After I crushed two cadets with the morning star yesterday, the gazes of the cadets toward me didn’t really change much. I mean, it wasn’t like all the cadets were there, so even if rumors spread, there would be quite a few people who wouldn’t believe it one hundred percent just from hearsay.
Or maybe they just thought those two were especially weak and lost. Do cadets spar against each other? They probably do, but I can’t be sure since I never set it up that way. In the military, they would often pick a mock enemy force for training, so this academy, with better facilities and organization than the military, might actually do some proper training.
But I doubt they’d consider a one-on-one duel with someone capable, or something similar—well, that’s not something I need to worry about.
That said, there were some positive changes.
Even the ones who glared at me would generally avoid eye contact when I stared back quietly. There weren’t many cases where I could say they were “looking down on me,” but at the very least, they stopped seeing me as an easy target, so I guess that’s a fairly satisfying outcome.
If anyone tried to mess with me again, I could just crush them too.
However, even if they didn’t look down on me, they certainly didn’t see the academy students as anything intimidating.
Academy students typically have exceptional combat abilities. Of course, they’re gathered here because they possess the potential to become “heroes,” so in many cases, they can’t possibly be beaten by regular folks like we think of in mangas where “superheroes” exist.
But not everyone is like that.
Take the duo that bothered me yesterday, for example.
How did I become known? It was something like “saved 127 soldiers from the rear and annihilated a Magic Point.” The tales of shattering a high-ranking demon’s skull bare-handed or being able to fight on par with Lina, someone with top-tier skills at the academy, or wielding a morning star as long as my upper body—those are stories that would be unknown if someone wasn’t there.
Naturally, seeing me without that context, people would think I had healing abilities but lacked offensive power. It wouldn’t be surprising at all.
Even if they knew I was going after Magic Points and had to face numerous beasts or demons, it’d be hard to accept that as truth if they hadn’t been there.
And of course, my case of being able to tank, deal damage, and heal is extremely unique. That’s why those two ended up tripping over their own feet.
Usually, a hero with defensive skills would handle defense, one with offensive skills would handle offense, and a supportive hero would operate from the back to assist with rescue.
From the academy’s perspective, it would be insane to select all heroes who could only perform offense and defense. There are certainly those with exceptional supportive capabilities, and it’s much more beneficial to pick and train such individuals evenly to create heroes.
Thus, the academy must have a mixed bag of students with various kinds of abilities and personalities.
For example, Selena has more magic than ordinary people and has a superior flow of magic in her body compared to others. She doesn’t possess any special psychic powers, but with just that, she can perform attacks that others cannot. Shooting arrows made purely of magic with a magic bow? That’s something that cannot be handled with regular levels of magic. No one could create and shoot that fast.
Satsuki possesses the strength, vision, and hearing of an elf. Of course, she’s not as strong as a pureblood elf. But being a half-human gives her the best athletic talents humans have, primarily endurance. Unlike pureblood elves who are strong but can’t sustain their abilities for long, she can persistently chase or observe something and can hide and last much longer than elves.
As for Jian… well, his insane ability to slice incoming projectiles with a sword can be considered a psychic ability.
……I created this character, yet I have no clue how he has such powers.
Anyway, there are instances where someone becomes a hero based on an “above-average” ability compared to others.
Alternatively, there are those with “abilities that others cannot possess.” In this case, rather than magic, strength, or holy power, it’s a truly “irregular” ability known as a “superpower.”
My creativity couldn’t stretch far enough to create a character with outstanding superpowers, only one regular character ended up like that.
That’s E-Class’s Erica Rose.
She is Jian’s childhood friend, whom I mentioned a while ago.
Her ability is healing. At first glance, it doesn’t seem much different from healing performed with holy power, but Erica has a special trait that sets her apart.
If my healing is an active skill, Erica’s is passive. As long as she eats well and stays healthy, it continuously maintains as a passive ability.
……Originally, she was intended to take on the “healer” role in the main party, but I forgot about her, and she ended up never appearing, making her an unfortunate character.
Moreover, there’s a major setting error.
Due to the “childhood friend” trait, she was supposed to live near the protagonist’s house, but the character accompanying protagonist Lee Ji-An to school was actually Selena, and she wasn’t included among those leaving school together either. Even in the original work, this was true even before I was reincarnated.
As mentioned earlier, I created this character and ended up using the tsundere character Selena more, so there isn’t exactly a reasonable explanation for “why.”
In that sense, Erica can be seen as even less of a presence than Kihmuhir.
However, as I said before, not everyone at the academy is optimized for combat. There are cases like Erica’s who don’t excel in battle but possess “abilities that others can’t even imitate.”
The problem is, Erica appeared as a pretty easy target to those with mediocre fighting abilities.
Just like the officer cadets openly looked down on me.
