CHAPTER 3

It had been a long and stressful day. She closed her eyes.

“Good night…my strange master,” she muttered and fell into a deep sleep.

Lia and I headed to class together the next day. We were both in Class 1-A and living in the same apartment, so it made sense to stick together.

“Oh, and Allen! There’s a local specialty in my country called ramzac. It’s really delicious!”

“Huh, I’d like to try it some time.”

“I know a good restaurant near the academy! I’ll show it to you when we have a chance!”

She was acting significantly kinder toward me, perhaps because she was feeling refreshed from a good night’s sleep.

I don’t know what happened, but…this is a hundred times better than how coldly she treated me last night.

Moreover, I found that she was fun to talk to. She was very expressive, both with her face and her gestures, so when we were together, there was never a dull moment. I was sure she had always been the popular type.

We arrived at the Class 1-A classroom and opened the rickety sliding door.

“G-good morning, Lia!”

“Nice day, isn’t it?”

Two female students greeted her nervously as soon as we walked in.

“Good morning. It does feel nice out there,” Lia responded, smiling humbly and waving to them. She had adopted her nice-girl act quickly.

…When she acts this way, she really does look like a graceful princess.

This ladylike and dignified persona stood in stark contrast to her cheerful and slightly crass behavior that she revealed when the two of us were alone. I would have believed her without question if she told me that she actually had a split personality.

Lia began to make casual conversation with the girls, so I quietly moved away from them. Girls had their own friendships. As a boy, I would be an unwanted presence.

Looks like I can sit wherever I want.

There didn’t seem to be any assigned seats. I decided to head for a desk at the very back of the room by a window, where I would stand out the least.

There were three boys talking excitedly on my path there. I thought it would seem unfriendly to pass by them without saying hello, so I built up courage and addressed them.

“H-hi there,” I stuttered, waving at them.

“““…”””

Halting their conversation, they turned to glance at me. They then turned back to one another without a word, ignoring me so blatantly that I almost respected it.

Though they only glared at me for a moment, I sensed real malice in their eyes.

Everyone really does hate me…

Their coldness had to be a consequence of what happened the previous day at the entrance ceremony from hell.

First impressions heavily influence how you think about a person…

Starting out as the least popular student in school on the very first day was going to be rough.

Well, at least they’re not insulting me to my face.

At Grand Swordcraft Academy I was called the Reject Swordsman, a coward, a cheater, and a variety of other horrible insults. Getting ignored by three people was nothing in comparison.

Knowing they weren’t going to return my greeting, I started to slink away from them.

“Hey, you three. Can I have a word?”

Lia addressed the three boys with a soft smile plastered on her face.

“Y-yes, of course!”

“Wh-whatever do you need, Lia?”

“Did we do something to offend you?!”

They were beside themselves with excitement, no doubt because a girl of unparalleled beauty had decided to speak with them.

Those dudes are shameless… But what’s Lia doing talking to them anyway?

I tuned in on their conversation while heading for the seat by the window.

“I believe Allen just said hello… Were you too engrossed in your conversation to hear him?”

That caught me by surprise.

“Uh… Well, you see…”

“I didn’t really hear him… Er, I guess I did, but…”

“He spoke really quietly, so…I wasn’t sure what he said…?”

Flustered, the three of them failed to find an appropriate answer.

Lia gave them a wide smile.

“Personally, I hate jerks who do things like that.”

“““…”””

The boys were left speechless. Paying them no mind, she continued her address with the same gentle smile on her face.

“Please never speak to me again. Good day.”

Having said her fill, she set her bag down on the desk to the right of mine.

The entire classroom froze from shock, the atmosphere so oppressive that no one wanted to speak. Lia, however, looked completely unbothered as she smoothed out her skirt, sat down, took her textbooks out of her bag, and casually set them on the desk.

“S-sorry about that…,” I apologized with a whisper.

She was standing up for me.

Doing that had cut her off from the rest of the class. The three boys were still scowling at her.

I was racked with guilt.

