The First Lesson
“Ugh. S-stop… I can’t take any more…”
“This is already too much for you?”
—Just what is wrong with this kid? How can he be full after eating so little?
I completely agreed with the Heavenly Demon. How on earth could he be full already? He had only polished off two whole portions and taken just two spoonfuls from the third.
When I urged him to eat a little more, he shook his head and even covered his mouth with both hands. Left with no choice, I decided to finish the rest myself.
“What a waste of something this delicious.”
“I ate too much… my stomach’s… so full… I’m sorry.”
…There was no need to apologize for that.
—He truly has a kind heart.
‘He really does.’
From the moment we first met, this guy had a genuinely good personality. He even lent me his sword so I could hunt the sand snake…
‘Wait a second.’
Come to think of it, did I ever return that sword? No, more importantly, did I even pick it up before leaving that place…?
As I recalled the events of that day, a cold sweat began to trickle down my back. Oh no. I had borrowed someone’s weapon and never given it back!
Of course, it was just standard academy-issued gear, and he had already obtained his own personal weapon, so it probably wasn’t a huge issue… but still.
“Shall we get going?”
“You’re already done eating?!”
“This much is nothing.”
I had been stuck in the hospital unable to eat properly for so long. Ignoring the usual nagging about chewing slowly and thoroughly, I had inhaled the food with pure delight.
“U-um…?”
“Where should we head next?”
“Huh…?”
His reaction was strangely intense. Had he assumed we would part ways right after the meal? Sorry, but I had no intention of letting go of the connection I had made here so easily.
“I’m really fine. Oh, by the way, what time is it?”
“Hmm? It’s… twelve thirty.”
At my words, my friend shot up from his seat in a panic. What was going on? Did he have some kind of appointment?
“Do you need to be somewhere?”
“Well… the seniors told me to meet them by twelve forty yesterday.”
“Seniors? You’ve already made friends with upperclassmen? And seniors, at that?!”
“I-it’s… not exactly what you’d call a friendly relationship.”
The way he dodged the question felt off. He was avoiding eye contact and breaking into a cold sweat. It was obvious he was afraid of these so-called seniors.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? Why are you…”
“I’m curious about these seniors too.”
To be precise, I wanted to confirm whether the situation was what I suspected. There was no need to spell that out loud. I simply kept my mouth shut and began walking toward the appointed meeting place.
“This is worse than I thought.”
What had started as a small suspicion quickly solidified into certainty as we made our way to the meeting spot.
“Why are they calling you out anyway?”
“They… said they needed money.”
“…What?”
So they were secretly summoning a junior just to shake him down for cash?
“We’re supposed to meet at that place over there.”
“Hah… They really picked a spot that suits them perfectly.”
“Did you say something?”
“Nothing. Let’s hurry.”
“O-okay. But you really don’t have to come with me.”
Oh, but I do. There was no way I would just ignore it when the first friend I made at the academy was about to suffer something so unfair.
I glanced sideways. The Heavenly Demon seemed to share my thoughts; his expression had grown serious.
“The atmosphere is completely different from before.”
As soon as we stepped out of the alley, the bright and lively mood of the academy flipped in an instant. The area felt as eerie as some backstreet in the slums—dark, gloomy, and oppressive.
Cigarette butts littered the ground, loud voices echoed everywhere, and the lingering traces of crude mana in the air made it clear this was one of the academy’s darker corners.
“Of course the delinquents would choose a place like this to meet.”
“Y-you’re speaking too loudly…?!”
“It’s fine. At least none of them here are stronger than me.”
—Correct. So go wild without worry. Your master gives you permission.
And I wasn’t being arrogant. I was simply stating the truth. So there was no need for him to look at me with such worried eyes.
“Hey, you there!”
Just as I thought we had walked far enough, a rough voice called out to us from a distance. The gravelly tone, like something was stuck in the speaker’s throat, made my eyes narrow instinctively. But before I could react, my friend stepped forward, so I quickly followed behind him.
“What? You brought a friend along?”
“He’s still a fresh-faced freshman, isn’t he?”
“When did you find a guy like this?”
