The Scoundrel Crashes the Entrance Ceremony
Around the time a certain rogue was getting chewed out by his superior officer, the academy’s entrance ceremony was already underway.
“We will now commence the 1,034th Entrance Ceremony of the Dragonia Imperial Academy.”
“First, please rise for the salute to the national flag. Will all students and distinguished guests kindly stand.”
Students and parents rose in unison, following the emcee's instructions.
Beginning with the pledge of allegiance to the flag, the ceremony progressed through the opening address, a recounting of the academy’s storied history, and the formal introduction of the faculty. A considerable amount of time trickled past, yet not a single student nodded off or wore a look of boredom. If anything showed on their faces, it was pure confidence—the self-assurance of having clawed their way through horrific competition to prove their worth, and boundless pride in attending the undisputed number-one academy on the continent.
Yet amidst this sea of shining prodigies, there was one person entirely incapable of focusing on the ceremony.
Her Imperial Highness, Princess Iris Ramila Dragonia.
Staring at the vacant seat beside her, she had hurled her royal dignity to the dogs. Her leg bounced frantically, and she gnawed on her thumbnail down to the quick.
Her agony stemmed from the fact that Kyle hadn't shown up, even though the ceremony was practically nearing its conclusion.
Kyle, where on earth are you, and what could you possibly be doing?!
Just last night, she had been daydreaming of a rosy future where she would spend every waking moment stuck to Kyle’s side throughout their academy life. Now, before they could take a single step forward, her partner was on the verge of being disqualified.
Just as she was seriously plotting what kind of threats she would have to level at the academy's administration to keep Kyle enrolled even if he skipped orientation entirely, the emcee's voice rang out again.
“Next, prior to the address from the freshman representative, we will hear an opening sermon from the Headmaster.”
Ordinarily, the representative's speech came first. Conscious of the missing Kylus, the academy had taken the liberty of swapping the schedule around.
Murmurs of confusion rippled through the crowd for a brief second.
Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed across the stage as a colossal silhouette strode toward the podium. The moment the audience caught sight of that figure, students and parents alike erupted into thunderous cheers.
“WAAAAAAAH!”
Facing the deafening roar as though it were only natural, the colossal figure took his place behind the lectern with an imposing stride. He had cropped hair as red as blazing fire and sharp amber eyes resembling a tiger's—fierce at a glance, yet warmed by an affectionate concern for the youth before him. And then there were his muscles. Standing there, he looked less like a ninety-year-old grandfather and more like the living incarnation of Hercules ripped straight from myth.
Starting from commoner roots, just like Kyle, he had not only served as the commander of the Apocalypse—the empire’s deadliest black-ops division—he was also revered as one of the Five Stars, pinnacle masters acknowledged as equal or superior to the Emperor himself.
Fist Saint Volkhardt.
Realizing that a legend of his caliber was serving as their headmaster sent the students into a frenzy, their cheers morphing into raw, throat-shredding screams.
“Fist Saint! Fist Saint! Fist Saint!”
“Ahhh! I can't believe I'm seeing the Fist Saint with my own eyes!”
“Fist Saint, we love you!”
From the podium, Volkhardt smiled gently, his eyes crinkling as if gazing down at his own beloved grandchildren. He met the gaze of each student in turn. When his eyes swept over Iris—whom he had pampered like his own flesh and blood back during his active service in Apocalypse—he sent a telepathic transmission to greet her and inquire after the Emperor’s health. Then, his amber gaze drifted sideways.
What met his eyes was an empty chair, paired with a nameplate that unpleasantly reminded him of an insolent little punk.
There’s no way that lazy bastard would come here, would he? A coincidence? Same name? No, wait...
A foul prickle of foreboding washed over him. Shaking his head, he decided to shelf the thought for later and drew a breath to begin his address—
KA-BOOM!
A roar like an exploding artillery shell tore through the hall as the heavy double doors of the auditorium blasted open. Standing framed in the shattered doorway was a breathtakingly handsome young man with raven hair and dark eyes—the sort of pretty-boy gigolo look that drew instant stares. He was disheveled like a vagabond, reeking of booze, and looking thoroughly unbothered.
Behind him, sprawled on the ground, were several academy guards, completely knocked out and foaming at the mouth.
The entire auditorium fell dead silent. The cheers vanished into thin air.
