Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 85 (Part 1):
“Ah!”
Asuka, with a surprised expression, bowed his head apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Instructor. I was so focused on the duel that I didn’t hear you.”
“Instructor, you can’t possibly believe he didn’t know his opponent was incapacitated, right?”
“Is he even in his right mind? He didn’t even say the surrender word.”
Asuka shrugged his shoulders. It was a shameless excuse, considering he had pummeled Jerome without a chance to surrender.
Instructor Alan massaged his temples.
“Asuka!”
“He’s perfectly fine. Look at him.”
From the spot where Asuka had pointed with his finger, Jerome, stained with vomit, was trying to get up. He seemed too humiliated to even regain his composure.
Alan lowered his voice and said, “Someone guides Jerome to the infirmary.”
Some of his friends, who weren’t particularly close to him, reluctantly stepped forward.
Seeing them disappear with Jerome, Asuka shrugged his shoulders.
“While dueling, you should be aware that injuries can happen. You’re too soft on the students, Instructor. This is supposed to be the Swordsmanship Department, after all.”
“This was not a duel; it was nothing more than your one-sided beating. Haven’t you learned to be merciful to the weaker ones?”
“Do you think the weaker commoners have any reason to be merciful to nobles?”
Asuka’s eyes, clenched in fists, gleamed sharply. His gaze seemed to say, “After all, aren’t you nobles the ones who started it?”
He stood his ground. If he stayed silent, he would be the only one to suffer from the countless insults, taunts, and unjust situations he faced solely because he was a commoner since entering the academy.
Should he just endure it?
Most of the time, he did. Asuka’s temperament didn’t allow him to remain silent, but most commoners had to either hide their status or endure the unfair treatment they received simply because they were commoners.
It was difficult to leave this place after coming this far.
The gaze of disdain and discrimination. It was a burden too heavy for teenagers to bear.
However, after leaving the academy, he couldn’t afford to act carelessly towards the nobles.
The reason Asuka fought back on his own terms was because he didn’t think about the future from the beginning, and because he was strong.
Whether it was the heir of the Sword Clan, a self-proclaimed prodigy, or anyone else, he could easily defeat them with his genius talent for the sword.
Why was it wrong for him to repay the nobles who tried to trample on him with their own medicine? Clearly, they were the ones who started it.
The instructor was not a babysitter, and he couldn’t solve every personal issue within the Swordsmanship Department.
Conflict was natural among students in the Swordsmanship Department, where vigorous competition and rivalry led to skill improvement. That’s why conflicts were sometimes left unresolved.
However, in the relationship between nobles and commoners, one-sided patience was demanded.
Asuka had endured a lot. If he had acted according to his temper, more than half of the second-year students in the Swordsmanship Department would have been unconscious by now.
Instructor Alan had something to say as well.
“The nobles you’re talking about are also forced to be patient with you because they’re within the bounds of this academy.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It means to maintain lines.”
If a noble had behaved like Asuka, they would have been expelled long ago. Considering his position as something of a victim, Asuka received many disciplinary reductions.
An untamed crazy dog without a leash. In the face of his power, many students became weak.
What he did was ultimately a show of strength against those who tried to suppress him based on their status.
Even if they tried to turn a blind eye, there would be murmurs that Alan was being too lenient on Asuka for allowing him to rampage like this. The instructor had to maintain balance.
With his arm around Asuka’s shoulder, Alan spoke.
“Patricia instructor made you write ten pages of self-reflection, right?”
Asuka’s expression twisted.
“In my opinion, ten pages are far from enough.”
“Instructor Alan!”
“After class, follow me. If you run away, the punishment will be doubled.”
“Ugh…”
Asuka muttered under his breath. But he didn’t feel too bad.
Jerome, covered in vomit and having made a fool of himself, would probably never lift his head again.
Nobles were ruthless to the defeated. They might even quit the academy. Thinking about that made him feel relieved.
“Instructor!”
At that moment, someone cautiously called out to Alan.
“What’s going on, Jude?”
“Over there, is it okay to just leave them alone?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Over there, there are still students dueling, aren’t there? That guy named Helmut… It’s not a joke right now.”
While this side was in complete disarray, on the opposite side, some students were still engaged in duels.
Instructor Alan realized, amid the shock as if he had been hit in the back of the head.
He had been so focused on Asuka that he had forgotten there was another person of interest out there that he was unaware of.
“Wow! Helmut was dueling too?”
With a curious expression, Asuka ran over to that side first.
Sabbat and Helmut’s opinions aligned in one place. The idea is to fight as far away from Asuka as possible.
Anyway, the instructor would pay attention to that side, and his gaze would be less likely to come to this side, where the duel was used as a cover for a fight.
Before it started, Sabbat muttered with a grin.
“There’s no way he’ll surrender. He’s not that much of a coward, isn’t he?”
He had no intention of losing. Of course not. Having mastered the sword from a young age at the Sword Clan’s Ruga, he wouldn’t lose to a mere commoner who probably had a decent instructor.
As for Asuka, he was just an exception that appeared with almost miraculous odds.
“Alright.”