Damn Academy - Chapter 224

Chapter 224

Four Swords (5)

When I returned to the dormitory, drenched from the rain, Trisha, who was sitting by the window in my room, looked at me with concern.

“You’re back?”

“Yeah.”

“But Damian, what’s wrong?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Are you feeling down?”

Today was already a bad day, but I didn’t want to show it to those around me. It was enough for me to be in a bad mood alone. I tried to brush it off, but Trisha seemed to have noticed my dampened spirits.

“No, I’m just cold and tired. Can you step out for a bit so I can change?”

“…I’ll help you!”

Trisha clung to me, forcibly pulling off my wet coat.

“It’s fine…”

“What’s the big deal between friends! I’ll take care of this, so just go wash up!”

Then she hurriedly ran off somewhere with my drenched clothes.

“…”

I grabbed Priscilla and, for the heck of it, took the wooden sword along too. The wooden sword still didn’t change its form even at my touch.

I went to the bath and immersed myself in ice-cold water without heating it.

While cooling off the heat in my head, I mulled over Calios’s words.

I couldn’t completely deny his claims, but I couldn’t fully accept them either.

The mages I’d personally experienced weren’t as absolutely selfish as Calios described.

But if I truly wanted to forget Liza, accepting Calios’s words might be easier.

***

Knock, knock.

Late at night, just as I was about to head to bed after putting out the candle, Trisha knocked on my door.

Without waiting for a response, she tried the doorknob as if it were her own room. But since I had locked it, she couldn’t open it.

“Damian, are you asleep?”

I unlocked the latch and opened the door. Trisha, in her pajamas, stood there.

“Why are you here instead of sleeping?”

“Damian, you never lock your door…”

“I was doing something important.”

“I think I left my script here. Can I come in for a bit?”

I opened the door wider and stepped aside.

Trisha scurried in, retrieved the script hidden under the wardrobe, and then, without leaving, climbed into my bed.

She pulled the blanket over herself and poked her face out.

“All set! You can close the door now!”

“…”

“I’m going to sleep.”

“Fine, sleep! This time, it’s your turn to sleep on the floor, Damian.”

“…”

Feeling exhausted, I ignored Trisha and lay down on the bed.

Trisha, who was lying in the middle, flinched and slowly moved to the side.

“Damian, what’s wrong? Are you really feeling down?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“Are you going to wrap me in a blanket and toss me into my room tonight?”

“I told you, I’m tired. Just go to sleep and stop doing weird things.”

Trisha’s lips pouted.

“How can I sleep when my friend is feeling so down?”

“I’m telling you, it’s fine.”

Trisha suddenly sat up, a bit flustered.

“You always come back hurt if I leave you alone. When I nurse you, you come back hurt again. Even when you’re feeling down, you come back hurt. How can I not worry!”

“…”

Th i s w as co p i ed f r o m k i n g m t l .o rg
Then she lay back down, looking at me.

“I can’t let you sneak out at night. I’ll stay until you fall asleep!”

Have I been too indifferent? She always nursed me when I was hurt, and I hadn’t even realized.

“…Is it okay if I put the swords on the bed?”

“Do as you like.”

I placed Priscilla, which was on the nightstand, between Trisha and me. I also put the wooden sword underneath it.

“Why there, of all places?”

“There’s no other spot.”

“It’s like saying, ‘Everything beyond this line is mine!'”

“We used to do that a lot as kids.”

“I never got to do it. I only heard about it from friends.”

“Why?”

“Obviously, because I had no one to do it with. Who did you do it with?”

“…A childhood friend.”

“Who?”

“If I tell you the name, you won’t know.”

Trisha was silent for a while. Just as I thought she had fallen asleep, she spoke again.

“…Liza?”

T hi s w as c o pi e d f r o m k ing m tl . o r g
“What?”

“Liza, right? Liza Pascal!”

I was suddenly wide awake. I never imagined I would hear that name from Trisha’s mouth.

“How do you know that?”

Trisha’s eyes widened too.

“Why are you so surprised? Was Liza your childhood friend?”

“You… how…”

My head started spinning, trying to figure out what was going on.

“When you were sick before, you called out that name in your sleep. I wondered who it was!”

“I did that?”
T h is w a s co p i e d f r o m k in g m t l . o r g

“Yeah.”

“…”

“What does Liza do? How close were you?”

Why did I call out that name in my sleep? I never wanted anyone to know. This was the situation I had hoped would never come.

“We’re not close anymore.”

“Then why did you call out so desperately?”

“I never did.”

“Anyway!”

“…”

“Why? Why? Why did you call out?”

Trisha’s innocent curiosity had never been so painful.

“She took my first creation and left.”

“Really?”
T h i s w as c op i ed f r om k i n g m t l. or g

“Yeah.”

“Then why did you call out her name while holding hands?”

Just when I thought I had escaped, she threw another noose. What did she see while I was sleeping?

“What?”

“While you were sleeping, you grabbed my hand and called out her name.”

“I don’t have such a sleeping habit.”

Maybe I should gag myself before sleeping.

