I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City Chapter 13

Orion Academy was vast.

The buildings alone were sprawling enough to seem excessive.

As Jooyeon and Rohan walked together toward their classroom after the eting, conversation was inevitable given the distance.

"Rohan."

"Yes, Instructor."

"Have you introduced yourself to the friends you’ll be spending the next two years with?"

"Thanks to Gilbert, who’s quite sociable, I’ve taken the first step."

The rest could be handled gradually.

Jooyeon nodded at his response and continued with advice seasoned by experience.

"Make sure to build friendships with people you can trust to watch your back during your ti at the academy."

"Understood!"

"Even after graduation, you’ll keep running into these faces. The world of combat is smaller than you think."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

Jooyeon’s advice might have seed like standard words of wisdom, but Rohan didn’t let them go in one ear and out the other.

There was sothing genuinely special about soone sincerely hoping for his success and worrying about his well-being.

"Grades are important, of course, but in this world, there are things more critical than visible scores…"

Jooyeon’s advice continued nonstop as they approached the classroom.

Through this conversation, Rohan felt he was learning a lot.

Even words that might have sounded cold on the surface carried the emotions of a ntor and a trailblazer.

"And if there’s anything else you need to discuss besides the part-ti job, don’t hesitate to find ."

Without waiting for Rohan’s reply, Jooyeon ended her advice there.

With a soft creak, Jooyeon opened the front door and entered the classroom first.

Following her, Rohan placed his bag on the seat next to Gilbert and sat down.

"Let’s begin the morning assembly."

Jooyeon’s thod was straightforward:

Confirm attendance.

Check the students’ physical condition.

Relay announcents.

She wrapped up the assembly quickly, giving the students ti to rest.

"The first class will be an introduction to Orion Academy’s facilities. Stay quiet and rest until we begin. Understood?"

"Yes!"

With the assembly over, Jooyeon briskly left the classroom.

As the sound of her footsteps faded, Gilbert sprang up from his seat as if he’d been electrified.

"There’s no ti to waste!"

Startled, Rohan gave him a look that said, What’s with this guy?

Gilbert, noticing Rohan’s gaze, offered the greeting he’d skipped during the assembly.

"Rohan, a strong and vibrant morning to you! For soone of my caliber, it’s unthinkable to forget to greet a friend."

"…Right. Your face looks even more striking today."

"Thank you for the highest complint! Now, I have pressing business to attend to."

Without waiting for a response, Gilbert disappeared out the door.

As Gilbert left, a voice ca from behind Rohan.

"As expected of Gilbert Kaniat. He never fails to show off his eccentricities."

A male cadet fiddling with his horn-rimd glasses muttered the remark.

Next to him, a beastkin cadet was using the short break to sleep soundly.

Who’s that?

Rohan, unfamiliar with the glasses-wearing cadet from the ga, asked for his na.

The cadet, still holding his glasses, introduced himself.

"Dick Wikitree. I’ve already committed the na ‘Rohan’ to mory."

"Dick?"

"That’s right. And this friend next to , currently sleeping, is a bear beastkin nad Lu Fei. Be careful not to mistake him for any other type of beastkin—he hates that."

Rohan barely registered the beastkin’s na.

How can soone’s na be Dick?

Rohan bit back the sarcastic thought and instead asked about the earlier comnt.

"What about Gilbert?"

"Isn’t he famous? Any cadet in the know would already understand his antics, which is why no one reacted just now."

"I’m not exactly in the loop. Since we’ve got ti, tell more."

"You don’t know this? Unbelievable."

Shaking his head as if resigned, Dick began his explanation.

"Gilbert Kaniat’s Controversies and Incidents, Case No. 1: The Wisp Ingestion Incident."

Why does he talk like this?

Rohan decided to let the nonsense play out.

"There was a ti when he almost died after swallowing the core of a Wisp—a monster theorized to be born from high-density magic. Thanks to the ergency treatnt from a family mber nearby, he survived. When asked why he did it, he replied, ‘I was curious if it would make stronger.’"

"…"

"Gilbert Kaniat’s Controversies and Incidents, Case No. 2: The Chroma Flight School Confession Incident."

"The flight school in the Sepia Archipelago?"

Dick nodded.

Rohan was familiar with the school’s existence.

The Sepia Archipelago, a nation of nurous floating islands, relied on airships or special bridges for transportation between islands.

