of Opal Black Class walked along the forest path, they could see the traces of the destruction from last night.

“Could it be a gigantic monster went wild?”

“Could be….”

In response to Marian’s horrified mumblings, Schurz nodded in agreement, and Titania, the elf who cherished and loved the forest, also spoke with a slightly sickened expression.

“The spirits all ran away….”

Since there was a bit of distance between the forest where Ion had been running around and the dormitory, their usual path hadn’t been entirely destroyed.

However, the shockwaves could be seen from afar as thick branches lay broken, and leaves were scattered everywhere, instilling a bit of fear in Marian.

Even though it wasn’t the scene of a direct battle, the scale of damage from the aftershocks was alarming.

What in the world had happened last night…? The students pondered various imaginations in their minds.

Soon, the students of Opal Black Class arrived at the back mountain, which they primarily used for physical training.

There, Instructor Ion was already waiting for them.

“Welcome. Let’s start class.”

Regarding the routine of repeatedly ascending and descending the back mountain today, Marian spoke with a slightly horrified expression.

“Instructor, the path is a mess!”

“…”

As she said, the hiking trail they frequently used was a complete wreck, with thick trees broken or uprooted due to last night’s aftermath.

After a brief silence, Ion calmly stated in his indifferent voice.

“Well, we can do obstacle running.”

At those words, all the students of Opal Black Class were left speechless.

*

A week had passed since the semester began, and there was a slight change in Instructor Ion’s classes.

Over the last week, he had carefully observed his students, considering their shortcomings and what they needed.

As a result, instead of simply making all the students run the same distances, he began providing customized lessons for each student individually.

However, regrettably, this change was not positively received by the students.

“Uuggh…!”

Gwen hadn’t been running up and down the mountain as usual. To put it correctly, one time up the mountain was enough.

She was currently at the top of the back mountain, with one weight on each arm and leg, totaling four weights, stretching her arms forward while maintaining a sitting posture. This was commonly known as the ‘Mabo’ position.

“Phew! Phew!”

Beside her, Batar was repeatedly accelerating and decelerating, going back and forth across a 15-meter distance. Unlike the previous rule of resting after achieving a certain number of ascents, there was no limit for these two.

They had to continue their training until the time set by Ion was up, and if their posture wavered even slightly or their speed diminished, an immediate reprimand from Ion would follow.

“Don’t move. Think of your body as solid as stone and endure. The basics of swordsmanship start from the lower body. Your swordsmanship is sufficient and never lacking; you didn’t suddenly want to play after just two days off, did you?”

“No, Instructor…!!”

“Then hang in there. And Batar, you don’t need to build muscle anymore. Too much is worse than lacking. Right now, what you need is the technique to move your body. I’ll start with agility training.”

“If I develop that agility, phew! Can I smash the forest like you, Instructor?!”

“…That depends on how hard you work. And running isn’t just about leg strength. Do you only use your arms when throwing a punch? You tend to rely on strength and neglect everything else. Focus on running while maintaining the proper posture.”

Ion corrected Batar’s stance and turned his gaze to check on the other students climbing the mountain.

“Marian!”

“Yes, yes…!”

Marian found it strange how Ion’s voice, not overly loud, could be clearly heard from the lower ridge.

But there was no time to admire that; she was already gasping for breath, nearly at the brink of passing out. Of course, if it really came to an emergency, Ion would help her, but—

Just a moment ago, Ion had kicked the ground a few times and soon reached her side. She barely noticed how quickly he moved.

Ion walked beside Marian, casually as she struggled to breathe heavily.

“If you keep stumbling like that, you’ll either ruin your knees or break your ankles before reaching the required count. Proper posture is vital even for a single step.”

“T-That’s easy for you to say…! Hah, it’s so hard I’m going to die of exhaustion… How can I walk with the correct posture!?”

“That’s not a matter of stamina; it’s your muscles at play. Frankly, it’s serious. You have numerous problems overall. Don’t you ever exercise?”

