Yigret - Chapter 4

0005 / 0240 ———————————————-

Chapter 1. The Heron Prince

As the students stared at Judas in confusion, the man who had caused the chaos scanned the board once more and turned away.

Yigret regretted that he hadn’t been able to make it to class, but it couldn’t be helped.

Ruvarh Academy had a mobile class system. Each subject was assigned a different hall and classroom. After finishing their notes, the students packed their bags for transportation.

There was another group of students watching Judas’ back as he walked out the door.

Unlike the Baikal-centered group, this one was made up of female students.

They weren’t as outspoken, but they too had a poor opinion of Judas too.

“Did you see that smug look on his face?”

“He’s a royalty, though how he looks. But he’s still an obnoxious child.”

“What do you mean, a child? He’s actually twelve years old.”

“That’s even more irritating!”

Twelve is a young age, but it’s not young enough to be considered a child among the nobility.

In fact, given that the minimum age for admission to the Academy Rubach was ten, he was no different from the girls who were still in their teens.

But the already tarnished reputation had cast Judas as a brittle, unpleasant child unworthy of his position.

The gossiping girls turned to the one girl who had quietly gathered her books and hugged them in her arms, their gazes seeking approval.

“He should rather not come to class, right? Christina?”

“Don’t you dare talk vulgarly in front of me.”

The girls’ lighthearted mouths closed in an instant. Coldly shutting them up, Christina ran a hand through her flowing ocean-blue hair and stood up.

“Ch-Chris…….”

“I’m not interested. Such classless talk.”

Christina Delphia.

She was the eldest daughter of the Dukes of Delphia. She was beautiful from head to toe, with a face like a sculpture.

She was only fourteen years old, but she possessed a dignity and sophistication that few ladies could match, and no one could hold their head straight up in her presence.

She had the family, the looks, and the talent as the lady of high standing.

“Oh, and him.”

Christina stepped out of the classroom and stared straight ahead.

Judas, a slow walker, had gone first and hadn’t gotten far.

She glanced back at him, then turned her head and added in a low voice.

“He’s not just a kid.”

“Eh……?”

At that, the girls merely made puzzled faces.

The students scurried off to their chosen class schedules.

Judas also walked diligently to the gym.

Judas’ original schedule had included “staff technique,” as if he wanted to train his frail body.

Involving long, lightweight staff, it was one of the easier martial arts to learn.

Unlike swordsmanship, it doesn’t require the symmetry of opposing hands to be taken into account, and has large, obvious lines make it easy to follow.

The students who had arrived at the gym in advance gathered in groups, chatting and doing their own things, such as practicing staff fighting.

“A staff…….”

Judas picked up one of the stacked training staff with both hands.

It was lightweight compared to the others, but still too heavy for Judas’ weak body to lift.

As a great sage, Yigret had some knowledge of the art of the staff. Though he hadn’t been trained, the combat techniques he’d practiced as a hobby were still fresh in his mind, even now that his body had changed.

But.

“Heavy.”

Judas sighed.

The flower of staff arts is the twin staff. Holding one in each hand and wielding two sticks.

But the tiny body and frail limbs of the seemingly seven-year-old could barely handle the weight of even a single training staff.

His shoulders were already aching from holding the staff with both hands for so long.

Judas held the staff upright on the ground, a puzzled look on his face.

‘You’ve applied for a staff training program with this body, so you must have been a kid who wanted to do a lot of things.’

Unfortunately, he had no physical strength to support it.

Judas couldn’t decide if he should continue to do what his body was meant to do, or if he should switch to another class now.

In the meantime, the staff arts teacher entered the gym.

“Oh?”

The first thing that caught the teacher’s eye was Judas. The teacher approached Judas with a surprised look on his face.

“What a surprise, a classmate who hasn’t shown his face all semester is already here and waiting for me.”

The teacher, who wore a tight-fitting training outfit and had her long, bronze-colored hair pulled back into a single ponytail, smirked and placed a hand on her waist.

It was “Meiran”, the martial arts department’s staff arts teacher, and she was a rare female teacher in the department.

