Academy Life: Day One
The following day, early in the morning...
"Haaaaah..."
Rudell let out a long yawn as he walked down the hallway.
"What's wrong? Couldn't sleep last night?"
"I just couldn't fall asleep..."
Meanwhile, Leje watched him with a puzzled look and asked.
Was he nervous about his first class?
Rudell had finally fallen asleep close to three o'clock in the morning.
His body was clearly tired, but sleep wouldn't come.
It was a situation he had experienced several times in his previous life, and each time, there was no way to describe it other than "terrible."
Meanwhile, the two arrived at the classroom.
"Huh?"
"That child is..."
As they entered the classroom, the two let out puzzled voices as they saw a large suit of armor in a corner.
It looked like a knight's armor, slightly enlarged, with mechanical parts visible between the plates.
White steam hissed and puffed out from between the parts.
"Is that... a person?"
"I think so. She was behind me at the entrance ceremony."
Rudell nodded at Leje, who was whispering with a tilted head.
Honestly, anyone would have thought it was a golem rather than a human, so her reaction was understandable.
Her name was Silfier Pelleneas.
She was the Young Lady of the Pelleneas Viscounty, a small Viscounty in the outskirts, just like Rudell's Weinstein Viscounty.
And, in the original story, she was one of the important supporters of the main character's party.
"Hello."
"Hello."
[...]
As the two approached the empty seat and greeted her, the head of the armor moved with a metallic sound.
Bright blue lights, like eyes, met their gaze, and then the helmet opened, followed by the sound of a typewriter.
[Hello.]
After a moment, she pulled out a piece of paper with those words written on it from inside the helmet and showed it to them.
"..."
"..."
The two looked at her with awkward expressions at her unique greeting method, but she didn't seem to mind.
She turned her head and stared blankly into space again.
"Shall we... go to our seats?"
"Th-that would be good."
The two, who had been looking at her with bewildered expressions, sat down in suitable seats...
"There are so many unique people in the world..."
"Well... Everyone has their own circumstances, right?"
Rudell gave an awkward smile and said to Leje, who was whispering.
In fact, there was a good reason why she didn't come out of that armor.
It was none other than the family environment she grew up in.
The Pelleneas Viscounty was once a County.
However, years ago, they were embroiled in a political struggle and were demoted to a Viscounty, suffering disgrace.
As such, her parents wanted to revive the family by any means necessary, and they saw Silfier as the means to do so.
Silfier had a genius-level talent for magic and alchemy, but her parents only saw her as a tool for political marriage to climb the social ladder.
They dismissed the various studies she enjoyed as useless and forced her to learn only the etiquette and rules of a noble lady.
Under such family pressure, her timid personality strangled her, and as she became more and more withdrawn, she chose to escape into the armor she had created herself.
'There are parents like that everywhere...'
Parents who force their own lives onto their children.
Thinking that people are the same everywhere, Rudell looked at Silfier.
He would have to recruit her into the party someday.
Of course, not right now.
Considering her timid personality, approaching her rashly could push her away, so Rudell planned to take his time and slowly build a relationship with her.
Meanwhile, one by one, other students entered the classroom, and the empty seats began to fill up.
"Hi, I'm Pisser."
"Hello, I'm Rudellheit Weinstein."
As students of all kinds greeted each other, Rudell and Leje also responded to the students who greeted them, passing the time.
Soon, the clock hand pointed to 9 a.m....
-Creak.
"Everyone, take your seats."
As the bell signaling the start of class rang, the classroom door opened and a man entered.
A sturdy build, black hair, lifeless brown eyes with dark circles deeply etched underneath.
His unkempt, patchy beard clearly showed his personality.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Fernand de Pasell, the homeroom teacher for Class A-1."
At Fernand's brief self-introduction, the students murmured.
It was only natural, as Fernand was a quite well-known figure among ordinary people.
The Public Security Force, the organization responsible for maintaining order in the Royal Capital.
This organization, which could be considered a kind of police force, was composed of five divisions, from Division 1 to Division 5.
Among them, the actual fighting force was Divisions 1 to 3.