“As a noble young lady… Hah… what would I have to exercise for?”

“Your grandfather must have spoiled you too much. But I won’t. Once you finish this count, I’ll teach you bodyweight exercises.”

This devil…!! Marian fought to suppress her desire to shout such words as she painstakingly took one step at a time.

In truth, it wasn’t that she hadn’t exercised because she was a noble young lady; the elf princess Titania beside her was skillfully climbing the mountain, and even Elizabeth, of royal blood, was calmly ascending the mountain.

Moreover, although Ion had cleared the obstacles for Marian to walk the gentle ridge, Titania and Elizabeth were effortlessly navigating the obstacle-filled ridge much faster than Marian.

“Marian! Hang in there! Just a bit more!”

“Marian, you’re doing well. I’ll go ahead.”

“Hah, hah… Ugh!”

While she knew she shouldn’t think this way, both of them were truly annoying.

Upon reflection, Titania was an elf, and Elizabeth had dragon blood mixed in, while she was pure human—comparing herself to them just seemed unreasonable from the start.

Marian consoled herself like that.

As she clenched her teeth and desperately climbed the mountain step by step, she caught sight of Saladin passing by her.

“Hah, hah…!”

Unlike the two who had passed her earlier, he was panting heavily as he ascended and descended the mountain. Of course, he was still faster than Marian.

Despite that, Marian didn’t find his appearance so annoying. It was clear he was pushing himself beyond his limits.

And the reason for that was painfully obvious.

Right behind him, Schurz was climbing the mountain.

“Marian, I’m passing through.”

“Please… don’t talk to me… just go…!”

As Schurz passed by Marian like the others, he unintentionally poked at her pride again, exchanging short eye contact before continuing to climb the mountain after Saladin.

“Saladin, why don’t you slow down a bit?”

“Ha… are you tired already? Then take a break.”

“What? Haha! No way. I was worried because you looked tired.”

“Oh, really? Then shut your mouth and keep running.”

Marian watched their exchange with a slightly exasperated feeling.

“Men these days….”

In Marian’s eyes, the two were harboring a competitive spirit.

And when men develop a sense of rivalry, it often leads to childish antics.

Saladin provoked Schurz, stirring unnecessary conflict, and perhaps annoyed by Saladin’s taunts while being in an already tough situation, Schurz reacted unexpectedly, leading to the current situation where they were both unwilling to lose.

“You look quite exhausted. I’ll go ahead.”

“What? Don’t joke. Who—!”

Because Schurz was conserving his energy, he passed Saladin just before the summit, causing Saladin to fume and apply the remaining energy in his legs.

It was at that exact moment.

Saladin misstepped, failing to properly check the ground, and stepped on a protruding rock, causing him to fall.

“Ah! Damn…!”

“Saladin!”

Both Marian and Schurz were startled at the scene, turning to look back in surprise.

“Grrrk…!”

Saladin, who had fallen to the ground, soon couldn’t get up and clutched his ankle. It seemed he had twisted it due to the unstable fall, and his expression was contorted in pain.

At that moment, someone reached out to Saladin. Thinking it would be Schurz, Saladin instinctively shoved the hand away roughly.

“I don’t need— huff!”

But contrary to Saladin’s expectation, it was Elizabeth who had extended her hand.

Due to the rough manner in which he had shoved her away, her palm had slightly reddened.

Seeing that, Saladin’s expression froze, but Elizabeth questioned him with an expression as if nothing had happened.

“Are you okay?”

Saladin, who wore a mix of embarrassment and fear, buried his face in his hands and bit his lip tightly as he kept his head down. Then, he slowly stood up with his own strength and said.

“… I’m fine.”

Finally, Saladin began to stubbornly walk with a limp.

“Saladin, you—”

“Forget it.”

As Schurz tried to support him upon seeing that, Saladin rather seemed to take it as humiliation and refused with a serious expression.

“Hm….”

Ion silently watched that scene unfold.

 

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