Chapter 1.3

Instincts, intuitions, and sixth sense, though similar, but they are three completely different things.

When you decide something and act without a need to think, that`s instinct.

When you understand something without the need for conscious reasoning, that`s intuition.

When you were given awareness that`s not explicable in terms of normal perception, that`s sixth sense.

My instinct only kicks in during dangerous situations, especially in a matter of life and death.

My intuition acts on solving problems and escapes, especially when dealing with awkward atmosphere.

My sixth sense is active when I`m in combat mode, especially against sneak attacks.

I placed all three of them under the same category— gut feeling.

There are certain situations where someone would tell you to 'trust your gut' or 'listen to what your gut tells you'. But your gut is actually a part of you and it doesn`t even speak, so I find 'relying on your gut' to be eerie— I`d rather trust my calm and collected brain. Though there are times I do rely on my gut, but that`s only when I`m unable to come up with a solution in my head, and your gut doesn`t always gives you what you want.

Here`s an example.

My instincts, is nearly submissive in fear on the girl who attacked me. If there`s a measurement, she would be a dragon (predator), and I would be her food (prey), who`s struggling pathetically to survive. My intuition has been telling to run away over and over again, but whenever there`s one, she cuts it off cleanly. Lastly, my sixth sense—

Though there`s nothing happening for a second here, but I took a step—

—to the right.

BOOM!

"Urgh!?"

Something came crashing down, next to me on my left, soundlessly— except when it crashed on the ground.

If felt like an earthquake had just happened for a moment.

Dusts and snow builds up. Now completely engulfed inside a pool of dusts and white mists, my vision is slightly blurred.

Whatever it is I just dodged, it`s big, and the power, perhaps is at least five times of the spear`s momentum plus the shockwave of the spear`s explosion. That`s how I felt. The impact is so strong that the ground sunken with a crater of a 6 metres radius.

As I look to the object at my left, it`s flat surface reflected my body starting from the chest and below, like a mirror.

…and here I was expecting an iceberg. It`s something more dangerous than that. It was a sword— no, an Excalibur, maybe ten metres long, and it`s made with her ice too.

What is she? An arsenal? How many weapons had she made?

Seriously, if I hadn`t move from that spot… this thing would`ve completely sliced me in half on the middle! What`s more, it`s a sneak attack! Is this woman seriously trying to kill me for real?!

Though attacking from the blind-spot is a strategy where everyone obeys, but—

"That`s cheap!" I inadvertently shouted.

"…You`ve sure got guts…"

Ugh.

Though she stood far from me, behind the sword, but I`m still able to hear her voice clearly.

…Better get away from her sword.

With that, I ran to my 2 o'clock— that`s when I heard her fingers snapping.

Thus, I looked back as I ran.

The Excalibur behind me immediately exploded, with its size of explosion three times larger compared to the spear`s. As it explodes, needles pass through the white mist created from the explosion, spreading out and flew everywhere.

Then, the girl pointed her special gesture on my direction. This means, the needles that originally aren`t aiming on me— all turns it`s trajectory to my direction.

When I came to realize, the speed of her needles is catching up. I can`t shake off her two-inch-long ice needles.

"…Dammit!"

Why?

Why can`t I shake it off?

It was clearly several notches faster than a few minutes before compared to her spears. Why was its speed so out of sight now?

Something wasn`t like a few minutes ago…

She changed her weapons, from spears to needles. But what of it? I`m sure there`s no relation of her controlling speed and weapon mass. The weight of her weapon wouldn`t have slowed it down. Her powers merely allow her to control ice…

And then I realized.

I realized my mistake.

Not the weapons— it`s me!

My body`s movements was dulled by the cold temperature. What`s more, with some of her ice and snow on my clothes, she`s controlling them to slow me down furthermore.

At this rate, no matter how fast I run, there`s a limit, and I can`t escape.

Her two inch needles will be catching me soon. I need to think of a way to escape unscathed.

But how…? How can I do that? Is there something I can do?

No choice. Let`s make a gamble.

I stopped. Then immediately prone on the grass.

Unable to make sharp turns, her needles flew past above me.

"…scatter." The girl commanded.

She`s not even giving me a chance to rest! What is she going to do this time...!?

The needles popped.

As every single needle pops one after another like a chain reaction, it transforms to a piece of feather, white as snow, floating around the air.

So am I going to get myself buried by feathers? But what`s the point in this?

I`m quite certain she`s unable to cast magic. And I`m sure feathers are harmless, but if those are coming from her, I wouldn`t be so sure about my analysis.

Though feathers are light, but they have mass and weight. If not interrupted by external force, they will be pulled down by gravity.

It took no time for one to land on me. To be precise, on the back my blazer.

As if the feather were poured with adhesive glue, they stick to my blazer and wouldn`t fall off no matter how hard I tried to shake it off.

It then changes to her usual ice roses afterwards, but smaller.

For her, I`m sure it wouldn`t have mattered. Her icicles will spread out all over by time.

Nevertheless, I can`t just stay here and get stacked by her feathers and ice roses. I need to get out of here.

I got up, and got myself a few more ice roses during the process.

But I can clean off the ice later, so I ignored it— no, perhaps it would be more accurate to say this is not the primary thing to deal with right now.

There`s something else that`s much more terrifying.

I lost sight of the girl, as well as her presence.

I can`t see well because I need to prevent the feather from entering my eyes. Those things are disturbing.

But that doesn`t mean I`m blind— so why is it I`m unable to see her anywhere. Where is she— no, where could she be?

"…die."

Behind!?

I immediately faced to the chilly voice that came from behind. But I saw nothing but her feathers.

Where is she?

A second passed, just as I was about to let down my guard— she suddenly appears among the feathers that was floating around. With a single-edged ice sword on her left hand, she slashed diagonally downwards from her left, showing no signs to stop her blade as if to cut my neck in one strike, with the intent to kill.

"Guh…!"

I immediately took a side step to the right and bend my waist in the same direction too, evading her blade just in time. But the wind pressure generated from her swing was so sharp, it gave me a chill as the sound ranged on my left ear.

Her first swing missed, so I`m sure she`s going to attempt for a second time. Then I immediately reached out my left hand, grabbing on her left upper arm—

—stopping her to swing back. Whoa. Oh my god.

Such a pleasuring feeling… such incredible tenderness and softness…! Is this even a normal human girl`s arm?

"…pervert…!"

The fierce voice struck upon my head, pulling me back to reality.

That`s the moment I saw a spear appearing in front of my face, point-blank range.

Shit…!

As for how much I don`t want to let go, but still I quickly retracted my left hand anyways, and did an anti-clockwise centrifugal twist to dodge her dangerous spear.

"���!"

That`s when I suddenly saw a chance, and quickly grabbed her spear with my right hand during the first quarter spin.