*
“It was nothing special.”
I heard this from cadets talking this afternoon.
“Even the academy kids aren’t all good fighters. Honestly, if they’re less capable than us, being called heroes doesn’t mean anything, right? How many capable criminals are there?”
The cadet who sparred with me yesterday got thoroughly beaten even while teaming up with another, so this clearly wasn’t about me.
Within the academy, where three grades each have around 100 students, and since the educational nature of training requires a lot of movement, it’s impossible to conduct classes properly with only one auditorium. The building is tall and vast, and of course, there should be multiple auditoriums.
So, while we were sparring, it wouldn’t have been surprising if there was sparring happening in another auditorium.
“Looks like they just gave up after trying to hold out. The surrender, surrender, was quite something.”
“Talk about a lack of tenacity. I mean, they’ve been slacking off so much, it makes sense. You know how those academy kids wear their uniforms.”
It seems a completely opposite situation occurred at the same time elsewhere.
“That story.”
As I suddenly jumped out from the corner where I was quietly eavesdropping, the two female cadets flinched. Both of them were cadets; what a twist! Did that mean the cadet from the academy who got beaten was a male student?
“Could you tell me more about it?”
I asked with a smile, causing the two cadets to glance nervously at each other. The speed at which rumors spread among people living in a village with thousands of inhabitants is immense. Let alone the academy, which has about 100 students per grade, with about 200 together in a single grade, the speed of rumors circulating among the same grade is astonishingly fast.
Additionally, unlike the academy, where class interactions are poor, the officer cadets regularly undergo large-scale cooperative training in a military-style, meaning rumors would surely spread in an instant, even if they were in different classes.
So, they probably heard that I had single-handedly beaten two male students.
Since being a saintess means there’s only one of me in the entire world, let alone the academy.
“Don’t you think it’s rude to butt into other people’s conversations without permission?”
One of the cadets on the right lifted her chin and said.
“That’s not very polite, is it?”
Well, that’s true. It wasn’t polite. That’s why I taught that lesson to those two rude cadets yesterday.
However, I didn’t have a good reason here.
“…”
Seeing me standing silently, they probably thought I was at a loss for words, so they confidently continued speaking.
“If you’re really curious, why don’t you just go ask that broken girl? She might be too embarrassed to say anything after butting into other people’s business.”
“Could you tell me that ‘broken girl’s’ name?”
I asked calmly, and the girl on the left shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know her name. I don’t need to know it. Anyway, there’s no way someone like her who’s going to finish the academy will ever become a hero.”
Hearing that, I couldn’t help but frown.
Hmm, how should I put it…
Those sounded like words straight from a third-rate villain.
Were they always like this?
I never intended to use them this way. The typical trope for a rival would be “at first, they clash with each other, but after a friendly competition, they understand and acknowledge each other and become friends.” That was the proper route I set up, and I was quite confused seeing it come out like this.
When I frowned, it seemed they thought something and quickly made their escape, clearly afraid of what I might say next.
Honestly, if I asked for a spar, they wouldn’t be able to run away. Their pride wouldn’t allow them to back down after provoking me.
“Hmph.”
I couldn’t run after them, but I walked quickly, staring at the back of their heads, heading toward the classroom where Aurora and Linea were waiting.
I didn’t even find out which class that girl belonged to.
As I walked while deep in thought, another voice caught my attention.
“Repeat that story in front of me again.”
“What?”
……It was an eerily similar topic to the one I just had.
While I had never heard either of their voices before, at least I could recognize one of them.
With bright golden hair cascading down to her waist and long, pointed ears poking out from between her long hair, her striking blue eyes, and skin so pale it could rival mine, she looked stunning. Her complexion was smooth and plump, appearing healthy rather than pale.
Well—truthfully, even someone unfamiliar with the school would know there are two elves here, with one being a pureblood, so no one would not know she was Ramihi Kihmuhir.
Kihmuhir gazed at a boy who seemed to tower over her by at least two heads with an expression seemingly at odds with her chilling gaze, as if her eyes would ignite in flames.
“Repeat it. You just said something like, ‘you have no ability,’ didn’t you? You wouldn’t dare say that to me, would you?”
Hmm. She has a point. If you call someone without ability useless, shouldn’t it be normal to not have anything to say in front of someone with more ability than you? In most cases, people don’t think about such things and spout off nonsense.
“Sure, but you’re an elf—”
“And so what?”
Kihmuhir interrupted the boy.
“Everyone here deserves to be here because they meet the requirements. You can’t just belittle them by your own judgment.”
That was perfectly correct. There might be differences in their ranks, but at the very least, being here shows they proved their exceptional abilities and successfully passed the difficult tests. Except for me.
“You need to stop. It’s okay; I’m fine. I’m healed from yesterday—”
“Fine? Really?”
