Chapter 18
Before I came to this other world.
No, long before that.
This is the story of what happened before I entered the Tower.
Back then, I really hated going to school.
It wasn't just that the classes were boring; more than anything, playing games at home was much more fun.
I was immature back then.
Anyway, I hated school itself, but there was one thing I hated most of all.
Waking up in the morning.
Every day, I'd force my eyes open to the sound of my alarm, wash my face while I could barely keep my eyes open, then put on my school uniform and head to school with half my soul missing. That was my daily routine.
I really hated it.
But every now and then, there are days like this.
The moment you open your eyes, your body feels strangely light.
You're not tired, and your head is clear.
Birds are chirping outside the window, and the sunlight is pleasantly warm.
'I feel really good today.'
The kind of day when you think that.
And on days like that, there's a high probability that...
...you're late.
Exactly!
Just like now!!!
"I'm screwed. I'm really screwed."
I gritted my teeth and sprinted down the academy corridor at full speed.
Eating two slices of toast because I was hungry at dawn had been my downfall.
I had originally planned to eat just one and go to sleep.
But after eating one, it wasn't quite enough?
And while toasting the second, I started craving some ham too?!
Once I added ham, I thought of cheese!?!
And after putting on the cheese, I thought, 'Wouldn't it be complete with a fried egg, sunny-side up?'
This had turned into a whole feast.
It's all because Isabel ate my share of the food too!
Anyway.
Before I knew it, time had vanished.
Current time: 8:10 a.m.
The first class for S Class had already started ten minutes ago.
"This is bad."
I said that, but fortunately, my body wasn't tired at all.
Because this body of mine wasn't that of an ordinary ten-year-old.
It wasn't knight-commander level, but it had at least the physical ability of an ordinary knight.
Thanks to that, I bounded up the stairs two at a time without even getting particularly out of breath.
I raced across the corridor, changing directions and deftly dodging oncoming students.
I almost collided with an assistant carrying a huge stack of papers, but twisted aside to avoid them, then narrowly brushed past a cleaning lady.
"I'm soooo sorry!!"
I thought I heard someone shouting behind me, but I didn't have time to look back.
And finally.
『Combat Department S Class』
The familiar nameplate came into view.
"…Phew."
I reached for the doorknob, then stopped.
Wait, if I go in now...
I'm going to get yelled at like crazy, aren't I?
I stood in front of the door, agonizing over it for quite a while.
"How do I get in?"
Infiltration?
Window?
Sick leave?
No, I'm already inside the academy. What good would sick leave do?
***
At the Tower, you learn all sorts of techniques.
More accurately, you're forced to master them in order to survive.
Some of them were techniques needed for assassination or infiltration.
I never expected I'd end up using them at the academy, though.
"…It was a good thing I went through all that in the Tower!"
Something seems seriously wrong here, but that's probably just my imagination, right?
I walked down the corridor and out of the building, pretending nothing was wrong.
Then I looked up at the Combat Department building.
I roughly counted the floors with my fingers.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
"Hmm... Is S Class around there?"
I slowly gathered mana at my fingertips.
And then.
Smack.
My palm stuck to the wall.
All right, let's go with this!
First-year S Class of the Combat Department was on the fourth floor.
It wasn't high.
If I climbed up the wall, and at the moment the Extreme King briefly looked toward the blackboard—
I could slip in through the window and be done!
Heh~ Perfect plan.
I started quickly scaling the wall.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Mana held my fingertips and toes firmly in place.
As I climbed higher, the classrooms beyond the windows gradually came into view.
Second floor.
Was that B Class?
The students were diligently taking notes.
Third floor.
It was A Class.
The professor was explaining swordsmanship stances on the blackboard.
At that moment, my eyes met those of one of the students sitting by the window.
"……."
"……?"
The student blinked several times.
I naturally waved at them.
"…???"
The student froze.
Hmm, yeah. It's okay.
Just think of me as some guy painting the building.
I looked exactly like a ten-year-old kid, though.
I continued climbing the wall as though nothing had happened.
And at last,
I reached the spot directly below the S Class window.
All right! Now all I have to do is get over the window and I'm in—
"Rowoon."
“……”
"What are you doing up there?"
It was a familiar voice.
I slowly raised my head.
I saw an open window.
And I saw the Extreme King looking down at me with her arms crossed.
“…….”
A brief silence.
Still clinging to the wall, I quietly raised a hand.
"……Good morning?"
The Extreme King smiled sweetly.
"Come on in."
"Yes, ma'am."
I got an enormous scolding afterward.
***
“Wow…….”
Leonir looked down at the top of my head.
More precisely, he was looking at the three bumps on my head.
“Top student. I didn't take you for a delinquent. You were a problem child?”
“That's right, that's right!”
Lucia, who had been waiting for this, nodded.
“Rowoon-rowoon's a troublemaker!”
