Unwanted Entanglements
It had nothing to do with me. I had sworn to myself that I would quietly graduate from Ariel Academy. No messy human relationships, just peace and quiet. All I needed to do was handle my own business.
“……”
But why was this happening? As I swung my wooden sword alone in the training ground, stray thoughts kept throwing off my form.
“…Hoo.”
Why am I like this? Could that earlier conversation still be bothering me? I might be a meddlesome guy, but I’m not some righteous hero who jumps into the affairs of complete strangers. Sure, I felt a bit of curiosity toward her, but not enough to personally rush in and save her.
So why?
-Whoosh!
Once again, the wooden sword veered off its intended path.
“…Haah.”
Was it because I felt uneasy about standing by after overhearing their plan to commit school violence? The human conscience really is an inconvenient thing.
“…This won’t do.”
It wasn’t that I had any particular interest in her. But if things continued like this, those impure emotions would keep disrupting my sword swings. That’s right. This was all because of sword training.
I quietly set the wooden sword down.
‘If I go now, I shouldn’t be too late.’
With that thought, I hurried toward the backyard behind the adjacent building, repeating to myself that this was simply to rid myself of the uncomfortable feeling.
.
.
.
It was strange. I had come outside and approached the neighboring building, yet I couldn’t sense any presence at all. This area was a blind spot with few people and plenty of shadows, so the silence felt odd.
‘Was it just the boys bluffing?’
Kids in their early teens often made things up or exaggerated, so it was entirely possible. Feeling somewhat relieved, I continued walking toward the backyard—just in case.
“Huh?”
“……?”
My eyes met someone standing deeper in the backyard. Eyes tinged with a violet hue. Sharp, shadowed gaze. Navy-blue hair falling to the shoulders. It was Hedy.
The boys were nowhere to be seen, so why was she alone in the backyard? The question had barely formed when my gaze dropped lower. And then I froze.
…It was my mistake. Hedy wasn’t alone.
A male student hung limply in her grip like a plastic bag, his face beaten to a bloody pulp. It was the same boy who had suggested stepping on Hedy back at the training ground earlier. Several other students lay unconscious with their eyes rolled back or sprawled on the ground in terrible condition.
And Hedy stood calmly at the center of it all, as if this were just another ordinary day.
“What the—? Was there another one in their group?”
Hedy began walking toward me, dragging the boy by his collar across the ground. Her cute appearance contrasted sharply with the fierce, murderous glare in her eyes. It was clearly a hostile stance. She seemed to be under some major misunderstanding.
I quickly raised one hand in a stopping gesture and answered, desperate to avoid trouble.
“Wait. I was just passing through.”
“Liar. You’re going to claim you came for a stroll in this deserted backyard?”
Hedy flung the boy she was holding to the ground with a sharp whoosh. He let out a groan of pain. The situation was one step away from exploding into a fight. Growing anxious, I tried to explain myself quickly with one hand raised.
‘……!’
-Bang!
In an instant, she closed the distance and spun into a kick. I reflexively blocked it. My arm went numb. If I had been even a fraction slower, it would have smashed straight into my jaw and knocked me out.
“You blocked it?”
“No, wait….”
While I was speaking, Hedy retracted her leg and immediately threw a punch.
“Ugh!”
I leaned my upper body back to dodge the fist, then used a backstep to create distance. I opened my mouth again to clear up the misunderstanding. Or rather, I tried to.
Right after her punch missed, before she could follow up with a backspin—
-Whirl!
Hedy spun and closed the gap again, throwing a hook. I instinctively realized that I wouldn’t be able to avoid this situation any longer. At least not until one of us was beaten bloody. It didn’t look like Hedy had any intention of stopping this fight.
‘No choice then…!’
It was do or die. I drew mana from my danjeon and circulated it to strengthen my body. Dodging her punch, I instantly closed in behind her in the blink of an eye.
The moment I vanished, she looked startled. Of course she would be. Using mana-enhanced movement was probably something she hadn’t even considered. After all, we were only first-years. A few geniuses might be capable of it, but she clearly hadn’t expected it from a delinquent like me. Not that I was actually a delinquent.
She tried to turn around, but it was already too late. I formed a knife-hand strike aimed at the back of her neck, intending to knock her unconscious.
‘We can talk after she wakes up and calms down!’
-Whoosh!
That was when it happened.
-Thud!
“……?!”
I was shocked. Her combat sense was astonishing. She had clasped her hands behind her neck to block my strike, minimizing the damage. Staring at her, I thought in a daze,
‘What the hell? She’s not even a heroine-level character, yet she has this kind of ability…?’
