I Am the Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings but the Demons Are Obsessed With Me

26 – What is Needed to Grow into a Proper Adult

The human heart is a difficult thing to understand.

It was so in my previous life on Earth, and it remains true in my current life as a half human, half demon.

Perhaps that’s why I have no talent for writing. Trying to adeptly express what I scarcely understand, I could only produce clumsy writing.

The incident yesterday when I made Rosa cry seems to be for the same reason. I suppose I often make others cry, like this time, because I sometimes deal with people solely based on my standards.

So, today I tried to approach the secret lecture more carefully.

“Pr, Professor Plum!”

“Rosa, young lady. I’m glad you came again today. Did you get home safely yesterday…”

“The weather is really good today!”

“Is it? The stars do seem to be more visible than usual. Now about yesterday…”

“Let’s go to the training grounds quickly! We don’t have much time!”

“Yes, yes. We should do that. And about you crying yesterday…”

“Professor Plum, are you doing this on purpose?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Ugh, never mind…”

“Is that so? But about yesterday…”

“Ughhh!”

“Rosa?”

For some reason, Rosa is a bit strange today.

Did something happen today? It seems she’s quite anxious and unstable, which is a bit worrying.

I cannot improve the situation by giving her the Star Candy. It can be tiring to use that magic. It’s not a spell to use often because it’s a bit unstable.

I tried fireworks to distract her attention yesterday, but it didn’t seem to work.

Hmm.

“Rosa, would you like to take a sparring match with me today?”

“…What?”

Indeed, moving one’s body until relief is felt is the best way to cope during times like these.

And, if the cause of this instability is me, it would help to bring out that energy in a sparring match. This would have a cathartic effect. Plus, sparring or training is something Rosa has always done frequently, so partaking in familiar activities can provide a sense of stability.

It has been long since Rosa felt at ease.

Maybe creating a fair distance through sparring can be a shortcut to getting closer faster.

“Now, let’s go to the sparring ground.”

The sparring ground was also in the training facilities.

I took Rosa’s hand and led her to the ground.

*

‘Eh?’

I was just trying to divert the conversation because I was embarrassed to talk about what happened yesterday.

Professor Plum, with relentless persistence, brought up the events of yesterday until I, unable to bear the embarrassment any longer, raised my voice in protest. Then, suddenly, he led me to the sparring ground.

Before I knew it, I was holding a wooden training sword in my hand.

Grasping the wooden sword brought me a bit of comfort. It was a familiar sensation. My body, honed from a very young age for battle, instinctively sharpened my senses out of habit.

Professor Plum stood on the opposite side, wielding a wooden staff, swirling it around with ease. Though his movements appeared light, there was precision in his trajectory, exuding a strong sense of complete control over every motion.

What kind of training does one need to achieve movements like those? Is it merely a matter of experience? I grew curious.

“Miss Rosa, feel free to swing your sword at me as much as you’d like. Until your heart’s content.”

I felt twisted inside as I looked at Professor Plum smiling back at me.

Why was he so at ease? My own embarrassment now seemed strangely out of place.

I wanted to strike that smiling face with my wooden sword, to make him cry and whine. I wanted to blot out his composure with fear and tension.

I unleashed the suppressed hostility I harbored towards the magical forces, without restraint.

My grip on the sword tightened.

Since Professor Plum was the one who first upset me,

I wanted to leave his body in disarray.

“Let’s begin.”

Following the Primrose sword technique I learned from my father, I swung my wooden sword. It took less than a blink to close the distance and attack.

Wooden sword and staff collided, producing a dull sound as the impact traveled through my grip. I pressed on, for showing any leniency with a sword against a staff was impermissible.

My blood surged through me as the surroundings turned stark white, leaving only my adversary in sight.

I swung my wooden sword, clutched it fiercely as it slipped, and swung again.

Lost in the trance-like state, I recalled my father’s lessons. The methods of wielding a sword were ingrained in my body already; I only reflected on their meaning.

Conflict is more intense than any other form of contact.

It’s a primal stirring at the deepest core of human nature.

