What Alfred handed me was a shortsword in its scabbard. No gaudy decorations, but the feel and weight make it clear this is a finely crafted blade.
I drew it. It’s real.
“A graduation present from me, and proof that you have fully learned. Please accept it.”
“Heh, I’ll take it.”
I stowed the shortsword in my lapel.
Alfred, thank you so much. I was able to make it here thanks to you.
“Well then, please give my regards to your father and mother.”
“I will. See you, Alfred.”
“Yes. Good luck, Master Luke.”
“Right. Let’s go, Alice.”
“Yes, let’s stick together forever.”
Well, what about…? Yes…
Come on, let’s go. We don’t want to be late.
“Yeah–huh?”
There were a few things I wanted to say, but I passed through the front gate into the academy grounds.
I head straight for the school building. As soon as I go up to the second floor, I see the classroom so I walk over.
I grab the door handle, pause for a bit, then slowly open it.
The moment I opened the classroom door, several gazes pierced me. There were around thirty people in the classroom.
Understandably, everyone was wearing the same uniform as me and Alice. The oversized classroom with its long tables and chairs gives a somewhat warped impression for this number of students.
Everyone was spending time as they pleased.
A sleeping girl.
A boy reading a book.
A nasty looking guy with his feet on a desk glaring at me for some reason.
A restless girl glancing around.
A composed man staring intently at one spot, completely ignoring us.
A creepy looking man with a faint smile.
A girl glaring at me, or rather, Alice.
And,
“It’s Master Luke!! So you really did pass!!”
This loudmouth came right up to me.
“Who’re you?”
“Eh!?”
No really, who is he? If I’ve met him before yet don’t remember, he must be utterly unimportant.
“I…I’m so sorry!! Let me introduce myself properly. Hugo van Normandy, second son of the Normandy viscounts. I’m very sorry for blocking your way during the entrance exam!”
“Oh…”
Now I remember. This guy, he got involved with Abel during the exam.
In other words…he passed?
I thought mob characters who antagonize the protagonist would fail for sure.
“So Hugo, where’s my seat?”
“Yes!! Since there are no assigned seats, anywhere should be fine!”
“I see.”
…So loud. Since we’ll be classmates from now on, I already don’t like this guy.
No wait. Given his position, wouldn’t this guy become one of my lackeys?
Villainous nobles have those kinds of hangers-on right? That’d be awful, I should avoid getting involved with him if possible.
It looks like Hugo greeted Alice too, but got utterly ignored.
He’s clearly dejected. I’m nicer than Alice since I at least responded.
For now, I’ll sit in the back. As I start walking–
“Yo, I’m Leonard Rin Welsleigh. Call me Leonard. Nice to meetcha, Luke.”
This time, the creepy looking man with the thin smile called out to me.
His “I can get along with anyone” smile is disturbing. It’s creepy.
“Oh.”
He held out his hand but I ignored it and just kept walking.
At least I responded, that’s better than nothing.
“You’re Alice, right? Nice to meet you.”
Does this guy remember everyone’s names? As I wondered that–
“Would you kindly not speak to me casually? To be frank, that overly familiar smile of yours makes me want to vomit.”
“….Eh?”
“….Eh?”
My voice overlapped with Leonard’s unintentionally.
Huh, is that really her character? Just looking at his face, I’d think he was a perfectly normal pretty boy but…that’s not the issue here.
Indeed, the classroom air completely froze. Please don’t demonstrate your ice powers in a place like this.
“S…sorry. I’ll apologize if I offended you.”
“Let’s go, Luke. I’d like to sit away from him if possible.”
“………”
“Oh…”
Just what exactly did he do? If I think about it calmly, wasn’t he simply greeting a classmate?
Dejected, he shuffles back to his seat. I can’t see his expression but his smile from earlier has surely vanished.
I do sympathize. But really, this is unfortunate. There’s nothing I can do.
I’ll leave him be for now. Still, I don’t get it. He was completely different when talking to me. I’ve become totally confused about Alice.
I thought she was just a pervert but apparently girls are much more complex creatures than I imagined.
A dense series of events has already transpired but somehow I was finally able to sit down.
Alice sits beside me as a matter of course. I am curious why she acted like that but now isn’t the time to ask.
The classroom is too quiet, everyone will hear…this is also Alice’s fault.
“It’s been a while, since the entrance exam.”
However, the silence was broken.
To be honest, I’m already quite tired.
I look with a fed up feeling and it’s the girl who was glaring at Alice.
No, I know her–the Lestrange family’s third daughter. I met her once at a party.
“Oh my, who might you be?”
“It’s Mia!! You know that!!”
“Hmm, was there someone like that?”
“There was!!
…… What is it with these people? Loud, noisy.
///
scene transition
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
///
“It’s been a while, Luke.”
“Yeah.”
It seems she remembers me too.
“Now that we’ve greeted each other, why don’t you hurry back to your seat? Hearing your shrill voice is giving me a headache.”