It didn’t make sense. Was she really just an extra in the story? If so, why did she possess such talent? Was there a hidden heroine I didn’t know about?
While I was lost in thought, Hedy turned around again, preparing to attack. I urgently spoke up.
“W-wait…!”
“……!”
She flinched and stopped. Finally, there was a chance she would listen.
“Just hear me out! You’re misunderstanding. I have nothing to do with those guys lying over there!”
“…Liar.”
“It’s true! If I were lying, why wouldn’t I have attacked you earlier when you blocked my hand strike and left an opening?”
“……”
She seemed to realize I had a point. She tilted her head slightly, looking up and to the side, then asked again.
“…Really?”
“I’ve been saying that from the start. It’s true. We have no reason to fight, right?”
“……”
She pondered for a few seconds, then asked once more.
“Then why did you come here?”
…Right. Why did I come here? If I had known this would happen, I would have just swung my sword in peace. I hated my past self for deciding to come.
“…I really was just passing by. I’m a new student, so I came to see what was around here.”
“Hmm…”
She stared at me intently. Realizing I truly had no intention of fighting, she finally dropped her combat stance. Then she said,
“Don’t loiter around places like this in the future. There are no eyes here, so dangerous things happen often.”
With those final words, she brushed past me without so much as an apology and trudged off toward the lecture building. Left standing alone, I watched her receding figure with a dumbfounded expression until she disappeared completely.
“……”
I turned my head and stared at the carnage in the backyard as if in a trance. The male students beaten bloody and unconscious. All of it was the work of that girl named Hedy.
…Just what kind of life had she lived? Even her reaction earlier suggested she was used to this sort of thing.
“Hoo… Anyway, I really came for no reason and almost got myself hurt.”
I turned away from the students again. Calming my startled heart, I headed back to the training ground.
“…I need to get rid of this meddlesome nature somehow.”
*
Two days later, it was the weekend. Two days since I had realized that unnecessary meddling might not be needed. I was now suffering from severe financial difficulties.
‘Family education policy, my ass…’
Pablo provided me with elixirs and daily necessities without issue, but at some point he had stopped giving me money, saying I should earn it myself. Something about learning the value of money. Sarah gave pocket money to the others, but I was the only exception. Did they still think I was that good-for-nothing who wasted money and drank all day?
‘This won’t do. I’m even running out of money for cafeteria meals.’
The cafeteria food at Ariel Academy was ridiculously expensive. Since it catered to the children of high-ranking nobles, price was irrelevant; they only cared about quality and taste. As a result, after classes and training, I had to head down to the village to buy cheap rye bread or sandwiches.
‘…Should I go to the adventurers’ guild?’
Building muscle through strength training required a variety of nutrients. That meant I had to eat well. The cafeteria meals were essential. Part-time jobs wouldn’t pay enough to cover breakfast, lunch, and dinner there…
‘I’ve decided.’
The adventurers’ guild was the answer. I put on the steel longsword and armor I used at home and headed out. It took two whole hours to reach the village.
‘This is seriously exhausting…!’
In the past, I would have passed out on the way. Even after losing a lot of weight and reaching a normal body weight, it was still this hard…
By my current estimate, my body was around 175 centimeters tall and weighed about 75 kilograms. Since I was still growing, I would probably get taller.
‘And it’s summer, so it’s insanely hot…’
The wealthy villages of the Lianna Empire were lined with romantic Western European-style buildings, but none of it caught my eye. I just wanted to escape this sweltering heat and get to the adventurers’ guild as quickly as possible.
When I finally arrived at the adventurers’ guild, the door resembled the swinging saloon doors from Western movies, suggesting they also ran a tavern inside. I opened the door and stepped in.
That was the moment.
-Crash!
The sound of something shattering rang out the instant I entered. Startled, I turned my head toward the noise.
‘Did a fight break out…?’
A massive, muscular man lay passed out under a table, completely drunk. On the opposite chair, another man was mocking the fallen giant.
“Hahahaha! You idiot! All that big talk and this is all you’ve got?!”
His face was flushed bright red from drinking since broad daylight, and he was making a scene. The adventurers seated at nearby tables were chuckling as they watched the spectacle.
‘…I forgot for a moment.’
Living only within the wealthy duchy and the academy because of my status as a duke’s son, I had forgotten what kind of world this was. A world where swordsmanship and magic were everything. Even the adventurers’ guild under the prosperous Lianna Empire was still just a gathering of adventurers. Barbarian adventurers from all over the world wouldn’t know the first thing about manners or refinement.
