Sword, Magic and Academic Society

While I pretended to be dead at the omen of the storm, everyone else greeted the newly arrived Furie-senpai.

Senpai also replied gleefully with a "Hey! Nice to meet you all!". There was not a single shred of pompousness in her demeanor, perhaps due to her commoner origin.

On another note, yes, occasionally, the top scorer in the Royal Academy does come from a common origin. While the children of nobles obviously had the upper hand when it came to studying due to their money and the know-how in exam preparation, anything after the entrance exam depended on the individual's quality and a commoner's specs usually happened to be on the higher side here.

After the light greetings, everyone shifted to having a barbeque in the cramped courtyard where the resplendent barbeque set was installed (it came with a chef and a waiter pre-installed).

Though, right before starting, Fey flashed her usual grin and took the lead to announce the following.

"Alright, the sudden gathering of so many faces should be keeping the information departments of the other factions on their toes. But, since we're simply here to hang out, I would like to set up magic tools to prevent peeping and eavesdropping. I believe there's no problem with it, right?"

Why did it need to be so dramatic?...

"What's there to hide? We’re just some students having a barbecue at a family courtyard, no? Pipe down the melodrama."

Fey, however, chuckled hearing my exasperated reply.

"Kyahaha! Now you’ve said it, Allen. Imagine my surprise when you said we’ll just take a walk, which was going to make us stick out like a sore thumb, instead of riding the car. I thought 'Oh, how come the winds have changed?', maybe there's a reason or something...

Anyway, our people have already spotted seven silhouettes of unknown origins loitering around who are not from this neighborhood. Sounds like they're in for some scoop today, huh? And the same number is going to swell by at least 10 times by the time we're finished here if we don't take any countermeasures.

Alright, let's take a group photo in commemoration of the day that caused the intelligence agencies from across the kingdom to gather around."

"......Cough, I’m still saying you're blowing things out of proportion, but it wouldn't hurt to follow your plan. Right, elder sister?"

"Err, well… I don't really care whether there are one or one thousand out there. Either way, what’s your relationship with these girls—"

"But of course, we're no more than just some ordinary classmates! Instead, I wanted to ask about Furie-senpai. Is she someone famous? My information is a bit lacking here."

"Fu-chan? Who knows, maybe she's famous as an excellent researcher? I’m just as clueless as you are..."

In the meanwhile, I attempted to desperately steer the discussion away, Fey clapped her hands once again, and within a few seconds, someone brought her a square box. It started to make a 'hum~" noise when she turned it on.

The scouting magic I had kept activated out of habit drastically got its effects reduced… No wonder countermeasures were necessary.

"Now we can finally talk without having peeping toms listening in behind our backs… I must say though, you're still the same huh, Allen? How come you know everything about nobles and geopolitics but little to nothing about individuals?

Anyway, she's the 'Solitary Scholar' Furie Elvart, the top graduate of the Royal Academy's 1123rd class. Ask anyone who's the famous artificer of this generation and the first name on their tongue would definitely be her. Not only that, she’s also a capable magic engineer, and a popular model to boot. You can bet there's no end to the people who want to get into her good graces.

However, she's also famous for being a 'misanthropist', and has never once appeared in an official party or an aristocratic gathering. Frankly, she's a prodigy even with the standard of the Royal Academy, and there's an anecdote where her peers from class A usually referred to her as 'Commoner’.

Of course, the Dragoon family had also tried many times to talk with her, but all our efforts were turned down with no regard. Even now, I just can't believe that the same Senior is actually in front of us, much less that we’re able to greet her… Well, that sums up the introduction, I believe. What do you think, Senpai?"

"Ahaha. Now you're making me blush with your array of praises. Well, I truly was quite like an unsheathed blade in my school days. Letting myself be led around in my youth, I’m sure I’ve blurted out more awful things than I can remember to my classmates. But if anything, I wasn't actually looking down on them, nor was I a misanthropist.

I was just angry. I couldn't stand the fact that a person who should have been in class A wasn’t there all because of me."

Furie-senpai started her story with such an introduction and then turned to stare straight at my elder sister. Elder sister puffed her cheeks in objection.

"Geez. How many times have I told you that wasn't your fault, Fu-chan? More importantly, I believe you girls also see him just as a classmate, right?"

Apparently turning a deaf ear to my words, my elder sister started questioning the girls’ team.

...C'mon, why am I stuck between a rock and a hard place?

Kate might belittle me but I could be sure she wasn't as much of a troublemaker as the other two. They were truly bundles of chaos and who knew what they would spout out at the next moment.

If they said anything that went against my earlier 'We're just ordinary classmates' statement, I’d be receiving a rocket punch the next moment.

At my wit's end, I hurriedly turned to Furie-senpai.

