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Chapter 54: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 54



I was in a room with one transparent wall.


[Break it.]


At the voice resonating in the room, I looked at the sturdy-looking metal lump placed in front of me.


"Break it," the voice said, so I threw my fist at it.


With a loud sound, the metal lump dented.


However, the price of hitting it meant my hand wasn't unharmed.


The pain surged, but I didn't stop pounding on it.


The metal lump hadn't been broken yet.


The metal lump shattered only after my hand was a wreck.


Right after that, the room filled with suspicious smoke.


When I inhaled the smoke, my mind became hazy, and my vision went dark.


When I regained consciousness, my hand was somehow intact.


At that moment, someone approached and stuck syringes all over my body.


Seeing the syringes made me feel intense aversion, but my limbs were bound tightly with chain-like restraints, leaving me unable to resist.


A moment after the syringes were stuck in me, extreme pain ensued.


It felt as if all the blood vessels in my body were melting; I already knew from previous experiences that the injections were unbearably painful.


I trembled in my restraints, letting out a voiceless scream.


It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.


I hate it.


As I thought that, flames erupted from my body.


The silver hair of the one who had injected me shimmered in the flickering flames.


*


“Ugh...!”


Startled awake, I quickly scanned my surroundings.


I saw the familiar view of my room and took a deep breath.


...Was it a dream?


This time, the dream was so oddly vivid that even after waking up, I felt dazed.


It seems like I've been dreaming a lot lately.


I don't know why, but it doesn't feel good.


Anyway, it was a really unpleasant nightmare. To experience such severe things in a dream...


It was comparable to the one I had the day before my discharge from the army.


Waking up the day before my discharge to find the ceiling of the induction examination room above me, it was hard to say which was worse.


Checking the time, it was too early to get up but too late to go back to sleep.


To shake off the unpleasantness left by the nightmare, I took a slightly longer shower, but there was still a lot of time until school, so I decided to make macarons with a bit more effort today.


Since the day for living expenses to come in wasn’t far off, I had a bit of extra money, so I bought a few ingredients to make different flavored macarons from the market yesterday. Today, I planned to make strawberry-flavored macarons.


As I held the basin with my feet and diligently whipped the meringue batter, I miscalculated my strength, causing the batter to splatter on my face.


It was too precious to waste, so I swiped it off with my hand and licked it, thinking.


Making macarons so diligently like this... Honestly, it wasn't rational.


Sylvia wouldn’t care if I didn’t give her macarons.


I didn’t have much money or an arm, so there were plenty of reasons not to do it.


But I couldn’t stop.


Sylvia thought of me as her first and closest friend.


She believed that I approached her purely out of a desire to be friends.


But what was the truth?


Even if it's no longer the case, initially, I approached her with a purpose.


Because of that, I was not someone who could be her friend.


Still, I decided to maintain my relationship with Sylvia.


To repay even a little of the emotional debt I felt towards her.


To not be crushed under the weight of guilt I felt whenever I wore the ring.


Today, too, I packed macarons to give to her.


*


One corner of the gymnasium was crowded with people.


Two groups of about thirty each were awkwardly looking at each other.


One side was Class 1-A, which I belonged to.


The other side was Class 1-B, people I had seen when going to places like the cafeteria.


As the silence continued, making it awkward to start a conversation, Eve clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention.


"You all heard this morning that from today on, training will be conducted jointly with Classes A and B!"


Due to the recent defense battle against the demonic beasts in the western boundary area, there were changes in the academy’s curriculum.


Since students might be summoned like last time, the training class hours were increased to get used to working with people with various abilities, and the training, which was previously conducted class by class, was changed to joint training.


This was the reason why all the first-year students were gathered in the gymnasium.


"Originally, the intention is for you to mix and match with students from other classes, but since it's the first day, we don't know how each other fights, right? The best way to understand someone else's combat style is to face them directly. So today, we'll have a class vs. class 5-on-5 mock battle to observe how the other class fights!"


Eve's words changed the awkward atmosphere.


"Bring it on, you bastards! We'll show you the strength of Class A!"


"You heard that, everyone! We can't lose to those Class A guys!"


Daniel shouted first, and a loud voice was heard from Class B, indicating they had someone responsible for maintaining the atmosphere, and other students began to chime in, heating up the atmosphere.


A month was enough time to develop a sense of belonging to one's class.


The words "class competition" seemed to ignite the competitive spirit of the passionate teenagers.


It seemed Eve was aiming for this as she watched the scene with a smile.


It was certainly an effective way to eliminate the awkward atmosphere.


A group with a strong sense of belonging is quite closed off, making it naturally hard to mix with another group.


To become friendly, such groups needed a natural reason to interact.


For example, by stimulating their competitive spirit like this.


