Hey?
Honest answer, yeah?
I wasn't exactly dying to run away, but the urge still nagged at me. Not that I had any chance of slipping out. Not with the academy instructors on the prowl.
The good thing? Their eyes wouldn't miss a beat. The dueling judge was already convinced the victory over Selena was total luck, but anyone higher up would spot the red flags in a second.
Right from the start, the whole world had seen I hadn't properly learned swordsmanship. Obviously. So staying out of Class A meant I could still fly under the radar and avoid the mess.
The Imperial Academy's Class A was the epicenter of the empire's main stage. The heart of this world. If I didn't land there, no major events could drag me in.
So yeah, I thought. All the instructors only cared about grades during the entrance duels anyway. Even with a freak like Selena around, it wouldn't matter. Her power was just too out of scale, and no one from my year could stand against her in a fair fight. They probably didn't even bother watching the matches.
And there was the biggest reason of all. The odds of me beating Selena? Basically zero. Like, a ridiculously tiny fraction. Pure luck stacked on pure luck, and then… well, it actually happened. So if the others had watched it, they might have said "The gods smiled on him!" instead of "He didn't even train but his sword style is insane! What talent!"
Either way, the gap in skill was so massive that no amount of luck could explain it. They had no choice but to call it talent. In my case, it was just… embarrassing. Tears were practically streaming down my face. "How can he cry that much without any water? It's unbelievable!"
Shaking off the thoughts, I took a deep breath and stared blankly at the big announcement poster on the wall. But I could feel eyes on me. Lots of them. So I slowly blinked, turned my head, and started walking again. Three months. Just three months until midterms ended. Then I'd naturally drop to the lowest class. Yeah, even three months felt too long. If I just got into Class A right away and proved my point, everyone would admit it. That I had beaten Selena through some impossible luck that only comes once in a thousand years.
No need to stress. I wasn't hiding any real talent, and I definitely didn't have any. So I took a small, steady breath to calm my nerves and headed straight for Class A.
My footsteps echoed down the hall as I reached the classroom door. I swallowed hard, then pushed it open.
"……He's here."
"Selena's……"
One step. That's all it took for every eye in the room to lock onto me. Whispers about my face cut straight through me. I just let out a shallow breath, trying to ignore the stares and chatter. It sucked. Why had my peaceful life turned into such a complete disaster?
I picked the farthest window seat in Class A and blinked slowly, scanning the room. Everyone here was familiar faces. The academy's Class A was the most important place in this world. Most of the students were main characters, and their stories revolved around them. So the faces I knew were mostly the big ones. Sure, I hadn't actually met any of them, but they looked exactly like the illustrations. That made it hard to forget who they were.
Still, even if I ignored everything else, the real reason I needed to stay away from Selena was simple. She was the main character of this world, and everything revolved around her. So yeah, I had to keep my distance. The stares were sharp. When I glanced at them, I recognized the faces too. "That's the duke's second son… That's the empire's fourth prince… That one's a prince from another country…"
Just their titles were enough to make mouths drop open. They were the male leads in this reverse-harem romance fantasy. Even if we skipped the ones who hadn't appeared yet, three of them was already more than enough reason not to get close to Selena. Their authority could crush my family if they wanted to, or ruin my peaceful days if they got annoyed. But I was still terrified. Just the titles scared the crap out of me, and each one of them had abilities that went way beyond normal. Getting tangled up with them would be a pain. Why were so many strong guys so obsessed with just one girl?
Sure, Selena's looks and talent were top-tier, but… was that really enough?
It kind of was. Anyway, I wasn't about to tell them they couldn't chase just one girl. Romance fantasy or not, this world was dangerous enough to call it a hero's nightmare. At the beginning, the main characters could handle it with their own power, but as things got later, the antagonists with insane abilities piled up. So without Selena's over-the-top strength, the world itself might have been doomed. Once you started getting involved with someone like her, there was no way out. As a regular guy like me, the only way to survive here was to keep my distance from Selena. "……Now that I think about it."
The events that happened after the entrance ceremony…
"Hey?"
I was lost in thought for a second and snapped back to reality, freezing stiff when I heard the voice. "……That voice."
It sent a chill down my spine. Cold sweat broke out. At the same time, the eyes staring at me grew even sharper. In a novel, that would be described as "a clear, bright voice like a tumbling jade bead." That's exactly how it felt. Just hearing it made my ears tingle, but to me it sounded more like a demon's whisper.
I turned my head and found Selena waving with a bright smile, as if nothing was wrong.
Why is she talking to me like this…?!! I screamed in my head, but I couldn't let it show. If I did, I'd just make her more curious and the guys even more hostile.
"……Hello."
I tried to sound completely indifferent, like I didn't care. Selena flashed a bright smile and waved even harder. "Grit…!!"
From somewhere, a loud clenching sound echoed out. I didn't know exactly who, but it was definitely one of the male students in Class A. Almost everyone was glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. The lucky part? Selena had just greeted me and left right after. She probably figured I wasn't that close, so it wouldn't be a big deal. The moment she left, the stares that had been chasing me shifted back toward her. They watched the boys who were dying to say hi to her, then went back to their own thoughts.
"……Now that I think about it, what was I thinking about again."
Oh right. After the entrance ceremony, the first event was going to happen. The real opening chapter of this romance fantasy. It was a bit dark from the start, but this early in the story, it was still the beginning part. I remembered how things got wrapped up nicely with Selena and the male leads' actions, so I probably didn't need to worry too much. More importantly, "……I should head back early today."
If I stayed around any longer, I'd get pulled into those events. This early event was going to be wrapped up thanks to Selena's shining performance. The author was showing off Selena's actions to everyone, and one of their plans was to make sure the entire Class A didn't get swept up in the chaos. This academy was like a gathering of stars. Class A was the brightest among them. In their despair, Selena was the ray of hope. So a regular guy like me should run away before getting sucked into that kind of event. "Theirs" target was Selena too. "I'm fine though."
"Huh?"
I met dark, hazy eyes staring straight at me and had no choice but to knock my forehead. "Son of a bitch…!!"