IWPNV 15

Chapter 15

“……Just a moment.”

The moment he received the signal, Edward quickly shoved the textbooks sitting on his desk into his bag.

“You’re fairly tall. Hmm, hmm, even better than I expected. Follow me.”

The moment the classroom door closed, the man suddenly began examining and evaluating Edward from head to toe. Feeling uncomfortable, Edward silently followed after him.

“I’m Mason Allen. Coach of the men’s foil division in the fencing club. You may call me Coach.”

He smoothly introduced himself without Edward even asking.

Looking at the man who had already decided that someone outside the club should call him “Coach,” Edward found him rather rude in many ways.

“Why did you call me?”

“I watched your match during lunch. Where have you been hiding all this time? Our team desperately needs talent like you.”

“Pardon? Ah…… thank you.”

While Edward was still wondering how to respond, Coach Allen smiled brightly and finally got to the point.

“Would you like to join the fencing club?”

“…….”

For a moment, Edward’s mind went completely blank.

“Didn’t I fail? I was told I had to win the lunch match.”

When Edward asked in an extremely serious voice, Coach Allen burst into loud laughter as though he had heard the funniest joke in years.

Feeling like an idiot, Edward quietly waited for him to finish laughing.

“Sorry for laughing. It’s just the funniest thing I’ve heard in years……. But do you really think you lost?”

“Didn’t I? I lost two bouts.”

“I’ve never seen a match like that in my life.”

Coach Allen spoke with excitement written all over his face.

“How did you switch into attack form that quickly while defending? You’re really saying you’ve never learned fencing before? Ridiculous! Truly, the brightest place was right under the lamp. With you on the team, even winning the championship won’t be impossible.”

“It’s about time we won after a hundred years.”

Coach Allen greedily muttered to himself while staring at Edward.

“…….”

Edward seriously wondered if he should run away right now.

But before he could, Coach Allen suddenly threw open a large door.

“Director Smith! I brought him!”

He announced proudly.

The place Coach Allen brought Edward to was the fencing training hall.

Unlike the arena that only had pistes and tables, this place was filled with all kinds of equipment. There were strange tools Edward had never seen before, along with ordinary exercise equipment that made him wonder if they really used such things for fencing training.

The moment he entered, all kinds of noises greeted him.

The scraping of fencing shoes against the floor.

The sound of swords cutting through the air.

Edward hesitated at the unfamiliar sight.

Just as he was slowly adjusting to the strange environment, someone appeared in response to Coach Allen’s shout.

“So this is the genius you were talking about?”

“Yes. The student who fought Charles during lunch.”

Coach Allen proudly pushed Edward forward as though showing off an excellent racehorse.

“Name?”

“Edward.”

Coach Allen answered in Edward’s place.

“Surname?”

The director frowned slightly while looking at Edward, as though doubting Coach Allen’s judgment after seeing him wobble slightly.

“……I’m a commoner.”

Edward barely regained his balance before answering.

“I see. I’m Teresa Smith. Call me Director Smith. Remember, I’m not your friend. If you call me Mrs. Smith, Teresa, or anything like that, you’ll be running ten laps around the field after training.”

Director Smith slowly looked Edward up and down.

“I trust Allen’s eye for talent, so your skills should be decent enough. Lawrence!”

At Director Smith’s loud call, a tall third-year student hurried over.

“To judge someone’s ability, they need to fight a skilled opponent. This is Dylan Lawrence. Go change and come back within five minutes.”

Coach Allen handed a training uniform to the completely confused Edward.

When Edward returned after changing clothes, his eyes met Charles’s.

Just like at lunchtime, Charles barely reacted.

“En garde, prêt, allez.”

Under Director Smith’s supervision, the match began.

Compared to the lunch match, this one was unbelievably fair. The refereeing was proper, and the match itself was reasonable.

“That’s enough.”

The first bout ended in a draw.

Instead of continuing with a deciding point, Director Smith stopped the match there.

“A student like this should’ve been here since first year! What a waste!”

Coach Allen said in an emotional voice.

“Your posture is too stiff. Especially your shoulders. And you have a few bad habits too.”

Director Smith calmly listed all the areas Edward needed to improve.

It was honestly amazing she had noticed so much in only three minutes.

She accurately pointed out flaws even Edward himself had not realized.

More than criticism, it felt like she genuinely intended to help him improve.

“Director, it’s still his first day. Maybe go a little easier on him…….”

Coach Allen spoke worriedly, afraid the talented student he had finally found might run away.

“We need this much if we’re taking him to the Myon Empire.”

“…….”

“Welcome to the fencing club.”

