The Hazing Routine of the Elite Guard
The elite guard's morning assembly was held in front of Guard Headquarters, and the guardsmen trickled out one by one onto the parade ground, unhurried and half-asleep.
"Why won't it just rain?"
"Outdoor roll call. Again."
Even their complaints had a strangely familiar ring to them.
Just like the army.
For all that I'd made a point of arriving early, Hanswel was already standing there waiting. His hair and uniform were immaculate, too — polished to a degree that was frankly intimidating.
"Line up over here."
Hanswel pushed up his glasses as he spoke. Next came the barbarian Volcan, and then Scarlet and Ludric emerged at the same time. Once again, no sign of the squad leader — instead, Hanswel as vice-leader counted heads and went off to report up front.
That was when Milo sidled up to Ludric.
"You want me to switch with you?"
"Yes, sir. It's only fitting, since I'm the new guy. Seems like a good chance for a bit of on-the-job training, doesn't it—"
"Fine."
"Thank you, sir. Ludric, sir, you're the best."
"On one condition."
"Yes, sir, understood."
At Ludric's clipped reply, Milo nodded with the expression of a man chewing on something foul.
"Milo, stand straight in the line. Ludric — put out that cigarette during roll call."
Hanswel, back from his report, launched straight into nagging.
Roll call began shortly after. A white-haired old man stepped forward.
So that's the Chief Guard.
Standing beside him was a familiar face — the goatee, Bedrick. The fact that he was glued to the Chief Guard's side suggested he held a fairly senior position.
"Salute the Chief!"
At Bedrick's command, the guards snapped off a crisp salute.
"The entrance ceremony is right around the corner. Don't go stirring up trouble for no reason."
The Chief Guard said his piece briefly and moved on. With roll call over, the squads broke off into their own groups.
Hanswel unfolded a sheet of paper and began his lecture.
"The Chief already said it, but I trust you're all aware this year's applicant pool has swollen beyond anything we've seen. The guard has been expanded on a large scale, and yet the numbers are still fundamentally insufficient. Which means all the more is required of us as the support unit."
Haaaam. Scarlet let out a long, luxuriant yawn. Hanswel's eyes narrowed a fraction.
"In any case, the entrance ceremony is imminent. Given how important the event is, all support assignments will be redirected toward ceremony preparations for the time being."
That was when Milo's hand shot up.
"What is it, Milo?"
"I volunteer for new student escort duty with Grave! I already cleared it with Ludric, sir!"
Hanswel's eyes went razor thin.
"Unilaterally reassigning one's designated duties is not permitted. It is a primary cause of command-chain confusion. Second — new student escorting is decided on appearance. Milo, you are... mm... lacking."
"What do you mean, lacking?"
Milo's face twisted savagely.
Well, at least he says what he means. I watched Hanswel with a measure of genuine admiration.
"Furthermore, the request specifically named Ludric. In such cases, Ludric goes. That is the rule."
Hanswel adjusted his glasses and delivered it coolly — irrefutable, airtight, logically impeccable common sense.
And Milo's response was—
"I WANNA DO IT!! SEND ME ON NEW STUDENT DUTY!"
Out of nowhere, he threw himself flat on the ground and started throwing a full-blown tantrum. Bewilderment flickered across Hanswel's face.
"Milo, this isn't the sort of problem you solve by throwing a fit—"
"Send me on new student escort! SEND ME!"
Hanswel tried desperately to cut him off, but Milo only wailed louder. At the bizarre spectacle, eyes turned from every direction, and the other squad members burst out laughing as they watched.
In the end, Hanswel raised the white flag.
"Fine! Grave and Milo will report for new student escort duty! This is a one-time exception!"
Only then did Milo get up. Hanswel seized him by the collar and added:
"Milo. Private meeting after today's shift."
Milo shot me a look like a man chewing something rotten.
I gave him a casual thumbs-up.
"You absolute son of a—"
Milo's lips flapped soundlessly.
Elysium Academy's security was reasonably airtight. One of its measures: no magic cars or horse-drawn carriages were permitted through the gates from the outside. Even royalty had to disembark at the main gate and transfer to an academy carriage. A primitive system, but undeniably effective.
New student escorting meant greeting the newcomers at the main gate, loading them onto carriages, and ferrying them to their dormitories. Since it directly shaped a new student's first impression of Elysium Academy, the guard spared no effort on it — which was precisely why Squad 15, assigned to the duty, was staffed entirely with handsome men and beautiful women.
It was also precisely why the female guard of Squad 15's face crumpled the moment she laid eyes on Milo.
"We specifically requested Ludric. Why are you here?"
Milo wasn't ugly. Objectively speaking, Milo was fairly good-looking. The problem was his style — the close-cropped blond hair, the insolent slant of his eyes. Milo looked, unapologetically, like a back-alley thug. As the first face of the academy, he was catastrophically unsuited. I could understand why the woman was so exasperated.
"A-hem. Ludric hyung was busy."
"But why you of all people? You've got Scarlet, you've got Hanswel. Why. You."
"Of all people? What's wrong with me?"
"Are you seriously asking?"
"What, you wanna throw down?"
The moment Milo raised his fist out of nowhere, the woman recoiled in disgust.
I clicked my tongue and hauled Milo back by the shoulder. At the sight of me, her scrunched brows eased.
"And this one?"
"New hire. Why are you suddenly so nice to me? You wanna throw down?"
"A-hem. Then the new hire handles the greeting, and you stay in the driver's seat and don't come out."
"Why—"
"If you don't like it, go back. I'll cancel the support request."
"You wanna throw d—"
"Yes, ma'am."
