Regia’s room was much larger than those assigned to the new teachers. Luxurious decorations and antique-looking furniture filled the space.
In the center was a small dark brown table with a chair.
Compared to the other ornate furniture, its simple design seed almost out of place.
Regia sat in the chair, his gaze fixed on the tabletop.
A glimpse of his snow-white hair and jet-black beard was visible from the side.
While Ethan had seen him countless tis in Pan, this was his first ti seeing him in this world.
“How interesting. I didn’t expect you to co looking for first.”
Regia set down the quill he was holding and slowly turned towards Ethan.
‘He’s young.’
Stern eyes, a large nose, and deep frown lines.
Though much younger than Ethan rembered, the old man before him was undoubtedly Regia Malcher.
Seeing him in person like this was truly delightful. However, the situation Ethan found himself in was not so pleasant.
‘I can tell just by looking at his eyes. He’s not pleased at all.’
As expected, Regia didn’t seem to have very positive feelings towards Ethan.
‘Judging by the personal table and chair he brought, he must be quite busy with palace affairs. Yet he ca all the way here to see … which ans…’
It ant he intended to deal with this matter conclusively before leaving.
‘This could have been a big problem if I’d tried to gloss over it.’
Ethan then observed Regia with his Sleeping Dragon’s Sight.
Regia had a unique way of moving. He always moved as if weightless, which Ethan had previously thought was just a sign of his high level. In reality, he hadn’t known just how high that level truly was.
‘…He’s on a much higher level than the Regia I saw in Pan? No, I just didn’t realize it before.’
Right now, Ethan’s body was weak due to Extinction, but his ability to gauge others’ levels was better than ever.
Perhaps because of this, he was noticing things he couldn’t see in Pan.
The level Regia had reached was far higher than Ethan had thought.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
‘It would be hard to survive with diocre strength among the many talented individuals in the imperial palace. No matter how strong your backing, if you yourself lack power, you can’t handle sudden dangers.’
Though montarily tense, Ethan remained composed.
After all, the Regia before him, though younger, was still the sa Regia that Ethan knew very well.
So if he handled this properly, there was no way Regia would kill him.
“Hello, Sir Regia. I’m Ethan Whiskers.”
Ethan greeted him with a bright smile, as if he knew nothing.
“Among my colleagues is a teacher nad Ciron Ramsdale. He’s the grandson of the Sword Saint, head of the Ramsdale family. Through him, I heard that you ca to this new teacher training conference to et !”
At those words, one of Regia’s eyebrows twitched.
“I was so honored. I was amazed that word of had spread all the way to the imperial palace, and my heart was truly pounding at the thought that you ca all this way to et . So I thought it would be polite to co and greet you first.”
His tone and attitude were just like that of a new teacher.
Regia was surely thinking that Ethan was soone whose true identity was unknown.
At the very least, he was suspicious that Ethan’s position as a new teacher at Ivecar Academy wasn’t his real identity.
If so, the first step was to dispel those suspicions.
Ethan started naturally with praise.
“Sir Regia, I’ve really wanted to et you.”
Praising with obvious flattery would backfire.
“There are librarians who compile your achievents into books. I’ve nurtured my dream of becoming a teacher while reading those books about your achievents. You might not know this, but until recently, I was very ill.”
What was the core reason Regia was suspicious of him right now?
Regia thought his teaching thods had been leaked, and that Ethan had stolen those thods to use as he pleased.
In other words, he thought Ethan might be a pawn of the Followers of the Moon or the Demon Empire.
He surely would have gathered all the information he could about Ethan before coming here. So Ethan mixed subtle lies with clear truths.
“Even so, I managed to get and read your books sohow. One of those books ntioned that you really like at pies. So I even went to Anberry village to try the at pie you praised so highly.”
“…You went to Anberry?”
“Yes, I went there and ate a at pie full of spices.”
“…Hmm.”
Anberry was a small but famous village known for a particular restaurant.
Regia occasionally went to that restaurant to buy at pies.
Not just ordinary at pies, but ones full of spices. It was a taste that definitely divided opinions, and Ethan had thought he never wanted to eat it again.
“Because of my poor health, everyone tried to stop . But thinking it was a food you liked, I tried it, and…”
Ethan smiled and gave a thumbs up.
“It was really delicious.”
“Yes, the at pies there are truly delicious. Whoever wrote that book, they certainly knew my tastes well.”
Having once been under Regia and tasked with his errands, Ethan knew his tastes very well.
‘And this level of information isn’t exactly secret within the imperial palace anyway.’
Thanks to appealing to Regia’s tastes, it felt like Regia’s guard had lowered a bit.
Ethan continued:
“I even visited Tunlin, where you grew up! It’s beco a complete tourist city now. I went to a tea house near the lake, and the tea there was really good. I heard you used to go there often.”
“Was that in the book too?”
“No, I actually learned that by chance.”
“Hmmmm.”
The corners of Regia’s mouth started to lift slightly.
‘One more push.’
But it was only for a mont. Regia’s expression hardened again.
“Let’s stop the small talk here. Actually, I was planning to seek you out first.”
“To be honest, that’s what I ca to ask about, Sir Regia. I heard you ca to this new teacher training conference to find , but may I ask why you were looking for ?”
