Chapter 12: Joint Class

Magic is talent.

No, to be precise, a person’s amount of mana is innate, determined from the moment they are born.

And that talent is mostly determined by heredity.

If the parents have outstanding magical talent, their offspring will also be born with that talent, that’s the law of this world.

A truly unfair worldview.

But sometimes, like the main character, a mutation is born with a large amount of mana despite being a commoner.

Of course, that means.

The opposite is also true.

[Mana Evaluation Results]

Louis Vermore – Mana Grade (D)

“…F*cked up.”

I let out a small sigh, holding the evaluation sheet with the terrible result written on it.

After the semester officially started.

Mana grade evaluation was conducted immediately.

The students were evaluated to measure their mana grade, and.

As a result, I received a low grade of D.

The average for students attending the academy is C.

But if I get a D, it means I have a below-average amount of mana.

I knew something was strange.

I wondered why Louis, who was described as having a talent for the sword, suddenly put down the sword.

It seems that he already knew this fact.

No matter how talented he is in swordsmanship.

There’s nothing he can do with a D grade.

Like a normal fantasy world.

There is also a grade that classifies the scale of power here.

Wizards are graded according to the number of circles located below the heart, and.

Swordsmen are graded according to the level of their sword aura.

In order, Sword User, Sword Expert, Sword Master.

Most of those who obtain the title of knight of the empire are Sword Experts.

But with my mana grade like this, I doubt I can even get close to Sword Expert.

So, he was frustrated.

Louis before I was possessed.

Louis’s siblings are all recognized for their abilities and work in the Imperial Palace.

But he has below-average mana, so I can understand his feeling of wanting to give up everything.

“What’s wrong?”

Elena, who was sitting next to me, spoke to me, perhaps having heard my sigh.

“No, nothing.”

I crumpled the evaluation sheet and put it in my pocket.

I need to get a windfall related to mana quickly.

While thinking about the windfalls where I could get mana in the future, I heard Professor Dominic’s voice.

“Today, as I said in advance, is a joint class with Class E. Everyone, change into your gym clothes and gather in the gym.”

Today is the day of the joint class with Class E.

And Class E is the class where the main character, Edmond, is.

“Why do we have to take classes with commoners?”

“That’s right. It’s beneath us.”

As soon as Professor Dominic left the classroom, students’ voices of dissatisfaction began to flow from here and there.

Contrary to the purpose of the academy to eliminate discrimination and hatred towards commoners by nobles.

Paradoxically, a discriminatory system still exists in the academy.

And one of them is.

Dividing classes by nobles and commoners.

Of course, this system is a system created due to the opposition of the nobles.

A ridiculous claim that noble people like themselves cannot be educated with lowly commoners.

Bullsh*t.

From a modern person’s point of view, it just looks like a lot of fuss.

And that’s the same for Elena, who has an upright personality.

She is frowning deeply, looking at the other nobles who are grumbling.

“Let’s go too.”

“Hmm. Okay!”

I spoke to her before she could cause any trouble.

If I had left her alone, she might have had a conflict with other students.

But there’s no need to do that.

Anyway, after a little more time, those people will soon change their minds.

That pretentious look is only for now.

We changed into our gym clothes and headed to the gym together.

“Louis, how was the dormitory yesterday?”

“The facilities were better than I thought. I thought it would be a little uncomfortable.”

“Right! I thought the bed would be hard or something. But it wasn’t at all.”

Elena, chattering about her impressions of the dormitory.

While I was having trivial small talk with her, I suddenly felt something strange.

‘But were Louis and Elena originally this close in the early stages…?’

The story of the comic proceeds thoroughly from Ed’s point of view.

Therefore, I only know that after a certain point, Louis started stalking Elena.

I don’t know what kind of relationship the two had before that, or what happened between them.

That’s why I didn’t even know that Louis and she were partners.

Well, there’s something more important than that right now.

Today is an important day.

That’s because today is the day Elena and Ed first meet face to face.

In the comic, on the first day of joint classes.

She first becomes interested in Louis’s swordsmanship.

And through the episodes that follow, the two build up a friendship.

This is the first start of the two.

There’s nothing for me to get involved in here.

It would be fortunate if I didn’t interfere.

So, today, I’m going to step back completely, depending on the atmosphere.

“Those people must be Class E.”

