Chapter 182

Chapter 182

My timetable for the second semester was as follows:

On Mondays and Thursdays, I still had common classes, and the subjects remained unchanged.

There wasn’t much difference in my individual tutoring classes either.

Tuesday: Swordsmanship Theory II, Swordsmanship Practice II, Swordsmanship Practical.

Wednesday: Meditation II, Supernatural Power Control, Supernatural Power Practical.

Friday: Mana Attunement Training II, Comprehensive Martial Arts II, Demonic Ecology.

Most of my classes were similar, with only a change in instructors. The only differences from the first semester were the subjects Demonic Ecology, Supernatural Power Practical, and Swordsmanship Practical. These were the two additional practical classes I was taking.

The practical classes involved summoning creatures via summoning magic or illusion magic, and then battling them or subduing them. In Swordsmanship Practical, we subdued enemies using Swordsmanship, and in Supernatural Power Practical, we did it with supernatural powers.

The two classes were effectively the same to me, since the practical application of my supernatural power was to enhance my physical ability and increase close combat performance.

Demonic Ecology was a lecture that provided basic knowledge about demons.

Since I spent all of Tuesday learning Swordsmanship, it seemed like I would be stuck with Ellen all day.

After classes ended, I returned to the Royal Class dormitory. I stopped by the Class B dormitory to return the imperial emblem to Charlotte.

“Thanks for letting me use it,” I said.

She took the emblem from me with a slight smile. “You seemed to have put it to good use, didn’t you? Ignoring the queue at the warp gate, and flashing it whenever a dispute arose.”

Charlotte sneered at me as if to say, “Did you feel like royalty?”

“H-How do you know about all of that?”

“Reports are going to come in when you start brandishing the imperial emblem everywhere, of course.”

Since it wasn’t something just anyone carried around, it seemed each time the emblem appeared it was reported, even in the Dark Land.

“I mean, wasn’t that what you gave it to me for?”

“That’s right,” Charlotte said as she laughed and covered her mouth, as if she had just been teasing me.

Indeed, the imperial emblem had been the most helpful item among all the things we had brought with us. It not only saved us time but also helped us avoid unnecessary quarrels, and it had even shielded us from potential murder charges.

Because of this emblem, our journey in the Dark Land had concluded safely, and I recognized just how much Charlotte had really helped us.

“I read all the incident reports. You really worked hard out there, Reinhart.”

Just as Vertus seemed to possess knowledge of our journey, it was only natural that Charlotte was fully aware of what we had gone through in the Dark Land.

“Shall we go for a walk?” Charlotte asked. It’s been a while.”

I had no particular reason to reject her suggestion.

***

Charlotte and I walked through the park in front of the dormitory. There were hardly any people around the Royal Class compound, so we rarely bumped into anyone.

Come to think of it, now that the vacation was over, would Charlotte ask me to deliver a letter to Baalier? I had been acting as her messenger pigeon, and without me, she wouldn’t have been able to send letters, since she wouldn’t have sent her own people to Eleris’s shop.

“It must have been tough. It wasn’t any ordinary incident,” Charlotte said quietly as we walked.

“... I’d be lying if I told you that it wasn’t tough.”

Ellen and I had both suffered quite a bit of trauma, and we were only just starting to get over it.

“Ellen... Artorius...” Charlotte mumbled the name quietly.

Only Charlotte, Vertus, and I knew Ellen’s real name. She seemed to savor the surname, as if saying it for the first time.

“The fact that she’s the hero’s sister... I always knew she would be extraordinary, and she certainly is... but to acquire Mana Reinforcement on her own...”

Charlotte seemed genuinely impressed, as if she hadn’t thought it was possible.

“Ellen Artorius might not be remembered as the hero’s sister. Instead, Ragan Artorius might be remembered as Ellen’s brother,” she continued.

Ellen might become so strong that her achievements could surpass her brother’s, pushing Ragan Artorius and his fame into the background. Charlotte seemed to think that such a scenario was possible.

“You ventured into the Dark Land with such an incredible person and came back unscathed. That’s no small feat,” Charlotte remarked.

Ellen had the weight of expectation on her while I had none, and I had still come through the journey with Ellen safely. Charlotte seemed to think that meant I was no ordinary person either.

“... I’m just glad I didn’t get in the way.”

Charlotte smiled faintly at my remark. “Still, you went on a journey together... Didn’t you have any moments of excitement, or some similar experience?”

Charlotte looked at me with a teasing expression, like a friend probing into a love story.

“... What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on, you never know, right?”

That look on her face... She was surely finding this immensely entertaining.

“The things we dealt with over there had nothing to do with that kind of stuff. Just keeping it together was all I could manage,” I said.

Charlotte’s expression stiffened. “Oh... right. I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me.”

She realized that it was insensitive to ask if there had been any romantic moments given the traumatic experiences we faced and apologized.

“Thanks to what you guys did, though, the imperial family will soon be taking some measures. In the end, it all worked out for the best.”

“Measures?”

‘Is there something the imperial family needs to act on?’

At my question, Charlotte tilted her head as if wondering why I was confused.

