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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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“Livia. Greet him,” I whispered, and Livia slowly turned her head.
It was as if she only now realized Baltan’s existence.
“Ah, yes. Greetings to the son of the Empire,” Livia belatedly greeted with proper etiquette.
As an assassin, infiltration must have been essential for perfection.
The etiquette Livia displayed was almost flawless.
Yet Baltan furrowed his already fierce appearance even more violently.
“How rude.”
Despite Livia’s nearly perfect etiquette, Baltan deliberately picked a fight.
I sighed, feeling like I could read the muscle-brained Baltan’s thoughts too clearly.
He couldn’t directly pick a fight with me, the young lord of the Deinhart family, so he targeted someone of lower status around me.
And through the ambiguous matter of “etiquette” that was difficult to argue against.
Then, even if my side argued not to carelessly mess with my acquaintance, it would become ambiguous.
“This bitch… Is she ignoring me? You should have bowed your head from the start!”
But this guy, did he not hear at the entrance ceremony that strength is everything at the academy?
That royal status and whatnot are just formalities here.
On the other hand, Livia seemed to remember those words well.
“Senior. I hope we’re in the same group this time!”
As if the prince didn’t exist, she started talking while looking only at me.
I immediately understood Livia’s intention and responded with a faint smile.
“The probability is rather low. Especially since students from the same department don’t match in numbers unless drawn repeatedly….”
“But Senior, if you’re not there, I….”
“I understand your anxiety. But you have to stay strong.”
I gently tidied Livia’s hair as I spoke casually.
And Baltan, who had been watching that absurd act, finally erupted in anger, his face turning red.
“You guys! What is this!”
The prince had probably never been disrespected to this extent in his life.
He was genuinely furious.
“Your Highness, please calm….”
A follower of Baltan, sensing the unusual atmosphere, tried to dissuade him.
However, Baltan was already in an unstoppable state.
Recalling how easily Baltan lost his temper in the original work.
Aura began to spew out of Baltan’s body like a heat haze.
The students who had been focusing on this precarious situation also realized this and stepped back in fear.
At this point, the professors who had been observing the situation should have intervened, but for some reason, they didn’t.
Well, the professors were in the middle of an “evaluation.”
They would have the confidence to mediate a first-year student’s fight before anyone got hurt at any time.
So they would just watch to see how much strength these two new students, who were already drawing attention, could display.
This academy was always like this.
And it will continue to be so in the future.
When the Demon King begins his activities, miasma spreads and pollutes the atmosphere.
Ordinary humans would soon die from the miasma in areas where it had been dispersed.
It means it’s impossible from the start to lead an army and confront the Demon King.
The hero candidates chosen by the constellations could operate even within the miasma.
However, as the miasma thickened, even among the hero candidates, there would be those who couldn’t endure it.
In the end, the heroes had no choice but to fight with a small number of people.
For this reason, the academy that cultivates heroes to confront the Demon King developed a tendency to value strong “individuals” rather than “armies.”
Yuria’s words to prove with strength were being recognized under the tacit approval of the professors, following this academy’s atmosphere.
The professors also sometimes tolerated this kind of conflict for the sake of raising those strong students.
“Bitch, let’s cut you up just enough so you can’t participate in the third evaluation.”
There was no time to look further at the surrounding situation.
Baltan was about to swing his first strike infused with aura at Livia.
Aura that could cut magic was no different from a natural enemy to mages.
Even Livia was in danger.
“Livia!”
I pulled Livia towards me.
Baltan’s first strike created a gust-like sword wind and barely grazed past Livia.
“…?!”
Baltan looked surprised, as if he never expected his sword to slice through empty air.
After all, “Void Magic” was already in effect in this area.
The level of Baltan’s aura was only at a beginner level, even lower than Caiden’s.
It was nothing to slow down the speed of a sword swung with an aura of disrupted quality.
“Are you interfering with magic?!”
His perception seemed to be sharper than Caiden’s.
Mages aren’t helpless against warriors using aura.
High-level mages, though unable to directly touch the aura that rejects magic, knew several ways to weaken the aura.
One of them was to disturb the mana around the aura, exploiting the fact that aura also uses mana.
However, the efficiency was extremely low, and since it required using part of one’s imagery, it was better to use other methods.
“Using such petty tricks. It’s just luck anyway. Next time, I’ll definitely cut you.”
Baltan spoke as if growling with rage and took a stance to swing his sword again.
