A Suspiciously Strong Extra
"...The history of the Elowis Empire traces back a long time, to when five kingdoms..."
I was currently sitting through a lecture on imperial history, a mandatory liberal arts course. I didn't know the nitty-gritty details, but it was probably the usual spiel. The first emperor, Elowis, basically smashed and conquered everything in his path to unify the continent. Something like that, right?
I used to think of myself as a bit of a history buff, but... perhaps because the author had been lazy with the world-building, the history of this world was mind-numbingly boring.
The reason I found it so dull was simple. It was entirely predictable, reading exactly like every other generic fantasy history out there. Real history is a chaotic beast that can be completely derailed by the slightest butterfly effect, yet this was as cookie-cutter as it got.
Ultimately, a yawn I had been desperately trying to hold back slipped out.
"Yaaawn..."
"Are you tired?"
Lonia, sitting next to me, spoke up.
"Ah, I ended up focusing a bit too hard on training yesterday. Haha."
Micaris was usually the one sitting next to me, so having Lonia there felt strangely refreshing. As I kept nodding off, Lonia continued to chat with me.
"You really should pay attention to this lecture, you know? As soon as the Dungeon Practice is over, exam week starts."
"Ah..."
Exam week. It was essentially the fantasy equivalent of midterm exams. And just like that, I discovered another parallel between this world and modern society: exam season always sneaks up on you without giving you a moment to breathe.
Just think about it. They throw a massive practical evaluation like Dungeon Practice at us, and then immediately follow it up with written exams...
I absolutely loathed that back in my school days, and here I am experiencing it all over again...
Right then, the professor caught me slacking off and threw a question my way.
"Student Hound? Please name five major achievements of the first Emperor Elowis."
Did he catch on that I wasn't listening? This used to happen to me all the time in middle and high school. Standing up from my seat, I answered the professor's question.
"Well... the achievements of the first Emperor Elowis are too numerous to count. Pinpointing exactly five is rather difficult. However, the achievement I consider most significant is the conquest of the continent. It brought an end to the prolonged cold war and territorial disputes among the kingdoms."
Was that a decent answer? Honestly, I had no idea. I was just winging it based on generic tropes.
The professor scribbled something down with his pen before asking another question.
"And what is your reasoning for that?"
"While the first emperor's conquest of the continent resulted in countless casualties and immense devastation, I believe it was a necessary evil. There is no peace without war. In the end, the suffering of that era laid the foundation for the peace we enjoy today."
"Hmm..."
The professor stopped writing and scratched his chin.
"Excellent! You must have a keen interest in history."
"O-Of course."
Looks like I managed to talk my way out of that one. To be honest, back in my school days before my transmigration, my second nickname was 'The Snake Oil Salesman.' I was such a smooth talker that I could pull an A on presentations and oral exams without preparing a single thing... My friends used to tell me, 'Dude, you seriously need to become a streamer.' That said it all.
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, the professor offered a warm smile.
"A very insightful answer. You may sit down, Student Hound."
An insightful answer? For praising a guy who started a massive war? Well, they don't say history is written by the victors for nothing. Is this what imperialist brainwashing looks like?
Come to think of it, I had noticed a common trait among the academy's professors. Most of them didn't look down on me just because I was a commoner. Perhaps it was because many of them were self-made individuals who had risen from commoner backgrounds themselves to secure their academic positions.
Well, whatever works.
As soon as I sat back down after the professor's interrogation, Lonia whispered to me.
"Hound, you don't just train hard—you're quite the scholar too, aren't you?"
"This is just the basics."
A blatant lie, of course. Since arriving in this world, I hadn't opened a single textbook. I was entirely relying on the original Hound's residual memories, the protagonist's answers from the original novel, and the author's lazy world-building descriptions... Well, I could always study the details later if I actually needed them.
The imperial history lecture—which was basically a glorified sleeping pill—finally came to an end. If I hadn't kept my wits about me, I probably would have been snoring out loud. As everyone began to pack up and stand, I turned to Lonia.
"Lady Cardelia, do you have another class after this?"
"No, this was my last one for today."