“……Lucia? You seem kind of excited.”
“It's fun!”
Her sunny expression was an added bonus.
Apparently, Lucia was enjoying watching me get teased quite a bit.
I was overcome by a sense of betrayal.
I definitely thought she was a good kid at first!!!
Weren't you on my side!?
Meanwhile, Leonir began counting my record one finger at a time.
“Summoned to the faculty office.”
One.
“Late the next day.”
Two.
“And caught trying to come in through the window.”
Three.
“…….”
“Top student. You were a much bigger deal than I thought!”
“Guh, just kill me……”
I couldn't argue with him.
Everything he'd said was true.
Stop stating facts!
I quietly averted my gaze.
Leona let out a small laugh beside me.
“You look incredibly well-behaved, though.”
She propped her chin on her hand and looked at me.
“But what you do is completely different.”
Ah.
I'm already tired.
So, who are these kids, you ask?
Leonir and Leona.
They're characters from the original story.
They're twin siblings.
Both are students in Combat Department S Class; Leonir uses a sword, while Leona uses a spear.
For the record, Leonir is the older brother.
You could tell from how both of them spoke to me without hesitation despite it being our first meeting.
They were both quite sociable.
Someone like me—an I-type—can't survive…….
Anyway!
Leonir in particular was a fairly prominent supporting character in the original story,
since he was a swordsmanship genius and the second male lead who followed Isabel around.
“…….”
I glanced at Leonir.
Well, well? He can't take his eyes off Isabel, huh?
It's written all over your face, kid.
Have you already fallen in love?
“……Here.”
A small voice reached me.
It was Isabel.
Isabel placed an ice pack she had gotten from somewhere on top of my head.
The throbbing pain eased a little when the cold touched it.
“Thanks, Si—”
I hurriedly cut myself off.
Whoops.
“……Isabel.”
At the academy, we'd agreed to call each other by name.
It would be troublesome if I accidentally called her Sis and exposed the fact that I'd lied about my age, wouldn't it?
Isabel nodded as if nothing had happened.
Watching that, Lucia's eyes sparkled.
“Sis is pretty today, too!”
“Thank you, Lucia. You're pretty, too.”
Lucia became happy in an instant.
Not that she hadn't already been happy, but still.
...She really is simple.
“But.”
Leonir cautiously opened his mouth.
“What is your relationship with her?”
I narrowed my eyes for a moment.
As expected.
“We're just hometown friends.”
“Ah…….”
Leonir gave a brief reply.
But his expression was way too obvious.
That was a relieved expression.
I let out an incredulous laugh.
He was exactly like he had been in the original story.
“Leonir.”
Beside him, Leona snickered.
“It's obvious.”
“What is?”
“Nothing.”
Hey, that was well put.
I'm telling you, it's incredibly obvious right now!
What do you mean, nothing? Nothing, my foot.
I saw the tips of Leonir's ears turn slightly red.
……Ah, youth.
“By the way.”
Once the mood had settled a little, Leonir spoke again.
This time, there was no playfulness in his voice.
“Top student.”
“What?”
“The fact that you're the Extreme King's disciple.”
For a moment, it seemed as though the sounds around us had quieted a little.
As expected, the title of Four Emperors carried tremendous weight.
“That's right.”
When I nodded, Leonir's eyes widened.
“So it was true.”
Lucia nodded beside me, too.
“Rowoon-rowoon was super fast!”
“Yeah. I saw him during the entrance exam.”
Leonir wore an admiring expression.
“At first, I thought it was a recording error.”
Then he nodded as if he understood.
“But now that I know you're the Extreme King's disciple, it makes sense.”
“Isn't that setting the bar a little too high?”
When I said that incredulously, Leonir replied seriously,
“You're the disciple of one of the Four Emperors.”
There wasn't the slightest hint of a joke in his words.
I was silent for a moment.
The Four Emperors.
The weight carried by that name seemed to be much greater than I'd expected.
……But.
Have you ever teased the Extreme King?
She's more fun to tease than you'd think. Her reactions are great.
***
The second day at the academy was less eventful than I'd expected.
Classes, a break.
More classes, lunch, another break.
Since we'd only just enrolled, most of the time was spent explaining what we'd be learning in the future rather than covering actual material.
Thanks to that, it was a more leisurely day than I'd expected.
Well, it didn't really matter either way.
This peaceful life? I like it even better.
And finally, it was time for the elective course I'd been waiting for.
I was now at the Combat Department's training grounds.
A spacious training ground stretched out before me.
Countless sword marks scarred the floor, and wooden swords and other training weapons for the students had been neatly arranged to one side.
So this is what an academy is like?
Just looking at it makes me strangely excited.
Of course, that is, if it weren't for the guy beside me.
“Hehe.”
Lucia was beaming beside me.
She looked truly happy.
“…….”
Ah, for the record, Isabel would be taking a different elective right now.
