Chapter 11

The prestigious Krangbuiyer Academy.

The only awakened academy supported by the imperial family and focused on combat, it had produced countless awakened knights, and even the famous archmage was a graduate of this place.

That wasn’t all. Simply graduating from Krangbuiyer Academy granted a knighthood, regardless of the graduate’s status.

Furthermore, graduates with outstanding grades were even given the right to join the Monster Knight Order.

Considering that joining the Monster Knight Order was the highest honor among the imperial knight orders, this was an enormous privilege.

That was why, among the many awakened academies that had sprung up, this one was acknowledged by all as a prestigious institution.

“Ah… from now on, you all, as students of our proud Krangbuiyer Academy…”

But right now.

The fresh-faced new students who had entered this prestigious academy were on the verge of going insane.

“Ah, so, fulfill the duties entrusted to you… Ah, and I also hope…”

Why isn’t the congratulatory speech ending!

I looked around with half-lidded eyes. The new students filling the auditorium were all in a state as if a screw had come loose, just like me.

They had definitely been bright-eyed when the entrance ceremony first began, but…

“Ah… above all, since you are awakened individuals, you must protect the weak, right? This may sound like nagging… Ah, but it’s an important point, so I’ll emphasize it again…”

I didn’t know how many times I’d heard “Ah…” by now.

He was supposedly some doctor from our school, but perhaps because he’d devoted himself too much to research, he couldn’t continue speaking without tacking on “Ah…”

‘To think the congratulatory speech alone would take an hour…’

This year’s entrance ceremony had four speakers. And they were all long-winded. Especially this doctor’s speech was truly remarkable—he was filling up a whopping thirty minutes all by himself.

The tantalizing push-and-pull of seeming about to end but not ending had reduced our new students’ eyes to dead, black fish eyes.

“I believe the students of our Krangbuiyer Academy will do well. Ah… I look forward to your future endeavors!”

Finally, the push-and-pull was over—no, the speech was over!

The fish-eyed new students unconsciously raised their hands and clapped. I clapped vigorously too, while thinking about the next part of the ceremony.

So the next order was—

“Next, we will have the new student representative’s pledge.”

At those words, my half-lidded eyes snapped open.

Then a female student ascended the podium, and not just me but all the students’ gazes fixed on her.

But she stood at the center of the podium with a clean gait that showed not a hint of nervousness and opened her mouth.

“I, as a student of Krangbuiyer Academy, do hereby declare the following.”

It was a voice both soft and commanding.

Her wavy red hair tied back neatly, she continued the pledge. The pledge wasn’t long. We all just followed along with one, two, three, and it was over.

Soon she finished with her brilliant golden eyes sparkling.

“Imperial Year 501, March 2nd. New student representative, Eleanor Sutton.”

The moment the pledge ended, vigorous applause erupted. She descended the podium as cleanly as before. I watched her quietly and thought.

‘Wow, it’s really Eleanor.’

Eleanor Sutton, the warrior with blue blood.

The protagonist Theodore’s companion and the top entrant.

And to add a little more, she was also one of the characters I was fond of.

As I watched her red hair disappear into the crowd of new students with a hint of regret, the ceremony proceeded quickly.

The last item was the declaration of admission, and thankfully the chancellor wasn’t long-winded.

Perhaps because he’d witnessed this year’s new students dying from the congratulatory speeches in real time…

“I sincerely congratulate you on your admission to the academy.”

Waaah—!

With that cheer erupting, the long entrance ceremony ended.

‘Class F, right?’

Now everyone just needed to go to their assigned classes.

First-year class assignments at the academy were divided by entrance exam rank, and Lucy—who had barely made it onto the tail end of the passing list—was naturally assigned to Class F. Theodore was probably in the same class too.

I tried to head to Class F as I’d memorized beforehand. But the crowd surged at once and swept me in a different direction from where I needed to go.

I naturally tried to push through the crowd, then stopped short.

‘What if I accidentally hurt them?’

That’s right. Lucy Saint’s Strength was A!

If I shoved through the crowd and accidentally bumped a fragile awakened individual(?) and knocked them out, that would be a disaster.

What am I supposed to do about this?

As I floundered in the crowd, unable to move forward or backward—

Someone suddenly grabbed my flailing arm.

“Are you okay?”

The first thing that caught my eye was brilliant golden eyes. And then red hair and refined features.

Eleanor Sutton—she had helped me.

“Ah, thank you—”

As I bowed my head to thank her, the quest window appeared as if it had been waiting.

!Sudden Quest!

: Leave a strong first impression on Eleanor Sutton!

