“Hey, should I get my hair cut?” I asked everyone during breakfast. 

“Are you scared of being made fun of by the newbies?” Minerva teased. 

“Your choice,” Zeph commented offhandedly. 

“I think it would be good,” Sekh added. 

“Do you honestly think that people need a reason to make fun of someone? ” I questioned Minerva. “At most, I’m just limiting their possible ammunition.”

Even though I’m going to be the instructor, I’m almost certain that there might be one person who will bother me with the sole intention of racking up clout. Actually, since the trainees are rookie sellswords, I don’t think one is anywhere near the limit.

“Fair enough,” Minerva conceded with a shrug. “Well it does make sense that you’re trying to look your best for something like this. But I think your look has a certain cute appeal right now.”

“It’s just bed hair,” Zeph snarked. 

“But it looks good on him,” Sekh argued. “I think it just needs to be a bit shorter then it’ll be perfect.”

“Alright everyone, thank you for your mostly helpful opinions,” I concluded. “In order to make our discussion worthwhile, I will actually go to a barber instead of hacking things off with my knife.” 

“Then I’ll come with you,” Sekh said with perked up ears. 

And so right after breakfast, I was accompanied on my mundane quest by a typically cheerful Sekh. 

“Did you also come to get a haircut?” I asked Sekh as we strolled down the street with one another.

“Nope,” she replied with a smile. “Do you want me to get one though?”

In contrast with Minerva and Zeph’s long hair, Sekh’s golden locks only reached down to the halfway point of her neck. Now that I think about it, I actually have longer hair than her.

“Not at all,” I answered while patting her head. “I like the way you look right now, it’s perfect.”

“So you like girls with short hair?” Sekh asked with a happy look on her face.

“I like cute girls in general,” I said with a light laugh. “Though I can’t deny that I prefer girls with short hair.”

“Do you have any other preferences?” Sekh wondered. “Anything important that I might want to know?

I scratched my chin for a moment before detailing my physical preferences. “Well I prefer girls that are of medium height or taller. Tits and ass aren’t particularly important, since I enjoy thighs. Oh, and I also like it when a girl is muscular.”

When struck with my comprehensive guide, Sekh simply looked at me with confusion and dismay. 

“Cute girls?” Sekh questioned. “I don’t know about that. You just described a man.”

“That might be true,” I realized. “But  looks are just one part of attraction.”

“Nice save,” Sekh laughed. “But don’t worry, I’m not planning to force you to change your preferences. I don’t need to be your ideal woman, just someone you love.”

“Cute,” I said while brushing her cheek. “By the way, how come you want to come with me to the barber then?”

“Safety precautions,” Sekh replied. “I need to make sure that you don’t get a stupid haircut.”

“Really?” I wondered. “Are you that concerned that I would get a bad cut?”

That actually turned out to be her true feelings, since Sekh faced me with a serious look in response to my question.

 “You need to think about my feelings too,” Sekh complained. “I can’t get lost in your eyes if you have a fucking mullet. It’s literally impossible.”

I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard that. So for the rest of our way to the barber, I was laughing uncontrollably while Sekh kept lightly punching my chest to express her displeasure.

Well the result was to Sekh’s liking. Though I look the same as before, my messy black hair is no longer infringing on my eyes as much as before. All in all, I would consider it a serious improvement. 

The rest of our off day went like usual, which meant that we just ate and played games instead of doing any real work. Well I also spent 6 nummi to get my shield painted with a sun emblem, but that was the extent of my productivity for the day. 

Next morning, I proceeded with my normal routine before going out to the designated practice field once I ate breakfast. Though I might have come too early considering how unprofessional rookie mercenaries normally are. 

The field around me was the same as the time I first saw it. A large area of ground had been cleared out and evenly leveled. Inside the cleared space were a number of archery butts, a few benches, and a small arena with blunt weapons for sparring. 

Since I had nothing to do, I decided to sit down and polish my equipment. Perhaps this was a sort of intimidation tactic used by instructors because most of my teachers in the Marches had this sort of habit.

