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nChapter 33

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nEllen Artorius was blunt and chic. However, she wasn’t the type to care a lot about things.

nShe was by no means a bad kid, and rather than being clumsy, she just didn’t know how to get along with others. She just tended to concentrate on her training. So she didn’t try to approach anyone because she thought the other person would just push her away.

nShe had tremendous talent, but she had no sense of superiority around her that usually came with it. She also didn’t feel inferior that one would usually feel when faced with someone stronger than oneself.

nShe wasn’t acting all sweet, but she had a gentle heart.

nOf course, I set up a past for her, but that wasn’t important now.

nAnyway, it didn’t really matter whether I confessed to her or not. I wrote a love letter to Ellen because she wouldn’t really care about this.

nI mean, I actually only did this for the points after all.

nHowever.

n“…….”

nIt was bothering me.

nIt was really bothering me.

nIt wasn’t because I liked her or something, but because I had now become very conscious of her!

nI felt so embarrassed and ashamed that I couldn’t stand it. That bastard obviously wanted me to be in that state. This was just straight up bullying.

n-Now, move from this posture to this and….

nTuesday.

nEllen was sitting next to me in the swordsmanship theory class and I nearly went completely mad about it.

nOf course, Ellen and I were the only Royal Class students taking this class. All the other students were regular class students.

nStudents wearing various types of school uniforms gathered here. And among those, who could recognize the Royal Class uniforms we were wearing, kept glancing at us.

nI could read their thoughts just by looking at their eyes.

nWow, they’re from Royal Class, aren’t they?

nThat was the look they gave us.

nAlthough they sure were an object of envy, these school uniforms attracted way too much attention..

nBertus, Ludwig, Cliffman and Erich also should have taken lectures on swordsmanship, but they probably chose other lectures for this time slot.

nSo, did she sit next to me because I was a classmate from Royal Class? Was it like that? You’re usually not the type to care about these things though, now aren’t you?

nSeriously, why did she decide to sit next to me?

nSigh, was she not talking to me because of the sudden confession yesterday? Did she become conscious of me? That can’t be. She wasn’t like that. Then why did she sit next to me?

nWhat’s this? Why was I fussing about this like some teenager?

nI’ve become conscious of a kid like that just because I was trying to earn some points? Ridiculous!

n-Tok

n“…….”

nI dropped my pen because I couldn’t stop fidgeting. Ellen picked it up silently and handed it to me.

n“Ah, uhm. Thank you.”

n“…….”

nWas this a positive sign?

nDidn’t she usually not help people pick up their things? Based on her personality, she wouldn’t care about these things, now would she?

nOf course, she wouldn’t care about me after picking it up and just listened to the lecture. Ah. no, it’s definitely not normal for her to pick up pens for others.

nNo, but what should I do? I’m not interested in her at all. What if she suddenly told me that she liked me? I couldn’t accept that at all.

n…….

nI had a problem.

nI started to imagine all sorts of delusional, ridiculous scenarios.

nOf course.

nAt the end of the lecture, Ellen left the lecture hall without sparing me a single glance.

nDid she even recognize my face to begin with? She didn’t even know who I was, did she? No, but we were wearing the same uniforms.

nMy face was getting hot for no reason.

n* * *

nThis was my class schedule, excluding common classes.

nTuesday I would have swordsmanship theory, swordsmanship practice and magic theory.

nWednesday was Magic Sensitization Training, Mediation and Supernatural Power Control.

nOn Friday I had Divine Power Training, Alchemy and Integrated Martial Arts Training.

nNow, as someone of a lower grade, I only had to listen to three lectures a day, but as I got older I would have to listen to sometimes up to five or six lectures a day. The first three years were like high school courses, and the second half was like university courses.

nSo, since I didn’t have anything I specialized in, I was taking swordsmanship, magic, supernatural powers and divine power classes.

nSwordsmanship Theory and Swordsmanship Practice were combined lectures taught by the same teacher so it was a pretty long lecture in which one first learned about the theory in a classroom and then put it to practice in the gym.

nA class where one had to put to practice what one learned on the same day and even learn further things while practicing.

nOf course, as this was a general class as well, it wasn’t a total mess, but there were a bunch of clumsy people among the students.

n“Get your posture right! Put power into your hands!”

nThe problem was, I was included in the category of clumsy people. Of course, I was constantly criticized by the teaching assistants for my poor basic strength as well as my poor posture.

nThere were even a lot of general students who were so excellent that comparing them to me was completely meaningless, as they learned swordsmanship ever since their middle school days.

n“Perfect. As expected from the Royal Class. She’s on a completely different level.”

n“…….”

nEllen passed almost every task in one try because she had the physical constitution to imitate what she learned immediately, so her teacher praised her.

nThe other students were also looking at Ellen, witnessing the skills of someone from the Royal Class.

