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Professor Marea’s ridiculous misunderstanding ended up working in my favor, Murmur.

Thanks to that, she no longer ignores me and even offered to give me special lessons I never asked for, her eyes sparkling.

Should I be happy about this? Or should I be upset?

In ‘Legend of Academy,’ raising hybrid characters is something you do when you’re deeply immersed in the concept…

“Everyone! Let’s do our best and move our bodies today!”

Professor Marea’s voice was filled with excitement as she started the class.

“And Murmur, you’ll start special lessons with me from now on.”

“Murmur doesn’t like exercising…”

“Haha! I know exactly why, so don’t worry.”

Professor Marea grabbed my small hand and pulled me along in one swift motion.

“Mu, Murmur is weak and slow, so I can’t learn swordsmanship!”

“You can build strength, and your legs will get faster if you run. Don’t worry!”

Professor Marea dragged me around like a doll.

“Did you know, Nicasia? Murmur is getting special lessons.”

“I’m a little worried.”

“Her attitude changed so suddenly, it’s too much.”

Monica, Citrine, and Esme were naturally concerned.

“Professor Marea is definitely not lacking in skill. Everyone, don’t worry too much.”

“Even if Murmur has great skills, it’s a fact that she’s weak and slow.”

“It’s okay. I heard about the lessons, and they’ll be a big help to Murmur.”

Nicasia smiled slightly and waved at me, Murmur.

I, Murmur, know exactly what kind of lessons Professor Marea has prepared!

I just don’t think I need them right now!

If I knew this would happen, I would’ve just clung to Professor Aiaie and begged to learn expulsion magic!!!

“Murmur, you’re quite weak, so let’s start with this.”

“Ugh…”

Professor Marea handed me a pink ball.

“From now on, you’ll be throwing this ball at the target on the wall.”

“Is this an exercise where Murmur has to hit the red circle accurately?”

“That’s right. Just hit it twenty times, and you’re done. How about giving it your best shot?”

Professor Marea’s lesson was definitely not a mess.

She accurately pinpointed my weak strength and brought exercises that were more like games, designed to build strength without losing interest.

I’m really grateful for that consideration, and it will probably be effective, but…!

“Ugh…”

I don’t want to build strength, Professor Marea!

Murmur needs to increase intelligence and wisdom, not strength!

“Murmur doesn’t like this.”

“Hmm… If you don’t like this, how about jump rope?”

“Murmur doesn’t like exercise…”

“If you don’t like jump rope, how about hula hoops? Or maybe swinging a wooden sword?”

I’m doomed.

She absolutely has no intention of leaving my side and only plans to watch me exercise from start to finish.

“Mu, Murmur…! Suddenly, I like throwing the ball!”

I, Murmur, had no choice but to grab the soft pink ball and throw it at the wall.

─ Thud!

“That ball-throwing… wasn’t that from third grade?”

“I remember doing that back then.”

“I tried it once too!”

『Strength increased by 1!』

【Strength: 7】

…

Why is my strength actually increasing?

Are you kidding me?!

* * *

The reward for clearing Professor Marea’s hidden event.

【The hero wields the sword justly, never shedding innocent blood】

The skill with the cool-sounding name turned out to be a ‘counterattack.’

It’s what’s commonly known as ‘parrying’ in action games these days.

And the reason I, Murmur, am telling this story now is…

“Murmur!!! Aren’t you going to use that cool swordsmanship you showed last time?!”

“Murmur can’t use it whenever she wants!”

I, Murmur, am currently sparring with Esme in a 2v1 match!

After finishing the class, Professor Marea said, ‘If any students are interested,’ they could spar freely.

Unlike the other students who eagerly picked up wooden swords, I, Murmur, wanted to run away…!

But Professor Marea forced me into a 2v1 with Esme, so I couldn’t escape.

“Hehehe! Murmur is so weak!”

“Esme is only good at magic!”

Thanks to that, we ended up getting beaten by a slightly taller boy and girl.

“If I could just use magic, I could easily… Ouch!”

“Who uses magic during martial arts class?!”

The tall boy swung his sword with gusto.

Unfortunately, Esme blocked it with her wooden sword but ended up trembling.

Her wrist must be really sore.

“Murmur! What are you looking at?! Your opponent is me!”

“Ugh…!”

My opponent quickly and accurately poked my forehead with the wooden sword.

It’s obvious they’re just messing with me!

I didn’t plan to get completely wrecked like this!

“Hiya!”

“Yah!”

─ Thwack! Thud!

─ Oof!

Esme and I, Murmur, couldn’t even counterattack properly.

It felt like we were up against opponents with fundamentally different stats.

