Namgung Se-ga, the warrior, was reincarnated in Romance

It was Thursday, the advanced swordsmanship class.

As usual, while practicing the basic sword techniques, senior Walter Orgen almost got seriously injured. For some reason, he seemed distracted and tried to block the sword of a fellow student with his left arm, which wasn’t holding his shield.

Fortunately, Maelo Sanson, like someone with eyes on the back of his head, managed to snatch the sword with his bare hands, preventing any injury, but Walter received a stern scolding.

Even though he was being scolded, there was no sign of remorse, so as a punishment, he had to run laps around the training grounds while the other students continued practicing.

Walter Orgen was a cheerful, witty, and gentle person. Having deferred his graduation several times, he was older than most and played the role of the eldest in the advanced swordsmanship class. Having taken the class for several years, he rarely made mistakes.

I glanced at him, running with a serious expression, while other students were concerned.

I had spoken to Walter on several occasions and felt a sense of familiarity toward him, so I couldn’t help but worry when I saw him like this.

Upon reflection, I realized that Walter had been less humorous in the past few weeks compared to before.

While he still joked around and teased the others, he often gazed blankly at the sky or seemed lost in thought between classes.

I hesitated to ask, knowing that if it were something related to his family, I wouldn’t be able to help. But I also thought that, maybe, I could be of some assistance, so as soon as class ended, I grabbed his wrist.

“Hm? What’s up, Mikael?”

“…Well…”

“What? I’m really fine, you saw Professor block it earlier, right?”

“Is there something going on lately?”

“Uh…”

Walter Orgen hesitated with a confused expression but soon gave a familiar, playful smile and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s just that some stuff came up. Thanks for worrying, though.”

“….”

“It’s really nothing to worry about…”

Walter Orgen looked at my face and the wrist I was holding alternately, then let out a chuckle and gave a proper answer.

“It’s just because of my graduation problem. I’m thinking about deferring for another year…”

It was a surprising statement.

Walter, with a bitter smile, shook my hand off and released his wrist.

Benjamin and Ruber, who had come to join me for lunch, led the others over and were just as shocked upon hearing that.

“You’re thinking about another year…?”

“Uh, yeah. But it’s not really that surprising, is it?”

“Well, not exactly, but…”

At Siren Academy, early admission, early graduation, and graduation deferrals were all possible.

It was possible, but none of them were common occurrences. Just the fact that I was the only early entrant among this year’s students showed that it wasn’t something frequent.

Moreover, I had heard that Walter Orgen had already deferred graduation several times.

According to the academy handbook, students could defer graduation for up to five years, but very few stayed longer and paid the high tuition fees without a special reason.

I glanced at the young man, who seemed a bit older than the others.

Walter Orgen was already a top-tier swordsman, surpassing the level of a Sword Expert.

He could join the Imperial Knights as soon as he graduated, so I couldn’t understand why he would stay at the academy.

“…How old is Orgen-senpai this year?”

“Why? Do I look too old?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know, I know, but…”

Walter’s hand ruffled my hair in the familiar manner, and I stood still, waiting for his answer without trying to avoid it. His bitter smile felt unfamiliar, so I had no desire to pull away.

“…Twenty-one. I’ll be twenty-two soon.”

Most students entered the academy at the age of fifteen, took classes until they were seventeen, and graduated at eighteen.

Walter had already deferred graduation for four years, meaning he was planning to stay another full year and finish all the classes.

The others and I stood there, unable to add anything, staring at him as Walter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

His neck, exposed beneath his tightly tied-up hair, had turned red.

“It’s just… there are some circumstances.”

“What kind of circumstances could cause that…? Didn’t you say last time that you wanted to be dispatched to the Yuil Mountain Range as soon as you graduated?”

“Yeah, I did say that.”

“Did you fail to meet the dispatch requirements? No, that’s not it…”

“Uh, I could still go.”

As I pondered the reason, the answer quickly became clear.

I, too, had once considered deferring my graduation to learn more from Maelo Sanson.

At such a young age, if I wanted to immerse myself in the sword, I might not want to leave the side of a master like him.

Thinking about that, I felt somewhat more generous.

Standing in front of a student who was debating whether to graduate or not, torn between the desire to move forward and the wish to stay by a good teacher, I found myself wanting to encourage him.

