The morning after a day when a very complicated relationship had been established.
No matter what happened the day before, a new sun rises, and a new day begins.
I thought I would walk the same path to school as usual today…
“From today, let’s go together.”
But that wasn’t the case.
Because someone far too familiar was sitting in the spot that should have been empty.
“I’ve held back a lot. You know now, don’t you, Rudion?”
“Yeah… I know…”
Seria, who usually waited in front of the senior class building, was waiting at the dormitory exit today.
When I asked what was going on, she said she planned to do this from now on…
“Well, do as you please.”
As she said, she had held back a lot.
Did I really think she wouldn’t consider doing this while her favorability towards me kept rising?
She must have thought about it for a long time but just hadn’t acted on it.
Honestly, it might have been better that she came out like this.
If you hold back unnecessarily, it accumulates and comes back even stronger later.
It’s hard to believe such a thing could happen over favorability alone, but if—by any chance—Seria’s dark route opens, the world’s fate will rest in her hands, not the Demon King’s.
Thinking about that, I hoped she wouldn’t hold back, even if it put me in a slightly awkward position.
After all, nothing would change if she walked to school with me…
“…Hey, isn’t that the princess? Why is she with that commoner?”
“Hey, your voice is too loud.”
Never mind. A lot changes.
Hearing things I wouldn’t normally hear on the way to school snapped me awake.
‘…It seems like more people than I thought don’t know we’re always together.’
I thought everyone would know since there had been various rumors, but apparently, quite a few people didn’t.
It wasn’t strange. We’ve been sticking together every day, but it’s only been a couple of months.
That might feel like a long time, but in reality, there weren’t many days we spent in crowded areas, so there were naturally few witnesses.
This is practically the first time we’ve walked together in broad daylight like this.
So, the only people who know about our relationship for sure are probably the senior class students.
Thinking about it, even though Seria acted like we were openly close, she had been pretty restrained and secretive, hadn’t she?
If she had kept holding back… Hmm… It seems she’s decided to drop everything and stick to me now, so there’s no point thinking about it anymore.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
We decided to continue walking to school.
It was my first time walking to school with Seria. Other than the occasional stares from people around us, there wasn’t much difference.
But then, I noticed a place noisier than usual.
It was in front of the bulletin board where various news and information were posted, so it must have been about the midterm results.
“Seeing them all crowded like that reminds me of the entrance ceremony. Are you going to check?”
“I should take a look.”
“I’ll wait here. Come back when you’re done.”
She still seemed to hate squeezing into a crowd.
So, I squeezed through the crowd alone and stood in front of the bulletin board. As expected, the midterm results were posted there.
This area is usually passed by first and second-year students, but the board had grades for all four years.
It was supposed to be posted yesterday, but apparently, there was an objection regarding the second-year top student, so the results were delayed by a day.
‘Who else could be the top second-year student other than that guy?’
At this point, the second-year top student is basically set in stone.
Technically, someone could interfere and change the results, but I don’t remember doing anything.
Curious, I glanced at the second-year results, but nothing had changed, so I couldn’t figure out what happened.
I didn’t do anything, but the results changed—how annoying.
The only second-years I’ve interacted with are the trio I met in the student council, including Grain.
‘I’ll have to check this out later.’
It wasn’t something I could figure out immediately, so I moved on.
The top first-year student was, of course, Seria.
She was overwhelming back then, and recently she’s grown even stronger.
At this point, no first-year can compete with her. At least the top third or fourth-year students would need to step in.
Speaking of which, the third-year top student is, of course, Alkine.
As the student council president, she’s considered the strongest in the academy.
She still hasn’t broken through the wall, so she’s only slightly stronger than Seria.
Even though Diggers had lost his will to fight, the fact that she could cut him down like that shows she’s on a completely different level.
The fourth-year top student is definitely strong, but I know almost nothing about them.
In the game, their name appears, but they never actually show up…
I’ve been curious about what kind of person they are, but I’ve avoided interacting with them since I’m not sure what might happen.
They’ll graduate soon and leave for another continent, so they’re practically just dummy data in the story. Best to ignore them.
Now, the second-place student…
The name written under first-year second place was Lowell Soulriver.
Lowell Soulriver—the future Swordmaster.
For context, Alkine has the Swordmaster trait, but it’s different.
There’s a difference between having the Swordmaster trait and being called a Swordmaster.
Basically, even when compared to any other Swordmaster trait user, Lowell is the best with a sword.