“What are you apologizing for? All I did was tell them how I really felt about them,” Lia responded with a chuckle. It was genuine, not a fake laugh to make me feel better.

For a moment, I was enchanted by her pure, beautiful smile.

Lia had upturned the classroom in a way only she could. The silence persisted until the door suddenly flew open.

An extremely drowsy Rose walked into the room. There was no trace of her usual dignity; she must not have been a morning person. Her long hair was all over the place, the locks at the top of her head standing straight up in the air.

Her eyes darted around the classroom until they met mine. She walked unsteadily toward me, sat down at the desk in front of me, and yawned.

“Good morning, Allen. Lia, too, I guess,” she mumbled.

“Good morning, Rose,” I responded.

“What do you mean, ‘I guess’?” Lia snapped.

Lia glared at her, but Rose didn’t notice at all—she was occupied with another massive yawn.

“Excuse me, Valencia, but your…your hair is kind of all over the place. Do you need help?” I asked, pointing at the distracting frizz on top of her head.

“…It’s fine. Gravity’ll bring it down,” she muttered briefly.

It seemed like she was the type to just wait for bedhead to fix itself. I didn’t know too much about how girls handled their hair, but Rose had to have been in the minority there.

The school bell then chimed ding-dong, ding-dong to announce the start of class, and the classroom door flew open immediately.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!”

Chairwoman Reia walked into the room with a pep in her step.

“Hmm… Now that’s what I want to see! No late arrivals or absences on the first day—couldn’t have asked for a better start!” she exclaimed with a hearty laugh.

One girl spoke up and asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“U-um…what are you doing here, Chairwoman?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I’m the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A.”

A buzz ran through the classroom. I began to panic.

…This is the absolute worst thing that could’ve happened. And what about her job as the chairwoman anyway?

The chairs of the Elite Five Academies held massive societal influence and great political power. With that might came enormous responsibility; according to rumor, that meant dealing with a massive workload every day of the week.

It’s not a job that should give you enough free time to work as a homeroom teacher.

Chairwoman Reia clapped her hands together loudly, jolting me out of my musings.

“Okay, let’s get morning homeroom started. I’m going to kick things off with a very special announcement!”

She paused for dramatic effect, then went on eagerly.

“That announcement is…our participants for the Elite Five Holy Festival, which is being held this weekend!”

The class stirred at the mention of the festival.

The Elite Five Holy Festival was an event where each of the Elite Five Academies chose three skilled new students to represent them in a round-robin-style tournament for the championship. Performing well in this contest could guarantee a path to the coveted career of a high-ranking holy knight, so it was no surprise it sent the class into a buzz.

“Normally, we make the selections with significant care, taking into account the results of the practical exam held this week. This year, however, we have already chosen the participants!”

An uncomfortable tension filled the room. I had a bad feeling about this.

I had every right to feel anxious—the chairwoman had a wicked smile on her face. She must have been up to something.

“There’s no point keeping you in suspense, so I’ll go ahead and announce them!”

Everyone fell dead silent. A few seconds later, she revealed the participants.

“The representatives who will fight for Thousand Blade Academy this year are—Lia Vesteria, Rose Valencia, and last but not least, Allen Rodol!”

…Yep, that was what I expected.

I cast a sharp glare at Chairwoman Reia and let out an enormous sigh.

It didn’t take long for someone to object to the announcement.

“Pl-please wait, Chairwoman!”

A male student spoke up.

“Is something the matter?” the chairwoman asked.

“It’s just that…I can’t object to Lia and Rose being selected. Everyone knows Lia can produce Soul Attire, and Rose is the inheritor of the Cherry Blossom Blade Style. I hate to admit it, but they’re both more skilled than me.”

“Hmm. And?”

“Allen Rodol, on the other hand… I know very little about him. I don’t understand why he was chosen for the honor of participating in the Holy Festival!” he proclaimed, his eyes trained sternly on me.

Glaring at me isn’t going to accomplish anything…

The teachers had selected the participants, so getting angry with me was barking up the entirely wrong tree.

Not sure what to do, I scratched my cheek uncomfortably. Then two more male students stood up.