“Where?”

“Over there, on the right.”

Elena found Class E before me.

I shifted my gaze to where she was pointing.

Perhaps because they have become close.

Class E has a friendly atmosphere with each other.

And one person who stands out in the middle of it.

Ed was surrounded by people and was talking happily.

But.

That bastard….

As expected of a harem comic protagonist.

There were a lot of women around Ed.

Seeing that, I lightly clicked my tongue.

His attitude is very bad.

A guy who is the main character is already having fun with women like that.

Don’t even think about a harem.

Hurry up and have pure love with Elena.

“That person….”

Elena, looking at Ed in the distance, quietly spoke.

Oh? Maybe she’s interested?

“He’s very popular.”

“The black-haired one?”

“Yeah.”

It seems that she is definitely looking at Ed now.

I quickly spoke so that Elena could continue her liking for him.

“Don’t you think he’s very handsome?”

“Is he? I don’t know….”

…Huh? This is not it.

This is not the reaction I expected.

I thought she would be interested, even if it wasn’t love at first sight.

Her reaction is not as good as I thought.

Well, yeah.

She hasn’t seen Ed’s swordsmanship yet.

The reason she becomes interested in Ed is not exactly his face.

I decided to wait patiently for now.

“Is everyone here?”

“Yes~!”

“Then let’s start the class.”

Professor Dominic appeared, and the students all began to move to where their classes were gathered.

Professor Dominic, who confirmed that all the students had arrived, immediately started the class.

“Today, we will have a mock sparring between Class C and Class E.”

“Mock sparring…?”

“Sparring from the first day? Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

“Everyone be quiet!”

The students started to murmur at the word sparring.

Professor Dominic, who immediately cleared up that noisy atmosphere, began to explain.

“Today is literally a light mock sparring. We will not use sword aura, and we will only spar with wooden swords, so there is no need to worry too much.”

When Professor Dominic’s words ended, the students who had been expressing strong anxiety until just now all seemed to understand, and this time they all became quiet.

Perhaps they understood to some extent that it was literally a light sparring.

Most of Class C are swordsmen who have been holding swords since they were very young.

Therefore, they will not think much of this kind of sparring.

In fact, the nobles have a confident expression.

On the contrary, the commoners have a slightly anxious expression.

But.

‘The situation will change completely soon.’

Knowing the story that will follow, I had an expectant expression.

“Harsen of Class C, and Edmond of Class E! Come forward.”

It finally started.

I moved my seat slightly with a lot of anticipation.

So that Elena’s expression can be seen well.

Two students going up to the sparring stage.

Soon, the two held up the wooden swords in their hands to each other and began to take a posture.

“Start!”

Professor Dominic’s voice announcing the start of the sparring resounded, and.

The two immediately rushed towards each other.

The first attack was Harsen, Ed’s sparring partner.

He swung his sword roughly at Ed, who was running.

But.

Ed raised his sword and lightly blocked the attack.

And then, he quickly turned the sword he had blocked and slashed at Harsen from the bottom up.

“Ugh…!”

Harsen managed to dodge by turning his body.

But Ed’s attack did not stop there.

This time from top to bottom.

And from left to right.

Continuing attacks.

“Ugh!”

He’s busy avoiding or blocking Ed’s attacks.

Everyone in the gym who saw that was convinced.

This is Ed’s victory.

As expected of the main character.

His swordsmanship was so precise and splendid that it was unbelievable that they were the same age.

Ed, who learned her swordsmanship under an unnamed master.

Perhaps there is no student in the first year of the academy who can beat Ed.

That’s how overwhelming his skill is.

Harsen, who is sparring right now, is no match for him at all.

All the conditions are met.

Now, Elena will see the sparring and be interested in him-

“Huh…?”

But I was surprised when I turned my head to check Elena’s expression.

Her expression was completely different from what I thought.

‘This is not it.’

Elena watching the sparring intently.

But her expression was not interesting or anything, just endlessly serious.

This was not the expression of her that I saw in the comic.

She should have started to take an interest in Ed’s swordsmanship.

But no matter how I look at her expression, it’s not that at all.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Perhaps she felt my gaze.

Elena tilted her head towards me.

Seeing that, I was convinced.

Something is going wrong now.

Unlike the comic, she is not interested in Ed at all now.