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An Otherworldly Scholar - 222
🕑 Added 2025-04-27 05:58:27 +0000 UTC“Don’t push it too hard, Aeliana! Tomorrow is the big day!” Talindra shouted, standing on the edge of the fireplace.
Aeliana completed her spin, elegant like a ballerina, and her sword returned to her hand. The mana thread connecting the handle was a faint blue filament, barely visible to the untrained onlooker. Aeliana darted forward, closing the gap between her and Odo in the blink of an eye. The boy parried the first swing, then feigned to the right but shifted his grip to attack from the left. Aeliana tensed the mana thread blocking Odo’s swing and swept his feet with a powerful kick.
Odo hit the floor, making the whole Cabbage House tremble.
Sawdust fell from the ceiling like a curtain closing at the end of the play.
“Good combat, Henchman Odo,” Aeliana said, extending her hand and pulling Odo back to his feet.
Aeliana was strong for a Lv.1 fifteen-year-old girl, one of the perks of being a Karid.
“It’s just Odo,” the boy grunted, rubbing his shoulder.
“You are not my warrior-brother, so it would be improper to use your name alone,” Aeliana replied.
“Why ‘henchman’, though?”
Aeliana just grinned.
I couldn’t tell if the girl was joking or being serious. She had an honorific for everyone except Yvain and Leonie. Yvain, on one hand, was technically his distant relative so honorifics weren’t needed. Leonie, on the other hand, had become close friends with Aeliana. The two girls had just clicked.
Everyone else had an honorific. I was Swordmaster Clarke, Malkah was Noble Malkah, Odo and Harwin were Henchman Odo and Harwin, Dolores was Honored Dolores, and the rest were just ‘Cadet’ followed by their names. The only exception was Countryboy Fenwick, but I was almost sure Aeliana was a hundred percent pulling his leg. Fenwick seemed to enjoy the custom nickname.
“Come on Fenwick! Putting in a bit of effort won’t kill you!” Talindra yelled.
Fenwick was circling Rup’s puppet, avoiding engagement. A month ago, it would’ve been a better strategy; run around and get to Rup’s body, but the girl’s mana manipulation had improved a lot. Now, Rup was able to move while controlling her puppet. She couldn’t fight at the same time, but at least she wasn’t a sitting duck anymore.
“I’m serious, Fenwick. Tomorrow the examiners will decide whether you return home or stay in the race to become an Imperial Knight,” Talindra said.
“I’m sorry, Instructor Mistwood. It’s just that I need some motivation,” Fenwick sighed. “Would you go on a date with me if I pass the exam?”
Rup’s puppet stumbled, and I rubbed my temples. No wonder Fenwick had been so silent during the sparring session. The boy was simmering a prank over a low fire. I looked at Talindra. She wasn’t amused or embarrassed. It was a good sign. I decided not to intervene.
“I’m sorry, Fenwick, but you are not my type,” Talindra replied without skipping a beat. “But worry not, I’m sure someone out there would like to date you. There are twenty-five million people in Ebros, so mathematically speaking, there has to be at least one girl who likes you.”
The cadets laughed.
Genivra lowered her sword. There was a smug smile on her face.
“Don’t despair, Countryboy Fenwick. There must be a couple of thousand deaf girls out there who can’t physically hear the dung that comes out of your mouth.”
The cadets laughed even more.
The only downside of Fenwick’s pranks was that they interrupted the training flow of the others. Not that I could blame him now. It was the last day before the selection exam, and a light-hearted session was better for their nerves.
“You clearly don’t understand me, Genivra,” Fenwick replied, raising his sword and trying to disarm Rup’s puppet. He was enjoying the attention. “One has to be dummy smart to be as funny as I am. Let’s be real for a moment. Who in the Cabbage Squad is funnier than me?”
Everyone turned towards Malkah, expecting him to say something. He shifted, uncomfortable, and lowered his sword. The answer was unanimous.
“Please, leave Fenwick in peace. Even if you are joking, you’ll hurt his ego,” Malkah said.
Genivra rolled on the floor, grabbing her stomach, and even Yvain, who was usually stern, had to turn around to hide his smile. Malkah looked at me, confused, and I did my best to hide my smile. The fact that his candidness was easily mistaken for playful jabs was a recent discovery.