While I was cleaning my chainmail, I noticed the sight of two figures approaching, most likely Sekh and Zeph. But when I looked up, I didn’t see the leopard girl or the white haired archer. Instead, in front of me was a young man and woman, both roughly a year or so younger than me. The young man had a fit build with an attractive face and windswept brown hair. Beside him was a cute young woman with long chestnut brown hair. The two of them were both dressed in padded armor, the guy carrying a spear and round shield while the girl carried a small crossbow. 

“Hello, you’re our instructor right?” the young man said while extending his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Justin.”

“And I’m Irene,” the girl said as she shook my hand after. 

“Nice to meet you two,” I replied. “You two sure that you’re sellswords? You’re way too polite for rookies.”

“We get that a lot,” Justin said while rubbing his head. “Honestly, we just want to see the wider world and send money back to our village while we’re at it.”

“That’s nice,” I remarked. 

“He’s being humble,” Irene told me. “In our village, Justin was the best among our village’s youth militia. He was even deployed in the army for a short time.”

“Then were you the second best?” I asked her.

“No, I’m just a friend traveling with him,” she said awkwardly. 

“A childhood friend?” I said with a slight mocking tone.

“Exactly,” Irene replied, not realizing the sarcasm in my voice. 

Before I could respond, I heard a shout from behind me. When I turned around, I saw Sekh running towards me while waving. Zeph was much less enthusiastic and just walked normally.

“Oh, you made some new friends,” Sekh said when she ran up to me. 

“Hey, I’ll introduce you guys,” I replied with an easy smile. “So tell Zeph to hurry the fuck up.”

Once Zeph finally arrived, I introduced everyone to each other. Strangely enough, Sekh also made fun of Irene for calling herself a childhood friend. 

Before long, a stream of rookies began to make their way towards the field. Most of the people looked around my age, though there were some people a decade or older than me. Well I should prepare to get my age called into question. After waiting for a solid amount of people to gather up, I stood up to begin the lessons. 

“Oi, listen up,” I announced to the crowd. “Lessons are starting so quiet down.”

It took a few minutes or so before the cluster of people quieted down. Although there were the occasional mutters among the rookies, this was pretty much to be expected. 

“Alright everyone, I’m Iblis and I’ll be your main instructor,” I said to the group. “My two assistants over there are Sekh and Zeph. Don’t worry, the three of us are well versed in our field of work, even if we don’t look like it. If you have any questions feel free to ask us.”

“Anyways, we’ll start by having everyone pair up and spar,” I continued. “There aren’t too many practice weapons so you’ll probably have to take turns. Once you prove that you can handle yourself, I’ll start taking the competent ones out to do some monster hunting.”

Since I had requested that the rookies pair up, I ended up having to organize pairs from the stragglers left behind. I also had to separate people who paired up despite a discrepancy in skill or physical ability.

During that time, I would observe the groups that were sparring and make various comments about their skill. Although I tried to be solely constructive, I might have ended up clowning someone too hard. 

Among the various participants that were sparring, I could pick out a select few that possessed a good amount of talent, though the rest were quite unremarkable or even unsuited for the job.  

But during the later part of the sparring, one of the participants was demanding that I spar with him. Although Sekh had paired up with a few of the rookies, mostly female, neither Zeph nor I had even suggested that we would spar with the newbies.

The student in question was a young man around my age and size. Since I already don’t like him, I’m going to stereotype him as the typical spoiled noble brat. If I wasn’t so biased against him, I would say that he was quite looking with his green eyes and soft brown hair. 

“Hey Sekh,” I called out to the leopard girl in a bored tone. “You mind fighting this guy for me?”

“Sure,” Sekh said cheerily. “I’ll be your sparring partner then.”

“Tch,” the youth harrumphed. “But on one condition. When I beat this animal, I get to spar with the main instructor.”

For just a short moment, my mind was in a state of shock from what he said. I actually had a hard time believing why he would say something so stupid. Anyone who has an understanding of the beastfolk races knows that referring to them as animals is one of the worst possible things to do. 

But before I could do anything, I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. Looking at me with a very fake calm smile was Sekh. 

“Iblis, sit down,” Sekh said, almost shaking from anger. “You should take a break before you take the rookies out to hunt monsters. It’s not like you’ll have to spar today.”