If they were just told to get along because they’d be taking classes together, it would have been awkward. Seeing this made me think that Eve was indeed a teacher.


Although, seeing her laugh out loud made me think she might be doing it for her own amusement.


Anyway, watching that scene, I felt somewhat nostalgic.


Originally, Class A and Class B were merged after the incident in the gymnasium due to the reduced number of students.


In the original work, there weren't even 30 students in total...


Come to think of it, I wouldn't have needed to say those things to Yoon Si-woo yesterday if I had known this would happen.


Since there are other heroines from the original work in the other class, they would have taken care of Yoon Si-woo's mental state if I had left him alone.


Well, it's too late for regrets.


Besides, I haven't really given Yoon Si-woo any counseling yet.


With such thoughts, I listened to Eve explain today's training.


The mock battle seemed to be conducted by teams of five from each class.


To maintain a proper balance, Eve assigned the teams.


For the record, my name wasn't on any team.


In short, I was an observer.


I was mostly excluded from practical classes, observing only, because adapting to the prosthetic arm after getting used to moving without it could be difficult.


I had never been excluded from anything even during my military service...


Feeling a strange sense of deprivation, I zoned out when Jessie spoke to me.


"Please wait a little longer. The person Big Brother knows, who is very famous, helped with the prosthetic design, and it was completed yesterday. They’ll make it as quickly as possible so you can join the classes soon! Two weeks, no, within a week!"


There's no need to rush that much...


It felt burdensome, as if I were indebted.


"Take your time making it."


When I said that, Jessie smiled broadly and shook her head.


"No! I want to see Scarlet impressed by the prosthetic as soon as possible."


That answer made me feel a strange sensation in my chest, so I just nodded slightly.


*


While I was lost in thought, it seemed preparations were complete.


The first teams from each class, five including Daniel and Andre from Class A, and five from Class B, wore protective gear, and Eve cast magic on them.


Under Eve's illusion magic, the mock battle between the first teams from each class began, with a building between them.


At the same time, the students seated according to their classes started cheering for their respective sides.


From the right-back corner seat where Class A was seated, I observed the faces of the Class B kids reflected on the screen that Eve had displayed.


They were probably not very significant in the original work.


How did I know? Because the important characters in the original work were easily noticeable at a glance.


Typical of academy stories, the more conspicuous their appearance, the higher their significance.


Like this girl from Class B, who was sitting next to me and staring at me intently.


First, her strikingly cute appearance and her unique twin-tail hairstyle.


And above all, her pink hair, which made her an attention-grabber. Her name was Florene Dolos.


As you might guess from her appearance, she was one of the heroines in the original work.


Honestly, I wanted to ignore her, but I couldn't resist the intense gaze from beside me and glanced at her.


She blushed furiously and said to me,


"Um, I fell in love at first sight... Would you like to go out with Florene?"


I had a feeling this would happen, which is why I wanted to ignore her.


I inwardly chuckled and ignored her confession, but the person next to me couldn't do the same.


Sylvia, who was sitting to my left, glared at Florene, puzzled by her strange behavior of confessing to someone of the same sex at first sight.


Anyone else might have been intimidated by Sylvia's cold stare, but unfortunately, Florene was not an ordinary person.


Blushing even more, Florene said to Sylvia,


"Wow, you're so pretty... Hey, would you go out with Florene too?"


Sylvia's expression shifted from 'What is with this person?' to 'What the hell is this?' in response to Florene's bizarre behavior of confessing to multiple people at once.


Sylvia was confused by Florene's strange behavior, but it didn't stop there.


"Ah! You're so handsome! Hey, hey, would you go out with Florene?"


This time, she let out a high-pitched scream and ran towards Yoon Si-woo, who was watching us nearby, confessing to him.


As Sylvia's pupils trembled violently at the sight of Florene confessing to a boy, a tall, calm-looking girl with blue hair came running from where Class B was seated.


The blue-haired girl, who seemed about 150 cm tall, picked up the struggling Florene, who was clinging to the bewildered Yoon Si-woo, with ease.


"Ahhh! Marin! Put me down! Put me down!!!"


Florene wriggled in the girl's arms.


"Will you behave if I put you down? If not, I'll keep holding you like this."


"I'll behave!"


When the girl put Florene down, she quieted down, keeping an eye on the girl.


The girl who subdued Florene in an instant was also quite beautiful.


And she was one of the heroines in the original work.


Yoon Si-woo, you bastard.


Anyway, the blue-haired girl who played the role of Florene's suppressor, Marin Eloise, apologized to Eve and Class A multiple times.


"Sorry for the disturbance during class. This girl has a habit of confessing to anyone she likes without distinguishing between people. I'll make sure she stays quiet. Florene, apologize quickly."


"I'm sorry..."


At Eve's gesture to sit down, they headed to where Class B was seated.


