4. It's Not an Attack, It's the Entrance Ceremony
4. It's Not an Attack, It's the Entrance Ceremony
"Was that... Sword Aura just now?"
"6th Rank? A powerhouse like that is nothing but a freshman? Don't tell me that student is the one..."
"Hush. The Claudia Family already made their position clear. No more talk of this."
"We did coordinate with the Claudias, yes, but that was strictly on the condition that her power would be limited. To openly display Sword Aura at the entrance ceremony?"
"Is this not a violation of the agreement?"
After the protagonist's Sword Aura bisected the manticore.
I entered the VIP room alongside the Chairwoman, and the place was already in an uproar.
The topic of conversation was, naturally, the Sword Aura the protagonist had let loose at the end.
More precisely, the display of skill that exceeded what had been "previously agreed upon."
'Things just got annoying.'
The backdoor deal I'd hammered out with Risha Claudia regarding the protagonist's enrollment.
In exchange for the academy allowing the protagonist to enroll, the great noble house of Claudia had agreed to quell the discontent among the other aristocrats.
For Risha and the Claudia Family, who found themselves outmatched in skill by the youngest knight in history, it was choosing the lesser evil over the worst-case scenario.
But that deal came with one precondition.
'Seal your Sword Aura, and only use one arm in sparring matches.'
Restrictions like "only use the power of X Rank" are meaningless. Even if someone told me to only exert the strength I had in high school, I couldn't calibrate it that precisely, and in a crisis, I'd just instinctively put out more force anyway.
That was why the academy and the Claudias settled on two constraints: Sword Aura and one arm. Forbidding a swordsman from using one arm, and sealing the Sword Aura that marks the boundary between 5th and 6th Rank—those are indeed formidable restrictions.
The problem was that even with all that, the protagonist was still the strongest first-year student.
Still, those were extraordinary constraints by any measure, so the Claudias should have been able to use them to smooth things over with the other nobles.
But of all things, she had to go and openly break them on the grand stage of the entrance ceremony.
As expected, the moment the Chairwoman and I stepped into the VIP room, every dignitary's gaze locked onto us.
"Chairwoman! That new student used Sword Aura—is this acceptable? If she simply unleashes Sword Aura as she just did, then competition itself becomes meaningless!"
"Restrictions or not, she is 6th Rank. She could walk into my territory right now and take command of our knight order. Accepting such a powerhouse as a mere freshman..."
"Did you secure a clear promise that she would abide by the restrictions? At the very least, this incident demands a firm disciplinary action or an example must be set!"
The dignitaries pressed the Chairwoman with their doubts.
And the Chairwoman's response was fundamentally one single thing.
"I do not turn away any student who seeks learning. That is an iron rule I have upheld for decades in operating this Grandis Academy. Surely no one intends to take issue with that?"
"That is..."
"...Hm."
"No, that isn't what we meant..."
She simply bulldozed through with sheer audacity.
It was true that a backdoor deal regarding the protagonist's enrollment existed between the academy and the Claudia Family, but that was a matter unrelated to the Chairwoman. The official announcement said as much, and knowing the Chairwoman's temperament, the dignitaries had every reason to believe it.
It wasn't as if Grandis Academy had never accepted a 6th Rank freshman before, and officially, the Chairwoman had merely acknowledged the protagonist's passion and granted him admission.
They could never imagine that, faced with the looming crisis of bankruptcy in three years, the Chairwoman—corrupted by a certain Finance Director—had slightly bent her convictions.
The Chairwoman had spent decades being forthright, incorruptible, and principled. That track record left the dignitaries utterly unable to raise any objection to her words.
...To be honest, a big part of it is simply that she's an overwhelmingly powerful transcendent. There's no guarantee you won't get smacked if you say the wrong thing, is there?
'Well, it's not like anyone can chew out the president just because one new low-level employee broke a promise, right?'
In any case, once the Chairwoman took that stance, the dignitaries' eyes naturally swiveled toward me, standing behind her—the working-level officer, the obvious weak link.
There wasn't a single person here who didn't know my face. I'd only been appointed last year, but I was the closest aide to the Chairwoman, which made me all the more visible.
Under their murderous glares demanding an explanation, I simply said:
"I am the Finance Director, so please direct all complaints and inquiries to Student Affairs."
I passed the buck.
Why? Because it genuinely isn't my department, is it?
What I'm supposed to be calculating is the cost to repair all the walls the protagonist keeps breaking, not fielding complaints about violated agreements.
Most importantly, the dignitaries never once mentioned the "backroom deal with the Claudia Family" in front of the Chairwoman. A natural choice, given that they all knew how deeply the Chairwoman loathed such underhanded arrangements.
In the end, the backroom deal certainly existed, orchestrated by the Chairwoman and me, but the dignitaries couldn't openly refer to it. They wouldn't want to make an enemy of the Claudia Family over something like this.
