Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 77 (Part 2):

Three years ago, in the fencing department, five students, including royalty, had been expelled for repeatedly using discriminatory language.

There were no exceptions. No matter who the other party was. That was the policy and spirit of the Gretna Academy.

Under Patricia’s sharp gaze, the three couldn’t even raise their heads.

“Listen to me, all of you! Discrimination based on status has no place in our academy, whether it’s royalty, nobility, or commoners. If you can’t abide by that, you must leave the academy. Do you understand?”

“Yes, we understand.”

“And while you don’t have to be overly friendly, you should have a generous enough heart to look out for your fellow students, especially newcomers. Do you agree?”

“Yes!”

“Good, I consider that you’ve understood. You three there, starting now, run 100 laps around the field. Begin!”

The three bowed and rushed out to the field, and Helmut joined the fencing department students.

Patricia, having momentarily delayed the class, resumed.

“Today, we’ll practice basic movements from the beginning. Approach it with the mindset of starting over!”

“Yes!”

As the students practiced their swordsmanship techniques, including vertical and horizontal strikes and diagonal cuts, Patricia walked among them, observing their stances.

“Your hip balance is off, have you been slacking off during the break?”

“Look at your shoulder! It’s leaning to one side!”

“The tip of your blade is wavering. Do you have a tremor now?”

She offered critical remarks as she moved about, but when she reached Helmut, her words seemed to vanish.

Patricia, who had been scrutinizing his movements as if trying to find fault, scratched her head in confusion and passed by.

“Hmm, you’re doing well.”

When it came to swordsmanship, Helmut left no room for criticism. He had received rigorous training from an uncompromising master who allowed no mistakes or deviations.

After over an hour of training, Patricia declared a 10-minute break.

The fencing department students, who had been practicing their swordplay, gathered in small groups, chatting amicably.

In this atmosphere, Helmut stood out as an exception. And there was one more exception among them.

“Hey, I didn’t expect you to be like that. This guy’s interesting.”

A wild-looking guy approached and burst into laughter loudly. Patricia, who was nearby, reprimanded him.

“Asuka, watch your language!”

“Yes, yes. I understand, Instructor. Since I’m a commoner, my speech habits haven’t improved at all.”

“You’ve been in the academy for a year, haven’t you?”

“I don’t mix with nobles, so I haven’t improved.”

“You’re a chatterbox when you’re in water!”

Eventually, Patricia smacked Asuka on the head and returned to her spot.

“Ouch!”

Asuka dramatized it, rubbing his head.

He was quite the free spirit. Sian and Alea also had their quirks, but Asuka seemed to live with half his mind somewhere else.

He acted as if he were a commoner suffering from unfair treatment, but he often picked fights with everyone.

Considering his behavior, it was somewhat understandable that the fencing department students had a negative view of commoners.

“Anyway, I liked you.”

Asuka pointed his finger at Helmut as if he were jabbing him.

“I’ll keep an eye on you from now on.”

It was unclear whether he meant that they should become closer like Sian suggested or if it was a cryptic statement.

What did he mean by keeping an eye on him? Asuka rambled on and abruptly turned away. The break time was coming to an end.

***

That day was significant for Helmut as well. He had achieved victory through words without resorting to violence.

The three defeated individuals would likely dread waking up the next day after running laps around the field for three days.

However, the situation took a turn for the worse. While it seemed like the matter had been settled for the time being, the atmosphere among the second-year fencing students turned hostile towards Helmut.

Yesterday’s incident had been distorted, thanks to Erun’s crafty rhetoric, into something like “three noble students had to bow their heads due to the clever tricks of a commoner like a scavenger.”

After all, nobles were nobles.

Helmut was now reduced to being considered a commoner who caused a minor disturbance during class and embarrassed his fellow students.

And at the center of this atmosphere were the transfer students, including Sabbat and Erun, along with the hard-headed existing students.

Ironically, it seemed that they had become even more united after the incident.

Among the transfer students, Andro was the only one who didn’t align himself too closely with the prevailing sentiment, but after Patricia’s warning, he refrained from taking action immediately.

Moreover, for some reason, Asuka, the wild one, was circling around Helmut.

He was just circling, and he didn’t exchange a single word, but it didn’t seem like they were particularly friendly.

Asuka, like a scavenger who had detected a scent from Helmut, lurked nearby.

One of the students from Sabat’s group muttered quietly.

“He fits in at the commoner’s level.”

“What did you say?”

Asuka, with bright eyes, immediately responded and approached with a wicked grin.

His face seemed cheerful, but his gaze was sharp. He had an attitude of not caring about how many people he was up against.

The target of Asuka’s remark flinched. Even though he was a transfer student, he had heard the rumors about Asuka. Avoiding the crazy dog was the best strategy.

“Nothing!”

“Hey, hey. Don’t mumble from a distance. Speak up in front of me. What did you say?”

Asuka poked him in the belly with the tip of his wooden sword. Jerome intervened.

“Asuka, calm down!”

“Calm down? What’s there to calm down about? This guy started it.”

“Do you want to get into trouble again?”

“Mind your own business. It’s quite amusing to see this guy running laps around the field after causing trouble, sweating and panting. It was quite impressive, you know?”

Asuka’s taunting skills were undoubtedly the best in the fencing department.

“Come on, seriously!”

Jerome yelled, but he didn’t swing his wooden sword at him. The others didn’t either.

Asuka was, in fact, the top student in the fencing department, and he was also skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Jerome knew well that Asuka could handle even five opponents by himself.

Asuka turned to Jerome, provoking him with his words.

“Listen, you commoners, did you sing songs like that everywhere? It makes us nobles feel disgusted.”

“Asuka, you!”

“Oops, you even know the commoner’s name. Impressive, coming from a noble.”

Jerome gritted his teeth and said, his expression strained, “It’s time for class to start. The instructor is coming.”

“Yeah, the instructor needs to see you. I’ll give you a warning too.”

Asuka leaned in close to Jerome’s face. He whispered with a smirk.

“Why don’t you keep acting like a prick? If you keep it up, I’ll really screw you over.”

He then turned around and disappeared, leaving Jerome to clench his fists and breathe deeply, trying to calm his rising anger.

Otaku_Tensei

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