nI didn’t really know what the teacher was thinking, but she suddenly clapped her hands.

n“As far as I was informed there was one more student of the Royal Class here. Ellen and Reinhardt is what I heard. Is your name Ellen?”

n“Yes.”

n“Reinhardt!”

nI looked over to them as I heard the teacher call my name. It seemed like she came up with a good idea.

n“Great. Let’s have the first practice match between the Royal Class students!”

nNo.

nI don’t think that was a good idea at all.

n* * *

nThey shoved a training sword into my hands all of a sudden, while I was still not done practicing my basic posture. Everyone gathered around, wanting to watch the battle between the Royal Class students. Everyone’s eyes were sparkling.

nWhat kind of public execution was this?

nYou want me to have a practice battle with the strongest person of my class?

nThe teaching assistant who was training me just now, seemed like he wanted to say “I don’t think that is a good idea.” but couldn’t bear to tell the teacher.

nWhat if I die here, huh?

nEllen looked at me indifferently and held her training sword.

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n“I’ll stop it when it’s going too far, so feel free to fight as much as you want.”

nThat teacher said some dangerous words without blinking an eye. No, I didn’t want to do this though?

nBefore I was able to come up with a solution to somehow deal with this situation….

n“Now, start!!”

nI.

n-Tak!

nI didn’t even notice Ellen Artorius approaching me.

n* * *

nAn unfamiliar ceiling.

n“…….”

nMy head was buzzing.

nWha, what happened?

nI thought that I was probably lying in some sort of bed.

nSeeing as to how my head hurt, I had probably been hit by something.

nAt that moment, the situation that happened shortly before I passed out appeared in my mind.

nEllen Artorius rushed at me as soon as the start signal was given, and then struck my head with her sword.

nAnd then I passed out, I guess?

nNo, but where was I….

n“Urg!”

n“…You’re awake.”

nWhen I looked to my right, a calm, cold-looking girl with dark hair and black eyes was looking at me.

n“This is the infirmary, classes are over.”

nI probably got taken to the infirmary after I passed out. The teacher, who seemed to be in charge, checked up on me.

n“The pain will subside soon. It’s nothing serious, you don’t have to worry, okay?”

n“Yes.”

nI nodded at the teacher’s words with a bewildered expression on my face.

nThat damn swordsmanship teacher! Why did they do some practice match out of nowhere? You made someone faint! Can’t you take your nose out of your ass?! Aren’t you a teacher?!

n“Uh….”

nEllen grabbed my shoulder as I was struggling to get up.

n“……?”

nWere you trying to cheer me up?

n“I didn’t know you didn’t know swordsmanship.”

nEllen lifted me up and helped me put on my shoes, while she was talking in a sullen voice.

nWha, what’s wrong with her?

n“Originally, I planned to aim for your neck after you blocked my sword and let my sword flow down your sword to finish it.”

n“……I, see.”

nHer original plan was to force me to block with a straight strike then let her sword follow the flow down my blade and aim for my neck.

nHowever, I couldn’t even react to the first hit, so she accidentally hit my head with her sword.

nIn other words, this was an unexpected accident. An accident that occured because I was unexpectedly weak, that is.

nSo.

nWas she doing this because she felt sorry?

n“Ah, Look. I think I can walk on my own now….”

nAt my words, she lowered her arm supporting me. I had a headache, but I wasn’t badly hurt. Anyway, how long had I been out?

n“Ah, don’t we have to go to our next lecture?”

nEllen shook her head at my words.

n“It’s lunch time now.”

nAfter the two lectures in the morning, it was usually lunch time. The second lecture was already over, and it was lunch time now so there was still plenty of time.

nNo.

nDid that mean we were going to eat together?

nProbably not. She was just answering the questions I asked. I mean, I confessed to her yesterday, got dumped and today she one hitted me.

nThis chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org

nThat wasn’t even a fight, it was a one sided beating actually.

nI couldn’t feel any more shame. However, the other person didn’t seem to care much, making me feel even more embarrassed.

n“…… Do you want to have lunch?”

n“…….”

n-Nod

nWhat I had come to realize is that after you pass a certain level of shame, it just didn’t matter that much anymore.

n* * *

nAt first, she seemed like a quiet kid indifferent to most things.

nYesterday, I confessed to her and she refused me, but right now I felt conflicted, because I asked that same kid to have lunch together with me now. I wasn’t that kind of person usually.

nThe kind of person that didn’t give meaning to anything.

nShe ate when she was hungry and didn’t care who she ate with. Thinking like that made my worries go away..

nI just had to treat her however I wanted to as well. Unless I did something rude enough for her to slap me, that was just it.

nBecause that was how she was.

