A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation

The practice field was, as expected, huge.

Its structure was close to a colosseum: a hard-packed dirt training ground surrounded by spectator stands. It was probably used for ceremonies and the like, but of course there wasn’t a single spectator there now.

It was strange that there wasn’t even a supervisor ready to step in if anything happened, but the school had probably judged that the one teacher guiding them was more than enough. The guild would never choose an adventurer who might run wild against children, and the students themselves basically adopted an attitude of obedience to teachers. Even if something did happen, it would settle down quickly.

“As expected of students from a knight academy. They’re just trading light blows, and yet the impact is amazing.”

“Doing warm-ups before a real fight feels seriously off, y’know.”

“If they can say ‘I lost because I couldn’t go all out,’ it blunts the effect, doesn’t it.”

The sound of clashing blades rang out, and all over the practice field, students were crossing swords. Since there were perfectly good seats available, Lizel’s group had sat down in the stands to watch.

Faced with their unchanging, relaxed gazes, the students’ fighting spirit rose higher and higher.

Their ability was evident even from this practice. If they clashed head-on, there was no guarantee a mid-rank adventurer would definitely win. Honestly, Lizel would probably lose in a straightforward duel against a typical swordsman—mages were a different story. He could win if he ambushed them with his Magic Rifle, though.

“Gill, Eleven—what do you think? Could you handle them even if you were surrounded?”

“Who d’you think you’re talkin’ to?”

“I’d turn the tables on ’em. Easy win.”

“That’s reassuring.”

In contrast to Gill, who watched the students with folded arms and a flat expression, Eleven had his feet up on the seat in front and was leaning forward, grinning as he looked down and egged them on.

Glad he was enjoying himself, Lizel smiled faintly and wondered what to do.

Just letting the students fight the two of them would probably shatter their confidence. But if they were too overwhelmingly strong, the students could justify it as “Well, look who we were up against,” and the school wouldn’t get the effect it wanted. Since this was a special commission directly from the guild, he wanted to carry it out perfectly.

The simplest option was probably to have only Eleven fight and keep Gill out, but that would likely lead to a result people might call a bit malicious.

“I don’t see any particularly promising kids either.”

“What?”

“No, nothing.”

He answered the suspicious look with a smile and turned his gaze back down to the students.

If he broke their pride beyond repair, there might be no one left aiming to be knights. It wouldn’t be strange if he were branded a traitor to the nation for robbing the country of its future light.

He needed to break them completely without causing them to collapse, strip away the useless parts of their egos, and leave them in a clean state where they could devote themselves to the country. That would be enough. Looking at the scattered students who were clearly magic-focused, Lizel nodded, thinking they’d put quite a lot of effort into preparing for today.

“Well, let’s live up to expectations and just fight normally for now. I’ll take the magic-focused kids—please handle the rest between you two.”

“You’re not gonna use your gun, right? Sure you can manage?”

“If all that’s coming at me is magic, I’ll be fine.”

“Eeh, doesn’t that sound kinda dangerous? I’d feel way safer with the three of us against everyone.”

“I’ll be fine.”

In Lizel’s original world, combat magic was more advanced.

Because he rarely used it, and then only to the minimum necessary, Gill and Eleven’s impression of Lizel’s magic wasn’t that strong. He had a lot of mana, but not an absurd amount, and against students at a knight academy they shouldn’t be able to confidently say he’d absolutely be fine.