I’ll Use a Reverse-Edged Sword

The two middle-aged male professors remain seated, while the young female professor stands up.

“The special admission exam is simple. You just need to prove that you have the skills or talent to receive lessons at the academy along with the high-level talents gathered from across the continent.”

The explanation is simple, but…
Isn’t asking to prove skills or talent too abstract a request?
I stood still in that position, watching the female professor who was walking out, without moving a muscle.

“Um… what wind has blown her way this time?”
“Oh, you know, she has these hysterical moments sometimes. What reason could there be? It’s just this fellow who’s become unfortunate… Bad luck, he picked the wrong day…”

The sound of the two professors behind clicking their tongues comes quite clearly to my ears.
The fact that I heard this so clearly means
that this approaching professor must have heard it too…
The inexplicable irritation and brusqueness in her expression deepens even further.

“The candidate can use any attack they want. If possible, though it’s probably impossible… I’ll even accept drawing and using mana. Of course, I won’t use any mana at all, and I won’t even draw this sword from its scabbard.”

“…Are you saying you’ll receive my attacks without even drawing your sword from its scabbard?”

“If it’s a decent attack, I’ll block it. If not, I’ll mostly just let it pass by. The time is five minutes. Try to show an impressive movement at least once within that time. During these five minutes, I’ll evaluate your skills and qualities in attack, defense, evasion, strategy, etc. by watching your movements. My evaluation score from directly facing you will be 50 points, and the two professors watching from behind will score 25 points each.”

“It’s simple, but… isn’t it dangerous? You’re not even wearing any special protective gear…”

“Don’t worry. Of course, there won’t be any attacks that would harm the candidate’s body. Just to the extent of checking defense or evasion ability… Wait, what did you just say? Protective gear… Were you talking about me?”

“……”

“Ha! You’re an interesting person. Don’t worry. The special admission exam has always been conducted this way, and there have been 0 cases of faculty members getting injured. The two behind and I. All three of us are knights who have wielded swords all our lives, originally from the Imperial Knight Order. We’re also veteran examiners with hundreds of experiences each, testing special admission candidates in order.”

“Professor Stephanie, wasn’t it my turn if we’re going in order?”
“Be quiet, Professor! It’s my turn this time!”
“…But it’s not… Isn’t it not? You should say something-”
“Shh… before we get caught in the crossfire for no reason…”
“Why is she so upset?”

Deliberately ignoring the voices of the two professors, Professor Stephanie faced me again.

“Sometimes people who have swung swords a bit in their neighborhood and received some recognition in their family’s knight order can be this arrogant. But this is the Imperial Academy. It’s where all the top talents from across the continent gather. The world is much wider than you think, candidate?”

She was a woman whose unpleasant feelings were clearly visible on her face.
I thought I should finish the entrance exam as quickly as possible against this professor who was somehow giving off a hostile atmosphere towards me from the start.

An impressive movement
Attack would probably be an easier way to show talent or skill than evasion or defense…
Various sword paths that appear as soon as I hold the reverse-edged sword
If I choose any of those extremely efficient and unorthodox sword paths and proceed with the attack,
no matter how much of an academy professor she is, she would have to acknowledge it.
It was true that I felt confident that I would pass the entrance exam without much trouble.

“There are no special rules, and my explanation wasn’t too difficult, so can I assume you understood everything?”
“Yes, I understood.”
“Then let’s start now. It will be a longer five minutes than you think. Concentrate as much as you can.”
“Yes.”

I lightly bowed my head in greeting and then lowered my posture.

“Is it iaido? I can’t believe there are still people who prefer such a one-dimensional attack.”

She sneered lightly as she saw me gripping the handle of the reverse-edged sword.

Shing

Iaido
As the reverse-edged sword is drawn from the scabbard according to my strength, it slashes towards her front.
As soon as the reverse-edged sword is drawn, my field of vision becomes infinitely wide
and my thoughts expand to the point where I can recognize even a single passing ant.
I can picture how she will block the sword that is being drawn.
She’ll probably raise the scabbard smoothly with that relaxed expression.
Just from the subtle movement of her shoulder muscles, her next action was predicted.

