One After Another

Opening the door was a girl with sky blue hair around shoulder length and golden brown eyes, wearing the same uniform as mine, now that I've thought of it— I've been wearing the same black uniform as the others instead of the white one and almost half of the other students too as well.

It doesn't seem like it's a way to differentiate nobility though.

Although I was confused as to why this person would come all the way just to see me looking at Tatiana's expression, her seething anger towards the girl was almost bursting if I weren't holding her hand stopping her from just outright exploding on the nameless girl.

The girl, on the other hand, seemed pretty flustered at first and understandably scared of Tatiana, who was expressing her disdain.

From what I can understand, this was the girl I bumped into...?

"I... I mean no trouble!" The way she speaks is awkward too.

"I-I-It... was just a spur of the moment!" Fidgeting her fingers as she scrambles to find the right words to say while walking in the tightrope that is Tatiana's fiery wrath.

"Spur of the moment? From what I heard, you screamed like your life depended on it," Tatiana growled, glaring as she tried to size her up. "That little act led us straight to this!" Her hands motioned over me as if I was some kind of disaster.

"I d-didn't mean to!" She responded, clearly intimidated by Tatiana's anger as it almost felt like she shrunk down to the size of a rat.

"... T-truth be told ... I'm just... afraid of any interaction... I couldn't control it!" She added, hiding her face with her hands, avoiding any means to look at us.

With the way she talks, I wouldn't even doubt it.

But truth be told, that scream still was an overreaction; I mean, Elric's face isn't attractive, but it isn't ugly either; it's just meh.

"... I see. With the way you talk, it seems like you're not lying either. Your posture is awkward. You can barely hold a conversation afloat, and most importantly you barely looked at us the moment you got here." Without hesitation, I let out what I thought of her just from this mere barely an encounter.

Those struck her like powerful bolts of lighting as if it wasn't already obvious in the first place.

She knelt defeated while Tatiana looked over me with a look asking if I went overboard or too much as if she wasn't just gonna rip this girl's head off soon.

Physically hurting her is fine, but emotionally, it's suddenly a crime!?

The [System] better have a [Skill] on making me understand the logic of these women or, even better, the logic of this era.

Either way, I didn't want to make this issue even bigger or linger around it; I have other things to focus on, for example, training, so when I'm receiving punches, I wouldn't pass out quickly.

"Honestly just go already... If it makes you feel any better, I already forgive you since you're not the one who delivered me into this... uh?" I think I forgot where on earth I am.

Definitely not my room so it has to be the academy's clinic?

Tatiana tilted her head before she realized way too late that she forgot to inform me about my whereabouts and what time is it already.

"Forgive me, Young Master!" Tatiana immediately prostrated on the floor as if she made a grim mistake. "I should've been more careful!"

The girl, god bless her, who still hadn't introduced herself, appeared genuinely startled as she fumbled for words. Her expression shifted to one of disbelief when presented with this outrageous act from Tatiana.

Shifting her gaze towards me as if I wasn't some kind of twisted pervert like the ones from the rumors reveling in this fantasy of mine that I put upon my maid.

Like the hell it is!

"S-s-so you're really that k-kind of... pervert... (must get away, must get away!)" She started trying to go for the door for escape before I stopped her from spreading any rumors, but it didn't help that Tatiana continued prostrating as if she just murdered someone on my behalf.

"Don't think about that stupid stuff come on! I'm not that kind of person!" I responded to her immediate reaction. "Oi you can stop that now!" I ordered Tatiana in the hopes of saving me from this mess that I didn't even have control over.

...

It took a while to convince both parties to stop making assumptions about me, and I sat them both down so we could have a proper conversation like people.

Being a knight was way easier than this; all I did was just swing my sword, and all of my problems disappeared.

"Look, Tatiana... I wouldn't even put it against you— you're simply excited that I woke up so I could understand that alright?" I reassuringly said to her.

"And... you... uh?" I looked clueless as I suddenly realized the fact that she hadn't introduced herself, so I didn't know what to call her.

"... Err... the name's... Isolde from the Varneth family..." She replied awkwardly, scratching the back of her while stuttering in between her words, understandably so when you're in front of the renowned pervert of the academy.

"... So Isolde, I don't have anything to say to you besides I guess I forgive you?" Now that I've thought of it, I, myself, don't even know how to make a proper conversation.

So much for being able to make one, I don't even know what kids these days are after and what's popular.

"... Thank you... I guess." She let out a sigh as if she was saved from the grim fate of becoming the victim of my perversion, which genuinely horrified me as I wondered to what exactly the extent of Elric's crimes.

But frankly, I'm quite insulted!

She patted her thighs as she stood up to make the exit, but before she did, "Also... I guess to make up for it — If you don't... have a partner in the Iaross Convergence Exams this... upcoming Friday... I-i-i can be!" She said immediately hurrying out of the door.

What the hell was her problem? And Iaross Convergence Exams?

