Let's Study!
"...Are you serious?"
"Huh? You think I'm joking?"
Compared to when we first met, Eve had clearly grown. People naturally grow with time, of course, but in Eve's case the change was extreme. After everything she'd been through in just a few short months, it was only natural—if you could call it that.
Even so, a person doesn't change at the core. The mind might mature, but the body stays honest and refuses to budge.
"You two said you wanted to do well on the practical exams this time around."
"Didn't you spend the whole break making this instead of having fun?"
"Well... we did say that, but..."
Tana and Eve scowled hard at the workout schedule I'd drawn up for them.
"I put it together with your stamina in mind. Once you actually try it, it won't be that bad."
"Haaah! Fine. Let's just do it!"
"I guess I should just consider myself already dead."
Hm?
I'd actually planned to bicker a few more rounds and compromise by cutting the reps a little, but the two of them just accepted it. That left me the one feeling flustered—until Hayun, who'd been watching from behind, slipped over and whispered in my ear.
"Those two have been quietly stewing over how little help they were during the last incident."
"Aigoo."
So they'd been fretting over something that small. The only reason I'd dismantled Dogfight by myself was because they were an elite outfit that had been planning to conquer even the Demon World Forest. Ordinary students standing against people like that? Impossible. I wanted to tell them that girls like Rin, Sen, and Elise were the weird ones, but the two of them had already steeled themselves and made up their minds.
I'll have to buy them something tasty later.
Just enough that they wouldn't put on weight, of course.
"I'm fine with it."
Sen kept sneaking glances at the schedule in my hand. Now that she no longer had to follow the Execution Squad's training, she was doing her own personal workouts—and she'd asked me for help too. What had started as a training party of just me, Tana, and Eve had ballooned into five with Hayun and Sen added in.
Personally, I considered it a very encouraging result. Hayun and Sen could spar with each other and shore up their practical skills directly.
"All right, then. Let's get started."
And so today's workout began with a smile.
"Tch."
"Haaah, May. Still staring at them?"
Up on the academy rooftop in the early morning, May Flove was crunching on candy with her friends. She hadn't planned on eating candy this early, but watching Daniel with those other girls left a bitter taste in her mouth, so she'd torn into one anyway.
"Just look at them, eyes spinning with joy because he's training with them."
People said exercise addicts were a lot like drug addicts—and Daniel was the perfect example.
Is that why he's so strong?
May tilted her head and let out a sigh. The fact that she was forcing her sleepy eyes open on this rooftop at all was pretty much against her will.
"Those damn seniors told us to come and then they don't even show up?"
"Yeah, we're here."
The door slammed open with a rough kick. The guy in front had his hands shoved in his pockets; one look at him and you could tell he knew how to throw a punch.
"Senior Telman, you made it?"
Before May had been called the Queen of the Back Alleys, this man had been the Fist King who ruled Aeos Academy. Once he became a fifth-year and left for practical training, the academy had turned into a free-for-all of would-be heroes—and May, with Daniel at her back, had been the one to clean it all up.
Why's a guy about to graduate acting like this?
May figured he wouldn't pull some stupid stunt right before graduation. Her judgment was completely off.
"Rayros croaked and now this bitch is taking my place? A fox crawled into the tiger's den, huh?"
The fourth- and fifth-year seniors trailing behind him raised their voices in mockery. Calling people out this early just for this crap? May sighed.
"You planning to keep hanging around the academy after you graduate? Why don't you just quietly go look for a job? From the looks of you, you couldn't even get into the city guard."
"What?"
"Did I say something wrong? Grades are garbage, conduct is garbage. Nothing to do after graduation, so you're trying to burn bright one last time?"
This time May was the one wearing the smirk, and the third-years behind her laughed right along, refusing to back down.
"You little shits! Looks like I need to set you straight today. Damn it, I was gonna keep my head down as a fifth-year... but you woke me up."
"Bullshit. You were the one thrashing around begging to be woken up."
May crunched the candy in her mouth hard enough to make an audible crack, shoved her hands in her pockets, and locked eyes with Telman.
