CH 87

Sophie made a smug expression, as if she already won, and took out a book from her bag and slammed it against Lars’ face.

“For a third-rate man like you, I will teach you what first-rate is all about.”

After saying that with a charming smile, she then slowly glanced at everyone’s face.

“⁠—Well then, I command you by the authority of the purple star. Forget the conversation you heard in this cafeteria since the moment I was present. I will have everyone obey this without exception.”

She then turned toward Keith and looked into his eyes, which looked frightened for some reason.

“Keith-sama, this should be fine, right?”

“…Yes.”

Keith replied with a stiff voice.

“Gerald-sama didn’t seem willing to listen to my request, but this is no request. It is a command as a purple star.”

So keep it in your mind, threatened the girl with the purple star, which made Keith agree to her while turning pale.

“Luca.”

“Y-yes!”

“You, too, are not to report this to Lorenzo-sama.”

“…Yes.”

Even Luca’s voice turned faint.

Be it Keith, the gold star students, and even Luca for some reason, they all looked at Sophie as if they were being hit by her malice. When she responded to their gazes with a ladylike smile, they became even more scared for some reason.

Sophie thought they were being disrespectful from the bottom of her heart.

The afternoon class began with the sound of a bell.

Unlike in the morning, a strange atmosphere circulated the classroom because the earlier trouble between the gold stars and the purple star had already become widespread.

Since Sophie put a gag order, the exact contents of the trouble itself were kept hidden, but everyone understood that they would suffer some consequence for turning the purple star into their enemy. Because of that, people were trying to not get involved in troublesome matters, so they instead focused straight toward the blackboard instead.

However, the instructor who was supposed to stand on the podium hadn’t arrived yet, and just as people thought it would be a self-study period, the door opened and a different instructor appeared.

He was a slightly older and seemingly orderly male teacher. His well-organized beard looked very gentlemanly paired with his straight back. Considering his good face, he must be popular with women regardless of age.

“Excuse me for arriving late but let’s begin the lesson immediately.”

The gold star students were getting noisy. “That’s Alan-sama… how rare.” Such voices could be heard.

Just as Sophie wondered whether the man wasn’t a full-time teacher, the man stood in front of Sophie, gave a gentlemanly bow, and greeted her.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Alan Aubin. I had some time today, so I came to stand on the podium for the day. I’m pleased to meet you.”1

Sophie immediately stood up and greeted him with a lady-like greeting.

“It’s the first time we’ve met. My name is Sophie Linier. I’ll be listening to the lecture for today.”

Since they were in the middle of the lesson, she only gave a short greeting.

Alan’s gentle eyes laughed softly. He gave a different impression than the teacher in the morning. All other teachers seemed to feel reserved toward Sophie, but Alan was dignified in his courtesy.

Suddenly, a certain thing entered Sophie’s gaze. It was Alan’s number of stars.

A bearer of five gold stars… it’s my first time seeing one…

One could only buy up to three gold stars during the tutelage at “The King’s Sword.” Therefore, achieving four or more stars was extremely difficult. It was said to be more difficult than earning the same number of black stars. Five stars were only granted to those who made a significant contribution to the nation.

Alan Aubin-sama… Alan the Golden Lion!

Once a person received more than four gold stars, a lion would be engraved on the medal. Alan Aubin was the first person who bore the golden lion ever since the creation of the gold star.

Alan, the eldest son of a count family, was a person who, through the use of his extraordinary talent and knowledge, contributed to forming a friendly relationship with the Rusha Kingdom, which was well-known for having few diplomatic relationships back then, and succeeded in importing a large amount of iron from the Rusha Kingdom. He was also known for many other great achievements.

Looking at his figure walking to the podium, Sophie suddenly felt a cold sweat.

Amazing… “The King’s Sword” actually managed to invite such a person to be a lecturer…

Even for a person with a similar pedigree, one couldn’t easily meet such a person.

Just like Lorenzo Forsell, who bore five silver stars, Alan Aubin was also one of the most important figures in this nation.

When Alan stood on the podium, he opened his mouth while looking at each student.

“Now that I have the opportunity, I will tell an old story while introducing myself. When I was a child, it was an era where people of the upper-class society didn’t work at all and only lived off the profit of the territory. I was always wondering about that matter. There was no way they could last forever using the money they exploited from the territory. Considering the parties that were held every night, numerous servants they employed, gorgeous carriages, and beautiful dresses, it was impossible for the profit of their territory alone to be enough to maintain that. So it was natural for the number of aristocrats who thought of ways to prevent that to begin to increase.”

It was about the era a bit before Sophie’s father.

How difficult was it for the eldest son of a count family to develop his business at that time? There must have been tons of other aristocrats who sneered at him back then.