Until just now, Ethan had seed like an ardent fan of Regia. But now the atmosphere had completely changed.
Regia didn’t beat around the bush.
“I’ll ask you directly, Teacher Ethan Whiskers. That teaching thod of yours, who did you learn it from?”
He clearly stated his reason for coming.
“I didn’t learn it from anyone.”
Ethan answered imdiately.
“You didn’t learn it from anyone?”
“Yes, it’s a thod I ca up with on my own.”
“Interesting.”
Regia smiled, baring his teeth.
“You, born into a provincial noble family and ill until recently, ca up with such a teaching thod on your own?”
It was incomprehensible no matter how he thought about it.
“I don’t think it’s impossible.”
“It is impossible.”
But Regia asserted.
“Sir Regia, I don’t quite understand why you’re suddenly saying this.”
When Ethan said that, Regia frowned deeply.
“Did I do sothing wrong? If not, your attitude is a bit offensive.”
Perhaps not expecting such a bold response, Regia’s eyebrows twitched.
“I heard rumors that Teacher Ethan’s teaching thod is similar to mine.”
Saying this, Regia spread out the parchnt he had been writing on. It was a long parchnt, about half Regia’s height, filled with densely written characters.
“Similar to my teaching thod, which I was just organizing. I have never passed this thod on to anyone. This is clearly my own thod.”
Regia emphasized.
‘He can’t accept it.’
Ethan wasn’t flustered. It was just as he had expected.
‘Regia’s teaching thod is a unique approach he developed through years of trial and error. I was shocked when I first saw it too. Until then, there wasn’t a single person in the entire continent who used a teaching thod like Regia’s.’
It was such a unique teaching thod that, unless one was from the imperial palace, no one would know Regia’s teaching thod.
Only his direct disciples who had received his teachings would know Regia’s thod.
‘So he thinks his technique has been leaked. He must believe it’s a teaching thod that only he uses on the continent.’
It was trendous confidence. In a way, it could be seen as boundlessly arrogant.
But no one could refute Regia’s claim.
‘He’s saying that no one but Regia himself could co up with or put into practice such a thod.’
That’s why he ca to confront Ethan with such certainty.
‘If there’s a teaching thod in the world identical to his own, unless it was leaked, it would an soone ca up with it independently, just like Regia did.’
He must think there’s no way Ethan Whiskers, young and bedridden until recently, could have achieved such a thod on his own.
In fact, it was natural to think so. No matter how much of a genius one might be, it doesn’t make sense to create in such a short ti a teaching thod that took Regia years to develop.
Regia’s teaching thod was the culmination of his life experiences, so without accumulating that much experience, it was impossible to conceive of such a thod.
“So you’re saying I stole your teaching thod, Sir Regia?”
Regia has authority. Authority not only adds weight to his claims but also allows him to pressure others like this.
At the sa ti, Ethan’s skin prickled from the aura Regia was emitting.
Any ordinary person would be writhing in agony, unable to even defend themselves, and begging for forgiveness.
But Ethan was not cowed by his authority or aura.
Seeing Ethan’s reaction, Regia looked slightly surprised. This was a first.
“Then I’ll show you directly. Whether I really copied your teaching thod or not.”
As Ethan said this, he drew out a wooden sword.
Seeing this confident attitude, Regia, as if pleased, took out a parchnt and began writing sothing.
Scratch-. Scratch-. Scratch-.
“If you’re truly a genius, if you created with your sickly body and ager experience a teaching thod that took my entire life to develop.”
Regia handed Ethan a parchnt with swordsmanship theory written on it.
“You should be able to understand this imdiately and teach , right?”
Ethan’s expression hardened as he looked at the parchnt. Seeing his stiff expression, Regia smirked.
-Your survival probability temporarily decreases!
Regia already didn’t believe in Ethan.
‘This nasty old man…’
Ethan almost cursed out loud without realizing it.
He hadn’t expected to be asked to teach this.
The swordsmanship written on the parchnt was one of the main techniques Regia taught in the imperial palace.
It was one of the most difficult swordsmanship techniques to master, and even Ethan had given up learning it because it was so difficult and inefficient.
‘This is absolutely impossible to understand at a single glance. And what’s more, it’s even magically modified? He’s truly insane.’
This magical modification was sothing even Ethan was seeing for the first ti.
‘So this is Regia’s standard for genius? Soone who can understand this at a single glance?’
Regia seed to think that only soone capable of this could create a teaching thod identical to the one he had devoted his life to developing.
Ethan frowned and stared intently at the parchnt.
Seeing this, Regia beca certain. This guy was no genius.
However, there was sothing Regia didn’t know: the Sleeping Dragon’s Sight was already activated.
With his previously acquired basic knowledge combined with the Sleeping Dragon’s Sight’s ability to understand and grasp essences, Ethan penetrated the swordsmanship in the parchnt.
‘I see it.’
And simultaneously, he began to understand.
“Impossible, right? Of course. How could anyone understand this at a single glance? It’s the sa thing. Your teaching thod is impossible to have co up with on your own…”
Ethan interrupted Regia mid-sentence.
“I’ll begin.”
“…What?”
Ethan’s sword extended in a straight line.
“I’ve understood it all.”
In his eyes, the power of the Sleeping Dragon was present.
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