Chapter 24: First Lesson (1)

“…What did you just say?”

One word was enough to turn a good morning into the worst morning.

The man who brought Hawkins’ news spoke in a trembling voice, as if the man was in front of him and he was scared.

“So, um… the seniors have failed. I saw them lying in the temple, and, um…!”

Was it such a miserable sight?

Seeing the man trembling not only in voice but now in hands as well, made me irritated.

Eventually, though I didn’t want to, I couldn’t control my urgency and asked him sharply.

“Calm down and quickly tell me what happened! Just trembling like this doesn’t tell me anything!!”

“Yes, yes!! Um… according to the priest, the wounds themselves don’t seem serious! But the mental side seems to be serious…”

“Mental…?”

That man, even though he’s in the Knight Department, can he use mental-type magic?

“What exactly happened to his mind?”

“Well… whenever he hears the word ‘Baldo’, he writhes in pain. I heard he foams at the mouth and has seizures like a madman…”

“Baldo?”

Baldo? What on earth is he talking about?

Could it be that the mental attack was not on Hawkins but on this guy?

The more information came in about that day’s events, the more the truth of that day plunged into mystery.

Just when I thought it might be better to call Ian and ask him directly what happened.

“Lady Jessica! Over there…!!”

One of the followers pointed to where the man who had been troubling my mind recently was peeking from behind the door.

“Y-You…!!”

Ian, who was standing shyly behind the door like a girl in love, cautiously stepped inside.

A few followers tried to block him, but perhaps recalling the previous story, they hesitated and stepped back.

“…Why are you here?”

Perhaps to keep a promise made a few days ago, Ian approached me slowly without saying a word.

Seeing him approach silently and shyly only made my unease grow.

‘…Could he be here to take revenge on me for Hawkins?’

Thinking that, I looked at Ian again and noticed the katana at his waist, the same one he had worn at the gathering.

Is he planning to cut me down here?

Imagining the grim future that might unfold soon, I hurried to move away.

“…Ugh?”

Before I could step back, Ian quickly pulled an envelope from his chest and placed it on my desk.

“…What is this?”

Ian still didn’t answer. He just pointed at the letter on the desk as if telling me to read it quickly.

“…….”

Hesitating, I slowly picked up the envelope and examined its exterior before opening it.

There was nothing special about the material of the envelope, but something bothered me.

‘…What’s with this heart?’

The letter was sealed with a heart-shaped sticker, and the envelope was pink with strange heart shapes drawn all over it.

It looked like a love letter sent by a teenage girl, so I couldn’t believe Ian sent it.

‘What on earth is written in this…?’

Whatever it was, it didn’t seem normal. Honestly, I didn’t want to read it, but ignoring it here would mean running away.

As the daughter of Count von Grund, I couldn’t show such disgrace.

So, determined to maintain my composure even if I got angry, I opened the envelope and unfolded the letter…

“Eek…!!”

That composure shattered within less than a minute of opening the letter.

To the cute but not-so-bright Jessica, the lackeys you sent were honestly disappointing. I expected at least a knight of your house or an assassin.

This is a personal curiosity, but did you really think those lackeys could defeat me? I trust that our smart Jessica wouldn’t have such a foolish thought.

If you truly believed that, it means the nutrients meant for your brain went to your large, magnificent bun hair on either side of your head.

I’ve rambled on, but I recommend consulting with Jessica’s papa (since Jessica is a baby, it’s ‘papa’ not ‘father’ hehe) and challenging me again.

If you need a pretext, I can send you a love letter full of my affection for you. You can use it as an excuse, saying you received a vulgar letter full of love and needed to take action.

As much as it pains me, you could claim you needed to punish me for sending such an obscene letter.

I’ve said everything I wanted to say, so I’ll end this letter here.

Always sending endless affection to you and your bun hair, Ian Barthow.

“Hoo…!! Hoohoo…!!!”

As soon as I finished reading the letter, I couldn’t hold back my boiling anger and breathed heavily, as if I had sprinted.

The letter, completely crumpled from the strength in my hands while reading, had lost its shape.

I dropped the crumpled letter, now like a ball, to the floor and slowly stood up to look at Ian’s face.

“…You really sent a unique letter.”

It wasn’t too late yet. Though my composure was slightly shaken, it wasn’t too late.

Getting angry here would only make everything go as this man wanted.

I needed to regain my composure right now.

“Your vulgar sensibility is truly felt――!”

“Isn’t a vulgar winner better than a noble loser? Of course, our cute Jessica couldn’t win even if she became vulgar.”

“You, you lowlife!!!”

Before I knew it, I had flipped the desk and tried to punch Ian in the face, but his face wasn’t where my fist aimed.

“Kyahhh!! Cute but dumb Jessica is going berserk!! She’s going to smash my head with that barbaric hammer!!”

Ian, who had disappeared in an instant, was screaming and running away like a madman.

I pointed at him and yelled to catch him, but no one listened.

“Catch him right now!! Catch that vulgar man immediately!! I’ll smash his vulgar head with my own hands!!”

“Calm down, my lady!! There is no use getting angry now!!”

“That’s right!! Getting angry at such a man will only harm Lady Jessica’s dignity!!”

These cowards were so afraid of Ian, who had defeated Hawkins, that they only tried to stop me, with no one stepping forward.

While I was being held back, Ian, who had turned my insides out, escaped the class, leaving behind an uncomfortable silence.

‘That man…!! I will…! I will kill him!!’

“Jessica went berserk!!”

The day after parting with Hori, I was on my way to successfully provoke Jessica as planned and escape to my class.

Hawkins’ gang yesterday was utterly disappointing.

Even though they had the tenacity to get back up after being beaten, it would have been better to just hit a sandbag.

So, provoking her this much would at least make her send her family’s knights or hire an assassin, taking stronger measures.

It wasn’t an easy task, but I believed that Jessica would surely evolve from a bun-haired lady to a villainous bun-haired lady.

Thinking so, I returned to my class, arriving about a minute later than the usual assembly time.

As soon as I stepped into the classroom, I felt the cold stares on me and nodded lightly.

“Sorry.”

“…You’re not too late, so it’s fine. Ian, please take your seat.”

“Yes.”

Once everyone was seated, the teacher stood at the lectern and began to speak.

“As you all know, being in the Knight Department doesn’t mean we only learn swordsmanship.”

In the academy described in the novel, various practical knowledge was taught regardless of the department.

For example, the Knight Department taught things like the ecology of monsters and swordsmanship manuals.

However, theory did not play a major role in the Knight Department compared to other departments, so you could submit a blank answer sheet on the test.

It seemed that everyone else, like me, had heard from their seniors or family that theory wasn’t very important. When the teacher mentioned theory, everyone looked bored.

“Hmm… Anyway, let’s put aside the talk about theory and discuss something you might be more interested in: class assignments.”

When the teacher finally mentioned class assignments, everyone’s eyes lit up and they raised their heads.

“Although the class assignment test is at the end of the month, the end-of-month test isn’t the only evaluation criterion.”

More important than the test at the end of the month were the sparring matches that would take place until then.

“At first, you will only spar with students from your own class.”

Then, as the rankings within the class are determined, students will start sparring with those from other classes.

This process is repeated for a month, recording wins and losses according to compatibility, and assigning points.

Finally, at the end-of-month test, students are assigned to classes based on the points accumulated and the evaluation of the final sparring match.

“Sparring begins today! Now, everyone, to the sparring grounds!”

“Yes!”

The teacher seemed satisfied with our enthusiastic response, including mine.

Today was finally the first day of class, in other words, the monumental day I would spread Baldo in the academy.