Completing the spin, I make use of the spinning momentum and swung the spear with a back hand strike on the ground as hard as I could.

BAM!

With the strike completely aiming on the ground, though the spear was sacrificed, but I managed to create a smokescreen thick enough to separate both of us. The smokescreen contains dusts, snow, white mists, and her feathers.

Finally, I got the chance— I got the chance to escape.

With that, I threw away the broken spear and rushed off, blowing past her. Though her spears are shooting from behind, but naturally I evaded it.

I ran.

I just ran.

Until I finally saw a building, until I finally reach it, then I stopped.

"(Huff)… (Huff)… How scary…!"

I was breathing heavily.

It`s not because I was tired.

I was scared, terrified.

W-What`s with that girl…!? She`s FREAKISHLY STRONG…! This isn`t what I expected it to be…!

At first, she summoned a snow-wave to test my ability, as well as to keep some distance. Then, she summoned 20 of her spears, using three of it to prevent me from escaping, and the rest of the seventeen to actually pin me. But I know, she wasn`t serious— she was just testing just to watch my reactions.

She then started her actual attack— increasing at least five times the amount of her spears and attacked from my blind spot. She gave me her spear on purpose, delaying the explosion just to give me a chance to fight back. But yet I threw it away, that`s why she got angry.

That`s when an Excalibur suddenly cuts down from behind, on my blind spot.

She knew I`m trying to escape afterwards. That`s why she made the Excalibur to explode, with a large amount of needles chasing me with an incredible speed— forcing me to prone immediately. Why did she know I would prone? Because it was the best choice to dodge most of the needles upon a scattering attack— and she keeps it up by turning her needles into feathers. The feathers, changing into ice roses are just a camouflage to distract my attention, approaching close to me with her scary footwork.

Strong in close combat is truly the last thing I`d expect from her. I didn`t expect her to be able to unleash such a slash with such precise accuracy, power, and lethality.

Perhaps she didn`t expect me to stop her by grabbing her arm. That`s why she had such an irritated reaction and calls me a pervert. She even summoned a spear in front of my face.

But compared to all of that, the scariest part about her is her perception and reaction speed. She`s constantly observing, predicting my every move as I react, countering and cancelling it with her attacks, as if she`s playing chess. And she`s not even serious either… She fought one-handed!

And her ice-made weapons didn`t break from one simple swing… it`s well made.

So… this is the power of another special student.

I knew the moment I realized her blazer`s colour. Because she`s wearing a white blazer too, the exact same white as mine.

But yet— are those words she whispered at the end… meant for me…?

'…is it really you…?' I heard it after I ran pass her.

…No. That can`t be. I must be mistaken. I`m sure I`ve never met her.

At any rate, I need to clear off the ice roses on me. Those on my hair are unexpectedly sticky… It hurts to pluck it off…!

'TIME LEFT TILL APPOINTED TIME: 1 MINUTE.' My device informed.

Damn, I`m going to be late. But that`s okay, the Student Council President`s building is just right in front of me. It`s the same as the picture.

I`m currently at the left side of the building. Then, the main entrance is probably at the other side facing to the other buildings.

Thus, I walk to the main entrance, clearing the rest of the icicles sticking on me at the same time.

"Phew… just in time."

I patted my clothes, getting rid the rest of the snow on me, then walks towards the main entrance as I fix my collar, tie, and sleeves.

As I step by the outside of the blurry glass door, the doors opened sideways, allowing me to enter.

"…!"

My foot immediately stopped from the surprise.

Isn`t this… just a lobby?

Wanting to observe clearly, I walked in.

The lobby is designed to act as a waiting place for the students before the appointment with their respective presidents… But—

—fancy chairs and tables are placed across the lobby, the ceiling was made of glass, there are high-class paintings hanged on the walls, ornamental plants for decorations and a beautiful crystal lamp on the centre of the ceiling.

HOW LUXURIOUS! HOW MUCH MONEY DID THEY SPEND ON THIS!?

Though this lobby looks just like my house, but I assume it`s large enough to fit in at least 100 students. But why does it need to fit so much people in the first place? It`s not like a whole group of students will be meeting with the presidents, and even if it is, I don`t think it will be packed even if it`s a busy season.

Huh. There`s a coffee maker machine over there. There`s all sort of coffee beans bred from different countries. Is that the reason?

Speaking of which, a fragrant smell had been bugging my nose for a while now. Because this sweet aroma… is not coffee.

It`s the fragrance of a tea— Chamomile tea; it seems someone made some.

Where is it coming from?

CLACK.

This sounds like someone placing a tea kettle. It`s coming from the right side from the main entrance.

Thus, my head reacted to the sound and faced it.

At the right end corner of the right side; a girl that was sipping a cup of Chamomile tea, caught my eye.

To be accurate— I was captivated.

From where she sat, her back is facing the window.

As sunlight shines in through the window, her long, white-blonde hair that weaved around her shoulders and waist reflects the light, sparkling and glittering beautifully. Like fairy dust, perhaps?

Plus, the way she sits and drinking her tea elegant is extremely alluring.

Are all the girls here extreme beauties? If the girl just now is gorgeous, then she`s pretty.

A black colour blazer… Is she S ranked…?

But, she`s the only person here. So…

"Erm…"

As if she already expected my arrival, she placed her teacup naturally on the saucer and faced my direction. Then— she stood up from the chair, walking towards my direction gracefully with a tender smile.

Click, clack, clack, click.

The click-clacking sounds from the heels of her shoes is in a moderate pace, echoing throughout the lobby.

We had been at least thirty steps away from each other, but now we were down to ten.

That`s when I`m able to look at her face clearly.

Her hair had a short braid, covering from the middle of her head and to extends till the left of her chin, tied with a black ribbon. She wore black lace gloves and lace stockings, covering every inch of skin below her neck. Adding the features of the tea, black ribbon, black laces gloves and stockings, this makes her emitting an aura of a noble.

Still, not a word. Only silence.

Can`t you at least say anything or at least something random? It`s really awkward.

Now we were down to three steps away.

"…?"

Yet— her walking pace does not show any sign to slow down at all.

"W-Wait! Stop! Too close!"

I said to her, placing both of my hands on her shoulders before her chest is going to come in contact with mine.

"Ahhn~!" A jolt shook her.

"Stop making that weird moaning sound like you are in heat!"

I`m not the kind of person who normally flings retorts at people I`m meeting for practically the first time, but she managed to draw one out of me.

"Oh my… I`m sorry. What an unthinkable thing to do. I was just so surprised… You suddenly grabbed my flesh, after all."

"'Flesh?' Come on."

Her shoulder.

"Allow me to make up for the faux pas with my body," she said. "I might pretend to resist a little, but it`s all a performance to make the scene more exiting, okay~?"

…God, she`s quite the character.

A bankrupt character like my little sis.