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me, pretty boy?” Fenwick said, turning his back on Rup’s puppet.
“If you want to fight, I’m always open to helping you with your training,” Malkah replied nonchalantly.
Fenwick didn’t get to answer because Rup seized the opportunity and had her puppet bonk the boy’s head from behind. The strike was a lot gentler than others might have given him, and the Quality Training Headgear absorbed the rest of the impact. Still, Fenwick stumbled forward and almost hit the floor.
“What the hell was that, Rup?!” Fenwick asked.
“I win, you lose. That’s it,” Rup said, snapping his puppet’s woody fingers.
Malkah was relieved he was out of the spotlight.
The last day of Cabbage Camp had come and gone in the blink of an eye.
When I was in school, I felt months were eternal. Now, as a teacher, years seemed to go by at a dizzying speed. Despite the contrived schedule, Cabbage Camp had borne fruit. I wasn’t sure if Lord Astur had noticed it, but every single one of the cadets was like a small sponge, absorbing all the knowledge around them. Imperial Cadets were, after all, the cream of the crop.
“Great job, everyone. Enough for today,” I said, clapping my hands to get the cadet’s attention. “Tomorrow is the big day, so pack your things, return to the barracks, and take a hot bath. I want all of you to be in top shape.”
“Just like that?” Fenwick asked. “I was starting to like this place.”
“Cabbage Camp achieved its goal. From tomorrow on, you’ll return to the barracks and live a regular academy life like the rest of the cadets,” I replied.
Just as much of a prankster, Fenwick was also the spokesman of the class.
“Can we stay one last night?” Leonie said. “Sleeping in a strange place the night before the selection exam will negatively affect our performance.”
The other cadets nodded.
I didn’t see anything wrong with their request.
“You’ll return to the barracks after the selection exam.”
“If we pass,” Yvain pointed out.
“You’ll pass,” I replied.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Well, Preceptor Holst’s passing rate is seventy-five percent,” I said.
“And?”
“And Preceptor Holst has been copying Mister Clarke’s methods. Mister Clarke is the real deal, so you have a better chance of passing with him, on paper, at least. Ultimately, it all will come down to how much effort you put into training,” Ilya replied from the doorway.
The gnome girl wore a green loose-sleeved dress, cinched to the waist. Silver embroidery resembling vines coiled around her slim figure. Her hair was styled in two buns tied with silver lace, and a simple tiara of white flowers adorned her head. Her eyes were lined with black eyeliner, and her lips were glossy crimson red.
The boys and I were stunlocked.
[Foresight] had to jumpstart my brain like a duct-tape mechanic coaxing life into an old Yugo.
“You look stunning,” I said.
Ilya grinned, performing a complete turn so we could appreciate the embroidery. It didn’t take an expert to notice the dress had been specially tailored for her. I recalled the schedule Lord Astur had given me. I didn’t remember any formal celebration set for this day.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked.
Ilya gave me a nonchalant smile.
“It’s just an old Imperial Cadet tradition. The night before the first selection exam, second and third-year cadets throw a party to bring luck to the new cadets,” she said, rolling her eyes. “In reality, it is kind of a cockfight between nobles about who is better dressed. A peacock fight if you want.”
I scratched my chin. Celebrating while others were eating their brains out before the most important exam of their careers sounded like advanced psychological warfare. I wondered if the new cadets knew about the party they weren’t invited to. Maybe the camp format had worked too well for the Cabbage Squad.
“You're going to make heads roll with that dress,” I said, saving a snapshot in my long-term memory to show Elincia later. “Are you sure you don’t have a boyfriend? A special someone you want to impress tonight?”
I didn’t expect a yes but instead of a straight no, Ilya mindlessly tapped on her chin.
“Well. There are two Herran sisters I’d like to ally with, but I don’t think they like me a lot after the Spank-and-Run incident,” Ilya said. “Did you know that the Herran Dukedom has the biggest colony of gnomes in Ebros?”
I didn’t get to ask about Ilya’s interest in gnome colonies because Aeliana got ahead of me.
