Transmigrated Into A Tragic Romance Fantasy-Chapter 34: The Teacher Who Zoned Out

Whoosh!

Thud!

Swoosh!

Thud!

After a quick meal, Rachel followed Elden towards the training grounds where they engaged in an intense spar.

Today’s session wasn’t much different from the first.

Like then, this session was mostly focused on practical training. As such, both teacher and student were exchanging blows.

However, something had changed drastically.

...None of my previous tricks were working.

As she repeated the same attack pattern from the first session, Rachel found all her blows being blocked, and Elden even had some breathing room to throw a counter or two, which she narrowly dodged.

Moreover, the glint in his eyes was that of an intelligent beast, seeking any openings in his prey.

His blows, once thrown recklessly, were now planned. His shoulders, once stiff, were now flexible.

Even his footwork had become varied, a far cry from his old straightforward approach.

This was something truly peculiar.

Rachel had never seen him practice after their first spar.

He didn’t have the time between his reading or other daily activities.

For years, Rachel had watched over her Lord.

His technique was that of a hooligan.

She even wondered about that sometimes.

《He never seems to improve.》

Just as one would improve their cooking by practicing it every day, a person’s martial skills would also be honed with proper practice.

Like a baby who would go from crawling around to running in some time, everything should naturally improve with practice.

But Elden defied this natural law.

He was nothing but a brute, mindlessly brawling.

Of course, it wasn’t like he didn’t improve at all.

But if one were to consider how much he fought, his progress was simply abysmal.

That is why the current situation made no sense for Rachel.

Furthermore, she didn’t teach him anything special during their first training.

She simply beat him up in order to gauge his level.

Truthfully, their first session was more of a teacher beating some sense into her student than actually ‘training’ him.

But, was it possible that he managed to learn something profound from that short spar?

‘What is happening?’

With this level of skill, her Lord could easily win an amateur fighting contest.

His noticeable improvement and the new glint in his eyes were simply outstanding.

What on earth could have caused such change?

Perhaps he had consumed some sort of a miraculous elixir?

If one were to compare his current progress, it was akin to a baby who went from crawling to leaping around in a matter of days.

Perhaps,

...It’s just a matter of willpower?

That could be possible.

Previously, her Lord fought simply for the sake of it, a legitimate battle-hungry fool.

But now he harbored a will to [ Learn ], his innate senses and talents must have merged with his newfound will, catalyzing an explosive growth.

Of course, it was too early to draw conclusions.

What remained to be seen was if his growth simply happened because his potential was already reached, or if it would continue to happen.

Nevertheless,

...This is rather fun.

When others managed to learn new things in a few attempts, Rachel had to try hundreds of thousands of times because of her limited ‘talent’.

[ The Purple Knight ]

It took her a whole 10 years to earn that title.

Despite enduring hardships hundreds, no, thousand times more than others, she could never become the ‘greatest’ Knight in the Kingdom.

But ironically, the woman herself never considered the cause of this being her ‘sex’.

A woman’s natural weakness could be overcome by mana.

She simply lacked natural talent.

Rachel was a genius of ‘effort’.

As such, she would never become anything more than the [ Purple Knight ], and she had to be content with that.

After all, while ‘effort’ helped a great deal, it would never cover the gap of ‘true talent’.

And it wasn’t until much later in her life that Rachel realized how foolish she had been to struggle against this natural law.

Could that be why?

...If he keeps up.

Her curiosity was certainly piqued.

Until now, Elden had fought without even realizing his innate talents.

Just like how Rachel blindly threw herself into battle without having a single shred of natural talent.

They were similar yet different.

But given their natural inclination for practice rather than theory, something special might be born during their training sessions.

Maybe...

If his growth keeps up, could Elden manage to also push her to break past her limits?

All of a sudden, hope bloomed in the Knight’s heart.

Of course, whether his growth would be a fleeting lightning strike or a persistent rain remained to be seen.

Whooosh!

“Ra-Rachel?”

Thud!

Swoosh!

Unknowingly, power surged through Rachel’s body.

Her usual light punches now became heavy, and her speed increased drastically.

Her usually sharp eyes became slightly dulled, as Rachel became utterly engrossed in thought.

As her power grew, Elden cried out to her, trying to spare himself from a merciless beatdown.

But Rachel’s ears were closed shut.

“Oi!”

Swoosh!

Thump!

“T-Teacher?”

Swoosh!

Bang!

“Gah!”

Eventually, Elden’s defense cracked and a blow struck him square in the chest.

The poor student was flung back, sent sprawling on the ground.

Thud!

Even then,

Rachel’s eyes remained unfocused.

**

It hurts.

Seriously, it hurts like hell.

It started as a light spar.

Since we were simply trying to ‘review’ the first session.

But at some point, Rachel’s punches started to increase in power.

And it ended with me getting the taste of a ‘genuine’ punch from her.

Thanks to that, my defense shattered, and a huge impact landed on my chest.

By the time I had realized that, I was already sprawled on the ground.

Since today’s training took place in the outdoor training ground, I could see the clear sky.

