I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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The evening meal on the day they began practical training.

Sitting at the table, Hanarin looked at Diltil with hazy eyes.

“…What’s up with him? His eyes are weird. What’s he staring at?”

“It seems like the training was really tough today. He’s been like that since I arrived.”

“Really? I thought he was just sleepwalking with his eyes open. What did you guys do today?”

Kim Ilshin, who was sitting next to Hanarin, shrugged and replied.

“Practical training. It’s his first day, so that’s why he’s like this. He’ll adapt quickly.”

“Ugh. At least eat a lot.”

As she said this, Hanarin pushed the side dishes toward Diltil.

But they were all vegetables he hated.

“Aren’t you being too generous? You should eat too.”

Noticing this, Kim Ilshin picked up the mushroom stir-fry furthest from Hanarin and placed it on her bowl.

“Here. Eat a lot.”

“Ew…”

Hanarin then shifted her focus away from Diltil. It was more important for her to get rid of the mushroom stir-fry quickly.

“By the way, he hasn’t moved at all. It’s already been two weeks. You said we shouldn’t give up, right?”

While continuing their dinner, Hazuki asked.

For two weeks, they had kept an eye on the rulers, but none had made a move yet.

“They’re probably waiting for the right moment.”

“When you say ‘right moment’… you mean the ambush, right?”

“Exactly.”

They would surely make their moves during the ambush in two weeks. But according to Kim Ilshin, there was no real need to prepare.

The reason was simple.

“It’s probably best for them to just stay put.”

*

“Damn it!”

Luke cursed as he crumpled the report in his hand and threw it.

The report contained a summary of what Kim Ilshin and his group were up to.

“What the hell are these guys doing!”

Seeing this, Luke couldn’t contain his rage at the realization that his city was changing according to their whims.

Moreover, he hadn’t adapted to the changes in his life even after two weeks.

Every night of drinking he used to have was gone, and the citizens he used to command were now free.

The only ones left were the guardians and administrators who had held power, and the authority they once enjoyed had been completely stripped away.

The restoration of the castle destroyed in the last fight was still not complete.

But even so, there was nothing Luke could do.

He had already been brutally defeated and realized the huge power gap between him and Kim Ilshin.

Now that he had warned them not to interfere with what they were doing, he had no choice but to listen.

If he tried to rebel, he would be immediately suppressed and subjected to horrific torture.

“Why did that monster guy suddenly show up…”

After Kim Ilshin’s departure, Luke was tormented by extreme frustration.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine himself defeating Kim Ilshin.

So he was just waiting quietly for everything to end until a translucent window appeared before his eyes.

[Maintain the fear percentage of the citizens in the walled city at over 70% for one week.]

[Clear reward: Kim Ilshin’s death, dimensional transfer ticket]

[Current percentage: 56%]

Seeing this, Luke wondered if he had gone insane, but this quest window had appeared before all the rulers that day.

With that, Luke confirmed that the quest wasn’t an illusion, and finally looked at the clear rewards.

[Is… this real?]

Everything Luke had desired was there.

The hated Kim Ilshin’s death and a ticket to another dimension.

As long as those were at stake for the reward, Luke could never give up.

He resolved to somehow complete the conditions and obtain the rewards.

Other rulers felt the same way.

Like Luke, they weren’t risking their lives for a chance to move to another dimension, but they all wanted to find a way to deal with the threat that Kim Ilshin posed to their power.

“Don’t you have anything? How can we raise this fear percentage!”

But the problem remained.

They still hadn’t found a way to complete the quest.

Normally, increasing the citizens’ fear percentage wouldn’t have been too difficult.

They could just continue the usual oppression, and if that seemed insufficient, they could just beat up a few chosen ones.

In fact, when the quest window first appeared, the fear percentage was at 78%.

However, it started to plummet after they issued a tax exemption order the next day, and now it sat at 56%.

But with Kim Ilshin glaring down at them, such methods were impossible.

The moment the rulers stepped outside to intimidate the citizens would mean they were breaking his threat.

