The next day, early morning.
Yawn…
Walking through the hallway, Rudell let out a long yawn.
“What’s up? Didn’t sleep well last night?”
“I just couldn’t fall asleep…”
Meanwhile, Leje looked at him with a puzzled expression. Was he nervous about his first class?
Rudell had fallen asleep around three in the morning. His body felt tired, but sleep just wouldn’t come – a situation he had experienced many times in his previous life, and each time, it could only be described as the worst.
As they arrived at the classroom…
“Huh?”
“That kid is…”
As the two entered the classroom, they noticed a large piece of armor sitting in one corner and expressed their surprise.
It looked like oversized armor worn by knights, with mechanical parts visible between the plates.
White steam was puffing out with a whirring sound from the gaps in the parts.
“Is it… a person?”
“It should be. It was behind me during the entrance ceremony.”
Rudell nodded at Leje, who was tilting her head and whispering. To be honest, even anyone could see it looked more like a golem than a person, so her reaction was quite understandable.
Her name was Silphier Peleniess. Just like Rudell from the Count House of Weinstein, she was the daughter of a small, borderland Count House, the Peleniess family. She was also one of the crucial allies in the original story’s protagonist party.
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
As the two approached the empty seat and greeted her, the head of the armor moved with a clinking sound.
A blue light, shining like eyes, met their gaze, and then the helmet opened, followed by the sound of a typewriter starting up.
[Hello.]
After a moment, she pulled out a piece of paper with those words written on it and held it up for the two.
“…”
“…”
They exchanged awkward glances, struggling to express what they felt at her peculiar way of greeting. Yet, she simply turned her head and stared blankly into space again.
“Shall we take our seats?”
“Y-Yeah, that sounds good.”
The two, who were looking at her with astonished expressions, settled into their seats…
“There really are some peculiar people in this world…”
“What do you mean? Everyone has their own stories, right?”
Rudell replied with an awkward smile to Leje, who was whispering. In fact, there was a legitimate reason why she didn’t come out of that armor.
It was all due to her upbringing. The Peleniess family had once held the title of Count. However, they had been disgraced and demoted to a Count House a few years ago due to a political struggle.
Her parents were desperate to revive the family name by any means, seeing Silphier as a means to that end.
Though Silphier possessed genius-level talent in magic and alchemy, her parents only viewed her as a pawn in a strategic marriage to elevate their status. They dismissed her interests in various fields of study as nonsense and forcibly instilled in her the etiquette and rules befitting a noblewoman.
In the pressure from her family, her timid personality constricted her, and as she shrank further, she chose to escape into the armor she had created herself.
‘There are always such parents everywhere…’
Parents who impose their lives onto their children.
Thinking that life lived by people usually ended up the same, Rudell looked at Silphier.
He would definitely need to recruit her into the party someday.
Of course, that was not for now. Given her timid nature, rushing in would likely push her further away. Instead, he planned to take his time and gradually close the distance.
In the meantime, one by one, other students started to enter the classroom, filling the once-empty seats.
“Hi, I’m Piser.”
“Hello, I am Rudellheit Weinstein.”
As various students exchanged greetings, Rudell and Leje also spent time responding to greetings directed at them.
Soon, the clock hands pointed to 9 AM…
Clang!
“Everyone, take your seats.”
As the bell announcing the start of class rang out, a man entered the classroom.
With a sturdy build and black hair, he had dull brown eyes devoid of life and heavy dark circles under his eyes.
His scruffy beard, poorly maintained, showed his character succinctly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Fernand de Pasel, the homeroom teacher of class A-1.”
As Fernand introduced himself casually, the students began to murmur.
Indeed, Fernand was quite a well-known figure among the common folk.
He belonged to the Peacekeeping Force, an organization responsible for maintaining order in the royal city.
Often likened to a police force, it consisted of five divisions, from 1 to 5.
The real power was held by divisions 1 through 3.
Fernand was a skilled individual who had once risen to the position of chief of division 1 at a young age.
Of course, he found himself demoted to the role of a schoolteacher in the academy, dragged into political struggles, but many stories from his time as chief still circulated among the people.
“Quiet! I know you’re excited, but I’m just a regular teacher now, so let’s keep needless chatter to a minimum.”
As Fernand stood on the podium and tapped the attendance book on the desk, the noisy students fell silent, as quiet as a mouse.
Satisfied, he surveyed the classroom and nodded.
“Now, let’s call the roll.”
Opening the attendance book, he began to call out names.
*
Time passed, and it was finally lunchtime.
“Duchess Lagrind, if it’s not too much trouble, would you care to join us for lunch?”
And, naturally, many people surrounded her.
All of them were children of high-ranking nobility, at least Counts.
Given her status, it was not surprising at all.
After all, what was her status?
She was the only daughter of the Lagrind Dukedom, which was famous enough for everyone in the kingdom to know.
If anyone could make a connection with her, what wouldn’t they fear?
However…
“Sorry, but I have prior engagements.”
Coldly rejecting every offer, Leje stood up and grabbed Rudell’s arm.
“W-Wait, Duchess?!”
Rudell said, flustered, unable to speak informally in front of her.
Regardless, Leje pulled Rudell along and changed seats.
After a while, they found themselves in a small garden near the teachers’ area.
Rudell and Leje were having a simple lunch there.
Today’s menu consisted of sandwiches and milk.
While it was an unlikely menu for someone of her status as a duchess, thanks to Rudell, who had very few food biases, he rarely turned down food.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Leje, deep in her meal, tilted her head at Rudell’s question.
“I mean, eating lunch with me, not others.”
Networking is quite important among nobles.
Though Rudell himself was the Count’s heir, for her, as a duchess’s daughter, networking with nobles she might belong to the same faction with in the future was vital.
Yet, Leje rejected all that to eat lunch with Rudell.
“I didn’t know what you were getting at.”
With a snicker, Leje looked at Rudell.
“Do you really think I’d sacrifice my lunch time with you just to please those nobodies?”
“Um…”
“Trust me, you’re a hundred, no, a thousand times more important than those losers.”
“That puts too much pressure on me…”
Rudell had known that Leje relied on him a lot, but hearing it directly from her mouth felt oddly embarrassing.
Meanwhile…the two finished their meal and enjoyed a brief moment of relaxation.
At that moment…
“Huh?”
They heard some commotion from a distance and turned to see what was happening.
They spotted a few people handing out flyers to passing students.
“What’s that?”
“Looks like some kind of club recruitment.”
Rudell squinted as he replied to Leje, whose question was filled with curiosity.
The signs they held read things like “Join now and get three months of free membership!” and “Rare opportunity!”
“A club, huh…”
“Are you considering it?”
Curiously observing them, Rudell asked Leje. She fell into thought for a moment before responding.
“I’m thinking of joining the Discipline Corps.”
“The Discipline Corps…”
Of course, it made sense. In the original story, she had joined that group under the student council.
Given that the academy had a significant number of nobles, duels between students happened somewhat often when problems arose.
The issue was that this was a fantasy world.
In a realm where magic and magical power existed, the collateral damage could be quite severe, and the Discipline Corps was where they subdued students who fought duels with brute strength.
In a way, it suited her well, as she would eventually earn the title of the world’s strongest.
“I’ll support you. You’ll surely do well.”
As Rudell gave a thumbs up to Leje with those words…
“What are you talking about? You should join with me.”
“Huh…?”
Rudell’s mouth fell open in astonishment at Leje, who was looking at him like he was crazy.
