The Sword Saint's Suspicion

While filling out the class registration form, the back of my head prickled for some reason. The Sword Saint Ileya narrowed his eyes. The mana manipulation of that unknown bastard interacting with his daughter looked decidedly suspicious.

"Gram, who is that boy?"

Thus Ileya asked his right-hand man, Gram, about Ed. Having gathered information on the academy's affairs during his closed-door training, Gram answered immediately.

"His name is Ed Fix. A celebrity at the Imperial Academy."

"...Fix? A commoner?"

"Yes. They say he was admitted as a special student after his abilities were recognized."

Ileya's expression changed dramatically. The man who had been frowning gravely the entire time now stared at his daughter and Ed with dazed eyes, as if someone had struck him over the head with a hammer.

"Enya is... with a mere commoner...?"

The Sword Saint Ileya. Raised by a nanny from childhood, he had always been generous toward commoners. No—beyond generous. He treated ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them as true equals and friends. This was because he had spent the years from seventeen to twenty on a training journey. In that time Ileya had made countless commoner friends, and even after becoming master of the Cruel family he continued to keep commoners close.

-Dad, I made a friend.

When he first heard his daughter had befriended a commoner, he had been secretly delighted. His daughter, whose ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only friends were children of ducal houses, needed to step into a wider world, meet all kinds of people, and gain true life enlightenment. That was what he had hoped.

But he had never hoped she would date a commoner. He simply wanted her to gain diverse perspectives through commoner friends. A romantic relationship with a commoner was unthinkable—especially one so clearly one-sided, with his daughter in the inferior position.

"How can he maintain such perfectly stable mana operation while standing before my daughter..."

Moreover, it was plainly visible to Ileya's eyes. His daughter's mana scattered wildly in every direction, completely unlike her usual self, while the boy held a vast reservoir of mana gathered calmly in his chest without the slightest ripple.

In other words, when facing the boy his daughter could not control her emotions, yet when facing his daughter the boy remained perfectly composed. It meant Enya liked him one-sidedly.

"Ah..."

His head spun. The boy's calm, undisturbed mana operation was utterly infuriating. How could he remain so unmoved when Enya—the greatest beauty in all of Cruel territory and a swordsmanship genius—had clearly shown interest in him?

Of course, that did not mean Ileya wanted their hearts to connect. No matter how talented the boy might be, he was still a commoner. He could not allow his daughter to be labeled "a commoner's woman." In noble society, where countless interests intertwined like a spider's web, such a shameful brand would be political suicide. For his daughter's future, this inappropriate relationship needed to be severed immediately.

"Gram."

"Yes, master."

Ileya called his reliable right-hand man and issued his first command to protect his daughter.

"Ed Fix, was it? Report every single thing you know about that commoner."

After the award ceremony ended, class assignments began. Some students who received F rank were so shocked they voluntarily dropped out.

Of course, I was assigned S rank—thirty-eighth out of fifty. If the gauntlet had been intact and I had participated in the third and fourth decisive battles, my placement might have been higher. But rankings held little meaning for me, so it didn't matter.

"We will now begin dormitory assignments. S-class students will reside in Building A. The standard is one person per room..."

The instructor continued explaining that facilities and room allocations were graded according to rank. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠In short, S-class students in Building A received single rooms with truly extravagant facilities—including personal training rooms and sparring halls.

"Next is an explanation of available courses."

S-class students could attend every professor's lecture. Other students were restricted to courses matching their rank. A B-rank student, for example, could not take any lecture restricted to A rank or higher.

"When your name is called, come forward and collect your student ID and room key from the table."

After the general orientation, they distributed the IDs and keys in order of rank. The key I received was for Room 0—the penthouse suite of the dormitory.

As expected, even after being possessed by the game, the room assigned to the player is the same.

Room 0. Receiving that particular room meant the trigger from El Pandor Luntera still applied even after my possession. The moment a player entered S class, they were always—without exception—assigned Room 0. Therefore, in this supposedly random distribution, the fact that I received Room 0 was not coincidence but inevitability.

"My condolences to the student who received Room 0. As you all know, an additional student was urgently admitted on the recommendation of Her Highness the Princess and the head professor. We had no choice but to hastily convert the penthouse into living quarters."

The reason was exactly as I remembered. They had been forced to repurpose even the penthouse to accommodate the extra student. This time that student was me, though in the original setting it had been the child of some count family.

"You are now dismissed to your assigned rooms. Unpack your own luggage, and ask the dorm supervisor for the detailed dormitory rules."

Anyway, I had received the penthouse exactly as in the game's original scenario. As I walked toward my new room, I recalled all the penthouse events I had experienced during countless replays.