“W-what was the Spank-and-Run incident?” she asked with an expression of morbid interest.
“Nugget spanked Herran ass mighty hard during their first-year midterms,” Harwin replied.
Unlike the rest of the class, and despite Cabbage House being a bubble inside the Academy, Harwin and Odo were surprisingly up-to-date with the cadets’ rumors. At first glance, neither appeared to be a textbook gossip, but appearances were often deceiving. For all I knew, Rup could be a Berserker, and Fenwick a Scribe. Still, I didn’t expect Harwin to know about Ilya’s deep lore.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
I couldn’t help but sound a bit accusatory.
“System forbid a guy from enjoying a little gossip,” Harwin replied.
“Harwin wants to say that knowledge is power,” Odo interjected, puffing his chest. “To protect House Kigria’s integrity, we have been researching common sources of humiliation for the three big houses. Our investigation points towards Nugget as the primary source of embarrassment during the past two years.”
Ilya performed a little curtsy.
I rubbed my temples. Working with kids almost guaranteed a weekly case of sensory overload. Kids could go from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye and surprise you even after you thought you thoroughly knew them, not to mention their ability to jump from one topic to a completely different one.
Sometimes I wondered if my brain wasn’t slowing down too fast.
I clapped my hands.
“Alright, everyone. Enough chattering. You know the drill. Cadets, go to the showers, or I’m going to start rambling about personal hygiene again, and you’ll have to listen to the very end,” I shouted. “You can keep talking while you soak!”
Begrudgingly, the cadets grabbed their toiletry bags and exited Cabbage House.
“So, the Spank-and-Run incident,” I said after the three of us were left alone.
Ilya raised her hands in defeat.
“I admit it. I lost my cool and might have spanked once or twice too much. Being a commoner in the Imperial Academy isn’t all that easy despite the merit-based system, and my patience was running low,” she said with a devilish grin. “Anyway, that is in the past. I’m here for a different reason.”
[Foresight] tried to come up with a reason but only drew blanks.
“So?” I asked.
“I want you to come with me to the party,” Ilya said.
For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.
“Me? I’m an instructor. I don’t think invading a cadet’s space would be appropriate,” I replied.
Ilya sighed.
“Instructors are invited, and even parents come from all the corners of the kingdom to check that their children uphold their families' honor. You can say this is like a yearly parents’ conference,” Ilya said, looking over my shoulder. “Instructor Mistwood didn’t tell you?”
Talindra cleared her throat.
“I-I was not invited to last year's party.”
For some reason, that didn’t surprise me.
“Anyway, we’re short on time. Do you accept?” Ilya asked.
“I don’t have proper clothes,” I pointed out.
“I’ve already prepared something for you. This dress?” Ilya said, turning around. “A tailor from the Artisans Circle sewed it to flex their skills before the nobles. I will either buy it or return it after the party. I had another tailor prepare a suit for you.”
Ilya had thought about everything.
“What about Firana?” I asked.
“Strike me lightning! What about her?! I asked you first,” Ilya replied, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning. “If she cracked her thunder heels through that window and asked you to accompany her to the party right now, you’d pick her, wouldn't you?”
I sighed.
At least it was good to know their little rivalry was as active as ever.
“I’m trying to ask you if the Wolfpack will be there, you know, because everyone believes I’m Firana and Wolf’s father,” I said.
Ilya gave me a suspicious look.
“If they arrive on time, they’ll attend the party. They probably will, even second-year instructors like to be there to see the first selection exam.”
I nodded, wondering if I should keep the fact that I had four children in the Academy instead of two a secret. My initial hunch was to keep it a secret, but if I wanted to change the world, there was no point in keeping my methods a secret. The party might be the best stage to show the nobles that birth wasn’t the only factor determining a person’s fate.
“Well, where do I gather my suit?” I said.
Ilya grinned.
“Zaon’s bedroom. Cadet’s quarters, third floor, seventh room to the right. You will love it. The party starts in an hour, so be quick!” She said, giving me a quick hug that almost collapsed my lungs, and walked to the door.
“Ilya?”
“Yes.”
The girl stopped in the doorway.