Fernand was a skilled individual who had risen to the position of Deputy Chief of Division 1 at the youngest age ever.
Of course, he was now demoted to the position of an academy teacher, which could be considered a dead-end job due to being caught in a political struggle, but the many stories he created while he was Deputy Chief were still talked about among people.
"Quiet! I understand why you're making noise, but I'm just an ordinary teacher now, so refrain from unnecessary chatter."
Fernand, who was standing on the podium, tapped the desk with the attendance book, and the murmuring students became as quiet as mice.
Fernand looked around the classroom for a moment and nodded in satisfaction...
"Then I'll start calling attendance now."
He then opened the attendance book and began to call out names.
* * *
Time flew by, and it was soon lunchtime.
"Princess Lagrind, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you care to join us for lunch?"
And, naturally, there were many people around her.
All of them were children of high-ranking nobles, at least of Count rank.
Considering her status, it wasn't that strange.
What was her status, after all?
She was the only princess of the Lagrind Dukedom, famous throughout the Kingdom to the point where there was no one who didn't know of her.
What could be more desirable than forming a connection with her?
However...
"I'm sorry, but I have a prior engagement."
Coldly rejecting all the offers, Leje stood up and grabbed Rudell's arm.
"P-Princess?"
Rudell couldn't speak informally with her in front of others, so he said that with a flustered expression.
Ignoring him, Leje dragged Rudell away.
And, a little later...
A small garden near the school building.
Rudell and Leje were having a simple lunch there.
Today's menu was sandwiches and milk.
It was a menu that didn't suit a princess of a Dukedom at all, but thanks to Rudell, who had almost no prejudice against food, she rarely showed any pickiness.
"Are you sure it's okay?"
"Huh? What is?"
Leje, who was engrossed in her meal, tilted her head with a puzzled expression at Rudell's question.
"I mean, having lunch with me instead of the others."
Managing connections was quite important among nobles.
Rudell, the son of a Viscount, was one thing, but for her, the princess of a Dukedom, connections with nobles who might become part of the same faction in the future were quite important.
Nevertheless, Leje had rejected all of them and was having lunch with Rudell.
"I thought you were going to say something serious."
With a chuckle, Leje looked at Rudell.
"Do you think I would give up my lunch time with you just for the sake of those guys?"
"Hmm..."
"Trust me, you're hundreds of times more important than those riffraff."
"That's a bit too much pressure..."
Rudell knew that Leje relied on him quite a bit, but hearing it directly from her made him feel embarrassed.
Meanwhile... the two finished their meal and enjoyed a short break.
Just then...
"Huh?"
A loud noise came from afar, and the two turned their heads towards the source of the sound.
And what they saw was a scene of several people handing out flyers to passing students.
"What's that?"
"It seems like club recruitment promotion?"
Rudell narrowed his eyes and said in response to Leje's question, who was tilting her head.
The signs they were holding had promotional phrases written on them, such as 'Free membership fees for 3 months if you join now!' and 'A rare opportunity!'.
"Clubs..."
"Are you interested?"
Rudell asked Leje, who was watching the scene with interest, and she thought for a moment before speaking.
"I'm thinking of joining the Disciplinary Committee."
"The Disciplinary Committee..."
As expected.
In the original story, the club she joined was the Disciplinary Committee under the Student Council.
As befitting an academy with a significant proportion of nobles, there were often cases where students would have duels if problems arose between them.
The problem was that this was a fantasy world.
Since it was a world where magic and mana existed, the damage to the surroundings could be quite significant, and the Disciplinary Committee was the organization that suppressed students who engaged in duels by force.
In a way, it was a club that suited her well, as she would later earn the title of the world's strongest.
"I'll cheer you on. I'm sure you'll do well."
Rudell gave a thumbs up to Leje, who said that...
"What are you talking about? You should join too."
"Eh...?"
At Leje's words, who was looking at him as if asking what he was talking about, a dumbfounded voice escaped Rudell's mouth.
Join our discord server for the latest release updates and novel discussions.
bro's about to get a status upgrde
ReplyDeletegotta follow ur wifey everywhere
ReplyDeleteOff topic, but who names their child "Pisser"?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if bro was a villain 💀