“……Too slow! Dragging your feet! Do you expect the enemy to bring themselves to you for you to cut down?!”

  “……Can’t you even hold your sword steady?!”

  “……Where are your eyes looking?!”

  “……Quit using that lousy magic of yours! Don’t you know your own skill level? Are you trying to tickle the enemy with it?!”

  Sharp rebukes from Kuno rang out nonstop across the training grounds.

  Every student he’d yelled at hung their heads in dejection; they’d suffered not just a blow to their pride, but a physical one as well.

  Still, they counted themselves lucky—at least it was over for them. Those still waiting in line could do nothing but tremble with anxiety.

  It had been nearly half a year since Kuno began his one-on-one practical combat training.

  With the final exam fast approaching, he intended to test just how much his students had learned.

  And so, dozens of students in his class lined up to undergo his “evaluation”—a decidedly physical brand of testing, to say the least.

  Just then, a girl with golden, curly twin tails stepped forward. She held an elegant wand topped with a green magic crystal, and unlike those before her, her expression was calm and unyielding.

  “ Instructor, I ask for your guidance!”

  Fran pointed her wand straight at Kuno without hesitation.

  Kuno narrowed his eyes, then a cruel grin spread across his lips.

  “Oh, you’ll get it all right——!”

  Whoosh!

  The moment his words left his mouth, Kuno moved. Fran only caught a blurry shadow before a dark mass loomed over her, swallowing her whole.

  “Wha—?!”

  Fran jumped in fright, scrambling to cast her magic.

  “Win——”

  “Too slow!”

  Clang!

  A wooden practice sword struck her wand dead-on, sending her flying backward.

  She skidded across the ground in a messy heap, then stumbled to her feet, dazed. Fuming, she shouted:

  “You—how could you attack without warning?!”

  “Hmph!”

  Kuno snorted dismissively.

  “Will that excuse work on the battlefield? Do you have even the slightest sense of danger?!”

  “I——”

  Fran gritted her teeth, knowing she had no retort. She raised her wand once more and began chanting her incantation.

  Whoosh——!

  “I told you, you’re still too slow!”

  Before she could finish half her spell, Kuno was already upon her.

  “Eep——!”

  Panic seized Fran, and the half-cast magic fizzled out completely.

  Clang!

  The wooden sword tapped her on the head, not too hard but firm enough to sting.

  “That hurt!”

  Fran clapped her hands to her head, eyes glistening with tears.

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  Kuno lowered his sword and criticized her mercilessly:

  “Look at you—utterly hopeless! How many mages have you seen standing rooted to the spot while casting? And just because an enemy charges you, you freeze up and can’t even finish your magic?!”

  “Let me tell you this: a truly competent mage can complete their spell even if an enemy’s sword is plunged through their heart! You’re the worst student I’ve ever taught! You fail! Go stand with the others!”

  Fran pouted, her face twisted with grievance.

  “Hmph!”

  With an angry huff, she marched over to the group of students who’d already finished their evaluations.

  “What are you staring at?!”

  One sharp shout from her, and the other students quickly averted their gazes.

  On the other side, Kuno moved on to the next candidate.

  “——Next!”

  After several more students……

  “Instructor Kuno, I ask for your guidance!”

  Ander gripped his wooden sword and took a firm stance before Kuno.

  “Hmph. Not bad—your form is solid.”

  Kuno nodded, then raised his own sword as well.

  “Let’s see if it’s all just for show——!”

  As he spoke, Kuno launched an immediate attack, just as he had against Fran.

  Clang——!

  A clear, ringing clash echoed through the air.

  Ander slid backward several steps,

  but his sword was held high above his head, having successfully blocked the incoming strike.

  “Oh~. Impressive. You’re the first today to take one of my hits! But let’s see how many more you can handle!”

  With that, Kuno unleashed a barrage of lightning-fast strikes.

  Clang, clang, clang……

  Ander parried desperately, his frame forced back again and again, with no room to counterattack whatsoever……

  “Incredible! Ander!”

  “He can actually go blow for blow with the instructor this long! We couldn’t even take a single hit!”

  “Yeah, Ander must be the strongest among us, right?”

  “Of course he is—who else?!”

  “He might even join the allied forces and head to the front lines someday!”

  “Right?! If that’s the case, our little town might just produce a great man someday……”

  The murmurs of admiration drifted over to Fran, already in a foul mood, only making her angrier.

  Ander, Ander, Ander! All they ever do is talk about Ander! These people are so annoying! What’s so great about him anyway?! If I hadn’t let my guard down earlier, I never would’ve lost like that! If Hulim used her true power, ten Anders wouldn’t stand a chance against her!

  Clang——!

  The sound of clashing swords cut off abruptly. Ander fell to the ground, his wooden sword skittering away.

  “Your fundamentals are solid.”

  Kuno offered a single word of praise.

  But his tone turned sharp once more:

  “However, your situational awareness is sorely lacking! If you’d noticed the shift in the ground beneath your feet just now, you could’ve blocked several more strikes. Remember this: when fighting an enemy, you must watch not only their movements, but every change in your surroundings. The factor that decides victory or defeat could be hidden right beside you!”

  “Yes, Instructor Kuno! I understand!”

  “Good. You may go.”

  As Ander stepped aside, Kuno bellowed at the top of his lungs once more.

  “——Next! Hurry it up! Stop dawdling—do you have any idea what time it is?!”

  The evaluations continued.

  With Ander as the sole exception, every other student still failed to withstand even a single strike from Kuno.

  Slowly, only one person remained in the line……

  “Instructor Kuno, I ask for your guidance.”

  Hulim Heyerar stood calmly before Kuno.

  Looking at the unflappable young woman before him, Kuno’s gaze hardened slightly.

  “……You are not using a wand?”

  Hulim’s performance in magic class had always been overwhelmingly first place. Logically, she would have wielded a wand just as Fran did.

  Yet now, Hulim’s wand was slung over her back, and in her hand, she held a wooden practice sword.

  Hulim replied evenly: “Instructor, I am proficient with either.”

  “Is that so? If you wish to fight this way, then be my guest.”

  Kuno harbored no doubts—after all, Hulim possessed attribute-neutral aptitude, so fighting with a sword was hardly out of the ordinary.

  “Then prepare yourself. I am attac——”

  Before he could finish the word “attacking”, Kuno attempted the same surprise strike he’d used on Fran and Ander. But before his foot could even shift forward, an overwhelming pressure crashed down on him, enveloping him entirely.

  Cold sweat soaked through his back in an instant, and Kuno froze rigid in place. It was the exact same feeling he’d experienced when facing unspeakably fearsome beasts he could never defeat in the past.

  Wh—what is this?!

  Charge forward, and I will die?

  Countless lessons from life-or-death battles screamed at his nerves, all driving home one single truth——

  Run!

  “Instructor Kuno?”

  “Are you alright?”

  The harmless, ordinary, utterly adorable young woman before him tilted her head in question.

  Thump, thump, thump……

  Yet Kuno could not speak a word. His heart hammered uncontrollably in his chest.

  “Instructor Kuno——”

  Hulim took a small step forward, concerned that the instructor had suddenly fallen ill.

  But that single movement was enough to leave Kuno gasping for breath, on the verge of suffocation.

  “Instructor Kuno~!”

  Just then, a voice called out from the edge of the training grounds.

  Whoosh——!

  The murderous aura vanished in the blink of an eye.