Is she even in a normal state of her mind?

"Have some shame, woman! Wait, do you even have one?"

"Obviously I have~ I had so much shame that I`m covering every inch of skin on my body except for my neck and face."

"Aren`t you supposed to cover your face when you were shameful?"

"Are you telling me to take it off? Oh my~ Aren`t you quite bold~?"

"Take what off!?"

"Any piece of my clothing to hide my shameful face."

In here? At the lobby?!

"Don`t do it! Are you trying to shame yourself even further?!"

"Which piece? My undergarments? But there`s two of it. Do you want the upper part or lower part?"

"I don`t care which part! I already said not to take anything off! Are you even listening to me?!"

She`s not even looking the least bit bashful!

"But I`m wearing a full set of black laces today. Do you want a full set~? It includes my gloves and stockings too~!"

"I said listen to me!!!"

"Yes~?"

"..."

Why am I struggling so much just to tell a girl not to take off her undergarments...?

For now, let`s just put that aside.

"Sorry for asking now… but who are you?"

"Shouldn`t you tell your name first before asking for someone`s name? But anyways, I`m more curious about your time with her~ So how is it~?"

"…Hah…?" It seems she`s already into something else. I can`t keep up.

What on earth is she talking about? Her? Could she mean her? The girl who attacked me? But I`m sure it`s at least a kilometre away from here so how did she know?

How was I supposed to respond?

What was I supposed to answer at a time like this?

"No comment? Hmm… but the principal highly recommended you. He even forced the school to admit your enrolment. Having authority sure is convenient isn`t it~?"

She`s already into something else…

So… the principal.

My enrolment.

Authority.

…She doesn`t look like it.

"Umm… are you by any chance the Student Council President who`s I`m supposed to meet up…?"

"Yes I am~" She replied as if it was the most natural thing to do. "By any chance will both of you end up in a romantic relationship~?" She continued.

Somehow I think she`s using 'by any chance' on purpose.

Okay… my reply.

"Impossible, I suppose."

My answer`s not supposed to matter anything to her, but she seems quite displeased with it.

"Fine then. So for how long are you going to caress my shoulders~? I don`t mind if you want to try somewhere else~ And I suggest you to be gentle while you were at it~"

Her way of tone is just like bragging.

Hold on. How long have I grabbed her shoulders?

"Ah, uh, sorry."

I quickly retreated both my hands and body backwards. However, she closed our distance again by moving forward, with our distance maintaining within one step.

"As a punishment, you are going to carry me to my room. You can grab here and here."

Left chest, buttocks.

She`s literally squeezing it with her palms.

This girl can really pull off such lines without a shred of embarrassment.

Don`t look down on me, woman. I`ve dealt against situations like these for many years!

THOK!

"Eeek!!?"

I landed a sharp blow— a karate chop on her head.

She was completely caught off guard.

She inadvertently let out a cute shriek and cradles her head at the same time.

But it seems to work too well. She`s in so much pain till she was on the verge on kneeling and crying.

Ugh.

I immediately regretted. I shouldn`t have hit her, the Student Council President. That`s the same as getting her reputation a good smack too.

"Um, sorry. I didn`t mean to hit so hard."

I stroke her head as an atonement.

"N-Ngh… I`m sorry with the jokes, please come with me."

…I`m really sorry.

She then guides me to the lift, where it`s at the right side of the lobby.

We entered. The system then scans for her badge as she passes through the door, then scans her thumb print when she presses the floor button on the lift. It authenticated her to her own personal floor, that is, fourth floor.

Judging from the buttons, there are only ten floors. I was expecting it to be around 30 floors when I looked from the outside. Perhaps the building design on the exterior confused my judgement.

And…

We were back to square one.

Awkward.

The same, usual, dreadful silence when I stepped into the lobby, staring at each other without saying a word. So—

Should I say something…?

Should I apologize again…?

Or should I ask for her name again…?

Anyways, aren`t we standing a little too close? Our arms are touching each other.

It seems she realized I`m staring at her. So in turn she stared back at me with an upward gaze.

"Erm… Could you stop caressing my head?" She said, with her cheeks slightly redden.

"Eh? Oh, oh, um, sorry. I didn`t realize."

Crap. I totally didn`t realize. How long have I stroked? This is embarrassing. Though she`s completely a healthy high school student, a human girl with a 16-year-old body. But I`ve been treating her like a little girl.

"Do I still look like a little girl to you…?"

"What?! Do you have telepathy? How on earth do you know what I`m thinking!?"

That`s impossible…! My body is immune to any kind of mind reading magic…!

"Don`t be silly. Of course I don`t. It`s all over on your face."

"My face? Really? Is it that obvious? That can`t be. Then what else am I thinking right now?"

"My cup size. Aren`t you a quite the pervert~?"

"Absolutely not!"

She`s slightly off the mark. But she`s good.

"Anyways, I will let you know just in case. It`s 70-D. But it`s not like you`d understood the number and letter~"

"Erm… I do, in fact. Your top bust measurement is 70cm with a D cup. Yeah sure they are pretty big… Are you sure it`s not 75-D?"

"Huh? Uwaawawawa…! W-Wh-Why do you know how to measure?! You really are a pervert! A beast!"

"How rude! You are even insulting the beasts! Some of the brassiere in this world are designed by men! Though I`m not a designer, but I still know how to measure a girl`s bust!"

"No men would design a bra or measure bust if there aren`t any woman around! You just wanted to feel a girl`s body! You are just a horrible, disgusting, filthy pervert!"

"Be careful with your words, lady! You have no idea how hard it is to keep in check on two girls who`s in their puberty period!"

"...Eww."

Such a despising stare.

It`s just a simple 'eww'. But why is it I felt so much disgust and loathsome in it?

"Ehem." I coughed. Hope this would brush off the conversation earlier. But why would I even talk about bust size and brassiere to a girl in the morning?! It`s her fault, it totally is! She`s been guiding the conversation all along!

It`s my turn.

"Earlier, what do you mean by 'still look like a little girl' just now?" I asked.

"…It`s nothing. You must be mistaken."

"..."

I`ve got nothing.

It ended.

It ended just like that.

And then— the lift opens. Revealing a classy looking hallway, with the design similar to the lobby.

"We are here~"

The fourth floor.

Though, the ceiling is merely around 9 foot if not mistaken. But it really feels like the elevator went up higher than expected.

"Don`t be sad~"

"Seriously, that was freakishly scary." That actually gave me a fright. "Why are you telling me 'don`t be sad' all of the sudden?"

"Well… because the conversation you started died off just like that. So…"

Too sharp. This girl is too sharp. Is she a knife or something?

"That`s rude. It`s a needle, at most."

"I think a needle`s even worse. You can cut, slice and stab with a knife, but now you are down to pierce only, which makes this even sharper— Hey! Now this is really scary! Just how many is it reflecting on my face!?"