“I don’t get it, either! Why was this total nobody chosen over us?!”

“Please give us a justifiable reason!”

I realized that these three were the boys who ignored my greeting earlier.

“A reason? What reason would there be other than strength?” the chairwoman answered nonchalantly. There was no way those three boys were going to be satisfied by such a simple explanation.

“Are you saying this self-taught swordsman who couldn’t get accepted into a single school of swordcraft is stronger than us?!”

“Chairwoman…are you in your right mind?”

“Do you know anything about Grand Swordcraft Academy, the school he came from? It’s a tiny boarding school in the boonies that has never produced an Elite Five Academy student. Apparently, a somewhat competent swordsman named Dodriel used to go there, but his present whereabouts are unknown. It’s a totally obscure school for dimwits.”

In the midst of their pleading, a single piece of information caught my attention.

…Dodriel is missing.

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen him since that duel.

Not that I care.

After listening to the trio plead their case, the chairwoman responded:

“So what do you three intend to do about this?”

She was surprisingly receptive to their protests.

“W-well…we would like you to reselect the participants!”

“It’s established practice to choose the competitors for the Elite Five Holy Festival based on the results of a practical exam!”

“This goes against all precedent! We request that you reconsider!”

After the chairwoman ceded some ground, my insistent classmates grew emboldened. However, what she said next shattered their momentum.

“Hmm… Are you saying you object to my decision as the chairwoman?”

“““…”””

Silence blanketed the entire classroom. You could cut the tension with a knife.

No matter how screwed up Reia was as a person—and she was really screwed up—she was the chairwoman of one of the Elite Five Academies. Saying the wrong thing to her could get you immediately expelled.

Now that the boys had gone this far, however, there was no backing down.

“…Y-yes, that’s right. We cannot sanction your selection of Allen Rodol!”

They had now openly opposed her. The other two boys followed the first.

“This swordsman from an obscure, third-rate academy—self-taught, no less—cannot represent us!”

“All three of us graduated from prestigious swordcraft academies! We were near the top of our classes as well! There’s no way this total upstart is more proficient than us!”

Now I was taking a real beating.

Just what’s going on here?

Nearly everyone in the class was talking shit about me now. This was depressing.

Dammit, I’m gonna cry…

I watched as they engaged in what might as well have been a competition to see who could come up with the best insult for me.

“Yeesh… Hey, Allen,” Chairwoman Reia called my name with a sigh.

I was sure she had nothing of value to say, but I couldn’t just ignore her.

“…What is it?” I responded curtly.

“You’re really unpopular!”

She began to cackle.

Whose fault do you think that is?!

This was the first time I ever felt like I wanted to hit a girl.

Calm down… Losing my temper here would be playing right into her hands.

Letting out a big breath, I answered as calmly as I could.

“Yes. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case.”

“Tch, what a boring response… You’re not nearly as fun as Lia.”

Reia shrugged in disappointment.

“Ah-ha-ha, sorry I’m not up to snuff,” I apologized while gloating internally. I’d won!

“Hmm… I’m not sure what to do. I didn’t expect this level of resistance.”

The chairwoman put her hand to her chin and began to think. After she fell silent, the same heavy atmosphere descended on the classroom. As both the cause and focal point of this conflict, this situation was significantly more uncomfortable for me than anyone else.

I’ve had enough of this…

Mentally exhausted, I walked up to Reia and whispered in her ear.

“Chairwoman Reia, I’m fine with being removed from the participants. I don’t care that much about the Holy Festival…”

I honestly didn’t have great interest in this tournament. It was an event designed for the participants to flaunt what they’d learned in middle school. That was made abundantly clear by its position on the schedule—the first weekend of our high school tenure.

I hadn’t been let into a single school of swordcraft and hadn’t learned anything at all at Grand Swordcraft Academy, so it would be pointless for me to enter. Personally, I was much more interested in the classes here than the Holy Festival. I especially couldn’t wait for the Soul Attire class.

Plus, getting injured in this tournament would interfere with my classes.