Even within the Combat Department, the electives were divided up.
To be honest, Leonir and Leona had drained me a little earlier.
They were the kind of people who showed no sense of distance at all despite having just met me.
So this time, I planned to move around quietly on my own.
But at some point, I realized Lucia was beside me.
I hadn't even noticed! Not even!
Since when?
No, seriously, since when had she been there?
How did you do that?
That's some amazing infiltration ability.
Could Lucia have come from the Tower too?
“What's wrong, Rowoon-rowoon?”
“Did you come from the Tower too?”
“What's that?”
“Nothing…….”
Lucia tilted her head.
But she quickly started smiling again.
It was while we were having that meaningless conversation.
Heavy footsteps came from the entrance to the training grounds.
-Clomp.
-Clomp.
The voices of the students who had been chattering noisily gradually died down.
Someone turned their head first, and the other students naturally followed, looking toward the entrance.
I shifted my gaze as well.
Then a man slowly entered the training grounds.
He was a middle-aged man with a sturdy build.
He looked to be around fifty, but he didn't give off the impression of being merely an aging knight.
His back was straight, and his stride contained not a single unnecessary movement.
Even his sharp gaze swept over the surroundings.
Every last one of his movements belonged to a man who had held a sword for many years.
He's strong.
And quite strong, even by my standards.
The man walked to the center of the training grounds and stopped quietly.
Then he looked at the students.
“Good to meet you.”
His low, weighty voice rang throughout the training grounds.
He hadn't even raised his voice, yet it reached my ears clearly.
“I am Instructor Chiron Verhardt, and I will be teaching Practical Swordsmanship this term.”
A brief silence.
“From now on, address me as Instructor Chiron.”
The students began nodding one by one.
A few of them whispered in low voices.
“Chiron Verhardt…….”
“Could he be Sir Chiron? The former vice commander of the Silver Knights?”
Ah!
Ahhh!! Is he one of that man's former subordinates?
You know, the former commander of the Silver Knights who was the S Class homeroom professor in the original story!
Ah, so he's the vice commander?
It was nice and fascinating to see him this way.
Instructor Chiron continued speaking as though he had no interest in the students' reactions.
“Let me make this clear first.”
His gaze moved to the students' waists.
“I don't like pointless flowery language or bluster.
The reason for learning the sword is simple.”
His voice dropped for a moment.
“To survive.”
The atmosphere of the training grounds changed instantly.
The faces of the students who had been standing there excitedly moments ago stiffened a little.
They had only been enrolled for two days.
Most of them were still at the stage of being filled with anticipation about academy life.
Instructor Chiron shattered those fantasies in one stroke.
A sword isn't a decorative item.
It's a weapon that actually cuts people.
Oh.
He's trying to scare them a little.
Not bad.
If anything, I liked it.
Yeah, even a romance-fantasy academy needs at least this much tension.
“This is Practical Swordsmanship, exactly as the name says.”
Instructor Chiron raised a hand.
At that, the wooden swords arranged to one side of the training grounds rose into the air simultaneously.
Mana wrapped around the swords, and they slowly flew toward the students.
The students caught the wooden swords with startled expressions.
I caught one naturally as well.
It's light.
But well-balanced.
It wasn't some cheap practice sword, but a fairly good one.
As expected of the academy.
“There will be no theory lessons on the first day.”
Instructor Chiron opened his mouth.
“Take up your swords.”
The students began taking their stances one by one.
"This class brings together students from every class, from the highest S Class to the lowest E Class."
Hmm... Right, of course.
Unlike S Class-only courses, electives were classes all students could take together.
"But I won't judge you solely by the name of your class.
So today, we'll conduct a simple level test."
I'll see you wield your swords for myself and assess your skill.
Having said that, Instructor Chiron unfolded the roster.
“When I call your name, come forward and spar with one another.”
Instructor Chiron's gaze grew keen and cold.
“Victory and defeat don't matter.”
A brief silence passed.
Then he added one final thing:
“Swing your sword as if this were a real battle. Be prepared to bring your opponent down.”
They were brief words, but the weight within them was more than enough.
“Lucas Armang. Noel Bergen. Step forward.
Henry Belluois. Jake Valen. You as well.”
The students' names began to be called one by one.
And then.
“Lee Rowoon.”
Oh.
My name was called.
I walked forward with my wooden sword.
Who will my cute little opponent be?
I looked at my opponent's uniform.
The brooch on his chest bore the words A Class.
Not S Class, but still a fairly high-ranking class.
I slowly walked forward.
Then I looked at the opponent standing before me.
At that moment, his expression hardened.
“…….”
What's wrong with him?
After a moment, the student spoke in a trembling voice.
“Co…….”
Hmm?
“Could it be……”
“……?”
“The Blood-Sky Ghost King (血天鬼王).…… Lee Rowoon?”
……?
I blinked.
What? You know me?