Chapter 182 – Letters from Swan 2
Month o Day x
Instructor Sword apparently approved of the duel against the prince. It was carried out during our swordsmanship lesson.
But, with both being forbidden to fight directly, Instructor Sword took out a huge chunk of an arm. It looked totally disgusting.
Instructor Sword called it the "Arm of a Cyclops." According to him, it was very tough, and sure enough, it did look solid. Then again, I didn't really want to look at it all that much.
As might be expected of the prince, he wasn't perturbed by it at all. The same applied to Lord Genius as well. And of course, Indra, too.
Indra reluctantly accepted the sword handed to him by Instructor Sword, and quickly chopped up the arm in an indifferent manner as if cutting through soft, boiled vegetables.
The prince...readied his sword in a cool way, and swung it down. It was a beautiful slash, perfectly following swordsmanship theories.
But, the sword was repelled after clanking shrilly.
...Huh?
So it's hard after all?
With Indra it felt like he was cutting through something soft, though...
They switched swords and also locations. The prince had complained that the place where Indra hit the arm was softer than his.
I don't think I was the only one believing that he was probably wrong about that.
Indra might not be a human, was a thought crossing my mind. At least, I couldn't consider him to be the same human as I am.
Then again, I can't really consider the prince or Lord Genius to be humans of the same kind as I am either...
Indra felt like some other kind of creature. That's why I felt like Indra would be able to cut the monster arm, which was described as "very tough" and couldn't be cut by the prince.
And that feeling came true. The prince couldn't cut the area Indra had cut earlier while Indra easily cut the arm at the new spot. Then he went on to even skin the arm with nimble, practiced hand movements.
"Even a monster, which was hard enough that it would cause chips in the blade if hit by the prince, can be easily cut by Indra with a kitchen knife," Instructor Sword explained.
Apparently the prince could come to terms with that.
Limited to the sword, that is.
Next, he challenged Indra to another duel. But this time during magic class. The prince was number one in magic at the academy, so he probably believed that he'd be able to win with magic arts.
Personally, I expected that he wouldn't stand a chance, though. After all, it sounded impossible that Indra, who was brimming with so much confidence, wouldn't be able to use magic.
In reality, Instructor Sword tried to stop the prince, but had to give up in the end. Still, the instructor told him something as crazy as "I won't give a damn even if you die.
I wondered whether the prince would be alright.
Indra yielded the first move to the prince, and stood still while carefreely chatting with Instructor Sword.
It sounds like Instructor Sword can use abbreviated spell chants! I've heard about such people existing, but I didn't think that Instructor Sword would be one of them!
When I stared at Instructor Sword full of respect and awe, the prince finished his chant and invoked his favorite water magic spell.
In the brief time I worried that even Indra wouldn't come out unscathed from this, if he got directly hit by that spell, the magic vanished.
" Eh?"
Everyone's voices and hearts synchronized. No one understood what happened. Only Instructor Sword had expected that outcome, and asked Indra how he pulled this off.
Indra answered with some incomprehensibly complicated explanation. Sorry, I couldn't understand any of it, so I won't write about it here.
I tried asking Indra after everything was over, but I still couldn't comprehend the explanation. Still, it's clear that Indra is a very smart boy.
Prince Elias claimed that Indra had relied on Instructor Sword, but at this point everyone else knew that he was wrong about this. Indra told him that he'd show proof, and the instant he finished speaking, Prince Elias got attacked by magic.
Even as I'm writing this, I still don't know what happened. Explosions occurred next to the prince, and the prince was mercilessly tormented by those. The prince was swallowed by the sounds of explosion, unable to dodge them.
I was dumbfounded. It looked like Indra had used magic, but...lndra didn't chant anything. He didn't even use any gestures or anything like that.
And yet, the prince was toyed with by a magic attack I've never seen before and which seemed to originate from Indra.
Indra said with a broad grin, "If we leave him like that for the entire magic lesson, he'll probably understand my true strength."
...I froze in place due to Indra doing something like this while saying all that to the prince.
I was scared. I don't know what's going to happen to me, if Indra should ever find out about me spying on him. Am I really going to be alright?
...After this, Lord Genius begged Indra to stop the magic against the prince while prostrating himself, and thus Instructor Sword had Indra cease the duel. Instructor Sword should have been able to stop Indra as he's the hero [Thunderclap
Whitefang], right?
Indra is someone who can't be stopped by anyone other than a hero. I feel like that means he's as strong as a dragon or demonkin at this point. Isn't Indra more powerful than the demon said to nest in the academy?
Indra, who caused even cockatrices to be frightened of him, innocently rejoiced over becoming the strongest in the academy.
*
Shadow rubbed his eyebrows, and ended up unconsciously putting too much strength into it.
" Sword uses abbreviated chants, and she goes beyond that, using no chants at all, huh? This is...very troublesome. On top of that, she can cancel out magic ? I knew that she's strong, but for her to go beyond any human boundaries to such an extent "
Shadow had become increasingly frightened as he read the letter. Swan's fear was palpable from them as well. Shadow was uncertain whether it was good or bad that the prince had been beaten so devastatingly.
If the prince finds out about me having sent her into the academy, it might give his faction an excuse for a purge.
"...Alright, I got it. Anyway, I'll have them complete the request. No matter what result it might yield, it'll be fine as long as it has some kind of outcome. And then it'll be fine to have them quickly exit the academy. Let's get him to put a bit more effort into his spying. Since she's been carefreely aiming for being the strongest at the academy, she's most likely not even suspecting that she's being spied on."
