Hector’s advice aboard the carriage faintly crossed my mind.
—I would personally recomnd aiming for the third prince. I’ve heard that the fourth princess, Ferith, doesn't enjoy socializing.
It was... the opposite of sothing to brag about, but I was not very good at rembering people’s nas. Once a na exceeded five letters, I started to get confused.
I was never really sure why. Maybe it was just the way I was born?
In my defense, Glenn’s na wasn’t the easiest to rember. It was too plain a na for a prince.
Hmm...
But it wasn’t just Hector. I was sure I rembered the na from sowhere else.
I thought hard for a mont—and thankfully, I quickly figured it out.
[5th Place: Glenn Scarlet - 81 Points.]
I’d seen his na etched into the rankings of the Tower of Trials, probably in the Room of Reflex.
If he ranked fifth among all the climbers, he must have been pretty good.
Then what was the behavior he’d shown on the train? Was he actually timid despite his ability, or was he just playing coy?
If it was the forr, that’d be a relief, but if it was the latter...
“...I’m not going to have my head chopped off for treason or sothing, am I?”
“Did you do sothing wrong?”
“Not really, but I might’ve spoken to him a bit informally.”
“Students of Kartell Academy are essentially considered equals.”
“Phew...”
“Though that doesn’t an anyone would be crazy enough to just casually speak informally to royalty.”
I frowned and pinched the bridge of my nose. Damnit.
Sellen looked at and smiled. It seed she found this situation amusing.
“You don’t need to worry too much. You saw Prince Glenn yourself, right? He’s not the type to throw around his authority.”
“Mhm...”
“Actually, this is perfect. Why don’t you keep an eye on the prince for ?”
“Keep an eye on him?”
“It’s nothing serious, just... observe his movents.”
I couldn’t believe what she was saying. “You’re asking to spy on a mber of the royal family?”
“You said you’d help.” Sellen shot a sideways glance. “And I’m not asking you to go as far as spying. Just... stay close and observe him, that’s all.”
“Most people call that spying, Sellen.”
“...”
“All right, fine. What exactly is it that I should be doing?”
“...There’s nothing specific. Just act like you normally would. If you can get closer to him, all the better. And if anything strange happens, tell .”
Strange thing...
I had a feeling that might not be as easy as it sounded.
“From what I saw of Glenn...”
“Prince.”
“...Prince Glenn, he’s already pretty strange,” I said, looking at Sellen. “Let get this straight. A strange guy doing sothing strange isn’t technically strange since he was strange to start, so should I report when he does sothing normal? Or should I just report every single strange thing he does?”
“...You figure it out,” Sellen said coldly like the frosty person she was. After a mont, a hint of desperation crept into her expression. “Help out, please, yeah? I have to take the sa classes as Princess Ferith. I only have one body; I can’t spy on both of them at the sa ti.”
Even she called it spying!
But at least I finally understood why she needed my help.
“Then do you happen to know which class Prince Glenn is taking?”
“Of course, I looked into it in advance. He’s taking historical geography.”
Oh, what a perfect coincidence.
Thinking about it, Glenn had seed to know quite a bit about the historical geography class.
Hm.
I pretended to think hard about it because I found Sellen’s reaction amusing... but in actuality, befriending Glenn wouldn’t be bad for either.
After all, if I wanted to enter the Naless King’s tomb, I needed a connection with the imperial family.
Aside from that, though, I was also a bit bothered about whatever secrets Glenn was keeping.
Surely the royal family aren’t mbers of the cult...
If by chance they were, the empire was truly dood.
That would be a much bigger deal than Juan’s status as a high priest or even the possibility that Headmaster Alderson had been a cultist.
In this country, the imperial family didn’t just represent the pinnacle of power. They also had the symbolism and the legitimacy that ca from inheriting the “Red Soul” of the Five Kings.
Even if the third prince had low political standing, that didn’t undo his symbolic significance.
“All right. I’ll do it, at least for now.”
Sellen breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back.
As if they’d been waiting, the other young heroes crowded around .
“What was that? What were you guys talking about?”
“We were just talking about classes. She said she’d kill anyone who takes the sa subject as her.”
Sellen glared at for suddenly turning her into soone who’d threaten murder so easily, but I pretended not to notice.
“That aside, how was the welcoming party last night?”
“Oh, it was amazing. The at practically lted in my mouth. And the band’s singer was absolutely beautiful—”
I tuned out Karis’s rant and looked around.
I’d thought everyone was here, but when I looked again, a few were missing.
“I don’t see Hector or Evan.”
