The Sub-Heroine’s Strange Behavior
The examination room fell into complete silence.
“…”
All three examiners seated in their chairs stared at me with their mouths firmly shut. Were they waiting for me to say something?
“Uh, the golem seemed a bit outdated.”
“…”
The atmosphere grew even colder. It looked like brushing this off lightly wasn’t going to work.
“I’m sorry. I’ll compensate for the damaged golem’s core however I can.”
When I lowered my head in apology, the female examiner with the calm eyes finally spoke.
“Excuse me, examinee Abel?”
“Yes?”
The face was familiar. ‘…No way?’
Second-year swordsmanship instructor, Shabel Crescent. In the original story, she was famous as an instructor with a cold, unforgiving personality. Though she never appeared directly in the game, every description painted her as a near-sociopath who enjoyed killing.
‘Emergency.’
To think I’d pulled something like this right in front of her. I couldn’t even imagine what price I’d have to pay.
“Since it happened during the exam, there’s no need for compensation. Our side also failed to give proper prior warnings.”
“…I see.”
After saying that to me, she pulled out a document and began examining it.
‘Is she checking my personal information?’
She’d said it was fine, but I still felt uneasy. Would her attitude change completely once she saw I was a commoner orphan from the countryside?
‘I can’t read her at all.’
Her expression was so stiff that I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Just as anxiety threatened to swallow me whole—
“…Mister Abel.”
Shabel stared at me blankly for a moment, then gave a faint smile as she continued.
“I’d like to have a deeper conversation with you during the interview.”
“Ah, yes.”
She smiled? That Instructor Shabel?
‘What the hell is going on?’
She was supposed to maintain an expressionless face in every situation. The cognitive dissonance was so strong my brain practically shut down.
“You passed, so you may leave. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“…Yes.”
I barely managed to move my frozen body and left the examination room.
“Hoo…”
The moment I stepped outside, I let out a long breath.
‘She really drains your energy.’
Just being crushed by Shabel’s aura made me feel like my mental strength was being shaved away. If possible, I never wanted to see her again, but…
‘Looks like I’ll have to face her again in the interview.’
She seemed friendly toward me, yet just her presence alone chipped away at my sanity. I needed to get back to the dorm and recover.
“…Hm?”
On my way back to the dormitory, I spotted a girl on the side of the path.
Hair mixed with blue and silver. Red eyes that looked like they’d been plucked straight from a ruby. It was Ruby Fayrot, the sub-heroine of the original story and my absolute favorite character.
‘We’re meeting like this already?’
A mix of panic and overwhelming joy surged through me.
‘Insane.’
She was crazy pretty. Cute. Beautiful! Ruby was incomparably more stunning in person than she had ever looked on a monitor.
Part of me wanted to run straight over and talk to her right then and there, but—
‘She looks busy.’
Ruby was glancing around as if searching for something. Besides, suddenly calling out to her might just make me look like a weirdo.
‘Just keep walking.’
I tried to ignore her and move on, but right then—
“…?”
I accidentally met Ruby’s eyes as she turned her head.
‘Oh.’
Her red eyes were fixed directly on me. She even seemed to be frowning slightly…
‘Is she annoyed?’
-Whoosh.
I quickly looked away and pretended to be staring somewhere else.
‘…She’s definitely going to think I’m a creep.’
My first encounter with Ruby had gone rather poorly.
The next few days passed peacefully.
I’d been worried that Ruby might end up disliking me, but there was nothing I could do about it right away. And so, the day of the academy interview finally arrived.
“Examinee Abel, please enter the interview room.”
I opened the door and stepped inside.
-Creak.
A silver-haired, blue-eyed woman sat at the table.
‘It really is her.’
Second-year swordsmanship instructor, Shabel Crescent. She had been one of the examiners during the first test.
‘The mood is murderous.’
Her completely emotionless expression was so overwhelming it felt like it might crush me, yet—
“Mister Abel, it’s been a while. How have you been adjusting to life in the capital?”
The moment she saw me, a smile spread across her face.
‘This is actually scarier.’
The difference from the Shabel I remembered was so extreme it caused cognitive dissonance. I’d heard the previous candidates had all left the room crying. Wasn’t this supposed to be a pressure interview?
“…I’ve been well. It’s nothing like the countryside where I used to live.”
“I’m glad you found it satisfactory.”
After answering, Shabel smoothly pushed the documents on her desk to the side. It seemed she wanted to focus entirely on our conversation.
“Before we begin the interview, do you have any questions?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then I’ll ask a few simple questions. They’re just formalities, so there’s no need to feel pressured.”
After that, the conversation really did proceed exactly as she’d said—purely formal.
“What made you apply to the academy?”
“After enrollment, what will you focus on training as your specialty?”
“What field are you most interested in learning?”
Every time I answered, she immediately moved on to the next question.
‘What is she thinking?’
It felt like she was in a hurry to end this conversation. Several more similar questions flew by in an instant.
“-That concludes the interview.”
Shabel slammed a “PASSED” stamp onto the document with a loud thud and continued.