“Try it then.”
But I wasn’t using such petty means.
I was using Void Magic.
It had a completely different level of efficiency.
“Senior, shall I do it?”
Livia, who had escaped from my arms and stepped to the side, asked with a smile.
Looking at those chilling eyes, I could tell.
She was asking if she should kill him.
“No. I’ll do it.”
Baltan was still useful.
Rather than killing him, it was better to beat him down moderately.
I was about to gather mana and strike…
[Constellation Gaunis says fight! Fight! Smash that guy right away!]
Suddenly, a message appeared before my eyes.
I was surprised that Gaunis had sent me a message.
I don’t think there were cases of communicating with constellations like this in the original novel?
[Constellation Gaunis says this is a function of the Celestial Network.]
Ah, I see.
The original protagonist couldn’t use the Celestial Network, so he couldn’t receive such messages.
‘It’s getting noisy? Can’t I turn it off?’
I’ll have to check the Celestial Network settings later.
[Constellation Gaunis says to beat him up for now!]
I was already planning to do that.
Kwagagak!
Anyway, startled by Gaunis’ sudden intrusion, I missed the attack opportunity and nimbly dodged Baltan’s attack one more time.
‘Below standard.’
Baltan’s swordsmanship had strength but lacked precision.
The magical beast hunts he often went on must have had many people helping him.
Mistaking that for his own strength was Baltan’s arrogant delusion.
The important thing is the “individual.”
“Take the fight seriously!”
Baltan seemed to think I wasn’t serious because I was calmly evading his attacks.
He swung his sword even more furiously.
“I’m already serious.”
More than ever, I was serious.
Because this guy didn’t insult me…
He insulted someone I own.
Using Void Magic to deflect Baltan’s sword, I penetrated through his openings.
I had no intention of going easy on him like with Caiden.
I placed my hand on Baltan’s stomach and inflated my mana.
Kwang!
With an explosive sound, Baltan’s bones broke and his body flew backwards.
I chased after the flying Baltan and swiftly moved my body.
“Ugh… You…!”
The moment Baltan tried to raise his battered body, I stepped on his chest with my foot and roughly pressed him back down.
Then I summoned the strongest sword according to the setting, gripped it tightly, and brought it to Baltan’s neck.
The sword, rusty on the outside but with a sharp blade, touched his neck, and the blood-covered Baltan’s expression stiffened.
“You lack manners.”
I smiled at Baltan.
“Because you’re weak.”
At my words, Baltan trembled as if feeling burning rage and shock.
However, with his battered body, he couldn’t even shake off my weak leg strength.
“Damn it… Cough!”
Baltan seemed to want to say something.
But only blood gushed from his mouth, as if he had internal injuries.
[Constellation Gaunis says it was very satisfying! Keeps saying it was awesome.]
[Constellation Gaunis says this is how her chosen hero candidate should be.]
[But she adds, why did you spank her butt?]
Gaunis seemed very pleased that I had defeated Baltan.
And she was quite resentful too.
‘Forget it already.’
It wasn’t just Gaunis who reacted.
“That Prince Baltan… was defeated so easily?”
“I heard the Deinhart young lord was a genius, but to think he was at this level!”
“Is he really the same age as us?”
“The rumor that he won a duel against the student council president’s assistant before… must be true too.”
“But more importantly, isn’t His Highness the Prince in danger? He’s bleeding heavily…”
Thanks to my Sensory Expansion ability, I felt slightly embarrassed hearing those words.
Now, not only the Magic Department but all sorts of departments would know about me.
And on the contrary, there were also voices mocking the prince.
“The story about him going on magical beast hunts like eating meals, was it a lie?”
“He can only emit aura but can’t even swing a sword properly, I guess?”
These words were heard especially from the Warrior Department’s side.
Baltan had already been throwing his weight around in the Warrior Department, using his royal status and ability to use aura.
Baltan seemed to realize that the gazes directed at him weren’t favorable, as he deeply lowered his head and trembled finely.
“That’s enough.”
When I turned my head at those words, Professor Roman from the Magic Department and a woman were standing there.
The woman was a red-haired beauty with a slender physique, wearing light leather armor and a sword at her waist.
If I remembered correctly, she was Hazley, one of the professors from the Warrior Department.
“Isn’t this enough? You’ve shown off your strength plenty. Don’t bully a student from our department,” Hazley said, lightly lifting the tip of my sword with her own sheathed sword.