“Huh? I thought Sir Hector was with you.”
“?”
“You two are sharing a room.”
Evidently, my mysterious roommate was Hector.
I shook my head and said, “No one ca to the room last night.”
“Really? He said he was tired and left a bit early.”
“Mm.”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely worried, but really, he wasn’t the type to go out getting beaten up.
“What about Evan?”
“He had swordsmanship class early this morning, so he left a while ago. Oh yeah! Listen to this—yesterday, thinking it was juice, he accidentally downed a couple glasses of alcohol. And he suddenly turned into a completely different person, acting all corny!”
“Oho...”
That sounded like quite a funny sight. I was a little disappointed I’d missed such a rare mont.
But was Evan that much of a lightweight?
Just as I started to wonder, Pam approached . “Luan,” she said, “if you’ve decided on your subjects, you should sign up quickly. There’s not much ti left.”
“Right.” I nodded and headed into the office.
* * * * *
* * * * *
“I have class right away?”
“Yes.” The stern-looking staff mber nodded. She added, “Today’s also the last class of the month. If you miss it, you won’t have another one for three weeks.”
“Then can I register for it right now?”
“Of course. Class starts at... 9:00 AM. There’s only half an hour left, so you’d better hurry.”
“...Sorry?”
“Head to room 108 in the Theory building. Have a good day.”
“Wait, where exactly is that—”
“...”
The staff mber ignored my question, her bloodshot eyes already returned to sorting through papers.
I judged that there was no point in inquiring further and left the office.
Karis was waiting outside. When he saw exit, he asked, “Did you finish applying?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“What course did you choose?”
“Historical geography.”
“...That doesn’t suit you at all.”
I nodded slightly in agreent.
Pam peeked over and asked, “Is that the only class you enrolled in?”
“For now, yeah.”
“Seriously...?! I had so many more I wanted to take,” Pam said. “I literally cried because I had to drop so!”
“How many classes are you taking, then?”
“Fifteen!”
Karis sidled closer to and whispered, “She’s not in her right mind either.”
“I can hear you, ya know? And it’s not who’s crazy, you are! Do you have any idea how much it costs to get into Kartell Academy? Soone like , from a poor family, couldn’t even dream of...”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Karis said. “Luan, why don’t you co grab a bite with us? After that, we can check out the academy. While I was on the train, I heard a staff mber say they offer a full tour of the grounds.”
“That sounds great, but I’d better get going; my class starts soon. If I miss this, I won’t have any classes for the rest of the month.”
“Oh, that’s a sha.”
“By the way, do any of you know where the Theory Building is?”
“Uhh.”
“Not sure...”
The others nearby looked like they didn’t know either.
“Guess I’ll have to ask soone else. Anyway, I’d better be off.”
“All right. See you later.”
I left the young heroes behind, and then left the main building. Outside, I was scanning my surroundings and searching for soone approachable to ask for directions when I unexpectedly spotted a familiar face.
“H-hey there...!” It was Glenn. He was standing there awkwardly like he’d been waiting for , and when our eyes t, he flashed a nervous smile. “Ah, hahaha... I... I thought since you were applying for historical geography... i-if it’s okay, I could, um, show you the way to the classroom...”
So this... wimpy kid in front of was actually a prince, huh? And that oversized hat was hiding the imperial family’s signature crimson hair?
As I continued to stare at him, Glenn awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
“Th-the truth is, I’m also taking historical geography...”
“Oh, you are? In that case, I would be so very honored to accept your kind offer.”
Glenn took a step back at my formal tone.
“...What’s with the sudden change?”
“You are a prince, correct? I apologize for not recognizing earlier such an esteed figure.”
Glenn looked down and pursed his lips. “Don’t call that,” he said, his voice unusually rough.
“...”
“Just... treat like you did before.”
That wasn’t hard to do, so I happily obliged.
“Should I? Sure, no prob. We’ve only got 30 minutes until class starts, so let’s go.”
“...H-huh?” Glenn stuttered, visibly taken aback. “Oh, yeah, mhm.”
Thankfully, the lecture hall wasn’t too far from the main building. A leisurely 15-minute walk? That ant we didn’t need to take the streetcar.
We weren’t in a hurry, so Glenn and I walked at a nice pace.
Glenn, once again sneaking glances at , finally drumd up the courage to ask, “Um, Luan, so, do you have a strong interest in, uh, history or geography?”
“If I didn’t, why would I have chosen historical geography?”
“Oh, yeah.” Glenn’s face brightened, albeit only a little. “That’s good... But, uh, th-the thing is... the atmosphere in that lecture room is kind of weird right now...”