"Umm… it`s all over on your whole body."

"What!? I just got a promotion!?"

Promoted from face to whole body.

"Don`t sweat the small stuff~ I`m just a bit better than reading body languages compared to most people~"

"You are practically seeing through it rather than reading it!"

��Thanks for the praise~"

"It`s not a praise! I need some privacy here!"

"But I like you."

"..."

Did she just confess to me?

Oh no, my pulse is rising.

Is this what Restia had gone through for more than several hundred times?

Something`s not right here. I just received a confession from a girl I literally met for the first time out of the blue, outside her personal office. Come to think of it, I don`t even know her name. What happened? Didn`t I ask for her name before?

"Oh my… That was rude of me. My name is Persia, nice to meet you."

"Took you long enough to introduce your name!"

And stop it! Stop reading my thoughts!

Wait. Did she say Persia?

No wonder.

Her gesture; her grace; her aura; her politeness.

"…The young mistress of the Silverlight family."

I vaguely remembered her name.

Persia Silverlight.

"..."

She`s all tensed up.

Her family, the Silverlight— are nobles, which means she`s a noble too. Their nobility was acknowledged by most countries worldwide. They are extremely famous— even someone like me who was nearly cut off from the society knows their name.

"...…I hate you."

And there we have it— an unhappy, sulking look.

Once people tend to know she`s a noble, those around her will act differently. You can`t blame her to refrain herself from speaking her name— her family name.

Social gap.

She doesn`t want the gap. She hates it. What she wants is equality. She wants a person who would view her nobility as something indifferent, that will treat her equally, like a friend would do.

Well. Aren`t you in luck?

"Make up your mind, woman. Like or hate? Don`t think because I know you are a mistress from the Silverlight family and I will flatter you like those despicable dunces."

"I love you~!"

She`s happy now. What a 180 degrees turn of attitude…

I stopped her from giving me a flying hug by grabbing her shoulders and press her on the ground.

"Just go in to your office already!"

We had been standing outside her office for a while, now.

"Meanie…"

After making sure she`d give up, I released her. She then faced the white metal door and authenticated herself through a face scan and voice recognition.

The door slides up automatically, revealing a vast and spacious room, allowing us to enter.

Then— Persia heads directly to her desk, I looked around her office as I walked.

A depiction of the Imperial Knights Academy`s school grounds, hung on the wall (as for what is the depiction is, I`m not interested). A beech wood conference desk with matching chairs, placed in front of the large window.

This feels like a boardroom of a large corporation. Even if she`s a Student Council President, it was still ridiculously huge for one person.

As Persia sat down at the head of the table with a practiced ease, the door closed.

"Enough sightseeing~? Please be seated~" She invited.

…She`s not even giving me a chance to say no.

I did as what she said and sat leisurely on the chair to her opposite. At the same time, she opens my personal data through her screen.

'First name: Lucifer

Last name: Nightwalker von Nightmare.

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Birth date: July 17'

"Geez, that`s it?" She said.

She did those on purpose. Perhaps she wanted me to fill in the blanks. Mobile number, country, address, city, etc. What do you want me to fill in? Stranded on an island? There`s nothing else I can fill in, so forget it.

"Mn…" She decided to give up.

After minimizing her screen, she placed her hands together and looked into my eyes with a serious expression.

Whoa. It totally doesn`t suit her casual and random image.

A serious atmosphere is building up.

"…Lucifer Nightwalker von Nightmare. Do you know why you were chosen to attend this academy?" She asked with a questioning gaze.

Her eyes narrowed.

…If this is what you want, then I will play along with it.

"To enjoy a high school life…? Ahaha…" I forcibly laughed.

I gave a bald-faced lie.

Obviously I needed to. I had my own reasons to come here. But then again, maybe I needed one after I`ve finish dealing with my problems. Or maybe I should just do both at the same time…?

"..."

My bald-faced lie received no reply from Persia. She then leaned back on her chair and sat leisurely. From the look of it, it seems she`s going to say something important.

"Within the school grounds of the Imperial Knights Academy, there`s a special white mansion located on a specific place— closest building to the pink drop tree, and isolated from any other facilities."

"…!?"

Is this… a story?

You are telling me a story all of the sudden?!

"This mansion was protected by a force field, as well as security systems and spy cameras to prevent any outsiders from entering within its territory."

Okay… now this feels a little familiar.

It can`t be that place, right? I even gave the force field a knock.

"Within it, lived a goddess— which her beauty was so overwhelming that it attracts tons of bad insects (stalkers and perverts) that`s around her, causing her nothing but head-aching problems. That`s why she spent her daily life inside that mansion, barely stepping out from it."

"A goddess? Is it a celestial god like the legends?"

"Of course not. It`s just her beauty is comparable to even a goddess."

A girl`s image suddenly pops up in my head.

…The girl who tried to kill me several moments ago.

"So she`s human?"

"Yes. And that very person, was known as the ."

Winter princess…? Is that a codename? But don`t people always name these types as or ?

…Right. I forgot.

The principal, that bastard is the one who gave them their codenames.

So what is she? A girl who takes over winter?

"Okay…? And why are you telling me all this?"

"You see… the academy`s rank have been dropping from the tournament since three years ago. The principal— our principal, searched for a solution to prevent it from dropping any further."

"Prevent it from dropping? Are you sure? I think he wants us to take the first place rather than prevent from dropping."

Perhaps I should`ve let the ranks drop even further after all.

"Well… we had a fellow student with an overwhelming potential this year which had a high chance to take the first place…"

"And the is that student with the overwhelming potential…"

Or else there`s no meaning from mentioning her.

"That`s right. We merely needed a compatible partner for the best, the strongest, the model student, the — Kuroyuki Shiroha."

Kuroyuki Shiroha.

A first year, and a name I`m over familiar with.

Perhaps, she was the only student I`d know even before I came here. Don`t be mistaken, I may know a few things about her, it doesn`t mean she know anything about me.

As for how I knew, I was told by the principal about her achievements as a Student Council President and a special student. It was splendid.

Though I`d heard her name, but I`ve never seen her in person— nor her face.

Nevertheless. The principal mentioned before… the reason for not letting me see her picture.

'Someone like you would`ve died from a simple cardiac arrest.'

Okay… perhaps she was hideous? He`d said there`s no need a match between her and my sisters.

"Your Ex-Student Council President." I remarked.

Unlike other high schools, the Imperial Knights Academy consists of three Student Council Presidents, one representative from each year. It is a system created mainly to lighten the work load.

The third year`s president is Gerald Elbertstein— I knew nothing about him.

The second year`s president is Scarlet Night— I knew nothing about her.

As for the first year`s president— it was originally lead by Kuroyuki Shiroha, but she resigned from her post four months ago. And now the person who took over her place is Persia, who was her vice president during that time.

