The Second Prince's Seclusion (4)
The next day.
Since the previous day, rumors spread secretly through the First Prince's faction had shaken the academy in a different way than the news of the Second Prince's seclusion.
[ It is said that the First Prince personally 'asked' Zeke Clayman to take the Second Prince into his swordsmanship class. And he left word that he looked forward to his continued support. ]
Zeke heard the story from Soi Spoon while receiving bread in the morning.
'Tsk, that sly bastard. He makes it sound like everyone knows the whole story just by hearing the rumors. Those kids don't know any better.'
The First Prince kept his promise.
By emphasizing that he himself had 'asked,' he implied that Zeke was not someone to be treated carelessly, thus protecting him.
At the same time, he showed his magnanimity to the Second Prince's faction.
And by talking about the future, he was implicitly expressing his intention to recruit Zeke.
'Hmm?'
Zeke suddenly frowned at the weight he felt in his hand.
“Elise.”
“Yes?”
“This bread feels a little heavier than usual.”
“Ah! Yes, that's right! You noticed right away? Ehem. I knew you used it as a weapon, Instructor! So I made it a little harder than usual!”
Soi puffed out her chest as if to say, "See? I did a good job."
'Well, I'll have to try it out. The kids coming to class today are going to have a hard time.'
Zeke swallowed those words at Soi's expectant eyes.
Instead, he talked about the texture.
“But, I prefer the usual bread from tomorrow. It's hard to eat when it's this hard.”
“Huh? Do you want to eat this?”
“Yes, I don't waste food.”
Soi was surprised.
She thought he would throw away the bread that got dirty after using it to teach the students.
'Our bread is so delicious, how can he use it to hit people without even eating it!'
In fact, she had been feeling a bit annoyed lately because some customers had visited the bakery looking for the bread Zeke used as a weapon.
But he eats it!
“Oh, um. Anyway! Ho, how was the taste?”
“It was delicious. It was nice and soft even after all this time.”
“Hehehe….”
Soi was happy that Zeke complimented the taste of the bread.
“Th, then, should I bring today’s bread again? It’s a bit tight on time if I come before the general class, but I’m really fast at running!”
“No, it’s alright. I don't want to trouble you. I’ll use this for today.”
“Okay! See you later!”
Soi bowed energetically and left.
'Huh? You're coming to class today? I should have asked you to bring me another one…'
However, she wasn't kidding about being fast,
She was already at the entrance of the training ground, running vigorously.
'Hmm, good physical ability. As expected of the female protagonist. It’s the protagonist’s fate to be chased after by the protagonist.'
Whoosh!
Thud!
As Zeke swung the bread experimentally, the ground caved in.
'Soi? What did you make this with?'
***
After Zeke finished his personal training and the students' lunch break ended.
Many people gathered to listen to Zeke’s class.
“I heard that instructor uses bread, is that true?”
“That’s what I heard. I have to take this class. I realized that what he said at the entrance ceremony was true.”
“Well, no one expected him to have a duel with the Second Prince there.”
“Gulp, if he’s that strong…. How can we not bring him into our Knights Order?”
“Hey, stop it. It seems like the First Prince already got to him first, and you want to try your luck?”
Commoners who remembered Zeke’s words at the entrance ceremony.
Noble students who were a little hesitant at the word that he had beaten up the Second Prince, but came after hearing the news that he was in a relationship with the First Prince.
Or those who came to figure him out, harboring doubts or curiosity about Zeke’s skills.
And even Soi Spoon.
'I heard the training is really hard, but so many people came…. Can I really do this?'
Soi had been confident in her strength and running since she had been doing various jobs since she was young,
But she had never heard of a sword other than a kitchen knife.
'No, the instructor told me personally that he wanted me to take this class. I must have some talent too.'
“Hey, was the training ground always like this?”
“Yeah, what are these huge pits?”
“What is this?”
There were large pits scattered throughout the training ground, each big enough to hold several people.
It was the trace of Zeke's practice of power control while adapting to the hardened bread during his training.
He swung a mana-coated bread about 100 times in the same spot, creating a pit like this.
'Well, there are so many of you. I thought it would be boring to just run around in circles, so I prepared this myself. You're welcome to be impressed, kids.'
Zeke decided to use these pits for the students' training.
“Huh? It’s the instructor.”
All eyes turned to Zeke.
Zeke glanced at the students and called Eric.
“Eric.”
“……Yes.”