“It’s because of Professor Sanson, isn’t it?”

“Huh? Professor Sanson is too big. I prefer lean people.”

“Excuse me?”

“Huh?”

“…Did you just say ‘preference’?”

“No, no… I… I misspoke.”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I was puzzled as Walter’s face turned red, and he fumbled nervously.

Wondering if the others understood, I looked around, but Benjamin just shrugged with a confused look.

Lucilla laughed heartily and teased him.

“Like Professor Calyps Agrizent?”

“No, I really misspoke.”

I couldn’t understand why Professor Calyps Agrizent’s name had come up. I assumed the other students were just joking, knowing that Walter was close with Professor Calyps.

Walter playfully covered Lucilla’s mouth, and she ran away laughing, trying to escape his grip as he chased her across the training grounds.

After a few moments, Walter earnestly warned everyone not to say anything, and when I asked him what should be kept quiet, he insisted it was nothing.

The minds of kids in this age group were complicated and hard to understand.

A familiar gaze touched my cheek.

Ruber had been looking at me and, realizing what was happening, reached out to fix the mess of hair Walter had playfully disheveled. I lowered my head, allowing him to gently comb through my hair.

After a while, as he stopped, I asked, “Do you understand what Walter is saying?”

“Huh? …What?”

“Why is Walter acting like that?”

The boy blinked his dark eyes and stared at me. He hesitated for a long time before shaking his head, saying he didn’t know either.

Well, he was simple-minded but not very perceptive.

I decided I would ask Sheyden next time.

* * *

Friday afternoon, the third week of October. I sat in the alchemy classroom without any reagent materials.

Professor Cedric stood in front of the podium with a serious expression, instead of his usual bright and large smile.

“Before we begin today’s class, I have something to announce.”

What followed was information I had already learned through Ruber’s explanations.

The reason the wolves appeared on the Eldos Mountain, the actions taken by the faculty, and how the Imperial Knights had been dispatched to hunt the wolves.

Cedric calmly explained that patrols had been sent to the mountain range, and access would be restricted until safety was ensured. He bowed deeply, apologizing once again.

“I couldn’t have foreseen this, and it’s my responsibility. I sincerely apologize to all of you. I’m sorry.”

“…I’m fine. There were no serious injuries, right?”

Damian, who had been the most injured, was the first to respond, and his classmates followed suit, reassuring Cedric that it wasn’t his fault.

Cedric straightened his posture and looked at the students slowly.

It was the first time I had seen Cedric’s eyes, usually filled with mischief, so calm and gentle. I, too, found my frustration easing.

Although I had heard about it from Ruber, seeing Cedric explain the situation and apologize so courteously to those who had no other information made me feel that he couldn’t have handled it better.

After finishing the announcement, Cedric distributed the reagent materials evenly to the class.

Normally, the group leader would be the one to go and collect the materials, but this time Cedric took it upon himself to distribute them directly, likely aware of Damian’s presence as the group leader.

“The reagent we’ll be making today is an antidote to three types of poison. The materials you’ve been given…”

“Huh?”

This wasn’t the potion we were supposed to make.

The materials we received were completely different from the ones we had previously gathered from the forest, so when I expressed my confusion, Cedric awkwardly shrugged.

“I thought it might not be good for your mental health to focus on something that reminds you of bad events. We’ll provide the instructions for the potion we were originally going to make later, so if any of you are interested, feel free to read it.”

“…Ah.”

“We won’t be doing this month’s report. Next month, we’ll have an experience session and camping at the school’s greenhouse. Now, let me explain how to make this antidote, so everyone get your notes ready.”

The time spent making the antidote was pleasant and lively.

Everyone chatted and laughed as if nothing had happened. Damian immediately folded the handout and tucked it into his book, but no one pointed it out.

Two of the antidotes were successful, while one failed.

Marianne attributed her failure to insufficient temperature control, and Jenny blamed her failure on not timing it properly.

Since Damian had trouble sitting for long periods, we agreed to finish the potion the next Saturday, and as soon as class ended, we left the classroom together.

We all gathered for dinner.

Damian jokingly said that it was great there was no report this month, and Marianne playfully slapped him on the back. Laughter filled the room throughout the meal.