When Kuroyuki Shiroha is in charge, the whole group merely consist of only two people (Kuroyuki Shiroha and Persia Silverlight), which they even managed to do their tasks better than the second years and third years.

"You really were informed well by the principal…"

"Not really. If you didn`t told me I wouldn`t know she`s the ."

"Is that so? I thought the reason you fought against her because you knew she`s the strongest and wanted to test your strength…"

"Eh?"

Say again? Fought?

"Oh my… You really do not know… You have my deepest salute~!"

"W-W-W-What!? T-T-T-That girl I fought is Kuroyuki Shiroha?! The ?! The strongest student!?"

Such a big mistake…! Lucifer Nightwalker…! Why didn`t you realize it…!? No wait… She did mention her name before…! It`s because I got so stressed out because of her request that I`d forgotten about it…!

…My heart really ached. Damn it, I hate it when he`s right.

"Eh~ Now I`m curious. Is she hard to handle~?"

"Hard? You must be joking, right? She held back on purpose!"

Persia paused for a moment.

"Eh… You noticed right away… So that`s our difference… No wonder you are recommended."

"That`s our difference…? This means you had a duel with her before…?"

"Yes… I fought and lost miserably. Then later I found out she was holding back…"

She deliberately lets out a discouraged sigh.

"This seems painful. How long have you managed to hold on?"

"…Exactly one minute."

Ouch.

"Wait. Aren`t you S ranked!?"

"No, I`m just a sad and pathetic C ranked student."

"Even if you want to lie, shouldn`t you at least change the colour of your blazer?"

"Oh. So you knew… But even if I`d change my blazer right here, right now and even strip to my nude in front of you… I don`t think I`d feel any different from being a C ranked student…"

Double ouch.

Her eyes are getting listless too.

She`s so disheartened from that duel she wouldn`t mind stripping herself to nude and brand herself as a C ranked student.

…I decided not to comment on the 'stripping' part.

"…If the gap between C rank and S rank is like crossing a road, then the gap between S rank and Kuroyuki Shiroha is like climbing over a fire mountain and swimming across a sea of ice." She added.

Exaggerating.

But then again, her exaggeration actually might not be that exaggerating. After all, even against me, she fought with ease.

…Scary.

Speaking of which…

"If you are an S ranked student, then what`s hers? Wait, what`s my rank?"

"…Ah. I almost forgot you just transferred here today."

"Hmm. Okay… I know I need to pass the enrolment test or something."

"The principal allowed you to skip the paper test."

"Really… Now that`s convenient— hold on. Paper test? There`s something else?"

"Yes. There`s a practical fight test too you needed to take."

"Practical fight test? Don`t tell me I`m going to fight one hundred opponents at the same time…"

I will definitely fail if it`s like that. Wait a second… if it`s him, he might actually make me to fight one hundred of them at the same time.

"If it`s like that, then I think anyone would`ve failed… except Kuroyuki Shiroha."

Persia is serious about it. It seems she really respect her really much.

"So when should I take the test?"

"Oh my… I forgot I was supposed to take you there… let`s go now."

She stood up, then make her way to the door.

I followed behind.

"For a Student Council President, aren`t you quite careless and forgetful?" I said.

Persia, who was halfway to her door stopped suddenly, then faced me with a genuinely surprised look.

"I see… So this is what you want." she said, "If you`d like to criticize me, then go ahead, criticize to your heart`s content."

She said with a look acted as if she`s full of shame.

"…Uh, I wouldn`t over something this minor…"

"I can tell by your face you are itching to complain. If something you want to say, then why not say it like a man? I`ll get naked and get down on all fours to apologize to you on the middle of the city, if that`ll make you happy."

"Are you trying to make me out to be the most disgusting man on earth!?"

As if I`d let her do that in the middle of the residential area.

Plus, I not interested in her grovel in the first place.

"Getting down on all fours naked," she said, "is a small price to pay to make Lucifer Nightwalker von Nightmare known to the world over as the most disgusting man alive."

"Your pride is the only thing here that`s cheap."

"But I'd be keeping just my stockings on," she added.

"You say that like a punchline to wrap this up, but I'm not into weird stuff."

"And by stockings, I mean fishnets stockings."

"Getting more extreme doesn't change a thing..."

Though on second thought. Even if I wasn't into that, a part of me did want to see Persia, specifically, in fishnet tights— she wouldn't even have to be naked. I mean, if she wore regular clothing in this fishnet stockings...

"…That's the face of someone thinking improper thoughts, Lucifer."

"Who, me? Do you really see me in such a vulgar light, a guy whose motto is mostly 'the straight and narrow'? I can't believe you'd say that about me, Persia."

"Oh? I believe I've always been saying these things about you. Whether I have proof or not. It's very suspicious that though you rejected the claim outright, but yet you're imagining it for the first time."

I forgot. She`s able to tell.

"Gulp..."

Because it happened before.

No matter what, I will protect Restia`s honour.

"So forcing me down on all fours to apologize to you naked isn't enough, you want to write obscene things across every inch of my body with permanent marker?"

"l wasn't going that far!"

"Then how far were you going?"

"Um, anyway, Persia," I brusquely changed the topic. "So where will we be going?"

"The basement. The training room."

"Let`s go! Let`s go already!"

I pushed her from behind with both of my hands. Though she refused to move at first, with her shoes sliding on the floor as I pushed, but because of my strength, she eventually gave up and walks.

"So Persia, how do I pass the practical fight test?"

"Mnn… I think I will tell you when we get there. For now, perhaps I will explain about the class division system and ranking system to you."

"Sure."

From what Persia explained, Imperial Knights Academy is a school that has implemented unique, first-in-the world educational systems. It is a school that is outfitted with the newest and most exuberant facilities. Of course, it is a very harsh school. If one wants to have a decent learning environment, then one must get good grades. This is the fate of the students who attend the academy.

Their fate was decided by two main systems.

Firstly, the class division system. Their class division is determined based upon the results of the enrolment test, which we have the paper test and practical fight test. According to their scores, the students are assigned to one of the sixteen classes, from Class S, the best, to Class C-6, the worst.

For the paper test, the students with an overall mark between 0 and 39 are ranked C, 40 to 59 are ranked B, 60 to 79 are ranked A, 80 to 100 are ranked S. Though, there`s an interview session included, and most of the marks were given by the principal (which he was the only interviewer, he interviewed more than 4000 students), and he`s the one who decides who leaves and stays. That`s why we had a mark of zero as the lowest, that`s actually the minimum score he gives for passing.

By the way, I was told by Persia that my paper test was placed at Rank S by the principal. Though I hate him, but he`d at least approve me that much.

As for the practical fight test, I will know later.

Now, the ranking system.

The ranking system is separated to two sub system, academic results and duels.