“May I ask you one personal question? This has nothing to do with the interview, so feel free to ignore it if you’d rather not answer.”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
To be honest, I was terrified of whatever Shabel was about to say next.
‘You’re not supposed to be like this.’
In the original story, she was an emotionless, procedure-obsessed person who always kept a cold expression. Seeing her face full of smiles gave me goosebumps.
‘Still…’
I’d already passed, so that was what mattered. While I was thinking that, Shabel spoke with an even brighter expression.
“I noticed the name ‘Cain’ written in the guarantor section of your recommendation letter?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“What is your relationship with him, if I may ask?”
I hadn’t expected his name to come up so suddenly, but I answered calmly.
“He’s helped me with swordsmanship and aura training ever since I was young. And…”
We fought all the time, but I still thought of him as something like family. After all, Cain was the one who had taken me in when I was dying alone.
“Sometimes I even think of him as a father figure.”
“…”
Shabel’s expression froze for a moment after hearing my words. I thought she was about to turn serious and nearly panicked, but—
“I see.”
Shabel gave a small grin and muttered quietly to herself.
“…He said he didn’t need anything like family, but it really was a lie after all.”
She looked at me with a completely relaxed expression.
“If you ever need help, feel free to come find me. I’ll visit you personally when I have time later.”
She handed me the document with the passed stamp on it.
That night, I lay on my dorm bed muttering the lyrics of a certain song.
“A teacher’s grace is like the sky.”
It was a song we sang every year at school, but at some point I’d forgotten the rest of the lyrics. So I just kept repeating the same line over and over.
“A teacher’s grace is like the sky!”
It was to remind myself of the grace my teacher, Cain, had shown me.
‘Damn it. Cain, it’s you again, isn’t it?’
He was a Semi-Knight who had participated in a dragon subjugation campaign and survived. Calling him a Semi-Knight made it sound ordinary, but the truth was anything but. A knight could destroy a city with a few swings of a sword and overthrow a nation single-handedly.
‘And Cain is friends with someone like that.’
In other words, I was a crazy network parasite who only needed to cross one bridge to reach a knight. That was probably why Shabel had been so friendly.
‘Though it seems like there’s another reason too.’
It wasn’t my business, so I decided to let it go.
The following days passed in a busy blur. I completed the enrollment procedures, was assigned a dormitory, and received my basic supplies.
The most surprising thing was none other than those supplies.
‘They’re really giving this out?’
I stared blankly at the blue crystal orb in my hand. It was a communication magic tool, each one assigned a unique number.
‘Handing out something this expensive to everyone.’
The academy clearly had money to burn. Of course, the students who paid tuition were essentially buying it themselves, but that wasn’t really my concern.
‘Who am I, you ask?’
I was the Orphan Full Scholarship Student. A ridiculous privilege that waived my tuition for an entire year. I guess being abandoned by my parents finally paid off.
‘Nice.’
Anyway, time passed steadily, and before I knew it, the academy entrance ceremony had come and gone. And so, on the early morning of the first day of classes—
“Hoo…”
I stood in front of the classroom door, taking a deep breath.
Ruby’s class changed every route, after all.
‘I still don’t know if we’re in the same one.’
The swordsmanship department was divided into four classes. The odds were one in four. It was a low chance, but definitely possible.
‘The calm before the storm.’
Whether Ruby and I ended up in the same class or not would soon be revealed.
‘Ruby’s… probably already inside.’
The current time was 6:58. She would have arrived at the classroom long ago.
-Slide.
With a nervous heart, I opened the door.
“…”
My eyes met those of a girl sitting at a desk.
Red eyes that reminded me of Ruby. Beautiful hair mixed with blue and silver. It was Ruby Fayrot.
‘Holy crap.’
We really were in the same class?
Just as joy froze my entire body—
“…We’ve seen each other before, haven’t we?”
Ruby spoke in her usual calm tone.
“That’s right. It was during the first test, wasn’t it?”
“…”
She gave a quiet nod.
‘She remembers.’
Normally this would have been a moment to celebrate, but I couldn’t fully enjoy it. Last time, I had been watching her from afar and got caught.
‘Is she going to be upset?’
While I trembled with anxiety, Ruby slowly shifted her gaze and returned her focus to studying. Maybe she wasn’t interested in me at all.
‘At least that’s a relief.’
The most important thing right now was making sure Ruby didn’t hate me. I wanted to get close to her, but… that wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
‘Let’s sit down first.’
I looked around the nearly empty classroom. Hundreds of seats were still vacant.
‘Sitting right next to Ruby would be weird.’
That would definitely make me look like a creep. Sitting at a moderate distance would be more natural, but—
-Scrape.
I chose a seat three chairs away from Ruby.
‘…This should be fine.’
When I thought about it, it wasn’t that unnatural. We just happened to want similar seats.
‘Yeah. This is perfectly normal.’
As I was rationalizing my actions—
“…Um.”
Ruby looked at me and spoke softly.
“Won’t you sit next to me?”
It was such an absurd question that I barely managed to keep my composure as I answered.
“…Yes.”
I wanted to say more, but my mouth simply wouldn’t move.
‘Damn it.’
The moment our eyes met, words failed me.
