“I’m a proper old hag now, but there’s still so many things I want to learn that I haven’t felt even a little bored in decades.”
“Even you? Despite your reputation as a Great Sage, one who has learned all there is to learn about the world?”
“I told you, I’ve just been around a long time. There’s plenty of things I still don’t know.”
With the remark, she takes us inside a specific classroom. Sitting in a chair set before a desk with stacks of documents piled upon it, she begins to stare at me openly.
“When it comes to the Rare Arts in particular, there’s much more I don’t know than otherwise. There are ritualist instructors in this academy, but as for the other Arts, the most we have are second-hand descriptions from old documents.”
The Rare Arts are types of magic, like the Immortal Arts, that don’t use mana as their foundation. They’re technically not magic, but it’s easier to describe them this way than as anything else, so even researchers adopt that particular shorthand.
There are no other Immortal Arts practitioners in this kingdom, so even for a Great Sage like the Regent, knowledge of the Immortal Arts is hard to come by.
“The Baby-Faced Master Swordsman, Sansui, bodyguard to the self-absorbed princess. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
With her difficult personality, Douve Sepaeda is known for only having two bodyguards.
One is the prodigy who wields a rapier in one hand and casts wind magic with the other, the male-dressed Dame Blois. The other is the Baby-Faced Master Swordsman, Sansui, known for being able to defeat any knight with just a wooden sword. With these two at her side, she need not fear any army. At least, that’s the rumor Lady Douve has spread through the kingdom.
It’s an indication of the strength of her own desire for expression and confidence in her bodyguards. I have my qualms about being called a Master Swordsman when I’m nowhere near as strong as my Master, but she wasn’t interested in listening to those concerns.
“If it’s possible, I’d like to hear your lectures about your Rare Art here at the academy.”
Those endowed with mana still need to learn magic to be able to cast spells. Likewise, those with talents for the Rare Arts need to learn their techniques, or those talents will simply go to waste.
“My apologies. My Master has yet to certify me as fully trained.”
I’ve only been instructed on my practice swings from my Master. Which means, if I were to teach the Immortal Arts, my lectures would consist of doing practice swings from dawn to dusk. It takes decades just to learn the basics of the Immortal Arts. I mean, that’s about how long it took me.
I certainly think that I was fortunate in my teacher, but that’s only because I came to this world alone. The fact that I had no other connections to the world around me meant that I could dedicate the ludicrous amount of time required to learn the Immortal Arts without distraction.
“Oh, well, that’s unfortunate. Still, you can at least show us your Rare Art, right? If at all possible, I’d like to make this an academy where all students of the Rare Arts can come to learn.”
Of course, my logic is only sound because I was able to learn the Arts that were best suited to my talents. I can understand where the Regent is coming from. Surely, the cases like my Master and I, where our lifespans grow simply from learning our Arts, are the exceptions rather than the rule.
“About the only Rare Art that is seen as important is Ritualism, with Curses an afterthought, something to defend against. There’s hardly any users of the other Rare Arts in this kingdom, so it’s extremely unusual for someone to find a teacher like you did. I’d like to give that opportunity to the children who attend this academy, as well.”
To not know what talents they have, and worse, to not be able to learn appropriate techniques even if they learn what those talents are...that situation is what this teacher wants to address.
“This is my room. I spend so much time writing that I run out of space really quickly, so unless I take over an entire classroom, I don’t even have the space to walk around.”
The classroom is crammed full of books and desks. Upon those sit an enormous number of documents. If she’s actually written these things out by herself, that’s a remarkable achievement in and of itself. Honestly the only way to describe that would be to call her a Great Sage.
“At any rate, I welcome you once again to my academy, Miss Douve Sepaeda. I hope you’ll find something that draws your interest.”
Lady Douve detests the incompetent and ambitious, so no doubt she’d prefer someone laid back and playful like the Regent.
She sometimes teases her older brother and father, but she usually loses interest after a bit and tries to wander off.
Personally, I think it’s a good thing that Lady Douve chose to come to this school.
“Oh, that’s right. Miss Lain, you’ll be entering elementary school here, yes?”
“Yes. A pleasure to meet you, ma’am!”
“Aw, little one, you’re so well behaved and energetic. How lovely.”
Yup, my daughter is adorable, isn’t she? That she can introduce herself properly is because she’s been raised right, I bet. Of course, about half of that raising was done not by me, but the members of House Sepaeda, from Lady Douve on down.
“So, Missy Blois and Sansui don’t need to do any learning?”
“My Master has already certified me as fully proficient in sword and magic, ma’am!” Blois states confidently. She’s only here as a bodyguard, and like me, she’s definitely not here to study.
Besides, if we were to actually take classes, we would be in different classrooms than Lady Douve, which would defeat the purpose of being her bodyguards. I don’t particularly like studying, and if there aren’t any Immortal Arts classes, there’s no point in me stepping into a lecture to learn.
“I appreciate the gesture, ma’am, but I, too, am here to protect Lady Douve.”
“I see. That’s disappointing, but I suppose it will have to do... Sansui, I was hoping that you in particular could be both a student and a lecturer.”
“Oh, I would be happy to lend him to you for public lectures.”
The Regent was looking visibly disappointed, so Lady Douve, full of her own superiority, kindly offered to ‘allow’ me to demonstrate.
I had figured that was coming. Lady Douve loves to show off her toys, so she was just waiting to pounce on an opportunity to do so. She does believe that it’s rather tasteless to aggressively offer, though, which is true. That’s why she’s so eager to take these opportunities when they do arise.
“That’s wonderful. Actually, there are four Rare Arts practitioners here at this academy, including you, Sansui. I want all of them to hold demonstrations, so I appreciate your cooperation.”
Her precious bodyguard being treated as just one of four... Lady Douve’s a little irate about that, but I think she’s blowing it all out of proportion. There aren’t that many Immortal Arts practitioners out there, which means my Art is almost certainly the rarest of the four.
“Also, one of them looks really similar to Sansui. You might be from the same country.”
...Wait, what?