10 – Private Tutoring (1)
What the extraterrestrial had created and handed over was a two-letter caliper.
By the standards of this era, it is an outdated measuring instrument. If the people here see it, they might think of it as a medieval crescent moon knife.
I adjusted the blade of the caliper and examined the exterior.
It’s neither iron nor aluminum. I can’t tell what material it is made of. The color resembles lead, but given the faint glow it emits, it’s likely an alien material.
[— Caliper of Wisdom / C rank / Destruction, Measurement, Possession properties]
The artifact rank is C, the lowest rank. Yet it has ‘Destruction’ and ‘Possession’ attributes attached to it.
Perhaps the rank increases once specific conditions are met. It seems to have potential.
However…
“What the hell is it used for.”
“I just can’t see its purpose. Surely, it must serve more than a simple measurement tool. There must be a hidden intent.
[–Information: Can be used as a regular measurement tool.]
[–Information: With current grade, measurement up to a 10^-9m scale is available.]
Skeptical, I read the information bar.
You’re telling me a measly caliper can measure to the precision of a semiconductor circuit?
And that wasn’t the end of it.
[–Information: In addition to its original purpose, it can also be used for combat.]
I was flabbergasted.
Combat?
As preposterous as it sounds fighting monsters, let alone fighting with this caliper?
In a world where railgun beams fly around and plasma swords exist?
It’s as good as saying ‘go die.’
I suspect this thing won’t be more useful than its measuring purpose.
Still, what it does is plenty.
When the grade increases, its accuracy will even measure the gap between particles. That would even lead to the discovery of gravitational waves.
The caliper disappears into thin air once I set it on the desk. Seems it gets retrieved when not in use.
I was getting the hang of it, summoning and retrieving a few times. Then, with a ding sound, the status window refreshed.
[–‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ has genuinely started to show interest in you. She is hostile to the polity of other foreign gods apart from the one she belongs to. As her apostle, stand against the monsters of other dimensions.]
[–Now is the time to lay the foundation. Get admitted into the Stellarium Academy.]
[–Upon success: Unlock SAN parameter]
[–Upon failure: Get impregnated by the Eye of Cartesia XD]
Looking at the failure condition, my mouth fell open.
“You crazy-!!”
***
Admissions to Stellarium are divided into three stages:
Written Test, Practical Test, and Interview.
Among them, the problem is not the written or interview, but indeed the practical test.
“The topic for the practical changes each year and it gets released a month before. You should find out as soon as it’s announced.”
I nodded at Sonia’s words even though I had no idea what would be on this year’s practical test despite having read the entire novel.
The protagonist did not apply at this time.
Well, it’s not like I could know just by viewing from the protagonist’s perspective.
In other words, I have to find out the hidden setting.
“A hint could be that, since it’s the practical test, there’ll be a lot of physical activity.”
That could make sense.
It has the same context as the physical test that used to exist for college entrances back in the day. It would be a message that the students who will later become reserve soldiers of the nation should have at least minimal athletic skills.
Maybe someone like Rustilla could easily score full points without any issues.
The problem is, I can’t.
“To be honest, your physical condition is a bit..”
“A bit what?”
“…Aren’t you rushing it?”
An unexpected factual bombardment by Sonia. I couldn’t counter as all she said was logical. I responded by thumbs up.
“I think I need practical tutoring.”
“If you need tutoring for written exams or interviews as well, I suggest you take them.”
“Why are you saying all these out of nowhere?”
“Because I see the potential. From what I, Sonia, can see, your chances of passing the Stellarium are quite high.”
“How high?”
“Approximately 0.142857%.”
“Thank you.”
The average competition rate for Stellarium is 700 to 1.
“4 months is too short to build core muscles. Wouldn’t it be better to show your strengths in written exams and interviews? This alone will give you a fair chance.”
“That was my initial plan. But I still need to pass the minimum score.”