Swish
Whoosh
Thwack

“Urgh!”
“What?!”
“What’s this!!”

To show an impressive movement to her who was blocking the iaido by raising the scabbard,
I twisted the trajectory of the sword and swung it towards the opposite side of her abdomen.
I did this thinking that she, who had reacted quickly and smoothly to the iaido, would catch my variation and turn the scabbard to block it.
But,
unfortunately, my reverse-edged sword directly struck the left side of her abdomen.
Although it’s true that I didn’t put killing intent or use excessive force against her who wasn’t wearing any protective gear to begin with,
the speed was quite fast…

“Urgh… ugh… what is… gurgle…”

She vomits water and empties her stomach.

“Professor Stephanie! What on earth!”
“Are you alright?! What’s going on here!”

The two professors run over making a fuss and examine Professor Stephanie who is clutching her stomach and vomiting.
Meanwhile, I didn’t miss the moment when the two professors’ eyes briefly flashed as they looked at me.
For now, they seemed to think that checking Professor Stephanie’s condition was the priority, so they hurriedly took care of her.

“Was it here? Here?”
“That’s right, but how…”
“Urgh… uweh… ugh”

As if she still had a lot left to throw up, Professor Stephanie couldn’t get up from her prone position, pushing away the hands of the two professors.

“Um… Are you alright, Professor…?”

I also approached her out of concern to ask about her well-being, but
she flinched and stepped back when she saw me approaching with bloodshot eyes.
Then for a moment
As if she had soon realized her situation,
she dusts herself off and stands up.

“Hey, Professor Stephanie! Why are you getting up, you should lie down.”
“No, Professor, I’ll call a physician.”
“Yes, yes! That would be good, quickly-”

“Waiiiit! Ugh… urk… Wait a moment, you two… I’m fi… gurgle… ne…”
“How is this fine? After throwing up a whole basin! Look at that.”
“Kuh…!”

This time, perhaps because embarrassment had risen, Professor Stephanie was pushing the two professors away.

“I said I’m fine! Ugh… You two should go back inside! It’s not over yet, we still need to finish the exam.”
“What exam! If that friend hadn’t used that strange sword, your insides would already be spilling out of your stomach.”
“That’s right, Professor Stephanie. Let’s end this exam here, there’s no point in continuing further.”

In that brief moment, did they catch that the blade of my sword was blunt?
And that too, while standing far back with their arms folded?
If it had been a real sword, how would they have interfered with my attack?
I felt that these two professors, who seemed playful and light-hearted, hadn’t gotten their academy professor positions for nothing.

“It hasn’t been five minutes yet!!”
“Why are you being so stubborn today, how could that friend show a more impressive movement than this? We have no choice but to give full marks. It’s already a pass.”

Phew
Fortunately, it seemed I was passing the entrance exam quite easily as expected.
However, judging from the attitude of Professor Stephanie with her smoldering eyes and the two male professors, it didn’t seem like everything had gone so smoothly.

“You, did you say your name was Castillo Eden?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Castillo Eden… Have you lived only in the eastern region?”
“Yes.”
“Even so, it’s a talent that’s hard not to have heard of at least once… Do you perhaps have any combat experience?”
“Not yet… I’ve only trained within the family.”
“Hmm…”

As one professor questioned me as if interrogating, Professor Stephanie, who seemed to have recovered some strength from behind,
now approaches me without dry heaving.

“That sword… what is it?”
A more cautious tone mixed with wariness, unlike earlier when it was mixed with irritation

“…It’s called a reverse-edged sword… it’s the sword I prefer to use.”
“You carry around such a toy-like sword even in daily life?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s clearly an extraordinary skill. Although my pathetic mistake of being too careless and failing to respond is the biggest factor… Anyway! Regardless of the result, isn’t using such a toy-like sword a way of disrespecting your opponent?”
“……I never had such an intention. There are some circumstances-”
“What circumstances! I’ll be watching you closely with both eyes from now on. Arrogant and playful Castillo Eden! Congratulations on passing.”

That’s not a congratulatory tone at all.
I get the feeling that academy life might not be so smooth.