Class Assignment
Da-da-da-da-DA~ DA-DA-DA-RA-DA!
<Reader, snap out of it!>
"Gah—!"
Fear carved into my very soul. The instant that familiar melody hit my ears, I shot upright on pure reflex.
"Ah, shit—what kind of psycho blasts a military bugle call at a time like this!"
<Reader, it's me! Are you awake?>
"Author, you little shit! So you're the one who woke me up?"
<Yes. The connection dropped without warning, so I rushed to restore it — and when it came back online, you were unconscious, so...>
Unconscious?
Then it came crashing back — a throbbing headache, and with it, the memories of everything that had happened. Being swept along by that wicked monster lurking in the system window until I forced myself on Yupi. Being roasted alive under her furious lightning.
"Am I... dead?"
<Huh? What are you talking about, Reader? You're alive and kicking.>
"Author, you share my field of vision. You really didn't see anything?"
So the author had no idea I'd slept with Yupi. Figures. If she'd known, she wouldn't have worried about me — she'd have been gagging in disgust, treating me like a criminal who'd forced himself on the poor girl.
"Exactly when did the connection drop?"
<The exact moment you started talking to Yupi.>
Meaning she didn't even know what had driven me to touch her in the first place. Silence would be golden here. Everything that happened had to stay buried, permanently.
Nothing wrong with moving my body, at least. So, where am I?
Once my head cleared, the first thing I registered was the bed holding me up, ringed by drawn curtains that cut off all view of the outside. Slipping one aside, I found a long hall lined with rows of ownerless, empty beds — it resembled the school infirmary of ages past, only on a scale beyond all comparison.
"Oh, you're awake. If you hadn't gotten up by end of my shift, I was going to shake you awake by force if I had to."
"And you are?"
"Welcome back. I'm Jerry Wilson, chairwoman of Purity Academy's Health Management Authority."
A woman in a rumpled doctor's coat, its disorder set off by perfectly combed purple hair falling long past her shoulders, pushed up her crooked round glasses with her middle finger.
A supporting character from Academy Yuri Princess — the pervert who would flick her tongue out like a snake and wiggle her fingers whenever the protagonist came looking for the infirmary.
"Nothing hurting? According to the report, you passed out after taking a bolt of Yupi's lightning."
<Hold on a second, Reader?! That happened while I wasn't watching?!>
"I'm fine. Just a minor accident."
To think she'd somehow controlled her output and left me alive even after what I did to her. Once again, I found myself realizing what a people person she truly was.
"That girl was in such a state she carried you here on her back, drenched head to toe in sweat, you know."
Not because of the running, though... never mind. If it's something I shouldn't say, then leaving out useless footnotes is better for my health.
"Did the instructor give you any special instructions?"
"None. She bolted right after, without so much as a backward glance."
"Thank you for your honesty."
Was she planning to report me? Handle it by the book? Should I bolt right now? Hard call to make.
"Sorry, Author. Let me apologize in advance."
<Huh? What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden?>
"You'll understand soon enough why I said it."
We're fucked.
Unable to bring myself to tell her the truth, I shut my mouth and stayed silent. I had no idea how much time had passed since the lightning knocked me out, but it wouldn't be long before they came storming into the infirmary.
Click.
"Excuse the intrusion."
There they are.
Speak of the devil, as they say. At the crisp clack of heels ringing down the corridor, I swallowed dryly.
The ones who entered were women in immaculate navy uniforms — skirts falling straight to the knee, black stockings running below them without a single wrinkle. The special police who kept the peace at Purity Academy, seniors who had graduated and earned their Guardian licenses.
"Instructor Jerry, how is Student Solis's condition?"
"Fine, as you can see. He could start moving right now without any trouble."
"Understood. Then, per procedure, we will take him into our custody."
The special police exchanged a courteous bow with her, then extended a hand toward me.
"Can you stand?"
"Thank you for the consideration."
Taking her hand, I rose from the bed. I acted as cooperative as I possibly could and followed them out.
Scary.
Escorted front and back by the special police, I walked the corridor under their guard. The sun was setting, and in that quiet space where only footsteps echoed, tension bore down on me and my mood sank heavy.
"If you get tired while walking, say so. We'll support you."
"Thank you."
Friendlier than I expected.
Given what I'd done, strapping me in mana restraints would have been letting me off easy, yet here they were kindly guiding me along. True to the web novel's record, this was the same courteous attitude the special police always showed the junior academy students.
"May I ask where we're going?"
"To the Headmaster's office. He's waiting there to meet you — the founder of Purity Academy himself. He apparently has something he'd like to say to you personally."
"Thank you for answering."
I offered my heartfelt thanks for their reply, quietly relieved. Their words confirmed it: I'd been summoned for a different reason, not the Yupi affair.