‘She’s too beautiful.’
Just being in the same space as her was driving me crazy, and now Ruby had spoken to me first? It wouldn’t be strange if my heart exploded right now.
“…I see.”
Ruby nodded as if she understood and turned back to her studies.
‘I’m losing my mind.’
I didn’t know what Ruby’s words meant, but I was certain my response had been stupid. Someone talks to you and you just say “yes” and clamp your mouth shut.
‘…No. Stop blaming yourself and stay calm.’
If I stayed calm, I could handle anything. I steadied my racing heart and cautiously turned my head to look at Ruby. I was only trying to read the room, but—
“…”
“…”
My eyes met the red ones that had been watching me.
“Um—”
-Whoosh!
Ruby hurriedly looked away before I could even finish speaking. Then, as if nothing had happened, she calmly examined her notebook with a composed expression.
‘Huh…?’
It was getting harder and harder to read Ruby’s thoughts. Was she staring because she disliked me? Or was there another reason?
‘…I have no idea.’
The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt.
‘Let’s just stay still.’
After that, I spent the time with my mind completely blank. Before long, students began filling the classroom, and the once-empty seats started to fill up.
“Oh, Lady Esther is in Class A too?”
“What a coincidence. Please take care of me from now on!”
From the conversations around me, it seemed most of them already knew each other. Rather than making new friends, the nobles were sticking tightly to their existing social circles.
‘There’s no place for me to fit in.’
Not that I felt particularly lonely about it.
‘But why isn’t anyone coming to my desk?’
To be precise, the desk where Ruby and I were sitting. It was clearly meant for six people, yet it seemed like everyone was deliberately avoiding it.
I was wondering if there was a reason when—
“See that guy over there? The one with black hair.”
“Ah, the one with the scar on his face…?”
I could feel multiple gazes directed at me. They were especially intense from the female students. They were openly glancing at me while talking.
‘Let’s listen in.’
I strengthened my hearing with aura. It was a bit hard to hear from this distance, but after picking out a few keywords, the conversation became obvious.
[Black hair, face, next seat, lover.]
Just from that, I could guess what they were saying. They were probably teasing each other, calling my appearance barbaric and joking, “Hey, there’s your boyfriend~”
‘Well, they’re just students. Can’t be helped.’
I was resigning myself to it when—
“Um, excuse me…!”
“Yes?”
I turned toward the voice coming from beside me.
A pure-looking blonde beauty who appeared to be a noble. She was one of the young ladies who had been talking about my appearance earlier.
I wondered what she wanted.
“Would it be alright… if I sat next to you?”
“…I don’t mind.”
“Th-thank you!”
Her face flushed red as she gently sat down beside me.
‘Is this a joke?’
It looked like she had lost a bet and was being forced to sit here as punishment.
“Oh no, Irene succeeded…!”
“Ugh… I’m so jealous. I wanted to talk to him first…”
Strange murmurs came from around us, but the classroom was too noisy to hear clearly.
By the way—
‘Who is this girl?’
The blonde noble who sat next to me had quite distinctive features, but I didn’t recall her. I was thinking she might be a simple extra when—
“Um… I’m Irene, the eldest daughter of the Seirenne Baron family…!”
She gave a faint smile and introduced herself.
Right. You’re Irene from the Seirenne Baron family…
“Pardon? Did you say Irene?”
“Ah, yes…!”
Now that I heard the name, I remembered who she was. The capable student council administrative officer, Irene Seirenne.
‘She’s the one who cleans up after the protagonist’s messes.’
She was only mentioned and never actually appeared, so I’d been curious. To think she looked like this in real life. It felt like seeing a character from a fairy tale. It also made me feel a little sorry for all the trouble she’d have to deal with in the future.
‘Do your best cleaning up after the protagonist.’
I offered her my deepest condolences and continued.
“Should I call you Miss Irene?”
“Yes. Please call me whatever is comfortable for you!”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Abel.”
We exchanged a few more words after that. They were all formal, but Irene’s face remained flushed the entire time.
‘Why?’
I couldn’t figure out the reason. Anyway, as we continued talking—
“Um, Mister Abel. This might be sudden, but… if it’s alright with you, could we exchange communication orb numbers…?”
She carefully took out the blue crystal orb from her pocket and asked shyly.
Communication orb number. Basically the same as asking for someone’s phone number back on Earth.
“Of course, I’d be happy to.”
“Thank you…!”
Irene smiled bashfully as we exchanged numbers.
‘Hmm.’
She seemed strangely excited. I couldn’t quite understand why. It didn’t seem like she was doing this just because of a bet.
‘I don’t get it.’
Well, it didn’t really matter.
Right after we finished exchanging numbers, I glanced over at Ruby. I was worried our chatter might have disturbed her studies, but—
-Swipe, swipe…
Ruby had taken out her own crystal orb and was staring blankly at it.
‘?’
Ruby’s strange behavior continued afterward. She would wipe the orb with a handkerchief, and sometimes she would glance in my direction while fiddling with it. And whenever our eyes happened to meet—
“…!”
She would whip her head away and pretend she wasn’t interested.
…What on earth is going on?