Behind Kihmuhir, a timid girl gently tugged at her waist and spoke softly.
With hair falling to about her shoulders and bangs just long enough to almost cover her eyes, she clearly had the appearance of a beauty, but her thick hair obscured too much to make a proper assessment. I could catch glimpses of her dark brown eyes, which were quite large and round, making her appear somewhat cute yet fragile.
Erica Rose from E-Class.
Right, she’s Jian’s childhood friend.
I had initially intended to create her as a timid character with a weak voice, somewhat small and animal-like. At first, I thought she’d be the one waking up the protagonist every morning, but after the addition of the tsundere character, Selena, she became another unfortunate heroine that ended up overshadowed.
“Rose, with you acting like that, those kids are going to keep looking down on you. A person’s ability isn’t just measured by combat. Providing solid support from the back is crucial.”
That’s right; it’s perfectly reasonable.
Elves generally have righteous personalities. Naturally, they’ve survived against all kinds of corruption shown by demons and continue to exist as a species. They’re known for sticking to the good they define for themselves without ever breaking their self-imposed boundaries and relentlessly pursuing and eliminating evil.
However, there’s one problem here—
“You don’t need to let those worthless bugs get to you.”
That’s correct. They view everything outside of ‘their defined good’ as evil and look down on them harshly.
So, at the early stages of human society, the elves were the biggest obstacles.
They firmly believed in their self-defined goodness and pushed their customs forward even if others viewed them as barbaric, and if they deemed someone evil, they would never waver in their opinion. Either all or nothing. Meanwhile, they only follow the rules they made themselves, showing a level of elitism beyond measure.
A case in point is Satsuki, who has human blood in her, after essentially ostracizing her entire family for not fitting into their system.
“Worthless bugs…?”
When the cadet momentarily muttered that, Kihmuhir raised his head, glaring at the opponent.
“Yeah, worthless bugs. If learning about the military didn’t teach you how to manage assignments, wouldn’t that mean you’re operating with bug-like intelligence? I heard you got beaten up yesterday for trying to bother another girl. If this isn’t a bug school, then there couldn’t be that many bugs, could there?”
That’s right. In his mind, the officer cadets who greeted them properly at the academy don’t even fall under the category of human beings.
It’s been 500 years since I moved into this world different from where I originally lived, but there’s still one custom that remains: “bread and salt.”
The host doesn’t harm their guests, and the guests also don’t harm the host.
This principle, represented by bread and salt, is a symbolic form of a pledge to never bring harm to each other.
Although it’s a different world now, even the conservative elves who survived harsh dark periods, enduring skepticism even towards guests, have a similar principle. While they do not display it as simply as with bread and salt, respecting one another as guests and hosts is an essential etiquette they must keep.
However, if one radiates malice, Kihmuhir probably wouldn’t feel the need to treat the officer cadets as equals and regard them as lesser beings.
For elves, those deserving address would only be insects. While they subtly discriminate against other races, it’s not due to seeing them as beasts but rather viewing them as somewhat disabled individuals, rather than something to be killed.
Though it’s rather odd to expel someone from their village due to their bloodline when you consider it.
“Or, do you want to prove you’re not a bug? Just like you did to her yesterday, why don’t you try that with me too?”
Faced with that provocation, the cadet’s face turned bright red, but he couldn’t chime in with a “sure” either.
After all, there was no way an ordinary human could win against an elf.
Unless it was an extraordinarily vast field, the sparring platform in the auditorium wouldn’t be practically possible to run away in.
“…”
In the end, that cadet chose to retreat rather than making any retort.
“Humph.”
Kihmuhir snorted and grabbed Erica’s wrist, making his exit. The students surrounding them parted like the Red Sea, allowing a path for them. Among those students were officer cadets, and all were glaring at Kihmuhir.
“…”
This situation seems to be escalating too much. No matter how I think about it, the animosity they have for each other didn’t arise overnight. While the academy students may be indifferent, the officer cadets openly showing their disdain seemed too intense.
Of course, there is a setting where they look down on the academy, but ultimately, this too will have to be adjusted later. As it stands, it’s only worsening.
Is there really something going on?
I can’t shake off the feeling that there’s someone stirring the pot inside the officer school on purpose.
Or perhaps it’s someone not even classified as a “human.”
I wouldn’t have an answer immediately if I pondered who that could be.
Nevertheless, one thing was certain.
That girl they were talking about just earlier was definitely about Erica Rose.
Based on what I heard, “she was healed from what happened yesterday,” it seems she must have experienced something similar to what I did to the officer cadets.
……I don’t know who it was that dueled with Erica, but let’s just say I’ll offer a moment of silence for them.
Because I can’t imagine what might happen if this reaches Jian’s ears.
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