Eric was dazed and came to his senses at Zeke’s words.
He couldn’t watch Zeke’s training from the beginning because he had to find out the truth behind the rumors about the First Prince this morning.
After reporting to the principal and heading towards the training ground,
Thud. Thud. He heard a pounding sound.
It was the sound of Zeke digging up the ground with bread.
This was a feat on a completely different level than overwhelming the Second Prince with swordsmanship.
'Is it even possible to achieve this through training….'
Moreover, the bread he used had only a little dirt on it,
There wasn’t even a single scratch.
“So, how many people are here?”
“We cut it off at the maximum capacity of 200 people.”
“200 people?”
“Yes, the students who couldn’t participate this time have been postponed to the next session.”
Zeke nodded and stepped forward in front of the students.
“I am Zeke Clayman, the swordsmanship instructor of Ramielli Academy.”
“That crazy bastard, he’s really holding a piece of bread….”
As one student muttered, Zeke’s cold eyes turned towards him.
His face turned pale and he hiccuped.
“Hic! I, I’ll write an acrostic poem with bread! Hic!”
'Good reflexes. I'll let you off the hook.'
Zeke turned his eyes away.
“You may have already heard, but my training is harsh. I will only take those who can endure, and I will not take those who cannot. Do you understand?”
“Yes!!”
“Good, then come forward one by one and take a sandbag.”
The students automatically formed a straight line in Zeke’s presence and received sandbags, wearing one set on each foot.
There weren’t enough sandbags for everyone because they ran out, but it couldn’t be helped.
‘Then I’ll just have to make the course difficult. I’ll have to try out Soi Spoon’s abilities, so I’ll make her do this and that today.’
“Divide into four groups of 50 and go through the first pit, then go clockwise until you reach the last pit. Then take a 10-minute break and repeat the same course 10 times. Eric, divide them into groups.”
“Yes.”
Eric moved among the students, dividing them into four groups of 50.
***
The students stood in line with nervous faces.
However, some of them looked confident.
They were the ones who had been training with knights since they were young.
“Phew, this is nothing. I’m from the White Flower Children’s Knights Order.”
“White Flower Children’s Knights Order? Hey, what rank are you?”
“14th rank.”
“Since when did a 14th rank get to address a 12th rank so casually?”
“Gasp! You joined at such a young age? Senior!”
“Hmm, yes. It’s nice to meet a junior. I can do this while walking backwards.”
"As expected, you're amazing!!"
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face with a baguette.
They didn't realize that the eliminated senior students had been training much longer and more seriously than them.
A little while later.
“Huff huff we are! The cool! White Flower! Children’s! Knights Order! Among many others!”
“Gasp gasp Senior, White Flower my ass, I think we’re all screwed.”
“Don’t give up! Junior! Ugh!”
Whack!
“Put some strength into your ankles. Or you’ll get hurt.”
Whack!
“Ouch! Wh, why me….”
“Oh, sorry. Carry on.”
“…..”
Zeke walked around the pits, hitting students with bad posture with bread.
And that included Soi Spoon.
‘Why, why is he so strict only with me!’
She had already been hit on her back and waist several times by the bread she made.
She was hit three times for every one time other students were hit.
Moreover, while he overlooked it when other students’ posture slightly wavered,
He nitpicked on every single detail of hers.
Tears welled up in her eyes in frustration.
‘I’m a human too!!’
Soi Spoon bit her lip tightly,
She grabbed the edge of the pit and pulled herself up with all her might
Whack!
“Ouch!”
“Elise, don’t use your wrist, use your back to pull yourself up.”
She glared at him with tearful eyes, but Zeke’s expression remained unchanged.
“Why, why…. Why are you doing this to me!?”
“Because I have high expectations of you.”
‘I don’t need such expectations!’
Soi Spoon admitted that her resolve had been too light.
No matter how much of a benefactor he was, she shouldn’t have made a promise so easily.
However, she hated showing weakness more than anything.
In the life of a commoner without a father, if you are looked down upon by someone, you will be devoured in an instant.
“Huff!”
She put all her strength into her back and climbed out of the last pit.
“Good. That’s good.”
After all the students in Group 1 had gone through all the pits, Zeke proceeded to the next training.
“Now that you’ve warmed up enough, we’ll do some agility training. The next group will follow right after, so watch carefully.”
‘Th, that’s what he calls warmed up?’
The students’ faces turned pale.
