Professor Rhino’s practical assignment was no easy task.
Even the process of bundling this special type of straw to make a scarecrow was not smooth.
“It bounced out again!”
These special straws had a spring-like property.
They kept springing around unpredictably, frustrating the students.
“Damn it!”
“This is impossible!”
The teaching assistants were watching the students with sharp eyes, deducting points from those who displayed poor behavior or language.
On the other hand, Dorphina was actually receiving quite high scores.
This was due to her dexterity honed from years of serving as a maid.
‘Is this really that difficult?’
Making a scarecrow with elastic straw and standing it up wasn’t particularly hard.
However, looking over, even Seila seemed to be struggling.
She wasn’t cursing or getting angry like the other students, but she was still awkwardly fumbling in a noble manner.
“I’ll help you!”
Dorphina was very happy to realize she could be of help to Seila.
She did her best to make the scarecrow, and seeing this, other students began approaching her for help as well.
“Alright. I’ll help whenever I have time.”
Dorphina seemed pleased, her face brightened by the fact that she was such a big help to the other students.
For reference, the teaching assistants were deducting points from any student who asked Dorphina for help since they were completing their assignments using someone else’s work.
The assistants whispered among themselves.
“But what about Seila?”
“Seila didn’t ask for help herself, did she?”
“Shouldn’t she get bonus points instead?”
“Bonus points?”
“Think about it—how exemplary must her character have been for someone to step in and help her like that?”
“True, that makes sense.”
“Seila should get extra points.”
Seila indeed received bonus points.
Meanwhile, thanks to Dorphina’s help, many students succeeded in making their scarecrows.
Everyone thought the task would become much easier from then on.
“Hah!”
They tried to cut the scarecrow with their swords.
Ping!
But the straw bounced back like a spring.
“Ugh!”
The straws that made up the scarecrow flew off in all directions, shooting like arrows.
“Ahhh!”
“I said be careful!”
“You little… you dare attack me?”
Chaos erupted.
Already irritated, the students’ nerves were further frayed as the flying straw struck painfully from all directions.
Amid the chaos, there was a student who excelled: Hamun.
After a few moments of hesitation…
“Hyah!”
With a shout, he neatly sliced the scarecrow in one clean strike.
Seeing Hamun succeed, Seila gradually summoned her magic and succeeded as well.
Perbeck witnessed this.
For context, Perbeck had already failed four times.
Perbeck found it hard to accept the situation.
‘This can’t be happening.’
Seila succeeded in cutting the scarecrow after only two attempts.
If Seila could do it, why couldn’t he, someone stronger than her, succeed?
As a swordsman from a mage family, being outdone like this was an unbearable humiliation.
‘I will succeed, no matter what.’
Perbeck approached Seila.
To surpass an opponent, one must first understand them.
“Seila. Won’t you teach me how to do it?”
“….”
Seila looked at Perbeck.
A minor character with little impact on the story—a supporting character who didn’t influence the path of the world filled with beauty.
‘I should probably teach as politely and thoroughly as possible.’
This class was primarily about character education. It was clear that grading would be based on such criteria.
“What part is the hardest?”
“When cutting the scarecrow. I’d like it if you could explain how you did it overall.”
Seila nodded.
Just then, Dorphina made another scarecrow.
“Here! Use this, Seila!”
“Thanks.”
As if waiting in advance, Dorphina handed the scarecrow to Seila, who accepted it and explained as politely as possible.
“Hold the sword with your right hand.”
The students’ eyes turned toward Seila.
Everyone was eager to see what tips Seila, trained directly by the head of the swordsmanship cradle Queibach, would share.
“Bring the sword down to the lower left, with the blade facing up.”
Seila’s expression was serious.
Her elegant appearance and dignified demeanor made her seem as if she were revealing a precious secret.
Even Perbeck listened carefully, slightly tense.
“Swing the sword to the upper right.”
“….”
“Like this.”
The scarecrow in front of Seila was sliced in half.
For a moment, Perbeck was confused.
‘Is she insulting me?’
Aside from her noble demeanor, all she had said was ‘hold the sword and swing it.’
Who wouldn’t know that?
There was no doubt in his mind that Seila was mocking him.
Just as he was about to get angry, Hamun exclaimed.
“That was a perfectly clear explanation, Seila.”
To make things worse, Professor Rhino nodded approvingly, looking quite satisfied.
Most of the ordinary students were shocked.
‘That’s a clear explanation?’
In essence, Seila’s explanation was no different from teaching someone how to breathe: inhale and exhale.
It was such a natural action that there wasn’t much more to explain.
It was akin to answering the question, “What do you do when you’re thirsty?” with, “Drink water.”
Perbeck felt a little awkward.
Although Seila’s advice was practically useless, etiquette demanded that a noble at least pretend to follow the advice after receiving it.
‘And of course, the professor was satisfied with that explanation…!’
Still, he thought maybe it could work if he followed her instructions.
Perbeck adjusted his posture and swung the sword as Seila had shown, but it was useless.
If it had worked that way, the other students could have done it too.
Perbeck’s face flushed crimson.
“…Your advice was excellent, but I suppose my skill is lacking.”
He turned away from Seila, his face as red as a boiled lobster, secretly biting his lip.
‘How could she humiliate me like this?’
Not just humiliation—how could she humiliate him so publicly?
He was so furious he felt he might lose his mind.
‘I won’t forgive this!’
‘How should I get revenge?’
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Since Seila had humiliated him so badly, he wanted to humiliate her in return.
‘Yes, I’ll use the magic students. They really dislike Seila.’
She’s often called a noble traitor, isn’t she?
If he could use them, he could embarrass Seila.
‘And wasn’t their class representative Pneldi of the Lupiano family?’
Perfect timing.
The Lupiano family were vassals of Devernon.
Compared to other classes, they were slightly lacking in legitimacy and prestige.
‘They’d want to crush the traitor Seila, which would raise their own status!’
Perbeck headed straight to the magic class dormitory.
In the lounge, he met Pneldi and immediately got to the point, whispering.
“Ultimately, the true dream of a first-vassal family is to surpass the family they serve, isn’t it?”
“…Just get to the point.”
“Let’s bring Seila down.”
Pneldi pulled up a chair, resting his chin on his hand, focusing intently on Perbeck’s words.
“Go on.”
“She’s going to sell bread and jam to you guys, right?”
“Yeah. After the swordsmanship class, it’ll be our turn.”
“I’ll put some foreign matter in it.”
“Foreign matter?”
Pneldi’s eyes widened. Perbeck grinned and continued.
“Things like bugs. Then you officially raise an objection to Seila. In the end, she’ll have to apologize and bow to you.”
A smile flashed across Perbeck’s face.
The thought of Seila, who often acted proud—though she hadn’t actually been arrogant—being humbled felt exhilarating.
Pneldi rubbed his chin and nodded.
“That’s quite a clever scheme.”
“Right? Hehehe.”
“And what do you want in return?”
“What I want?”
Perbeck hesitated. His goal was only to humiliate Seila, nothing more.
But admitting that a noble’s sole purpose was ‘to sabotage someone else’ was somewhat embarrassing.
“It’s about our swordsmanship class’s cohesion. Those mage-family students waving swords around have really spoiled our class’s atmosphere.”