There would be many more events of this type in the future. I wanted to train hard at Thousand Blade Academy and make progress before showing off at a competition.

“Okay…I understand. Thank you for telling me how you feel,” she responded, nodding as if convinced. I returned to my seat.

…I might have made things kind of hard on her.

She slotted me, a total nobody in the class’s eyes, into the festival, knowing that decision would be met with great resistance. I couldn’t tell if she did it because of her opinion of my current skill, because she expected growth from me in the future, or because of some kind of special attachment. Regardless, it was clear that she thought more highly of me than anyone else.

The chairwoman took what I had to say seriously and was even willing to hear out the students who were against me being chosen for the event. She’s a little eccentric, but she might actually be a good teacher.

Reia cleared her throat.

“Listen up, everyone. I would like to communicate Allen’s intentions to you.”

She paused a moment and continued speaking.

“This is what he said: ‘Being compared with such incompetent trash offends me. Tell those three sorry excuses for swordsmen that I’ll take them on right here, right now, all by myself. I’ll put them in their place.’”

“…Huh?”

My mind went totally blank.

“That’s the Allen I know and love… So full of confidence! I didn’t set my sights on him for nothing!”

The chairwoman nodded to herself as if in admiration.

“N-no, wait! That’s not what I—,” I started before getting cut off.

“Allen, you cocky little bastard!”

“Who are you calling ‘sorry excuses for swordsmen’?!”

“One-on-three, you say? If you want a beating that badly, we’ll be happy to oblige!”

The trio of boys surrounded me.

“Pl-please calm down. The chairwoman just made that—”

Despite trying to correct the misunderstanding, the applause from the rest of the class drowned me out.

“All right, let’s take this to the practice facility!” the chairwoman proclaimed, not giving me a chance to object.

I can’t believe her…

I shot her a sharp glance, and she responded by giving me a thumbs-up and her most wicked smile to date.

What the hell was that? Is it okay for me to hit her now?

The entirety of Class 1-A walked to the underground practice facility. It was all to watch my mock battle with the three boys, of course.

I can’t believe I’ve been brought here two days in a row… I sighed internally.

One of the three boys addressed me.

“Hey, Allen. You’re just some self-taught small fry from a third-rate academy no one has ever heard of. I can take you alone.”

He drew his sword and jerked his chin up at me.

He was telling me to do the same.

Oh, fine…

The faster I got this over with, the better.

If I take him out now, I’ll be able to avoid the massive disadvantage of fighting one-on-three.

After deciding to play along, I drew my weapon and took the middle stance.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Go ahead,” I responded with a nod.

“GRAAAAAHHHHH!”

As soon as I nodded, he charged at me with a loud scream.

His grip, posture, and speed are all at a high level.

He was every bit as good as you’d expect a student of Thousand Blade Academy to be…except for his poor footwork.

“Slice Iron Style—Rust Remover!”

He swung his sword down at me. I dodged it by turning the left side of my body, then used my scabbard to lift up his sluggish right foot.

“Huh?!”

After I took one of his legs out from under him, he lost his balance and fell onto his back.

I quickly leveled the tip of my sword to his open throat.

“I win.”

“…”

The duel went to me. Surely, winning a one-on-one bout would earn me a little respect? I really didn’t want to take on three of my classmates at the same time. I wanted no part of this pointless exercise in the first place.

I heard fierce booing.

“Come on, Allen, don’t try to weasel your way out of this! The agreement was that you would fight them one against three! That didn’t count! I’m invalidating it with my authority as the chairwoman!”

Reia alone was protesting my victory.

Good grief, just whose side is she on?!

I took a deep breath to prevent my exasperation from showing on my face.

Losing my temper here would be giving her exactly what she wanted. She was the type to feed off provoking emotional reactions in others. I needed to hold my temper, stay calm, and let her nonsense wash over me with a smile.

Beneath the surface, the chairwoman and I were engaging in a duel of our own.

“Are you okay?!”

“How’d you fall over that easily?!”

The other two boys rushed to the one I defeated, who was still dumbfounded by our fight.

“He’s not all talk… We need to take him seriously…”