Chapter 17: Tension in the Classroom

Five Hero Candidates and four Saint Candidates.

Even just those nine alone would be enough to run some classes —if this were a tutoring center or a private school.

But the total student population of Lionheart Academy was about two thousand.

Divided over three years, that meant over six hundred students per year.

Even if many students were siphoned off into specialized courses based on their talents, there would always be required classes everyone had to take.

Assigning a professor to just nine students would be an absurd waste of resources.

So the Academy’s solution was to group the Hero and Saint candidates, plus their party members, into the same classes.

Some, like me, had been adventurers before enrolling.

Nobles, on the other hand, often entered the Academy accompanied by their retainers.

Even if nothing had been formally decided yet, there were people already considered likely party members.

Originally, I only had Siwoo.

And now…

Resting my chin in my hand at the very front of the wide classroom, I glanced to the side.

There sat Siwoo, Chloe, Sasha, and Narya —each of them practically radiating nervous excitement from their faces.

The classroom was a modern lecture hall, built like a small stadium: rows ascending toward the back, so everyone had a clear view of the instructor.

The desks were arranged in neat rows.

Turning my eyes to the other side, I caught sight of another Hero Candidate sitting a short distance away.

A girl with neatly tied-back purple hair and an extremely diligent aura.

Rebecca Arnburrow.

Born with a three-star rating.

Tank-specialized.

She had all kinds of taunt and self-defense buffs —and her active skill was an AoE (area of effect) party-wide physical defense boost for a set duration.

She was the type who could prevent a party wipe by timing that skill right during enemy-wide attacks.

In other words, a must-have for clan wars.

If you didn’t pull her at the start of the game, some clans wouldn’t even accept you.

A so-called “citizenship” character.

When I saw her yesterday, she seemed intimidating — probably because she was wearing heavy plate armor.

In the blue school uniform she wore now, her impression was much softer.

Although she still seemed a little strict.

Why is she staring at me so hard?

I wondered.

“Hm? Oh,” she said, tilting her head slightly toward me as if noticing my gaze.

“Ah, no… it’s nothing. You’re just sitting close by, that’s all,” I answered hastily.

Only after I spoke did I remember: she was Lady Rebecca Arnburrow.

Even if the Academy officially treated all students equally, it was odd that nobles didn’t kick up more of a fuss about it.

Imagine peasants who had just been addressing you with utmost respect suddenly talking casually, acting like old friends—

“Is that so,” she replied simply.

Lady Arnburrow didn’t seem particularly offended.

Rebecca simply shrugged her shoulders and slightly turned toward me, extending her hand.

“I’m Rebecca, eldest daughter of the Duke of Arnburrow.”

I hesitated a little, then lightly took her hand.

It felt rougher than I had expected.

“I’m Lila—ah.”

As I was introducing myself, Rebecca’s grip subtly tightened.

It wasn’t the kind of force meant to challenge me — it felt more like she was trying to confirm something, rather than just holding my hand.

Almost as if she were examining it.

“Hm.”

A slow, satisfied smile spread across her face.

Wait… is she secretly a pervert?

Into, like… hand-touching?

(That’d be a twist.)

“Your hand is a swordsman’s hand,” she said.

“Not just someone who’s trained, but someone who’s been through real battles.”

She flipped my hand over, palm down, and inspected the back.

“Several small scars too. You’ve been in real combat, haven’t you?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it serious combat exactly… but I was an adventurer, so.”

“I see.”

Nodding to herself, looking entirely convinced, Rebecca finally released my hand.

“So, those companions sitting beside you — are they all people you met during your adventurer days?”

“Uh, no, not exactly.”

Technically speaking, we were still registered as adventurers, so the answer could’ve been yes —but even I could tell that wasn’t really the point of her question.

“We picked up a few new allies on the way to the Academy,” I explained.

“But Siwoo — he’s been with me from the start.”

I leaned back slightly and gestured toward Siwoo.

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed a little.

Yeah, he’s handsome, right?

Definitely the kind of look girls would fall for.

While I was feeling an inexplicable sense of pride, Siwoo gave an awkward little smile and introduced himself.

“I’m Lee Siwoo. Let’s get along.”

“Your name is a little unusual,” Rebecca commented, but thankfully, she didn’t press for details.

Back in the village, I’d gotten so tired of explaining it over and over.

“By the way, don’t you have any party members?”