It was such a beautiful blue sky.

At least I put up a good fight.

While I felt like I’d been hit by a truck, the fact that I managed to last three minutes against Rachel, compared to the less than a minute timing from last time, was an achievement in itself.

That must be why,

Despite the horrible pain in my chest, I was smiling.

Even when I was drenched in sweat, I felt fresh as if I was soaring through the skies.

During our first spar, I had been completely out of my depth.

I was too busy defending her blows to think of anything else, but this time, not only did I have some breathing room, but also could I even see glimpses of an opportunity to counterattack.

My progress was noticeable.

Although I tried to remember what I had experienced in the first round, I’m sure I’ve gained much more from this round.

As I managed to prop myself up,

Rachel still seemed a bit out of her mind.

“Teacher. Wasn’t that a bit too much for a beginner like me?”

As the Teacher had been rightfully rebuked by her student, she had finally come to her senses and looked at the student sitting on the ground.

“Ah...I apologize. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Did you just get enlightened or something?”

“No.”

I raised one arm,

Since my chest was incredibly painful and my legs were shaky, I couldn’t stand.

“Well, if you’re sorry, then at least help me up?”

“......”

Even though she had come to her senses, Rachel still seemed a bit off.

Just when I was about to give up and try to stand on my own, she approached.

“Yes, yes.”

Her response was a bit delayed.

What had got her so pensive, I wondered?

Just as Rachel had gripped my hand tightly and put strength into it, I smirked.

“It’s vengeance, Teacher.”

During our first spar, she had admonished me to never be caught off guard.

Always be prepared for a surprise attack.

Thus, I would simply show her that I hadn’t forgotten those precious teachings.

Undoubtedly, the greatest joy for a teacher is to witness their disciple effectively utilizing the lessons taught.

Of course,

I didn’t expect her to actually fall for my transparent tackle.

Rachel’s reflexes were superhuman after all.

Gathering my strength, and infusing all the spite a seasoned pvp player might cultivate after losing a series of competitive matches, I immediately hooked Rachel’s leg.

But then,

“...Huh?”

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Contrary to my expectations, the leg hook was successful.

Rachel didn’t react.

The initiated tackle couldn’t be stopped now, even when I hurriedly tried to let go of her hand.

If I continued, I was sure something regrettable would happen.

However, Rachel didn’t loosen her grip.

Our eyes met.

...A delayed realization dawned in her eyes.

At that moment, she released her hand, but the situation was already heading towards the inevitable.

“Ah.”

Thus,

Thumb-.

We both fell over.

.........

And I ended up on top of Rachel.

As her brain caught up to the situation, her brows furrowed.

We were close enough to hear each other’s breathing.

It was quite a soft, no, quite a squishy, not that either...A poignant moment as the teacher and student looked at each other.

**

“My Lord, please keep your distance.”

“How can my Knight protect me if she’s too far away?”

“I can protect you from this distance.”

“I’ve told you numerous times by now Rachel, I didn’t know you’d get caught by that.”

“Is that so?”

“And it was you who didn’t let go of my hand. I definitely tried to let go of mine.”

“I see.”

......Throughout our return to the annex, I argued with Rachel.

No matter how many times I explained the situation to her, she didn’t seem to hear it.

‘That’...wasn’t part of my plan.

I obviously thought I could avoid it.

And the moment I hooked her leg, I tried to roll away while releasing her hand.

It’s not that I didn’t try to let go.

It felt unfair.

Ever since our first sparring session, I keep finding myself in these situations.

“I simply used your teachings, Teacher.”

“I’ve never taught you to use your ‘blunders’ as a way to fulfill your desires.”

“But there aren’t any such desires...?”

“Yes, I understand.”

......

No, you don’t.

Eventually, I gave up on trying to convince her.

Rachel’s stubbornness was truly legendary.

As we maintained a distance between us, we arrived at the annex.

The sun was already setting.

Today has been a tiring day.

Now, the perfect way to end this day would be to have a bath, eat some dinner, and fall asleep while reading the newest novel Ariel had recommended to me.

Unfortunately,

Rendler came rushing at us as if something bad had happened.

“My Lord...! Where have you been? You weren’t at the training grounds....”

“Ah, since the guards weren’t training today, I was at the outdoor training grounds. Why? Is there ‘someone’ waiting for me inside the annex by any chance?”

Judging by Rendler’s expression, something must have happened at the annex while I was outside.

So, I joked.

“Her Grace, the Third Northern Duchess waited for your return for quite some time, My Lord. But she left you a note...!”

“...What?”

My eyes twitched as I heard Rendler’s reply.

I took the note from him.

Luckily, it didn’t seem to be a cursed artifact like the one I had sealed.

It was just a note, roughly folded.

From this note’s state, I could already imagine her mood.

“...So, what’s this?”

“I do not know, My Lord. I was simply instructed to deliver this to you.”

So, after taking a deep breath, I unfolded the note.

[Northwest End of the Grand Ducal Castle, to the Garden of Eternal Winter]

Hmm-.

Perhaps this was,

A challenge?