I Became the Academy’s Defensive Swordsman

Chapter 204

Chapter 204

Winter break continued.

As she always had, Sara remained at the Academy during the rest of the vacation to continue her studies.

Sara did her best to prepare to become the head of the Isrinbloom Family.

She had spent her break alone in the library, as usual.

But recently, she wasn’t alone anymore.

“In the Imperial Year 247, the Isrinbloom Family worked together with the Imperial Family to revise laws related to the steel industry. During that process, Muktaba’s labor regulations were also restructured.”

“…Is that important?”

“It’s good to know. When memorizing labor laws, it’s easier if you understand why those laws were made.”

Jason lightly waved his hand.

Then, a breeze blew through the library, and a book from a nearby shelf flew straight into his hand.

“Use this book while studying labor law. It contains a detailed history of Muktaba — it’ll help.”

“Do you have to study history together when studying law?”

“You don’t have to study history when studying law. But you’re going to be the head of Muktaba soon. Shouldn’t a family head at least know some history?”

“…I’m bad at history.”

“I know. That’s why your grade last semester was almost at the bottom—”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, my Lady.”

Jason grinned slyly and turned back to the book he was reading.

Sara glanced sideways at him.

“What kind of book have you been reading since the day before yesterday?”

“A book about royal guards.”

Jason replied as he jotted something down in his notebook.

“Not just anyone can become a royal guard. To protect a noble of count rank or higher, you have to take several tests. There are even a few laws you have to memorize.”

“Is it difficult?”

“Not too much. But if you don’t study at all, you’ll definitely fail. So yeah, I have to study.”

Jason spoke and looked back at Sara again, wearing his usual smile.

“Come to think of it, you used to say you wanted to be Lady Layla’s guard.”

“Y-yeah, I did.”

“How exactly were you planning to guard a princess of all people? There are tons of applicants, and the test’s way harder.”

“W-well… I’d have managed somehow?”

“Says the girl who can’t even memorize her hometown’s history.”

Sara opened her mouth, then shut it again.

She couldn’t think of a single retort.

Seeing that, Jason chuckled softly and patted her shoulder.

“Still, you can do anything once you set your mind to it. You’ll have all those laws memorized soon enough.”

“I already have nearly three books’ worth to memorize!”

“Well, if you work hard during break, it’ll turn out fine.”

After saying that, Jason turned back to his book.

Soon after, Sara also began rereading her law texts.

The two studied diligently from morning onward.

Or rather—only Jason did.

Sara couldn’t focus on her books at all.

It had been that way ever since Jason suddenly appeared before her two days ago.

‘It’s distracting. I can’t focus on anything.’

Sara still couldn’t get Jason’s words out of her mind.

The words he said — that he’d always be on her side.

The image of him kneeling on one knee on the rooftop kept replaying in her head.

‘I’ve seen him for over ten years… so why am I just now getting flustered?’

Sara glanced at Jason’s face.

He looked deeply focused as he read.

Having seen that sight for over ten years, Sara found it familiar — comforting, even.

But since two days ago, looking at his face had become difficult.

And whenever she was near him, she could feel her heart beating faster than usual.

‘When I think about it… he’s been with me for ten whole years. For ten years… he’s always been on my side.’

Ever since childhood, no matter what happened, Jason had always been there for her.

And now, he’d declared he would always stay by her side.

‘He’s always… been with me. I’m only realizing that now.’

Jason had always taken care of her like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Maybe that’s why Sara had always taken it for granted — but now, she realized it wasn’t something to be taken for granted.

Jason had done a lot for her.

And realizing that made Sara feel… something.

Something that made her want to do something for him in return.

“…Hm? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Huh? Oh—ah, n-nothing!”

“Do you… have something you want to say?”

“Well, I mean… it’s not that I don’t, but…”

Sara stammered, and Jason tilted his head in confusion.

Feeling his eyes on her, Sara’s face turned red as she suddenly shouted,

“T-today for lunch! I’ll—I’ll cook for you! Let’s eat together!”

“…You? Cooking? I mean, sure, you can use the student lounge kitchen, but what exactly are you going to cook—”

“I-I’ll do it! B-because you helped me study! I’m grateful, that’s all!”

“Well, I guess that’s fine… but aren’t you bad at cooking? I’ve never seen you cook before.”

“Just eat it! I’m making it with gratitude!”

Jason looked uncertain, while Sara did her best to appear confident.

And a few hours later—

“This is your token of gratitude? Hmm… did you secretly hold a grudge against me?”

Jason chuckled bitterly as he looked at the pot, burned pitch-black.

Sara’s face turned red as she lowered her head.

“I thought the fire was too weak… so I strengthened it a little with magic…”

“I’ll cook. Why don’t you clean up a bit?”

“…Okay.”

After that, Sara got to see a side of Jason she’d never seen before — his cooking skills.

He cooked with ease and confidence, far better than she could. She quickly decided it was best to leave all cooking to him from now on.

And at the same time, she made up her mind.

‘For now… I’ll find some way to show him my gratitude.’

Sara had never really done anything for Jason before.

So for the first time, she wanted to act for his sake.

But things didn’t go as smoothly as she hoped.

Over the next week, Sara tried all sorts of things.

“She, you know. That, um…”

“What?”

“I… uh, I wanted to give you… ugh. Ah, never mind!”

I’d tried to give him a present, but my embarrassment made me run away from my seat.

“Hey, w-we should go to Daigon Village today and…”

“Go there? To do what?”

“…Nothing.”

I couldn’t even properly ask him to have dinner together.