According to Rohan’s mory, all the NPCs who piloted those airships were graduates of Chroma Flight School.

"He received a public confession from a woman regarded as the idol of the flight school, shocking many male students."

"Whoa!"

"But after rejecting her confession outright, he suddenly proposed to a classmate who had been watching the scene. After graduating from the flight school, he entered Orion Academy with his fiancée."

"So, is he off to see his girlfriend now?"

At Rohan’s question, Dick nodded, then, with a strangely solemn expression, added a footnote.

"There's a theory that stems from this: the hypothesis that Gilbert Kaniat possesses a hypnosis app. Personally, I think it's the most plausible of all the theories."

"So you’re saying you attended the sa flight school as Gilbert?"

When Dick nodded, adjusting his glasses, Rohan chuckled. It seed like Dick might have been one of the male students shocked by the confession incident.

"Gilbert has plenty of other controversies and incidents to his na. That’s why people familiar with him aren’t surprised by his antics."

"Got it."

Rohan was pleased—he had made a much more entertaining friend than he expected.

"But there’s one person Gilbert Kaniat is said to be genuinely afraid of."

"Who? His parents?"

Rohan could tell. Despite Dick’s odd manner of speaking, he was surprisingly good at keeping soone hooked with his storytelling.

The bait he had laid so far was too tempting not to follow up on.

"Gilbert is the youngest in the Kaniat family. Based on the information I’ve gathered, there’s a rumor that he’s terrified of the eldest sibling—their older sister."

"Perfect timing. Should we ask him directly since he’s back?"

"What?"

Just as Dick was finishing his sentence, dismissing it as just a rumor, Gilbert returned to the classroom.

Rohan’s gaze shifted to him, a sly smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"Gilbert."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Dick here has been singing your praises non-stop."

The towering figure of Gilbert, with his short-cropped hair, folded his arms and sat down. His gaze moved toward Dick in the back, his expression friendly as he extended a hand the size of a pot lid.

"A new friend! Nice to et you! What’s your na?"

"You lunatic… We were in the sa class at the flight school for three years. Don’t tell you forgot?"

"Oh, we were in the sa school? My na is Gilbert Kaniat!"

Dick looked like he was about to argue further but then gave up, his face a mixture of frustration and resignation. Begrudgingly, he shook Gilbert’s hand.

Satisfied with the scene, Rohan called out to Gilbert again.

"Gilbert."

"Hm?"

He asked directly, "Do you have a sister?"

Gilbert’s expression darkened.

"A sister... There’s a female gorilla above , if you can call her that."

"A gorilla?"

"Picture my face but with long hair."

His tone carried a sincerity that made his remark brutally harsh.

With Dick joining in, the casual chatter continued for so ti.

"Attention."

Jooyeon returned, drawing the cadets’ focus.

"Line up in two rows in the hallway. If the cadet next to you is asleep, wake them up."

The orientation tour of Orion Academy began.

The first destination for Class 1 was the training room.

It was massive, filled with equipnt designed for physical training, many of which incorporated magic.

Just looking at it made one eager to jump in and start exercising.

"With your student ID, the training room is accessible 24/7. AI assistance is available for unfamiliar equipnt. There are also shower facilities, and if you get injured during training..."

Listening to the explanation, Rohan felt a sense of excitent.

Starting tomorrow, he could train here in the early mornings, shower afterward, and head straight to the academy—it would be perfect.

"Let’s move on to the next location."

They continued touring important facilities:

The affordable cadet cafeteria.

The library located within the academy.

The audiovisual room.

Each was an essential spot cadets would need to know during their two years at the academy.

And each ti, Jooyeon ended with the sa words:

"Use it respectfully and without conflict."

***

"Hmm."

Rohan lay on a bench at the academy, chewing on so jerky.

The morning had been filled with the orientation tour, introductory lessons, and an overview of the curriculum and subjects.

He’d heard that proper training would start in the afternoon.

Not wanting to feel sluggish, he decided not to eat too much.

Part-ti job…

For now, he was busy hunting for a position.

"There are more openings than I thought."

However, the requirents were a hurdle, making it hard to find sothing that fit.

Srrrk. Srrrk.

Rohan scrolled through the job listings with his thumb.

"!?"

He suddenly bolted upright.

A shop na he knew all too well had appeared on the list.