Zeroa Has Luck
Zeroa had luck.
Zeroa had luck.
Diana stood at the podium and declared, “Alright, then, the members of Team 7 for the 10-Person Small-Scale Mounted Combat event are now officially set.”
The students packed into the lecture hall shot to their feet, voices erupting in a storm of protest.
“I have no objection!”
“I oppose!”
“This is rigged! It’s clearly manipulated!”
Roughly a quarter of the assembled students voiced their dissatisfaction, yet Diana dismissed their complaints with flawless poise.
They were protesting because Aria, the revered goddess of the academy, was in the same category and they could not participate alongside her.
Especially now that ten-person teams were forming; coordinating and syncing tactics would demand far more time than individual competition. The more they trained together, the more time they spent in the same space as Aria.
Diana’s plan had been simple: because the small-scale mounted combat required seamless team chemistry, placing Aria on the team would guarantee enthusiastic participation. She had even spoken with Aria in advance, gently suggesting the event, and the noble girl had shown eager interest without grasping the full picture.
The moment Diana announced Aria’s participation, however, the entire hall erupted. Students who had no intention of riding a horse scrambled to the same category, foam at the mouth, desperate to join.
Pure mages, of course, were excluded, but even without that, the frantic pleas to add more members forced Diana to wipe the sweat from her brow.
Aslan, pretending to be cool, had discreetly raised his hand too, and the sight confirmed exactly how popular Aria truly was.
Far more students than the ten spots available wanted to join. Aria’s overwhelming fanbase, her cultists, even Cuthbert and Vollin, and even the pure mages who had no intention of riding at all, all clamored for the same event.
Diana had barely managed to calm the desperate students who begged her to let them learn riding despite lacking any background.
She had been sweating profusely by the end.
Rai, lounging near the window, chuckled. “Hah, what a complete mess.”
The students shot him icy glares.
“Rai-kkang, shut up.”
“Yeah, yeah~”
Even Diana, who usually adored Rai’s teasing, was surprisingly cold today.
It was only natural that the other classes had already chosen their events and begun serious training. Class A, however, had only just decided today.
Diana had originally planned to let the students decide, but Rai, who knew the empire’s situation far too well these days, simply could not focus on academy matters. Plans for infiltrating the empire, handling his slave status, and so many other worries weighed on him.
Facing the massive monster that was the Bernies Empire—even a man like the former supreme commander of the fallen Keilen Kingdom—had proven far more difficult than expected.
Countless strategies had been drafted, yet nothing was certain.
As a result, Class A’s affairs had been quietly pushed to the back of his mind.
While other classes had entered training weeks ago and even the latest-completing class had finished selecting events last week, Class A was only now settling in.
The tournament awarded points per event, and the class with the highest total score would win.
Rai’s laziness had left only the students to bear the consequences.
In the end, Diana had taken the lead and allowed the students themselves to choose their events.
Although she had chosen later than the other classes, she at least enjoyed the freedom to select events that did not conflict with the curriculum the instructors had assigned.
Of course, that freedom came with a price: the gazes directed at her from Rai remained icy.
Ignoring his teasing reply, Diana turned to the students.
“Unfortunately, many of you missed your preferred events, but time is short. We must practice even a little more instead of arguing over every detail.”
Her conviction that they were running out of time carried weight.
Aria nodded in agreement, and the disappointed students reluctantly accepted their assigned categories, eyes glistening with suppressed tears.
They also glared at Rai, the man who had engineered this mess.
“Since team mounted combat is also available, let’s train even harder then,” Diana continued. “We’ll gather with our teammates in the same event, create our own training schedule, and I’ll announce the team event schedule myself.”
At her words, every student cheered enthusiastically.
Diana’s leadership, her popularity, her high grades—all of it united Class A.
Problems that had been blocking progress until now dissolved instantly.
Rai, who had been idling through it all, accepted the neatly organized list Diana handed him.
Sierra, the actual assistant instructor, simply thought: *Should we really let the students decide?*
She had worked in the Imperial Information Bureau long enough to know that obeying superiors and blindly trusting students who chose events out of pure whims was a terrible idea.
If she had been in charge, she would have assigned events based on their actual abilities instead of leaving it to chance.
Rai glanced at the list, expression deadpan. “Do you really think this list is logical?”
The words echoed Sierra’s own thoughts exactly.
Of course, the students were furious at the architect of their situation.
“Is Instructor Rai unhappy?”
“It’s boring.”
Diana, who had asked, and Sierra and the other students all stared at him in silence.
“Ah, this is actually interesting. Aslan’s competing in his individual event—do you really know how to ride?”