"I see. Lady Micaris should be finishing up soon as well. Would you like to squeeze in some training to prepare for the Dungeon Practice...?"
"That sounds wonderful. Teamwork is crucial, after all!"
"Then I'll see you at Training Ground 3."
Just as I was about to stand up, Lonia called out to stop me.
"Um, could you... call me Lonia too?"
"Pardon?"
"Well, you call Lady Merian by her first name, but you only refer to me as Lady Cardelia. It's just a bit..."
My heart did a little flutter at her words.
"I understand. Lady Lonia..."
"Without the 'Lady' part."
"But that's a bit... There is still the matter of our social status, after all."
"Is that so? I suppose you're right... What a shame."
If only I were a noble, I could have called her by her name without a second thought. Truly a shame.
"Then, Lady Lonia, I'll see you at Training Ground 3 once you're ready."
"Yes, see you in a bit."
Now that I looked at her closely, Lonia had a pretty cute side to her. To think such a sweet, adorable lady would have turned into a villainess who went as far as attempting to assassinate the protagonist... My anger toward Whinston flared up all over again. Even if her tragic future was averted thanks to me, I felt like I wouldn't be satisfied until I personally beat Whinston to a pulp.
And so, the members of our Dungeon Practice party gathered at Training Ground 3.
"So, what kind of training are we doing?"
"Well, I'd like Lady Lonia and Lady Micaris to bombard me with magic."
"What? Is that really okay?"
"It's a sort of experiment. It'll be fine."
Just then, Micaris grabbed my wrist and pulled me aside.
"Wait a minute. What's going on between you two?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You just called her 'Lady Lonia.' Since when did you two get so close?"
Micaris's eyes were wide with suspicion.
"Well, we're in the same party now, so calling her by her name is only natural..."
"Hmph..."
I felt an inexplicable chill radiating from Micaris's gaze. Hey, I'm still technically just your personal knight... To break the awkward tension, I quickly backed away from them.
"Let me know when you're ready!"
The reason I wanted them to cast magic at me was to test a theory: Can an Aura-infused blade cut through magical projectiles? Of course, I already knew it was theoretically possible. However, that was a feat accomplished by Lutera in the original novel after reaching the 7-Star realm... Right now, I was only a 4-Star knight. At this point in the story, Whinston was a 4-Circle mage. In terms of raw tier, we were technically on equal footing... but Whinston was the strongest among the male leads. It would be great if I could handle him as easily as I did during my duel with Lutera, but fighting a mage was a completely different beast than a swordsmanship duel.
Just then, Micaris, who had finished her preparations, gave me a signal.
"We're really doing this, okay?"
"Yes! Don't hold back!"
From a distance, I watched them begin to draw their magic circles. A crimson magic circle formed in front of Lonia, while a violet one materialized before Micaris.
Alright, let's see how this goes.
Crackle! Whoosh!
A sphere of crimson flame and a bolt of violet lightning shot toward me, tracing unpredictable, erratic trajectories. An ordinary person wouldn't even be able to fathom where they would land. But for me, the trajectories of the spells were laid bare.
Eye that Sees Crisis
The flame is coming from the upper left, and the lightning is heading straight down the center.
Four stars. A brilliant blue light enveloped my blade.
Sword Qi (4-Star)
Slash! The fireball was sliced clean in half, and the lightning bolt was deflected, crashing harmlessly into the ground. It was a success. With a single arc of my sword, I had cut down two spells simultaneously.
"Whew..."
To be honest, I had been a little nervous. No matter how easily Lutera had demonstrated it in the novel, the gap between a 4-Star and a 7-Star was massive. As I stared at the ground and let out a sigh of relief, the two girls came running over.
"This is unbelievable... You actually cut through magic."
"The trajectory of magic is supposed to be completely unpredictable. Where on earth did you learn to do that?"
Uh... by reading the original novel. Obviously, I couldn't say that.
"I just tracked them with my eyes and cut them down."
"Unbelievable..."
Micaris and Lonia stood there, completely dumbfounded. Cutting through magic. Our swordsmanship instructor, a former knight commander, had mentioned it was theoretically possible, but claimed it required superhuman dynamic visual acuity and near-instantaneous reaction speeds. Yet, a mere academy student—and a commoner at that, not even a prodigy from some renowned swordsman family—had just pulled it off. It was utterly absurd.