A smirk tugged at my lips. Will it be the same this time? The whole group getting penalty points for secretly throwing a party.

When I thought about it, there had been many events. Because El Pandor Luntera was a relationship-focused game, major NPCs were constantly seeking out the player. The penthouse was the perfect location for building those relationships—the thrill of plotting shady business away from the supervisor's eyes, plus the unique atmosphere and romance only a rooftop could provide.

Perhaps lying on the roof with Enya to watch the stars will happen a little sooner than planned.

Originally it took an entire first semester to reach even a friend relationship with Enya. In the game you could not select the Baldohjae topic during conversations with her, so the key event of talking about all sorts of things beneath the stars could only be properly triggered after the first semester ended.

Yet I had pulled that important event forward considerably. My starting line was excellent.

"Hmm. Maybe I should prepare in advance."

A good idea occurred to me. If events were going to happen anyway, why not prepare for them thoroughly? For example, setting up equipment ahead of time for grilling meat, or installing a soundproofing system so the supervisor wouldn't notice even if we got rowdy. Since we were going to play, we might as well play properly.

Fortunately I possessed an overwhelming ability that made such preparations possible. Just imagining the future made my heart race with the urge to renovate the penthouse immediately. To think I could experience in reality the same excitement I had felt while playing this game.

I quickened my steps toward the dormitory.

The next day, large posters went up all across the academy to announce the start of classes. There were a total of fifty-three lectures—twenty taught by authoritative professors such as Elena, and thirty-three by the other instructors.

To attend faculty lectures one needed to be at least C rank. Some professors even required A rank or higher for their courses.

Elena's "Basics of Mana Studies," however, was an exception. Despite her position as head professor, she had opened the course to every student. It was her consideration to nurture as many talents as possible. Since proper understanding of mana—the foundation of all combat—was essential for improvement, she wanted to give lagging students a chance.

Hmm... I'll pass on Basics of Mana Studies.

For me it was unnecessary. I was already receiving one-on-one coaching from Elena as her disciple. There had been a time when I would have audited the class even if I had to sneak in, but becoming her student had eliminated the need entirely. Since I was already getting personalized lessons on unknown formulas whenever I wanted, there was no point wasting time.

Since there are limits to the formulas I can use right now, maybe I should take Professor Gracia's class.

I turned my attention to the lecture taught by the Sword Master. I judged that a class on physical reinforcement from someone of his caliber would be extremely helpful for a physical-type like myself. When I skimmed the course outline, the content was exactly what I needed.

Not bad.

I nodded. The only formulas I could currently use were those engraved on the core mana stone, so Professor Gracia's "physical reinforcement" class was perfectly suited for me.

Still... although it teaches the five elements required by various martial techniques, my weapon is probably an exception.

My weapons were an entirely different category. Shooting plasma beams and generating plasma lightsabers to slaughter enemies—could Gracia, who had only ever handled cold weapons his entire life, really establish the five elements for that? If I asked him to teach me how to fire a plasma beam effectively, he would surely give me a dumbfounded look.

Still, I have no choice. He is a Sword Master. I'm sure it will be helpful.

In the end I decided to take Professor Gracia's class. In the game, taking his lectures had dramatically raised my character's stats and abilities. That was proof his classes were packed with value.

I wrote Professor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gracia's lecture on my registration form.

Hmm~. So Gracia's class, is it?

And someone was watching my choice very closely. None other than Isabella. Using her spell, she had secretly spied on my decision so she could follow every single one of my classes and entangle herself with the interesting fellow named Ed.

Ed... so you're interested in swordsmanship.

Enya, who had been stealing glances at me from the side, did the same. The corners of her lips curved up slightly as she wrote the same lecture on her form. She expected that this would allow for much deeper discussions when they talked about Battojutsu.

Hah, the guy who beat me with equipment wants to learn swordsmanship? How ridiculous.

Max Sigmund was also focusing all his attention on my decision, burning to avenge his previous defeat.

I-I want to take the same classes as Sir Fix too!

Charlotte, the round-glassed girl who had barely entered B class at fiftieth place, also added the lecture to her form. Having come to admire me through the first and second evaluation battles, she wanted to follow my every move.

Perfect timing. I was thinking of properly learning spear techniques anyway.

Even Claire, ranked ninth in S class, was paying attention to me. To investigate the person who had done something strange to Enya, she needed to overlap with at least two or three of his courses.

Thus, without my knowledge, I was being spied upon—by people who hated me, followed me, found me interesting, or liked me.

And also by the teacher who cherished me.