Success Reward: Item Draw Ticket / On failure, Mana (D-) → (E-)

…What?!

I looked at the now-familiar quest window, then recoiled at the failure penalty.

Until now, it had only ever dropped some unknown affection stat! Why was it suddenly threatening to lower my abilities, you insane system!

As I cursed inwardly, Eleanor tilted her head and asked again.

“You really are okay, right?”

Her soft voice brought me back to my senses briefly, and I managed a difficult nod.

Eleanor didn’t do anything wrong. Right, so it’s fine—

‘No, but the system—!’

Anger flared up again.

But I calmly suppressed this hot temper and checked the quest again.

Leave a ‘strong first impression’ on Eleanor Sutton?

I looked up at her, who was taller than Lucy. She seemed to have judged that I was truly fine and was about to leave.

‘No!’

If you leave like this, my already tiny mana will become even more pitiful!

I desperately called out to Eleanor.

“Excuse me…!”

“Yes?”

I stopped her, but I had nothing to say.

Spouting nonsense like last time wouldn’t be a good choice. This picky system wouldn’t let me succeed so easily.

Besides, to make a strong impression, I needed a short, impactful blow rather than long, useless words. Even if it was a bit embarrassing.

After approximately 0.5 seconds of long deliberation, I opened my mouth.

“Eleanor Sutton.”

I raised my arm and pointed at her for all to see.

And declared boldly.

“I will defeat you and become valedictorian!”

Of all things, silence fell.

Eleanor looked at me with a slightly flustered face.

The bustling crowd had all turned to watch us.

But still no quest success notification appeared.

Could it be…?

In the end, I spat out one more line in that situation.

“I’m Lucy Saint! Remember my name clearly.”

And at the same time—

!Sudden Quest Success!

: You have left a strong first impression on Eleanor Sutton!

Check your success reward. (Click!)

I had succeeded at the quest.

‘Damn it…’

The people around me, unaware of my pitiful circumstances, began whispering among themselves.

“What’s this? A declaration of war on the first day of school?”

“Lucy, was it? She’s got some serious guts.”

“Could she be this year’s second-place entrant?”

“Eh, but isn’t our second-place entrant that guy standing there looking stunned?”

“Then what is she? Third? Fourth?”

Fuck, 181st.

My face burned red with shame.

Check your success reward. (Click!)

Aargh! I’m not checking it now!

I roughly lowered my arm and closed the quest window.

“Whoa, did you hear the wind when she lowered her arm just now?”

“She must be really upset about losing the valedictorian spot…”

Murmur murmur—

The misunderstanding surrounding Lucy Saint only grew bigger.

* * *

Having caused a huge scene on the very day of the entrance ceremony, I found Class F’s classroom and just lay face down on a desk.

That was because the freshly baked rumor had drawn all the class’s attention to me.

“Isn’t she the one who declared war on the top entrant?”

“Ehh— but why is she in Class F?”

“Don’t tell me she said she’d become valedictorian with those grades?”

Yeah. Got a problem with that?

Feeling embarrassed myself, I shot my head up from the desk and glared fiercely. The group that had been talking about me flinched and shut their mouths.

‘Sigh, what am I doing getting worked up over these kids.’

Looking at kids who looked at most the same age as Lucy, I quietly buried my face again.

The chatter stopped for a moment, but soon the class started talking again. They just didn’t bring up that topic anymore, probably mindful of me.

I wish the homeroom professor would hurry up and come.

The day of the entrance ceremony was left to the homeroom professor’s discretion, so we just had to greet our homeroom professor and hear a few explanations.

As I was about to bury my head deeper into the desk with that thought, someone tapped my shoulder.

“Lucy.”

It was Theodore’s voice.

Right, he was in Class F with me. I roughly swept back my messy hair and raised my head. Theodore, watching me, asked.

“Are you… not feeling well?”

“Hm? No, I’m just a bit tired.”

Because of that damn system.

I answered with an awkward smile. But our overly kind Theodore still looked worried. I was about to tell him again that I was really fine.

Creak—

At that moment, the front door of the classroom opened. Instantly, all eyes turned that way.

The middle-aged man who entered through the door spoke to the class staring at him.

“You’re a mess.”

Quite a scathing assessment the moment he walked in.

He told everyone to follow him and left the classroom.

And a little later…

“Grrrr—!”

“……”

A beast-type monster resembling a wild dog dripped saliva. It looked at us as if it had found delicious prey and even licked its lips.

That’s right.

I am currently standing in front of a monster.

‘Why am I the only one left!’

Alone.