And above all, the protagonist's enrollment itself was officially without any issue whatsoever. So what happens now?
'Student Affairs, completely ignorant of the backroom deal or anything else, just gets worked to death.'
If the dignitaries can't protest to the actual parties to the deal, nor to the Claudia Family, then Student Affairs is all that's left.
I do feel a little sorry for them, but endure it. This kind of thing is literally Student Affairs' job, isn't it?
Besides, if you want to trace the root cause, it all comes back to the protagonist who decided to flash his Sword Aura on a whim. I, as a working professional, merely did my job.
Instead, I privately resolved to show Student Affairs a little extra consideration during the upcoming department budget allocations.
"Well then, I shall take my leave now."
I gave a brief nod to the Chairwoman and the dignitaries, then promptly excused myself from the VIP room.
Staying in the same space with powerful people was stressful anyway.
And there was someone I needed to meet.
*
"Ru-Rus! What in the world was that just now!?"
"...It's nothing."
"Nothing? That was Sword Aura! So you're the rumored new student!"
"Rumor...?"
"There's been talk that an actual 6th Rank would be our classmate! I didn't believe it, of course, but it turned out to be true!!"
"..."
"6th Rank is stronger than the knight commander in my hometown's lord's service! You're really an incredible person!"
With Rus having sheathed his sword and wearing a blank expression, Mina practically bounced in front of him.
As Mina beamed with admiration, purely praising Rus, Rus could hear the other voices around them.
"What the hell, he's really 6th Rank...? The rumor wasn't false?"
"Did you see that just now? Sword Aura, it was Sword Aura! Fuck, why is a monster like that coming to the academy?"
"Isn't this basically a public nuisance? As long as that freak of a monster is here, no matter what you do, topping the class is impossible. We're all just going to get buried under her reputation."
"The only ones I feel sorry for are Margrave Claudia's youngest daughter and the youngest knight in history."
"She definitely came to the academy to hog all the attention because just being called a genius wasn't enough. What could someone who's 6th Rank at that age possibly lack that she'd come here?"
Jealousy, envy, suspicion.
The new students in administration or magic, who were in completely different fields, merely looked at her with eyes that saw someone amazing or a curious spectacle.
Most of the martial arts freshmen, however, regarded Rus with open hostility.
6th Rank meant he could walk into any territory and take a knight-commander's post, or show up at the royal palace alone and immediately be inducted as a royal knight. And this powerhouse was either their age or younger.
The students who knocked on Grandis Academy's doors—with the exception of the administration track, which was mostly commoners—were, for the most part, people with their own ambitions and goals.
They were nobles, geniuses, those called prodigies. They were students who chose Grandis Academy as the stage to elevate their names, giving it their all.
But Rus, the 6th Rank, was a wall that no amount of effort or talent could reach. If someone had told them right now that Rus was actually not a freshman but an instructor in disguise, every single student would have nodded and said, "Ah, that explains it."
If only Rus had been from a great noble family, or a genius whose name was already known.
But he was from fallen nobility, a face and name no one had ever heard of before. Naturally, envious gazes followed him—just who the hell is this person?
Not everyone was like that, of course.
"You're as strong as ever, Miss Rus."
"...Claudia."
"To be recognized by a 6th Rank... I'm honored."
Among the crowd, some found her existence intriguing, or looked upon her favorably, or hid their true feelings behind a mask, or saw this as an opportunity instead.
Risha Claudia, who approached first with her blonde hair tied in a ponytail and a bright smile,
Belonged to the camp that hid her true thoughts.
'Where the hell did this bastard crawl out from...'
It was true that, thanks to Rus, she had avoided having to compete directly against the youngest knight one-on-one. Not taking first place was now the same, but at least losing to a "freakish 6th Rank monster who appeared out of nowhere" would be seen as an unavoidable defeat.
But that was one thing, and the deep wound to Risha's pride, who had never once doubted that she herself was a genius, was another thing entirely.
It grated on her. Risha had been convinced that the only person among her peers who was either superior or comparable to her was the youngest knight. To her, Rus's existence was profoundly irritating.
But one could not simply wear such inner thoughts on one's face.
Risha was a martial artist, yes, but she was also the daughter of a great noble house.
"I use the spear and you the sword, so our specializations are different, of course... but we are in the same martial arts field and will be seeing each other often over the next three years. I hope we get along."
A smile brimming with pure goodwill, and the hand of a great noble's daughter extended first.
Even though Risha stood to lose the most from Rus's existence, she showed herself acknowledging her rival.
"As expected of the Claudia Family."
"He's such a good person, it's a shame. For a bastard like that to suddenly enroll..."
"Lady Risha specializes in spearmanship, correct? I use the spear as well—I wonder if I might get close to her."
