Ch.7Class Placement Exam (2)

Here, an utterly ordinary black-haired man stands without any distinguishing features.

His name is Justin.

True to his name, which sounds like it should belong to someone righteous, that’s exactly the kind of personality he has.

He refuses to tolerate injustice and recklessly charges headfirst at anyone he deems villainous.

And it works for him. Because he’s the protagonist.

‘Should I just fail him?’

Living in the medieval era for a year has taught me that people are more primitive than I expected.

Virtues that modern people would consider basic are called “noble behavior” here.

I can’t help but frown when I’m around people who stink because they don’t bathe, and I don’t even want to speak with those empty-headed fools.

And typically, such traits are heavily influenced by environment, so commoners inevitably show these characteristics.

Honestly, Ruide wasn’t confident he could avoid becoming the protagonist’s target.

He already looks filthy, like dirt is falling off him.

‘…No. If I accidentally get on his bad side, it’ll be troublesome. The best strategy here is to stay quiet.’

There’s an old saying that if you stay still, you’ll at least be average. Ruide decided to trust his ancestors’ wisdom.

“Sophia, why are you…?”

“Hersy, you too…?”

The two awkwardly stared at each other for a moment, then changed their tone when they noticed strangers behind each other.

“Who are they…?”

Two people stood nervously behind Sophia. Sophia introduced them with a bright smile.

“I’ve agreed to form a party with them.”

“Ah, I… see.”

Hersy was a bit puzzled. Their faces were unfamiliar. They clearly weren’t from prestigious families…

“Your name?”

“I’m Justin.”

‘A commoner?’

Not revealing his family name meant he was a commoner.

Hersy’s brow furrowed, not out of dislike but confusion. It made no sense for Sophia to form a party with them.

Next, she turned her gaze to the woman. A fierce-looking red-haired woman answered while turning her head away.

“…Catherine Ovillion.”

‘Oh, Ovillion?’

This time she was surprised for a different reason. The Ovillion family were founding contributors to the nation. However, they were expelled from the main noble houses long ago after being caught using filthy black magic. They were ranked zero on the list of nobles that other nobles despised.

‘Not just a commoner, but a villain* too? Has she lost her mind?’

*villain – meaning vile, base, etc. Also used to disparage commoners.

Sophia was a childhood friend. Their relationship went back quite far.

Hersy worried about Sophia. It was obvious that rumors would spread if the daughter of Marquis Spencer associated with such people.

“Sophia. What are you…”

Hersy was about to tell Sophia to disband the party immediately. But Ruide intervened.

“Whatever it is, move along. This is our spot.”

‘My life.’

The plan to stay quiet was scrapped. Because of reason #2: ‘Prevent Hersy’s misfortune.’

“And if I refuse?”

It was Catherine who answered. She didn’t like Ruide’s domineering attitude.

‘What a pain.’

Ruide sighed first. But if he started something, he had to finish it.

“Then you’ll become the fastest eliminated participants.”

“Heh, so confident? But in my experience, men who talk like that rarely have the skills to back it up.”

Catherine drew her staff and pointed it at Ruide.

This was foolishness born of ignorance. Anyone who knew even a little about Ruide would never act this way, but that required actually knowing him.

Information about Ruide wasn’t common knowledge unless you were part of the “mainstream nobility.” Catherine, coming from a distant rural territory, was a frog in a well.

She had no way of knowing about Ruide, the lazy genius.

“Ahaha, I’m late with introductions. Pleased to meet you, Young Master Ruide. I’m Sophia Spencer.”

Sophia made a slight curtsy gesture. She gave a subtle hint, realizing they might not know who Ruide was.

But Catherine had the kind of spirit that made her think “so what?” when facing authority figures. Her staff moved to an even more aggressive position.

‘This works out better, actually.’

Ruide was actually waiting for magic to come from that staff.

No, he could use this as an excuse to eliminate them.

After all, the early elimination of this trio was already predetermined. Ruide folded his arms.

“I clearly warned you. Since you won’t listen, I have no choice but to eliminate you. Don’t blame me too much…”

Just as he finished speaking, he was about to tear apart their armbands when—

“Haha, what a cute kid!”

“…?”

It was Justin. He was quite tall, and he bent down to meet Ruide’s eye level.

“But disrespecting people isn’t good behavior. Shouldn’t you apologize?”

‘Come to think of it, I was being too lenient. I could just kill him???’

Ruide was genuinely angered at being treated like a child.

“How dare you.”

At that moment, Hersy swung her staff.

“Ugh!”

A wave of magical force pushed Justin away. He fell down ungracefully. Hersy’s staff glowed golden.

“You commoner, how dare you interrupt the young master?”

Hersy looked down at Justin like she was looking at an insect. Pointing her staff, she shouted:

“Apologize for your rudeness immediately!”

“Wind!”

Catherine narrowed her eyes and swung her staff.

“What outdated spell magic is that?”

“…!”

However, it was easily neutralized by Hersy’s simple dispel magic.

“What era do you think this is? I see villains still use such outdated magic methods?”

Spell magic refers to the practice of casting magic by chanting out loud.

It was a method popular a hundred years ago, now considered old-fashioned by modern mages.

“What did you just say…!”

“Ha, seems your ears need cleaning too. I said villain, you damned woman. What are you going to do about it?”

Hersy was the epitome of nobility.

‘She’s so damn cool.’

Ruide couldn’t agree more.

A villainess?

Having her on his side couldn’t be more reassuring.

“The Academy is quite something. Normally you wouldn’t even dare make eye contact, yet you dare interrupt a noble, and not just any noble but a young master. If we’d met on the street, you’d have been summarily executed for insulting nobility. You know that?”

“…The Academy has no social hierarchy.”

