The Original Luden Only Listens When He Gets Beaten

After my unexpected reunion with Isabel, I was just about to sit down and prepare for class.

'Prepare… Yeah, right. It's not like I know any of this stuff anyway.'

What did I care about the year the Empire was founded or when it went to war with the Kingdom? And what the hell was mana adaptation supposed to be?

…The one silver lining was discovering that the game's backstory was surprisingly solid.

Strengthening my body with mana came naturally thanks to the original owner's muscle memory, but anything theoretical was completely beyond me.

If things kept going like this, I'd definitely fail the theory portion. I was steeling myself to make up for it in practicals when—

"…What are you doing here again?"

"…Can't I?"

Kiene was standing beside me in her school uniform. …She was definitely in a different class.

She'd been wearing her uniform outside too, but that had been the winter version. The one she had on now was the spring-and-autumn style, perfectly suited for the current season.

A white dress shirt paired with a blue skirt.

It was plain, which somehow made it even more devastating. Seeing Kiene in her spring-and-autumn uniform—a sight I'd never witnessed in the original game—something stirred hotly in my chest.

…Especially the way her figure showed through despite the shirt. If anything, the fabric only accentuated her curves.

Her pink hair, which had looked a little messy last time, was now neatly arranged. It reminded me of cherry blossoms.

The faint floral scent drifting from the tips of her hair made my head spin…

'…Get a grip. How old is she, anyway?'

What kind of thoughts were those toward Kiene, who wasn't even an adult yet…? Even by my original age, she was more than ten years younger.

But that only made her appearance all the more destructive.

I suppressed my ugly desires and spoke to her in a trembling voice.

"…You can't. You're not in this class."

"…I don't want to…"

For some reason, Kiene refused to leave my side. …Why was she acting like this?

In the end, she only returned to her own classroom right before the lesson began.

'Maybe she's being ostracized…?'

Unlike boys, who mostly followed simple power dynamics, girls didn't necessarily avoid bullying someone just because they were strong.

It was possible Kiene was going through something like that.

In my head, I pictured her sitting alone and forlorn after being excluded by her classmates.

'Maybe I should drop by her classroom sometime…'

While I was thinking that, the classroom door opened and a refreshing, handsome young man walked in.

'That guy… His suspension's been lifted?'

It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hero, the protagonist of Bethesda Academy.

***

Once inside the classroom, Hero greeted the students from other classes warmly before taking his seat.

A spot slightly removed from mine.

He glanced in my direction for a moment, then turned away and flashed a friendly smile at the other students.

It seemed the disciplinary committee matter had been resolved without issue.

Thanks to his unreasonably good looks and his righteous personality that couldn't tolerate injustice, Hero—despite being a commoner—enjoyed a favorable reputation among the students.

'And toward that Hero, the original owner of this body…'

The original Logue had done countless terrible things to him.

He'd constantly hurled insults at Hero for his commoner background, even directing vicious verbal abuse at Serein, Hero's childhood friend.

…Of course, it had all stemmed from an inferiority complex.

Even so, the good-natured Hero had endured it all. But when Logue crossed the line and tried to molest Serein, Hero could no longer hold back. He challenged Logue to a duel.

The result, as everyone knew, was that Logue got beaten like a dog. And when he later tried to blackmail Serein, he got beaten like a dog again. Nearly to death.

After that, he'd even faced expulsion. There was no way Hero's feelings toward me could be anything but hostile.

The same went for the other students. It was safe to assume I had almost no allies in this classroom. …Though I wasn't entirely sure about Isabel.

Isabel had been in the same class as me for an entire semester yet still hadn't recognized my face. That was how little interest she'd had in me.

While I was pondering how to improve my relationship with Hero, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠classroom door opened again and a professor with a bushy beard entered.

"Alright. As I mentioned last time, today is a sparring class. Get ready and head to the training grounds. Your opponents will be as announced previously."

Having said that, the professor left the classroom again.

'Sparring class…?'

Since I hadn't attended academy classes for a while, this was the first I'd heard of it.

…It seemed Isabel was in the same boat; she was looking around in confusion.

With her fierce demeanor and matching skill level, Isabel was someone the other students found difficult to approach.

On top of that, she wasn't the type to reach out first, so she naturally ended up isolated in class.

That much was clear from how no one had crowded around her even though she'd returned after a long absence.

The same was true for me.

"…Hey. Do you remember where the training grounds are?"

"Eek!"

When I approached Isabel and spoke to her, she flinched violently as if startled.

"Sorry if I scared you. I can't quite remember where the training grounds are."

"…Follow me."

Isabel turned her head away in embarrassment and headed out of the classroom.

…She even kept glancing back, as if worried I might not follow.

'She's got a cute side too.'

It took about ten minutes walking from the main academy building to reach the training grounds. It was the same place where I'd dueled Luden last time.