“Oh, sure,” I replied in confusion. 

I sat down and felt my anger rapidly dissipating from my body. At that point, a wave of worry came over me, washing away the feelings of anger. I had just realized that Sekh might actually kill this idiot. 

“Zeph, can you help me make sure that Sekh doesn’t kill this kid,” I whispered to the archer as we sat down for the match.

“Yeah, this looks really bad,” Zeph said with a flabbergasted expression. “I’ll use my wind magic to separate them if I see anything dangerous. But let me know if you notice anything.”

“Thanks,” I replied. “You’re really reliable sometimes.”

The two of us then began to silently observe the oncoming match with much anticipation and worry. Both combatants strolled over to the arena and picked up their respective practice weapons. The youth picked up a blunt sword while wearing a kite shield. Opposite to him, Sekh grabbed a blunt stick that had similar proportions to her short spear. 

Upon entering the arena, Sekh immediately pounced on her opponent without warning. Caught off guard, the idiot was quickly forced on the defensive as he desperately tried to parry and block.

“Try parrying less and dodging more,” I yelled at the youth fighting Sekh. “And use your shield more proactively.”

I’ll admit that I might just be antagonizing him at this point, but this was well deserved in my opinion. The public sentiment also seems to be in my favor, since most of the rookies also think that this guy is a cunt. 

However, it would be wrong to say that he lacked ability. Compared to Sekh, the guy was stronger though less agile. Additionally, his skill with the sword was actually quite good, maybe around my skill before I started training with Gallus. 

The only issue was that this dumbass started his match with the wrong state of mind. He should have known that he pissed off his opponent and would be facing high aggression from the beginning. But for some reason, he went in all confident with his guard down. Either he’s stupid or severely lacks real combat experience. Probably both, the more that I think about it. 

Anyhow, it was just a matter of time before Sekh won the match. Faced with the constant onslaught of blows, the youth had pretty much just given Sekh control of the situation. Though I was glad that Sekh had calmed down enough to not outright murder the guy.

The match concluded when Sekh jammed the tip of her stick into the youth’s stomach, sending him sprawling on the ground. Unceremoniously, Sekh just wheeled around and walked out the arena with an annoyed look. 

“I softened that blow a bit,” Zeph whispered to me when she tapped my shoulder. 

“Nice job,” I replied. “It was really subtle too. I didn’t even know until you told me.”

But as I went to help the downed idiot up, I heard something absurd. 

“Rematch,” the guy declared. “I want a rematch.”

“Huh?” I shouted in surprise. “Can you say that again? I think I heard you say something like rematch.”

“I said I want a rematch,” the guy asserted. “Are you deaf or something?”

“Oh, I see,” I replied while breaking into a laugh. “You’re actually a dumbass then. Please leave now.”

“What?” the youth said, now his turn to be confused. 

“Yeah, I just told you to leave,” I repeated. “Now get out.”

The idiot froze there for a moment before he finally processed what I had said.

“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?” he said in outrage.

“Not a fucking clue,” I said, cutting him off. “Nevermind, can you tell me your name? Full name too.”

“Varius of house Mizrael,” he answered proudly, unaware of the consequences.

“Alright then, Varius of house Mizrael,” I mocked. “I’ll be filing a report against you. Don’t worry, you won’t lose your license, you’ll just get put on a low level blacklist. Now you should probably get out before you say anymore dumb shit.”

“You think you can do that?” he shouted, completely ignoring my last bit of advice. 

“Definitely can,” I replied while snapping my fingers. “It’s part of my job as you can tell.”

In the face of my mocking calmness, the youth went into a full blown tantrum. Bear in mind that this person looks to be around 20 years of age.

“You’re just a fucking coward!” he began to rant. “What type of bitch hides behind legal procedures? Are you scared of me or something? I bet that you’re defending that whore so she’d step on your balls tonight. You sad piece of shit.”

In response to his outburst, I just began rolling around on the ground and laughing my ass off. Normally something like this would piss me off, but seeing some sore loser burst after being a cunt was just too entertaining.