He encouraged himself and Swan.
*
Month o Day x
Everyone was nervous since it'd be Indra's first lesson in manners today. We had the lesson together with another class.
The noble ladies of that class were receiving education in ladyship as their main objective. Prince Elias's fiancée, Lady Scarlet, and the rumored Lady Primrose were in that class as well.
Having the lesson together with a class like that and teaching manners to Indra the commoner...everyone was dejected, wondering what kind of punishment game this was supposed to be.
Anyway, everyone in our class prayed so that Indra wouldn't go berserk and treat the manners instructor kindly.
Indra's partner had to be, of all people possible, that ducal young lady...Lady Scarlet!
Everyone became ghastly pale. Though Lady Scarlet seemed to be unperturbed as she probably hadn't heard any of the rumors about Indra.
...Lady Scarlet was famous for being strict and not even shying away from giving Prince Elias her opinion. Of course, her conduct and manners were perfect as the prince's fiancée.
I couldn't fathom what might happen. And to make matters even worse, Indra and Lady Scarlet had to start off the lesson! At this point, I was already sitting at the edge of my seat, praying with all my might.
Yep, I fully understood just how much we had underestimated the man called Indra. We thought he was some random commoner. I didn't realize the depth of Indra's abnormality.
He perfectly escorted Lady Scarlet in a much more refined and stylish way than I could ever hope to pull off, and achieved perfect grades on all accounts. His whole performance was perfect, from the beginning to the end.
Even the instructor couldn't help but to shout, "Marvelous!"
It was my first time to hear that instructor use such a term. And yet he was an instructor who nitpicked even when it came to the prince's manners...
Once the instructor asked Indra while being surprised about her outstanding manners, Indra told him that he'd been taught the manners of men and women flawlessly until the age of five.
I doubt you'd find such people even among the nobility.
And then Indra looked down on us with a sneer as if scorning some lowly commoners, and laughed.
"Your training is lacking because you nobles slack off too much," Indra declared bluntly and walked away while escorting Lady Scarlet.
--Incredible. Is Indra really a commoner? Personally, I can't believe it.
Month o Day x
Indra seems to get along well with Lady Scarlet, his partner during the lesson in manners the other day. After being invited over for tea by Lady Scarlet, he was in a bind about a valet attending together with him, and thus I offered my help.
Seeing him thank me with an innocent smile made it hard for me to believe that he's a scary man, but...
Starting with the greeting, Indra was perfect during the entire tea party. I doubt that this person has any weaknesses. Though, I couldn't understand many of the things he talked about with Lady Scarlet. But, it sounded like most of it was about foodstuff. At least, he spoke about things such as where he obtained certain ingredients and so on.
Even Lady Scarlet appeared to be astonished by Indra's wealth of knowledge. The rumors stated that Lady Scarlet has been contributing a lot to the development of her family's fief, but even she couldn't help but reveal her true face out of total surprise when she heard Indra's replies to her various questions.
I was worried that I might be persecuted by Lady Scarlet for having witnessed her unguarded moments, but it was a big relief that she didn't seem to mind it. Lady Scarlet also said that Indra doesn't seem like a commoner at all and that talking to Indra is similar to talking with Prince Elias.
I think both have become very close.
*
Shadow massaged both temples.
"Things sure have become troublesome. So she became friends with Scarlet Chaudgal, huh? According to gossip, she's a very perceptive and strong-willed girl, but...if she forms bonds with Indra and Sword, I fear that the duke will immediately get on board as well. Or rather, I'm sure he will force his way in. Assuming the duke hasn't changed, it's pretty much set that the Duke Chaudgal family will back her."
Lifting his face, Shadow looked in the distance with unfocused eyes.
"...Seriously, this whole request is a complete failure. Now that it's turned out like this, I don't care anymore as long as I can get at least some gain out of this. Rather, things have started to gradually develop to her benefit, haven't they? Damn it...doesn't she have any weaknesses whatsoever?"
He sighed for the umpteenth time.
*
Month o Day x
Lady Scarlet and Indra appear to get chummier by the day. This time it looks like Indra has invited her over for tea, but it sounds like they'll have their tea party at a place other than Indra's room.
Given that Lady Scarlet and Indra have been chatting with smiles whenever they run into each other, it's clear that Lady Scarlet doesn't hate or fear Indra. That makes her an amazing person in my eyes.
As I thought, the mental fortitude of the prince's fiancée is not to be underestimated.
Every once in a while, he also exchanges greetings with the rumored Lady Primrose. Indra always looks very unwilling whenever it happens, but Lady Primrose looks at him all smiles.
I've also heard her use 'Brother DearestA, but that must be my imagination, right?
I think Lady Primrose is amazing as well. ...Or is Indra possibly kinder to women?
Also, I realized it only very recently, but Indra's mornings start very early. He appears to get up long before I do. And he's doing something in the time I need to sober up.
As soon as I wake up, he's already gone or has already come back, so I have no idea where he's going every morning.
*
Shadow brooded.
"Weak towards women? As a weak point? But, she's a woman herself, isn't she? Well, I suppose it means she's treating women like a gentleman. I'll ask him to keep watching the situation for the time being. It'd be great if I could have Scarlet Chaudgal become her weakness, but Also, I'll have him investigate just what she's doing so early in the morning. Then again, I doubt it's going to become a weakness, considering her lifestyle."
