Theater Class (1)
The first-year students in the Art Department studied four main artistic disciplines: fine arts, music, literature, and theater.
We would choose our specific majors in our second year, but during our first year we had to learn a little of everything. Monday’s very first class was acting.
As for acting, my only experience from my previous life was playing a tree in kindergarten, so I knew absolutely nothing about it. That was why I had already claimed a seat in the far corner, planning to sleep through the lesson without drawing any attention.
“Um… Mr. Kael.”
“Yeah?”
That was when someone spoke to me from the side. I turned my head and found a familiar face greeting me with an awkward smile.
Pink hair and round glasses. It was Hestia Claudi, the girl I had met yesterday.
“You were in the Art Department?”
“I… I did tell you… Ah, it’s all right. You might have forgotten.”
“Right. So what is it?”
“W-would you like to be my partner for the next acting class? If you don’t want to, you can refuse… It’s just that I still don’t have a partner yet.”
I narrowed my eyes at Hestia.
The way she kept rambling and trying to keep the conversation alive told me everything.
“Hey. Don’t you have any friends?”
“Hic…?!”
My blunt question made her freeze with a strange little squeak. A single bead of cold sweat slid down her cheek.
“W-why… why are you asking that?”
Instead of answering, I gestured around the room.
As the theater class drew near, students were rising from their seats one by one, already pairing off to practice. Theater lessons were done in pairs—they called them “partners.”
Since this was a women-oriented romance fantasy world, the academy was full of couples, so it was common to see men and women practicing together. Even those who weren’t dating gathered with friends they got along with, reviewing the previous week’s material.
As expected of the Art Department… Everyone’s actually serious about this stuff.
Of course, that didn’t include me.
“I-I have friends too. They’re… in other departments.”
“Oh? What are their names?”
“Um… well… that is…”
“You don’t have any, do you?”
I snorted, teasing her, and Hestia shot me a resentful glare.
“You don’t have any either, Mr. Kael!”
“Me? Nope.”
“Then why are you making fun of me for it?”
“I wasn’t making fun of you. I was just asking.”
Right then, the classroom door opened and the professor walked in.
He spread both arms wide and clapped once—sharp and loud.
“All right, everyone, pay attention. I have an announcement for the Art Department students today.”
Two people followed him into the room.
Why is she here?
One of them was someone I knew very well: Alley Justinia. A woman with distinctively black hair and cold white eyes that made it hard to believe she came from the North. The moment our eyes met, a smile curved her lips.
The person who entered with her was…
Brown hair, red eyes… So it’s him.
Avon Ragnarok, the descendant of the hero and the academy’s first commoner student.
“These two are from other departments, but they’ll be joining our theater class today as observers. Please treat them with the same kindness you’d show your fellow Art Department students. The two of you may take the very back seats. Today we’ll have a short theory lesson and then move straight into practice. Anyone who hasn’t formed a partner pair yet should do so by the end of class.”
And of course, the seat right next to mine was empty. Since it was a corner seat, Alley Justinia naturally sat down beside me. Avon Ragnarok took the seat at the opposite end.
That left Avon next to Hestia and Alley next to me.
“Haah…”
I let out a sigh. I could already feel a headache coming on.
Whether I liked it or not, Alley turned to me with a gentle smile.
“Do you already have a partner, by any chance?”
“Yeah. This should be enough.”
“…”
“What? You don’t like it?”
“N-no, that’s not it…”
In the end, I paired with Hestia. The thought of partnering with Alley gave me an overwhelming sense of impending annoyance.
However, for some reason Hestia’s face stayed flushed the entire time we practiced. Maybe my awkward movements were to blame. She kept correcting my posture.
“Th-that’s not the right ready stance. You need to step forward with your right foot.”
“Ah.”
“S-still… thank you. I was worrying about who to pair with… Of course I thought of you first, Mr. Kael!”
Thanks to Hestia, I avoided having to partner with Alley. Instead, Alley ended up paired with the newly arrived Avon.
For Avon, today was probably his first day at the academy. Which meant the original story had moved on from the Haidel arc into the Avon arc.
