First Class 2

Yuria wondered how she felt about Theodore.

He was her fiancé, and his attitude toward her had changed.

‘Of course, he’s still irritatingly excellent.’

When she harbored such questions, there wasn’t much time to dwell on them.

Students had already filled the lecture hall and taken their seats, and a man who appeared to be a professor was seen entering.

“Pleased to see you all today. My name is Benjamin Dizzstein.”

The man who entered introduced himself.

He was a middle-aged man with a strong impression, and Yuria had heard of his name before.

More precisely, he was a somewhat famous swordsman who worked as a professor in the Swordsmanship Department at the Britannia Empire’s academy.

‘Benjamin Dizzstein. I heard he was once from the Britannia Empire’s Royal Guard, where he was known for his exceptional skills as a swordsman.’

Students who purely walked the path of a swordsman might be excited and have expectations about being taught by such an outstanding swordsman.

But Yuria was surprisingly calm.

If it was about outstanding swordsmen, she had learned swordsmanship from childhood by inviting them from the Arcan Empire with the power of House Arsein.

However, while an outstanding swordsman was more likely to teach well, being an outstanding swordsman didn’t guarantee teaching ability.

Since she turned fifteen, despite still being at an immature age, there were more people who harbored desires for her and tried various tactics to seduce her, but Yuria firmly rejected all of them.

Although they couldn’t act rashly due to her status as the eldest daughter of House Arsein, she had drawn a line because she saw their intentions of trying to approach her under the pretext of teaching her swordsmanship.

Since they couldn’t approach her strongly as the young lady of House Arsein, just by drawing that line, she could easily exclude such men.

‘No one teaches as well as Young Lord Theodore.’

Moreover, from what she could sense, Theodore’s skills seemed far better than those of Professor Benjamin Dizzstein over there.

“Today, as it happens, two exchange students from Jeiha Academy have come! And one person is absent today as well.”

Yuria knew perfectly well who that absent person was.

Just by thinking about who should be showing their face in this classroom but wasn’t, she could tell.

‘William Artin.’

The second-ranked student in Minst Academy’s second-year Swordsmanship Department wasn’t showing his face.

Judging from what Professor Benjamin was saying, it seemed he was frequently absent even on ordinary days.

Considering his conduct, this wasn’t surprising.

‘He’s not even the top student, yet he’s lazy.’

Yuria found it even more detestable that William Artin had risen to second place with his innate talent without much effort.

While numerous people with dreams of becoming swordsmen were putting in efforts, he easily took second place with his innate talent without much special effort and remained lazy.

At the very least, she would have understood if he were the top student.

It wasn’t that he was too outstanding to have anything to learn, and he wasn’t even at the top position in his year, yet his act of being lazy and insulting the efforts of swordsmen seemed to be disliked not just by her.

As evidence, it wasn’t difficult to find the expressions of students who seemed to feel displeasure when William was mentioned.

“I don’t think the exchange students would like me talking at length. Isn’t that right? Theodore Skyroad, and Yuria Arsein.”

Theodore nodded while seated.

“That’s right.”

Yuria also nodded slightly.

She too didn’t particularly like listening to unnecessary long talks.

The exception to this was her friend Ashley, but that was only allowed because of her friendship and gratitude toward her, who had approached her and become her close friend.

“Then let’s directly proceed to the skill test. Theodore Skyroad, you’ve already somewhat proven your skills, so who would you like to compete with? Designate anyone you want.”

For students in the Swordsmanship Department, what mattered wasn’t status.

Though the discipline within the academy was being disrupted because of the delinquent William, it was clear what Minst Academy of the Britannia Empire valued most.

‘Ability.’

That’s right, ability! It was all about ability.

It was about designating a suitable person, engaging in a duel, and proving from this lecture hall what level of skill one possessed.

“Hmm, can I designate someone?”

“Yes. You can designate anyone here. If you’d like to know the rankings, I can also tell you.”

Professor Benjamin was being considerate, anticipating that Theodore, as an exchange student, might not know who had what level of skill. But Yuria found his consideration useless.

‘Young Lord Theodore would already have figured out who is strong and who is weak.’

