Let's Have a Talk Together
"Class is beginning. Everyone, please take your seats."
Sylvia's voice rang through the lecture hall. Holding a microphone, she surveyed the students with commanding, charismatic eyes.
"First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Sylvia Clarinet, instructor of Class A at Purity Academy. A pleasure to meet you all."
She gave a slight bow to the students she would be spending the next three years with, and the class responded immediately with applause, offering their courtesy and respect to the instructor.
"Since this is our first class, we'll keep it to a brief orientation. We'll finish early, but there are some important announcements, so I expect you to pay close attention."
An academy instructor declaring a shortened class. Little cheers of yahoo and best instructor ever spilled from the students' lips as they showered her with praise.
I nodded along too, joining in with the crowd.
"That's right. First classes should always end early, no exceptions."
Aside from Class B, run by the chatty Yupi, and Class E, known as the gold standard of rule-following, the other instructors all had some flexibility to them.
Sylvia looked like the type who would run her classroom with an iron fist, but she was actually a person of great heart who genuinely worked to look after her students.
"Now then, since everyone seems ready, let's begin."
Sylvia tapped the tablet in her hand with her finger. The electronic whiteboard flickered to life, displaying the presentation she had prepared.
"As you all know, the Academy is an educational institution dedicated to selecting and nurturing the talents of the future. Purity Academy is so famous that other institutions rarely receive any spotlight, but there are many more academies throughout the world besides ours."
"Now, here's a question for you. Why has Purity Academy been able to command this much attention compared to every other academy?"
At Sylvia's words, several students thrust their hands into the air. She picked one of the eager ones and gave him the chance to answer.
"Student Deri, go ahead."
"Power. Become a student of Purity Academy, and you gain status and rank recognized by the entire world."
"A good answer, but there is a correction to be made. Not power — equality."
In a world riddled with caste systems, it meant the right to live proudly without being bound by your birth.
Even a king of a nation could not use his position to pressure a student however he pleased.
That was what enrollment at Purity Academy meant. And it was precisely why Purity Academy wielded far greater prestige across the world than any rival academy — so much so that the fame of those other institutions was completely eclipsed.
The other academies were desperate to overturn that lopsided perception.
That rivalry reached its peak in the exchange tournament held at the start of the second arc of Academy Yuri Princess.
Students representing each academy would duel one another in a grand competition to determine who was the best of them all.
It was one of the main events of the original story — a major plotline with enormous consequences — but since it took place when students entered their second year at the academy, there was no need to worry about it just yet.
"Any other volunteers to answer?"
The floor opened once more. Seizing my chance, I shot my hand up.
"Solis, go ahead."
"The purpose is different. Other academies focus on producing exceptional talents who raise their own prestige, but this place focuses on cultivating Guardians — those who will defeat the monsters emerging from dungeons and bring peace to the world."
"You've struck the very heart of it. You said exactly what I wanted to say without missing a single word."
Ah, easy. So easy.
Wearing a satisfied smile, I shifted in my seat and crossed my legs.
"Is this what it feels like to take an exam with the answer sheet right in front of you? Feels fucking fantastic."
"Precisely — she was about to say it."
Because the web novel was written from Eva's point of view, the details of Class A's lessons had never been described. There was only a single mention that after class, while Eva was out shopping in the city, Chloe had accompanied her and said exactly that, earning praise for it.
And I had swiped it and gobbled the whole thing down.
"..."
A prickling sting, like a needle to the skin, made me flinch. I searched for the source and found Chloe in the seat beside me, boring holes into me with a scorching glare.
One look at her expression and I could read her like a book. That was my line, and this piece of trash stole it.
"Blegh."
I stuck my tongue out right back at her glare. The sheer cheek of it made Chloe tremble from head to toe, biting down on her lip.
"Being childish is half the fun, isn't it? Watching her react like that is entertainment on its own."
Brutal. Absolutely brutal.
If Sylvia weren't here, she might've slapped me across the face on the spot. Not that she was holding back because of Sylvia — she knew that making a scene now would only wound her own pride.
Chloe must have realized that venting any further would only sour her own mood, because she quickly turned her gaze back toward the front.
"A Guardian — that is the great title given to the hero who once defeated Corachia, the Great Monster that drove this world to the brink of destruction at the dawn of time."
"A slave, she took up her sword against the monsters' invasion, bravely stood her ground, and joined forces with the people to bring the beast down."
"In honor of her will, Purity Academy exists to raise the next generation of Guardians — those who will shield humanity from the monsters that invade our world."