Director Smith spoke with a faint smile.

“Collins!”

The moment she loudly called the familiar name, Charles stepped forward.

“Yes.”

“You’ll be moved to reserve player status.”

“I refuse.”

At Charles’s immediate rejection, Director Smith’s eyebrow twitched.

“Student Collins is already participating in the team event. He can compete next year instead.”

Coach Allen quickly tried calming Charles down.

It took Edward a moment to fully understand the situation.

“Edward. I know becoming a starting player so suddenly must be overwhelming. But I believe you can do it. You already submitted your application to visit the Myon Empire, right?”

Leaving Charles to Coach Allen, Director Smith turned toward Edward and asked.

“Ah, no.”

The whole situation felt strange.

In other words, he had just become a starting player in only three minutes.

And he had replaced Charles.

“Really? Well, that’s fine. Once you’re registered as a starting player in the club, your participation is automatically confirmed anyway, so this actually makes things easier. Just stay after training and fill out a few documents.”

Just as Genevieve had said, everything moved incredibly quickly.

Even though it was his first day, Director Smith trained Edward exactly the same as the other players.

In the end, Edward missed all of his afternoon classes.

Coach Allen looked ready to make Edward compete in sabre, épée, and even the team matches if he were allowed.

At first, Director Smith rejected the idea because of physical exhaustion concerns, but after watching Edward silently endure the harsh training without complaint, she seriously began considering adding more events for him.

After training ended, Edward registered as a player while feeling slightly exhausted.

“Now you just need to avoid causing trouble!”

Coach Allen said while repeatedly patting Edward’s shoulder.

* * *

When Edward returned to the dormitory, he naturally began searching for Genevieve.

Genevieve got along well with everyone.

One day she would spend time with one group, and another day she would be with completely different people.

To some, it might have looked like she never truly settled into a single group, but almost every student liked her.

Even so, Genevieve still had one fixed circle of friends.

Genevieve Darling.

James Carter.

Owen Blythe.

Blanca Beauharnais.

They were a famous group within Saint John’s College.

The four of them never abused their family names, and the students liked them for that.

Edward did not know this because he was too busy being tormented by Charles’s group, but the students of the college were generally more humble than expected despite their noble backgrounds.

Even the children of the greatest noble families acted modestly, because they knew openly abusing their power would only make them look ridiculous.

If those four ever heard people say this, they would probably react in horror and say, “Let’s pretend we don’t know each other from now on.”

But whenever students referred to “Them,” they usually meant those four.

Not knowing that, Edward privately called them the “Poker Group.”

The Poker Group often sat on the sofas near the fireplace. The warm spot and soft chairs were excellent.

None of them had ever said others were forbidden from sitting there, but the students naturally considered it the Poker Group’s place. Meanwhile, the four themselves simply believed the seats happened to be empty whenever they arrived.

Edward stepped into the dormitory lounge.

Since serious training had begun, most athletes remained inside the dormitory, making the area more crowded than usual.

As expected, three people were sitting on the sofas near the fireplace.

One black-haired person.

One red-haired person.

One blonde-haired person.

But Genevieve was not there.

The blonde hair at the far right side of the sofa was shorter and darker than hers.

‘When will she come back?’

Edward wanted to apologize for what happened during lunch.

But even after waiting more than ten minutes, Genevieve still did not appear.

Eventually, curiosity moved his body before he could stop himself.

“Oh? You’re that junior close to Genevieve.”

Blanca recognized Edward as he wandered nearby.

“Hello. Looking for Genevieve?”

“Hello. Could you tell me where Senior is……?”

“Genevieve? Tommy caught her.”

Edward tried to remember whether there was someone named Tommy at Saint John’s College.

“She was probably caught by Mr. Thompson. Should I tell her you’re looking for her?”

James kindly clarified after noticing Edward did not know who “Tommy” was.

“……Mr. Thompson?”

If it was Thompson, then he was the temple caretaker.

Even Edward, who paid little attention to rumors, knew that Thompson caught students who broke school rules.

“…….”

Something immediately came to mind.

“……Thank you for telling me.”

After briefly falling into thought, Edward quickly headed toward Thompson’s office building after thanking them.

The path outside was dark now that the sun had set.

Entering the old building, Edward hurried up the stairs two at a time with long strides.

“Excuse me for entering.”

Through the crack in the door, he heard Genevieve’s polite voice.

Creeeak.

The rusty sound scraped painfully against his ears.

The door opened, revealing Genevieve.

“Ha…….”

After the door closed again, the sound of a tired sigh sank deeply into Edward’s ears.