"Could I ask you to do it again? I need to get a better feel for it."
"Sure..."
Micaris and Lonia walked back to their positions. As the magic circles began to form once more, I shouted out to them.
"This time, keep them coming without any breaks! It'll be good practice for you both as well!"
I would practice cutting magic, and they would practice rapid-fire casting. It was a win-win. The speed at which their magic circles formed was noticeably faster than before.
Crackle! Whoosh!
Unlike before, a massive fireball completely obstructed my field of vision, with a bolt of lightning hot on its heels. But...
Swish! Slash! Recalling Lutera's swordsmanship, I sliced through both the fireball and the lightning.
I just gave it a shot, but it actually worked.
Was Hound's dynamic vision just naturally that insane? First, I had mastered the instructor's deflection technique, and now I was copying the Edelian family's swordsmanship. Am I seriously just an extra...? But there was no time to ponder. More spells were already flying my way.
Keep going until we drop from exhaustion.
As time passed, the spells flew faster and faster, and my movements grew increasingly fluid as I adapted to the rhythm of cutting them down.
"Stop, stop... I'm completely out of mana."
"Me too. But to continuously cut down magic like that... It really wasn't just luck, was it?"
I guess they had assumed my first success was a fluke. Well, considering that even the 7-Star Lutera and the former knight commander struggled with this in the original novel, and I had just done it repeatedly without a single failure, their skepticism was entirely understandable.
"My greatest strengths are my dynamic vision and reaction speed."
"Even so, this is crazy. I guess you weren't just boasting back then."
"Boasting about what?"
"Becoming a hero within three years."
Ah, right. I did say something like that. To defeat a Demonic Human, I needed to be at least a 6-Star... But could I really reach 6-Star by next year?
"Of course. I don't make promises I can't keep."
Lonia looked at me with wide, marveling eyes.
"A hero in three years? That is an incredibly grand ambition."
"My father always told me to aim high. It's been my motto ever since."
Clack. Sheathing my sword, I turned to them.
"Let's call it a day. I'm starting to feel the fatigue too."
"Yeah, I need to get to the showers immediately."
Lonia hesitated for a moment before speaking up timidly.
"Hound, what are your plans for the rest of the day?"
"Hmm... I was planning to head back to the dormitory and practice my Aura. Is something the matter?"
"No, it's nothing. I'll tell you next time."
Micaris was shifting her gaze between us, clearly analyzing the atmosphere. She looked like she was gearing up to find some fault with me. I needed to diffuse this bizarre tension, and fast.
"Alright, let's head back!"
"Wait...!"
"Ah, I'm so exhausted! If I stand here any longer, I might actually collapse!"
I practically ushered them out of the training ground by their shoulders.
A week of grueling training flew by. Tomorrow was the long-awaited Dungeon Practice. The day had finally arrived.
Even though I was technically one of the stronger students in the academy now, it didn't mean I was entirely free of anxiety and fear. After all, I had only ever experienced this world as a reader; actually stepping foot inside a dungeon was a first for me. Even if it was an illusionary dungeon created for practice, it didn't mean we couldn't get hurt. My worries were piling up like a mountain.
But on the bright side... I could now cut through magic, which meant I could absolutely thrash Whinston. Lutera would probably go down in a single blow anyway, so I didn't need to worry about him... Thinking about it that way, a sudden rush of excitement began to wash over me. Is this what they call a shift in perspective?
"..."
Actually, instead of wasting time on these useless thoughts, I should probably figure out how to trigger Lonia's second romantic flag.
"Hmm."
Despite my extensive history of reading romance fantasy, I honestly had no idea what to say. Here I was, on the eve of the highly anticipated Dungeon Practice, agonizing over romantic flag-triggering dialogue. Even I had to admit it was a hilarious situation. But what else could I do? To me, this was the most critical task of all.
If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have read a few shoujo manga back then.
And so, the night before the Dungeon Practice passed, tinged with a slight hint of regret.