I Am Just An Ordinary Clown Of The Academy

✦ Chapter 32 ✦

「Translator – Creator」

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

The morning routine of the disciplinary committee students started earlier than the other students. And Johanna’s morning began even earlier than the other members of the Disciplinary Committee.

It was an ambiguous time to call it morning; the sun hadn’t fully risen, and most of the students were still asleep.

Johanna walked through the cold breeze, heading to the training ground. Swinging her sword in the chill with no one around to watch—this was Johanna’s way of starting her day.

Moreover, without anyone present, there were no eyes on her as she wielded her sword. When she practiced in crowded areas, she could feel the stares. Not the gaze of a swordsman observing another swordsman, but the gaze of a man looking at a woman.

Johanna found those stares extremely unpleasant.

“Haa…”

With each breath, a white puff of air emerged from Johanna’s mouth. Her platinum-blonde hair, tied for ease of movement, fluttered in the breeze. On her way to the training ground, she didn’t encounter anyone; this was usual, so she paid no attention to it.

— Tatatata.

Upon arriving at the training ground, Johanna noticed something different from usual.

She heard someone running inside the training ground.

‘Who could it be?’

Since her first year, she had come out at this time every day to practice her sword skills. In one year, she had never encountered anyone. Half curious about who had arrived before her, half displeased at not being able to practice alone, she entered the training ground.

However, upon seeing the person inside, her displeasure dissipated.

Recognizing the man running was easy—it was the mask he always wore.

“Lo…”

Johanna opened her mouth to call out to Loki, but then closed it without saying anything.

Loki, who was running inside the training ground, was drenched in sweat, appearing as though his stamina was nearly spent. Each step he took caused sweat to drip, and his pace was so slow it was hard to call it running.

‘When did he come here?’

The training ground floor was soaked with Loki’s sweat, and water bottles, presumably used by him, were scattered around. Judging by the number of bottles, it was clear he had been there for several hours. Most students would still be asleep; how long had he been running?

Loki, his legs giving out, tripped over his own feet and fell. Laying there, it seemed he was finally considering stopping.

Johanna thought of approaching Loki but then hesitated again as he stood up.

A moment later, two more Lokis appeared in the training ground.

It was clear that what he created was through his Unique Magic.

‘What is he trying to do?’

Johanna’s eyes widened at the scene unfolding before her.

The two clones began to fight. One clone pointed a sword at the other’s neck, causing it to vanish; then the clones reappeared and began fighting again. This time, the movements of the clones were more refined than before.

Only now did Johanna realize what Loki was doing. He was using the clones to correct his own posture. The clones appeared, fought, vanished, and reappeared in an unending cycle. Loki repeated this numerous times, but eventually, his mana ran out, and he stopped creating clones.

‘Is it over now?’

Yet, contrary to her thoughts, Loki proved to be more relentless. Once his mana ran out, he started running again. He must have recovered some stamina, given that he could continue running, but as he hadn’t fully recuperated, his pace was slower. Nevertheless, he had no intention of stopping.

Time passed, and once again, after exhausting his stamina, he sank to the ground. Again, he created clones and set them to fight. After a few bouts, he tried to create more, but with depleted mana, he failed.

Unable to use his Unique Magic further, he resumed running. 

And so, Loki endlessly repeated the cycle of those two tasks.

Could an ordinary person even attempt such a feat? Pushing his body to its limits, then his mana to exhaustion. Up to that moment, she’d never known anyone who trained like Loki. Nor did she think anyone else would in the future.

Draining every ounce of his stamina to run.

Squeezing every drop of his mana to wield his unique magic.

What Loki was doing was less training and more like self-inflicted torture.

“…………….”

Johanna possessed exceptional talent, far surpassing others, but she took pride in her hard work as well. She prided herself on having thought about the sword longer and having swung it for more hours than anyone else.

But watching Loki, her pride in her efforts began to disappear.

Could she truly call what she had done “effort”? Wouldn’t Loki laugh if he saw her version of training?

In the end, Johanna couldn’t bring herself to swing her sword even once. She silently watched Loki until he eventually left the training ground.