Stellarium entrance exam has a failing section. If you do poorly in one, you fail the whole thing.
“Sonia, please help me.”
“Tell me.”
“You’ll handle my practical tutoring.”
Sonia pointed at herself and tilted her head.
“…Are you talking about me?”
“Aren’t you a multi-purpose android? You can even be used for education, right? Be my exercise coach.”
“Understood.”
Surprisingly, Sonia quickly agreed.
She told me to wait a moment and then went somewhere. When she returned, she was carrying two wooden swords. She tossed one to me, saying,
“Judging from big data, there is a high possibility of mock battles this year. I will teach you the basics of swordsmanship for handling plasma swords. Please follow me.”
Sonia readjusted her grip on the wooden sword. Whoosh! A sound as if the space was ripping, was heard.
Hold on.
I have a bad feeling about this.
***
Recently, for a month, it has been stormy in the main ship of the Ryneland family.
The cause was Idel.
He was acting weirder since he was beaten up in the Harcus Casino and carried back. Seti empathized that deeply.
He was studying, cursing less, not going to gamble.
Even encouraged her to study hard.
It was ridiculous.
Still occasionally, he showed his true self. Like when he assaulted the androids of the Celsil family a while ago. It actually felt normal and reassuring seeing him like that.
“So,”
Seti, squinting, spoke.
“Why is that guy acting like that again?”
She pointed to the other end of the sports field. A small 300 square sports field. Owned by the Ryneland family, it also existed inside. Anyway, on that sports field, Idel was crossing wooden swords with Sonia.
“He says it’s training.”
“Training?”
Seti’s dedicated android, Donna, gave a nod.
“Yes, he said that he’s preparing for the practical test by training with Sonia like this.”
“……”
“From what I heard, if you can deflect Sonia’s sword even once, he pledged to eat chicken…”
“Ha, he makes me laugh.”
Eidel was being beaten up one-sidedly by Sonia. The beating was so severe that it was hard to tell whether it was training or punishment. The sound of it echoed loudly throughout the dome.
Seeing him getting beaten up brought up a feeling of relieving satisfaction.
“Pick up the sword again. You’re still far off.”
Sonia forcibly lifted Eidel up. Eidel’s legs trembled.
“I don’t know why someone brought that old scrawny fellow for training.”
Eidel’s body was weak. He had not exercised in years. It was not as if he had gained weight. His body was too frail and thin to carry something like a plasma sword.
“He may do well in the theory test but that won’t help. He has absolutely zero athletic skills.”
Seti chuckled and rose from her seat. It was time for her to go to the academy too.
Until she returned home, Eidel was being beaten up by Sonia.
And the same continued the next day.
“Argh! Ah!”
“Keep your back straight! In order to maintain balance, your feet should be diagonally placed. Can a person capable of calculating the centre of mass not consider his own body weight?”
“Wait a moment, I got hit in the bone!”
“When your opponent strikes like this, you should deflect it without hesitation. Your gaze should always be on the opponent’s hand, not the sword. This will give you confidence in defending.”
“Argh!”
A scenario where the maid is beating up her master.
Such an absurd spectacle was repeated every morning like a panorama.
How much time had passed?
During these three times the calendar turned, Seti had been watching the spectacle of Eidel being hit.
At first, she thought she would stop after watching a bit, but it was strangely entertaining to watch.
And today was no exception. While munching her bacon toast for breakfast, Seti smiled quietly.
“Is he not going to die doing this?”
“Miss, you should be careful with your words. He’s of the Line Lant bloodline. What if something goes wrong?”
“That just means he has bad luck. No, wait, doesn’t that make me feel pity for Sonia?”
Seti chuckled.
Actually, he was quite commendable.
It was not anything else, but Eidel’s perseverance.
He appeared on the training field every day without fail. Did some jogging, ate breakfast, sparred with Sonia, even vomited out his breakfast sometimes. He pushed his body ruthlessly to acceptable limits for his examination.