“Ugh, ugh…! Seriously! It’s so unfair that they’re so strong with the wooden sword… Ouch!”

Angry, Esme swung her sword left and right, charging forward, only to trip and fall.

When things don’t go well, you end up falling forward and breaking your nose.

“What are you looking at?! I said I’m your opponent! How dare you ignore me, a demon…!”

─ Slap!

I easily dodged the slow thrust of the wooden sword, unlike Professor Marea’s attacks.

Unlike the famous NPC Professor Marea, the opponent I’m facing now is an extra among extras, whose name I don’t even know.

So I couldn’t figure out their swordsmanship, but it turns out they weren’t using any special techniques.

If I had to say, they’re just using the ‘basic deck.’ This.

“Huh?”

“Murmur isn’t planning to just take hits.”

“You, what can you even do… Huh?!”

I could easily dodge their weak pokes, especially since they’ve been aiming for my forehead from the start.

“Oh~hohoho! As expected of Murmur! You saw right through them!”

“You’ve never learned swordsmanship, right?”

Besides Citrine and Nicasia, other students started gathering around us, one by one.

“Thi, this! Why are you just dodging…!”

“Huff!”

The girl who recklessly thrusted at me lost her balance.

Thanks to that, I didn’t even need to parry; I just dodged and swung my wooden sword at her back as she fell.

─ Whack!

“Owwww!”

“Murmur’s forehead hurts too from being poked!”

“Ju, just dodging and winning… Ugh! That’s so unfair!”

The girl was extremely frustrated, but she was already out of the match.

“Ouch…?!”

I thought we could push through with a 2v1, but Esme also dropped her wooden sword.

“Ugh… So, sorry, Murmur.”

“It’s okay! Esme is a mage. Swords aren’t your thing.”

“But Murmur, you’re also… Ah!”

Before Esme could finish, a boy who was three heads taller than me swung his sword roughly.

─ Thud!

“Crush her~!!”

“Teach Murmur a lesson!”

“Let’s make sure Professor Marea never favors her again!”

Most of the students, regardless of gender, cheered for the boy.

“Everyone is so fierce.”

“Murmur! Don’t push yourself too hard!!”

“Murmur! Crush them!!”

Only my precious friends were cheering for me, Murmur.

“Murmur! Get ready!”

─ Thud!

The boy, whose name I didn’t even know, swung his wooden sword at me with burning eyes.

Yeah, yeah, we don’t even know each other’s names, but since I’m a demon, it must feel good to hit me!

This is too much! I already knew that, but still!

─ Thwack! Thwack!

The boy’s attacks were just a series of brutal downward swings.

It was as if he had never learned thrusts or slashes, just chopping down like an axe.

“Die, demon!”

“One…!”

“Stop counting!”

“Two…!”

“I said stop counting!!”

“Three…!”

The enraged boy swung his sword with all his might.

The moment his sword hit the ground, I, Murmur, stepped on it without hesitation.

“Huh?”

“Huff!”

─ Thud!

I don’t have the strength for downward swings, slashes, or upward swings.

So I grabbed the wooden sword with both hands and thrust it hard into the boy’s chest.

“Eek…!”

The boy dropped his sword and stumbled back.

“Pr, Professor Marea! Mur, Murmur cheated!”

“Yeah! She used magic!”

The two who got countered pointed at themselves, feeling wronged.

“Murmur used magic, you say?”

“Yes! Sh, she suddenly dodged my thrust! She was getting hit before!”

“There’s no way that tiny girl could push me back with a thrust!”

It’s logical, but also not.

It was a childish plea.

“Alright, I get it. So what kind of magic was it?”

“…Huh?”

“Uh, um…”

“If you think your opponent used magic, you need to know exactly what kind of magic it was.”

Professor Marea patted the heads of the two flustered students.

“At the academy, we all agreed not to use magic during sparring, but real battles are different, right?”

“I know…”

“B, but Murmur definitely cheated…”

“Figuring out what magic was used is part of sparring. Everyone understand?”

The two pouted but eventually nodded.

Anyway, dropping your weapon during sparring means you lose.

“We lost… Murmur.”

“You, what kind of magic did you use? Some secret magic?”

The two reluctantly held out their hands to me, Murmur.

I didn’t want to slap their hands and be called rude, so I shook their hands with my small, soft hand.

“Murmur just wanted to win. That’s all.”

“Ugh! What’s that?! I don’t understand anything you’re saying!”

“You cheated, right? I’ll definitely beat you next time…! Don’t lose to someone weaker than you!”

Luckily, the two growled cutely and left.

“Murmur! Great job!”