.

.

.

I was walking down the academy hallway.

After completing my usual morning training and taking about an hour of rest back in the dormitory, I changed into my school uniform and headed out. Thankfully, no one entered the training ground during my morning workout. If they had, they would likely have spoken to me.

Honestly, what concerned me more was the fact that I fell asleep last night without taking any medication. I didn’t hold onto the hope that I could now sleep without it. If there was anything different about last night, it was that I had talked to Yerika before going to bed.

‘Could it be due to Yerika’s trait?’

Just as Lucas inherited the [Dominance] trait from the Emperor, it was possible that Yerika inherited her trait from the Empress. Yerika’s mother, the Empress, was once a Saintess. The reason I use the past tense is that she stepped down from that position upon marrying the Emperor. Of course, stepping down didn’t mean she lost her abilities. I remember the effects of the trait the Empress possessed, but I can’t recall its name. 

To confirm whether she had inherited that trait from the Empress was simple. I simply could contact her through the communication orb tonight. If I truly can fall asleep just by talking to Erika…

‘Will I have to contact her every night?’

If the Emperor finds out, it won’t end with just a scolding.

My steps halted as I mulled over this, while walking through the hallway.

To reach the Special Class, I had to use the staircase in the hallway to go to the basement, but some pests were blocking the way.

‘They’re rather diligent in the morning.’

I wondered how long they had been waiting for me.

Thinking of them waiting for me since early morning made me laugh.

“Are you sure he hasn’t passed through here?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“You fools, if you had caught that guy yesterday, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“We’re sorry!”

They didn’t even get a chance to speak to me yesterday. Did that insect come here himself because of that?

After classes, I slipped out by claiming I had questions for the professor. When all the classes were over, I left with Professor Elysia.

So, they decided to target the time I walk to school, when I wouldn’t be with a professor.

‘Hmm, what should I do?’

Honestly, getting past them was easy. The problem was figuring out which method would make those insects the most irritated.

After considering several methods, I decided to choose the simplest one.

I created an illusion of myself and sent it towards them.

“Y-Your Highness, he’s coming!”

“Gah!”

My clone acted surprised, screaming, and ran in the opposite direction of where I was. While they focused on the clone, I used an illusion and [Shadow Steps] to completely erase my presence before descending into the basement. None of them realized I had gone down, as their attention remained fixed on the clone.

“Catch him!”

“Don’t chase him, you idiots.”

The minions of the pest initially pursued my clone, but at the prince’s command, they stopped and let it go. If they had continued the chase, they might have realized it was just a clone.

“Your Highness, shouldn’t we chase after that?”

“As long as we’re blocking this passage, that guy will eventually have to come through here.”

That’s right. Which is why I’ve already come down. I’ll wait here until class begins. 

I walked through the underground corridor and arrived at the Special Class.

“Good morning, everyone!”

I greeted loudly as I opened the classroom door.

All the students inside turned to look at me.

“Loki, are you alright?”

The first to speak was Lucas.

Alright? About what?

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“Weren’t the Archen Kingdom students waiting for you? We were worried we might have to send someone to fetch you.”

It seemed they had seen the worm and his lackeys waiting for me near the stairs. I responded with a casual shrug.

“You’re not planning to avoid them forever, are you? You can’t keep dodging them indefinitely.”

This time, it was Clara who spoke.

Originally, I had planned to wait a bit longer, but now that the worm himself had made a move, there was no need.

“Yeah, it is a bit creepy when they keep following me around.”

“Do you have a plan to handle this?”

“Of course I do!”

Everyone says it’s not fear of the mess, but just that it’s dirty.

“I’ll take care of it within a week, so don’t worry.”

Still, messes at home have to be cleaned up, right?

END of CHAPTER

☩

If you liked the novel, do not forget to rate and review the novel on ⟿ NOVELUPDATES.

Also, if you cannot wait to see what lies ahead in the story, curious about what to unfold, I have added some ⟿ advanced chapters on the site (and will slowly be adding more). Or, you can get my 「Ko-Fi Advanced Chapters Membership 」