03. Find That Bastard
03. Find That Bastard
The Academy lay within the Empire's territory, yet it was the most isolated place from the Empire.
It wasn't perched on the border, but situated in a peculiar environment: close to the heart of the Empire yet entirely cut off. Its location was a remote island floating in the sea near the capital.
There were two ways to reach the Academy: the first was via the only bridge connecting the island to the mainland, and the second was by boat.
Most people, unless they suffered from seasickness, chose the boat.
There was a bridge, but it was only about two lanes wide, so traffic congestion was frequent. The only real merit was that it was cheaper than the ferry fare, though that wasn't much of a draw.
As dawn broke, splendid carriages, each flying banners emblazoned with their family crests, began arriving at the dock one after another.
The guards squared off in silent battles of ego, and the air crackled with tension whenever feuding houses crossed paths, as if swords might be drawn at any moment.
The full-scale war of nerves began right there on the dock, waiting for the boat.
I had arrived early and was ready to board, so I sat nearby and examined the banners hanging from those carriages.
'... The white wolf is the Simores. The boulder emblem is the Russells. The Woodville Trading Company is here too... The elf bastards said they wouldn't come last time, but they showed up after all.'
From ancient noble houses to moneyed bourgeois, powerful families from all over the Empire gathered at the harbor.
Today was the Academy's entrance ceremony.
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The enrollment process was absurdly simple.
I just kept walking to wherever I was told to go.
There were broadly two ways to enter the Academy: the first was the normal route—passing the entrance exam.
The Academy's stated mission—to nurture talents capable of bearing the Empire's future—still held true,
so anyone, regardless of status, could enter if they passed a reasonably difficult test with excellent marks.
However, they had to come all the way to the Academy to take that test,
and even if they passed, if they didn't score high enough to earn a scholarship,
they wouldn't be able to afford the high-quality uniforms, supplies, and textbooks whose prices peasants could barely stomach.
Still, everyone with raw promise knocked on the Academy's door, and countless talents who'd endured hardship blossomed brilliantly.
It was the most normal method, and in the past, most students had entered this way.
In the past, that is.
"Yep, 'Recommendation Letter' confirmed!!"
When I presented the 'Recommendation Letter' stamped with the Academy's seal along with my admission papers, they checked its authenticity with magic and welcomed me.
On the boat: recommendation letter. Getting off: recommendation letter. Arriving at the Academy building: recommendation letter.
My enrollment process was finished simply by flashing the recommendation letter at each checkpoint.
Yes, the second way to enter the Academy was this very recommendation letter.
Nowadays, most students got in through this route.
Originally, only about ten percent of students were said to enter with this recommendation letter, but by now, over half the student body entered the Academy with it.
That was because these recommendation letters—which allowed immediate enrollment without any verification, just by showing them—were distributed only to families carefully vetted by the Academy.
How and to what extent the letters were handed out was known only to the principal.
'Well... I've gotten into the Academy, so should I start by finding that bastard?'
Whatever the reason, now that I was at the Academy, there was something I had to do first.
That was to identify the novel's 'protagonist.'
If this world operated based on that novel, 'Academy's Devil Slayer,' then all events would revolve around the protagonist.
Until now, I'd been too busy looking after myself to even think about investigating, and now I regretted it.
"Hey, you there. Are you lost?"
As I sat on a bench staring blankly at the main gate, someone spoke to me.
Neat, light blonde hair sparkled like gold dust, and resolute amber eyes fixed on me.
Every gesture exuded grace, like a well-bred cat.
'What a bother.'
It was our first meeting, but I could tell who she was.
She was Riber Simore, who appeared in the novel as the protagonist's rival.
As the heir of the prestigious Simore family, she possessed a pride befitting her noble blood. Because she'd been raised to value balance, she often clashed with the protagonist, who constantly charged around thinking only of his own revenge.
What business did she have with me?
"I know where the auditorium is."
"Then why are you sitting here? You look like a freshman... You're not planning to skip the ceremony from day one, are you?"
"I'm waiting for a friend. I'll go with them when they arrive."
"Hmm... Then you should go inside right away. I'll be watching from inside to see if they come or not."
She seemed to accept my reason, but after a dubious glance, Riber joined the crowd and headed toward the auditorium.
