The students of the academy don’t seem to have a strong sense of solidarity with each other.
While they recognize each other as peers who entered the academy in the sa year, that’s about it.
Since students don’t stay in the sa classroom with the sa group for all their lessons and instead move between various classrooms to attend the courses they choose, it's difficult to form a strong bond based on being in the sa year.
So may care about those close to them, but for the rest, indifference is natural.
As a result, when soone is absent, it's usually the professor who notices, while the students remain mostly unconcerned.
However, right before the 9 a.m. history midterm was about to begin, the students attending the class were well aware of one missing person.
The noble lady who had beco a dominant presence among the first-year students of Soul Academy—Lucy Allen—had yet to show up.
It was a peculiar situation.
Lucy had never missed a class before.
True, she spent more ti staring at her desk than at the blackboard during lessons, but she always attended.
So why was she suddenly absent from the exam?
While Lucy Allen often found herself at the center of rumors—mostly not favorable ones—her presence was always notable.
It was only natural that several students were puzzled by her absence.
Why isn’t she here?
Maybe she wasn’t confident about this exam?
She probably planned to cheat and failed, so she ran away.
She’s probably pretending to be sick to avoid taking the test.
Now that I think about it, the dorm supervisor was looking for Lucy Allen yesterday.
Was she not in the dorm last night?
She’s always getting into sothing strange.
As the students whispered among themselves, the door opened, and the history professor entered the classroom.
The elderly professor, with his white hair and wrinkled face, walked slowly, leaning on his cane, and scanned the students.
"Is soone missing?"
The person the professor referred to was the sa one the students had been talking about.
The professor didn’t know Lucy Allen was absent because he was particularly dedicated to rembering all his students' faces.
It was simply because the audacious count’s daughter who often called him a "geezer professor" had left an impression.
It’s not every day that a highly respected historian like him gets insulted as a "toothless old geezer."
"I'm not sure what the reason is, but an exam is an exam. Even if soone is late, we have to proceed as..."
Bang!
As the history professor was continuing to explain how the exam must follow the rules, the door swung open, and soone stepped inside.
Wearing armor that showed signs of battle.
Carrying a shield larger than most n’s torsos on her back.
With hair wildly tangled as if she had rushed to get here.
It was Lucy Allen.
The very person who had been the center of all the recent whispers now entered the room, breathing heavily, wiping her hair back, and walking toward the class.
“Lady Allen? What in the world...?”
The history professor, taken aback by her battle-worn appearance, began to speak, but Lucy Allen didn’t lose any of her confidence.
“What is it, geezer professor?”
“Why are you in armor for the exam?”
“There’s no rule saying I can’t wear armor, is there? Or are you getting confused in your old age? If not, I don’t see any problem.”
The history professor bit his lip.
He had plenty to say.
Even if there wasn’t a specific rule against it, there was such a thing as decorum and common sense, wasn’t there?
Who shows up for an exam in battle gear, intimidating the other students?
There were countless other things he could point out, too.
But the professor didn’t say anything.
From past experience, he knew that if he said one more word, he would be bombarded with countless sharp retorts.
As he grew older, the professor had beco more sensitive and didn’t want to engage in a verbal sparring match with such an audacious student.
"Take your seat. We’ll begin the exam shortly."
‘Excuse ...’
"Hey, extra. Got an extra pen? I’ll be gracious enough to use your crappy one, so hand it over."
“S-Sure!”
Thanks to the kind cooperation of the student sitting in front of , I managed to get a pen. After taking off my gauntlets and setting them aside, I stretched my arms.
Phew. I almost thought I was going to be late for the exam.
Our Trash God gave a quest to get first place in the academy exams, and I almost ssed it up!
It’s not just any quest either—it gives an inventory function! I can’t afford to lose that.
The uses for an inventory are endless.
If I’d had an inventory, I could’ve switched out of my armor into my uniform!
Then I wouldn’t have to deal with all the whispers like, “What did she just co from?” “Did she destroy sothing?” “She’s scary.” “She should’ve just stayed away.”
Sigh. People gossiping is nothing new, so I’ll just ignore it.
More importantly, I need to open the log function and pull up the exam content in advance.
Grinning at the thought of being able to cheat legally, I opened the log window—only to be t with sentences completely different from what I expected.
Pathetic♡.
Trash♡.
Useless♡.
Idiot♡.
Hag♡.
The log was filled with conversations from the battle in Adri’s mansion last night.
What?
Wha-wha-wha-WHAT?!
In a panic, I scrolled to the top of the log and saw the phrase “You pathetic excuse for a knight♡” staring back at .
I slamd my head on the desk.
No way.
This can’t be right.
How did the log fill up completely just because I spent all day fighting yesterday?
Where’s all the history content I studied so hard to morize?