In the suffocating quiet, the architect of the disaster stood leisurely beneath hundreds of gazes treating him like a lunatic. Kyle cast a sweeping glance over the crowd.
“What are you all staring at? Never seen a handsome guy before?”
With utter shamelessness, Kyle sauntered toward the empty seats. On the inside, however, his heart was pounding so hard it felt ready to rocket out of his throat, as if he had just bungee-jumped off an eleven-meter watchtower without a harness.
Haah... Fuck me, I thought I was dead meat...
Internally, his soul was practically doing naked headspins out of sheer euphoria at dodging that forty-billion-won penalty.
Watching this spectacle unfold, the Fist Saint and Princess Iris experienced diametrically opposed emotions.
“Kyaah! Kyle, you're so cool!”
“Ugh... That damned brat is going to ruin my retirement...”
Man... Seriously, forty billion almost went up in smoke...
I hadn’t sprinted full-out once in the four years since the war ended, and running for my life like that left my knees aching. Damn it, I’m only twenty-three. Is this normal?
“Is that guy Kyle?”
“Hmm... He certainly looks strong, but... is he really all that?”
“Hmph! No matter how strong he is, an insolent commoner is still just a commoner.”
“I heard he has skill but the personality of a stray dog. Looks like the rumors were true.”
“To think someone like that is our representative. The academy has really gone downhill.”
Standing near the entrance felt awkward, and since I had officially enrolled as a student, I made my way toward the seating area. Piercing stares followed every step I took.
Glares like they were inspecting some exotic zoo animal.
Eyes assessing me like a piece of merchandise.
Disdainful sneers from nobles who found the mere presence of a commoner in their hall utterly offensive.
Even though they knew I had received merits for rescuing the princess, their bloated aristocratic superiority complexes told them a commoner could never surpass them. Convinced that my exploits were blown out of proportion, they threw every petty whisper and snide glare my way.
Noble scum and their pristine morals, as always.
I walked past the high-ranking nobility and titled lords, heading down into the student section. Unsurprisingly, the vibe there wasn't much better.
“A filthy commoner is representing the freshman class?”
“Ha! What right does trash like him have to speak for us?”
Still, among my peers, the emotional cocktail was a bit more varied than the stiff arrogance of their parents. Jealousy, outrage, mockery, and outright malice ran thicker here. Since my identity had been kept strictly under wraps, kids my age didn’t really know who I was.
Not everyone was looking at me with pure hostility, though.
“Hmm... He’s definitely strong.”
“I wonder if he’d accept a sparring match later?”
A few battle junkies were sizing me up with competitive sparks in their eyes. Whatever, fine by me. But what was up with this seating arrangement? There wasn't a single empty chair in the middle rows.
Way down in the very front, Iris was waving frantically, gesturing toward the empty seat beside her. I really, really didn't want to go down there. Sitting next to her smelled like a massive headache waiting to happen.
Just as I was scanning the crowd for any other opening, a voice echoed directly inside my head.
—Brat, there are no seats in the middle. Hurry up and sit down.
“Huh?”
—What do you mean, ‘huh,’ you insolent little shit?! You see your elder and you don’t even bow? Tsk, tsk. This is why being nice to young punks is a waste of effort.
Startled by the mental transmission, I looked toward the podium and saw an absolute mountain of an old man. An old man I knew entirely too well.
I fired a transmission right back.
—Wait, Old Man, what the hell are you doing here?
—Still as foul-mouthed as ever, I see.
—Forget that. Why are you here? Weren’t you retired?
From what I remembered, the second the war wrapped up four years ago, he dumped the commander position onto Uncle Gerard’s shoulders and went AWOL.
—You little bastard! People will get the wrong idea! When did I ever dump my duties?!
—You totally did! Anyone can see you’re running the show here! You got sick of handling postwar paperwork, shoved it onto Gerard, and ran off to collect a free paycheck as a salary thief, didn’t you?
—The hell is a salary thief?!
—People like you, Old Man. Whatever, so why are you here?
—Why do you think, you idiot?! The Emperor begged me to take the Headmaster position, so here I am!
This muscle-brained geezer was the highest authority in the academy? Wow. Seriously.
—This place is doomed...
—What did you say, you punk?! the Fist Saint bellowed mentally, before letting out a weary breath. —Hoo... Forget it. Why do I even bother getting mad at you?
—You already yelled your lungs out.
—Why, you little—!
—Ah, sorry. Reflex.
