Chapter 10: Tough Guys

I never imagined Louis and Elena would be partners

I shook her outstretched hand with a bewildered expression.

“Can I ask your name?”

“…Louis.”

The name that is now mine.

Elena smiled pleasantly upon hearing my name.

“My name is Elena!”

I know it well.

It’s a name that must have appeared hundreds of times in the comic.

I quietly repeated her name.

The heroine of the comic I cheered for.

There were things I wanted to say when I met her.

But.

‘What should I say?’

When I actually faced her, my mind froze and I couldn’t think of anything to say.

So, after exchanging names, a silence began to flow for a while.

But fortunately, this awkward atmosphere didn’t last long.

“Everyone, sit down.”

Just then, the professor opened the door and entered the classroom.

The noisy atmosphere quickly subsided at the appearance of his robust physique.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Dominic, and I’ll be in charge of Class C.”

Clap clap clap.

After the professor’s self-introduction.

The students began to clap their hands as if possessed by his charismatic voice.

That person is also a character in the comic.

A talent-less ordinary person.

Dominic.

An unfortunate character who was born a commoner and had no talent.

But a romantic narrative of having built up enough skill to take the position of professor at the academy with effort alone.

Therefore, among the readers, he was one of the well-reputed characters, despite being a man.

In addition, he has a great appearance that even made some female fans.

The strong masculine scent emanating from his angular face is definitely a popular type.

Look.

Aren’t some of the female students already sending him looks of admiration?

There’s one thing I’ve been subtly feeling since I was possessed.

That is.

The level of appearance of the people in this world is very high overall.

Perhaps because it’s the world of a harem comic, even nameless extras walking down the street are at a level that can be called beautiful.

Moreover, the level of the main characters appearing in the comic is on a different level.

Even though Louis can be said to be handsome.

Especially the face of the main character, Edmond, was on a different level.

So, is that why a harem is possible?

…You cheeky bastard.

I turned my head and glanced at Elena sitting next to me.

Elena is listening attentively to Professor Dominic’s words with an excited face.

Oh, it’s dazzling.

I briefly glanced at her face and then winced.

I’m not joking, it’s really dazzling.

Every time her long hair sways, the light reflects and sparkles.

Unable to withstand the glare, I took my eyes off her.

In the comic, I thought it was a special effect to further emphasize her appearance, but.

It seems that it was something like hyper-realism.

But the reason it doesn’t feel strange at all.

It must be thanks to her beautiful appearance.

But a harem with this beautiful heroine?

Ed, this guy is really screwed up.

Is a harem even possible with Elena?

Absolute pure love.

Only pure love.

My inner pure love can never tolerate my favorite character shedding tears because of the main character.

Ed, you bastard. Your life is set, man.

From now on, I’ll help you get together with Elena.

While once again firmly resolving to prevent Ed’s harem from being completed.

Professor Dominic’s greetings were nearing their end.

“That’s enough for my introduction. Next, you guys introduce yourselves-“

Ah, no.

Please, not that…!

The number one situation to avoid based on school days.

The hell of introducing yourself to classmates is coming.

“let’s skip that?”

‘Phew….’

But fortunately, Professor Dominic doesn’t seem to have any intention of embarrassing us.

As soon as he finished speaking, sighs of relief erupted from all over the place.

“…Then shall we end here for today?”

After that, he continued to briefly explain about the academy, and he began to wrap up the story.

“Classes will start in earnest tomorrow. So, everyone, go back to the dormitory early today.”

“Yes..!”

As expected of a likable character.

It hasn’t even been a few hours since I met him, but I’m already starting to like him.

Professor Dominic left the classroom with those words.

In the classroom where the professor left, the students were busy packing their bags and moving.

Shall I move now too?

But as I got up from my seat and was about to leave the classroom, I stopped at Elena’s sudden voice.

“Louis…?”

“Hmm? Why?”

“Do you have any plans today?”

“Me?”

Why is she asking that…?

I tilted my head at her sudden question.

“I was thinking of going straight to the gym after this. Why?”

“Ah…! R-really. It’s nothing. I just asked. Hehe.”

What?

Her reaction is somewhat awkward.

Is it strange that I’m going to the gym…?

I don’t know what Elena’s intention was in saying that, but after thinking for a very short time.

I decided not to think that there was any special intention hidden.

In the end, I said goodbye to her and immediately left the classroom.

