“Gasp!”
The fallen third-year glanced nervously at the professor. But I paid him no attention and brought the tip of my wooden sword to his throat.
Poke.
“Why don’t you surrender? You’re in for a rough time.” “Y-yes. I surrender.”
Whoosh!
I swung the wooden sword once and slung it over my shoulder. It was a flashy move I would never normally make, but it indirectly signaled that the test was over.
Thud.
I grabbed the senior’s hand and pulled him to his feet.
“Are you all right?” “Y-yeah. You’re really good. They’ve got an incredible new student this year. Black hair and black eyes? What family are you from?” “House Helleim.” “Y-young master!”
I wasn’t technically a student yet. Maybe that was why the senior was trying to show me proper respect, so I stopped him. I was going to pass anyway, so he should speak comfortably. That was the gist of what I told him.
“Arthur Helleim. Passed the first test.”
The professor scribbled something on a sheet of paper, then sent me to the stands surrounding the training ground. Several groups of people were already sitting there.
Clack! Clang!
Were they the ones who had finished their tests before me? If so, then this was where my competition was. As I scanned their faces one by one, one of them stood up.
“Oh! It’s the young master of House Helleim!” “Young master, come sit over here.”
They made a huge fuss and treated me with the utmost courtesy.
“Ah, thank you.”
They were competitors, yet they had this much leisure? I’d won and come out in less than two minutes after the test began. Then we could only be a few seconds apart, but apparently they didn’t consider me a rival.
“Wow, that was amazing.” “You hooked his leg—bam! Then, boom. ‘Would you care to acknowledge defeat?’ Man, that was sick.” “Seriously.”
They were even complimenting me? They imitated my words and marveled among themselves. At first, I thought they were sarcastically mocking me for swaggering around despite arriving later than them. But I soon realized I had misunderstood.
“Ah, we’re moving up to our second year next year.” “If you pass, you’ll be our junior. And then you can forget the formalities. Ha ha ha!”
Ah, they weren’t applicants like me. After listening to them a little longer, I learned that classes were canceled on the day of the freshman entrance exam. That made sense. All the professors were over here, so they couldn’t hold classes anyway. The students were given the day off, and most of them came to watch this.
“That senior you beat earlier? He was sitting next to me during my first entrance exam. He completely crushed the guy on my other side. Word is, that guy hasn’t been able to hold a sword since.” “I know. I heard the Lion Knight Order even came looking for him.” “Man, and someone like that got taken down by our handsome junior. Damn.”
They kept praising me. I didn’t show it, but it made me a little uncomfortable. Nothing but praise like this could make a person arrogant. Still, after a little while, I simply accepted it.
Clack! Clang! So many people were still swinging their wooden swords, unable to earn the assigned seniors’ approval.
“They shouldn’t be swinging like that.”
The words slipped out as I muttered to myself. The seniors’ attention focused on me once again. I didn’t notice and continued muttering.
“Why keep attacking when there’s a guard right in front of you? It’s not as if they have overwhelming power compared to their opponent. What an inefficient waste of strength. If it were me, I’d—”
The surroundings suddenly grew quiet, so I glanced around and saw the seniors watching me with amused smiles.
“See? Exactly!” “You could just start talking casually from now on!”
Just then, I heard someone approaching from the corner, breathing heavily.
“Gasp, gasp. Hey, you little bastard! You won by fighting dirty, didn’t you?!”
I slightly frowned when I saw his face. It was that toad from earlier.
His entire body was covered in wounds and dirt, but apparently he had still managed to earn the senior’s approval and return.
“And you call yourself a knight aspirant? You kept tripping your senior instead of fighting like a knight!”
Apparently determined to emphasize that he had won fair and square using only his sword, he kept treating me like some dirty cheat. There are two ways to stand out. Become truly exceptional, or tear down everyone around you. That guy was demonstrating the second option to perfection.
“Bwahaha! Oh, right. You never learned your family’s swordsmanship, did you? You orphan bastard.”
Hmm. Was he really going to be okay? Maybe if I were alone, but there were second-years sitting behind me now. They were only fifteen-year-old boys, but that didn’t make them harmless to him. At that age, wasn’t a senior just one year older the scariest thing in the world?
“Hey, hey.”
As expected, the seniors huddled together and whispered about something. Then they poked me lightly.
“Young master. A moment.”
They leaned in and whispered into my ear. Oh. That was a good idea. I nodded at them. The bastard reacted immediately.
“What? What were you whispering about just now?!”
The seniors stepped in on their own.
“Nothing. Come sit over here. You looked pretty good out there.” “Huh? You’re talking casually to me? Are you a noble?” “Ah, I’m the son of a baron’s family…” “What, a baron? Ha! I’m the son of a count! Can’t you show proper respect?!”
As the bastard angrily shouted at them, a girl tossed her hair with a swish.
“Oh, why are you getting so worked up~? You were really good earlier, so you’ll pass anyway~. You know how students in the same class speak casually with one another at the academy, right~?”
A chill ran down the back of my neck. That senior girl had been the one laughing and cackling earlier. But suddenly, her whole persona had changed, and now she was acting coy. What a terrifying woman! The toad, completely unaware, burst out laughing.
“…That’s true! Ha ha ha! You’re pretty sophisticated, aren’t you? Are you a noble? If you’re a commoner, just say so. I’ll hire you as a servant in my dorm room.”
Her brow furrowed for an instant, but she quickly regained her poker face.
“Oh, come on. Don’t say that. I’m from a count’s family too.” “Oh, really? Tsk. To think I passed by such a beautiful noblewoman at the balls without noticing her. Ah ha ha ha!”
Hey. You’re fourteen. And that line sounds like something a middle-aged man would say. I didn’t even talk like that before my regression.
“Hey. Are you jealous? You’ve got to fight with style using your sword if you want the girls to notice you, you punk. Your big brother’s giving you some advice, so write it down if there’s anything useful.”
When he tried to act friendly with me, I moved one seat away.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Do I stink?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
Bwahahaha! The seniors behind me burst out laughing at my response. The toad’s face turned even redder than it had when I directly insulted him. It was probably because he thought the woman he had tried to charm—or thought he had charmed—had ignored him.
“You little bastard!” “—But why are you talking casually to him?”
Just before he lunged at me, the senior girl asked innocently, as if she didn’t know.
“Oh, this bastard’s adopted. You know? From House Helleim. He’s famous. He isn’t really a noble or anything in the first place.” “Hmm~. But the head of that famous swordsmanship house officially declared him his son, didn’t he? Won’t that cause trouble for you later~?”
“Hey, hey! Don’t worry. My father’s acquainted with his father! They’ve visited each other a few times and everything.”
The Count had only visited in the ordinary course of things.
“Even the Duke probably remembers my face.”
Of course he did. The bastard had messed with Lucy. The Count—his father—might have forgotten, but he would remember this bastard’s face. What was he so confident about? Just then, the senior girl smiled quietly and shook her head.
“No. Us.” “W-what?” “We’re second-years.”