Of course, they could still seize me the moment I arrived and toss me into an underground dungeon — but calculating for every exception wouldn't change what I could do about it, so I dismissed the thought rather than give myself a headache.
"Here we are."
Our footsteps stopped at the room at the very end of the long, long corridor. Beneath a worn sign reading Headmaster's Office, I opened the door and stepped inside.
"Ah, there you are. I've been waiting."
An old man with a long, flowing beard sat leisurely gazing out a sunlit window. Seeing me, he broke into a smile of boundless benevolence.
Like an immortal hermit hidden deep in the mountains, he was a being brimming with an ineffable mystery — an overwhelming presence that made the heart flutter and all but demanded you bow your head in respect.
Pallad Autus.
Headmaster of Purity Academy and the island's de facto ruler. A great one who wielded authority equal to a king's.
A soft voice with unfathomable depth to it welcomed me.
"Have a seat."
He gestured to the chair waiting before the headmaster's desk. I obeyed the invitation without protest and leaned back into it.
"Name, Solis. Age, twenty. Born in the Kingdom of Zerta — that's roughly the information your ID displays. If anything's wrong, do tell me."
Pallad continued as he flipped through the thin documents laid before him. It was a simple question anyone could answer, and I shook my head.
"Nothing. The papers are accurate."
"Though no matter how many times I look at you, you simply don't read as twenty."
"People do often tell me I look old for my age. And, ah... there's the build, too."
"Heh heh, the other students will do a double take when they see you."
A gentle smile settled at the corners of his mouth. That soothing, grandfatherly warmth — doting like a man fussing over a grandson he hadn't seen in years — was the same kindness I knew so well from the web novel. Back when he stood on the podium at the entrance ceremony, this was how he'd put the nervous students at ease, deliberately gentle so as not to overwhelm them.
"In any case, that's not why we're here. I called you in to apologize on behalf of the Academy."
"Apologize, you say?"
"I heard from Instructor Yupi. That you noticed something troubling her and stepped in to help. That the opening ceremony could have been ruined before it even began, and yet you saw it through without incident. Is that true?"
"I only did my best within the reach of my own two hands."
I had shielded Yupi from being humiliated in front of others and handed out the badges in her stead. There wasn't a shred of a lie in that, so I answered with confidence.
"So humble, too. The future of Purity Academy looks bright indeed."
"Hahaha."
Watching him chuckle away, I finally let the tension go. Exhaling a long breath, I managed an awkward laugh to match his.
If he was still this warm with me after everything, then this was a slam dunk.
Yupi never told a soul that I raped her.
I couldn't guess what was going on inside her head, but if she'd kept quiet all the way to this point without showing herself, maybe she'd carry that secret to her grave.
"As for Yupi, dropping a stray bolt on a student like this — she'll have to reflect on it. What was she thinking, letting a student come to harm?"
"No, please, it's quite all right. I don't blame her in the slightest."
I wasn't so without conscience as to say things like it really hurt, you know or I'll be filing a claim for damages with the Academy. I'd devoured the virginity of my favorite novel's heroine and even gotten her complicity out of it, no less. If anything, I was the one who should be bowing my head and thanking her.
"Still, because of that incident you couldn't attend the entrance ceremony — tsk, it pains me, truly."
"Waiving any penalties for my absence will be more than enough."
"If the victim himself asks, then I shall see it done."
Victim. That word pricked at my conscience something fierce — but hey, smooth sailing.
"Then that settles the entrance ceremony matter. Only one problem remains to resolve before you go."
"There's still something left to handle?"
"Your class assignment."
"Ah!"
Purity Academy divided its students into five classes and assigned each of them to one. And those classes were directly tied to the positions you'd be placed in after graduation, once you became an Official Guardian.
"The reason we waived your entrance exam wasn't only because you'd already proven you deserved to pass without one. It was also to give you a choice."
"A choice, you say?"
"I'll state it plainly: you have talent for every single class. So if there's a class you'd like to join, speak up. I'll place you there myself."
"Is that truly so?"
"As Headmaster of Purity Academy, I promise you — my word will not change."
Five classes, and the freedom to choose among them. Being able to pick my own class was an enormous advantage.
That Solis bastard — whatever else he was, talent was something he'd been born with.
Thanks, you son of a bitch. Thanks to you, things are going far smoother than I expected.
"I've decided."
"Already? Out with it, then."
There was no hesitation. My heart had already tipped to one side long, long ago.
From the moment my enrollment at the Academy was settled, I'd wanted nothing more than to end up in the same class as her.
"I'll take Class A."
The class where Chloe reigned as its top student. To stop the tyranny she would unleash in the future, I would take a seat in that very classroom and watch her every move.