Chapter 52: Hononary Instructor

"There’s a lot of nonsense spreading around lately, isn’t there...?"

Julian scrolled through the news with exhaustion. He found plenty of things about himself, some of it accurate, sure, but far more of it was pure fabrication.

Of course, none of this was new to Julian. Fine, he’d been an actor, this kind of popularity was something he’d dealt with plenty back in his old world.

The only real difference was that, this time, he didn’t have a manager to help filter the spread of information and keep it from spiraling out of control.

Well, like right now.

—Julian Clair is actually humanity’s secret protector. I’m certain of it, he’s clearly been guarding us from the shadows this whole time!

—I heard Julian is actually an illegitimate child from a great family in the Elite Region. But since he’s so talented, he was made into a hunting dog for Invaders and works entirely behind the scenes.

And plenty more rambling nonsense in a similar vein.

Julian shut off his phone, pressing his fingers against his temples, then looked up, right toward the guest seated on his living room sofa.

"Which is exactly why, given how things stand now, it wouldn’t look good for Lord Julian to keep working as a cashier at LittleMart, would it?"

Naturally, radiating that same lively energy, dazzling cheerfulness, and mature beauty, it was Adelle, smiling at her own brilliant idea.

’Well, yeah, fair point. With this kind of popularity, showing up for work is clearly not going to end well, ugh...’

Julian suddenly found himself thinking back to his old life. He remembered those terrifying stretches when his schedule leaked online, drawing fans who showed up to harass him.

Julian said nothing, simply staying quiet as Adelle continued:

"Lord Julian, how about becoming an honorary instructor at Canelo Academy?"

Adelle had already brought this up earlier over the phone. Well, since they’d been communicating far more than Julian had ever expected, they’d eventually exchanged numbers for easier contact.

Julian had already thought it over, and the offer clearly wasn’t a bad one. If anything, it was almost too good, since Adelle herself had laid out exactly what he’d be allowed to do:

Julian would have complete freedom to do as he pleased, free access to read any skill book he wanted, no obligation to actually teach any students.

All Adelle wanted was one thing. Just lend a hand whenever students found themselves in danger, that was it, and honestly, that alone had already become something Julian had spent considerable time thinking through.

’How exactly am I supposed to help the students when I’m only Rank-E myself?’

Fine, Julian might have a few interesting tricks up his sleeve, but that hardly guaranteed he’d keep winning the way he had against that Rank-D Invader.

So, what exactly was he supposed to do here?

’...Seems genuinely impossible to actually live a peaceful, quiet life. At least, not right now.’

Which was exactly why Julian reached his decision. He figured he should start taking this whole Master-Disciple relationship more seriously.

He needed to find a way to help his disciples grow, and by doing so, Julian himself would grow stronger too.

Once Julian became strong enough, he could actually protect them. Sure, this would take him further off the path he’d originally wanted, but so what?

Everything had already turned out this way regardless.

As it happened, the honorary instructor position fit Julian’s purpose perfectly. So he nodded, his chest deflating of all enthusiasm, his stomach churning as every fiber of his being rejected the idea of becoming an honorary instructor.

But his rational mind won out.

"I’ll do it."

Julian felt vomit rising up his throat right in that moment. His expression turned dark and grim, but Adelle, sitting across from him, remained completely oblivious.

The woman smiled with pure delight, lost entirely in her own thoughts.

’I DID IT!!’

She’d successfully secured a Hidden Master for herself, of course she had every reason to be this thrilled.

***

Kina sank into deep concentration, a long, slender-bladed sword gripped in her hands. The air around her had turned bitterly cold, thick with frost, her every breath escaping as a thin trail of vapor.

The slender blade was coated in frozen ice, gleaming with a bluish light as clear as crystal.

The next instant, Kina thrust the blade forward, into the training dummy in front of her. The thrust pierced straight through the dummy’s body with ease, and the next second, a dim burst of ice erupted, the dummy’s fabric turning blue before finally shattering apart from within.

[Frost Edge Progress +2.3%]

’...It’s still not the same as Master’s, something’s still missing.’

Kina let out a cold breath. Of course, she wasn’t expecting to reach her Master’s level right away, so this didn’t discourage her in the slightest.

Especially considering that what should have been an incredibly difficult skill to develop was, once again, seeing rapid, steady progress.

Two percent was a genuinely enormous number at D-Grade.

Especially considering Kina had spent the past several days training purely to understand and replicate how her Master had used Frost Edge.

Kina then caught the sound of someone approaching from the corridor, apparently walking this way. Glancing toward the source, she spotted Lurker walking in, talking with someone.

Then, the figure he was speaking with became clear.

"Master...!"

Her face lit up instantly, realizing the figure who’d arrived was, in fact, her own Master. Beaming, Kina immediately made her way over to where he stood.

"Master, why are you here? Did you come to see me?"

Her Master, Julian, studied her for a moment, then glanced at the shattered training dummy, and nodded.

"You’re training well."

Kina smiled, thoroughly pleased, feeling every ounce of validation she needed satisfied by just that single line from her Master.

"Kina, I’ve already informed your Master that I know about your identity, that includes your transfer to the Elite Academy."

The moment Lurker spoke up, Kina’s gaze shifted briefly, then she blinked and looked at her Master.

"What do you think, Master?"

Unlike the Academy here in Central, the Academy in the Elite Region operated on an entirely different level. Since students there were trained to hunt Invaders from the very beginning, a considerable number of them had already grown remarkably strong by their very first year.

That was exactly why Lurker figured Kina, while strong, wouldn’t necessarily become the top student at the Elite Academy, at least, not right away.

Because Kina’s potential, even by Elite Academy standards, defied any reasonable explanation.

Lurker genuinely regretted the fact that Kina had ended up studying at a Central academy, one that coddled its students out of fear of losing them, far too deferential to their donors.

And Julian himself had nearly arrived at the exact same conclusion, thanks to everything Lurker had explained to him.

Besides, since he’d been asked for his opinion, Julian genuinely supported whatever Kina wanted for herself.

And given that Kina had always intended to return to the Elite Academy from the very start, that gave Julian exactly the clarity he needed on what to say.

Beyond that, Julian himself had decided not to stay too passive about this either. Since he was now recognized as a Master, he figured he should act the part, drawing on his acting skills to pull it off.

"Do as you please," Julian hesitated for a moment, looking at Kina, wanting to say something more. A line that might end up having genuinely awful consequences for Julian himself, something he deeply opposed saying, yet absolutely necessary given the situation.

Julian stepped outside his comfort zone and finally parted his lips. "And, if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to tell me."