Chapter 4: An Attempt to Blend In

Chapter 4: An Attempt to Blend In

I looked back at my older sister, wondering if I was supposed to be doing something. However, just as I was about to speak, she did first.

"You should've gotten into Class S."

Without another word, she walked away, going to the stairwell and going up another floor. I blinked a few times and looked at her departing figure.

...Why did she have that big of an attitude?

Huh. If this also happened in the original story, maybe this was why Bryson was so obsessed with getting to Class S. Either he wanted to spite his sister, or he was a total siscon.

As for which he was, I have no idea.

With a bitter expression, I entered the classroom. There were a couple of people already seated, but I didn't pay too much attention to them. Our teacher was a middle-aged man on the older side with glasses and brown hair. His name was Harold and was a pretty decent teacher. Nothing particularly stood out, but he did his job properly.

Upon seeing me enter the room, he adjusted his glasses and looked at me.

"Ah, Lord Bryson? I heard of your test results. It's a shame that you weren't able to join Class S, but I will do my best to teach you to a similar standard."

I blinked a few times. It was definitely not normal for me to receive respect from the teacher, so it weirded me out. Regardless, he was really nice, so I felt obligated to do so back.

I gave a small bow.

"Thank you, sir. I will perform to the best of my abilities."

Harold similarly blinked a few times, seemingly confused by my response. However, he did not mention it. Only after the fact, did I realize why.

Because I was Bryson right now. My character template was an asshole prince.

...I was already screwing up. But it was too late to correct my actions now. At the very least my actions could be considered cordial or maybe a false pretense.

Upon taking a random seat, I noticed that a girl up front was looking at me from over her shoulder. It was not in a flirty way, in fact, it was probably whatever the opposite of flirting was. She had long white hair and emerald eyes, it wasn't a character I remembered.

There was a frown on her face as she looked over. It wasn't super deep or a hateful frown, but it was hard to think that she liked me in any way. My guess was that Bryson had somehow done something that implicated her, thus she had a bad impression of me now.

...This sucks! People hate me even though I didn't actually do anything!

Students filed into the room one after another. In particular, Natan attracted my attention. After all, he was my friend, and also had injuries on him. I almost instinctively called out to him, but his unfamiliar appearance was enough of a reminder that I shouldn't.

He shot me a glance for a split second but sat down at a random seat that was relatively far from mine. It made me a bit sad, but it was also understandable. Naturally, Natan attracted many gazes due to his injured state, but nobody asked any questions after noticing his commoner attire.

Even the teacher only frowned, saying nothing else. It seemed everyone had an understanding that Natan was bullied, which was what we wanted.

Moments after, Ela walked into the room. When she looked at Natan, she sighed and muttered.

"I told you not to get involved with the prince."

Natan closed his eyes and didn't reply. Ela pouted but didn't say anything more before sitting down as well.

By now, it seemed that everyone had arrived. A total of 23 people in Class A. Considering some of the other classes reached the hundreds in number, it was a relatively small amount.

Harold cleared his throat and tapped on the chalkboard with a wooden pointer.

"Alright, now we shall start. Welcome everyone to your first Magic Class of the Golden Gold School. I will be your teacher, Harold."

From there, he gave a polite bow.

"I understand that everyone is very likely anxious to learn magic, but curb your enthusiasm as for the first day you will not be learning such."

I noticed there were clearly a few displeased frowns in the crowd. As for me... taking it slow was probably better, so I had no complaints.

Harold continued, though it seemed that he noticed the dissent.

"The reason is that I will first be teaching you about the philosophy a proper mage should have. As you know, magic is powerful. Naturally, that means it is dangerous and in the hands of someone foolish, many innocent people will die."

Though it clearly seemed like he was slightly afraid of some students, he had a strict expression. This was something he refused to budge on.

"The reason we human beings harness magic, whether defensive or offensive, is to protect. This entire kingdom was built up because of the heroes who used magic to save others."

Harold briefly scanned the room. His gaze lingered a little longer on me, and once he was finished he sighed.

Was he sighing because of me? But I didn't do anything!

Not knowing the complaints that I had in my mind, Harold continued.

"You should know, the first King Leo trained his magic to become so strong for the sole reason of wanting to protect what mattered to him. That's why magic is such a beautiful thing, as it gives us the power to preserve what is precious."

He slowly shook his head.

"There are many mages that forget this simple fact and begin using their magic for destruction. Foolishly, they charge on with reckless abandon and wreak havoc on the people around them. Until finally, they end up suffering the same fate they bestowed unto others." n.)OVelb1n

That made sense. I knew that waving around a knife was a bad idea, but magic doesn't really feel the same as a knife. Chances are, I would've probably gotten carried away once I did learn it.

It was a reminder, but still an important one.

Harold raised a finger and looked at us solemnly.

"The very first lesson I will ever teach you, is that you have to be patient. It will also be the most important lesson I teach you. If there is one thing you remember, I hope that it is this."

Almost immediately, a boy with blue hair slammed his hand against the desk and stood up.

"What the hell is this? I came to this school to learn, not to be lectured!"

It was Sam. Being in A Class, he was considered a big shot, but was at the lower end compared to the others.

That made me remember something. In the original game, Bryson also did the same thing as Harold was talking, but I kinda forgot because the actual speech Harold gave wasn't in the game itself.

I hesitated for a split second before slamming my hand on the desk and standing up as well. Then, word for word, I repeated what Bryson had said.

"This is preposterous. How am I supposed to advance if this is how you do things?"

Harold looked at me calmly. I recalled what was supposed to happen. Harold would harden his expression and say, 'Preposterous? You can't even wait a single day to learn magic? If you don't work on your patience then you will never become a proper mage!'

His expression hardened, making me brace myself.

"Preposterous?... I believe that there is a misunderstanding here."

I looked at him with confusion. Harold smiled bitterly.

"Though I may have only met you, my impression is that you are a patient person. I just believe that our definitions of patience are perhaps different. I'm assuming you think that patience is the same as laziness, working a modest amount. However, you can be patient and work hard at the same time."

I noticed Natan looking at me as though saying, 'What the hell did you do?'. While I was still stunned, Harold continued.

"In fact, most mages will work extremely hard and must be patient too. Results don't come after just one day. Sometimes it will take months, and in some cases, it will even be years. I believe that you will become one of those mages that reach those heights, and not because you are a noble."

I blinked a few times. This was definitely off-script. I did the exact same thing as Bryson, but for some reason, I was praised instead?

...Crap. All these little choices. Now that I think about it, my tone and expression might've not been as fierce as Bryson's was, thus giving the wrong impression. Shit! Even these tiny things matter?

I wasn't a damn theater kid! I don't know how to act. Actually, I doubt even theater kids would be able to pull off a good enough act either! The game only showed sprites of the damn characters, so you just had to judge based on that.

We definitely would not be able to imitate our respective characters properly, not to mention we already went off script the moment we pointed at each other upon first meeting.

It was then I realized that everyone was looking at me, including Sam. It looked like he was desperately hoping that I would agree with him. But at this point...

"I see."

With that, I sat down, leaving only Sam standing up. Harold then turned to Sam.

"The path of a mage is monotonous. Those that cannot understand that will never be able to reach the true heights one should be able to reach."

Sam had a deep frown, clearly displeased. However, he let out a sigh before sitting down.

"As you say."

From there, Harold simply continued on naming various other philosophical topics. I paid attention to them but wasn't really able to understand everything he said. To be honest, it was getting a little boring, so paying attention was also getting difficult.

Though, before I knew it, the lesson was done. Harold gave a light bow.

"Alright, that will be it for your first magic class. Your math teacher will now come in to replace me."