episode_0009

Everything begins with a general education lecture.

This lecture, which has a name that is quite boring at first glance, ‘Nature and Folk Religion’, is as boring as it is perceived to be, but it can be said to be a fairly good lecture in that there are no special assignments.

As I listened to what the professor was talking about, I found it quite interesting, so I was internally satisfied with my choice of this lecture.

But, that ended today.

To be precise, the evaluation ended the moment the professor assigned the group assignment.

In fact, the group assignment itself is just annoying and not a big problem.

Moreover, the number of people in this group task is two per group. Even if I were to be in the same group as the villain, I would have been able to do it on my own if I had to endure a little trouble.

The problem was my group.

“Well, thank you… … .”

By being paired with this girl, my feelings toward the professor became nothing but hatred.

‘Why… … .’

I ended up in the same group as the group I wanted to avoid the most.

If we had more team members, we would have been able to reduce contact points as much as possible. But since the two of us were in a group, that wasn’t possible.

“… Thank you very much.”

I sighed inwardly, suppressing my desire to escape at any moment.

***

All my worries were for naught, and the collaboration with the girl proceeded without any problems as expected.

No, that might also be natural. The reason I didn’t try to make contact with this girl in the first place wasn’t because she had a weird personality.

‘I can’t help it.’

This is why we decided to just quickly finish the assignment and make our relationship ‘just a moment of being members of the same group’.

Of course, it was inevitable that we would meet more as we worked together on assignments, but we decided to compress the process as much as possible.

“Woman, here is the data I have been researching… … .”

“Well, the way to do that part is like this… … .”

“Then I will do the next part… … .”

Fortunately, every time we met, the girl seemed nervous but cooperated faithfully with the assignment, and thanks to this, the assignment progressed faster than expected.

Even though I can clearly see that he is having a hard time with me, his actions are extremely sincere.

Although he is an aristocrat, he is a commoner, so he always uses respectful language towards me and is always polite to me.

If you only look at this, she is a truly harmless girl.

The fact that his personality is quite passive may be a flaw, but when combined with his cute appearance like a small animal, it’s hard to call it a flaw.

Like this, why was I reluctant to get involved with her even though she was a girl with no personality?

The reason is simple.

This is because the girl, Aira Librion, is the first enemy character to appear in the original work, ‘Ferdion Academy.’

***

Ira Librion.

A girl with unwavering top-level skills among the combat department where talented individuals from all over the continent gather.

That in itself is worthy of being talked about by students at the academy, but she has more fame than just her skills.

Not for herself, but for her father.

About 10 years ago, when the war between humans and monsters was intensifying.

While most of the battle was taking place on the front lines, a group of monsters broke away from the front lines and began moving south.

This itself was a frequent occurrence, but the level of the group was different from usual.

Because it was a group that included disaster-level monsters that could shake a country with just one individual.

At the time, most of humanity’s power was tied to the front lines, so there was no one to stop the horde’s advance.

Some brave people tried to stand in their way, but all they did was increase the number of victims.

At a time when damage was piling up on a group of monsters.

A man suddenly appears, kills a disaster-level monster, and defeats the group.

In return, the man loses his life, but in honor of his feat, the people give him the title ‘Guardian Knight’.

And the daughter of that guardian knight, Gael Librion, is Ira Librion.

The daughter of such a person entered the academy, but how could it not attract attention?

Many people had high expectations for Aira’s skills, and Aira proudly took the top rank in the combat department and lived up to their expectations.

An outstanding background, excellent skills, good looks, and a somewhat timid but sincere and kind personality.

Aira Librion, who possessed all of these elements, became so famous that no one who was a student of the combat department knew about her.

Even if you search the entire academy, there will probably be more people who know than there are people who don’t.

She is such a perfect character that only appears in stories, but unfortunately, she was not the main character in the novel.

In the original work, she appears as an enemy rather than the main character.

She first appears in the novel during a tournament that takes place in the middle of the first semester.

Aira Librion, who appears for the first time there, is defeated by Cedric, a student of the Sword Saint and one of the male protagonists.

Because there is little description of her, she appears to be an extra character who does not appear again, but she appears again shortly after.

Under the control of the parasitic monster, ‘Demon Sword’.

Ira, dominated by the power of the magic sword, dungeons one of the academy’s buildings, and many people become trapped inside the dungeonized building. Also, the main character, Mary.

Mary goes through the dungeon with Alexis and Cedric, who were in the same place at the time, and after going through all sorts of hardships, they eventually overcome Aira, who was controlled by the demon sword, the center at the end of the dungeon, and put an end to the commotion.

In this process, Cedric develops a crush on Mary.

For this reason, I tried not to have any contact with her.