Despite her words, her expression didn’t seem to consider it a big issue.
After all, she would have expected this level of injury from the start.
“Yes.”
I obediently withdrew my sword.
“He’s become a complete mess.”
Hazley looked at the prince who could barely move properly, speaking with irritation and anger in her voice.
It was quite a different attitude from the indifference she had shown towards me.
Even if she had no ill feelings towards me, she would curse at Baltan for being so miserably defeated by another department.
“Professor! Come quickly and heal this kid!”
Hazley waved her hand and called out to the Sacred Studies Department professor.
Soon, Baltan received emergency first aid and was carried to the infirmary.
In the end, he was the one who couldn’t participate in the third test.
On the other hand, Roman had a complicated expression, happy that his department had gained face but unable to fully rejoice because the person responsible was me.
“Hmm…”
I took the initiative before Roman could say anything.
“It’s thanks to the professor teaching the basics well. Thanks to you, I was able to win.”
At my words, Roman twitched the corners of his mouth.
It was obviously an empty compliment, but he seemed pleased to be praised in front of others.
“For now, let’s consider this a duel under agreement. Baltan attacked first too. Still, reflect on your actions.”
From the beginning, they had watched for the sake of evaluation, but in the end, he was saving face.
Roman ordered to reorganize the formation and slowly left.
“Senior.”
“Young Lord!”
“Young Lord!”
Livia and the saintess sisters, who had been running towards me, made eye contact with each other.
Livia pulled one of my arms into an embrace as if to guard against the two.
“…Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Hearing my words, Livia smiled brightly.
“You were cool. Senior.”
Seeing Livia looking at me as if mesmerized, I wondered if I had overdone it a bit.
“I’m glad you’re not hurt anywhere.”
Elena looked at Livia and me with a small smile.
“I thought he would be fine. Good job.”
Elin spoke indifferently.
However, I had already noticed her gaze meticulously checking for any injuries on my body earlier.
But while Livia had shown no reaction when Elena spoke, she began to glare fiercely at Elin.
Did this kid instinctively grasp who had romantic feelings for me?
‘Scary.’
I swallowed nervously.
[Constellation Gaunis says this relationship is interesting and rolls around giggling.]
I definitely need to spank her butt again later.
“Ah, is this Miss Livia? Hello! I heard about you from Miss Nias! I’m Elena!”
Elena greeted Livia with a bright smile, as if not reading the atmosphere.
“Yes. Hello.”
Livia’s voice clearly revealed her reluctance to greet them.
However, for the innocently dense Elena, such an attitude wasn’t an insurmountable barrier.
“This is my sister, Elin!”
“Why are you introducing me?”
“Hehe, sorry. Elin has such poor social skills.”
“Is it okay for the saintess of the Sun God to be so acerbic?”
Listening to their bickering, I let out a small sigh.
Because I could feel gazes from the surroundings again.
‘To think the Deinhart young lord is close with the saintess sisters too… Just who is he?’
‘I didn’t intend to become this famous from the beginning.’
Fortunately, the confrontation between Livia and Elin, and Elena’s one-sided chatter bordering on innocence, quickly came to an end.
“Everyone return to your own departments! The group drawing will begin soon!”
At the professors’ instruction, the saintess sisters had no choice but to return to the Sacred Studies Department’s formation.
“I hope we’re in the same group! Young Lord!”
“See you in a bit. If we’re in the same… group.”
Elena and Elin said their goodbyes regretfully and returned to the Sacred Studies Department’s formation.
As Livia and I returned to the Magic Department’s formation, I could feel the other students furtively gauging my mood.
They seemed to have a lot of questions but couldn’t ask.
“We will now begin the group drawing.”
There was no time to answer the curious students’ questions anyway.
The group drawing started immediately.
The groups consisted of five members each, and as much as possible, they were formed with students from different departments.
And one of them was a senior student who played a supporting role to ensure safe magical beast hunting.
The group drawing began with Roman placing his hand on a blood-red magic crystal.
That destiny magic-imbued crystal was something we would see often whenever groups needed to be formed in the future.
“I hope I’m in the same group as Senior! I hope I’m in the same group as Senior!”
Livia held my hand tightly and repeated the same words like a spell.
[Constellation Gaunis hugs a pillow, her heart pounding with anticipation.]
And at that moment.
Ding!
The blessing activated.
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