And none of the students would be a match for him.

He was an irritatingly excellent genius with talent beyond William’s combined with effort.

“I can designate anyone! Then I’ll wait for my fiancée, Yuria Arsein, to designate her opponent before I select mine.”

Theodore, rising from his seat, openly placed his hand on Yuria’s shoulder next to him as he spoke.

“Oh?”

Professor Benjamin, recognizing that his arrogant attitude stemmed from confidence, gave an interested look. Though he showed an arrogant attitude with a face resembling William Artin’s, unlike that mere delinquent, he exuded a firm confidence in his abilities, which Yuria thought had stimulated the professor’s interest as a swordsman.

‘I wish he’d take his hand off my shoulder.’

She was gradually getting annoyed at her own reaction to his physical contact.

But if someone asked if she disliked it, she couldn’t answer affirmatively.

Therefore, Yuria pretended not to mind and slowly rose from her seat.

‘Second-year Swordsmanship Department’s top student, Owen Lawrence.’

She had already decided whom she wanted to challenge.

It was to challenge Owen Lawrence, the current top student of the second-year Swordsmanship Department, and defeat him.

And thereby prove her skills.

But if there was one problem, it was that the clothes she was wearing now were a uniform skirt.

If she moved vigorously, there was a risk that what was under her skirt would be exposed, which would greatly restrict her movements, and if she fought while worrying about that, she wouldn’t be able to demonstrate even a quarter of her ability.

“You have a lot of confidence, Theodore Skyroad.”

“I’m just certain that none of the people here are a match for me.”

If it weren’t for the morning’s incident, someone might have openly come forward to challenge him for his attitude of definitively stating that everyone was below him.

There might have been at least one person who would ask to see his skills, given his arrogance, but no one was stepping forward.

This was because Theodore’s skills shown in the morning were too shocking.

Though he hadn’t properly shown the level of his swordsmanship, there were talks that his magic had reached the level of an archmage, and since the fourth-year top student Jade had been defeated with a pathetic appearance, there was speculation that his swordsmanship might be at a similar level.

“With him talking like that, Owen. What do you think?”

Professor Benjamin’s question now turned to Owen Lawrence.

Owen Lawrence, who was sitting in a mid-level seat, was a male student with rough brown hair and a sturdy build, and unlike other students, he was looking at Theodore’s words with interest.

‘The top student seems interested.’

Yuria immediately recognized that Owen Lawrence, the top student of the second-year Swordsmanship Department, unlike other students, was showing interest and a combative gaze at Theodore’s current statement.

At the very least, it seemed clear that he too was a type with passion for swordsmanship.

“He seems incredibly strong. I’d like to experience it once. Hey! Theodore, was it? If you’re so confident, want to have a match with me?”

To Owen, who spoke like that, Theodore shook his head.

“No, you’re not my opponent. While I might also feel sorry for you if I were to face you because I’m too outstanding, there’s someone designated to face you.”

Theodore said to Yuria:

“Lady Yuria, the stage is set. Now you can do what you want.”

At Theodore’s words, everyone’s gaze turned to her.

“Yuria Arsein?”

“Damn, I can’t see well from here.”

“He’s letting his fiancée handle it?”

Yuria sighed.

“Haah! Now it looks like I’m joining in the provocation!”

Yuria sighed as she rose from her seat.

Many who saw her rise and glimpsed her appearance were heard swallowing.

Such reactions were familiar and common to Yuria, so she didn’t pay attention to them.

Yuria was more interested in how Theodore would react to her protest.

“I’m sorry about that. So, you don’t plan to fight the second-year top student?”

“No, I must.”

Yuria shook her head.

She was slightly surprised that Theodore had apologized to her, but with so many eyes watching, she didn’t show it.

And above all, her eyes were burning with a fighting spirit at the opportunity that had come right from the first day.

“To be able to prove my skills from the first class. How could I possibly miss this chance?”

However, despite the burning passion deep in her heart, there was a problem with carrying out the duel immediately.

“I need to… change into clothes that are easier to move in.”

Yuria found the existence of skirts truly cursed today.