I thought they would sit there, but Florene, pointing in my direction with lingering attachment, looked at Marin with eyes full of regret.


Marin sighed and, bringing Florene over to my side, said,


"Sorry... She seems to want to sit here and watch. Is that okay?"


Florene looked at me with pleading eyes.


Knowing she was a girl who would confess to anyone she found attractive, just like in the original work, I sighed inwardly and nodded.


Florene smiled brightly and tried to sit right next to me, but Marin sat there first, placing Florene on her lap and holding her.


It felt less like an expression of affection and more like she was restraining her to prevent any mischief.


I was relieved, thinking that if Florene sat next to me without any restraint, she might cling to me or Sylvia after her confession.


Florene, after wriggling in Marin's arms for a while, gave up and started talking to me and Sylvia.


"So, will you go out with Florene? Won't you be Florene's 69th and 70th girlfriends?"


Sylvia, looking at Florene as if she were some incomprehensible creature, introduced herself with a slightly stiff expression.


"...I'm Sylvia Astra. Sorry, but I have to decline, Florene."


Unintentionally, Sylvia, who was sensitive about her friends, could get a bit upset when spoken to so lightly about such matters.


Sylvia, fiddling with her ring, looked at me.


"I'm Scarlet Evande. Sorry, but I also have to decline."


Thinking it wouldn't be a big deal not to get close to Florene, I answered that way.


Sylvia's mood seemed to improve slightly, her ears perking up.


"Why, Florene really likes both of you..."


"Florene."


"..."


Florene, pouting as if about to cry, gave up when Marin softly called her name.


With the person who wanted to sit next to me quiet, there was an awkward silence between us for a while.


This is so awkward...


Stuck between three original heroines, I felt compelled to say something to break the silence.


Trying to find a way to ease the awkwardness, I noticed the first groups of each class fiercely fighting on the screen in front of me.


To break this awkwardness, wouldn't it be good to spark some competitive spirit?


With that thought, I opened my mouth, speaking on the spur of the moment.


"Between Class A and Class B... which do you think is superior?"


Then, I heard simultaneous responses.


"Of course—"


"Class A." "Class B."


Marin said Class B, but the voice that said Class A wasn't Sylvia's.


Wondering who it was, I turned to see Mei, sitting in front of me, slowly turning her head to look at us.


Wait, this isn't right...


"Huh? Did I just hear something ridiculous? Saying Class A is superior, who are you?"


"Me? I'm Mei, the class president of Class A. By the way, saying Class B is superior shows how little you know. Do you even deserve to hold the title of class president?"


The tension seemed to show on their foreheads as if veins were popping out.


No, I just wanted to create a conversation topic.


When the leaders of a group get involved, even a friendly competition can turn into a battle.


The leaders of Class A and Class B glared at each other, growling.


The air seemed to chill, and the surrounding kids shivered.


The only one who seemed unfazed in this situation was Florene, who was making a silly face in Marin's arms.


"You seem to be the one who doesn't know much. How about we bet on who will win? There are six groups, so let's go by overall winning rate. I'm sure Class B will win at least four matches."


"Oh, is that so? Betting sounds good. What shall we wager?"


I remembered the time when the company commander brought up the idea of a company soccer competition in the military.


‘Losing would disappoint the company commander,’ he had said, making us run ourselves ragged.


"Well, it's a bet between class presidents, so there's only one thing we can wager."


Marin smiled, uttering a single word, and Mei nodded with the same smile.


That word was


"Pride."


And so, with one careless remark,


The civil war of Aegis Academy's first-year students began.




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Comments

  1. WOAH!!
    we're eating good today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh no, Scarlet sparked the worst debate in the story!!! Heh.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 4 Chapters so suddenly, thanks manπŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lol, that mouth of MC needs to be more careful.
    Not just for this, it ain't the first time.
    It's good to foster competitiveness considering the motive though, maybe not just to this extent.
    I suppose it must feel weird for MC to be surrounded by women that clearly want to be close.
    But i think MC should be more calm about it.
    It's never a bad thing to have allies and friends.
    Moreover, yuri route ain't a crime either, if things got to that point.
    As long it isn't the stalker i'm fine with anything MC does with people around *shrugs*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damn really no mercy for Si-woo huh, well since there’s no yuri tags so far there’s a good chance he might be a genuine love interest.

      Delete
  5. Thx for the chapter

    ReplyDelete
  6. The memories of the original scarlet is slowly surfacing I think now the problem would be scarlet and everyone have to safe her or get her back to sanity.

    ReplyDelete
  7. also oh sh- why is no one talking bout this that white hair guy is the one doing these experiments to past Scarlet thats why he knows scarlet's number id. and that guy might also be a part of Sylvia's faction this is getting complicated

    ReplyDelete

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