“I’m...so… sorry,” I announced to the crowd between laughs. “I know… that I should be teaching…,but just let me finish laughing.”

“You think this is funny?” the idiot screamed, not realizing that he was exacerbating his problem.

“Yeah...why do you think... I’m laughing?” I answered while regaining my composure. “But seriously, can you just leave now? Not only did you land yourself on the blacklist, but you’re now obstructing clases. Oh, and you also ruined your public image.”

“Fuck you,” he shot back. “You’re just too scared to fight me. I’m sure that cat bitch just keeps you around as a wallet and personal cunt licker.”

When I glanced at Sekh, I saw that her eyes were occasionally twitching and she looked as though she was about to send the guy to his ancestors. Zeph looked almost as angry, though she was holding Sekh back for the moment. If I wasn’t so busy laughing my ass off, I would have remembered that I actually want to crack this idiot’s skull. 

“You really are a sore loser” I laughed at the youth. “Anyways, it looks like you don’t intend to leave. So how about a wager? I’ll spar with you for three matches. If I win all three, you have to leave. If you win once, you can stay. How does that sound?”

The guy looked at me with great suspicion while he processed my proposal. He was doing a pretty good job at concentrating, considering how most of the crowd was either glaring or laughing at him. 

“Fine,” he finally replied. “But you better not do anything underhanded.”

“That was my line,” I joked as I gestured for him to enter the arena. “By the way, the matches are going to be right after one another with one minute breaks. I don’t see the point in wasting everyone’s time.”

After some negotiating, we agreed on three minute rests. However, I had purposely said a low number in order to skew the negotiation in my favor. This way, I have the option of prolonging a match to tire him out. Though I’d like to hold off on this strategy since it would be more fun otherwise. 

The first match was almost a mirror of Sekh’s match, though I was the one getting rushed. However, I actually anticipated something like this and danced around the charging idiot for an easy blow. I found the opportunity almost immediately and slammed my blunted sword into his chest. 

“Let me remind you that we’re sparring,” I joked. “That means you practice fighting, not getting hit.”

During our break, my opponent sulked away at his corner, glaring at me the whole time. Being the wonderful person that I am, I kept giving him teasing looks the whole time. He looked even more pissed and it was truly worth my effort. 

The next match wasn’t much better than the first. Although he tried to be more cautious and not just rush headlong into me, he still left his guard down way too much.

“Everyone remember that you can use your shield for offense,” I said as I smashed my borrowed shield into my enemy’s helmet. “Use your shield dynamically, instead of treating it like a static barrier.”

Maybe I should keep this guy around as a practice dummy instead of kicking him out. But then I’d have to find a way for him to shut up. Once again, practicality has prevented my entertainment. 

“I’ll win this match, you’ll see,” the idiot declared before our final spar.

“You do you,” I replied with a bored look.

Channeling his inner warrior, my opponent finally managed to take a good defensive stance. With both feet shoulder length apart, he stood like a somewhat firm bastion. 

“I don’t have time for this,” I muttered under my breath. 

Mimicking his first boar rush, I used my shield to slam the whole weight of my body into my opponent’s shield. The moment our shields met, I did the unspeakable. I swung my right leg into his thigh, sending him to the ground. Before he could react, I put my practice sword to his neck.

“Can you finally leave now?” I complained to him. “I want to finish up the sparring matches so I can finally get lunch.”

Instead of signaling that he would leave, he just sat on the ground with an angry expression. However, the whole crowd was emitting a much greater amount of anger at him. Perhaps I should just sic the whole crowd on him.

“I told you to leave the vicinity,” I said with a deadpan look. “Or do you want me to help you leave the earthly plane?”

After only a second of maintaining eye contact with me, the youth began to shiver. When I moved away enough for him to move, he immediately began to scramble to his feet and move in towards the horses.

“Shoo, shoo,” I said, suddenly going back to a mocking tone. 

Once I saw that he had finally left the area, I turned around to address the crowd. 

“Alright let’s finish the sparring matches,” I announced lazily. “Zeph, you recorded my observations right? Actually, it doesn’t matter. I just want to finish this so we can get lunch.”