“Don’t return the dress after the party,” I said. “My treat.”
Ilya giggled and closed the door behind her.
Cabbage House felt empty without the cadets fooling around, but I ignored the silence. I slapped my cheeks. It has been a while since my last parent-teacher conference, and the uni didn’t prepare me to deal with royalty.
I caught Talindra giving me an approving look.
“You did great today. Fenwick was especially antsy,” I said.
“T-thanks. The moment seemed right to mock him a little bit,” Talindra replied.
“It would’ve been okay too if you wanted to punish him harshly. He was disrespectful.”
Talindra nodded and scribbled something in her pocket notebook.
“Are you going to the party? If you need an invitation, consider this one,” I said.
“W-what makes you think I want to go to a party instead of returning to my cozy bedroom?” she replied, almost fumbling with her notebook.
“I see your point,” I replied, trying to sound conciliatory. “Parties are exhausting.”
“They are.”
Talindra was an open book; I didn’t need [Foresight] to read her.
I had reasons to believe the other instructors were bullying Talindra, and it was perfectly normal not to want to interact with them more than strictly required. Still, a part of me thought that hiding away wasn’t the right answer. I was more of the fight-back crowd.
I decided not to push the matter if Talindra didn’t want to discuss it.
“What do you think about Odo and Harwin?” I asked, gathering the weapons racks and piling them up against the wall by the front door.
Those two were the weakest performers in Cabbage Class. I couldn’t say they were bad students. On the contrary, they would do anything to keep up with Malkah. However, from a purely technical point of view, there was a huge gap between their swordsmanship and mana manipulation and those of the rest of the class.
I wasn’t entirely sure they would survive the selection exam.
“They have a solid chance,” Talindra replied, her eyes lost through an open window. “The first day, I thought Rup, Kili, and Fenwick had little to no chance of passing. I don’t want to sound accusatory, but Rhovan would’ve discarded them without giving them an opportunity. I’m glad he didn’t ask me to be his assistant this year. I think we are doing great here in Cabbage.”
I smiled.
“Let’s pray for a hundred percent passing rate tomorrow.”
Talindra nodded and gave me the thumbs-up.
“Go prepare for your party. I’m going to do something actually entertaining and water my cabbages,” she said, walking to the cabinet of gardening tools. “And be careful out there, please.”
[Foresight] pinged my brain. There was something odd about the tone of her words. Concern, maybe? I hadn’t told Talindra about my fight with Red, but now I wondered if she suspected something was off with me. I hadn’t gotten to the point where I could kill a man without feeling remorse for days and days afterwards, even if that man were a slaver like Red.
“When haven’t I been careful?” I asked, stopping at the door.
“P-please ignore me,” she babbled. “I-I was just saying.”
I couldn’t help but feel guilty for making her feel guilty.
“I will be careful,” I said. “But trouble seems to find me one way or another.”
Talindra put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows.
One more month of training, and she’d start developing The Glance.
*
The gnomes tried to persuade me to sit for a drink, but I fled Cabbage House before they could physically drag me into one of their homes. I returned to the main building without running into anyone—no Imperial Knights, Wolfpack, or cadets. The Academy seemed emptier than usual. The new cadets must’ve been preparing for the selection exam while the rest readied for the party. I glanced at the Egg. Through the glass walls, I could see dozens and dozens of cadets training inside the mana bubbles.
They should be resting.
I went directly to the teacher’s lounge, grabbed a clean change of clothes, and headed to the bathroom. A trickle of hot water fell from a lion’s head fountain into a marble pool. One of the aides had told me this bathroom was older than the kingdom itself, a relic from the old Empire. Imperial Knights seemed extremely attached to such artifacts. There was no sign of enchanted parts, just pure masonry.
I grabbed a bucket and a small disc-shaped piece of soap and sat in one of the lateral cubicles. Strangely enough, the ceiling was a huge mirror constantly blurred by the pool vapours. At least I could see if someone—or a smudge of someone’s shape rather—approached without turning around.
Unfortunately, there was no time to soak.