“Louis seems to be a very diligent person.”

Elena looked at the back of Louis, who left the classroom without looking back, as if he had something urgent to do.

She was thinking of taking a little break today, but.

It seems that he is thinking of training today as well.

“That’s a shame.”

As the first person she spoke to at the academy.

She was going to ask him to look around the academy together, but she couldn’t bring herself to talk to him after hearing Louis’s answer.

Because she thought it would be a little rude to interfere with his schedule when they weren’t even close yet.

‘I don’t want to wander around alone….’

There is no one else she has talked to yet.

For her, who has no experience of talking with friends of her age who are not from her family, it was an act that required courage to speak to him.

“Shall I just go back today…?”

Everyone else in the classroom has already gone back, except for her.

It’s a little burdensome to make other friends now.

In the end, Elena gave up on the idea of looking around the academy and decided to go back to the dormitory quietly today.

Originally, Elena was destined to encounter a small incident while walking around the academy with Louis.

But.

Because of Louis’s choice.

The story began to deviate slightly.

After leaving the classroom, I immediately walked quickly towards the gym.

My goal is the special training room in the gym.

Normally, it would be crowded with people, but.

It’s clear that it will be quiet today.

And I don’t want anyone else to see what I’m going to do.

Passing by the noisy people, as I got closer to the gym, the number of people walking around began to decrease significantly.

Yeah.

There’s no one who would come here on a day like this.

Unless you’re a person who is crazy about training, it’s normal to take a rest today.

The gym will be quiet at this rate.

I became more relaxed and entered the gym.

A gym that is quite large, almost as large as an auditorium.

The gym, which would normally be full of sparring and various sports activities, was empty as expected, with no one there.

Passing through the empty gym, I went straight to the special training room inside the gym.

“Hmm? There are people.”

Contrary to my expectation that there would be no one in the special training room, either.

There were already two more people swinging their swords.

But.

“Edmond…?”

One of them was a person I knew well.

Ed, soaked in sweat, swinging his sword frantically.

I frowned at the sight of him.

Handsome.

Talented.

And he even works hard?

What kind of crazy guy is this, who seems to only appear in comics.

…Of course, it’s true that he’s really the main character in a comic.

‘This person is also training.’

And next to him.

A woman with a familiar face, also diligently swinging her sword.

‘Her name was…. Clarice, was it?’

Red hair that sways whenever she swings her sword.

Unlike Ed, who is quite stable.

I had a question when I saw her swordsmanship, which seemed somewhat clumsy and lacking.

Something’s strange?

I haven’t learned the sword for a long time, either, but.

Even to me, her swordsmanship looks strange.

She seems to have trained her body hard, so she doesn’t seem to lack strength or speed.

But.

How should I put it….

‘The rhythm is a little strange…?’

Unlike Ed, who smoothly continues his swordsmanship with precise movements.

Her movements are somewhat stuttering, as if there is a buffering.

And after watching that for a while, I finally realized.

That woman.

She’s uncoordinated.

It can’t be anything else.

Her strength is sufficient to swing a sword, and her posture is perfect.

But the clumsy movement that stutters every time she swings the sword.

The awkwardness, as if she’s swinging a sword for the first time, further confirmed my thoughts.

A swordsman who is uncoordinated.

It’s a combination I’ve never thought of.

I stared blankly at her movements and soon had a question.

But why did she pick up a sword?

Judging from her posture, she’s not someone who has only swung a sword once or twice.

That means she’s been holding a sword for quite some time.

That part was quite strange.

Unless the family is particularly obsessed with the sword or has talent, most nobles learn magic from an early age.

If I didn’t know that Louis had a talent for the sword, I would have learned magic without hesitation.

But no matter how I look at it, I can’t see any talent for the sword in her.

No, I don’t know if she can even move her body properly, let alone a sword.

Then it would have been better to learn magic.

Why is she wearing clothes that don’t fit her so well?

“…Well, it’s none of my business.”

I thought it was strange for a moment, but.

Soon, I shook off my doubts.

It’s not the time to worry about other people’s situations.

I left my seat and entered the training room farthest from them.

And I pressed the button on the wall and lowered all the blinds.

Now you won’t be able to see inside from the outside.

And I put my hand in my pocket and took out the item.

The Orb of Dreams.

But contrary to the original transparent color, the bead is emitting a yellow light for some reason.

From now on, I’m going to check this.