Chapter 7: A Rare Opportunity

Chapter 7 - 7: A Rare Opportunity The next day, Nanatsuki arrived early at the Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy. Most of his classes were in the morning, and today, he'd come a bit earlier than usual. Before leaving yesterday, Chijō Kana had mentioned that the wooden swords in the class's sword room were in poor condition. He planned to check them out before class started. He first headed to the faculty office. Since it was just the start of the school year, the teachers had all been busy yesterday, and he hadn't had the chance to properly meet all of his colleagues. As soon as he walked in, he saw that petite Shinigami again. She was leaning against a desk, chatting casually with a female teacher. Shirai Riko noticed someone entering and waved. "Good morning, Katori-sensei!" The other teacher—one with long green hair—also waved. "Good morning, Katori-sensei." The green-haired teacher was from the Kaido division. Nanatsuki had seen her yesterday in the office. "Good morning, Shirai-sensei, Sakai-sensei," Nanatsuki greeted. Then he paused and added, "Shirai-sensei, I was actually planning to look for you later." Shirai Riko was from the logistics department, whose office wasn't located here—this one was for the teaching staff. "Looking for me? Why?" she asked curiously. "One of my students mentioned yesterday that many of the wooden swords in the sword room are damaged. I wanted to confirm it first, but if it's true, I'll need your help to get replacements," Nanatsuki explained. "Damaged already? It's only been one day! What, is your class full of natural-born powerhouses?" Shirai Riko looked baffled. "We just replaced all the swords in the sword rooms before term started!" "I'll come with you and take a look," she offered. "Sure, follow me," Nanatsuki said. Since Shirai Riko wanted to confirm things herself, he didn't turn her down. The two of them set off for the sword room. He'd originally planned to hang around the office a bit longer and get to know the rest of the staff before heading over, but since Shirai Riko happened to be here, it made sense to take care of the sword issue first. The faculty office and the sword room weren't in the same building, so it took some walking to get there. Shirai Riko, being someone who couldn't keep her mouth still, soon struck up a conversation again. "How's your class? Are the students easy to manage?" she asked. "Not bad, really. Everyone behaved pretty well in class yesterday." Nanatsuki thought back on his students. Other than Hirako Shinji and Muguruma Kensei, no one particularly stood out as troublesome. Shinji was a bit of a slacker—during sword drills, if Nanatsuki wasn't watching him, he'd immediately slack off. Kensei had a fiery personality. He was the kind of student who could stir up trouble easily. "Well, good luck, Katori-sensei! I'm close with some folks in the Kaido division, and I heard from Nakajima-sensei that her class is full of heavy-hitters—geniuses from high-ranking noble families. Their sword instructor is also a new teacher." Then Shirai Riko lowered her voice like she was spilling some major gossip. "I'll let you in on a secret. The captain of the sword division is currently seconded to the academy, but he'll be returning to his squad soon." "...And what does that have to do with me?" Nanatsuki looked puzzled. He was just a newbie teacher who had only just started. Even if the division captain's position opened up, it had nothing to do with him. "I heard they're going to choose the new captain based on teaching performance. That's why they grouped all those noble family prodigies into one class—to give their teacher a leg up," she said in a hushed tone. Putting all the strong students into one class—it was obvious someone was paving the way for that teacher to succeed. "Oh? Really? If they're choosing based on teaching performance, then I'll have to work hard..." Nanatsuki was intrigued. If he became captain, he could choose the classes he wanted to teach and get more chances to interact with the Shinigami from his memories. He currently had the Patient Guidance trait, which made teaching students far more efficient. Even though most of the promising students had already been cherry-picked, he still had a shot. "It's true! Otherwise, why else would they group so many noble-born geniuses together this year? Normally they're spread out. This news has been going around for a while—everyone knows, except for fresh new teachers like you," Shirai Riko said. She didn't really think Nanatsuki had much of a shot at becoming captain. The talented students had already been snapped up, after all. But her urge to gossip was stronger than her logic, so she couldn't resist sharing it with him. "Thanks for the heads-up, Shirai-sensei." Nanatsuki made a mental note to bring her some snacks tomorrow as thanks. The two arrived at the sword room and began inspecting the wooden swords on the rack. "These all look brand new to me," Shirai Riko commented, not seeing any problem. "They are new, technically." Nanatsuki examined them carefully but didn't see signs of long-term use. He focused his Spiritual Pressure into his fingertips and rubbed hard, scraping away the surface coating on one of the swords. The outer layer was covered in a special oil that helped resist moisture and insects, while also improving the grip. "This one's been refurbished. It's an old sword that was repolished and re-oiled. Looks like they've been left sitting for too long and absorbed moisture—they're starting to swell and crack inside." After stripping the coating, Nanatsuki saw that the inner wood had indeed expanded and split. If a wooden sword wasn't properly maintained, the surface would become patchy and rough. The material itself would degrade over time, losing its strength and durability—making the sword much easier to break. At the Katori-ryu Dojo, Nanatsuki had personally maintained all the swords, so he knew these things well. "Refurbished?!" Shirai Riko was stunned. She quickly grabbed another sword and copied Nanatsuki's technique, rubbing off the oil coating. Sure enough, it had the same issue—the inner wood had cracks. They tested a few more swords, and most had the same problem. Only the severity differed. "Shirai-sensei, were you in charge of purchasing these?" Nanatsuki asked. If she had any involvement, she might be in serious trouble. Things like this could get messy. "No, not the purchasing—but I was the one who distributed them to the sword rooms. If all the swords in this batch are like this... I'm screwed. I'm gonna get chewed out!" Shirai Riko clutched her head in frustration. "I need to go check the warehouse stock..." she muttered, then rushed out of the room. It looked like replacing the wooden swords wasn't going to happen today. Fortunately, the students were still practicing the basics—air strikes, stances, and footwork. Sparring hadn't started yet, so these faulty swords could still do for now. Soon, it was time for class. The students began trickling into the room. "Good... morning... teacher..." Chijō Kana mumbled through a mouthful of bun, her words nearly lost to the food in her mouth. "Morning," Nanatsuki nodded, then did a headcount. Everyone was present. Usually, students wouldn't dare skip class this early in the term. At the very least, they'd pretend to show up for a few days. He had to use this window to get them genuinely interested in Zanjutsu. "Let's begin." "Yesterday, someone asked: Since Shinigami have Zanpakutō, Kido, Hakuda, and Shunpo, why bother learning swordsmanship?" "Today, I'll show you just what swordsmanship is capable of."