Lucian (2)
I was curious. Among the five original protagonists, Warren had been the strongest right from the start. The fact that he was the only one who began in the upper class said it all. Yet when I didn’t select him as the player character and he appeared as a side character instead, he’d had almost no presence. He couldn’t clear the blacksmith quest on his own, so he never obtained the exclusive sword that was his reward.
But now things were different from the original story. Because I had stepped in during that quest, Warren had gained real combat experience and laid his hands on a sword that would fuel his growth. He had become more like a true protagonist, so I wondered whether something about him had changed—unlike the other lazy candidates. That curiosity brought me to the training grounds in the afternoon.
After all, I was already practicing magic there every night. I simply moved my session earlier on the off chance Warren might be around.
As expected. You really are the best of the bunch. Good kid.
In the swordsmanship practice area I spotted Warren without any trouble. Dane and the rest were nowhere to be seen—probably off playing somewhere. But Warren was there, gripping the sword he had won over the weekend and swinging it diligently against a training dummy.
He had always possessed outstanding talent, and he was one of the original protagonists. I wasn’t expecting miracles, but if he could at least grow to match that potential, he would be a reliable asset later when the real villains started running wild.
“Kael!”
Warren noticed me the moment I entered the grounds and waved. I returned the greeting from a distance, then headed toward the magic shooting range for my own training. Other students were still scattered around at this hour, so I couldn’t practice stacked spells. Instead I focused on my still-lacking accuracy, taking aim at a distant dummy.
An hour slipped by like that. I was just about to leave the grounds after my usual evening routine when Warren approached again, finished with his own practice.
“Kael. Good to see you here again.”
We had worked together on a request outside the academy, but this was our first time running into each other on campus. Warren’s face lit up with genuine delight.
“You’re really working hard on your magic. No wonder you’re so str…ong.”
His voice trailed off. He was staring at my name tag—the bronze one that marked me as lower class. Since we had never met on campus in uniform before, he must have only just realized it.
“I guess I need to train harder too…”
Warren muttered the words half to himself, looking surprised. After I had outperformed him last weekend despite being in the lower class, it seemed I had lit a fire under him. It was exactly the kind of mindset you wanted to see in an original protagonist.
“If you haven’t eaten yet, maybe we could grab dinner togeth—”
That was when we stepped out of the training grounds and a voice called out ahead of us.
“Warren, that you?”
A large male student was walking over with two friends in tow. The moment he appeared, Warren’s face hardened noticeably.
The big guy’s name was Glover. He was essentially Lucian’s enforcer. I hadn’t remembered the name until I saw it on his tag just now. He had also been standing beside Lucian during our brief encounter last weekend.
“Hey, fancy running into you here. Good to see you, Warren.”
Glover’s tone was pure provocation, the lazy swagger of a thug that completely contradicted his words. I caught Warren quickly hiding a clenched fist behind his back.
Hmm. So this is how it can play out.
Glover’s attitude, Warren’s expression, and the scene I had accidentally witnessed yesterday—Lucian’s group surrounding another male student. The pieces clicked together. In the original story Lucian had gathered obedient commoner students under him from the very first week. Anyone who caught his eye but refused to bow was relentlessly tormented.
When I had played as Warren, he had been so overwhelmingly strong from the start that he never became a direct target. But the current Warren was different. He could easily have ended up in their crosshairs. Looking back, even his initial timid demeanor suddenly made sense.
“Who’s this punk? You really stooping to hang out with lower-class trash now?”
Glover shot me a sideways glance. Warren, who had stayed silent until then, quickly checked my reaction. It wasn’t a plea for help. He looked worried that I might get dragged in.
“Well, birds of a feather, right?”
“A lower-class loser is perfect for you, Warren.”
Whatever they found so hilarious, the three of them cackled while their target stood right in front of them.
“Knock it off.”
Warren’s voice was quiet but firm. He had finally spoken.
“Whoa, Warren. You’re even shielding a friend now? That’s kinda scary.”
Glover kept sneering, exchanging giggles with his cronies. Warren refused to back down, glaring straight at the much larger boy.
“Where do you get off acting like you’re my equal?”
Irritated by Warren’s stare, Glover took a heavy step forward.
“You little—!”
When Glover raised a meaty fist, Warren flinched on reflex, eyes squeezing shut as he stumbled backward. The two lackeys behind Glover burst into fresh laughter.
“And who the hell are you?”
Glover’s gaze finally swung to me.
“It’s on the tag,” I answered, still looking up at the hulking boy.
“Ha, this guy’s a riot.”
Glover closed the distance until he was right in my face.
“What are you staring at?”
“You.”
One of his friends let out a snort of laughter. Glover whipped his head around to glare at the idiot before turning back to me.
“You think this is a game?”
He thrust a huge fist high above my head in open threat. I simply stood there, staring straight at him.
You’re not actually going to swing. Not here.
The sun hadn’t fully set yet. Plenty of students were still walking around. No matter how much of a thug he was, even Glover wouldn’t start a blatant brawl in broad view.
“I’ll be watching you. Better watch your back.”
Feeling the surrounding eyes on him, Glover slowly lowered his arm and spat out the warning. Then he looked at Warren again.
“Anyway, Warren. Catch you later.”
He and his friends gave Warren’s shoulder a mocking pat as they sauntered past.
“Sorry, Kael,” Warren muttered in a low voice once the group had disappeared.
“For what?”
“I was worried you’d get dragged into this mess because of me.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable fear. But his concern was misplaced. Lucian never touched anyone he considered above him—and at the very top of that list was Ophelia. Since he had seen me with her, he was unlikely to move against me lightly. Unless Glover went rogue on his own, of course. Even then, dealing with Glover would be annoying at worst. Nothing I couldn’t handle.
The one I actually felt sorry for was Warren, who now seemed to be Lucian’s chosen prey.
Hmm. What should I do about this?
“Lord Lucian wants to see you. Follow us.”
My earlier prediction had been spectacularly wrong.
I was leaving the library after studying late into the night when two male students fell in step beside me. I had never seen their faces before, but it was obvious they belonged to Lucian’s crew. They even announced outright that Lucian had summoned me.
And it wasn’t even Glover—it was Lucian himself.
This just got a little more troublesome.
I followed them in silence across the dark campus. The reason was simple: refusing now would only make things more annoying later. Still, I couldn’t help wondering what Lucian was thinking by calling me out.
The handshake we had shared on the day I returned to the academy with Ophelia came to mind. His expression back then had been strangely ambiguous. It seemed being seen with Ophelia had actually drawn his attention to me.
I had run into Glover around evening, but even if that had annoyed him, it wasn’t something Lucian should have cared about. The more likely scenario was that Glover had reported my connection to Warren, and Lucian had remembered me from that earlier encounter with Ophelia.
“Where are we going?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
Behind an abandoned building near Moonlight Hill. The academy grounds were vast; there were several places that stayed conveniently out of sight. This was one of them.
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
One of them gave a curt reply and turned forward again. Neither boy seemed particularly interested in me. They had clearly seen my lower-class tag, and they might even have learned that my magic power rating was E-grade. Because of that, they paid me little attention and simply focused on the dark path ahead.
I tightened my grip on the staff I had been holding and raised it high.