The audience was filled with astonishment.
They were so surprised that the cheers and jeers that had filled the air just moments ago turned into silence.
I couldn’t help but smirk at the sight.
It was quite satisfying.
-Haha, there’s nothing as thrilling as seeing someone fall after mistaking themselves to be superior.
They shouldn’t have been so arrogant.
At the very least, they should have known the difference in skill before taking me on.
It was all their own doing.
“How dare you…! A mere first-year! A nobody from a baron’s family!”
The guy who got back up, someone named Bex or something, had his face flushed with anger.
It seemed he still didn’t understand his place.
Of course, he’s just a boy who hasn’t even become an adult yet and doesn’t know the harshness of the world.
There are even compassionate people who would say to embrace such a person with love.
“Huh. Is this supposed to teach me not to recklessly fall for provocations?”
Unfortunately, I was far from being such a saint.
Beasts need discipline, and humans are beasts.
There is an old saying that a mad dog deserves a stick.
Whack-
Thud.
I kicked the spear lying on the ground.
Naturally, it went towards our agitated senior, who reflexively grabbed it, blinking in surprise.
“What…!”
“I foolishly fell for your provocation, so I must bear this much. Now, please pick up the spear.”
The guy who hesitated eventually bent over.
His reddened face was full of shame and determination.
“I was just careless earlier. I will definitely defeat you and regain my dignity as a senior.”
But.
How pathetic. What difference does having a weapon make?
-At least it’s entertaining to watch.
He tries hard.
The dignity as a senior was already shattered when he tried to trample on his juniors to secure his grades.
Moreover, judging by the reactions around us, even the second-years were looking at him with disdain.
Suppressing my sneer, I nodded humbly.
“Oh, what a good spirit! The outcome of a fight can indeed change depending on one’s resolve.”
“Ugh.”
However, even after regaining his weapon, he didn’t dare approach rashly.
His hands, gripping the spear tightly, were trembling.
Was it because he was too angry?
Or was it an instinctive fear stemming from the experience of losing in just two moves?
Only he would know the truth.
As I waited leisurely, Bathory clicked her tongue and spoke to me.
-You have quite a wicked taste. Pushing the weak to such an extent.
-It’s all karma. And when did we ever care about the plight of the weak?
-That’s a sound argument. Indeed. For demons, strength is everything. The rights of the weak all belong to the strong.
It seemed as if I could hear faint laughter coming from the shadows.
And then.
-Go, Frost Mane. Punish those who underestimated my vassal.
-I was going to do that anyway, even without your command.
What’s got her so excited?
Bathory, who had been more temperamental recently, like someone going through a late puberty, was hard to read again today.
I couldn’t grasp what was making her so happy this time.
‘Well, it’s not a big deal.’
I sheathed my dagger again and aimed it at the second-year student.
“Since we’re talking about resolve, would you like to hear about mine?”
“…Shut up!”
“You’re quite impatient.”
A cornered rat has two reactions.
It either resigns itself to its fate and meekly becomes prey.
Or it makes a final resistance and leaves bite marks on the predator.
He seemed to be the latter.
But.
“Saying you don’t want to hear it is too much. Shouldn’t a good senior respect and listen to what their junior has to say?”
The direction of his thrust was too straightforward.
His killing intent and aura were too intense.
His steps were nothing but honest.
He was truly an inexperienced novice warrior who had never experienced real combat.
‘I heard he even went on a dispatch class, but this is disappointing.’
At this level.
Even some of the upper-middle-tier first-years could take him on, excluding the top-tier ones.
Indeed, a second-year.
It’s fitting for those who couldn’t make a mark until the later stages of the game.
Moreover.
“Vex, what are you doing stalling so shamefully!”
“I told you to finish him off!”
“Argh!”
His field of vision was too narrow.
Despite the impatient cheers.
The movements of the guy stabbing at the air showed no signs of improvement.
Regardless of his personal talent, he was a bug who was merely intoxicated by his own martial arts.
There was no need for any tricks to deal with him.
The target was his legs.
Since he kept rushing blindly, I had to put the brakes on him.
-Thud!
“Aagh!”
My shoe tip struck his shin directly.
The vibration felt at the tip of my foot harmonized with the scream he let out.
Now the second-year student knelt and wheezed.
I bent down to meet his gaze.
“Ugh…! Do you not have any manners a junior should show to a senior? Request to stop the match right now!”
All he could say was not a declaration of surrender.
It was merely a suggestion for me to back off.
With innocent eyes wide open, I tilted my head.