The entrance ceremony with all the new students assembled. Especially now, with everyone's attention fixed on Rus after that display of Sword Aura moments earlier.
Risha's reputation was naturally rising.
'I don't know why he used his Sword Aura when he agreed not to... but anyway, even a 6th Rank ultimately comes from fallen nobility. If I treat him well now, he might even join the Claudia Family after graduation.'
If that truly happened, Rus would become Risha's most formidable ally.
It was true that the higher one's Rank, the better one was treated. But no matter what, a higher Rank never made someone the equal of a great noble house.
Of course, there was the Chairwoman, a commoner born who even kings tread lightly around, but that was only because she was an 8th Rank anomaly. There was no way this Rus person could ever become 8th Rank.
So Risha clicked her tongue inwardly while perfectly feigning a smile and extending her hand for a handshake first.
"..."
'...Huh?'
Rus didn't take her hand, simply staring blankly at it instead.
The awkwardness of the moment made Risha's temper flare instantly.
'What, why the hell won't he shake my hand!?'
The young lady of the mighty Claudia Family had gone this far. The natural response should have been to take her hand and say "I look forward to studying together," shouldn't it?
Not exactly groveling, but at minimum, accepting a handshake was basic courtesy.
Was she genuinely ignoring her because they weren't the same Rank?
As five, ten, twenty seconds passed and Rus still didn't take her hand, fine cracks began to spread across Risha's smiling expression.
"What? Why is he acting like that?"
"Just because he's 6th Rank, is he snubbing Lady Risha right now?"
"What a piece of work... completely lacking in manners."
Just as the atmosphere around the students was turning increasingly hostile—
The sound of clapping rang out.
Clap, clap.
"Alright, students? I'd ask you all to please return to your seats now. We do need to continue with the entrance ceremony."
"Huh, wha?"
"The Chairwoman will be delivering her closing remarks shortly. The staff are resetting the scattered chairs, so please find your assigned seats!"
"Right. We were still in the middle of the ceremony, weren't we? Let's head back."
"More importantly, didn't that person look familiar? From the candidate waiting dormitory..."
"He looked like faculty—you probably just passed him in the hallway. Let's hurry up."
At the man's voice accompanied by the clapping, the students hurriedly began returning to their seats.
Risha, Rus, and Mina, who had been fidgeting anxiously behind them, also turned their heads toward the man who had suddenly intervened in the awkward situation.
"Finance Director...?"
"Lady Risha, a pleasure to meet you. I am Adam Caines, Finance Director of Grandis Academy. I am ever grateful for the efforts of the Claudia Family and the Margrave."
"Ah... yes, of course. We are meeting for the first time, yes."
Risha had been about to say something to the familiar face, but at Adam's greeting, delivered with perfect etiquette and the declaration that they were "meeting for the first time," she hurriedly reciprocated.
Rus still hadn't taken her hand, but this allowed Risha to excuse herself naturally. Risha glanced briefly at Rus, then looked back at him with a bright smile once more.
"It seems you were feeling shy today. Next time we meet, you must absolutely shake my hand, yes?"
"..."
'At least give a proper answer. How irritating.'
Risha muttered curses inwardly and departed first, having downgraded her assessment of the perpetually silent Rus to equal—or perhaps lower than—that of the youngest knight.
Rus silently gazed at Adam, who had interjected between them.
"And standing behind you—you must be Student Mina Glichen, correct?"
"Huh, w-what? You know my name?"
"I heard the news that House Baron Glichen adopted a talented young girl and bestowed their surname upon her. I look forward to your future."
"Thank you very much! Um, Finance... Director?"
"Adam Caines. There should be little occasion for you to see me during your academy life, so you needn't bother to remember it."
"No, no! I'll definitely greet you properly next time I see you! Well then, Rus? Let's head back to our seats...!"
"Ah, my apologies to Student Mina, but I have something to discuss with Student Rus for a moment."
"What?"
"Well... you see."
As Adam gave a wry smile and gestured toward the slash mark Rus had carved with his Sword Aura, Mina's face went pale as she grasped the situation, and she turned her head toward Rus.
True to her purehearted nature, her face plainly revealed her inner thoughts.
"Rus, what are you going to do..."
"Don't worry, Student Mina. Nothing will happen to your friend. Grandis Academy always puts its students first."
"Ah... yes!"
Having soothed Mina, Adam saw her off, and Mina glanced back at Rus several times before eventually returning to her seat.
Thus, in the center of the auditorium that had grown noisy again as students dispersed to their places,
"Student Rus Spero?"
"...Yes."
"Could I have a word with you?"
"...Alright."
The academy's Finance Director and the new student from the backwater faced one another.
For some reason, Rus, who had offered no reply to Risha whatsoever, answered Adam with a nod.
And Adam was...
...glaring at Rus with eyes that carried some intense, indiscernible emotion.