“You did! I definitely heard it.”

“…It must’ve been a one-time thing. Is it really that important?”

Afraid of what she might ask next, I turned my back to her slightly.

Trisha reached out and grabbed my clothes tightly.

“Were you closer to Liza than to me?”

“Why compare me to someone from the past?”

“Were you close?”

“…Yes.”

Trisha held her breath. The room fell silent as if time had stopped.

“Were you and Liza in love?”

Women’s intuition can be frighteningly accurate at times.

“No.”

“…Liar.”

“It’s not a lie.”
T hi s wa s c o pie d f ro m k i n gm t l .o rg

At least in my world, that was the truth.

“Between Liza and me, who is more of a friend?”

Not who I’m closer to or who I like more, but who is more of a friend? What is Trisha trying to confirm?

“Of course, it’s you. Why ask that?”

Trisha tugged at my clothes again.

“I take care of you when you’re hurt and love you all night, but you call out someone else’s name. It’s confusing and makes me angry, a lot!”

“…”

Trisha suddenly threw off the blanket and got out of bed.

“I’m going to my room. And if you sneak out at night and get hurt again, we’re done. Forever!”

With that, she stormed out of my room.

***

At the same time as yesterday, Calios was sitting on the gravestone again. Fortunately, he wasn’t sifting through suspicious documents.

“Still can’t communicate?”

He was asking if there had been any progress with Priscilla.

“No.”

There was still no advancement with Priscilla. However, the good news was that the wooden sword had returned to its usual state after I woke up.

“Have you sorted out your feelings?”

“…No.”

“I appreciate your honesty.”

“What are we doing today?”

Calios got up from the gravestone and walked toward me. He pulled out the wooden sword from my waist.

“This will be in the way, so I’ll set it aside for now.”

“Are you teaching me hand-to-hand combat?”

“No, I’m going to cleanse the old grime stuck in your mind.”

Th i s w a s c o p ied f r o m k i ngm t l . or g
Calios threw my wooden sword off to the side.

“My mind is fine.”

“No, your mind is rotten. Specifically, your soul is rotting. Old contaminants are clogging your channels, blocking and festering what should be flowing and circulating.”

“…”

“Because of that, pollutants overflow whether it rains, snows, hails, or even shines. You’re a mess.”

“…You know my mind better than I do.”

“Any examiner who can’t see into a person’s soul is buried underground.”

“…What should I do? Are we performing a purification ritual?”

“No. I’m going to teach you a breathing technique.”
T h i s w a s c o p i ed f r o m k i n g mt l . o rg

“…Is that the name of a ritual?”

“I mean the actual act of breathing.”

“…”

I doubted my ears. I didn’t expect much, but I thought I’d learn something more substantial than this.

Th i s w a s c o p ie d fr o m k i ng mt l. o r g
“Another term for it is meditation. Have you ever done it?”

T h is wa s c opi e d f r om k i n g m t l . o rg
I had learned meditation as a form of prayer at the Acates Temple when I was younger.

“Yes.”

“That will make it a bit easier.”

“But how is meditation going to help?”

“It’s essential for someone training in swordsmanship.”

“Will I become a sage if I master meditation? Always smiling, forgiving, and understanding sinners, that kind of thing?”

Calios squinted and spoke.

“That would at least make you look cool. What kind of meditation did you learn?”

“I learned to close my eyes, breathe according to a certain rhythm, and cleanse my mind by receiving the wondrous energy of the universe created by the gods.”

Despite the teachings, I had never experienced any significant effects.

“That’s too grand.”

“…”

“Sit comfortably.”

Th i s w a s c o p i e d fr o m k in gm t l . o r g
Calios plopped down on the ground. I followed suit and sat down.

“You can keep your eyes open, but it’s easier to focus with them closed. You can even lie down if you won’t fall asleep.”

I closed my eyes while remaining seated.

“Breathe with your eyes closed.”

“Is that all?”

“Forget the teachings about inhaling for a few seconds and exhaling for a few seconds. Breathe as your body wants and focus on that.”

I relaxed and breathed slowly as he instructed.

For some reason, Trisha’s words from last night came to mind.

“All kinds of thoughts will flood into the empty space in your mind. It’s natural. Don’t force them out. Just acknowledge them and let them float away. Then return your focus to your breathing.”

“…”

“I know what you want to ask. You want to know what good this damn meditation does. It’s not a grand act. Forget the clumsy teachings. It won’t turn you into a sage who transcends all worldly desires. Even with meditation, you’ll laugh, cry, get angry, feel sadness, envy, fear, and experience all the beautiful and ugly human emotions as they are. Your true nature remains.”

Meditation was far simpler than I had imagined.

“The one thing that changes is your ability to step back and observe those emotions. When you’re happy, you can see the joy. When you’re angry, you can see the anger.”

Calios seemed to read my mind and answered the questions I wanted to ask.

“When you can fully observe yourself, then you can see others.”

“…”

Calios also took a deep breath like me.

“When you can see others, you take the first step toward mastery.”

End of Chapter