The First Day's Unwanted Gaze
The morning of the first day of classes at Hero Academy dawned under a sky so clear it almost hurt the eyes.
Blue heavens and warm sunlight blended together, filling the air with the fresh scent of spring. It was the kind of bright, blessed morning that felt as if the gods themselves had smiled upon it.
My mood on the way to school, however, was as heavy and gray as a bank of storm clouds.
The problem with Dragon Blood that I had discovered that morning played a part, but it was not the decisive reason. The real culprit was the stares.
Every pair of eyes that poured over me as I walked through the grounds of Hero Academy dragged my spirits straight into the dirt.
Why do they keep glancing at me like that?
Was this how a monkey in a zoo felt? I had the distinct sensation of having become a public spectacle. Whenever I turned toward the source of a stare and our eyes met, the offender would hastily look away as if caught red-handed.
Haa… endure it. Just endure it…!
I had thought William’s constant staring during morning training had toughened me up, but that had clearly been wishful thinking. Once you become aware of other people’s gazes, they only grow sharper and more oppressive. In this life and the last, I had never been the object of so much attention; it felt as if needles were pricking every inch of my skin.
I knew perfectly well why they were looking. Word of what had happened on the day of the entrance ceremony had obviously spread.
Hero Academy and the imperial family both had a duty to protect their students from outside threats. The recent terrorist attack had produced casualties, making that responsibility impossible to dodge. And then, right in the middle of the mess, four freshmen had “subjugated” mid-rank monsters. The party members themselves were a juicy mix: the heir of House Winchester, the freshman representative Lady Spencer, a fallen noble, and a commoner. It was the kind of story that could bury talk of the terrorism itself under pure sensationalism.
To them it must have looked like free candy falling from the sky. Of course they ran around spreading the rumor.
The same thing had happened in the game; that was how the commoner William first made his presence known to the major cast. The result of that rumor was exactly the circus surrounding me now.
Even after I left the main path and headed for the bulletin board where the freshman class assignments were posted, the heated stares clung to me like burrs.
A massive board stood beside the academy’s main building, and a dense crowd of new students had already gathered in front of it, eager to check their classes. I had no desire to dive into that throng, so I stopped outside the press of bodies and gathered mana into my eyes, trying to read the board from a distance.
Nope. Not even close.
With my current mana control it was hopeless. My vision snapped forward as if I had put on binoculars, but everything turned blurry, like looking through someone else’s glasses. I could not make out a single letter. It seemed I would have to plunge into that unnaturally dense hell myself.
“Excuse me.”
Steeling myself, I apologized to the student at the very back and tried to squeeze through. The red-haired boy felt someone pushing and turned around with an irritated scowl—only for his expression to freeze the moment he saw my face.
“Hey, who keeps shoving— W-Winchester, Young Master—?! I-I’m so sorry!!”
His apology dropped like a guillotine. The chaotic marketplace of noise around us vanished in an instant, replaced by dead silence, as if someone had simply switched off a blaring television.
It did not stop there. The crowd that had been packed around me slowly split into two groups, parting left and right. Was this what Moses’ miracle looked like? A moment later a broad path opened between me and the bulletin board, as if the sea itself had drawn back.
I felt like the star of some humiliating public performance, yet I had to admit it was better than fighting my way through the mob. I gave the red-haired student’s shoulder a couple of light pats while he still stood there sweating and bowing at a perfect ninety degrees, then walked the path they had so kindly made for me.
Thanks to them I reached the board without trouble and quickly scanned the lists of names, student numbers, and classes.
Te… Te… Te… Found it. Taylor Winchester. Class 1-A.
Relief washed over me. In the game, Taylor Winchester had died on the day of the entrance ceremony, so I had never known which class he would have been assigned to. By sheer luck I had landed in the same class as the protagonist and the rest of the main cast. Being an extra and munching popcorn was a fine plan, but you still needed to know what was happening if you wanted to enjoy the show in peace. The best place to influence events just enough without getting dragged into every disaster was right on the edge of the hero’s circle.
One worry lifted, I turned to head for my new classroom with a lighter heart.
That was when a bright voice rang out across the quiet space.
“Young Master Winchester!”
A green-haired girl mixed in among the crowd was waving at me enthusiastically, while a golden-haired girl beside her seemed to be trying—and failing—to rein her in. Enri Arundel and Elizabeth Spencer.
When did those two get so close?
Enri’s cheerful personality made sense, but Elizabeth was the type who kept a subtle wall between herself and others. I would not have expected them to be standing together like this. In the original story they had been part of William’s harem party, more like “friends of the boyfriend” than genuine friends with each other. Yet the way they stuck side by side now looked decidedly familiar.
Because Enri had called out in the hush, every gaze in the area swung toward them. Elizabeth’s face colored faintly under the attention, while Enri remained shamelessly unbothered as the two of them approached and greeted me.
“Which class were you assigned to, Young Master?”
Enri asked after staring hard at the board. Elizabeth, standing beside her, was clearly listening with interest as well.
“Class A.”
They would find out the moment we reached the classroom, and I had no reason to hide it, so I answered honestly.
“!!”
“Wow! Elizabeth and I are in Class A too!”
Yeah, I know.
Their delighted reactions made me wonder whether the gifts I had given them last time had done their job. Even when there was no deeper meaning behind it, receiving the attention of the opposite sex still felt good. With two girls this beautiful standing in front of me, the feeling was less base desire and more like quietly appreciating a pair of exquisite works of art. The knowledge that they were the heroines of the original story only reinforced that impression.
Having confirmed we were classmates, the three of us set off together for Class A.
When we opened the door and stepped inside, the academy’s interior proved so lavish that the word “school” felt almost insulting.
What kind of entrance lobby looks like a five-star hotel?
A man in butler’s attire stood at the reception desk guiding students, and neatly uniformed maids walked the halls; the whole place gave off the air of a luxury hotel staff. Because many of the enrollees held high noble titles, every movement of the staff was perfectly restrained and polished.
“Wow! The academy is amazing. It feels like I’ve stepped into a dream!”
Enri’s eyes sparkled as she looked around, oohing and aahing like a child on her first visit to an amusement park. I found it novel to see with my own eyes things I had only ever watched on a PC monitor for years, but I was not quite as moved as she was. On company overseas trips I had stayed in hotels like this more than once.
Just how much money did they pour into this building?
We made our way to the reception desk, where we were given directions to the Class A lecture hall.
“Taylor Winchester, Elizabeth Spencer, and Enri Arundel. The three of you should take the central staircase ahead of you up to the third floor, turn right, and enter the classroom marked 1-A.”
The calm, thorough explanation made it clear the staff training here was rigorous.
“We wish all of our new students a wonderful academy life.”
Following the receptionist’s guidance, we climbed to the third floor and opened the door labeled 1-A. The lecture hall that greeted us was so spacious that the university I had attended in my previous life could not even compare.
“The classroom is enormous!”
“This is more than acceptable.”
Judging by their reactions, both girls were satisfied with the assignment.
At Hero Academy, once a class and lecture hall were decided, they never changed until graduation. It was probably a convenience setting for the game’s story progression, but for someone like me who had been praying every year to end up in the same class as the protagonist, it was the perfect arrangement.
Familiar faces. A familiar classroom. The screen that appeared after the tutorial events in the game was now unfolding right before my eyes. Once again I felt the reality that I was inside the game world.
So this is where I’ll be studying for the next four years…
Episode 1 of Hero Con Brio was about to begin.