The Terror at the Grand Auditorium
The ceiling of the Grand Auditorium was immeasurably high. It resembled the arched structure of a cathedral, with the emblem of the Byront Empire inscribed in stained glass above it.
Before the dawn air had fully settled, the clear morning sunlight passed through the glass, creating an atmosphere that even evoked a sense of sanctity.
Today, at the Byront Academy's Grand Auditorium, the results of the freshman entrance exam would be announced. The prospective students, including Ciara and Chloe, sat in the chairs with solemn expressions, waiting for the announcement.
Soon, a few faculty members began to take their places at the front. Since I held the same rank as them, I quietly sat in the assigned seat.
However, my mind was a complete mess.
The image of Vermouth, who was targeting Ciara.
Tobias, who had invited Chloe to join the academy. Those two imagining themselves with my two girlfriends right now was swirling in my head.
It would be quite noticeable if I got aroused, but it was hard to hold back.
Just as I was checking the time, sweat trickling down, Bernard Walker climbed onto the stage.
Because it was an important matter, the president personally announced it. Soon, the man holding the booklet in his hand looked at it and began calling out names.
“Top Rank. Ciara Rogent.”
As expected. Many students murmured and began to clap. On the other hand, Ciara, sitting far away, was expressionless.
But contrary to her cold expression, her blue eyes were deep, deep. If you looked into them, they seemed like they would suck you in.
Soon, those eyes turned towards me.
Ciara. She was still looking at me.
After yesterday's events, which had left me dejected, her gaze alone brought me relief.
I kept thinking that outside the bedroom, Ciara always did that...
At that moment.
The corner of Ciara's mouth slightly lifted. An elegant smile that was hard to express with words. There was no hint of competitiveness in her smile. It was simply the formal smile of someone from a prestigious family.
Seeing that smile, I felt as if my heart had stopped, and I was momentarily dazed.
Then.
Slightly-
She even smiled with her eyes towards me. This was the first time she had shown such an expression outside the bedroom. Just as I was trying to engrave that expression in my mind, Ciara quickly changed her expression. Back to her usual cold one.
At this point, I felt like giving up on doing netorase with Ciara. Thinking of giving her, who smiled so prettily for me, to another man...
I am a crazy bastard.
If the opportunity arose, I should try to seduce Ciara again. Tell her not to accept the prince Vermouth's invitation.
After the brief moment of eye contact with Ciara, the second student was called.
“Runner-up. Chloe Argentwood.”
Runner-up is Chloe.
I had expected her to get the top rank, but I didn't think she'd even get the runner-up.
Chloe, who spent every day going out and training or studying was put on the back burner... No matter how you looked at it, she seemed like a lazy genius.
No, rather than lazy, she was an unpredictable genius. Right now, Chloe...
Was sitting right next to Ciara.
Probably she had claimed the seat herself.
I had no idea why.
However, the guy was now standing next to Ciara, who had a flat expression, and waving at me. Even making a sound...
“Jerome, Teacher---!!”
It was troublesome. As a counselor, it was natural to have contact with the prospective students, but if I waved like that, it would look too friendly...
I was already hiding that I was dating, and this was even more burdensome. I gave him a look that said to stop.
However...
Instead, the guy slightly lifted his butt from the chair and jumped around waving at me. It was my fault for provoking Chloe in the first place.
I reluctantly waved back at him.
After that, the names of many students were called behind my two lovers who had taken top and runner-up.
Now, only one seat remained for the successful candidates. The expressions of the prospective students who hadn't been called were serious. Because of the age limit, if they failed once, they couldn't try again, so even more so.
In a way, it was a more tense moment than when Ciara's name was called.
Bernard Walker also put some strength into his voice and called the last successful candidate's name.
“Lowest Rank. Kyle.”
Although it was an infamous position as the bottom, it was a position that only the graduates of the Byront Academy, which trains the empire's greatest talents, could take.
In a way, it would be a position that would be talked about for a long time during academy life. The owner of the lowest rank was a male named Kyle.
It seemed he was from a commoner background since no surname was attached. The face of the guy who was called from far away came into view.
Blackish-brown hair, plain face. Plain build. Recalling memories, he hadn't shown anything special in the last exam. He had shown ordinary swordsmanship against the test golem and struggled quite a bit...
Even so, why did this guy remain in my memory... There was a feeling that something was bothering me for no reason...
Done. Anyway, as a whole, this guy had no merits as a man to help with netorase. After all, he didn't even seem to have the appearance that Ciara or Chloe would find attractive.
Rather, if it were those two chubby male students sleeping over there, they could give me quite a rich sense of cuckoldry...
This Kyle guy was too plain even for plain. He didn't even feel like he had presence. Yeah. Sorry, but you're out of the candidate list.
Simultaneously with calling the lowest rank Kyle, the formal entrance ceremony began. Starting with President Bernard, the self-introductions and speeches of the major professors.
Among them, Professor Sigmund's time, who had led the final exam, was long. Was he strict or talkative...
In that boring time, the students who had been sitting with solemn expressions began to gradually lose their posture.
The two chubby male students I had seen earlier tilted their heads and fell asleep.
However...
Professor Sigmund stopped talking for a moment and lifted the monocle on his nose bridge with one finger.
Soon, his gaze turned towards the two chubby male students. Two guys who looked so similar they could be twins. Their sleeping posture was the same.
As Professor Sigmund stared intently at the two guys, another student sitting next to them poked their sides to wake them up.