"You may rejoice for now that you are freed from the shackles of your station, or that you have found happiness in life. But never forget that such blessings are merely the compensation for the immense duty that will one day fall upon your shoulders."
As Sylvia's explanation stretched on and on, the students yawned repeatedly and propped their chins on their hands, thoroughly bored. Every face was brimming with the same thought — when does this end? Let's hurry up and go play.
Sylvia noticed those gazes, sighed, and spoke.
"I sincerely hope you will learn a great deal here over the next three years. That concludes our class."
"Waaaah!"
The ecstatic students cheered and started packing up their things at once. Bags hoisted and belongings hauled, they made for the lecture hall doors — a scene that looked exactly like elementary schoolers heading home from school.
And the comedy of it all? Even I, the one thinking that very thought, had shot up out of my chair like a missile the instant Sylvia announced the end of class.
"However — Solis is excepted. The student will remain here."
"Excuse me?"
What is this, a bolt from the blue! Looking back on it now, my life really was a comedy.
"Why am I suddenly being called out?"
"I'll explain once the others have left, so sit down and wait like a good student."
When the instructor says sit, you sit. What choice does a student have?
I settled my body back into place and waited until the rest of the students filed out of the lecture hall. If only I had a phone, I could've fiddled with it to pass the time.
First thing I do when I hit the city — get myself a brand-new flagship smartphone, I resolved.
"I heard from the Headmaster. You said you wished to be assigned to Class A?"
"Upon hearing that I would be able to study under you, Instructor Sylvia Clarinet — the peerless beauty known as the Ice Princess of Purity Academy — I chose Class A without a moment's hesitation."
I deliberately put on a slimy, greasy voice as I heaped praise upon Sylvia. The Writer reeled at the flattery, thick as melted cheese, but I didn't so much as blink.
"Flattery will get you nowhere with an instructor, you know."
"It's the honest truth. If I weren't a student, I'd have confessed my feelings to you on the spot — you're that beautiful."
"..."
And yet the woman on the receiving end was practically dying of delight.
Her expression was icy cold — bordering on outright contempt as she stared at me — but the hand holding her tablet fidgeted helplessly, like someone who had no idea what to do with herself.
Conquest difficulty: laughably easy.
According to the Writer, by Korean male standards, she was the kind of woman anyone could date if they simply knew the right approach. She was fifty-four years old, and apparently anyone younger than that sent the success rate climbing exponentially.
I don't know about anything else, but this woman, I'm conquering before it's all over.
Age was nothing but a number — she had the mature looks of a woman in her mid-twenties.
With her sparse appearances, she sat in an ambiguous position even as a supporting heroine; touching her would pose no problem whatsoever for the story's progression.
Just like her cool, composed exterior, she gave off a crisp, refreshing scent of mint.
Her mature wine of a womanhood, aged and cellared for decades — if anyone was going to pop that cork and drink deep, it had to be me.
"That's quite enough small talk. Now, let me explain why I asked you to stay behind, Solis."
A man must know how to push and pull. For a first meeting, this much flirting was plenty.
I turned my attention to her words.
"Your talent is well known to me, Solis. The man who shattered the mana veil of the Zerta Kingdom could enter any class and excel, I'm certain."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"But entry into Class A requires meeting a minimal condition. You do know what that is, don't you?"
"Manifesting a tangible form through mana, isn't it? I'm well aware."
Weaponry-class students held the vanguard of any party — the damage-dealing tank position. Their hallmark was versatility: wielding all manner of weapons and drawing out whichever one the situation demanded. They specialized in reinforcing their weapons with a coat of mana, and the way to prove that minimum requirement was to shape a weapon's form out of pure mana.
"Will this do?"
Gathering the golden mana streaming from my hand, I molded it into the shape of a sharp dagger. It was a crude model, but with it, I demonstrated to the instructor the bare minimum condition for entering Class A.
"Excellent work. Next time, let's all strive together so you can create something even more impressive."
"Then I'll take my leave."
"One moment."
Hm?
What now? Was something left over?
As I looked at her in puzzlement at being stopped, she cleared her throat and pointed a finger at somewhere behind me.
I turned my gaze toward where her hand was pointing. The door leading out of the lecture hall. The familiar entrance I'd passed through when I first came in.
The problem was —
"Hey there, Solis?"
— the person standing in front of that door.
"Shall we have a little chat?"
Yupi Citrine. At her appearance, I reflexively swallowed, hard.