The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

I could hear the sound of the other students murmuring in confusion, but I wasn’t particularly surprised.

After all, this duel was the first battle in the game. It didn’t matter if you won or lost; it was more of a tutorial.

That said, the difficulty level was set somewhat high... and the problem was that the opponent you faced in this one-on-one duel was treated as a boss by the system, with a bronze medal tied to it. If you were aiming for a platinum medal, you absolutely had to win this battle.

It was a fight that could be manageable if you knew the strategy and there weren’t too many random elements working against you. However, that was only from Leo’s perspective, the protagonist.

The game I was experiencing now wasn’t a turn-based JRPG where each character had their turn based on speed, taking swings at each other. No, this was a hyper-realistic FPS.

...Well, not even an FPS—just plain reality.

Honestly, I had confidence in my personal skills. I could easily dodge a clumsy sword swing from someone who didn’t know what they were doing. That much was certain.

Of course, it helped that I had dodged Lucas’s sword several times, and right now, there was no one stronger than the Sword Saint who could swing a sword faster than him.

The Sword Saint was still alive. He only dies at the hands of Lucas in the second game of the Azerna Chronicles series, so at this early point in the first game, he would still be alive.

However, the timeline between the first and second games isn’t that far apart—about a year. Frankly, I believe that if Lucas were to challenge the Sword Saint to a duel right now, he might win. That’s just my estimation, though.

I stood idly, watching the other students carefully pick their weapons.

The weapons they were choosing weren’t their personal ones. As realistic as this academy was, they weren’t about to tell students to genuinely shoot or cut each other.

The swords, spears, and other weapons were made of wood and rubber. They would hurt if they hit you, but unless you were struck on the head, getting hit a few times wouldn’t kill you.

There were also staves for the magic users. Of course, they had reduced the power of the magic stones inside, so any spells cast would only produce a small flash of light. When a magician cast a spell, Instructor Jennifer would judge whether it hit or missed based on the student's skill level—at least, that’s how it worked in the game.

Naturally, there were also guns.

Since guns had many moving parts, they weren’t made of rubber. In fact, they were real guns. Instead of making mock guns, they just opted to use real firearms. The difference was that the barrel was filled with a solid metal rod, so even if you loaded a bullet, you couldn’t fire it.

The bullets inside were just metal slugs without gunpowder.

...So, the Ergansen rifle I was holding felt heavier than the real one I usually used. Even the revolver at my side was heavier than normal.

It wasn’t going to cause any major issues during a brief duel, but still.

"Alright, does everyone have their weapons!?" Jennifer called out, glancing around at the students. No one answered, but each of them had a weapon in hand. The variety of weapons chosen by the students was impressive, and seeing that there were no leftover weapons, it was clear that Jennifer had studied each student’s strengths beforehand.

"......"

Jennifer’s gaze lingered on me for a brief moment as she looked around. Was it just a coincidence?

"Since it might be awkward to fight someone you don’t know on the first day, if you want to choose your opponent, go ahead and ask their permission. If there’s anyone left without a partner, I’ll pair you up."

...And anyone left without a partner would have to fight Jennifer.

That was the worst-case scenario. While I could rewind time to keep fighting until I won, I had no idea how many times it would take.

Jennifer was a warrior from the battlefield. Her reputation had spread in a short period of time as she had made her name in real combat. The character's background stated that she could use anything she got her hands on as a weapon.

In the game, she was a turn-based RPG character who could freely switch between using guns, swords, and magic. But in some event scenes, she was described as using chairs, ladders, cups, water bottles, stones, pens, or pencils in battle.

I think they were trying to mimic a famous Hollywood action character, but honestly, the motions and graphics in the game were so awkward that it didn’t look very cool.

Clap!

Jennifer clapped her hands once more.

“Alright, I’ll give you one minute!” she shouted.

I looked over at Alice.

"...No thanks."

Alice made eye contact with me and immediately stepped back, horrified.

...Ouch. That hurt a little.

“I know I’d lose for sure if I fought you. Why would I choose to duel you? I’d rather fight the instructor and lose—it’d be less embarrassing,” she said.