The first sub system, academic results. In every semester, every student must attend every tests and quizzes, those who failed in either one of the quiz or test will be expelled from the academy without a doubt. Though, the maximum marks for normal test are 100 marks, but it seems the final exam on each semester works entirely different.

Within time limit of one hour, the students are allowed to answer as many questions as they want, and there`s no limit to their maximum marks. In the final results, the total marks in every subject are all added together, obviously, the higher the marks, the higher your rank.

The second sub system, duels. In order to encourage students to be physically fit, a duel system is created. No matter how great you are in a fight, you`d get expelled whenever you failed your exam. So the duel system it is more like an extra system to let you raise your ranking, and it`s not really necessary to participate in it. You can choose whether you want or not, but surely, there`s a benefit in raising your rankings.

The class you were placed could be changed afterwards, depending on your school ranking in the Imperial Knights Academy. As for how to change, just defeat an opponent who`s in a higher class rank but with a lower or same academic result. The system will record every data during the duel and judge your performance, then the principal will decide whether you were allowed to transfer or not.

Normally if you win, he`d approve without hesitation. The opponent`s rank will surely be lowered, but as for how much it drops it all depends on his performance during the duel. If it was a close call for him, then he might`ve been dropped to just one rank below you. If it was an instant win for you, then his rank will be lowered drastically and even get demoted to a lower ranked class.

If you lose, then he`d check on your performance through the system`s recorded data. If your performance is better than your latest results, then he might transfer you to the upper class and just a rank below your opponent. If you were defeated instantly, your ranking remains unchanged. Nevertheless, once you lose, there will be a cooling period for 3 months, and you can only challenge again after 3 months.

The ranking system is updated each day.

"That`s practically the gist of it." Persia concluded.

By the way, we are now riding the lift to the lowest floor, the basement.

"Such a long way down."

We`d been going down for quite some time already.

"Because it`s 260 feet below the ground." Persia replied.

That`s pretty deep. Is that really necessary?

"Come to think of it, you said the fourth floor is your personal floor— then what about the others?"

"The fifth and sixth floor are the second and third year president`s floor. The seventh are meeting rooms. The eighth, ninth and tenth floor are all the principal`s working place, not everyone is able to access those floors."

Well, I can.

"What about the second and third floors?"

"They are for the club presidents. But they rarely use their offices."

"I see…"

Perhaps I understood why there are so many seats at the lobby. It`s for the club members and the executives of the Imperial Knights Academy.

"You don`t seem to be interested in clubs." She said.

"I just don`t feel like joining it."

"Aren`t you just lazy?"

"If I had anything shortcoming, then being lazy will be the last thing on that list."

"I don`t know if it`s the last one or not, but I`m sure being perverted is the first on your list."

"Nonsense! You are the pervert! You even squeezed your body in front of me— who just transferred here today!"

"But don`t boys like this kind of stuff?"

"I already said I`m not into weird stuff! And those only applies to boys! I`m a man!"

"Eh… Only idiots say that to themselves. When the time comes, will you actually able to resist? Don`t look too highly upon yourself."

"…You are wrong. I don`t think highly of myself— I`m referring to experience."

"So this is the reason why you are a virgin for the rest of your life…" She said it on purpose just to tease me.

"..." But I did not answer— nor fling any retorts.

If there`s an answer, then…

Perhaps, maybe, probably, perchance, possibly— I will die as a virgin. Because— a few months is all the time I have left— or even less… But I`m quite sure I still have time left till next month. Not even Restia and Ruby, who are the closest to me knew the fact about this.

I don`t look like the type who`s waiting to die, right? Indeed, I`m not. I need to be strong-willed. I had all the more reason to be, though my job to be so had already finished its original objective. Now I`m merely spending the rest of what`s left of the time, risking my chance to come all the way here to find a solution.

Oh. We reached the basement.

The lift opens, revealing a large and long hallway that seems to have no end to it. But as we exit the lift, the conveyer belt below us activates and brings us forward, that is, towards what Persia said earlier— the training room, where I will be taking one of the enrolment exam, the practical fight test.

We are moving quite fast on the belt. It will reach by no time, I guess.

"The training room is just in front~" Persia said.

"Hmm… so what will I do there? You told me it`s a practical fight, so what will I be fighting? Robots? Or maybe automata?"

"To be exact, those things you will be fighting are holograms."

Holograms?

"It seems a question`s bothering on your mind right now. There`s no need to worry, you will know later when you enter the room." She added.

Is she trying to be mysterious or just thinking it was a bother to explain?

"Who, me? Do you really see me in such a philistine light, a girl whose motto is 'honesty, openness and sincerity?' I can't believe you'd think that about me, Lucifer."

Her motto is basically the synonym to the straight and narrow. Personally, I think her openness is shooting over the charts.

"Stop reading my body language, don`t change my words and don`t talk like me!"

"Eh… that`s too much to demand. It`s quite the hassle, don`t you think? I think you should just pick one and try again, and I recommend you to pick me~"

"Huh?" I don`t really get it. "And what if I pick you?"

"Then you`d get a girlfriend."

Persia made a show of waiting a measured pause, of getting her timing right before continuing.

"I will become yours if you demanded. Personally, I think I`m cute. So don`t you think this is quite a cheap deal?"

'Become yours' she said.

"I will do anything you wanted as your girlfriend. E-Even giving my first time to you…" She added.

She gazed away from me with her face reddens. I guess this is the limit for her to continue on the sexual stuff.

"I hate to break it to you, but��� seriously, who taught you all this censored stuff!?"

"Eh…? Uwaa….! I meant my first kiss! What were you thinking? Your brain`s the dirty one!"

"Huh?! You are fine with touching your important parts but not kissing!? What sort of common-sense is that!? You can`t blame me! Your words are extremely confusing from the start!"

"Touching my chest, butt or thig— never mind. All of this is merely an act of sexual desire, an act of lust…! But a kiss… a kiss is a sign of love!" She`s serious about it.

Did she avoid to mention thigh just now? So she`s fine with her chest and butt but not her thigh. Quite mixed up.

"M-My thigh is sensitive." She added— with a bashful look.

I decide to ignore that remark by staying silent.

…For some reason, she pouted afterwards.

"So what you mean is… it`s something like love at first sight?" I asked.

"It`s not something as cheap as that."

…She`s dead serious.

"But we literally met for the first time. It`s hard to imagine it`s something other than 'love at first sight'."

"I told you before, I`m slightly better on reading body languages compared to most people."

"No, you are practically seeing through it."

"Now you understand, right?"

That means… She saw through me— she saw through my personality and likes me for who am I am.

"I appreciate it Persia, but…"

But—

What she saw was only a 'part' of me. No matter how skilful she`s able to see-through, there`s no way for her to be able to see through the other part of me.

"…I can`t accept your feelings."