I dried my hair with [Minor Pyrokinesis] and [Minor Aerokinesis] and put on my clothes, wondering what Ilya had prepared for me. The cadet’s barracks weren’t far from the teacher’s lounge. Most of the bedrooms were clumped in the eastern wing. Still, there was no direct connection between the teacher’s lounge and the cadets’ barracks. I had to descend a staircase and walk a long corridor under the attentive sight of paintings and statues of old Imperial Knights.
The first-year cadet barracks were frugal compared to the rest of the building. The naked stone gave it a stark vibe, which changed as soon as I reached the second floor. The aroma of flowers and wood varnish invaded my nostrils. At the end of the corridor, there was a tall hexagonal common hall with flower beds under each window. It looked like a nice place to read a book and look down on the inner city.
Following Ilya’s instruction, I climbed to the third floor and knocked on the seventh door to the right.
“Hey, Zaon! It’s me,” I said.
The door opened, and an unfamiliar face greeted me—a blonde girl with freckles and shiny blue eyes in a wide salmon dress. We exchanged an equally confused look. Then, after an instant, her face lit up.
“Oh, you must be Zaon’s mentor,” the girl said. “I’m Nessa Morag-Vedras. Zaon’s squadmate. Please, come in. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I examined the girl’s face. She didn’t look like Lord Vedras, and the man had no brothers or sisters. Must’ve been a distant relative.
“Robert Clarke. The pleasure is mine,” I replied, unsure why the girl was there.
Zaon hadn’t mentioned any Vedras girl, friend, or more than friends.
As soon as I crossed the doorway, a mixture of the floral smells of women’s perfumes slapped my face.
I blinked.
[Foresight] told me I wasn’t hallucinating.
Eight girls dressed like fairy-tale princesses huddled inside the narrow room. One sat over the wardrobe, one on the window ledge, two on the desk, and three on the bed, each more decked out than the previous one. I quickly realized everyone had something in common: the badge of the silver thorned rose.
“Squad Rosethorn!” Nessa Morag-Vedras announced. “This Lord Robert Clarke.”
I couldn’t believe Zaon had managed to hide this from me for an entire month.
Comments
Matt Bradock
Damn, Zaon got GAME. Rob might have been the one who got isekai'd, but Zaon got the harem :D
Catherine
Ah hah I found it. Chapter 203 “You see, Ghila, Robert Clarke takes things personally when it comes to mistreating his students,” Holst continued. “Did I tell you that four of Clarke’s students are currently studying at the Imperial Academy? You better have treated them well, or I can’t vouch for your well-being.” This chapter ‘I nodded, wondering if I should keep the fact that I had four children in the Academy instead of two a secret.’
Catherine
Rob said he wasn’t sure he wanted them to know he had 4 students here but everyone should already know. Preceptor Holst told everyone he had 4 students here when they first met in the teachers lounge. He said something like ‘He doesn’t like it when people don’t treat his students well. He has 4 students here, I hope you were nice to them.’ Or something along those lines
Ben Bass
TYFTC! I love the filling out of the existing characters, especially the kiddos as they grow up and discover more about themselves. As Rob kept saying, Zaon was going to be in trouble with the ladies, I don’t think Rob had in mind he would create an all female squad. Which actually doesn’t feel that far fetched in the slightest…
Napoleon III
You know its really weird I’m currently reading 2 lesbian romance stories (and loving it) but being slapped in the face with maybe her being gay (I would not call that confirmation) really annoys me. Maybe it’s because there are tons of gay charters these days in seemingly everything I read, or maybe it because there was no foreshadowing at all, but I really rather she wasn’t.
Calvin
Yay! Confirmation that Nugget is gay! This makes me happy.
Rod
Zaon you sly dog
Paxmorgana
Good chapter, I noticed a couple accidental pronoun gender flips. When Aeliana's relationship to Yvain is being discussed amid the broader topic of her honorific usage, Yvain is remarked as "his distant relative". The other is when Rup has her puppet snap it's fingers. Either this is a case where the puppet is presented as male and the order of the words in the sentence is wrong, as I notice extra description towards the puppet (woody fingers), or the sentence can stay as is but flip "his" to "her".
Catherine
😂
Nitr0Sage
👀
Stormtrooper
Too sleep or too read Elra's story.... bet you can guess the answer