'I wasn't going to the ceremony whether they showed or not... She's not going to remember this, right?'
It felt like I ought to go, but in reality, not attending the entrance ceremony wasn't penalized by the Academy.
At most, the downside was just not making an impression on the others at the ceremony.
It wasn't a party where you could mingle and chat, so there was no reason to attend.
The bustling crowd around me vanished, and silence settled in.
The entrance ceremony must have started in the auditorium.
The ceremony for the children of wealthy families wasn't just a bunch of empty pomp and circumstance; it also featured splendid performances, so it would take a while to wrap up.
The web novel 'Academy's Devil Slayer' didn't include any illustrations of the protagonist.
I could only guess what the protagonist looked like from the written descriptions.
But I wasn't worried about not recognizing him.
'There's no way I wouldn't recognize that guy.'
If the descriptions were right, this novel's protagonist was a lunatic who'd catch your eye even from a distance.
Blood-red hair as if soaked in gore, a perpetually furrowed brow, a mouth always clamped shut,
and cheeks sunken from a life of exhaustion—according to the text, his impression was so intense that if you saw him in the dark, you'd think you were seeing a ghost.
Someone entered through the main gate.
'Is it him?!'
The moment I saw that bright red hair hurrying through the main gate, I instinctively jumped to my feet.
The bright red hair reached all the way down her back, her figure was slender, and her round, cute eyes gave her a youthful look.
Maybe... the protagonist? But her body was well-proportioned and straight, with a faintly rounded chest. I couldn't tell from a distance at first, but a closer look revealed she was a girl.
'No, it's not... She's a girl... It can't be her.'
Her hair color was similar, so I'd gotten my hopes up, but looking again, not only did she have a chest, she was literally wearing the girls' uniform. Deflated, I plopped back down onto the bench.
She was late for the ceremony, though not as much as the still-missing protagonist. Realizing no other students were around, she fidgeted nervously, looking around until her eyes met mine as I sat on the bench in the distance.
I thought she'd scurry over like a squirrel, but before I knew it, she was right in front of me.
Given her timid running form, I thought it would take longer, but she was surprisingly fast on her feet.
Panting, her face had turned as red as a beet—whether from sprinting or embarrassment, I couldn't tell.
"E...ex...excuse meeee... Do you happen to know where the entrance ceremony is being held?"
"See that blue roof over there? They're doing it in that building."
"Thank you!!"
I'd simply pointed the way, yet she bowed politely and even offered thanks.
Yeah, no.
Same red hair aside, the protagonist of Devil Slayer was no decent human being.
There was no way the protagonist—who became a demon to slay demons—could smile so innocently.
Quite some time had passed; when was that guy going to show up...
"Yellow brooch... uh... You're a 'freshman' too, right? Are you not going to attend the ceremony?"
"Ah, I'm waiting for someone."
"I don't know who it is, but you're waiting so faithfully, you must be very close. That person is lucky!"
I'd only said I was waiting, not that I knew the person.
In fact, I didn't even know their face.
I didn't particularly want to know them either.
I just wanted to get to know them from now on.
"If anything, if you go in halfway through, you'll stand out for no good reason. It's better to just not go. There's no penalty for not participating, anyway."
"I can't help it, since I'm late, haha...
Still, what's done is done.
I think I should participate even if I'm a little late! Thank you for telling me!"
She gave a refreshing smile, said goodbye, and headed toward the auditorium where the ceremony was underway.
Opening the door mid-ceremony would draw unwanted attention, but she had guts.
And she'd even said goodbye until the very end. She was a rare, kind girl.
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.
.
I saw students trickling out of the auditorium one by one.
In the end, the protagonist didn't appear even after the ceremony finished.
Not a single student had entered through the main gate via the bridge.
What was going on? The Simores, the Russells—all of them had enrolled.
This was definitely the year the main story was supposed to kick off in earnest.
A variable in this novel... Did I do something wrong?
The only late redhead... that girl from earlier came to mind.
'What's done is done, after all.'
Come to think of it, I'd heard that phrase somewhere before.
Where did I hear it... I think it was in the main story...
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No way?
"That girl is the protagonist?"
How on earth did the revenge-crazed male protagonist turn into that?!