The Academy Is a Death Flag
I had been isekai'd into this fantasy world for nineteen years now.
I still didn't know exactly what kind of world this was, but I'd been born as the second son of a fairly well-off count's family. Thanks to that, I'd managed to enjoy a rather comfortable and luxurious life in this other world.
The Killian County wasn't in bad financial shape like so many other noble houses in novels, and there were no ugly succession fights with my older brother either.
Of course, that was only because my brother had built a solid foundation and had already been confirmed as the heir. Still, I didn't really care all that much.
The family head?
Other people might kill their own families to get it, but to a modern person like me, it wasn't that important.
All I wanted was to protect this peaceful daily life and live quietly.
To spend my days in idle comfort, enjoying this peace until the day I died.
Which was exactly why—
"I'm not going."
"...What?"
My father's suggestion was far too lethal for me.
"I said I'm not going."
"Everyone else is dying to go, though...?"
"I'm planning to walk a different path from everyone else."
I lowered my voice and stared at the father of this life with serious eyes. I wanted to show him my sincerity.
Father stared straight into my pupils after hearing my true feelings. I met his gaze with the most resolute expression I could muster.
Sincerity always gets through.
An honest conversation between men would surely move my father's heart.
"I see."
...As expected.
My heartfelt attitude must have reached my father as well...
"Then get out of the house and live differently. Support yourself with your own strength."
"...Huh?"
At my father's serious words, I could only stare at him blankly, letting out a stupid sound.
Why?
Why wasn't my sincerity working?
"Just leave."
"Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"
When I grumbled back at him for waving his hand like I was a nuisance, Father smirked and raised the corner of his mouth.
"And why are you suddenly saying you won't go?"
"......"
No, seriously.
If it had been anywhere else, I would have gone without complaint.
It wasn't common for Father to send me somewhere in the family's name.
Most family matters were usually handled by my brother, the young master. Of course, on very rare occasions when my brother was busy, I would handle things in his place.
Even so, it was normal for Father and my brother to take care of most things.
That was only natural. He was the young master, after all. It was a way to show the world that the next head had already been decided and that his position was secure.
Anyway, the point was this.
I was willing to go to most 'normal' places.
As long as it wasn't the military, that is.
'This world's military service is ten years. Ten years.'
I absolutely could not go there.
Even if it was a cushy rear-echelon job, I wouldn't go. Never again.
And the place Father wanted to send me was even more dangerous than the military. No, it was so dangerous that one wrong move could easily cost me my life.
"Go while I'm still asking nicely."
But Father's will seemed firm.
"...Do I really have to go?"
My tone and posture naturally became polite.
I neatly placed both hands on my lap and looked at Father with the most pitiful expression I could manage.
"Go."
"......"
"I said go. To the academy."
Fuck.
I let out a deep breath and nodded with a helpless look on my face.
If I kept talking, I would definitely get kicked out. I really didn't want to go, but it looked like I had no choice but to move my feet.
'The academy, of all places.'
I had no idea whether this world was from a game or a novel. Naturally, I didn't know which novel or which game it might be.
But there was one thing I did know.
The moment something like an academy or a cradle appeared, you absolutely should not set foot there.
An academy.
Just hearing the name made it sound completely incompatible with a peaceful daily life.
They always boasted about their ironclad security, yet it got breached during every single attack. They claimed to have gathered the highest-level faculty for the top students, but the students themselves always ended up stopping the invasions.
In some stories the academy collapsed entirely, and in others demons participated in the exams.
If a glasses-wearing brat who dragged incidents around was a grim reaper, then the academy was always the epicenter where every incident and accident occurred.
"Departure is in two days."
"......"
"Answer me."
"...Yes."
It had just fallen.
My death sentence.
The faint hope that I might not have to go to the academy had now completely vanished.
Of course, it was still too early to despair.
There was a one-in-a-million chance that this world's academy might actually be peaceful.
If this world's genre was a hero story, for example.
Or a political drama.