nThinking like that made my head clear. She was the type of person who would react the same no matter what happened, so it should be alright for me to treat her a bit more comfortably than the other kids, right?

nBecause she didn’t misunderstand me and didn’t have any preconceived notions about me, she just judged me as I was.

n“Is there anything you want to eat?”

n“Anything’s fine.”

nEh?

n“Are you really fine with anything?”

n“Yeah, anything’s fine.”

nNo matter how much I thought about it, this wasn’t your fault, but you dumped me and hit me.

nI started to feel like teasing you a bit.

nBe prepared.

n* * *

nSince this place was similar to Seoul, there were places similar to the one’s found in Seoul in the Imperial Capital Gardium.

nMaybe that’s why there were so many familiar things. For example, the beggars found in the Han River Park or the shopping street that was so reminiscent of the Yongsan District.

nAnd yesterday, when I went out to this street to meet Kono Lint, I found something I was shocked to see here.

nWasn’t that almost enough to make my whole worldview collapse? It was what I truly wanted.

nEllen tilted her head at the sight of this food.

n“It smells strange.”

nCheonggukjang.

nEllen was unable to take her hands from her nose when she saw the cheonggukjang in an earthen pot.

nA musty, savory smell permeated the entire store.

nI had no idea why, but it existed.

nWhy did you exist? Well, it was what I wanted the most right now.

nAnyway, It was the food of my hometown! I was so happy to get to eat it again, no matter what!

nAnd that’s how I brought her here.

nWhat’s the matter? You said you’d eat anything, you know? Huh?

nIf you’re scared just run away then.

n“This smells like something I shouldn’t eat.”

nI shook my head at Ellen’s words and pointed at the people who filled the store.

n“The people here eat it normally, you know?”

nOf course, all of them were adults as well as faculty members. Ellen tilted her head as she looked at the people eating.

n– Temple sure is good. They even have eastern dishes here.

n-There are people from all over the world coming here. So yeah.

nApparently, this was described as eastern food, although I had no idea about that setting. However, because Temple attracted students from all over the world, they had to prepare a lot of traditional food that one would usually not find anywhere but it’s place of origin. If there there was demand, there would be supply. It was more expensive than somewhere else maybe, but where else would one go to get this kind of food?

nWell, that was pretty plausible.

nIt was comparable to a New York food alley. As there were people from all over the world coming they sold a lot of international food.

nAnyway, cheonggukjang is one thing, but this was probably the first time that I felt happy that jjamppong and kimchi existed in this world.

nSo did they also have kimchi stew and army stew?

nNo, wouldn’t it be weird for there to be army stew? There were no American soldiers in this world, so how could there be food introduced by the US army?

nNo, if one thought about it, cheonggukjang also had its origin somewhere else, right?

nWhat the hell was going on with this place?

nWhere was I even?

n“Come on, look.”

nI started mixing the rice with the cheonggukjang, which I took out of the earthenware pot, sprinkled seaweed powder and sesame oil on it and then began to eat.

nEllen watched me eat with a weary expression on her face.

nAre you discriminating against another culture right now? Do you want to get into trouble?

nTo be honest, this wasn’t really my favorite food, but it was something I kind of needed from time to time. She just continued to watch me eat in delight.

nAlthough it had a strong smell, I finally got to experience the taste of my hometown again after a long time.

nI was kind of touched by it, although not to the point of tears.

nWhat?

nThis place actually made some great kimchi.

nThat was it. The meaning of life.

nAs expected, I was still an old man at my core.

nDid they have soju? They wouldn’t sell it to kids, huh?

nEllen was staring blankly at me with a long, thoughtful look in her eyes.

n“Hey, Give that to me. I’ll do it for you.”

nI took her bowl of cheonggukjang, mixed everything in her bowl, scooped up a spoonful and carried it towards her mouth.

n“Open up. Try it.”

n“Ah, uhm. Erm.”

nEllen repeatedly opened her small lips, perhaps because of the stinging smell rising up into her nose. Her eyebrows and lips twitched, seeming as if she even doubted whether this was really human food.

nLooking at her reaction she seemed like a fish opening and closing its mouth. pretty cute, wasn’t it?

n“Ah, my arm’s gonna fall off, man!”

n“Ah, ah….”

nWhen I complained, Ellen finally opened her mouth and I put the spoonful of cheonggukjang into it.

nThat was revenge for her hitting me.

nEllen chewed a bit of it with an uncertain look on her face.

n“He,hehe. How’s that? Feeling limp already?”

n“!”

nEllen squeezed her eyes shut as she put it in her mouth whole with a frown on her face.

nIt seemed like her feelings of rejection maximized after she put it in her mouth.

nUnable to spit or swallow, Ellen started stamping her feet.

nA blunt, chic and beautiful 17-year-old girl?

nHah, there’s no such thing as a permanent concept!

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