“Ugh, Murmur… I’m sorry I couldn’t help much as your partner.”

Citrine ran over and started touching my cheeks and hands.

Esme sat down, feeling sorry, so I patted her head vigorously.

“Good job, Murmur.”

Professor Marea clapped with a proud expression.

And behind her, I, Murmur, noticed a place where you could overlook the entire classroom.

“Headmaster Cosmos is still sincerely teaching demons, I see.”

“The elementary section’s childish antics were somewhat entertaining.”

“Princess Nicasia’s sparring ended too quickly, so there wasn’t much to see.”

It was like a balcony.

From a fairly high place, the nobles’ conversations were blatantly audible.

They were all adults.

“My, my, it’s still nice to see the empire’s cute sprouts growing up~”

“Murmur, was it? That demon… has quite the sense. Did Professor Marea teach her that?”

“Hehehe… Is this enough for you? Contrary to your worries, the elementary section of the academy is healthy and cute. If only everyone could live so softly!”

… So a bunch of adults gathered to watch, and there was the elementary section’s counselor.

Probably showing the nobles who came to discuss donations around the academy.

“Ugh… Murmur wants to go back and rest now.”

Regardless of the adults’ conversations, I, Murmur, had no more impressive moves to show, so I sat down.

* * *

“Quick, smell this! Nicasia! There’s no way my nose is wrong!”

Right after finishing a pleasant breakfast, Nicasia, Esme, and Citrine grabbed me, Murmur, and wouldn’t let go.

They overheard some students pointing at me, Murmur, saying, ‘She smells because she’s a demon.’

At first, all three of them got angry and said a few words, but when the other side said, ‘Wh, what am I supposed to do about it?!’ the situation turned into this.

Well, it’s a bit hurtful when their attitude changes the moment they smell my arm.

“Esme’s nose must be wrong! There’s no way Murmur would smell! Her hair is fluffy! Her hands are clean!”

Citrine said, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Sniff sniff… Sniff… Huh?”

Nicasia hugged my waist tightly, buried her face in my blouse, and sniffed around before speaking.

“Citrine, smell this.”

“Why are you suddenly like this, Nicasia? Murmur smelling is just typical… …”

Citrine grabbed my sleeve, sniffed, and suddenly lifted my arm, shoving her face into my armpit and chest.

“Huh? Umm…?”

“She does smell, right? Citrine?”

“There’s definitely a strange sweat smell lingering. But Murmur’s body smells like soap right now…”

Of course.

Even though I’m in the fifth grade of elementary, I shower every day.

“Ah…! I know why this is happening!”

Esme suddenly clapped and spoke.

“Murmur! You wore this yesterday, right?”

“Yes, Murmur wore it yesterday.”

“Did you use Cleanliness Magic?”

“Yes, Murmur used Cleanliness Magic.”

Citrine and Nicasia tilted their heads.

“What does that have to do with it?”

“Esme, do you know something?”

“Yes, of course. Using Cleanliness Magic doesn’t completely remove the smell from clothes.”

Esme smiled as she spoke.

“So just using Cleanliness Magic on clothes is foolish. You have to wash them.”

“But there’s no way Murmur wouldn’t wash her clothes.”

“Right. I’ve never seen Murmur wear dirty clothes. I knew about that story too.”

Citrine and Nicasia looked at me, Murmur, and spoke.

“Murmur always uses Cleanliness Magic.”

“…Ah, so. I do that too, and most people use it once when they enter their room or take off their clothes, right?”

Nicasia smiled as she spoke, but she didn’t have much to say.

“Murmur…?”

Citrine suddenly turned pale and grabbed my shoulders.

“Wh, when was the last time you washed your clothes?”

“Murmur hasn’t washed them this year. And Murmur’s small hands make laundry hard.”

“Y, you haven’t washed them at all?!”

Esme, Citrine, and Nicasia all shouted in shock at the same time.

“But Murmur lives alone.”

“But…! Th, the maid sisters! The ones who work in the dorm!”

“Those sisters can’t help Murmur.”

Esme bit her lip.

“Don’t they do laundry or clean your room? They’re not just here for nothing…”

“No. They don’t help. If they do, they get bullied by the other maids. Murmur saw it happen before. So Murmur doesn’t ask.”

Citrine covered her mouth and looked up at Nicasia.

“Mu, Murmur… Is it okay if we visit your room today? It’s a day off, so we can help you with things.”

“Sure, it’s okay. But you don’t need to help. Murmur’s room is clean.”

Why is everyone so surprised?

I use Cleanliness Magic on my underwear and uniform every day, so they’re clean, right?

 

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