“Oh my! I intentionally arrived late hoping you all would mingle and bond, but it seems my efforts were in vain. You’re all sitting separately by grade level.”
Fjodra spoke as she scanned the interior of the seminar room.
I suspected her claim about wanting us to bond was merely an excuse.
Her true purpose for arriving late was likely to observe the students’ reactions to the Awakened Special Class.
‘The original protagonist would have guessed this, of course!’
With that thought, I reflexively turned my gaze toward where Reysir was sitting, only to lock eyes with him.
It seemed Reysir had been looking in my direction at the exact same moment.
It wasn’t a coincidence.
It was highly probable that the protagonist of this other novel had reached the same conclusion I had.
As I came to that realization, Fjodra spoke again.
“I have some announcements, so please gather in the center at the front.”
Even though she could carry her voice on the wind and didn’t need to strain herself to speak loudly if we sat far away, she insisted on gathering the students in one place.
Though she was wearing the same uniform, Fjodra wasn’t facing us as a fellow student.
She was here as a member of the Imperial Royalty and the official in charge of the Awakened Special Class.
Consequently, we didn’t have the right to refuse.
We had no choice but to move as she desired.
The center seats were arranged in rows of five.
In the front row, Reysir, Hailga, Vigdis, I, and Yor sat in that order.
Liolikin occupied the seat directly behind me.
Two first-years sat in the same row, leaving the seats on either side of Liolikin empty.
And finally…
“You there, third-year student? If you sit behind the bulky Mr. Liolikin, I won’t be able to see you from here. Besides, there are two empty seats in the front row. Why are you trying to sit alone in the back?”
As Fjodra’s comment suggested, Risi had tried to sit behind Liolikin, only to be pointed out.
Instead of giving up and sitting anywhere or hesitating, she had come up with the idea to hide her body.
It seemed she had regained some of her spirit thanks to her conversation with Reysir.
However, as Risi stood up and came face-to-face with Liolikin’s intimidating expression, her complexion turned ghostly pale.
Fortunately, the issue was resolved quickly thanks to the quick-witted heir of the information guild.
“Oops, we weren’t being very considerate of Senior Risi! It must be burdensome to sit next to a male student you’ve just met… Senior Liolikin? Please move over one seat.”
“Huh? Ah, yes…”
Pret had Liolikin move over one space and then sat directly next to him.
He then made Svein sit to his left.
Thus, Risi was able to sit one seat away from Svein, directly behind Reysir.
Her expression was now filled with relief.
‘Liolikin must have been really scary to her.’
While this situation might have looked normal to others, it was incredibly surprising to me.
If this had been the version of Risi from before the remake, she wouldn’t have been intimidated by Liolikin’s appearance; she would have been the one picking a fight first.
A Risi who hadn’t lost her sense of fear?
It felt like I was witnessing a character collapse in real-time.
But now wasn’t the time to observe her and compare the pre-remake and post-remake versions.
“Now that everyone is finally gathered, I will hand out some materials before I give the announcements. These are the syllabi for several subjects you are required to take this semester.”
I quickly scanned the paper Fjodra handed out.
The mandatory lectures exclusive to the Awakened Special Class would likely be explored through future episodes.
Therefore, I didn’t intend to describe them in detail right now, but…
“Um, Imperial Princess? The times assigned to these three subjects — Basic Physical Training, Martial Arts, and Mock Battle & Survival Training — seem a bit strange. Is what’s written here correct…?”
Since Hailga asked this question, I should briefly touch upon these three subjects.
Basic Physical Training was scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
Martial Arts was on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Both were listed as being held from 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM.
“Ah. The Basic Physical Training and Martial Arts you are taking aren’t regular lectures, but basic training. One must consistently build physical strength anyway, don’t you think? Martial Arts is not only useful for various tactical applications but also helps develop the ability to control body movements. Therefore, it must be practiced consistently as well.”
“……”
“Since you have to do it anyway, I prepared these as special courses, believing it would be more efficient to have experts assist you. They won’t count toward your grades, but it would be best to participate as diligently as possible. If you skip, you’ll just be forced to attend make-up sessions.”
She likely assumed that many students wouldn’t train at all outside of lecture hours if left to do it voluntarily.
These two sessions scheduled for the crack of dawn seemed designed to force the students to train.
And…
“The details for Mock Battle & Survival Training are also correct as written in the plan.”
“Do we really have to attend a lecture for 10 hours from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM without even a lunch break…?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to handle your meals during the lecture. Surely you don’t think we’d starve the students?”
The word ‘Survival’ was explicitly in the name of the lecture, yet she said we had to ‘handle’ our meals during it.
It sounded like nothing more than a warning that we might starve depending on our survival skills.