—Haah... Just talking to you for two minutes drains my life force. Enough. Go sit next to Her Highness already. There aren't any other seats anyway.
—Ugh... Sitting next to the princess sounds like a giant pain in the ass...
—Shut up and sit down!
The geezer’s telepathic roar rattled my skull so hard I winced, jogging down the aisle toward Iris before my eardrums turned to mush.
Chased down by the old man's barking, I reached the front row only to notice the plaque resting on the empty chair beside Iris.
Freshman Representative?
Wait, I'm the freshman representative? I didn't even take the entrance exam!
Before I could process the absurdity, Iris pounced the second my butt touched the cushion.
“Kyle! Why are you so late?!”
“Ah... Well, I had too much to drink last night and overslept a bit...”
“Really? Hold on.”
Without warning, she leaned in close and began sniffing my clothes. Hey, lady! What is a grown noblewoman doing, sniffing a man like a hound dog? As she pressed shamelessly close, the soul of a proper, traditional gentleman dormant inside me started screaming in scandalized horror.
Then Iris slowly lifted her face.
“Kyle... did you meet a woman yesterday?”
Her eyes were completely devoid of light. Her voice was flat, arctic, and chilling enough to make the hair on my arms stand straight up. A shiver ran down my spine, and excuses tumbled out of my mouth purely on instinct.
“No... Brother Alpus came over to my place for a bit, so I just briefly saw Big Sister Charlotte, that's all.”
“Did you drink with her?”
“No! Big Sister just hauled her drunk husband away and left immediately!”
“So there were no other women?”
“Haah... None. Zero. And I don’t have any women to meet in the first place.”
Without even understanding why I was submitting to an interrogation, I answered every single question. Only then did the light flicker back into her pupils.
“See?! That's why you should have paced yourself! Look at you, arriving late! Honestly, Kyle, instead of saying you have no interest in dating, you should find a woman who only has eyes for you and takes care of you!”
The moment her sanity returned, she launched right into nonsensical nagging. As I let her chatter drift in one ear and out the other, the podium emcee spoke up again.
“That concludes the address by our esteemed Headmaster.”
Before I knew it, the geezer had wrapped up his speech. To be honest, I hadn’t listened to a single syllable, so I had no clue what he talked about.
“Next, we will hear the address from our freshman representative. Student Kylus, please make your way to the podium.”
Ah, damn it. I had a feeling this would happen.
Seeing my name slapped onto the representative's seat made it obvious, but having to actually stand up there and deliver a speech left me completely at a loss for words.
Don't they usually make the top-scoring student give the speech?
Grudgingly, I climbed the steps to the stage. Turning around, I faced the sea of students.
The whispering hadn't stopped.
“Seriously, how can a filthy commoner represent us?”
“There has to be a mistake. A blunder by the administration. How could commoner scum stand above us?”
“He's right. We need to lodge a formal protest with the faculty.”
Doubt, ridicule, and jealousy dripped from every muttered word.
Normally, I wouldn't care what noble brats blabbered about. I could flatten them whenever I felt like it. But right now? My retirement had been ripped away, I was saddled with playing babysitter to royalty while ferreting out intel, and my overall stress levels were through the roof. Watching these pampered fledglings—who hadn’t seen a day of real war and possessed zero competence—strutting around puffing their chests just because of their noble bloodlines was seriously rubbing me the wrong way.
I had intended to get this over with as quickly and quietly as possible, but...
Screw it. I'm pissed off. Time to crash this party head-first.
The instant the decision was made, I released a sliver of my aura.
Just a fraction. If I let out too much, half the hall would pass out cold, so I dialed it precisely to the threshold they could barely endure.
The vast auditorium instantly plunged into suffocating silence. In the dead quiet, I leaned slowly into the magical amplification device on the lectern and opened my mouth.
“Hey, noble lordlings. If a commoner taking the top spot bothers you that much, don’t talk shit behind my back. Come at me. I’ll take on every single one of you, anytime.”
I smirked coldly into the mic.
“Not that I think any of you have the guts for it, anyway.”
Leaving those words hanging in the air, I turned around and walked off the stage. While the entire auditorium sat frozen in stunned disbelief, only two people had their wits about them.
“Haah... He's so dreamy...”
“Haah... That crazy son of a bitch just utterly ruined the ceremony...”
Though they started with the exact same sigh, their feelings couldn't have been further apart.