No matter how much I told myself it was nothing, whenever I stood before Jason, my heart would beat rapidly, and I’d get terribly nervous.

So I couldn’t do anything right.

To make it worse, lately, I couldn’t even study properly when I was with him.

“Ugh, seriously…”

It wasn’t that I didn’t know why I was like this, or what emotions I was feeling.

I knew my condition all too well—but that was all I knew.

In this kind of situation, I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

“Heh, still as much of a fool as ever.”

Jason, on the other hand, had a pretty good sense of why Sara was acting this way.

But he decided to stay quiet.

Just this once, he wanted to see her make the first move.

However, after a week passed with no progress, Jason couldn’t help but sigh.

He glanced subtly at Sara.

“Uh… um. Ahem.”

“…Ha.”

It had been a little over a week since Jason came to the Academy.

The two of us met at the Library, as usual, from morning to study together.

But lately, Sara’s state had changed a lot.

At some point, studying had taken a complete backseat—she kept sneaking glances at Jason and watching his reactions.

And it was getting worse day by day.

Eventually, Jason gave a faint chuckle and decided to give her a little push.

“Hey, do you have something to say to me?”

“Uh, huh?”

“If you’ve got something to say, just say it. You’ve been agonizing over it for a week straight.”

“That’s…”

“At least when you’re with me, don’t be so self-conscious. Just speak freely. Whatever you want to say, I’ll listen. And… like I told you before, I’m always on your side. No matter what you say—even if it’s something truly ridiculous—I’ll hear you out.”

At Jason’s words, Sara blinked blankly for a moment.

Then she looked down at her book.

Pretending to read, she fidgeted nervously… then finally opened her mouth without meeting his eyes.

“I know I’ve been thinking about you the whole week, right?”

“I know. It’s obvious.”

“When I’m with you, my heart races, my body trembles… but even so, I still want to stay with you. Actually, now that I think about it, I’ve always wanted to be with you. Being with you… has always made me happy. When you’re not around, I feel lonely and miss you.”

Sara spoke carefully, sneaking a glance at Jason.

He was smiling softly at her.

Seeing his gaze, her face flushed bright red, and she dropped her head onto the desk.

Still with her head down, she continued.

“You… said you’d always be on my side, right? That you’d always protect me?”

“Of course.”

“T-then me too! I-I’ll always be on your side! I’ll always be with you, protect you… even if everyone else turns their back on you, I’ll always stay by your side, always!”

Sara shouted, still buried in her arms.

When her words ended, silence fell over the Library.

When Jason didn’t answer, she lifted her head slightly, and—

“Eek?!”

Jason’s face was right in front of hers.

Startled, Sara almost fell backward off her chair, but Jason quickly caught her.

“You really do need a lot of looking after, Lady Isrinbloom. You know you’re kind of easily scared, right?”

“N-no, this is your fault! You brought your face so close—”

“Sure, fine. Let’s say it’s my fault.”

With those words, Jason gently pulled the almost-fallen Sara onto his lap.

The sudden action made her face burn like it was about to explode, but Jason just gave his usual playful grin.

“Was it that hard to say?”

“I was scared you’d feel uncomfortable… or reject me… so I couldn’t say it easily. But you said it was fine to say whatever, so…”

“You know, you really are a handful, right?”

“…I know. That’s why your presence… has always been important to me.”

“That’s all that matters.”

Jason replied softly and reached for her right arm.

As he unwrapped the bandage around it, the severe burn scars beneath were revealed.

“It’s definitely… better than before.”

“Y-yeah. The bandage you gave me works really well.”

“Still, your recovery’s too slow. We’ll have to find another way.”

With that, Jason gently took Sara’s right hand.

She flinched and quickly looked away from his eyes.

Seeing that, Jason chuckled and patted her head softly.

“I’ll be in your care, Lady Isrinbloom.”

“Y-yeah! R-right! Just trust me and follow my lead!”

Sara shouted, trying her best to act calm and confident.

But to Jason’s eyes, she was still the same as she’d always been since childhood.

“A-and! T-today, let’s go to Daigon Village for dinner! I-I’ll treat you!”

“I’ve seen you trying to ask me out for days. Was that line really that hard to say too?”

“It was! Do you have any idea how much courage that took?!”

“Yeah, yeah. You idiot.”

“Ugh, you really—!”

Sara reached out with her left hand and grabbed Jason’s collar.

This time, he didn’t dodge her touch.

He laughed as she shook him by the collar.

Time passed like that, and before long, winter break was coming to an end.

Students began returning to the Academy one by one before classes resumed—and among them was Layla.

As the Princess wandered around the Academy looking for her friends, she first headed to the Library.

And there, in a quiet corner, she found—

“Ugh, really. I’m tired. Let’s play today. I don’t want to study.”

“You didn’t study properly yesterday either. You have to today.”

“I just want to play with you.”

Sara, whining in a cute voice as she clung tightly to Jason.

Layla blinked in surprise at the sight, then let out a dry laugh.

“Ah, so you two… ended up like that after all.”

“L-Layla?! T-this is… um, this is—!”

Startled, Sara tried to pull away from Jason, but he only tightened his arms around her.

As always, he smiled playfully.

“Yes, Lady Layla. She threatened me with a sword, so… this is how we ended up.”

“Hey! When did I ever—”

The two looked much closer than before—perhaps a little too close.

Seeing them, the blonde Princess could only let out another awkward laugh.

“Tch, everyone’s awful. Except me.”

Spring was approaching, but for some reason, Layla still felt a chill in her side.