"Meh. I knew you would say that." She said with a calm and collected expression.

She`s not feeling the least bit sad at all. Why am I not surprised?

From the beginning, it seems she already expected the answer—no, it was more like she knew the answer. So why did she do so? Why had she asked? There might be something else. Something hidden within those lines she told me.

But by the time I wanted to get more info out from her, we`d already reach at the end of the road.

There`s a metallic door. A large one, locked. It`s size is more like those meant to let several hundreds of people to enter at the same time.

"Please wait for a moment." Persia murmured.

Persia walks forward to a square target, and authenticated herself afterwards.

'WELCOME, PRESIDENT. PLEASE ENTER.' The system informs.

The large door then slides upwards.

"That`s the waiting room." Persia told me.

Now, there are two glass doors ahead.

"Now then, please step inside to this room~ I will be watching from up there~" She said.

"Okay…?" I replied.

I walked to the room on the right as the glass door opens by sliding to the left.

The glass door then closes after I went in.

"Oh..."

The training room.

The ceiling was vaulted, the room itself is as spacious as having two football fields together. The walls and floor are made with innumerable hexagonal patterns placed side-by-side. The door`s opposing end are made of glass— and it seems behind it, there`s a bunch of workers operating the system.

"H-Hello? Lucifer, can you hear me~?"

From the intercom where Persia is standing, her voice can be heard behind the glass.

Yeah, right— from the intercom.

…How should I respond? Are you expecting me to react? Should I talk like normal, shout, or wave my hand? Damnit, this feels weird. I refuse to react.

.........

"…Erm. You can just talk like normal, I can hear you."

Good. It seems she realized.

"Ah." I then replied.

"Now then, I will now explain about the practical fight test." She said.

From what she vaguely explained, this exam is just like inside a virtual reality game. Though they say virtual-reality, this is more like reality-virtual.

The requirements to pass this exam is simple. It`s just to defeat the incoming hologram opponents projected by the system and get as many kills as you can, and avoid from being hit for more than 10 times. If the hologram`s weapons touches you, the pain stimulus will be triggered— inflicting pain on that very part it touches you. The pain is enough to make you kneel down, if it`s too much, you can surrender as you wish. Though, it seems no one is able to bear the pain for more than 3 times.

BEEP.

Someone from the behind the glass seems to press a button.

A pair of black metallic coloured gloves appeared on the centre of the room, floating around my chest height.

What?! Gloves?

I took it.

There are some silicon wires and circuits attached in the inside and the outside of it, but how the heck do I use these?

Whatever, let`s wear it first.

It doesn`t fit my size either.

"So…?" I asked as I faced the glass window, pointing at the glove with my right forefinger.

"Ah…! Erm… these gloves are linked to your nervous system inside your brain. Just imagine a weapon that you wanted, and it will be installed on the glove. It is only limited to 10 weapons at most. But just in case, if the image of your weapon is not clear enough, weird things will come out. So… do your best~!"

The gloves adjusted to my size afterwards.

"Okay then…" I murmured.

Let`s start with something simple— a pistol.

Pixels slowly appeared from the gloves, installing the weapon that I imagined in my mind.

Wow. It really came out!

I grabbed the pistol. That appeared in front of my glove.

It has weight, how realistic!

To test it out, I pulled the trigger— but it won`t butch at all. I can`t dissemble it either.

It seems my image isn`t clear enough. How about this then…?

A barrel, slide with forward sight, rear sight and ejection port, grip with a magazine well, take down level, magazine release button, trigger guard, tang, magazine with a magazine spring, and bullets…

…constructing complete!

Once more, I pulled the trigger— BANG!

With a slight recoil, a bullet fired from the gun barrel. As it hits the wall, it disappeared.

"D-Did you just imagined a pistol…?" Persia asks from the intercom.

"Eh? Aren`t I supposed to fight with guns…?" I asked.

"Ah no. That`s not it. Now are you ready?" Persia brushed it off somehow.

"Wait…!" I shouted.

"Eh?"

"Erm… you know, can you put a specific person`s head on the hologram? I think I`m able to go all out if it`s his face."

"Sorry… it can only project of rough image of a humanoid."

Too bad. If I put the principal`s head on the hologram, then I will be shooting him and laughing at the same time!

"It`s fine then… let`s start!"

'START!'

There`s not even a countdown.

"LEVEL ONE." The system informs.

A humanoid figure appeared. Judging it`s distance, it seems to be around 80m away. But his weapon surprised me. Though it`s a rough image, but I can tell it is a large sword.

Now then. It says level one. Though it says level one, but is it weak?

Time to test it out.

BANG!

'HEADSHOT.' A screen displayed above the hologram that was shot.

After the hologram was knockdown, it disappeared with some pixel effect.

…Surprisingly weak. It didn`t even react.

…let`s just fool around.

After a second the first hologram disappeared, the second one appeared— from behind. But nevertheless, the range is still 80m away.

It`s weapon changed to a spear.

BANG— I shoot a bullet through its head. It disappeared.

After a second, a hologram appeared— holding a dagger.

...Damn, this is so freakishly stupid and boring!

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!...

And this repeated for another 47 times (different weapons as it changes) until it reached level 2.

Level 2.

The holograms now appeared at five different places at the same time. They might be able to make it if I attack with only one pistol, I quickly imagined for another pistol and shoot their heads with ease with a dual-pistol attack.

By the way, there`s no difference in their power compared to level one. But after one died, another one appeared. So I shoot them with an irritated look for another 45 headshot kills.

Level 3.

This time it went back to one hologram. And now I was surprised— he`s holding a freaking assault rifle!

BANG!

I reacted before it could shoot. But it did not react against my bullet or anything. So it was a disappointment.

And so, I took this slightly seriously for another 49 kills.

Level 4.

A group of 5 with guns?

One sniper, one pistol, two rifles, and one grenade launcher… Damn, this is tricky. Better run around.

I shot two, and ran to dodge the bullets. And shot another two, and ran to dodge some bullets. After I repeat this process for another 3 times, I felt annoyed. Then on a vague impulse, I installed five flying swords and stabbed them with a god-like speed in one go as they appeared.

Luckily, the system acknowledges flying weapons.

Level 5.

One hologram appeared (I`m not interested in any melee weapon now). Though it`s holding a melee weapon, but I can tell it`s a veteran from it movements.

I pulled the trigger, it`s able to block with his weapon. Then I shot with two bullets at the same time— and it died. What a let-down, how disappointing.

Then— a hologram appeared.

Hmm…? What is he holding…?

An assault rifle, and he fired.

"Not good…!"

I quickly reacted and ran to avoid the bullets just in time.

Shit…! I don`t want to get shot…!

Because of the arrangement earlier, I didn`t expect the hologram to be holding a gun. My reaction was immediately dulled due to the unexpected.