“Weird? Weird how?”
“Like... a few delinquents are treating the room not as a learning space but as their personal lounge...”
Seriously? What kind of situation was that?
I stared at him until he continued his explanation. “Well, hardly any classes are held in that room, so now it’s a great place for students to hang out...”
“And the professor just leaves them be?”
Glenn’s face saddened a little. “Professor Alec isn’t very enthusiastic about his class. I’ve heard he used to be quite passionate, though...”
I humd in response.
“...Anyway, be careful because there are so intimidating upperclassn in the lecture room. B-but if you stay next to , they probably won’t bother you too much... Yeah.”
He was right. No matter how timid he was, a prince was still a prince.
No one would dare to ss with him. It’d take an idiot whose ego was bigger than their brainless head.
Before long, we arrived at the Theory building and entered room 108.
“...”
As soon as the door opened, my expression scrunched up involuntarily.
For a mont, I thought I had walked into a Southern tavern.
The foul stench of alcohol clouded the room, and the air was thick with the pungent smoke of countless cigarettes.
Were they not even bothering to ventilate?
Even with my sight restricted by the foggy condition, I could see that the room was structured with tiered seating, and at the very top, about a dozen students were seated.
Judging by their faces, decaying from all the alcohol and cigarettes, I assud they were the so-called “intimidating upperclassn” Glenn had ntioned.
As I was staring at them, they looked over and smirked.
“Cough, cough...”
Even though Glenn was coughing from the smoke, they didn’t bother to open a window.
Crazy bastards.
No matter how timid Glenn was, he was still royalty. I seriously could not understand their behavior. How had they even gotten accepted to Kartell?
What was even more surprising was that Glenn didn’t say or do anything. He just sat at the front of the class and hunched over.
Everyone here was officially out of their minds.
To , the upperclassn were crazy, Glenn was crazy, and even Professor Alec, who was letting this happen, was crazy.
But I wasn’t crazy, so I did what any normal person would do.
I went to the window and flung it wide open.
“Oh...!”
Glenn looked at , wide eyed and mouth agape.
The stench and the thick smoke were finally able to escape.
Much better.
“...”
I turned around. The mont I saw a large guy sitting at the top shooting a glare, I felt a desire to whip out my best buddies “Etiquette” and “Decorum” and give them a nice greeting.
However...
Class would start soon, so I shouldn’t turn this place into a bloodbath.
Today was my first day too, so after summoning the superhuman force of will needed to crush that desire, I plopped down next to Glenn.
“Luan...”
“What.”
“Um... never mind. Do you... want to borrow my notebook?”
“Thanks.”
Evidently Glenn just had an extra notebook and pencil. I took them just in case there was anything worth noting down.
But...
“...Hm.”
I glanced at the clock. It was currently 9:10 AM.
Class should have started ten minutes ago, yet the professor was still nowhere to be found.
We waited a little longer in case he’d been stalled by sothing, but...
Nobody entered the room even after 30 minutes.
“Is he always this late?”
“H-he’s unusually late today.”
aning he cos late often.
I’d known things wouldn’t be easy... but it felt like I was already off to a rough start.
I sighed and placed my elbow on the table, resting my face on my palm.
“Erm...”
Glenn’s complexion did not look good. I had noticed him squirming in his seat for a while now, so... “Need to go use the restroom?” I asked.
“N-no...”
“Go.”
“Um, but...” Glenn’s gaze darted back for a quick second.
Was he worried about leaving alone in the sa space as those guys?
I’m not a kid who needs to be taken care of.
Or maybe I looked surprisingly weak or sothing?
“I’ll be fine, really. Besides, the professor should be here soon, right?”
“...I guess so.”
After hesitating for a mont, Glenn rose from his seat.
“Th-then, I’ll be right back.”
By how he dashed away, he must have been holding it in for a while.
I waved goodbye to his retreating figure, and then...
Screech.
As soon as Glenn was gone, I heard the sound of chairs scraping and noticed a number of bodies approaching .
“Aren’t you a new face?” the biggest guy said as he leaned in closely. He resembled a bear.
That’s one ugly-ass face.
“You look like a freshman... am I right?”
I nodded my head. “Probably.” Even though I was a transfer student, we were probably all considered freshn, right?
“‘Probably?’”
The ugly-ass bear burst into laughter.
But it didn’t last long. In a flash, his smile vanished and he glared at . “You, white-haired twerp, which family are you from?”
“...”
※The coming chapter contains disturbing scenes that might surprise readers, so please keep that in mind. Enjoy reading!
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