Or even a healing story—at the very least—then the academy would flow along peacefully without any influence and I could graduate safely.
Yes, it absolutely had to be that way.
...Or so I thought at the time.
@
"......"
Aaah.
What a cruel life.
I had ended up arriving at the academy after all.
In the blink of an eye, I had gone from the second son of a count's family who peacefully leeched off the family fortune to the second son of a count's family who had been thrown onto a battlefield with zero knowledge.
It was the moment my life's genre had completely changed.
I stared at the academy grounds so vast they couldn't be taken in with a single glance and at the rather luxurious academy buildings, then let out a deep sigh.
"Haa..."
"...Young master, the ground's going to cave in at this rate."
The coachman who had brought me here looked at me with an awkward smile.
Realizing that the emotion reflected in his eyes was confusion, I shook my head slowly and muttered.
"It'd be nice if it did cave in. I wish this entire huge building would just disappear."
"...You're joking, right?"
"Never mind. Hurry up and head back."
"Yes, sir."
In truth, I could somewhat understand what the coachman was thinking.
Commoners could only enter the academy if they had talent, yet I had been admitted simply because I was a noble... and the second son of a count at that.
The academy itself was an institution that gathered talented individuals and helped their talents bloom.
Its entrance requirements were notoriously strict. In other words, simply graduating from the academy normally meant you would never have to worry about making a living.
So from a commoner's perspective, my reluctance to attend the academy must have looked completely abnormal.
I stared blankly at the carriage as it departed, then turned my gaze away and began walking forward calmly.
'Alright.'
Let's think positively.
My family was wealthy enough that I didn't need to graduate from the academy to live comfortably. I hadn't shown any particular talent for anything so far, and while our family was completely clueless about that sort of thing...
Still, I had managed to enter this academy that everyone else envied so easily. I should be happy about it.
"Ugh."
There wasn't a single positive thing about this.
Only negative factors were piled on top of each other.
I let out another sigh that escaped on its own and blinked slowly.
Aaah, I want to run away.
But I can't run away.
If I ran away from the academy or got suspended or expelled for messing up my life here... Father would probably really disown me.
Aaah, farewell to my warm and comfortable sanctuary.
Not being able to return home for a whole six months made a wave of depression wash over me.
Even so, my head quickly organized a plan.
'First, I have to avoid anyone flashy.'
Members of the imperial ducal families, members of the imperial family itself, princes or princesses from other countries, and Sword Masters...
There were too many landmines I needed to avoid. And that wasn't all.
'Don't let your guard down just because someone has low entrance grades or is a commoner.'
The cliché where the guy who ranked dead last or was looked down on for being a commoner suddenly awakens his power and saves the world?
That wasn't an unfamiliar trope at all.
'Middle of the pack.'
I'll stay right in the middle.
If I avoid the flashy ones, avoid the dark ones, and don't get involved with anyone, I should naturally be able to enjoy a peaceful academy life.
'The plan is perfect.'
Of course, I wasn't letting my guard down.
There had been more than a few irregulars who got complacent because their plan was perfect, only to accidentally get entangled with the protagonists of the fantasy world.
I let out a small breath and kept walking.
The academy... for some reason, it felt like I was willingly stepping into the gaping maw of hell.
"...Huh?"
And then I saw her.
Golden hair that shimmered with a luster like it belonged to a member of the imperial family, and eyes as blue as jewels.
Skin as white as white jade, as if she had lived in a place untouched by sunlight, and a perfectly straight nose that looked like it would cut you if you brushed against it.
Large eyes and lips as red as cherries.
A female student with beauty so natural it drew people's eyes without effort.
The moment I saw her face, I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
And of course, it wasn't just because her face was beautiful.
It was because her face was somehow...
Somehow familiar. Very familiar.
"Serena Blint..."
I was seeing her in person for the first time today, but I remembered her name clearly.
That was only natural, because she was—
The heroine of the reverse harem romance fantasy novel I had been reading.
"What the fuck?"