She is the first enemy to appear in the original work, and she is the factor that creates the episode in itself.

Although there is already a history of intervention to save Rachel, the case of Rachel and Ira is different.

Rachel is an extra who wasn’t even named properly in the original to begin with.

‘We really shouldn’t intervene this time.’

This time, I will really stay still. I promised that.

***

And another few days passed.

“We will be sparring today.”

The voice of Combat Department Professor Urt echoed throughout the hall.

And the students’ reaction upon hearing this was calmer than expected.

Now that some time has passed since they entered school, they have become accustomed to academy life.

The academy places great importance on sparring in its curriculum, and because of that, sparring is held quite frequently, so it is not a new thing.

“Then I will announce the matchup.”

I started to warm up moderately, thinking that I should look at my opponent and adjust accordingly.

“Cedric Allenhart, and Ira Librion.”

And the moment I heard Urt’s next words, my movement stopped.

At the same time, the surrounding atmosphere also became chaotic.

As such, the names that came out this time were a match that was bound to attract attention.

Cedric Allenhart. A student of the Sword Saint and a genius who has shown overwhelming skills since entering school.

And Aira Librion, a warrior with a reputation that is second to none as a swordsman, the daughter of a guardian knight, and another genius who is evaluated as well as Cedric.

It is inevitable that attention will not be drawn to the two most famous in the combat department as they spar.

But it wasn’t just for that reason that I was surprised.

‘… The future has changed… .’

In the original work, the sparring between the two takes place later than now.

And as it was mentioned at the time, that was their first sparring.

In other words, this was different from the flow of the original.

‘Why?’

The reason I can immediately guess is my intervention during the last practice.

‘No, that’s not it.’

Obviously, Rachel’s fate is different from the original, but it is not a situation where her presence can have any influence. Because she has nothing to do with the combat department.

‘The exact reason is unknown. but… … .’

I thought there was a high probability that it had something to do with me.

Because nothing has changed except me.

‘There are parts that make me guess… … .’

Sparring basically takes place in turns, but there are certain selection criteria.

I wonder if my existence had an influence there somehow.

If you just think about it, something that didn’t exist in the original story suddenly appeared.

‘But this much is okay.’

I felt uneasy because of the variables that had arisen, but I tried to calm myself down.

It wasn’t a big variable, and their sparring was something that would happen someday.

“… Are both sides ready?”

“Yes.”

“… Yes.”

At Professor Urt’s confirmation, Cedric calmly nodded, and Aira nodded with a nervous look on her face.

After seeing the two’s reactions, Urt took a step back.

“Then, let’s begin.”

And at the same time as Urt’s signal went off.

Shoo!

Cedric quickly ran forward.

“… … !”

Aira looked up and swung her sword, predicting Cedric’s path.

The prediction itself was quite appropriate; if things continued like this, it looked like Cedric would be cut by Aira’s sword.

However, that didn’t happen.

Kang!

An ear-piercing metallic sound rang out, and Aira’s sword flew outward.

“Intake… … !”

Aira hastily adjusted her posture and, having already managed to control her shock, dodged Cedric’s sword stabbing towards her by taking a wide diagonal step back.

However, Cedric was not the one who would watch that scene obediently.

Sigh─

Cedric’s sword changed its trajectory midway, and swung with fierce force towards Aira, who had just dodged the attack, with the same momentum as the thrust.

Aira’s eyes widened at the strange trajectory, but she did not just suffer.

He had already recovered from the shock and swung the sword as it was.

Judging from the swinging posture and the momentum, it seemed to be an attack with all its might, filled with a lot of magical energy.

The force was quite fierce, and it seemed difficult for even Cedric to respond calmly.

however.

Kang!

Cedric managed to block Aira’s attack with all his might.

It didn’t stop there, and they started to attack Aira in reverse.

Aira began to repel Cedric’s attacks, but Cedric was in charge.

After a series of attacks and defenses that were far beyond the level of ordinary combat students.

Sigh─

Cedric’s sword was draped in front of Ira’s neck.

“… … .”

“Stop. Sparring is Cedric Allenhart’s victory.”

In the end, it was Cedric who won.

“… … .”

Cedric put away his sword and returned to his seat with an indifferent expression.

There wasn’t even a hint of happiness on his face.

“… … .”

Aira, who looked down at the sword blankly for a moment, collected her sword and came down from the sparring hall.

“Wow… Both of them are really no joke. If it were me, I think I would have lasted 5 seconds.”

“But it seems like it ended easier than I thought? After all, even if it’s a child, isn’t it okay for Cedric?”

Ira was seen among the students whispering.

His expression was the same as usual, but his eyes didn’t seem that bright.