Looking at him, she couldn’t help feeling a bit of sympathy.
What if he really makes it…
‘Ah, no way.’
Seti shrugged off the thought that popped up like a cloud. Amid all this, Eidel was knocked down by Sonia’s swordplay. Thud! With a sound that should not come from a human body accompanying it.
“Wow, that’s a bit dangerous.”
Donna covered her mouth with both hands, her expression filled with horror. The sudden noise startled Seti as well, but seeing Eidel stand up again, she regained her composure.
“…Will being beaten up every day make a difference?”
“You seem to have built more lean muscle than before?”
“It must be a lump formed by a hit, or a callus.”
“Maybe that’s why your body has gotten tougher.”
“…No.”
From noble mtl dot com
Seti shook his head.
“I’ve tried learning swordsmanship too, you know. With a cut like that, you couldn’t get up easily if you got hit even once.”
In an age where past sword arts were reevaluated for combating monsters, Seti remembered vividly the blow he had received when he first registered at the dojo.
“Sonia just hit his wrist, right? That’s where the bones are. It’s where energy passes when you train Ether. Even if you’re skilled, if you get hit there, you can’t properly hold a sword for a few minutes.”
But this wasn’t the case with Idel.
He got up despite receiving enough damage to break bones, he got up even after being hit squarely on the skull.
For the past three months, he has never been unconscious.
“…Is he human?”
Seti spat out the words after a long time. He always said this after his fights with Idel.
However, today it was not for the purpose of defamation.
Mystery.
Absurdity.
And terror.
Like the monsters in “Darwin’s Legion”, which regenerate squishy irrespective of how many times they are stabbed and slashed, Idel got up again and again. It seemed that his physique exceeded human endurance.
Is that even possible with a human body?
Could he be an apostle of an alien nation?
If so, he must be expelled unconditionally, even if personal feelings are put aside. If not, it would lead to the downfall of the entire family.
Of course.
“Arrrgh!”
“Get up. We’ll do it again.”
There is no way that such a charmless guy would be possessed by an alien. Aliens have their own standards.
“Ugh!”
“Again.”
“Ugh!”
“Again.”
“Errr!”
“Again!”
Sonia raised her voice. There was no mercy in her hand. She avoided the vitals, but relentlessly pounded other areas. Idel swung the sword tirelessly, despite his body being exhausted.
Idel gasped for breath. Sonia gripped her sword anew. Her pupils flickered brightly.
“Young master, how do you feel now?”
“Oh, it’s great. Hit me more.”
Seti’s expression turned blank.
“… He’s insane, isn’t he?”
He found himself saying this a lot lately. Idel had done more than one or two crazy things, but this bizarre madness was felt only in the last three months.
Ding!
“Wow, Miss. Looks like your practical schedule has arrived. Shall I show it to you right away?”
Seti nodded and Donna handed him the tablet.
[– Practical Assessment: ‘Mock Battle with Golem’]
[– Assessment Details: All first-round passers carry out a mock battle against a Golem modeled after a C-class monster. All necessary equipment for the test, including plasma swords, will be equally provided by the school. Personal equipment carry-in is prohibited.]
Detailed evaluation criteria were listed beneath. As far as Seti read, he broke out in a cold sweat.
‘A mock battle… The academy said this year we would only do a strength test and some long-distance running, didn’t they?’
The information he got from the academy was bullsh*t.
‘It’s been a year since I trained in swordsmanship!’
Seti gasped internally.
He had one month left. He had to reorganize his curriculum now.
He hurried to his feet, intending to go to the academy.
At that moment.
Tack, tack, tack.
Clack-!!
Four consecutive sounds of wooden swords clashing echoed. Seti’s gaze followed the noise.
There, Aidel, who had knocked down Sonia’s sword, was smiling.
“…Tonight, we have Gold Shrimp Chicken.”
