Chapter 15
The seats occupied by the judges and guild scouts fell into confusion.
It was only natural. The two cadets everyone had expected to win had been thoroughly defeated.
"For the heir of one of the Four Great Families to lose to someone with a talent like that..."
"Could that talent actually be incredible in some way we don't know about?"
"There's no way a talent like Cleaning could give someone that kind of strength, is there?"
"More importantly, who is that boy who defeated Cadet Rael, who has the Blessing of the Spear God? Is it even possible for a talent like Weapon Refinement to surpass the Blessing of the Spear God?"
Amid everyone's confusion, one person was calmly analyzing the situation.
That was Karen, vice guildmaster of the Prion Guild and the wielder of the powerful talent 'Ice and Snow.'
'Something's strange about Cadet Roben's swordsmanship. He didn't just deflect all of Rael's attacks; he even counterattacked. Could that really be possible with nothing more than a talent like Weapon Refinement?'
It was only natural for her to have doubts.
After all, Roben had defeated Rael, a prodigy and the Martial God's son, without a single scratch.
He was sure to claim first place at this Academy.
And that meant he was a talent she absolutely had to recruit.
"Vice Guildmaster."
"What is it?"
"Here's the report on that boy."
Karen carefully read through the investigation report her secretary had brought.
So intently that she nearly poked a hole through the paper.
"So he was close to my little sister."
"That's right."
"But how did I not know about him until now?
"It seems Lady Agnes deliberately kept him out of the public eye."
"Agnes?"
She didn't know why her little sister had kept him hidden, but things had actually worked out in her favor.
She now had a chance to recruit the boy into her guild through her little sister.
"Get in touch with the Guildmaster. Tell him I have something to discuss right now."
"Understood."
***
After that whole series of events, I headed to the dormitory provided by the Academy.
Most cadets came from far away, so the Academy provided them with dormitories.
The dormitory I'd been assigned to was in the east.
It was where all the other supporting characters, including the protagonist and Rael, were gathered.
I hadn't been assigned here by chance.
The Duke had arranged for me to be assigned here to protect and keep an eye on Rael.
The inside of the dormitory was cleaner and more comfortable than I'd expected.
It was nothing like the villa I'd lived in before.
I unpacked all my things and took out the transparent orb, setting it on the desk.
"How did I turn this on again?"
I'm sure someone had told me how to turn the orb on, but why couldn't I remember?
After I tapped it a few times, a light shone from the orb, and a voice came out.
"So, you've arrived."
"Yes."
"How did the sparring match turn out?"
"The young duke lost."
"Who was it?"
"A cadet named Roben Darius."
"...Keep an eye on him, too. Report every detail to me."
"Yes."
Once my brief conversation with the Duke ended, the orb lost its light and turned back into an ordinary orb.
Everyone already knew what had happened, so it didn't really matter if I talked about it. But how should I handle the surveillance and reports on Roben?
Well, I hadn't made a soul contract with the Duke, so I could just mix in a few lies when I reported back.
If he found out, I'd just pretend I didn't know anything.
"I think I'll sleep for a bit."
I had no plans for today.
The entrance ceremony was over, and so were all the freshman sparring matches, so all I had to do was check the rankings and class assignments tomorrow.
.
.
.
After sleeping soundly, I headed to the Academy's central building the next day to check the class assignments and rankings.
For some reason, the term "main building" put me off, but that wasn't important right now.
A crowd of cadets had gathered in front of the notice board listing the class assignments and rankings.
When I checked my rank and class, I found that my rank was listed as the lowest and, of all things, I'd been assigned to the same Class A as Rael.
"Damn it."
I couldn't skip the first class just because I didn't like that guy, so I headed to Class A feeling like I was choking down stinky tofu through my tears.
When I opened the door and went in, Rael was there, along with Roben, Agnes, and Cecilia.
And even Herman, who I'd punched in the face and sent flying yesterday.
What a godawful combination.
"What the hell do you think you're doing showing your face here, you bitch!"
"Are you daring to cause a disturbance during the first class?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm the instructor in charge of Class A. Do you have a problem with that?"