I quietly clamped a hand on Milo. He grumbled and grumbled, but eventually backed down a step.
"We are the first faces a new student sees upon entering Elysium Academy. Smile warmly at all times and treat them with courtesy. Especially you, Milo. No causing problems."
The woman, having hammered home the virtues of courtesy and smiling, fired one last shot at Milo and vanished.
"Being ugly sure is rough on you, huh."
"You li'l—"
I patted Milo on the shoulder in consolation. He looked at me, lips flapping, then crumpled.
Our squad was assigned the very last carriage — a gorgeous, beautifully appointed one. A carriage I knew intimately. It was the carriage from the game's opening cinematic, the one that carried you into the academy.
Exactly the same as the intro.
Just then, Milo, seated up in the driver's box, cleared his throat with exaggerated harrumphing.
"What now?"
"Look — on paper, you're the junior, so shouldn't you be holding the reins? People are watching, y'know."
"Thanks to you, they'll think I'm the kind senior. You're welcome."
Milo's face scrunched up completely.
At that, the woman beside us shrilled:
"Milo! Smile! Courtesy!"
"You li'l—"
Muttering curses, Milo broke into a wide grin. Even so, the expression was positively ferocious. I snorted with laughter.
Soon, the carriage set off.
The scenery of Elysium Academy was the very picture of peace and beauty. The only problem was that, layered over it, I could see the sea of fire it would one day become.
Frankly, a sea of fire counted as one of the milder endings. There was also the one where the academy became a hell built from demons, or the one where the students' corpses piled up into mountains.
Objective: Ensure Evangeline's graduation
Reward: Wish Coupon
On Failure: Death
I fidgeted with my hand out of habit, touching the translucent window.
Soon we arrived at the main gate.
Elysium Academy's main gate was enormous and starkly simple. Not exactly ornate, yet it carried an unmistakable air of elegance — a gate worthy of the academy.
Guards bustled busily around it, making preparations to receive the new students. And there were guards absolutely everywhere — some even carrying instruments.
Before long, a guard standing atop the gate brought down the gong hanging beside him with a mighty swing.
Uuuuuwoong—. A deep, resonant tone announced the start. The guards beside him began pounding drums, and their playing was impressively skilled — clearly seasoned hands.
Other guardsmen lined up in formation before the gate, arrayed like knights receiving a king.
Then that same woman stepped forward, her face wreathed in a smile so perfect it could have been painted on.
"Courtesy and smiles! We are the face of Elysium! Haha-ho-ho!"
"HAHA-HO-HO!"
The guards chanted the bizarre slogan in unison, corners of their mouths raised. It was the kind of customer-service smile you'd find on theme park staff.
This is ridiculous.
Cursing inwardly, I raised the corners of my mouth. Milo followed suit. Haha-ho-ho!
Soon, the gate swung open.
Before it milled a huge crowd of students in fresh uniforms. Expectant eyes, crisp new clothes — they looked for all the world like a flock of chicks.
"Welcome to Elysium Academy!"
Handsome and beautiful guards stepped forward to receive them, and the students' eyes sparkled.
"Please don't rush — proceed in an orderly line."
The guards skillfully guided the new students along, and the thrilled youngsters came streaming in, oohing and aahing at everything.
Seeing it from the opposite side of the gate was genuinely novel. I scanned the faces of the incoming students. As befit a romance-fantasy game, every last one was strikingly good-looking.
But the familiar face was nowhere to be seen. As I swept my gaze across the new students, something struck me as off.
"Hm. Something's wrong."
"Like what?"
Milo asked, slanting his eyes.
I pointed at the new students.
"Their level. These students."
"Their level? Ah. Heh. Heard the applicant pool was so huge this year they picked and chose the very best. That's why this incoming class is supposed to be the strongest in history."
Milo spoke with the proud air of a man receiving the compliment himself.
I knew that part of the lore as well as anyone. The Oracle had driven applicants to flood in, and the influx had raised the caliber of the incoming class. That was why the first year — the protagonist's year — was unusually packed with geniuses.
That was the established setting, and yet—
"They're trash."
"Trash?"
Milo's brows slammed together.
"Milo! Smile!"
At the woman's shrill bark, Milo hastily hoisted his grin back up.
Just then, a piercing scream rang out. I turned my head to find a tall, strikingly handsome young man surrounded by fawning female students.
Silver hair, sharp, clean-cut features — and that face was familiar.
The Silver Knight, Karel.
One of the main cast.
Karel was a templar the Holy Nation had created by augmenting a Battle Priest.
His character built learned only Blessing from the divine arts and poured everything else into aura — and thanks to that build, he made quite a name for himself in the early story.
Even now, the gap between him and the students around him was glaring. It was almost embarrassing to call them fellow students.
And yet, at the sight of Karel, my brows furrowed instead.
This is all Karel amounts to?
Karel's level, too, fell dramatically short of my expectations.
Karel is a student who distinguishes himself in the early game — meaning that among the new students, he ranks comfortably in the top five.
And that was all he had?
Something was wrong.
Come to think of it, Leon was weak too.
Leon's level had been far below what a professor's should be.
Worse — Leon was a frontline veteran. For even a man with real combat experience to fall that far behind was strange.
Something's off.
The sense of wrongness that had been nagging at me since I first met Leon thickened into certainty.
I walked slowly back through the situation, and it didn't take long to pinpoint exactly where things had diverged.
It wasn't that Karel or Leon were weak. Milo's reactions alone made that clear.
The problem wasn't them.
It was me.
"Well, would you look at that. Turns out I'm just too strong."
I clicked my tongue and swept my hair back.
I could feel Milo's eyes on me.
He was staring at me like a man watching a certified lunatic.