Justin got up from where he had fallen.

His eyes were blazing with intensity.

“You might be right outside the Academy. But once you’re here, you’d better abandon that disgusting aristocratic mindset.”

“W-what? D-disgusting? You mongrel…!”

But this was going too far. While Ruide appreciated her anger on his behalf, at this rate things would proceed exactly as in the original story.

Ruide didn’t want Hersy’s life to spiral downward, especially since she was standing up for him.

And above all else.

“This is annoying.”

Crack—!

“……!”

The barriers of all three shattered simultaneously. Their armbands broke into pieces and scattered in the air.

A pure white light flowed from Ruide’s right hand. When he clenched his fist, the light disappeared.

‘Well, it can’t be helped.’

The protagonist’s group looked at their armbands in disbelief.

Seeing Justin’s dumbfounded expression made Ruide feel somewhat satisfied. It immediately made up for being treated like a child earlier.

‘Did you think I was avoiding you because I was afraid?’

His attempt to avoid conflict with the protagonist was purely—

Because it was annoying. Not because he was afraid.

He could handle it if he wanted to.

[Failed participants will be immediately transported to the outer area.]

Magical text floated in the air.

Ruide poked the dazed Hersy in the side and said:

“I’m hungry, let’s go get something to eat.”

**

“Oh, so that’s the famous Young Master Ruide.”

In the Academy’s reception hall.

Nemesis, who was observing the test in real-time, remarked with interest.

“Indeed, his skills are impressive.”

The professors were gathered for grading. While they were partly monitoring to ensure no students were cheating, their main purpose was to assess the level of new students.

“I understand now why the Chancellor granted him the right to skip classes.”

They were watching Ruide’s magic. Some replayed the scene, uttering exclamations like “wow” and “amazing.”

Magic barrier. It’s a routine that most mages perform first thing in the morning.

A barrier is one of the few sustained spells that can be used passively without interfering with “simultaneous casting.”

It’s both the simplest and most powerful. Breaking through requires several times more effort than maintaining one.

Yet Ruide destroyed the barriers with a single gesture. And not just one—three at once.

Moreover, he tore their armbands without casting any other visible magic afterward.

This meant that the entire process was just “one spell.” They couldn’t figure out how to counter such magic.

“How did he do that?”

“From what I can see, it’s force magic. Some kind of invisible attack. The barriers simply couldn’t withstand it and broke.”

“But there’s not a single injury? The strength of those three barriers must have differed, yet only the barriers broke.”

“No, he tore the armbands too. Judging by the form, it might be wind-based, perhaps with precise positional calculations.”

They were so captivated that they temporarily stopped watching other students, focusing solely on Ruide’s magic.

They had used so much mana on the crystal ball for replays that sweat was dripping from the heat it emitted.

“A genius truly is a genius…”

Clifford, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, stroked his beard of medium length. Though aged, his eyes remained fierce.

“However.”

He was still called a Grand Mage. Unlike Ruide, he was once known as “Clifford, the genius of effort.”

He was famous for compensating for his limited magical ability with “application” and “movement.”

“He’s arrogant.”

“Ahem, with skills like that, wouldn’t it be stranger if he weren’t arrogant?”

He harbored quite a dislike for Ruide.

He never liked “geniuses” to begin with, but the Phoenix incident a week ago was significant.

Phoenix was Clifford’s familiar. There’s a magic that allows sharing a familiar’s vision.

Clifford saw it. Ruide flying effortlessly through the sky, landing on the top of the skyscraper where Phoenix resided.

He also saw him intimidating Phoenix to get what he wanted.

While others had to climb exhaustingly on two feet. Someone else easily obtained what they wanted through the power of talent.

Thump.

Clifford slammed the table with a displeased face to draw attention.

“What are you all doing? Everyone, go back to observing your assigned areas.”

“B-but…”

A seemingly timid professor spoke cautiously.

“Can’t we watch more of this? I’d like to use this magic for my research.”

When met with Clifford’s chilling gaze, he meekly put down the crystal ball.

‘If I had known he was this kind of person, I would never have granted permission.’

Clifford sincerely regretted giving Ruide special treatment a month ago.

He had made that decision thinking self-development would benefit Ruide more than attending classes.

He never imagined Ruide would be such a slacker. Look at him now. He wielded his power arrogantly just because his demands weren’t met.

Those with great power should fulfill corresponding responsibilities. But Ruide seemed to feel no such obligation. That irritated Clifford immensely.

“I should revoke it.”

“Pardon?”

“Professor Nemesis. Have you finalized the plans for the second day?”

The “A4” area where Ruide had chosen to stay was under Professor Nemesis’s supervision.

“Considering their level, an ogre would be appropriate.”

The class placement test. The second day’s event was set to be a monster attack.

Of course, professors were assigned to each area for safety, and the monster levels were set two levels below the students’ capabilities.

It was a simple test to see how students would respond when monsters suddenly appeared.

“Contact the Magic Tower and get a troll with all sorts of physical enhancement spells. Use that.”

“W-what?”

Another professor was startled by the Chancellor’s sudden decision.

“I-isn’t that excessive? That’s a creature that requires at least the strength of an entire knight order to subdue.”

“Given their magic level, they can more than handle it. And Nemesis will protect them, so it’ll be fine.”

Clifford raised the corner of his mouth.

“But I wonder how well our preciously raised young master will handle it.”

‘If he can’t overwhelm it.’

He would use that as an excuse to revoke his statement and make Ruide attend classes.

He planned to emphasize “character education” in particular.

If Ruide failed to complete it, there would be supplementary classes.

‘I should add physical training too.’

Clifford chuckled softly, imagining how he would thoroughly discipline that slacker.