Aslan, who had been eliminated from the small-scale event and forced into mounted charge, stood up in a rage.
“I ride like a goddamn pro!”
“Really? But according to Sierra’s analysis, you’re rated D-grade trash.”
“I never said ‘trash.’ I wrote ‘D-grade,’” Sierra corrected quickly.
She had only been trying to prevent misunderstanding, yet the fact remained: no rank existed below D.
Aslan had never truly believed he was that good, but hearing the exact evaluation he feared most made him freeze.
The betrayed look in his eyes was embarrassing, yet Sierra held her ground and met his gaze without flinching.
“A story where trash works hard and wins the championship. Doesn’t that get your heart racing? This is gonna be fun.”
“I wrote ‘D-grade,’” she repeated.
“I ride really well!”
The exchange between Sierra and Aslan continued, but Rai ignored them and kept reading the list.
“Diana, you’re going to a ridiculously easy event.”
“That’s because Class A is going to win the overall championship. That’s my goal.”
Diana laughed as she competed in the short-distance race.
Rai nodded and continued through the list, then paused at the small-scale mounted combat section and smiled.
“The members for the small-scale mounted combat event have a problem.”
“Correct!”
“Smart as always! I’ve always thought Instructor Rai is amazing! Let’s swap members!”
The moment Rai pointed out the issue, the students who wanted to join the event stood up in excitement.
If they could change members, they might get a spot too.
Rai, however, had no intention of swapping anyone.
“We don’t need to change members, but we need one more.”
“Eh? Ten spots are full—how can we add one?”
“If they’re only going to do tactics from behind, they don’t even need to ride.”
The students understood his meaning in an instant.
The official roster for riding was limited, but anyone willing to help—even a hundred or a thousand people—did not need to compete themselves.
Commanders did not have to ride.
Normally the assigned instructors created tactics, but Rai intended to let the students handle everything.
When Aria joined, many students eagerly raised their hands, but Rai already had someone specific in mind.
“The real problem with this team is that every single member is way too obedient.”
The students nodded in agreement.
Aria, who rarely asserted herself despite being the most popular; Cuthbert, who had no thoughts whatsoever except for girls; Zeroa, who was kind to everyone but lacked backbone—the small-scale mounted combat participants were simply too gentle.
If they faced scheming opponents, they would be at a disadvantage.
“Ceset. You handle it.”
“Huh? But I’m a pure mage, so I don’t know anything about riding!”
Pure mages received no points for riding anyway. They already suffered through extra classes without the benefit, so they had no time to waste.
Stunned by the sudden spotlight, Ceset stammered a reply, but Rai formed a circle with his thumb and index finger.
“No points, but you can earn some cash.”
The students assumed he meant money from somewhere else.
Ceset’s mind, however, immediately ran to the most profitable game in the academy: betting.
As a genuine gambling enthusiast, she quickly simulated scenarios, inflated Class A’s value, and even imagined rigging a match to collect the reverse odds.
Of course, she would never force her teammates to lose, but with multiple variables in mind, she exchanged a knowing glance with Rai and grinned.
“I’ll do it. Give me full authority.”
“Making sure the unit is under control is your job. Talk to the kids and figure it out.”
With those words, Rai ended the meeting.
Normally, if there was nothing left to say, he would simply tell everyone to go home. Today’s closing was the longest he had ever delivered.
Rai and Sierra left the lecture hall immediately, but the students who shared events with Aria stayed behind to discuss their schedules.
Abigail and Aslan, who were participating in individual events, had already left from the start.
As Zeroa gathered his belongings, he noticed someone’s voice calling out from a dark corner.
“Hey, you stupid girl! Do you even know how much trouble you’re causing right now?!”
Zeroa stopped in his tracks. The voice sounded furious.
“I didn’t do anything!”
“So go say you can’t do it!”
“Shit, if you’re useless, at least act like you have some sense.”
Zeroa could not tell how many people were speaking, but it was clearly a group cornering one target.
The timid voice protested that it was not his fault, yet the furious tone suggested no one was listening.
Zeroa knew this scene well.
Bullying.
He had experienced it, seen it happen to others, and tried to stop it himself.
Embarrassing as it was, he had never actively prevented such incidents until now.
He did not know whether his personality had softened through years with Rai and Aslan or whether his growing strength had changed him, but the moment the word bullying crossed his mind, he walked straight toward the voice.
When he appeared in the empty alley, the trio froze in shock.
The three were surrounding one girl, and the smallest of them turned to face Zeroa with huge, teary eyes begging for help.