On Friday? This thing is getting me even more confused.

Tatiana looked at me with concern but seemingly she wanted to hide it but she had no choice before telling me what's the Iaross Convergence Exams, "Master, the Iaross Convergence Exams is the Exam for the first years to filter out those who are capable of enough to proceed the Academy in addition to your academic knowledge." She looked a bit hesitant to tell me this information towards me, but she continued.

"Students will be paired up, and sometimes there are several occasions that students will go solo if they're confident of their skills, which the Academy allows and... it will be a survival of the fittest." She added while looking to the side.

Oh, so no problem then? I'll just harvest my skills in time and push this body to its limits until it adapts properly to my harsh training.

But Tatiana followed up.

"Uhm... Young Master..." Said looking down on the ground a sweat falling down from her forehead.

I responded with a questioning look thinking I missed something else important.

"I forgot to tell you... not only the time but... how long have you been unconscious from that beating alone." She can't be serious.

Why do I feel dread coming from her words? But it can't be that long, right? I can't be! I still need time to train!

"H-hey... It's still Monday, right? Right!?" I still need time to prepare my skills! I have to hone them and obtain them all!

"Forgive me, Young Master, but... you've been unconscious for 3 consecutive days, including Monday." She said breaking the whole news as if she didn't want to disappoint me.

I'm doomed.

To be unconscious for consecutive days like that is extremely appalling from my perspective as a knight.

A day or two is fine but three from just that alone?

This body can't be this weak from those punches alone, wait, no one can be that weak! Unless you count...

I can't say this in front of Tatiana, so my mind, please work!

[Status Interface Open!]

And so it did, god I'm so good at this!

[Status Interface]

Name: Elric von Eisenwald

Title: Academy's Pervert, Disgrace of the Eisenwald, Dropout Knight, Elias's Punching Bag

Age: 19

Class: Knight

Level: 1 [EXP: 54/180]

Mana: 12/5 [!]

Skills:

Beginner's Swordplay [Lv.2]

Knowledge of the Blade [Lv.1]

Swordsman's Enhanced Footwork [Lv.1]

General Swordplay Knowledge [Lv.1]

Afflictions:

Curse of the Dazareth ▼

Curse of the Immortal Minos ▼

Curse of the Oathbreaker ▼

Fractured Mana Veins ▼

[Replay Tutorial?]

Why did I even have that new title!?

This [System] is adding unnecessary humiliating stuff in here but back to the main point—

[Affliction Curse of the Immortal Minos] and [Affliction Curse of the Dazareth]!

Tatiana must've been staring at me, wondering what was going on inside my head and why I was staring at the empty space, but I couldn't be embarrassed now.

[System Command Recognized...

Curse of the Immortal Minos ▲

— Curse of the Immortal Minos from the Labyrinth, an insatiable beast who thirsts for battle. A curse bestowed upon those who cower from battle.

— User will take 1.25x more damage from his opponents regardless of the strength.

— User will be more vulnerable to most other afflictions except curses.

Curse of the Dazareth ▲

— Those who steal from the dazzling dragons even beyond the grasp of gods will receive the worst punishment.

— ??? [Information Locked]

— ??? [Information Locked]

So it's most likely the [Curse of the Immortal Minos] paired with the [Curse of the Oathbreaker] that's holding me down and resulting in this.

These curses are bothersome to even deal with, but now I have to prepare for the exams that require physical involvement!?

I should inquire Isolde more about this but wouldn't that bring up a question if I were actually a student in this... Iaross Academy?

So many things to think about, and time is ticking rapidly. I can't manage it properly.

Since this is meant to filter out those who can pass in the academy further and my goal is to fix Elric's reputation, I cannot let this pass since it'll be a shame to my knight's honor to break my promise, even if it's for someone as despicable as this person.

Tatiana grew even more concerned for me since I was not speaking, but I gave her a reassuring look.

"I'll work on it somehow." I replied, not willing to disappoint a fine lady, but internally, I really, really wanted to tear off my hair because of this news.

It's way too sudden and I can't find proper time to prepare myself to even have a fighting chance.

I don't wanna rely too much on Isolde since she's suspiciously calm towards me. Sure, she did play the part of being scared towards me or genuinely disgusted, but I can't really trust anyone aside from Tatiana.

I managed to get out of bed with the help of Tatiana before looking outside to see that it was already afternoon, and the classes were most likely dismissed at this point.

I've got no time to even take a run to at least increase my stamina for a bit just to lessen the drawbacks of my curses, but I'll be forced to train on the spot to obtain those skills, and it wouldn't be an ideal situation... unless...

Looking at Tatiana, I stood tall in front of her with my proud chest and declared with a commanding voice—

"Tatiana! Go out with me tomorrow!"

Tatiana stood there stunned to speak and slightly clueless as to what I even meant by that declaration but soon turned into a sly smile with her left palm on her cheek.

"My, Young Master is growing up." I think she got the wrong idea, that's not allowed here!