In the end, they needed to create fear among the citizens without being caught by Kim Ilshin, which seemed utterly impossible.

[Current percentage: 55%]

Even now, the percentage continued to drop.

Luke saw this and screamed in desperation.

“Eh? It’s gone?! It’s not? Communicate!”

Feeling the pressure of Luke’s imminent fury, Hwang Ro reflexively spoke with his head lowered.

“Umm… how about an ambush?”

Hwang Ro was the only one present who had not directly experienced the power of Kim Ilshin’s group that day.

Furthermore, when Luke was explaining his battle with Kim Ilshin, he mixed in a little pride and said he had lost regrettably.

So he didn’t have a proper gauge of their strength, which was why he could suggest such a plan.

“Since we know exactly how these bastards move, if we catch them off guard one by one…”

Hwang Ro, who had been speaking precariously, suddenly shut up.

He had noticed a shadow looming over him.

When Hwang Ro cautiously looked up, he saw Luke’s foot descending from above.

“Does that even make sense?! If that were possible, why would I be in this situation? You idiot! Just die!”

“S-sorry! Ack! Wait! What I meant was, since you lost regrettably then this time— ack!”

‘This clueless idiot. Does he really believe that?’

Luke stomped on Hwang Ro until his anger subsided, and only after dozens of minutes, did they both return to their seats, Hwang Ro looking like a bloody mess.

After a brief silence, Bahum finally spoke up.

“…If only the forbidden texts were a little more intact, it would have been different.”

As Bahum finished speaking with a look of disgrace, the previously silent Saebak chimed in.

“Don’t dwell too much on the past.”

“But… if only our ancestors had managed things well, I could have won.”

The source of power that the rulers possessed was the magical books and martial arts secret texts discovered by their ancestors long ago.

Like other junk such as magazines and electronic devices, they had flowed in from another dimension.

The previous rulers gained the power to dominate the city through them and passed it down to their descendants.

But due to the passage of time, much had been damaged, leaving them only able to barely confirm a portion of the content.

The only one still relatively intact was Luke’s.

He had never paid much attention to it before.

That alone was sufficient to dominate the citizens and repel the monsters.

But after meeting Kim Ilshin’s group, he felt a sense of regret.

It was impossible not to think that if only the damaged part of the secret text were intact, things would have been different.

“It’s something inevitable since so much time has passed. We need to focus on the future, which we can change, not the unchangeable past.”

Saebak, the voice of reason, spoke, and Luke’s brows furrowed at his words.

He had been silent when Luke asked how to clear the quest, yet now he was speaking as if he were teaching them, and that irked him greatly.

“Then you, who are focused on the future, must have some kind of method, right?”

If Saebak failed to respond, Luke was contemplating making it worse for him than he had for Hwang Ro.

Yet, without a moment’s hesitation, Saebak answered.

“If you’re asking if I have any humble opinions, yes, I do.”

“Really? Then spill it.”

“Doing nothing.”

“…What? Doing nothing?!”

Luke frowned and repeated.

With his impatient temper, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he immediately lashed out at someone for saying such a ridiculous thing.

If it were Hwang Ro or Bahum who said that, he would have done so.

But Luke held back.

Saebak wasn’t someone who would say that thoughtlessly.

“Evidence?”

“If the rulers do not step in during the next ambush, it will be outsiders who defeat the monsters.”

“Hmm.”

“However, those outsiders will eventually leave. It wouldn’t be strange if they disappeared from the city tomorrow. The citizens will eventually realize that fact, will become anxious, and as time passes, their fear will intensify.”

Listening to this, Luke felt he could vaguely understand the basis for Saebak’s reasoning.

“Continue.”

“Outsiders are beings that will leave sooner or later. It wouldn’t be strange for them to vanish from the city the very next day. The citizens will eventually come to understand this, they will feel uneasy, and as time goes on, the fear will grow stronger.”

After finishing his lengthy argument, Saebak emphasized once more.

“So, for now, doing nothing seems to be the best approach.”

There was no need to hear or think more. Luke looked at Saebak and said.

“Let’s do that.”