“I do.”

Even if you’re not an adventurer, if you’re a “Hero Candidate,” you still need to have party members, just in case.

But when I mentioned my party, Rebecca acknowledged it but made a face that clearly suggested she wasn’t entirely happy about it.

Before I could even ask why—

Bang!

“Ah, shi—”

I almost cursed out loud, but I quickly held it in.

I couldn’t just swear in front of a noble, after all.

“Hey, Hero.”

A very, very obnoxious voice called out to me.

The person who slammed their hand onto my desk was one of the other Hero Candidates I’d seen yesterday — Cindy, the eldest daughter of the Blackwood Marquis.

She was also born with a 3-star status, just like Rebecca Arnburrow.

A front-line physical damage dealer.

Her defense was a bit low, but she had solid agility and was known for her high physical damage from basic attacks.

Her active skill was a broken ability that ignored the enemy’s defense and dealt a fixed amount of damage over time.

She was a regular character in the story, but a limited gacha pull — one of the very first limited characters released, so mandatory for rerolling.

People often referred to her as a “must-have” character since she was used everywhere — story regions, guild wars, you name it.

Her beast-like eyes made her look frightening as she glared at me.

And that characteristic grin, revealing her sharp canine teeth, only made her look even scarier.

Even so, her beauty was one of the reasons she was so popular.

She had her school uniform unbuttoned in a slightly revealing way, but it didn’t look provocative so much as it looked wild.

And she had four wolf beastkin companions with her, all exuding the same “rebellious” aura.

“Lila, was it? Are you good at fighting?”

She asked without even introducing herself properly, which was impressive in its own right.

I’ve never fought a person before, I thought.

“Well, if you mean monsters, yeah, I’ve fought a few.”

Her eyes narrowed with curiosity.

But if I answered this too confidently, I might find myself on the rooftop during break time.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound.

“Aang!?”

Sasha leapt to her feet, clearly annoyed by Cindy’s challenging tone.

Wait, Aang?

I was willing to brush it off — it’s just a character from a Japanese game, so it makes sense.

Still, her way of speaking is a bit much.

“What’s your problem?”

“I… I… what?”

Sasha was about to answer but then paused.

“What am I?” she muttered in frustration.

Right.

We hadn’t even figured out our positions yet.

“My party member,” I answered firmly, and once again, Cindy’s attention shifted back to me.

“Ah, I see. Loyalty, huh?”

Why does she seem so pleased about this?

What is she, some kind of mafia boss?

“Anyway, you’re the only Hero Candidate who’s drawn the Holy Sword, right? I’d like to face you in a duel sometime. Preferably as soon as possible.”

Didn’t those two phrases—“sometime” and “as soon as possible”—seem a bit mismatched?

Also, why challenge someone holding the Holy Sword to a duel?

Aren’t you supposed to be a Hero Candidate?

Isn’t fighting a Hero kind of off-limits?

Not to mention, this isn’t the Demon King’s army we’re talking about.

“Lady Blackwood, don’t you think it’s a bit rude to request a duel like that, especially when we’ve just met?”

Rebecca Arnburrow, who was sitting next to me, asked, her voice calm but with an edge to it.

At that, Lady Blackwood’s expression soured immediately.

“Go away if you’re going to act like a well-mannered lady.”

…What’s with this sharp reaction?

But before I could say anything, the door to the classroom opened again.

“Well, well, well.”

And then came a voice that immediately made my blood boil.

Honestly, it seems like this person has some sort of special ability to get under people’s skin without even trying.

I turned toward the voice, and once again, it was one of the Hero Candidates, the First Prince, casually strolling into the room.

He was leading a group of knights.

That’s right.

Knights.

They weren’t students in school uniforms, but knights in armor, with their gear slightly simplified, but still clearly dressed in full knightly armor.

“It’s an honor to meet such beautiful ladies first thing in the morning.”

What the hell is this?

For the record, the Prince doesn’t have any special titles like a star rating.

Whether it’s a character from a gacha pull, one you get through the story, or a distribution character, they’re all female characters.

The only male characters are ones that briefly appear in the story.

And, by the way, this Prince is a fake Hero Candidate, a role created just to serve as a punching bag in the story.

As soon as he said that, both Lady Blackwood and Rebecca Arnburrow simultaneously made disgusted faces.

I probably had the same expression, too.