Breathing becomes ragged, heat rises, vision blurs, and pain dissipates.

All senses expand to their limits, leaving nothing but the opponent before me.

Sharing scent, exchanging breaths, striking, inflicting wounds, getting hurt, deceiving, crushing those deceptions, mingling blood and breath until they’re indistinguishable.

In this moment, the entanglement becomes more profound than any memory in life.

And then,

When I swung the sword again,

“Ugh…”

It was only then that I realized the wooden sword had dropped from my hand.

My hands felt numb where the skin had been stripped away. My arm muscles twisted painfully, prompting me to cry out. Sweat flowed over my body, and a lack of oxygen left my head feeling faintly clouded.

Struggling to steady my trembling body, I looked over at Professor Plum.

He had broken into a slight sweat, but he still wore an air of nonchalance.

Before, such composure would have twisted my guts with annoyance.

Now, it felt refreshingly liberating.

“Huff— ha, hahahahaha!”

Laughter burst from me unwittingly.

It was so hearty I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed like this.

All my worries, shame, and hesitation flew away in an instant.

All that existed was me. And Professor Plum. Just the two presences, still lingering in this space.

“Miss Rosa, are you feeling a bit better?”

“hahahaha, yes. It’s really nice…”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was quite worried that I might have made a mistake with you yesterday.”

“It wasn’t that. It’s just… I may have misunderstood you a bit.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes, that’s…”

I explained to Professor Plum the misunderstanding I had.

The contents of the romance novel Dalia had described to me, the indecent scenarios I had conjured in my head at mention of ‘special training,’ and my confused feelings upon seeing the professor—I shared all with candor.

Professor Plum nodded from time to time as he listened to my explanation, occasionally scratching his cheek as if hearing an awkward tale, and even letting out a quiet chuckle now and then.

Then, jokingly, he said:

“It appears you have quite the naughty side, Miss Rosa.”

“Eek, do I? hahahaha.”

“But I’m relieved the misunderstanding is cleared up.”

“Yes! Me too!”

With my mood lifted, I chatted away with Professor Plum.

And that night, as I returned to the dormitory and embraced my bear Brown, I became a bit more sober.

“Yaaak—! Rosa you lunatic! What have you said!”

There was no need to explain such a foolish misunderstanding in so much detail!

What exactly did I say? And why did I so eagerly explain the plot of a romance novel?

Oh my… How am I going to face Professor Plum tomorrow?

He said I have a mischievous side…

Really, really, really, it’s not like that! It’s all because of Dalia’s sister!

I want to die… Should I die? Should I just jump out of the dormitory window?

Oh, this is the second floor…

I really must be crazy…

“Brown… What should I do…?”

It was all Professor Plum’s fault.

Really.

*

Honestly, I was a bit shocked.

It was a reason I couldn’t have imagined. Could he have really misunderstood that I intended to make a lewd advance on him?

Hmm… Did I give off such a sly impression…? I’m not sure.

Maybe my efforts to appear as polite as possible backfired. After all, don’t devious characters tend to speak respectfully and always wear a smile?

Well, it’s a relief that the misunderstanding was resolved.

And I was also a bit happy.

Because it seemed Rosa had more mental leeway than I thought.

‘Having an overly active imagination in weird directions at that age, maybe… it’s a sign of healthiness?’

I was a bit curious about the romance novels that were popular among the nobility.

From what I’ve heard, they sound closer to erotica. That might be inevitable given the era. It’s often one of two extremes – either overly religious or excessively secular.

Since that’s how she learned about love… She naturally harbored such biased views about the opposite s*x.

Besides, having been placed in a very unstable and precarious situation from a young age, Rosa would’ve had an even stronger inclination towards such views. The fact that she was more focused on training and studies than socializing with others also played a part.

So it was a natural misunderstanding but…

‘Still, I’ll have to set aside some time to educate her later.’

If her distorted view of the opposite s*x continues, she might take the wrong path.

This might sound a bit Confucian-conservative but… it could lead to s*xual promiscuity.

So, it might be best to add one more subject to our nightly secret lessons, just the two of us.

A special subject called ‘s*x education’.