The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent-Chapter 298

"Huh? Me?"

I wasn't particularly surprised.

I had already anticipated this to some extent.

In the original storyline, the Sword Saint died even before the war ended. But even if he had survived, I doubted he would have chosen to become an academy instructor after the war.

He was always portrayed as someone with an unyielding yet eccentric nature, someone who despised being tied down. That was a consistent trait throughout the story.

So if his personality had changed, there was only one possible reason—it had to be because of me.

Saying that to someone else would probably make me sound full of myself, but no matter how I looked at it, I was the only logical cause.

After all, I was the reason this world had deviated from the original story.

Because of my existence alone, the course of the original narrative had been disrupted. People who were supposed to die had survived, and the inevitable conclusion never came.

So if the Sword Saint had changed his mind, it was undoubtedly because of me. If he gave any other reason that didn’t include my name, that would be even stranger.

"Are you talking about me?"

"You don't seem particularly surprised. Did you expect this?"

"Well, more or less."

As I replied with a somewhat reluctant expression, the Sword Saint let out a hearty laugh.

"You must have heard something similar plenty of times. Well, I suppose that makes sense."

"Master, do you remember everything I’ve done?"

"I remember. That’s why I'm here, and why I'm giving this reason. Do you want to hear it to the end? Honestly, considering my assessment of your personality, I doubt you’ll sit through the whole thing."

"......"

I hesitated, deep in thought.

Just how unbearably embarrassing was the reason going to be?

No matter how I turned it over in my mind, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

At first, I had offered him a deal—"I'll introduce you to someone even stronger than you." Then, I had demonstrated that I had already mastered a certain level of technique. In reality, I had no talent for it whatsoever, so I had rewound time over and over just to barely learn it, then pretended I had grasped it in one go.

Honestly, wouldn’t that have been infuriating for a teacher?

"First of all, let me make one thing clear. You have no talent for swordsmanship. Your intellect seems sharp enough, but your physical abilities are nothing exceptional. If I had to rank you among all my students in terms of martial prowess, you'd be near the bottom. Frankly, you're not suited to wielding a sword."

"......"

Did he really take all that time just to tell me I had no talent? But I’d already heard that before. I had even thought the same about myself.

"When I say something like that, how do you think most people react?"

"...They give up and leave?"

I thought for a moment before answering.

"Exactly. Most people give up and walk away. After all, it's the 'Sword Saint' himself saying it. A man at the peak of his craft tells you, 'You have no talent.' Some even look relieved when they hear it. Usually, they descend the mountain immediately and search for a different way to make a living."

Leaning back comfortably against the sofa, the Sword Saint continued.

"And even if someone doesn’t give up right away, none have lasted as long as you. Most leave within a year. The more they train, the more they realize that this path isn't for them."

I could understand that.

If you at least had someone encouraging you from the sidelines, it might be different. But if even your own master constantly told you that you lacked talent, how could you possibly stay motivated?

I furrowed my brow and stared at him, and he simply shrugged.

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"What else would you have me say? Physical ability has its limits—some barriers cannot be overcome. If you push yourself too hard without understanding your limits, you’ll only destroy your body. It’s better to tell students outright when they have no talent and adjust their training accordingly. Not that most can endure even that."

Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, he kept speaking.

"But you were different. Even after hearing you had no talent, you insisted on continuing your training. And you didn’t just train—you went through it over and over, rewinding time repeatedly until you finally achieved what you wanted. Honestly, I wouldn’t say you’ve reached an exceptional level as a swordsman, but... it’s still impressive. You pushed beyond what I thought was impossible."

"But that was only because of my ability."

Even he had just acknowledged it—I had rewound time countless times.

The level I had reached wasn’t particularly remarkable. It was merely the entry point to the path a swordsman had to climb.

To someone without talent, it might seem like a great achievement, but in reality, it was proof that anyone could reach this level as long as they had enough time.

And I had more than enough time.

"Even if you had all the time in the world, very few people would actually dedicate themselves to using it for effort."

The Sword Saint spoke calmly.

"If someone is told that they must work two, three times harder than others just to reach the same level, most would find a different path. That wouldn't change even if they had the ability to rewind time. And that’s something I’m sure of."

"......"

I pressed my lips together and frowned slightly, unsure how to respond. Seeing that, the Sword Saint let out a deep, grandfatherly chuckle.

"I heard about you."

"You heard about me?"

"Yes. After all, I have other students as well."

"......"

Uh...

"So, you're saying you met with the others before coming to see me?"

I could understand if it was Claire or Leo. They weren’t always by my side. Alice too... Well, technically, she wasn’t always with me either.

"If someone who can rewind time had to take a test, what do you think they would do? Do you think they would actually study by rewinding time?"

The Sword Saint shook his head.

"No, most would simply take the test first, memorize the questions, then rewind time and choose the correct answers. But from what I’ve heard, you didn’t do that. Instead, you used that time to study properly, didn’t you?"

"That’s because if I don’t fully understand something when I learn it, I won’t be able to apply it elsewhere later."

And besides, since Alice was putting in so much effort, I figured I should at least make a minimal effort myself. In the end, my choice was practically cheating, but...

"Most people wouldn’t even ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ think that way to begin with. And even if you couldn’t rewind time, you still had plenty of time to understand everything. You’re an imperial princess, after all. Do you think a private tutor wouldn’t take the time to explain things to you properly?"

"......"

Uh...

That... made sense?

Now that I thought about it, even when I didn’t understand something the first time and asked again, my tutor always made sure to explain it thoroughly. Even after it became known that I wasn’t biologically related to the imperial family, I was still a princess. The Emperor never categorized his children based on blood ties, so...

So, if I had asked as many questions as I wanted, the tutor probably would have patiently answered them each time...?

Would they have gotten extra pay for that?

"That’s why I got curious."

While I was lost in thought, the Sword Saint continued speaking.

"I thought to myself, wouldn’t life be more interesting if I could find a few more students like you at the academy? Don’t you think so? Regardless of whether they have talent or not, just watching someone move forward with their eyes set only on their goal is something admirable."

He finished speaking with a broad smile.

He didn’t need to say anything more—I understood what that smile meant.

Now that I've told you all this, how are you going to report it to the academy?

And he was right.

If I went back to Jennifer and said, "The Sword Saint decided to join the academy because of me," she’d definitely give me a knowing, meaningful smile.

And inside the academy, my reputation would only spread further. Not that there was much left to spread—it was already well-known enough—but adding weight to it was always possible.

"......"

After a brief moment of hesitation, I finally said,

"...Understood. I’ll make sure to inform the academy properly."

That was all I could say for now.

"Good. If possible, I’d prefer if you relayed my words exactly as I said them. I didn’t want to say this out of consideration for my student, but you insisted on hearing it, didn’t you?"

No, I never insisted on hearing anything.

More importantly, I had no intention of relaying his words exactly as they were.

Though, if not word for word, then how was I supposed to phrase it?

...Seriously, how was I supposed to report this?