“Wonderful, everyone looks so fresh and lovely! Oh, and I’ve often seen partners develop romantic feelings while practicing together. Isn’t that just so romantic?”
Once theory ended and practice began, the professor’s voice rose with excitement. He started recounting old love stories in a strangely high-pitched tone, then suddenly launched into an impromptu performance.
“All right, let’s begin! One, two. Cue.”
“…”
“Um… what are you doing, Mr. Kael?”
“Hey. What was the line again?”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, forget it.”
The problem was that I had completely forgotten the dialogue.
That’s right. Despite possessing monstrous talent in swordsmanship and magic, Kael had zero aptitude for anything artistic. Drawing, music, acting, literature—if it was related to art, his talent was horrifically bad.
Even his normally sharp mind would switch to OFF mode the moment it tried to memorize lines.
Because of that small flaw, his grades in theater and other art classes were never very good.
“Hey. Let’s just ad-lib.”
“What?”
“All right, come at me. Today I’ll crush you completely, you wench.”
“…!?!”
I grinned and spat out whatever came to mind.
The other pairs practicing around us either froze or stumbled. The original scene was supposed to be a man confessing his love to a woman, but I had turned it into gritty noir. No wonder they were confused.
Someone nearby burst out laughing at my ad-lib. Another person tried to keep acting, only to step on their partner’s foot.
I kept going anyway.
“With my dazzling dance moves, of course.”
“…”
“Hey. It’s your turn now.”
“S-sorry… Pfft…”
She was shaking, trying to hold back laughter. Or maybe it was closer to holding back tears.
The professor finally noticed my little deviation and walked over.
“Mr. Kael. That is not the correct line. What exactly are you doing?”
“It’s my own interpretation.”
“Interpretation…? We don’t ask first-years for personal interpretations. You’re simply supposed to memorize the lines and deliver them. Why are you fooling around?”
“I forgot the lines. Isn’t it normal to throw in a little ad-lib during acting?”
I released Hestia’s hand and glared at the professor. He flinched and took a small step back.
This was one thing Kael was good at. His glare was terrifying.
“You… you are incredibly handsome.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“Yes. And a handsome face is an enormous talent in acting. You possess that talent, yet you refuse to take it seriously. That is an intolerable insult.”
Well… I suppose one could see it that way.
Still, having to take every single class seriously would be its own kind of pain.
The reason I had come to the Art Department was to relax at the academy while conveniently filtering out the kingdom’s spies.
No helping it. I hadn’t wanted to get physical with a professor, but…
When dealing with a scoundrel, sometimes you had to use a scoundrel’s methods.
“On the other hand, possessing such a robust body yet not volunteering for the military—isn’t that an intolerable insult to the knight order?”
“What are you talking about, Mr. Kael?”
“I’m saying it’s a problem that someone with a body like yours is doing something like acting instead of picking up a sword.”
Kiiing—!
I activated a restraint spell with deliberately adjusted output to apply pressure. Killing intent flooded the room in an instant.
This should be enough. I withdrew the spell and placed a hand on the professor’s shoulder.
“I don’t care what grade you give me. I don’t want to take this theater class. I’d appreciate it if you stopped bothering me from now on.”
“K-Kael, even so…”
“You know what? Scoundrels beat up professors too, you know?”
When I glared at him again, the professor turned away as if fleeing.
I had driven him off.
With this, I probably wouldn’t be bothered next week or the week after. I wouldn’t have to force myself to act; I could just sprawl out and sleep.
As I smirked at the thought, a voice cut in.
“I also have a complaint about what just happened.”
“Ah, right.”
I had forgotten about this guy.
The one who couldn’t stand injustice and, in the original story, clashed with Kael more extremely than anyone else. The hero’s descendant who fell short of both Kael and even Crown Prince Lucas in pure talent, yet was as kind-hearted as a true hero should be.
Avon Ragnarok.
He had witnessed the entire scene.
“I don’t know who you are, but apologize to the professor right now.”
Avon Ragnarok stepped forward as he spoke.