"....I'm sorry."
"Anyone who causes a disturbance in this class will be expelled. Understood?"
"Understood!"
"Good. Then I'll give you a brief explanation before we begin class."
The instructor stopped Herman, who had grabbed me by the collar, pulled him away from me, and began explaining.
His explanation didn't last very long.
All he did was explain the Academy's rules and the layout of the buildings.
As soon as he finished explaining, the instructor led all the cadets outside.
He led us to the front of a massive warehouse.
"You will now choose the weapons you'll be using. Once you've chosen a weapon, you absolutely cannot change it, so choose carefully."
When the warehouse doors opened, countless weapons greeted us along with a cloud of dust.
In this world, weapons are quite significant.
You can only bring out your full potential if you use a weapon suited to your talent.
For example, Roben uses a sword, that trash uses a spear, and Agnes, oddly enough, uses a staff.
When I first read the novel, I thought she used her talent through her staff, but I saw for myself in the battle that followed.
The scene where something that should never have stained a staff ended up staining hers.
On top of that, weapons are divided into Normal, Rare, Unique, and Epic grades.
The higher the grade, the more durable the weapon is and the more special abilities it has.
Cecilia already had an Epic-grade weapon, so she didn't pay any attention to the weapons here and kept staring at the back of my head.
Anyway, I had to choose a weapon too. What should I pick?
I had to choose carefully. I couldn't go around the Academy in a maid uniform and attract everyone's attention.
Come to think of it, having subspace really had been convenient.
I could just put any weapon in there and pull it out depending on the situation.
"You have ten minutes left."
Rushed by the instructor, I hurriedly picked up the weapon I was most familiar with and liked best: an axe.
Well, it was my dream weapon, too.
"Looks like everyone's chosen."
Once all the students in Class A had chosen their weapons, we returned to the classroom and began the lesson.
The first class ended after a basic introduction to monsters and an explanation of how training would work.
I already knew it all, so I let it go in one ear and out the other.
By the time class ended, the sky had already grown dark, so I went straight back to the dormitory to sleep.
The Academy's second morning arrived, as expected...
"Today, we'll be doing practical training. The groups have already been assigned, so check the list."
Hoping I'd be in the same group as the protagonist, I went over to look at the assignments and saw a familiar name beside mine.
[Serena, Cecilia, Dave, Farrell]
I hadn't expected to end up in the same group as a regressor, but with Cecilia there, this training should be a breeze.
And this would be a good chance to see if she'd checked the contents of the paper she gave me back then.
"This training will count toward your grades, so give it your all."
"When do we start?"
"We leave in two hours."
When the instructor left the classroom, each group gathered to discuss things, and ours was no exception.
"Shall we start by introducing ourselves? My name is Farrell. My talent is Light Bullet."
"I'm Dave. My talent is Great Strength."
"I'm Cecilia. I'm sure you already know my talent."
Since the other three had all introduced themselves and their talents, I guess it was my turn now.
But how should I put this?
Looking at those two, they seemed not to know what my talent was.
"My name is Serena. My talent is Cleaning."
"...Cleaning?"
"That's your talent?"
"Yes."
Don't stare at me like that, you kids.
I didn't expect to end up with a talent like this, either.
The group was very well-balanced, even without me.
We had a tank, a ranged damage dealer, and an incredibly powerful melee damage dealer.
Cecilia could probably kill most monsters on her own, but this was a test of the whole group's cooperation, so we couldn't let her do that.
If it came to it, I could fight in my maid uniform.
Sure enough, our group was arranged exactly as I expected.
Cecilia was our main fighter, Dave was the tank, and Farrell was in charge of ranged attacks.
I was just assigned the role of drawing aggro.
If Rael had been here, he probably would've told me to clean the classroom, so maybe this was a blessing in disguise.
"You. When this training is over, I want to talk to you."
"All right."
"I'll wait at the main gate."
It seemed Cecilia had read the contents of the paper she'd given me back then.
From the looks of it, she'd already checked it, so I had a lot to do today.