The Entrance Ceremony
As we stepped into the auditorium where the entrance ceremony was to be held, the gazes of the students who had already arrived began to drift toward Yuri and me.
"Hey, look. It's Yuri Clementine."
"So the Clementines really are coming."
"That means all four of the Elemental Families are gathered for this year's intake."
"Man, her glare is terrifying."
"She's drop-dead gorgeous, though."
The attention was, first and foremost, because of Yuri Clementine, the lady of a prestigious noble family.
"Who's that guy next to her?"
"Never seen him before. Why are his eyes covered?"
"Must be blind."
"But he's carrying a sword?"
"I hope he doesn't end up stabbing himself."
Secondly, it was because of my rather unique appearance. I could hear a group of rough-looking students snickering as they looked at me. While I wasn't used to this kind of reaction, I would have to get used to it from now on. It didn't bother me much. It wasn't as if I were actually blind, after all. Besides, the fact that I didn't recognize their faces meant they were merely extras of no real importance. Extras usually possessed the caliber of, well, extras, so their mockery didn't feel like much of a threat.
I quietly checked Yuri's reaction beside me, and her expression was far from pleasant. Her crimson eyes seemed to burn with a fierce intensity. It was safe to say she was on the verge of exploding. She likely took offense at them mocking me for being blind.
"Hah. There are always people like that, no matter where you go," she muttered.
But since there were instructors present alongside the students, letting her anger explode wouldn't make for a good first impression. I gently held Yuri back as she tried to step toward them.
"I am fine. It is my concern, so please do not worry too much about it."
"..."
Whether she understood my intentions or not, Yuri kept her mouth tightly shut and simply stared at me. Fortunately, she didn't unleash her sharp tongue on them. Thinking back to when her affection level was high in the game, she was actually quite kind-hearted, even if she was a bit prickly. She just had a bit of a temper... Her fundamental nature was undeniably good.
It was true that Yuri was much more prone to anger in the early stages of the story. Of course, that anger maximized the power of her fire magic, which was her affinity. However, I clearly remembered her undergoing internal growth later on, unleashing far more devastating fire magic through controlled, suppressed anger. Restraint. That was the key emotion for her awakening. If I could help her along and guide her to grow stronger a bit faster, it would be of immense help for the upcoming story.
'There's no harm in her awakening early.'
We seemed to have arrived on the later side. Once the students who followed us in took their places, the auditorium lights gradually dimmed, naturally drawing everyone's attention to the only illuminated stage.
"Welcome, students. I am Juliut Klaus, the 21st Principal of Innocence Academy."
The principal stepped forward, his dignified voice marking the beginning of his speech. In the game, I had only watched this without skipping during my very first playthrough. Since I had skipped all these dialogues in subsequent playthroughs, it had been a long time since I last heard this speech. Yet, it was just as boring as ever. In fact, standing in an uncomfortable posture made it feel even more tedious. I began to scan my surroundings, checking off the main characters one by one. Since I was near the back, I could only see the backs of their heads, but I could still tell who was who.
'That big guy over there is the one who uses earth magic.'
Familiar instructors also caught my eye. The cast of characters was exactly as it should be. ...Except for one. I couldn't see her. Just in case, I scanned the crowd behind me, but her face was nowhere to be found. Her hair color was so striking that it should have been impossible to miss...
"Is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Yuri, standing beside me, asked with a worried look as she noticed me turning my head left and right.
"Ah..."
Right, since I was supposed to be blind, she wouldn't have expected me to be looking for someone. I needed to pay closer attention to these details in the future.
"No... It is nothing."
"Hmm..."
Acting blind wasn't easy. There were far more things to keep track of than I had anticipated. But more important than that right now...
'What if she doesn't show up... or worse, what if she doesn't even exist in this world?'
Considering her peculiar nature, such a thought wasn't entirely far-fetched. She was a character who could appear anywhere, and it wouldn't be strange wherever she popped up, but she had always shown her face at the entrance ceremony.
'This is troublesome...'
"And once again, I congratulate you all on your admission. I will now explain the class placement exam."
Most of the entrance ceremony was already drawing to a close. At the principal's mention of the exam, I could feel the bored eyes of the students instantly light up with intensity.
"As always, to accommodate those who have traveled from afar, the class placement exam will be held after a three-day rest period."
The class placement exam was a tradition steeped in the long history of Innocence Academy. Within the academy, no distinctions of social status applied. This was largely influenced by the fact that the legendary Hero who had defeated the Demon King in the past was a commoner. The only thing that could set students apart was always their combat power—their own individual strength. In short, strength was everything within the academy. It was an educational system that ran on pure meritocracy, actively encouraging competition. I hadn't thought much of it when it was just a game, but now that it was reality, it felt almost cruel.
"I wonder what kind of exam it will be this time," Yuri murmured, her gaze fixed on the stage as she asked a question she knew wouldn't get an immediate answer.
"They say the contents of the exam change every time, do they not?" I played along casually. Naturally, I already knew what the exam would entail. A deathmatch held in a virtual space created by illusion magic, divided into groups of ten. A ten-person battle royale.
"...It does not matter. I will simply burn everything to ashes." Yuri spoke those chilling words with a completely blank expression. That was her true personality, after all. She was just being unusually gentle with me. When I stared at her without a word, she noticed my gaze and quickly turned her head away.