“Yaaawn~ So when are you leaving?”
When we reached the source of the voices, five guys were clustered together. Even from a distance, the heavy stench of cigarettes and faint alcohol hit us.
These bastards. They had been drinking here? During lunch hour?
“Shut up. Keep it down.”
The owner of the voice that had called us over. A tattoo stretched across his right cheek, making him look like the textbook definition of a troublemaker—and his behavior matched his appearance perfectly.
“Alright, since you’re late for the appointed time, we’ll have to take a little extra, won’t we?”
“What?! B-but you clearly said to come by forty minutes past…!”
“Did I? I don’t remember.”
“I was listening to music at the time, so I wouldn’t know.”
“How would we know that?”
These sons of bitches…
“Just give up, kid.”
“Yeah. Come an hour early next time. Then we’ll be nice and quiet.”
“So adding in the late fee, the amount comes to…”
Grab.
“Huh? Aren’t you that kid’s friend?”
“Whoa, he grabbed his arm! So cool~”
“I saw this scene in a comic once.”
“You still read that stuff?”
I looked down at the wrist I had seized. This guy had some decent muscle from attending the academy, huh? But that was it. Even if his strength were greater, it was nothing but a dry twig before the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
“Freshman friend. You’d better let go. This guy ranks in the top five for raw strength among the second-years…”
Crack.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!”
“W-what the hell!”
“Aaaaaagh! My arm! My arm!!”
What were they yelling about so loudly? Strength? Top five? He was still just a second-year scrub.
I lightly shook my hand and looked down at the guy who had collapsed to the ground.
“You should head to the infirmary right away. They’ll fix you up nice and clean.”
The academy’s infirmary had plenty of people with healing abilities, so injuries were treated easily. According to the setting, their healing capabilities were so advanced they could even reattach a severed arm without issue. A few broken bones would be healed in no time.
“Grrrrr!! Y-you bastard!!”
“You want to attack me? If you do, I’ll strike back… Are you sure you’re up for that?”
This time I wouldn’t stop at just breaking one arm. I stared at him with icy eyes that made my intention perfectly clear. He flinched and took a step back, clearly frightened by my gaze.
This guy. He was completely terrified of me now.
“Ugh!”
Realizing it himself, his face flushed red as he began radiating mana. If the guy who looked like their leader hadn’t stopped him, things would have gotten seriously out of hand.
“That’s enough. Any more and it’ll be trouble.”
“But that guy—!”
“You can’t win even if you use mana. This freshman is already beyond a normal new student’s level.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
So at least one of them had decent eyes. While the others were simply fuming with anger, this guy seemed capable of gauging his opponent’s strength.
“I heard one freshman killed a sand snake in a single blow. That was you, right?”
“It’s only been a few days and the rumor has already spread this far?”
“It was worth spreading.”
“Y-yeah. You’re actually pretty famous right now.”
Was I really that well-known? I had expected my reputation to rise significantly after delivering the final blow to the sand snake, but I never imagined the story would reach the upperclassmen too.
—It is inevitable that the outstanding will have even their smallest actions become the talk of others. There is no avoiding it. Just accept it and move on.
“We don’t want to fight you. Even if we won, we’d suffer considerable losses. And there’s no benefit to beating a freshman anyway.”
They weren’t rushing into a fight without thinking. That was a surprisingly rational choice for a bunch of delinquent thugs. The others looked dissatisfied, as if they didn’t understand, but they stayed quiet. It seemed they would silently follow their leader’s decision.
“We’ll be on our way now. We won’t call your friend out separately anymore, so don’t worry.”
“Tsk. Consider yourself lucky, freshman.”
“And you, shorty. Watch yourself from now on.”
It looked like the matter would end here, fizzling out without further incident. The group of delinquents turned their backs and began heading toward another location when I let out a dry laugh and spoke up.
“Excuse me.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
There was one thing these guys were seriously mistaken about.
“I never said I’d let you leave.”
They still hadn’t realized who the true owner of this space was.
Crack.
I lightly flexed my fingers and stepped forward. Once I start something, I always see it through to the end.
So don’t even think about running away, you rotten bastards.