"Riiiiight! How is Senpai connected with the red carpet incident that my elder sister caused?!"

"Red carpet? Ah, a few people do call it that. I heard from Rose that she hasn’t told anything to her family, but it sounds like Lil Len already knows, huh? I’ve never told anyone about it. What do you think, should I do so now?"

Furie-senpai asked my sister at the end of her words.

"Aw, it's not like it matters when it's already out. More importantly, I want to ask you girls, is Allen-kun just another classmate for you—"

◆◆◆

Receiving Rose's permission, Furie started narrating the whole ordeal.

“That day, Rose and I happened to hit it off well while waiting for the result of the preliminary round. The topic of magical tools was apparently a common interest between the two of us.

Though our peace was suddenly disturbed by the dumbasses from the Endumion family…

Actually, it was my shoulder that had bumped into them. And then they used that pretext to pick a fight with us.

If you asked me at that time, I was only capable of squeezing my way into Class C. I was just desperate to get the backing of the Royal Academy somehow to stand out as an Artificer.

But with my commoner origin, I just couldn't muster up a strong resistance to his absurd demand, to become his mistress, with his Marquis family backing.

And then, just as I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, Rose entered the scene with a dauntless attitude… When I recalled the whole ordeal later, I realized that cur simply wanted to target either of us.

Either way, the idiot pulled a sleazy smile almost as if waiting for that, and announced ‘Then you're in cahoots as well and should take responsibility as a friend.’

He must have thought he could easily coerce Rose given her boxed girl-like vibe who couldn't even harm an ant.

And what happened after that was something you already know.

She smashed the nose of that moron in an instant, and without further ado, she rained down her punches on his grinning lackeys who had formed a circle around us to shield their leader’s scumminess from public eyes. She moved like a petal dancing in the air, and wherever she flashed by, sounds of bone crunching followed.

I could still vividly recall that scene, as if it was yesterday's matter. Her ethereal dance that lasted for around two minutes had been completely engraved in the corner of my mind.

And when it ended, both her hands and shoes were dyed in red. Though not a single drop of it actually managed to leave a stain on her pure white dress. I couldn't believe what I saw in those two minutes.

Then, like a mischievous child, she stuck out her tongue in a ‘Tehe~’ manner and said, “I’m really sorry, Fu-chan. And here we had just started to get along. You see, I'm not quite a patient person. But you don't need to worry about them. They shouldn't be able to attend the practical exam with all their broken facial bones.”

That was all she said before withdrawing herself from the exam and without showing any reluctance, she walked away with a springy gait.

…I admit, I wasn't that well-versed in society, but even I could tell what she did. She had thoroughly gone all out just so that I didn't feel trapped in the Academy.

She knew she could easily pass the exam but she decided to throw away that honor without a moment's thought to help a random commoner she had just met. And so that I didn't feel sorry, she even put up a strong bravado.

Afterward, I put all my effort into searching for her communication address and sending her an apology letter. One thing led to another, and our letters soon turned into sharing each other's views or theories over magical tools.

The exchange confirmed my guess. This girl's knowledge of magical tools had far surpassed mine or even other prodigies. That wasn’t even including her expertise in body-strengthening magic. She was so incredibly strong, but you wouldn't think that from her lovely features.

……I couldn't forgive myself.

I knew the top seat of the Royal Academy would have been Rose's if she had been there. Rose would still have that shining future if I had just beaten up that dumbass first. But I stole that future.

Maybe I was just atoning for that, as I put all my efforts into studying for those three years and made myself the top student of the Academy.

I got promoted to Class A at the start of my 2nd year, and then the No.1 at the same time as we advanced into 3rd year. ‘The top isn't a place for someone ordinary to stand at,’ was what a classmate, who was also giving their all to take back the No.1 seat from a commoner, had said.

I got what they were trying to imply behind their crooked words. As a result, I was later called a loner or condescending person.

Honestly, I wanted to scream my lungs out right there ‘The only person fitting for this seat is Roselia Rovenne!’ but both Rose and the Academy had asked me to keep quiet about the matter.

I was really a lost cause and didn't care for anything until last year when Rose made it to the Advanced Research Institute and got back her rightful life. However, this earned me a misanthropist alias in the meantime.

Well, it turned out in my favour as I used it to cut down the requests of the nobles so I didn't really care about it.

…….I had always wanted to confide this to someone.

This is why, being able to talk to Lil ‘Len, who is Rose's sunshine, has eased the burden in my heart a bit. However, I guess the guilt of that day would continue to remain with me…”

Putting this on the endnote, Furie finished her narration.

E/N - Furie’s story was unexpectedly heavy. Also has pretty heavy yuri vibes as well for you men of culture 😉