I quickly controlled 3 swords to block some of the bullets from the rifle, and installed a circular shield large enough to cover my whole body, just in case if the next one was using guns too.

I moved the transparent shield in front of the swords, and it works perfectly well enough to shield me from all of the bullets. Since it`s transparent blue, I can hide behind the shield and attack it with my swords.

But as for the rest that came afterwards, I killed them with the pistols.

Level 6.

It`s a group of five again. But they act more like they were in a group now. Now they proceed steadily in a formation, with 2 vanguards and 3 rear guards, with both melee weapons and guns. Though my pistol is able to kill one of them, but their intense attacks forced me to hid behind my shield.

Seems like those pistols are useless for now, but luckily I still have my swords. Thus— I`m able to kill them.

Level 7.

BANG! BANG!

As long as they are alone, I won`t have too much problems with it— level 5 was an exception, okay?

Level 8.

Now this is surprising. They were able to defend against my sword attacks. Let`s just take it down one-by-one…

I controlled five of the swords and stabs it on one hologram, and thus killed it.

It takes time a slightly longer time compared to before, but after 50 kills—

Level 9.

BANG!

CLANG! (The sound of bullet hitting the wall)

The heck!? It swiftly avoided my bullet!?

I quickly added 4 more shots.

It dodged and blocked my bullets with his assault rifle without a sweat. Yeah, right— because it`s a hologram.

My pistols won`t work anymore.

I quickly uninstalled the pistols and focus on controlling the swords behind my shield. Since there`s only one hologram, it didn`t last long against my sword attacks.

Level 10. (MAX LEVEL)

Now this is troublesome. I`m currently at a stalemate.

Though they were a group of five. Their teamwork is outstanding— completely on sync. Not only they were able to help each other to defend against my flying swords, they were able to shoot me with their guns at the same time.

The flying swords aren`t strong enough… Though I already added another two of them.

To break through that defence… I need a powerful attack.

Yeah… like what she did to me.

Sacrificing my swords, I installed a flying Excalibur, the size like what the girl— Kuroyuki Shiroha tried to kill me with.

With a sway of my hand, the Excalibur slashes horizontally, cutting all the holograms to half in one go. The rest of the 45 holograms were staying in the same formation, I killed them using the same tactic over and over again, hiding behind my shield.

But after doing the same thing for more than thousands of kills, I felt fed-up. Like the time when it was level one.

Dang. This is stupid.

"Alright, I give up!" I declared.

The holograms, no— everything within the area of the hexagonal field came to a halt. My installed weapons too stop to move, and then disappeared with a pixel effect.

"Please leave the gloves back on the magnetic field please before you wait outside."

Thus, I removed the gloves and placed it back. Then the glass door slides open.

As I exit to the waiting room, a tall glass cup placed on a magnetic floating lid was sent in front of me. Since I was feeling thirsty as well, I took it and drink to quench my thirst. I haven`t been drinking a drop of water since 3am. I then simply took a sit on a random bench.

What was this test all about? It`s not as difficult as I think it was. Maybe it was supposed to be easy, after all— my enrolment as a special student was already decided a few months back. That guy, the principal is manipulating my enrolment behind the scenes.

But what`s with the make-up reason for me to enrol!? Why pair me up with such a terrifying girl!?

"...?"

Someone gently tapped on my shoulder.

I quickly raised my head, but I saw no one— and look to my left and realized it was Persia— who is looking at me with a smile.

…I didn`t noticed her at all. How is she able to move without making a sound?

I placed the cup back on the floating lid, and it makes it way back. I`m not sure to where, but I guess it might probably get disinfected first.

"Hey~ You aren`t tired at all, aren`t you~?" Persia said.

"Well obviously I am. See? I look completely exhausted."

"Mentally exhausted, you mean? Your expressions felt like you`d just been through a lecture."

"Worse than it. Actually, Persia— why are we waiting? Aren`t the results supposed to come out the moment it ended?"

"Well, well. The system is calculating your strength through estimation mode you know~?"

"...Estimation mode? Estimating what?"

"It`s a system that predicts your result, assuming when you were at your tip top condition. I know you were able to go way higher than just that, so I told the workers to calculate using that mode."

"Hmm… Why not just let it be?"

"Because you are fooling around, aren`t you~? You aren`t the least bit serious."

A displeased smile. It seems she hates that.

"Ahaha… You found out." I tried to laugh it off but it doesn`t seem to work.

By the time things are getting awkward, Persia`s screen suddenly popped up in front of her— showing a bunch of letters and numbers.

"Excuse for a moment." She said.

She reads what`s on the screen, and inadvertently murmured—

"Oh my…"

"So what`s my result?"

Since the principal is manipulating behind the scenes, so I guess whatever the result is wouldn`t have mattered. I will be a special student anyways. I`m not really interested, so I skipped the details and ask the person instead.

"2721 kills and estimated 13600 kills." She answered as she pouted her cheeks.

"Okay… What does this mean? Why are you pouting your cheeks anyways?"

Perhaps I understood why she did that. She`s sulking. I`m sure that number had a high value.

"Pfft..."

Suddenly, Persia placed her fingers on her mouth and looked away— it`s as if she`s trying to hold back from the laughter.

Okay, so I was wrong. She was trying to hold back from the laugh.

"...Ehem."

I deliberately coughed to make her come back to her senses. And as soon as she realizes that, she quickly looks at me with an evil grin on her face.

"I will let you know about the practical battle ranks now~" She said.

"Huh. You are up to something, aren`t you?"

"Must be your imagination."

I doubt that.

"For Rank C, 0-200 kills. Rank B, 201-300 kills. Rank A, 301-400 kills and Rank S, 401-1000 kills." She said.

"My estimated results are higher than the S ranks maximum kills for 13 times." I murmured to Persia.

…I had a bad feeling of this.

"Just out with it, Persia." I uttered.

"Since your results is overwhelmingly high compared to Rank S and just 5 kills lower than the highest record, 13605…"

"Hold it. Don`t tell me the 13605 is from Kuroyuki…"

"Correct~ Adding up your results from the paper exam and calculate, then congratulations!" Persia said with excitement as she grabs and shakes my hand.

No, wait. Does Rank S even have a maximum value? I must be mistaken. Because that was the highest it goes. That means I will be a Rank S special student.

"Then I will be in your care." I said.

"Sorry, but you are not with me."

Persia instantly stopped me from my conclusion.

"Eh? I`m not with you?"

"Since we had a special case this year, the principal did a slight alteration towards the academy`s system this year. He established a special building solely just for that special student."

"Don`t tell me..."

I inadvertently murmured when the conclusion came into my mind, and Persia cleared away my doubts.

"Yes, you are right~! Special student number 2! Starting from today, you will be learning and living at the special building. Your classmate will be our legendary , Kuroyuki Shiroha~!"