The two twin guys, startled, opened their eyes and clapped without knowing what was happening. Laughter flowed from various places in the auditorium with that movement.
I also found the two guys' actions very funny and asked the faculty colleague sitting next to me.
“What are those guys' names?”
“The Hoffman brothers. Raul Hoffman. Paul Hoffman.”
“They are twins, right?”
“Yes. Both of them have summoning magic as their main skill, so Professor Sigmund seems to be paying more attention. Hmph.”
“I thought they were dull and specialized in alchemy or something, but they use summoning magic?”
“Yes. But Jerome, Teacher. If you see them actually later, it'll be even funnier. They say they summon golems that look exactly like themselves. Hmph!”
I couldn't hold back on this. I thought I had to see those golem brother guys practicing sometime.
Anyway, thanks to the Hoffman brothers, time passed quickly. Now, at the point where the entrance ceremony was ending.
Just as I stood up to sing the academy's song that would conclude the entrance ceremony.
Kukukung-!!!
A loud noise and an ominous vibration were felt.
Kyaaah!
Kyaa!
Screams coming from the entrance of the Grand Auditorium. I roughly got the idea. This was the typical cliché of academy stories.
It was an event commemorating the entrance ceremony. Whether magic beasts or hostile forces, something had intruded into the entrance ceremony. The solemn Grand Auditorium had become a battlefield in an instant.
If it were the old me, I would have immediately run to the entrance of the Grand Auditorium to finish the incident. But now, I was hiding my true identity and abilities.
More importantly, there were plenty of capable people in this academy who could finish this incident without me intervening.
So, what I had to do was...
Protect Ciara and Chloe.
Yeah. That's it.
I immediately strengthened all my senses to find the traces of my two lovers. Interestingly, Ciara and Chloe were far apart from each other right now.
They had been sitting together, but for some reason... In the end, I had to choose who to go to first.
Actually, the answer was already with me. Sorry to Chloe, but... for now, Ciara first.
I immediately used the spatial movement magic to chase Ciara's traces. The place where her presence was felt was already outside the Grand Auditorium.
I arrived at her side by chasing the faint remaining musk scent of Ciara. But the situation was already over.
Around Ciara, unknown assailants had fallen, and blood was dripping from her sword.
“Ciara, are you okay?!!”
Upon my shout, Ciara and I made eye contact. Her eyes, veiled with sharpness. It was probably because she had been immersed in battle.
“Teacher. What if I follow?”
“I'm worried about Ciara!”
“It's all finished here. It's an organized attack.”
“Ciara. Now, get out of the way.”
“Teacher. I'm fine. It seems the Grand Auditorium side is almost finished too...”
Her next words were what I had expected. Ciara continued speaking with a calm expression.
“Take care of Chloe.”
That's right. Ciara was acknowledging that I was dating Chloe and forming a harem. Of course, for her, that fact wouldn't be pleasant. Naturally, she would want to monopolize me.
So, in private, she treated Chloe almost as if she didn't exist. But now, it was a situation where Chloe's life itself was at risk.
Chloe was my other lover, so she could be a competitor to Ciara, but I didn't want Chloe to get hurt.
I nodded to Ciara, conveying my gratitude.
I had already chased Ciara and found Chloe's traces. I immediately cast spatial movement magic behind the dormitory where Chloe was.
The moment the view changed, what came in was...
Chloe, who was fighting against one weird guy.
She had a tired expression. Seeing several guys fallen around Chloe, it seemed she had exhausted her magic trying to defeat them.
Chloe's main magic, lightning magic, was strong in one hit but had high magic consumption. Chloe was a capable person who took the academy's runner-up position, but due to lack of real combat experience, she seemed to be struggling against the remaining one guy.
Moreover, judging from the presence felt from the weird guy, that guy seemed to be using earth magic, which had an advantage against Chloe.
There was no time to hesitate. I immediately tried to cast magic towards the guy.
At that moment.
The weird guy threw a huge rock at Chloe first. Earth magic.
I tried to change the target to the flying rock. But...
Someone blocked in front of Chloe, blocking the rock with their whole body.
Thud-
With a dull sound, the rock broke and dust flew up. Who was it?
As the hazy dust gradually settled, the figure of the guy who had blocked the flying rock began to become clear.
That guy was...
The lowest rank Kyle.
The Kyle I had seen wasn't that high level... Even as lowest rank, he had spirit?
The guy who had blocked in front of Chloe, I became curious about the reason. Curiosity arose. This feeling was not simple curiosity but an instinct-like intuition.
It was similar to the feeling I had felt when facing past mysterious beings.
But why did I feel this way from that guy?
I wanted to immediately cut the weird guy's neck to help Chloe, but due to the unshakeable curiosity, I hid my presence and watched Kyle for a moment.
Soon, the weird guy threw another rock chunk at Kyle. No. This time, I couldn't block it. I had to intervene...
Kwoong-!!
With an unknown collision, a loud noise rang out again, and dust flew up once more. In the urgent situation, I strengthened my vision to the extreme.
Through the hazy dust, Kyle's figure standing with effort came into view. It seemed he had summoned something to block the rock...
Kyle was thinking something with a lot of force put into his posture. Through the slightly settling hazy dust, I could see Kyle. I observed the guy's mouth shape.
I, who had grasped the words he was thinking...
A chill ran down my spine.
What Kyle was thinking was...
The Status Window
It was.