“Don’t say such a hurtful thing. I still have much to learn from you, senior.”
“…Ugh!”
“How to get hit less painfully. How to avoid getting hit in vital points. How to perform a breakfall. Please calmly explain with your body.”
This is the first duel between a first-year and a second-year student.
It must not end trivially.
In the game, the rule in the early stages was ‘to let the opponent win,’ so I couldn’t use any tricks, but now it’s different.
There’s no need to deliberately eat humble pie to show respect to the seniors, nor to come to my senses and distance myself only after getting backstabbed.
‘And depending on how I end this fight, the atmosphere will change in the future.’
To the seniors, it would instill the fear that they could be caught up to.
To my peers, it would be an encouragement that they could do as I did.
Unlike the bug-like second-years.
The first-years were expected to be the golden batch of the decade.
Of course, there were a few husks and bugs mixed in, but since this is the main stage of a visual novel, the average is quite high.
As much as that.
To successfully complete the group project, a matter of life and death, and to create the school atmosphere I desired, I slowly opened my mouth while looking at the trembling senior.
“Shall we continue the earlier conversation? My resolve, you see, is the same as the academy’s first principle.”
The first principle of the academy.
There are no hierarchies of status here.
“Even though I am the child of a baron’s family, there’s no need for me to be intimidated here. It’s the same now. This duel arena, where there is no distinction between seniors and juniors, is proof that this principle is alive and well, don’t you think?”
I glanced at Luciana.
“The same goes for the position of student council president. The belief that a third-year student must hold that position is too outdated.”
In fact, this was the main point.
The position of the academy’s student council president is singular.
And that position is not restricted by grade level.
The student who has achieved the most.
In other words, the student with the best overall performance across all grades rises to the position.
The reason second- and third-year students usually hold the student council president position is simply because they have accumulated more points.
And my current actions.
Were both a first-year’s rebellion and a coup or revolution against established customs.
-Phew. Something that could have been discussed separately, yet it’s being grandly announced.
A voice echoed in my mind.
It was not Bathory’s voice, but someone else’s.
As expected, if she had grown, she would have noticed.
It was my proud lord who had reached the level of Sword Expert and mastered telepathy.
Naturally.
As a ‘servant’ of the Speda family, my actions were directly tied to Luciana’s actions.
‘Even though I didn’t discuss and commit this beforehand, surely Luciana would have acted this way.’
Moreover.
She could have caused even greater trouble.
For example, stepping on the arrogant senior in the duel arena, or publicly exposing the true intentions of a senior who was probing with political rhetoric…
[Top 10 Iconic Moments of Luciana Speda]
-Senior Roast 1.jpg
-Senior Roast 2.jpg
-Having Tea in Armor.jpg
– Wouldn’t this be the Top 10 Troll Moments?
– King God General Mid-Boss had yellow sprouts all along…
‘…Ahem.’
Although her true intentions were honorable, the way ‘Luciana in the game’ expressed herself was somewhat clumsy. I brushed away the creeping recollections and focused on the telepathy.
-Lady Luciana, you can do it.
-Don’t just say you can. Haven’t I always told you that the Speda family must always be at the top?
And my favorite Luciana was deserving of that.
Whether it was her swordsmanship skills to defeat enemies.
Her confidence to challenge for the student council president position.
Or her charisma to embrace everyone.
There was nothing she lacked.
I could cover any slight clumsiness in political matters.
Is there a more perfect person than her?
The current her.
Is truly a noble, honorable, beautiful, and strong ruler born to reign over everyone!
“Grr, you little…”
I wanted to focus more on the secret telepathy with Luciana.
But for now, I decided to finish the duel in front of me.
“What do you think, senior?”
“You madman..! Do you think the order within the nobility is a joke? Your misdeeds will be hated by all second-year students… Ack, ugh! Aaargh!”
The sound of the senior rolling on the floor and getting kicked was perfect for a work song.
The rhythm was so fitting that it matched perfectly with a quick-tempo beat.
After a moment of contemplation, I whispered softly.
“Shh. Such realistic talk isn’t necessary for our first-year students who are thirsty for grades. The young should chase romance, don’t you think?”
“Ugh… Ah, ugh….”
It seemed the senior was far from the virtue of attentive listening.
I wondered how much more I had to beat him for him to nod in agreement without any rebuttal.
As I continued kicking, pondering when our senior’s stubbornness would end.
“Stop.”
A light touch of restraint came upon my shoulder.
“Professor Marks.”
“He’s already unconscious.”