The smell inside the guild was thick with masculine sweat, mold, and a stale stench. It was practically a slum.
…Oddly enough, I liked it. The reason I had enjoyed playing Ariel in the first place was because of this raw, unfiltered charm.
The female clerk at the counter seemed to have given up and was simply enjoying the chaos. I walked straight up to her and placed a small amount of copper coins on the counter.
“I’m here to register as an adventurer.”
“A new adventurer, I see! Please wait a moment.”
Even amid the commotion, she handled the paperwork calmly. A truly dedicated employee.
While the clerk pulled out some documents from a drawer and scribbled something, a human woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties suddenly approached me and spoke without warning. She was quite seductive.
“…Hmm, handsome. I haven’t seen your face before. Here to register as a newbie?”
Her pale, sensual thighs and exposed navel. A mesh dress that barely covered the center of her chest. Judging by her provocative outfit, this was exactly what it looked like.
‘A honey trap adventurer trying to seduce a rich-looking kid for a shot at the easy life… I saw plenty of those in the story.’
The armor I was wearing had been crafted by the exclusive blacksmith of the Brace ducal family. It was enchanted with various protective magics and was clearly high-end gear not meant for a child. My sword was also a near-treasure-class longsword forged from the highest-grade adamantite ore. If an adventurer couldn’t recognize that, they were simply stupid.
I didn’t reject the female adventurer who approached me and responded with a smile.
“Yes. I’m here to register as a new adventurer.”
There was no benefit in making enemies. I would have to stay in this area’s academy for at least five years. Antagonizing the local adventurers would only cause headaches. Since I planned to frequent the adventurers’ guild as well, it was better to make a good impression.
“What brings a guy like you to adventurer work? Are you a fallen noble or something?”
To ask so bluntly if someone was a fallen noble—typical adventurer speech, with all etiquette thrown out the window. Strangely, I didn’t mind it. It felt better than the noble society full of pretense and lies.
“Family matters are private, but yes, I’m short on money.”
I smiled kindly and brushed it off.
“Kahaha! A scrawny young master like you wants to be an adventurer?”
A bronze-skinned giant who had been gulping down wine at a nearby table shouted loudly. The human woman laughed awkwardly and spoke to me in a gentle, comforting tone, mixing in some polite speech.
“Don’t mind him. The men here are all like that.”
“It’s fine. I do look weak right now. I just need to prove myself going forward.”
“Hehe, you look young but you speak so well. What’s your name? I’m Shuria.”
“I’m Cyan.”
“Cyan! What a pretty name… I really like you, handsome.”
Shuria smiled like a fox and casually linked her arm with mine. Her generous chest pressed against my arm. The soft, sweet sensation was on a scale I would never see from the little girls at the academy. Even if she called herself a fallen noble, a noble was still a noble. The way she approached me suggested she was desperate to get married.
But I couldn’t fall for it. I had to give just enough without giving too much… maintaining a good relationship, as I said earlier.
“I’m glad you like me.”
“Handsome, do you have time tonight? If it’s okay with you, maybe we could…”
It was about time to gently push her away. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the female clerk at the counter conveniently called me over, asking for my registration signature. She had finished preparing the documents.
I gave Shuria a friendly smile, made a suitable excuse, and headed to the counter. I signed my name with a quill pen. The clerk took the documents back and continued processing them.
I was about to head to the request board to find a suitable quest when the clerk, still working on the paperwork, spoke to me.
“Are you from Ariel Academy, Cyan?”
I hadn’t even worn my school uniform shirt. How did she know?
“How did you know?”
“Oh, it’s just that… recently another student from Ariel Academy came to register as an adventurer. They looked about your age, so I took a guess.”
It was certainly rare for someone my age to work as an adventurer. But a student currently attending Ariel Academy…?
Were they from a similarly harsh family environment like me?
“They mostly took dangerous requests like C-rank monster subjugations. They seemed really pressed for time… Do you happen to know them?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have many friends, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Eh? Someone as good-looking as you, Cyan? I thought you’d have plenty of friends…”
This clerk was good at lip service. She seemed born for customer service. In the world I originally came from, she might have made a name for herself as a salesperson.
As I continued exchanging pointless pleasantries with the clerk, I heard the sound of a chair being violently kicked back from a nearby table. It was the bronze-skinned giant who had mocked me earlier by calling me “young master.” He stomped over and spoke abruptly.
“Hey, young master! You’re from Ariel Academy?”
Today was turning out to be a day full of tangled human relationships.