* * *
Finally, the seemingly eternal time passed,
And all the students collapsed, reduced to corpses.
Not a single one of them could stand properly.
"Patrasche…. I'm getting sleepy...."
"Whimper...."
Zeke approached Soi Spoon, who was lying face down.
"Are you alright?"
She mumbled in her collapsed state.
"Instructor, I don't want to do this anymore. No…. I can't do it...."
She came to swordsmanship class with a light heart,
But what she went through was a pain she might never experience again in her life.
On top of that, whenever she gritted her teeth and managed to do it,
Zeke increased the intensity, inflicting excruciating pain.
She didn't want to be hit by bread anymore, and she didn't want to suffer anymore.
Tears streamed down her face. She wiped them away with her arm.
Soi had no desire to attend Ramielli Academy while enduring such hardship.
'Right, I'll just learn accounting, make money, and hire someone to protect me.'
That thought came to her when she felt like her heart was going to explode from running.
“I won't take your swordsmanship class anymore.”
She said in a tearful voice.
Her declaration of giving up, which he never expected!
Zeke was extremely flustered as the basis of his plan crumbled.
'Did, did I go a little overboard? She was doing well in everything I had her try….'
Soi Spoon was talented.
She had great agility and sharp senses.
Although she still lacked in using her muscles, she had enough potential, and….
As Zeke observed Soi's training, a plan to raise her as a sword-and-buckler fighter, utilizing her strengths, was being meticulously crafted in his mind.
'Hey! How cool would it be if the female protagonist of a romance fantasy could also handle a sword? Does she always have to be protected from behind? People need to live proactively!'
Perhaps he got a little carried away trying to test her various talents.
He had to talk to her first.
"Think again."
"No."
"I think it would be good for you to take swordsmanship classes."
"No, I don't want to. Go away."
At her firm refusal, Zeke frowned.
'Sigh…. I really didn't want to stoop this low….'
Zeke looked away as if gazing at a distant mountain and spoke in a casual voice.
"Listen up, everyone. Let me tell you an interesting story."
At Zeke's words, the children lying down perked up their ears.
"The other day, when I happened to run into Soi Spoon, I saved her mother."
"Soi Spoon, what's that?"
"I don't know. I'm tired…"
"And I bought Soi Spoon's bread. For one gold coin."
Bread!? At that, the students' eyes widened.
But they couldn't even turn their heads.
That was a one-gold-coin bread? No wonder….
The strongest bread….
What kind of place is Hilrace Bakery….
He could hear murmurs here and there.
Everyone knew where the bread came from because of the cloth wrapped around Zeke's bread.
"And I told them how to protect Soi Spoon's family from those thugs."
Soi's eyes twitched as she listened.
"And Soi Spoon's name is also…. Mmm!"
Suddenly, she sat up and rushed over to Zeke,
Covering his mouth and looking around frantically.
"Soi Spoon? Dirt spoon? What's that?"
"I don't know? Is it someone's name? Ugh, I'm dying."
"Hey, how can that be someone's name? It must be a nickname. Egotistical…."
Fortunately, none of the kids were in their right minds,
They were all sprawled out, mumbling in a daze as if they were sleepy.
She bit her lip tightly. Then, she whispered quickly into Zeke's ear.
"O, okay, I get it!! I'll do it! I will!! So please stop!!! Saying that name!!"
Zeke nodded with his mouth covered.
Then Soi Spoon let out a deep sigh and removed her hand.
The training was so hard, and she really didn't want to do it, but….
As Zeke listed the debts she owed him one by one,
She couldn't bring herself to refuse again.
‘If it weren’t for the instructor, I might not even be here right now…. Is this blackmail or what! This bad person!’
Soi looked up at the sky. She seemed to have gotten herself into quite a mess.
‘Sigh, really…. How did it come to this…?’
She narrowed her eyes and glared at Zeke.
How could someone be so annoying?
However, he simply glanced away and said,
"I did it all for your own good."
"Shut up!!!"
'Hey, hey, I don't want to do this either. But someone has to do it, right?'
Hmm, hmm. Zeke nodded.
Glaring at Zeke, Soi Spoon vowed to bring him a soggy loaf of bread from tomorrow onwards.
But she immediately changed her mind.
'No way. I'm not going to be the only one suffering!!!'
From tomorrow onwards, she would bring him an even harder loaf of bread.
This was the moment Hilrace Bakery's legendary superbread awakened.
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