And in that case, the Academy wouldn’t consider it as having starved the students, but rather as the student failing to eat despite being given the opportunity.
“As you can see from the syllabus, there are four regular lectures you are required to take. Since you can take eight lectures per semester, you can choose the remaining four autonomously… but don’t just mindlessly fill them with the lectures you originally planned to take. Consider your current situation so you won’t have any regrets.”
She meant we shouldn’t fill all four non-mandatory lectures with theory classes and should take a few more combat-related ones instead.
“Does anyone have questions regarding the lectures?”
“……”
“If not, I shall move on to the next item.”
Fjodra paused for a moment, and when no one answered, she spoke again.
“Perhaps what you are most curious about is ‘when you will enter a Demonic Realm,’ but nothing has been decided regarding that. It could be sooner than you think, or it could be later. It’s impossible to know when, where, and at what difficulty a Demonic Realm will manifest. Furthermore, I don’t know your skills yet.”
She meant that as soon as a Demonic Realm of appropriate difficulty for our skills was discovered, she would throw us in without hesitation.
Regardless of whether our hearts were ready or not.
‘I was hoping for an answer that we wouldn’t be sent into a Demonic Realm at least this semester…’
I suspected the others felt exactly the same way.
Was that why?
I felt the air in the seminar room suddenly grow heavy.
Fjodra, standing before the podium and looking at us, would be the one best able to see our nervous expressions.
Yet, she didn’t bat an eye as she said the following:
“Now that I’ve finished the announcements… shall we start with individual introductions? Everyone, please stand up one by one.”
At those casual words, everyone seemed to lose their tension, reacting with faint chuckles or sighs of relief.
But I, on the other hand, became even more tense.
‘Introduction time in a classroom setting… I have an abundance of bad memories, but not a single good one.’
It was only natural.
Though I had been exposed to continuous violence since middle school, I had been a target of subtle bullying even before that.
Whispering, giggling.
If I stammered because I was intimidated by their reactions, they would mock me by mimicking it, and if my voice was low, they would berate me for being inaudible.
The memories of those children’s words and actions momentarily took my breath away.
‘I can’t let it show.’
While struggling to maintain an expressionless face, I stroked Yor’s body and calmed my breathing by inhaling and exhaling very, very slowly.
While I was doing that, Fjodra led the way by introducing herself first.
“As you all know, I am Pyodra Verd Midtrad. Although I am a princess of this Empire, I will permit you to call me ‘Senior Fjora’ while I am wearing this uniform or training gear.”
I was certain there would be someone brave enough to use that nickname.
Pret, the heir of the information guild, was more than capable of it.
“I am currently 25 years old, and my main weapon is the bow. My Aether Attributes are the ability to manipulate wind and space. The same goes for ‘Lausa’ here.”
Fjodra finished her brief introduction by lightly stroking the cheek of Lausa, the eagle Familiar with jade-colored feathers she had just mentioned.
Since the Imperial Family’s Aether Attribute abilities were a well-known fact that few were unaware of, the reason she bothered to mention them was likely because she wanted the people introducing themselves afterward to do the same.
‘Because the people gathered here now are comrades-in-arms who will fight together in the Demonic Realm. We need to understand each other’s abilities to form effective strategies… mentioning the main weapon must be for the same reason!’
As I forced my mind to work through these thoughts, my tension seemed to ease slightly.
However, the feeling of my throat being blocked remained.
Because of that, I had hoped my turn would come as late as possible.
Unfortunately, the First Imperial Princess’s gaze landed on me.
“Then, the next person… should be the young master, who is a celebrity second only to myself.”
Her reasoning suggested she had chosen the next person thinking they wouldn’t feel burdened by the introduction.
She was dead wrong.
‘If I ask if I can go later because it’s burdensome…, that won’t work!’
Fortunately, I didn’t need to squeeze out details about interests or hobbies.
All I had to say was the setting for my possession body.
I kept those details in my mind as I stood up and turned around.
Then, I had a sudden realization that made me relax.
‘Ah… there aren’t many people..?’
Why had I overlooked the fact that when I stood up, I wouldn’t see the faces of the people in the back row, and my field of vision would be filled mostly with empty seats?
Tensed up and struggling to hide it, I felt like a fool for worrying about someone noticing.
Because I felt so unburdened, I was able to state my possession body’s introduction in a steady voice.
“My name is Karbaldr Austri, age 18. My main weapon is the whip, and my Aether Attributes consist of a buff that increases stats by a certain multiplier and the ability to make it rain. My Familiar can make it rain over a much larger area… that’s all.”
I sat back down after finishing.
I didn’t have the courage to lower my gaze and make eye contact with the others, so I spoke while looking into space until the end.
Still, I figured this was enough to be seen as a half-hearted introduction from an arrogant noble.