“Oh, I didn’t notice.”
As expected of a second-year student.
Even the title of senior was wasted on him.
“It was a very satisfying duel for me personally. I promise you the highest marks, so let’s end it here.”
“But, Professor. I’m not fully warmed up yet. Oh, earlier, the seniors were lining up to face me.”
I scanned the familiar faces with my icy gaze.
Now they were all busy avoiding me.
After applying enough pressure, I made a suggestion to Professor Marks loud enough for everyone to hear.
“How about calling another one of them?”
“No. Since they’re also in Class A, the number is fixed. It’s not a match, and it would be difficult for me to grade if you take on two students alone.”
He quickly whispered in my ear while carrying away the completely unconscious senior.
“Besides, look around. You’ve already achieved what you wanted.”
‘As expected, he noticed.’
As always, he’s quite sharp, not just in swordsmanship but also in intellect.
Following the old man’s gesture, I looked at the audience.
The second-year students, with their faces turned pale, seemed to have understood my warning.
And…
“…Aren’t the second-years not as great as we thought?”
Even among the first-year students, who had been in silence and worry, changes were happening.
“As expected of Hans.”
“There’s no way he could lose. Besides, it might be more doable than we thought.”
Already those two were burning with fighting spirit.
Others also quietly prepared for the duel one by one.
The scene where despair and hope coexisted flipped in an instant.
The eyes of the background extras, who were set at a high level to stand as male lead candidates or as the saint’s entourage, were sparkling.
It felt like savoring rich, high-quality cheese hidden in a musty smell.
With the best wine of victory added, it was the icing on the cake.
-Ah, what a supreme delicacy this is!
-Wasn’t it all to satiate your hunger?
Bathory’s sigh was soon forgotten.
“Next, I will step forward.”
The best dessert had just arrived.
A voice as cold as ice.
But within it was a passion that only I could recognize.
“I am Luciana Speda, the top first-year student. You must have heard of my name. Those who wish to cross swords with me, come to the duel arena.”
To those who had already been defeated by the second-ranking student, Luciana was an even greater object of fear.
Crushed by her charisma.
The sight of no one daring to step forward was truly a heavenly delicacy.
***
“Hoo, as expected, they are a golden generation.”
The dean took a bite of a donut while carefully reviewing the documents submitted by Marks.
A chocolate coating that carried both bitterness and sweetness.
The taste was much like the contents of these documents.
“An over 80% win rate in exchanges with second-year students.”
The report in his left hand, from Professor Marks, was exceedingly satisfactory.
However, the report in his right hand was quite the opposite.
[Dispatch Class Report]
[Wheelencernia]
Like Professor Marks, who was in charge of Class A for first-years.
There was a magic professor in charge of Class A for second-years.
However, her report was not as favorable as Marks’s.
[The performance in the Eastern dispatch class was extremely disappointing.]
[The students are planning to hunt the sea dragon, an Eastern mystical creature, causing internal conflict between Eastern nobles and others.]
[The only exception was the top student, who, unaffected by such disputes, …]
Though just words on paper, having spent over a year with them, Professor Wheelencernia would know their skills and personalities better.
‘They neither respect the culture of other regions, nor do they have the skill…’
Dean Gordon took a sip of the tea poured by the golem, taking a moment to ponder.
“Hmm, yes. The academy has always been the same, so it should remain so now.”
It was already proven that first-year students were overall superior to second-year students.
In that case, there was no need to maintain protective measures for the first-year students.
Coincidentally, a new dispatch class request had just come in.
However, there was something bothersome.
“Requests have been increasing lately. Could the words of that old raccoon in the sanctuary be true?”
The dean’s eyes narrowed.
The momentum of the monsters and the actions of the heretics were both unsettling.
“Is there truly an otherworldly entity that will bring down this flourishing empire…”
For a moment, a shadow fell over his usually cheerful and plump face.
“Well, my duties remain unchanged!”
Regaining his usual joviality, he took out a letter placed on his desk.
An envelope adorned with luxurious gold decorations.
It was sealed with a small wax seal bearing a gold coin design.
“Goodness, the extravagance of melting gold for such things. I can’t understand the tastes of the ducal families. They should donate some of that money to the academy their sons attend.”
Grumbling, the dean snapped his fingers.
Once a decision was made, execution was swift.
Hearing his command, the golem beside him began writing a notice to the professors with a quill pen.
[From now on, first-year students are also permitted to apply for dispatch classes.
[…]
Feel free to apply to the respective professors.]
Cliche Novel 
SIMP
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