"Just graduate already, thinking your school days were the golden years of your life. Wouldn't that be nicer?"
"And what the hell are you gonna do after graduation? What, you acting tough because you've got the principal's backing?"
"Nah. I'm acting tough because I've got my husband."
"...What?"
"But damn, your tongue's long!"
May's fist flew first, and just like that, another ordinary day at Aeos Academy began.
"...What happened to your face."
After finishing the workout, the others headed off to wash up and get ready for class. I wrapped up my cool-down cleanly and was heading back when I found her sitting at a café table in front of the dorms, chin propped on her hand. There were a few scrapes on her face.
"Who did this to you."
Anger surged up so fast I clenched my fists and asked. May just pinched my cheek lightly instead.
"Aww, look how cute you are."
"Don't mess around."
"You're so cute when you worry about me that I can't help it."
She grinned, dusted off her backside, and stood.
"Don't worry. Some fifth-year senior picked a fight. I cleaned it up nice and neat."
"I told you to call me first if something like this happens."
Lately May had the delinquents so tightly under her thumb that I'd figured this kind of thing wouldn't happen anymore.
A fifth-year? That's the graduating class, and he's still pulling crap like this?
There really was an unexpected idiot out there.
"More importantly, the principal's looking for you. Said to come see her after all your lectures today."
"And she told you that?"
"I stopped by to see her for a bit yesterday."
"Well, all right."
Come see her? What for?
"So... they're saying expulsion, Daniel."
"..."
I stared at the principal as she fidgeted and delivered the line, my face pure disbelief. She was hitting me with the exact same speech I'd heard right after I regressed. I crossed my arms.
"Not funny."
"I-I didn't want to say this to you either, okay?!"
"What's going on."
She wouldn't drop something like that for no reason. Looking miserable, the principal shoved a document at me.
"Take a look at your attendance for the second semester."
"Ah..."
The days I'd skipped far outnumbered the days I'd shown up. After break I'd gone to the Demon World Forest to get medicine for Michelle Portren, then headed to the Dragon's Border to treat my sister—both trips had eaten a lot of time. Nearly two months had already passed since the break ended, and my attendance was basically a blank slate.
"The professors are talking. Asking why we need to keep a student like this around. Word even reached the parents, and I had a hell of a time calming them down."
"...You've been through a lot."
I scratched the back of my head, genuinely apologetic. The principal's expression eased a little and she straightened up.
"The only reason we've been able to hold the line is because you show strength in practicals. But even in the first semester your magic theory grades were bad, and a lot of professors are wondering whether you can even keep up."
"..."
"So Daniel, right now you need to prove yourself."
"Prove myself?"
The principal answered like it was nothing major.
"A student's duty is to study. If you don't pass the tests the professors set, they're going to take a very dim view of whatever happens to you."
My real age was twenty-eight. One of the top predators who'd survived the Demon World Forest. I'd walked alone into the dragonkin lands and left them in ruins. The witches of the Black Forest had bowed their heads in fear. I'd single-handedly annihilated Dogfight, the secret criminal organization that had given even the kingdom headaches.
"Ah, I really hate this."
And right now, I was feeling a sense of crisis stronger than any of those moments.
That morning, fifth-year Telman—who had been beaten like a dog on the hottest day of summer by May Flove—was icing his bruises and still boiling with frustration.
He'd lost.
Completely.
Fourth- and fifth-years had jumped in together and still lost to a bunch of third-years. Worse, he—the man once called the Fist King of Aeos—had been beaten with bare fists by that tiny girl. She'd clearly been reinforcing her body with mana, but the control had been so precise and solid it didn't look like any ordinary student's work.
"This is because you fourth-years can't manage your juniors properly!"
He barked at the slumped fourth-years in front of him, but it had no effect. After all, they'd all gotten their asses kicked the same way.
Telman let out a long breath and started turning the gears in his head.
"I can't let it end like this."
The reason he'd been able to rule Aeos Academy wasn't just because he threw a good punch. It was also because he never shied away from dirty work.
"May Flove. I'm going to completely wreck that bitch."
Eyes glittering with humiliation, Telman clenched his fists.