You useless log window!
Give back all the study notes I desperately recorded!
You were useless in the ga, and now you’re staying useless in real life too?!
Are you determined to be a failure in my life?
You should at least be useful now! Stupid, worthless log window!
「Why are you acting like that, child?」
‘...Grandpa. Please help !’
Grandpa Armathi! Save !
At this rate, I’ll have to gamble on this history exam!
Sure, I might still get a decent score, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to place first in the midterms like I’m supposed to!
Please help , Grandpa Armathi!
「If only you had studied properly beforehand, this wouldn’t have happened.」
‘But...’
「No ‘buts.’ I already told you before, I’m not going to help you with this. It’s your own fault. Deal with it.」
Noooo! Grandpa Armathi!
Don’t be so harsh with !
I’m sorry!
I won’t do this again! Please!
Even as I pleaded, Grandpa remained firm.
Are you still mad about being dunked in the toilet that one ti?
It’s been days since then! Shouldn’t a legendary holy knight like you be above such petty grudges?
Damn it. Guess I have no choice.
Looks like I’ll just have to leave my history exam to the Dice God.
With the curse Agra placed on , my luck stat’s gone up since the last exam, so maybe I’ll get a higher score than average.
I’ll settle for that in history and focus on getting high scores in the other exams.
Just as I began assigning numbers to each side of my pen, Grandpa Armathi spoke up.
「Promise one thing, and I’ll help you with the exam.」
‘...What is it?’
「When this exam is over, you’ll start studying properly from the basics.」
Ugh! Grandpa Armathi!
You’re really setting my most hated task as the condition?!
True evil!
Isn’t there any rcy left in this world?
Of course not!
With our Trash God pretending to be a deity, how can I expect any kindness from above?
「So, what do you say?」
‘I understand.’
I thought about it for a mont but gave my answer quickly.
I’d already been thinking that brushing up on the basics would be useful.
Besides, I needed sothing to do while I trained my magic at night.
It would definitely be boring and tedious, but it’s probably ti I give it a try.
「Good. The first question is about the Soladin Kingdom...」
Jackal sat in a corner, watching the little girl dozing off.
Her tired eyes.
Her slack jaw.
Her tiny, relaxed body with no hint of tension.
If she kept her eyes closed and her mouth shut, she looked like a pretty little doll, the kind you’d find in a display case.
Lucy Allen.
At least she was tolerable when she wasn’t speaking.
Once her mouth opened, though, disaster would follow.
Despite the ti that had passed since the last incident, Jackal still couldn’t stand Lucy Allen.
Her reckless behavior, fueled by her belief in her own genius, grated on his nerves in a way that made it impossible for him to like her.
But soon, she wouldn’t be able to keep her head held high anymore.
Rumor had it that she hadn’t paid attention in any of her classes this sester.
And apparently, no one had seen her study on her own either.
No matter how brilliant Lucy Allen might be, there’s no way she can achieve good grades without cracking open a book.
She’s about to pay the price for her negligence.
I wonder what expression she’ll make when she falls behind the very people she’s been looking down on.
Heh. I’ll enjoy laughing at her when that day cos.
"Next! Lady Lucy Allen of the Allen family! And Lady Freyr Kent of the Kent family!"
After the previous match ended, Anton, the combat instructor, called for the next pair of students to spar.
Despite Anton’s loud voice, Lucy Allen didn’t wake up.
Could it be that she, notorious for her laziness, actually stayed up studying all night?
As Jackal found himself thinking how pathetic that was, Freyr Kent walked over to Lucy and poked her cheek.
The students around them were shocked by the audacity of touching the infamous Lucy Allen, but Freyr didn’t seem to care.
“Wake up.”
When Lucy didn’t respond, Freyr poked her cheek again, and Lucy’s eyes finally opened.
Without a word, Lucy lunged at Freyr, tackled her to the ground, and pinned her down, raising her fist to strike.
A perfect ambush, giving Freyr no ti to react.
Despite the impact of being knocked over, Freyr didn’t so much as flinch. She spoke in her usual calm voice.
“The match hasn’t started yet.”
Lucy blinked, coming to her senses, and got off of Freyr.
There was no apology.
“She’s got a seriously nasty personality.”
“No matter how cranky she is when she wakes up, that’s too much.”
So students whispered amongst themselves, but Jackal ignored them.
That wasn’t just a temper tantrum.
That was more like an automatic reaction.
What kind of training does the Allen family put their knights through to make them react like that?
It’s terrifying.
Freyr stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes after Lucy got off of her.
“Lucy.”
“What, you useless swordswoman?”
“Mind if I take the first move?”
“Do what you want.”
Rather than being upset about the attack, Freyr seed pleased to have secured the first strike.
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