Chapter 2
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Enrollment (2)
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Petra was standing demurely in front of the door, waiting.
Her gaze lowered to the ground.
I glanced at her.
A beauty with black hair, dressed in a classic black-and-white maid outfit, wearing a small necklace.
Her eyes, filled with worry, turned toward me.
She looked like an ordinary maid at first glance.
But I knew what kind of person Petra really was.
An Honorary Knight of the Phillasia family.
One of those trained as knights among the maids or butlers, capable of handling both escort duties and housework.
Her maid outfit probably concealed a dagger ready to be drawn at any moment.
The maid assigned by my father, the Family Head of the Phillasia family, to serve as my bodyguard.
Having her by my side was a condition for enrolling in the academy.
"What are you doing? Standing there with your head bowed like that."
"I've done something wrong."
"What did you do wrong?"
She cautiously lifted her head. Her face was tearful.
One punch from her could make me spit blood and collapse on the spot.
Yet here she was, shrinking back in front of me.
But I had no idea what she thought she'd done wrong.
What the hell had she actually done wrong?
"Ever since I said I'd clean up, your face has been stiff. I thought you were angry..."
"Ah..."
That was the reason?
I sighed inwardly.
Then I pulled up the corners of my mouth.
I was trying to smile.
"Petra, I'm not angry. There's no way I'd get mad over something that trivial, right?"
"R... right?"
Petra reluctantly nodded at my smile.
But the way she avoided my gaze made it clear she didn't believe me at all.
Damn it.
This was all Deron's fault.
One of the legacies that bastard left behind was this exact look in her eyes.
What the hell had he been doing to make her apologize over something as minor as a stiff expression?
From his own bodyguard, no less?
My face was stiff because I was tired from all the walking.
I absolutely wasn't angry.
But even if I told her that, Petra wouldn't believe me.
People cling to the past as much as the present.
Unless I clear up the karma he's piled up, her distrust won't fade.
"Let's go."
In the end, I could only lament Deron's karma once again today.
The karma he'd been stacking up long before I possessed this body became even more apparent now that I was at Iliad Academy.
You'd think a guy with the Phillasia family as his backing would have at least a minion or two, but apparently not...
'This bastard was just a straight-up tyrant.'
A tyrant who even drove away his own lackeys.
I clicked my tongue and started walking.
Petra cautiously followed behind me.
As we left Trea Dormitory, a noisy scene came into view.
Banners welcoming new students floated in the sky, and music poured out from the gates.
Commoners were receiving encouragement and congratulations from their parents.
Nobles checked their conditions before handing their luggage to their maids.
There seemed to be three or four times more friends and family than actual enrollees.
That must be why the entrance was so crowded.
It was a scene fitting for an enrollment ceremony in every way.
But my surroundings were deserted.
No one blocked my path, as if I were someone afflicted with a disease.
If anyone accidentally brushed against me, they flinched in shock and melted into the crowd.
Amid the throng of people, I advanced very easily.
Damn Deron, you worthless wastrel bastard.
People fleeing without me doing anything.
And knowing it's because of me...
The feeling was utterly revolting.
I didn't show it, but judging by Petra's fidgeting...
My face must already be stiff again.
What could I do?
This was a situation I'd expected ever since I first said I was enrolling in Iliad Academy.
I didn't even hope for something as mundane as graduating as an ordinary noble scion.
I desperately prayed to a god I didn't even believe in.
Please, just don't get in my way.
If you don't interfere, I'll find the opportunities on my own, so please.
"Hoo..."
I let out a sigh in front of the massive gate.
It looked like ordinary wood, but it was layered with multiple protective spells forming a barrier.
Probably enough to block up to 6th circle... or 6th rank in this place's terms?
The continent's foremost.
Iliad Academy's entrance.
The hall of learning, Trina.
That famous gate stood right before my eyes.
Man, seeing the gate I'd only read about in the novel's descriptions fills me with emotion.
The firmly shut gate showed no sign of opening yet.
"It won't be long before Trina opens."
At Petra's murmur, I looked up.
The towering main gate stretched toward the sky.
Beyond Trina lay a place only academy students could enter.
No matter that she was a maid of the Phillasia Ducal Family, even she couldn't cross that gate.
