âUh, did you really understand it all? You donât need to feel too pressured! We have plenty of time!â
A flustered Jeryd waved his hands.
As the head of the Inquisition who personally brought Ethan, he thought Ethan might be feeling compelled to show something worthy of those expectations.
30 minutes? It was an impossible feat.
It would be difficult just to read it all in that time.
However, Ethan smiled and shook his head.
âItâs enough.â
He made such a bold claim because it truly was enough.
âItâs the Inquisitionâs manual. I already know a lot of it.â
When he played MePan as part of the Followers of the Moon, he had clashed with the Inquisition countless times.
In the process, he had obtained the Inquisitionâs manual and even experienced stealing an inquisitorâs uniform.
âOf course, this manual will be more accurate and detailed than that.â
So 30 minutes was sufficient.
It was hard for Jeryd to believe, but seeing Ethanâs expression, he couldnât say anything more and just nodded in agreement.
âAlright. Iâll be back in 30 minutes.â
***
âYouâve arrived, Director.â
âBenjamin.â
Benjamin Rewrite, the deputy director of the Inquisition, greeted Jeryd.
âWere there any results?â
âResults? They were overflowing. There were many excellent students.â
âYou seem quite satisfied. So, did you make an offer to Sir Claudie?â
âNo.â
âI guess seeing them in person wasnât impressive. But arenât we in a hurry right now?â
âThatâs not it. I asked someone else instead of Sir Claudie.â
Jeryd explained about the Interdepartmental Exchange Event and Ethan.
âOhhh.â
Benjaminâs face lit up after hearing the whole story. According to Jerydâs explanation, Ethan Whiskers was an excellent educator, more than capable of teaching new inquisitors.
âHoweverâŠâ
As soon as Benjamin finished exclaiming, Jerydâs expression stiffened slightly.
âWhatâs wrong?â
He should have been relieved to have brought such a skilled teacher, even if the education hadnât started yet.
Nevertheless, Jerydâs expression wasnât very good.
Was there some problem in the process of bringing him?
âWellâŠâ
Jeryd explained what had just happened.
He told him how when he gave Ethan the Inquisitionâs manual and asked when he could start teaching, Ethan said he could do it in 30 minutes.
âWhat? 30 minutes?â
Benjamin also looked bewildered at those unbelievable words.
âYes, at first I thought he would ask for 3 weeks, no, a month.â
âOf course, at least a month is needed. It takes quite a while just to read that thick manual. And itâs not enough to understand and memorize it in a month. Didnât the previous instructor take 3 months to teach the basics to new recruits?â
Benjamin said incredulously.
Three months to teach the basics to new inquisitors. If so, it wouldnât be strange if it took even longer to perfectly master this manual.
If this teacher Ethan Whiskers had an exceptional ability to understand, it might be possible in about a month, butâŠ
â30 minutes is a bit⊠I understand why your expression hardened like that.â
âRight? 30 minutes, itâs just impossible.â
Benjamin nodded at Jerydâs words.
âHe might just skim through the manual roughly and try to assess the state of the new inquisitors before starting the actual education.â
âThatâs probably it. I already told him the new inquisitors are rough.â
âSince you personally brought him, Director, itâs probably strategic. Donât worry too much. Iâm sure this Sir Ethan has his own plan.â
âI suppose so. We agreed to meet again later, so letâs move on for now. How are their movements?â
Benjamin began reporting in detail to Jerydâs question.
âThree teams have been deployed now. The cleanup is mostly finished, we just need to flush out and deal with those still holding out in the forest.â
âWhatâs there that they keep holding out for?â
âThereâs something called the Moon Fragment, a kind of magic stone.â
âMoon Fragment?â
âYes, it seems to be a magic stone with quite condensed mana, with a special energy called the moonâs aura, according to the clan from the nearby forest.â
âAre they trying to obtain this Moon Fragment?â
âYes, those holding out now have it.â
âWe need to retrieve it. If we get that, we can track the movements and goals of those Followers of the Moon bastards.â
As they received reports and discussed future plans, the 30 minutes quickly passed.
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âLetâs go together, Deputy Director Benjamin. If possible, try to kindly tell Sir Ethan not to feel too pressured.â
âAh, yes, understood.â
Benjamin was also quite curious about this Ethan Whiskers. If he was someone the Director was impressed by his skills and brought instead of Claudie, he must be truly exceptional.
Of course, the claim that he only needed 30 minutes was a bit strange, but they would find out when they met him in person.
***
âIâm all prepared.â
The room prepared for Ethan was quite neat and spacious.
âYou say youâre all prepared?â
Jeryd wore a puzzled expression.
âAh, let me first introduce my colleague here. This is my deputy and current deputy director of the Inquisition, Benjamin Rewrite.â
âHello, Iâm Benjamin Rewrite, the deputy director of the Inquisition. Iâm pleased to meet you, Sir Ethan, who will be working as our instructor for a while.â
Benjamin extended his hand with a smiling face.
The first impression he got was that Ethan Whiskers was quite a handsome young man, more than he had expected.
Especially those hazy eyes.
He gave off a somewhat weak impression.
Of course, he could sense the strength hidden in those eyes, but he didnât look as special as he had imagined.
âIâm Ethan Whiskers. It will be a short period, but I look forward to working with you.â
As the two shook hands, Jeryd asked again.
âWhat do you mean by saying youâre all prepared?â
âI mean Iâm ready to teach the new inquisitors.â
âIt has indeed been 30 minutes as you said, butâŠâ
Even though Jeryd had personally brought him, this needed to be clarified.