Later in the game, when you examine him, you’ll find he has dozens of sword-related traits. He’s obsessed.
‘Hmm, as expected.’
Honestly, I was slightly hoping my name would be there, but it seems my decision to practically skip the practical exam had a big effect.
I got perfect scores in theory and dueling, but I failed the Lich Knight punching machine…
But even if I did it again, the result would probably be the same, so I have no regrets.
Lowell taking second place was expected… Wait, didn’t Lilith score better than him in the practical exam?
I think she won their duel, too.
‘She must have bombed the theory test.’
Considering how heavily weighted the theory portion is, she must have failed spectacularly.
Even after all that studying, she did so badly that her practical scores became meaningless?
At that point, maybe it’s time to give up on studying…
The remaining runner-ups weren’t particularly noteworthy.
The second-year runner-up wasn’t surprising; the results matched my expectations. The third-year runner-up changed due to Diggers dropping out, but even that was an understandable result since they were part of the student council.
On top of that, the fourth-year runner-up was also a student council member… Truly, there wasn’t anything noteworthy to see.
Having confirmed everything, I quietly slipped out of the crowd. At some point, Lilith had joined Seria by her side.
She was passionately venting about something, brimming with energy even in the morning…
“Argh!! This is so frustrating! Why didn’t anything I studied come up on the exam?!”
“Lilith, it’s because you study in bits and pieces. You need to memorize everything for the test.”
“You don’t understand me. No matter how hard I memorize, I just forget everything after I sleep. You wouldn’t understand with your genius brain.”
“Do I need to understand? Like you said, I’m smart enough to remember everything even after I sleep.”
“…You’re so annoying. If you’re going to tease me, just go away!”
“You approached me first, so why are you telling me to leave?”
From the sound of it, she must have bombed the theory exam after all.
“Hey, just give up on studying already.”
“What did you say?! It’s just because nothing I memorized came up—!!!”
I threw in a few teasing remarks and started walking again. Since we were all heading in the same direction, Lilith naturally stayed with us.
“Rudion, how does it feel to have both sides filled with top students?”
As the three of us walked together, Seria, who had now moved right next to me, suddenly asked.
“What are you talking about? I’m neither the top student nor the runner-up.”
“I wasn’t talking about Lilith, so don’t worry.”
I wondered why she was saying such things. It seems she was subtly trying to push Lilith away.
It must have bothered her that what was supposed to be a peaceful walk to school with just the two of us had turned into a trio because of Lilith’s sudden appearance.
In the past, I would’ve brushed it off, thinking, ‘No way, Seria wouldn’t feel that way.’ But now, after knowing her affection level, I couldn’t just ignore it.
Lacking the courage to address that part, I decided to just answer her question.
“I don’t feel anything special.”
It wasn’t just empty words—I truly didn’t feel anything.
These two were always meant to be top students. If they had failed to achieve that, I would’ve been more concerned. But since everything played out as expected, there was really nothing to dwell on.
It was a casual reply, but Seria suddenly expressed her gratitude.
“…Thank you.”
Her sudden thanks confused me for a moment, but her next words made it clear.
“It’s all thanks to you, Rudion, for yielding the spot.”
“…Oh, uh, sure.”
It seems she interpreted my withdrawal from the practical exam due to my lack of offensive means as me yielding the top spot to her.
“I’m not particularly obsessed with being the top student, but my mother takes these things very seriously.”
“Parents always want their children to be the best.”
“Yes. And my mother is someone truly extraordinary. I think she wants me to follow in her footsteps. Honestly, earning the top spot this way feels a bit… uneasy.”
Seria kept implying that I was the one who should’ve been the top student.
But Seria… the truth is, that wasn’t me yielding—it was just my best effort.
I couldn’t tell her that here, so I decided to let it go.
“I’ll work hard to become someone worthy of you, Rudion. When that day comes, I’ll be able to confidently wear the title of top student.”
It wasn’t a bad misunderstanding, and clearing it up wouldn’t lower her already sky-high affection level anyway.
If it makes you happy, Seria, then I’m satisfied.
“If you two are going to keep talking, I’ll go ahead.”
“Goodbye, Lilith. See you in the classroom later.”
“…Are you really telling me to leave?”
Despite Seria’s persistent attempts to send Lilith away, Lilith stayed with us until we arrived.
Seria, please don’t look at Lilith with that expression. Lilith is an ally…