Only students seeking knowledge could pass through.
It was a rule proclaimed by the empire's first emperor.
Not even the current emperor could change it.
"I'll head back to the dormitory first."
Petra said that and rummaged in her bosom.
The dormitory she meant wasn't Trea Dormitory.
It was the place where nobles or wealthy commoners' maids and butlers stayed.
Iliad Academy even provided accommodations for them.
"You said you're going?"
"Yes, but I have something to hand over first."
I looked at Petra curiously as she kept rummaging in her bosom.
What on earth was she trying to give me?
"Ah, found it."
A complete darkness, utterly black with no other hues.
What emerged from her bosom was an elixir.
I received the round, somehow unsettling orb.
"What's this?"
"An elixir. A personal gift from me to you, Young Master."
"An elixir? What money do you even have?"
"Don't worry about that. Just take it. Trina will open soon."
As she said, the gate creaked open with a screech.
The enrollees' faces filled with tension and joy.
I lightly waved Petra off and entered Trina.
From here on out, it's all mine for the taking.
"Hoo, hoo."
The commoner Sophia panted for breath.
Her throat kept closing up from nerves. Even water didn't quench her thirst.
And for good reason—it was Iliad Academy, after all.
A place that went beyond the empire's best to claim the continent's top spot.
She still couldn't believe she'd enrolled here.
Her parents had wept rivers of tears, bragging to the whole village.
A genius had appeared from their tiny rural hamlet.
Grip.
She clenched her fist and glared ahead.
There weren't many enrollees compared to the crowd at the entrance.
Even by rough estimate, maybe 20 or 30?
'Since I'm here, I might as well aim for top rank.'
A cocky goal from a girl in a remote mountain village.
That goal had been utterly shattered during the tests.
"I... insane. Sparring with the instructor?"
Sophia unwittingly voiced her inner thoughts.
But no one called her out on it.
The test's difficulty had been that brutal.
"Next trainee."
She could tell just from the swordsman who'd surrendered right before her.
If she'd fought that man, she would've lost.
Yet the instructor had subdued him with just a couple of casual moves.
A clear gap in skill.
Only then did she realize how hard it was to claim top rank here.
Other groups already had standouts.
Swordsmen who'd exchanged dozens of blows with instructors, even if they hadn't won.
Sophia stared ahead.
Her turn was approaching.
Right behind the man in front of her.
Deep gray hair, black eyes that looked gloomy at first glance.
Deron Phillasia, infamous even within the academy.
Even a country girl like her knew the name.
Why was a guy too frail to move properly even here?
She looked at Deron.
His legs trembled as he climbed onto the platform, looking utterly pitiful.
If his face weren't so handsome, she'd have looked away to another group.
Was the "invalid" rumor true? He could barely hold his sword.
Even the stoic-faced instructor eased up slightly upon seeing Deron.
Whatever the reason a dying man came to the academy, a proper spar with someone on death's door wasn't feasible.
"Is it alright to start?"
The instructor unusually sought confirmation.
Act normal, and he might get accused of killing the Phillasia heir.
He needed to make it clearly a spar.
Deron nodded silently.
Sophia watched Deron with slightly worried eyes.
Rumor or not, the guy in front of her looked sickly.
After the instructor said "begin," Deron clenched his fist.
Then he cautiously moved his feet.
That was it.
He didn't move any further.
Like his feet were glued to the ground, he stood stock-still.
Murmurs rose around them.
Deron had already drawn eyes before, but standing like that on the platform pulled even more attention.
Time passed that way.
Deron still didn't move.
The instructor confirmed he had no intention of attacking first and stepped forward.
A speed no trainee could block.
The instructor vanished from the students' sight in an instant.
But Sophia's eyes caught the instructor's movement.
A strange footwork, a fist heading for Deron's abdomen.
Weaker than the blow to the previous swordsman, but enough to knock Deron out.
'Good thing.'
Sophia sighed inwardly.
He looked like even standing was dangerous. How could such a guy spar?
Lucky the instructor went easy.
She thought.
"Guhk!"
The instructor let out a short groan and collapsed on the platform.
However.
"Tch."
Deron was unscathed, perfectly fine.
Instead, he looked down at the instructor with his signature arrogant gaze.