âI want to teach our new inquisitors thoroughly and accurately. If I was going to teach them half-heartedly, I wouldnât have personally invited you, Sir Ethan.â
Jeryd said.
Ethan grinned at those words.
âThen let me demonstrate by teaching the Director first. That way, youâll know whether Iâve mastered this manual and am ready to teach the new inquisitors, right?â
Ethan then looked at the deputy director.
âDeputy Director, please join us as well.â
***
In a spacious training ground.
Ethan, Jeryd, and Benjamin stood on the sparring arena.
To be honest, the Director and Deputy Director were perplexed.
They both clearly thought Ethan couldnât have perfectly mastered the manual.
It was natural. How could anyone master that in just 30 minutes?
30 minutes wasnât even enough time to simply read it.
And to claim he could teach it to someone else to that extent?
He must be either a genius or a braggart full of bluster.
In Jerydâs view, Ethan was clearly the former. Thatâs why he entrusted him with the instructor position.
However, on this matter, he slightly suspected Ethan might be the latter.
-What should we do?
The Deputy Director asked in a quiet voice.
-Since weâve already invited him as an instructor, we have no choice but to entrust this education matter to him entirely. But if he hasnât properly mastered it and is just being overly enthusiastic, weâll unfortunately have to find a new instructor.
Wrong is wrong. Even if it meant embarrassing him, teaching the new inquisitors was currently a very important matter for the Inquisition.
Jeryd steeled his resolve.
âIâll teach as if you were new inquisitors.â
âAh, yes, go ahead.â
âRecruit, from now on, all responses will be âAckâ.â
âWhat?â
Bang-!
Suddenly, a powerful force spread out from the center of the sparring ground.
Both Jeryd and Benjamin were surprised by the strong force that spread just from stomping on the ground.
âWithout using manaâŠâ
âResponse.â
Ethan spoke emotionlessly. As if he was a different person, the atmosphere had completely changed.
Finally grasping the situation, both shouted loudly.
âAck!â
âAck-!â
For some reason, it felt like they had to respond that way.
âTake up the mace and demonstrate your skills.â
At Ethanâs words, Jeryd picked up the mace. Then he demonstrated the basic blunt weapon techniques written in the Inquisition manual.
The mace used in blunt weapon techniques was heavy, unleashing powerful force with each strike.
Therefore, these blunt weapon techniques were designed to accurately target vital points to maximize that power.
Whoosh-!
It started with the back of the hand.
Jeryd deliberately swung the mace like a novice inquisitor.
Originally, he should have used his shoulder to make one big rotation for an accurate strike.
That was how to maximize the attack power.
But just now, instead of rotating the shoulder in a circular motion, he just swung the blunt weapon using only arm strength.
Seeing Jerydâs movement, Ethan grabbed a wooden sword placed in the corner of the sparring ground.
âAgain.â
As Jeryd swung the mace in exactly the same way as before, Ethanâs wooden sword moved to match that speed.
Tap-. Tap-.
As Heoâs Acupuncture had been mastered, Ethanâs correction ability had also greatly improved.
Therefore, it didnât matter if the opponent didnât relax their strength.
He would automatically strike the problematic areas, inevitably correcting the posture accurately.
ââŠHuh?â
Jeryd wore a puzzled expression for a moment at that correction.
That movement just now was a perfect swing as written in the manual.
It delivered an accurate strike to the desired spot by fully utilizing the centrifugal force of the shoulder.
âWhat, what is this.â
Jeryd didnât know.
How Ethan educated.
He only knew that Ethan was an exceptionally good educator based on what his senior Ghost Sword had said and seeing the students Ethan had trained at the Interdepartmental Exchange Event.
Thatâs why he was surprised.
Could education be done in this way?
âConcentrate.â
The blunt weapon technique in the manual.
Its first movement was being accurately reproduced in his body.
âAnd continue. Donât stop.â
Jeryd continued to demonstrate the blunt weapon technique as if possessed.
This time, corrections were made precisely as he performed the technique.
âIm-impossible.â
The Deputy Director was shocked as he watched Ethan correcting Jerydâs posture.
He knew this too, having received countless training sessions.
âThe manualâŠâ
Did he really master the entire manual?
In just 30 minutes?
If not, thereâs no way he could make someone take such a perfect stance!
Benjamin suspected that maybe Jeryd was deliberately taking the stance to support Ethan.
Benjamin looked at Jeryd.
Jeryd was even more surprised than Benjamin. His pupils kept shaking, and if this was acting, he could be ranked among the continentâs best actors.
âYou really memorized the entire manual.â
It wasnât just memorization, but precise understanding.
Otherwise, he couldnât correct it so accurately.
Jeryd, who received Ethanâs education, felt that the most.
Jeryd, unable to hide his surprise, stood in place. He looked at his own hand holding the mace, then at Ethan.
ââŠI was foolish. I personally brought you, Sir Ethan, believing in your skills, yet I doubted you like this. Iâve committed a great disrespect.â
Jeryd immediately bowed his head.
Benjamin, who had been dazed, also bowed his head together.
âIf you could forgive such rudeness, I would like to ask once again.â
âPlease, we ask you!â
In their minds, they saw the new inquisitors who had greatly improved after receiving Ethanâs education.
If Ethan properly educated them, they could be immediately deployed in this fight against the Followers of the Moon.
Ethan gestured to them to raise their heads, saying it was alright.
âIâll make them properly.â
Ethan said.
âInto people.â
Author's Thoughts
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