“What did you say!?”
I’m not supporting her shoulders or anything, but her voice is loud.
Not especially loud, but combined with the volume, it’s quite irritating.
“I’m glad Alice made it… Don’t let passing me by luck during the entrance exam go to your head, okay?”
“Oh my, did I fight you? Sorry, I don’t really remember. You were nothing special.”
“──! Don’t say something you’ll regret!”
With that, Mia went back to her seat.
If I remember right, Mia awakened three attributes, she’s a prodigy.
So you beat her, Alice. Well, I’m not that surprised.
…Really, what is with these girls?
She’s making enemies faster than me. While I can’t criticize others, it might be better if she stops…though I really can’t criticize others.
As I was thinking that, the door flung open energetically.
“I made it in time!”
“Wait up, Lily! You shouldn’t run!”
──The protagonist makes his entrance.
“…………”
“…………”
And silence.
Of course, the classroom air froze.
“Let’s sit down somewhere, Abel…”
“Y…yeah.”
Abel scurries to a seat with his posture lowered.
Seeing him again now, he really is a completely ordinary looking guy.
Well, that’s exactly why he’s creepy though.
As Abel and Lily sit down, a bell rings in the distance.
“Looks like everyone’s here,” a woman says as she enters, as if responding to the bell.
“I’ll be in charge of first years. Call me Freya. Pleased to work with you.”
No one responds to her voice. The classroom remains frozen.
However, the woman calling herself Freya doesn’t seem to mind at all.
“You were accepted into this academy. You know about the existence of the [Rankings], right? To get right into it, I’ll announce your current [Rankings]. Confirm them.”
Without a chance to raise any questions, it was disclosed.
- Luke
- Alice
- Mia
- Lloyd
- Lily
- Leonard
- Citrica
…
…
- Hugo
- Abel
“What!? I’m thirty-ninth!? I don’t accept this!”
“Quiet down. I’m still explaining.”
Only one person raises their voice, but others likely have complaints about their rankings too.
This is the result judged comprehensively from the magical power measured during the entrance exam, the magical power available, and the results of both written and practical tests. Well, this is just the ranking for your first year. Now, let me show you the true rankings for the entire academy. This is the real ranking.”
And then, what was displayed was the fact that I was only ranked fortieth from the bottom.
My overall ranking for the entire academy was eighty-first. There were many names listed above me.
Beside some of those names were (2) or (3), so they were probably upperclassmen.
What’s interesting is that beside the name at the very top, it said (2). In other words, the first-ranked person is probably a second-year student. ── I have a strange feeling about this name “Eleonora”… Hmm, I can’t quite remember.
I wasn’t surprised or pleased to be ranked first in my year.
I just felt it was natural. There was nothing more to it.
What stood out to me, however, was that Abel was ranked at the very bottom.
“It’s determined by your differences in ability. The ‘ranking’ is everything in this academy. In other words, it’s your ‘worth.’ I’m going to distribute materials that show the classes available each day of the week, but you’re free to choose which ones you want to take. There are a few compulsory ones, of course. You can also use all of the school’s facilities. You can even ask individual instructors for help. Each of you should decide what you think is necessary to raise your ‘ranking.'”
…What is this? I can’t help but feel like I’ve entered an incredibly strange academy, but oh well.
I looked through the materials that were distributed. They showed the class schedules and the assigned instructors for each day of the week… Huh?
There’s something odd here. Amelia’s name is on it.
She’s in charge of a class called “[Elemental Magic Studies – Applied].”
“Well, if I have any advice to give, it would be to take ‘Magic Tool Studies.’ I’ll explain later, but in the ‘Ranking Battles’ that will happen, you can only bring magic tools you’ve created yourself.”
I see.
You’re free to choose anything. It’s all about raising your ‘ranking.’
Certainly, it’s a complete meritocracy.
“Now, let me explain about the ‘Ranking Battles.’ Well, it’s not complicated. To put it simply, it’s a magical mock battle for raising your ‘ranking.’ You can read more details in the materials I’m about to distribute. The benefits of raising your ‘ranking’ are also listed there.”
And then, the distributed materials.
When I read through them, I found the following:
+++++++++++++++++++++++
- Rankings are made public to the citizens.
- Citizens are allowed to watch the Ranking Battles.
- Ranking Battles are only valid if a lower-ranked person challenges a higher-ranked person.
- Those ranked more than ten places above their own cannot be challenged.
- If a lower-ranked person wins a Ranking Battle, they can obtain the defeated higher-ranked person’s rank.
- The loser of a Ranking Battle will drop one rank.
- Those challenged in a Ranking Battle are generally unable to refuse (except for unavoidable circumstances like injuries or poor health).
- The winner of a Ranking Battle cannot be challenged for one week from that day.
- The loser of a Ranking Battle cannot participate in Ranking Battles for one month.
- If the same person loses three times, they cannot be challenged in Ranking Battles for the rest of the year.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
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