“I see you’ve finally made up your mind to do it, Mr. Judas.”

“…….”

Judas was quite surprised. A female teacher, not to be sexist, but it was quite unexpected.

Not in the liberal arts, and certainly not in the martial arts. Women in the Empire were still underrepresented in the martial arts.

Commoners and noblewomen alike usually distinguished themselves in the literary and magical arts, not in the more physically demanding fields.

At any rate, judging by the fine muscles and toned body she had here and there, she didn’t seem to have neglected exercise. Probably quite skilled.

Meiran glanced down at Judas, who didn’t respond in kind, and her lips twitched bitterly.

‘I was wondering if he had changed a bit, but it seems he hasn’t. Sigh, this is why His Majesty must be so worri…….’

Meiran’s eyes widened as she saw Judas bow respectfully.

“I apologize for causing you so much trouble. Master. I’ll try my best to do as you teach me.”

“Mm……? Uh, yeah.”

Smile.

A soft smile crossed Judas’s normally passive and shadowy face.

Meiran quickly wiped the look of surprise from her face. Instead, she pulled out a training stick and gathered the surrounding students.

“Training in the art of the staff is very suitable for developing a sense of rotation, and this sense of rotation applies to other martial arts as well. As any student of other martial arts will tell you, if you develop this sense, you can use it in any martial art.”

Whirr, clink!

With a flick of her staff, Meiran flipped it like a coin and held it in her hand.

Although it’s called “Staff Techniques”, it doesn’t require much complexity for a beginner. A basic sense of the staff and a swing were all that was currently being taught.

Even though Judas had been out of class for a long time, it was still early in the early semester, and the other students were still clumsy with their staffs.

“Now, pair up and practice exchanging blows.”

At Meiran’s signal, the students scattered. Judas stood for a moment as he watched them scurry off in search of close friends and familiar faces. At a time like this, if he stood still, he would naturally bump into the rest of the group.

As he expected, he came into eye contact with a student who had been standing in the far corner.

“Mmm?”

“……you are.”

The two recognized each other at once, as did Judas, for they had only just become acquainted.

Judas stepped toward him in greeting.

“I see you again, Ethan.”

Ethan bowed small.

The size difference between the two men was considerable, and it looked like an older brother playing with a younger one.

“How did you find the place you were looking for?”

“Thanks to you. You helped me out of a jam.”

The surrounding students began to glance.

This was Ethan’s first class. He was a mid-year transfer student, not an official enrollment date, so there were no familiar faces.

Although it’s a rule not to identify yourself, students often form cliques by guessing each other’s identities.

The arrival of a new face was met with a steady stream of stares, trying to guess Ethan’s clan.

“But staff techniques. You’ve signed up for an unusual class on the first day.”

“That is…… what I wanted to ask.”

The two continued their conversation as the teacher instructed them to get into a ready stance.

There were quite a few students in the class because it was the easiest of the martial arts.

But Judas had noticed that he had already mastered the sword. From the first moment they met, he carried a sword in his hand, and his aura was quite restrained for a child.

What’s more, it was rare for a student to put staff techniques on his schedule from the first day of school, leaving other, more interesting subjects behind.

There were a myriad of other subjects at the Academy Ruvarh that would appeal to a younger student.

Ethan, on the other hand, was a little different from Judas’s question. He, too, had heard rumors about The Heron Prince for years.

A weakling who had been born weak, whose body and mind were all infirm, and who hadn’t even grown up enough for his age.

It was unexpected that he would apply for a martial arts course, even if it was only in staff technique.

‘As I thought before, he’s more determinate than I thought.’

Ethan began to revise the rumors he had heard about the First Prince. The man in front of him, at least, wasn’t a scumbag.

It was only a matter of time before that idea was slightly tarnished.

============================ Ending credit

TL by Shir104

Please leave a comment if you see any kind of what so ever mistakes, and a upvote if you liked this episode!

If you want to double the speed of the translation you could feel free to support the translat..mmph! Mmph!

I give you my gratitude to my first bookmarker(?) of Yigret. You saved my day.

If you leave bookmark we could reach 10 bookmarkers(?) soon(?)

============================