The training area was already packed with Class B students. It looked like we were the last to arrive.

The professor with the impressive bushy beard kindly called out the sparring pairs once more.

"Then I'll announce the matchups again. Isabel versus Adis, Logue versus Luden… and finally, Theo versus Hero."

Luden?

A familiar name had been called alongside mine. When I looked at Luden, he quickly averted his eyes.

'Lucky me…'

It seemed I'd get to relieve some stress for the first time in a while.

***

The first match was between Isabel and Adis.

In the game, Adis had been nothing more than a generic student A-type extra. Average academy student level.

…Of course, he was still far stronger than Logue had been right after I first possessed him.

In contrast, Isabel was a genuine genius who had reached the upper ranks of the academy through practical skills alone.

After becoming subordinate to the demon race, she'd been called a newbie-slicer and had served as a gatekeeper alongside Melek during demon attacks.

'Some people even said she was harder than the final boss of the demon invasion, Belphegor… Because Hero's special traits don't work on her.'

Hero had traits that dealt extra damage to demons, but since Isabel didn't count as one, many players had struggled more against her.

Those were stats befitting a crazy woman who treated dungeon diving as a hobby. And she even had traits perfectly optimized for combat.

If I'd faced her properly equipped when I encountered Melek, I might never have gotten that brand in the first place.

In comparison, all of Adis's stats hovered around B to C. If I had to rank him, he'd be slightly below Luden.

Isabel held a long sword in one hand and a hand axe in the other. The moment the spar began, it was clear she intended to tear her opponent apart.

"Hic…"

The blond boy—Adis—looked terrified by the sight. …His sword hand was visibly shaking.

"Then, begin the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spar!"

The moment the professor's signal rang out, Isabel swiftly closed in on Adis.

—And swung both her sword and axe at him simultaneously.

Adis met the attack with his own sword. The clash of metal echoed across the training grounds.

The difference in Strength was overwhelming. Even after just one exchange, pure terror filled Adis's eyes.

…But the fact that he didn't give up and maintained his will to fight was worthy of praise.

Adis steadied his trembling hands and swung at Isabel. At the same time, ice surged up near her ankles.

'Not bad…? So he's a magic swordsman…'

Adis's skills were better than he looked. To cast ice magic in that brief window of time was impressive.

But Isabel didn't panic. She channeled mana into her ankles, shattered the ice, and countered Adis's sword.

The ice fragments that scattered into the air caught the light and looked like falling snowflakes.

"Kyahahahahaha! This is fuuuun…!!!!"

Isabel's eyes transformed into those of a predator eyeing its prey. The golden gleam in them seemed to be calculating exactly how to rip Adis to shreds.

Adis tried to create distance with a large backward leap, but Isabel had already caught up. She swung her axe.

A sharp cracking sound rang out.

"Stop!"

It was the sound of Adis's sword shattering, unable to withstand Isabel's strike. The follow-up blow was halted by the professor's intervention.

"Isabel, Adis. Well done."

An overwhelming victory for Isabel. Adis had put up a better fight than expected, but that was as far as it went. Terror still lingered in his eyes.

The students watching the spar buzzed with murmurs.

"She's seriously scary…"

"Honestly, she fights like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a crazy bitch…"

'Isn't "crazy bitch" a bit harsh?'

…I'd called her that several times in my head too.

Isabel returned to the spectator seats. Feeling a strange sense of pity for her, I offered a greeting.

"…Good work. You fought well."

"Good work, huh…"

Perhaps embarrassed by my compliment, Isabel looked down and gently stroked the sword and axe in her hands.

***

Next up was my turn against Luden.

At first Luden avoided my gaze, but then he seemed to steel himself and snarled at me.

"This time will be different! …You demonic bastard!"

"Demonic…?"

Luden flinched at my reaction but kept going.

"Hic…! Yeah, you rotten piece of shit…! Do you know how happy I was while you were gone?!"

It seemed Luden was using this opportunity to vent all the resentment he'd built up.

…Well, I suppose I had tormented him quite a bit…

The people around us began murmuring, clearly confused by his words.

They seemed to find it strange that he was speaking as if he'd been bullied by Logue.

The details of my previous duel with Luden hadn't spread widely since there hadn't been many witnesses aside from his own group.

…Most of them were probably expecting me to lose.

After yelling at me, Luden prepared for battle with an air of triumph.

But the more I thought about it, the more it pissed me off. Hadn't he been the one who started the mother insult first?

The way he was acting now made it seem like he felt zero remorse for the trash talk he'd thrown at me.

I completely forgot about the money I'd extorted from Luden and focused my resolve.

'Looks like he hasn't shaken off his delinquent nature yet…!'

They say the original Luden only listens when he gets beaten.

Today, I'd reform Luden and turn him into a new man.