"...Or so my father told me."
"Haha... He sounds like a very passionate man..."
While an awkward silence briefly lingered between us, thunderous applause erupted throughout the auditorium. The principal gave his final remarks and stepped down from the stage. The entrance ceremony was officially over. But an end is just another beginning. Now that I had finally entered the academy, there were many things I needed to do over the next three days. Looking around, I saw staff members helping students with their dormitory assignments. Since the male and female dormitories were separate, it was time to part ways with Yuri. I bowed my head slightly to express my gratitude.
"Thanks to you, I was able to travel to the academy in comfort."
"No, it is fine. Thanks to you, the journey wasn't boring either."
"...Since fate has brought us together like this, let us get along well in the future." I offered my hand to Yuri once more as I spoke. There was no downside to quickly becoming close to her. Now that the game had become reality, building good relationships beforehand was a necessary step.
"...Get along..." Yuri murmured, staring at my outstretched hand as she chewed on my words.
"...Very well." She finally took my hand. We shook hands once more before heading our separate ways.
'Now, I just need to make sure we end up in the same class.'
The main characters, possessing exceptional abilities, were bound to score at the top of the exam. In the game, the player was almost guaranteed to enter the top-class... but things were different now.
'I must grow as much as possible over the next three days.'
As the name suggests, there were a total of four families in the continent's Four Elemental Families. Fire, water, wind, and earth. The Four Elemental Families referred to a coalition of houses that boasted exceptionally outstanding talent in these common, representative elemental magics.
The Caligus family of earth magic.
The Windless family of wind magic.
The Eisin family of water magic.
And the Clementine family of fire magic.
The only daughter of Jeras Clementine, the current head of the Clementine family. Her name was Yuri Clementine.
The Blazing Flower. It was an epithet born from her striking beauty since childhood and the fiery nature of the Clementine family, renowned for their fire magic.
As the sole heir to the prestigious Clementine family, her unrivaled status and beauty had drawn countless marriage proposals since her youth. Men approached her solely for her face, her body, or the prestige of her family name, but none of it pleased her. Love. The love stories in the fairy tales her nanny used to tell her as a child were sometimes heartbreaking, and at other times, agonizingly sweet. Yuri Clementine yearned for that kind of fairy-tale love. However, she realized at an early age that the men who approached her did not do so with love in their hearts.
It was from then on that Yuri Clementine's temper grew short, and her talent for fire magic began to flourish. She knew very well that if she threw a fiery tantrum, men wouldn't dare approach her and would leave her alone. Time passed, and the day of her academy entrance arrived.
"Hey! Watch where you're go—!"
...And for the first time, she met a man she couldn't get angry at. She had bumped into him on the street, and although she knew she was also at fault for not paying attention, the mere fact that he was a man—a presence she found uncomfortable—was enough to spark her temper. However...
"I am sorry. I was not paying close enough attention..."
The man named Zeto, whose eyes were covered by a pristine white blindfold, was blind. No matter how short-tempered she was, she couldn't bring herself to get angry at a blind man after bumping into him. She felt that doing so would simply be wrong. That day, for the first time in her life, she had a conversation of more than five sentences with a strange man who wasn't family. At first, it was curiosity. It was simply fascinating to see him walking perfectly fine without even relying on a cane, despite being unable to see.
"It is Qi Sensing."
Qi Sensing. The ability that allowed him to walk and swing a sword perfectly fine on his own despite his blindness.
"As expected of the lady of the Clementine family."
When he praised her, it felt entirely different from the compliments she had grown sick of hearing from other men. Perhaps it was because he was praising her knowledge, which she had begrudgingly acquired from the history lessons she despised. But most importantly, she couldn't sense any ulterior motives from him, unlike other men. His smile felt strangely pure and transparent.
Yuri didn't mind talking to him at all. He never said anything to irritate her, and above all...
"I am fine. It is my concern, so please do not worry too much about it."
Unlike her, he was calm. He didn't get angry even when looked down upon. He was completely different from her, who often flew into a rage over the smallest things. Yuri Clementine suddenly realized something. She, who had found every single man uncomfortable, was unconsciously feeling at ease around him.
Zeto was blind. To him, her stunning beauty was useless. To someone who couldn't see, beauty held no value. Paradoxically, it was precisely because he couldn't perceive her looks at all that she could feel so comfortable around him.
"Thanks to you, I was able to travel to the academy in comfort."
"No, it is fine. Thanks to you, the journey wasn't boring either."
Now it was time to part ways. Without realizing it, Yuri felt a slight pang of regret at the thought of saying goodbye. Was it because she had finally found a man she could talk to comfortably? Just then, Zeto spoke up in response to her reply.
"...Since fate has brought us together like this, let us get along well in the future."
"...Get along..."
To get along well. He meant becoming friends. A friend. Since her childhood, Yuri Clementine had kept men at a distance, while other girls were too busy envying and gossiping about her. Regrettably, she had never had anyone she could call a friend. She didn't even have a female friend of her own gender, so a male friend? Yet, looking at Zeto offering his hand with that pure smile...
'Well, I suppose... having at least one friend wouldn't hurt.'
"...Very well."
Yuri ended up taking his hand before she even realized what she was doing. It was the day she gained a friend for the very first time in her life.