The Hero Creation Classroom of a Reincarnated Ordinary Person: After Reaching My Limit As An Adventurer, I Reluctantly Opened A Classroom In The Countryside To Earn Money For The Future, And My Student Became The Strongest - Episode 48

“Well, sit down there.”

I pointed to one of the chairs and had Louis sit there.

I also took a seat across from him.

“Let’s start with introductions. I’m Endy Skyglass. My adventurer rank is Class Two. My main weapon is a sword… Well, that’s about it.”

“Y-Yes. My name is Louis Claude. My adventurer rank is Class Five, and my weapon is a sword… Uhm, nice to meet you.”

“Yeah.”

I responded and observed Louis closely.

He had beige-colored hair and a slender build with little muscle mass.

Anna, whom I had just fought, gave off the impression of a strong front-line fighter, but at first glance, Louis didn’t look like a swordsman at all.

However, his palms, resting on the table, were covered in small scars and calluses, evidence of his hard work.

“You’re from Cielaira, right?”

“Y-Yes, I’m from the same hometown as Anna. Since she was becoming an adventurer, I decided to…”

“Yeah, that’s a common story. And you were working as a party with Yuuri and Milky, right?”

The more I listened, the more typical their party seemed.

But there was one thing that stood out.

“Where did you meet Eve?”

“S-She saved me. I ran into a powerful monster while on a quest, and… I thought I was done for, but Eve saved my life.”

“You’ve been with her ever since?”

“N-No, it’s more like… Anna and Milky are big fans of Eve, so I just went along with them. Of course, I’m grateful, and I think Eve is an amazing person, but… not as much as they do.”

“I see.”

A beautiful, strong adventurer appearing out of nowhere to save your life…

It’s only natural to admire someone like that.

But Louis didn’t seem as captivated by Eve as the others were.

Maybe Eve noticed that too, which is why she entrusted Louis to me.

“Alright, so I’ll be training you from now on. Do you have any questions?”

“Uhm… I gave Eve some money, but is it enough?”

“Huh? Well, it should be. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Ah… that’s a relief.”

I had no idea how much Eve had taken from Anna and the others, but my deal with Eve was already settled.

I was getting paid quite well just for training Louis. In fact, I had already received the money.

With that much motivation, of course, I was ready to put in the effort.

“Do you think… I can become strong?”

Louis asked quietly.

“If I’m training you myself, then you have to get stronger.”

“R-Right… But I’m worried if I can do the same things as Anna.”

“Huh?”

I was curious about his words and gestured for him to continue.

Louis lowered his gaze slightly, then spoke again.

“I want to be like Anna. I’ve always admired her. We grew up in the same place, but she was always so much better than me… So I’ve always wanted to be like her. Endy… Can I become like Anna?”

“So that’s what you meant…”

I scratched my head.

No wonder he didn’t admire Eve the same way—he already had someone else he looked up to.

“Ugh… I’m not good at sugarcoating things, so I’ll be blunt. I don’t know.”

“You… don’t know?”

“From what I saw in the sparring match, Anna has a completely different physique from you. You’re both women, but she has more muscle mass, and there’s a noticeable height difference.

You’re small, but Anna is big even for a woman. If your body types are different, you can’t do the exact same things. …Besides, I don’t think becoming ‘the same’ as Anna should be your goal in the first place.”

I muttered the last part under my breath, but Louis must have understood—it was difficult for him to match Anna.

When I looked at him, he had his head down.

“Um…”

“What is it?”

I thought he was shocked from hearing that he couldn’t be like Anna.

But what came out of Louis’s mouth was completely unexpected.

“Actually… I’m a guy.”

“…What?”

The revelation stunned me, and I reflexively asked again.

But Louis stared straight at me, making it clear he wasn’t joking.

Realizing the truth, I scratched my head furiously.

“Sorry… I completely misunderstood.”

“N-No… It happens all the time…”

“…Wait, don’t tell me—are the other three…?”

“Oh, no! The three of them are all girls. I’m the only guy.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

If Milky and Yuuri were guys too, I’d start questioning everything about this world.

Feeling relieved in a way, I reconsidered my thoughts.

Louis had just revealed that he was a man.

And yet… something didn’t quite add up.

“Still… you’re really slender, aren’t you?”

“I-I guess I have a body type that doesn’t build muscle easily… Anna used to tell me I wasn’t very manly either.”

“Ah… Yeah, I can see how that would sting coming from a girl.”

Not sure what to say, I just tried to console him.

Louis seemed lost in thought, looking downcast with a gloomy aura.

“I did try strength training… but it didn’t really work… That’s why I really admire someone like you, Endy. You’re so manly…”

“Uh… Thanks?”

Seeing him like this was honestly kind of heartbreaking.

The mood was getting weird, so I cleared my throat and changed the subject.

“But that only makes your goal even harder. If you’re a man and still struggle to gain muscle, doing the same things as Anna is pretty much impossible. And as for your height… Do you think you’ll grow any taller?”

“I’ve stopped growing lately.”

“…I see. That means you don’t need to be Anna. Your real goal is to stand beside her, isn’t it?”

“Not just Anna. I want to stand alongside everyone. Anna, of course, but also Yuuri, who’s great at magic, and Milky, who’s amazing at healing magic… I want to be a man who isn’t ashamed to stand with them.”

“Well, that’s a good enough reason.”

At first, he seemed timid and a bit annoying, but when he spoke about wanting to stand beside them as an equal, I could tell he was serious.

“Then you should focus on becoming strong as yourself. You don’t need to copy Anna—become strong as Louis. That’s the best way.”

“I should… become strong as myself…”

“Yeah. What do you think?”

Louis looked up and clenched his fists in front of his chest.

“Yes! I’ll do my best! Thank you, Endy!”

“Good. I like that enthusiasm.”

Seeing Louis so fired up, I nodded.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but think… his gestures were way too feminine. Maybe that’s why people kept misunderstanding.

“Oh, right. Just in case, can you show me your status plate? I want to use it as a reference for your training.”

“Ah… um… I guess that makes sense. It’s important for the training…”

After hesitating for a moment, Louis handed me his status plate.

Eve and Muu were the strange ones—this was a normal reaction.

I took the plate and checked.

As expected, his sword skill was ranked E, some magic skills were F, and everything else was G.

Pretty standard for a Class Five adventurer.

“Anna’s already at D… but I haven’t been able to rank up much…”

“I see…”

Listening to Louis, I got an uneasy feeling again.

Even though these were just letters, the “E” felt ominous.

“…Louis, let’s go outside and spar. You fought Anna earlier, but this time, I want to test your skills myself.”

Ignoring the bad feeling, I informed him of the next step.

Hearing my words, Louis straightened up.

“Y-Yes! Please train me, Endy!”

His determined look overlapped with the Eve I once knew—yet, my uneasiness didn’t fade.