“The Adventurer’s Guild receives support from the imperial family. How do you think the imperial family will feel, knowing that adventurers tried to steal assets from that guild?”

The imperial family provided the guild the necessary support for exploring the Dark Land, and now, adventurers had tried to wrongfully appropriate that material support for themselves. This greatly displeased the imperial family.

“Reinhart!” Ludwig said in greeting. “We’re in the same class this time!”

“Seems like it.”

“Oh Ellen, you’re here too! Hi!”

Ellen answered with a silent nod.

Our ever-energetic and cheerful protagonist was still as lively as ever. Ellen seemed utterly disinterested.

Ludwig naturally took a seat next to me. I had Ellen on my right and Ludwig on my left.

‘Was Ellen supposed to take classes with Ludwig during the second semester of the first year? I don’t think they did.’

Things were developing slightly differently from the original plot. It was probably supposed to be only Ellen and Scarlett in this class, but because of me, Ellen’s circumstances had changed too much for her to act the way she did in the original story.

“Scarlett! Over here! Let’s sit together.”

“Oh... O-Okay.”

Scarlett, who had been sitting far away, came over and sat next to Ludwig, but her awkwardness was evident. When our eyes met, Scarlett gave a small nod to acknowledge me, as if that was the most she could manage.

These were the differences from the original story:

In the original story, Ludwig was supposed to rescue Scarlett from being bullied and become friends with her during the first semester. However, it was Charlotte who had resolved the situation with Scarlett. As a result, while Ludwig wanted to be friends with her, Scarlett still found him intimidating. The fact that she still addressed him formally was proof of that.

A major event involving one of the main heroines had been removed, resulting in this situation. Although Scarlett didn’t seem to dislike Ludwig, they just weren’t close.

Consequently, Ludwig’s presence in the narrative had become insignificant—practically like air.

But honestly... Why did I have to care?

I had enough on my plate without worrying about the narrative significance of the original protagonist. No matter what I did, the gate was destined to explode, regardless of Ludwig’s actions or inaction...

Anyway, the current situation had been included in the main story.

—Wow... There are four Royal Class students in this class.

—And two from Orbis Class as well.

—This class must have incredibly high standards...

This was supposed to be the part of the story where, at the start of the second semester, Ludwig and his classmates encountered the students from the Orbis Class for the first time. Because I was following Ellen, though, I ended up witnessing this situation firsthand.

***

The Temple had dozens, perhaps hundreds, of different uniforms, each with a unique design. Of course, I wasn’t familiar with most of them. The only one I knew well was the Royal Class uniform that I wore.

Among all the uniforms, though, only two uniforms stood out as being the most famous, as if they were business cards and identification badges rolled into one: the uniforms of the Royal Class and the Orbis Class.

Both Royal and Orbis Classes had no more than twenty students per grade, making them an elite few. Naturally, everyone was buzzing when six of these elite students were in one lecture together. Some seemed abuzz with anticipation, while others were already lamenting about how their grades would undoubtedly plummet.

For me, it was the first time I was seeing the Orbis Class uniform.

‘So that’s what it looks like.’

I still thought the Royal Class uniform was prettier.

The theory lecturer entered and took attendance, calling out names one by one. People raised their hands in response.

“Royal Class A-2, Ellen.”

“Here.”

“Royal Class A-11, Reinhart.”

“Here.”

“Royal Class B-3, Scarlett.”

“Here.”

“Royal Class B-11, Ludwig.”

“Here!”

.

.

.

The names were called one by one.

“Orbis Class A-8, Adler Belkin.”

“Present.”

“Orbis Class B-3, Nilsonia.”

“Here.”

Like the Royal Class, the Orbis Class also used A and B classifications, which divided the special class into two ranked groups. It seemed only natural that the Orbis Class used the same system.

Among the fifty or so students in the class, four were from the Royal Class and two were from the Orbis Class.

As Harriet had mentioned before, the Royal Class didn’t pay much attention to the Orbis Class. However, the Orbis Class subjected themselves to rigorous training with the specific goal of never losing to the Royal Class. Since their positions were earned through hard work, relentless effort was their daily routine, and they were a class that despised those born with talent.

Therefore, it was no surprise that the two Orbis Class students glanced at us—Scarlett, Ludwig, Ellen and I—with disdain in their eyes.

In the original storyline, only Scarlett and Ludwig were in this class. Ellen and I weren’t supposed to be here. Because of this, I wasn’t sure if the plot would diverge or not.

After the theory lecture would be the Swordsmanship Practice class. In the original plot, Ludwig suffered a humiliating defeat during a sparring session with an Orbis Class student. It was a scene meant to highlight the contrast between the hard-working Orbis Class and the supposedly talent-reliant but lazy Royal Class.

The Orbis Class students had skills that those in the Royal Class like Erhi and Kaier couldn’t hope to match. Their blind jealousy and hatred towards the Royal Class was central to their introduction as villains of the story in the second semester.

Now that Ellen and I had joined the class, though, there was a chance that either of us might be selected for the sparring session instead of Ludwig. Me being selected would be fine, but if Ellen was chosen, it could break the spirits of the Orbis Class students immediately.

‘Is this really okay?’