Hmm.

Alice wasn’t a weak opponent by any means, but her swordsmanship hadn’t yet reached Lucas’s level.

So if we did fight, I’d definitely win. After all, I could erase my mistakes.

“Oh my,” Charlotte, who had been listening in on our conversation, suddenly chimed in.

“Alice, would you like to duel me instead? I’m actually quite confident in my swordsmanship.”

Unlike the wooden bastard sword Alice was holding, Charlotte had chosen a rubber-tipped rapier.

Charlotte swung the rubber sword around a few times, then pouted slightly.

“As I thought, the material makes this feel different from a real sword. It’s more like a riding crop than a sword.”

“In that case, mine’s more like a club,” Alice replied, raising her wooden sword.

And what I was holding was practically a toy gun.

There was no one else nearby.

No matter how skilled they were, no one wanted to be the one to beat up a princess or a royal, unsure of how that might come across.

“Oh! Then, I’ll duel with Sylvia!”

Ack!

Claire suddenly appeared behind me and shouted excitedly, making me nearly jump out of my skin.

Had it not been for the ten years of surprise attacks from Lucas that I’d endured, I might have actually jumped.

“Hmm?”

Alice turned to look at Claire just as—

“Attention!”

Jennifer’s shout interrupted the murmuring of the students, bringing everyone’s focus back to her.

“Those who have found a duel partner, sit down!” she commanded.

The students, though a bit reluctant, began sitting on the ground. They were nobles, so they clearly didn’t enjoy sitting on the dirt, but no one dared to defy the warrior standing before them. Not on the first day of class.

Alice and Charlotte sat down.

“Sylvia, quickly!”

Claire, already sitting, tugged at my sleeve with sparkling eyes.

“...”

I glanced over to see Leo giving me a long, resentful look from afar.

But still, this was a better option than dueling Jennifer, so I hurriedly sat next to Claire.

Sorry, Leo. I won’t forget this debt... though I have no plans to repay it.

Since Class A was made up of nobles with connections, most of the students quickly found partners and sat down.

“Alright, you two over there, pair up,” Jennifer said, pairing the remaining two girls before turning her gaze to Leo.

“Hmm. You’re the eldest son of the Grace barony? How is your father?”

“Huh? Oh, yes! He’s doing well!” Leo said, snapping to attention and shouting in response.

“Good, good. I like your loud voice. You’ll be sparring with me. Now, sit down.”

Leo’s face turned pale, but Jennifer didn’t bat an eye.

Once Leo sat down, Jennifer glanced over all the students.

“Alright, now then...”

She pulled out a pocket watch to check the time.

“We don’t have enough time to do one duel at a time. We’ll do three teams at once. Don’t worry—I’ll be able to judge all of your performances.”

Um, no one was worried about that, though.

If anything, we were more concerned about your insane approach to teaching. But, of course, none of us had the guts to say that out loud.

“So, let’s see... alright, let’s start with those who will be the pillars of this country.”

Jennifer pointed at Alice and me with a grin.

“You two, bring your chosen partners up. And you two over there, come up as well. These three teams will go first.”

“...”

Everyone hesitated but slowly began standing up, eyeing each other warily.

Except for one person—her eyes were sparkling.

“You’re a Grace too, huh?” Jennifer said, looking at Claire.

“Good eyes. I hope you can keep that spirit in whatever you do in the future.”

“Yes!” Claire responded enthusiastically.

They seemed to be getting along surprisingly well.

Though, Claire didn’t exactly strike me as the military type... but that didn’t matter for now.

Jennifer’s gaze lingered on me again for a brief moment.

And then I knew for sure—it wasn’t just a coincidence.

Why? Was it because I was the emperor’s child? Did she think the emperor was behind the Crowfield Count’s assassination?

...Had I already drawn her attention on the very first day of the semester?

“Come on, everyone, get moving!”

“...”

We moved forward at Jennifer’s urging.

Alice and I stood back-to-back, keeping our distance from each other.

And in front of me stood Claire, gripping a rather large sword with both hands, standing tall and straight.

Her eyes were shining brightly, and her lips twitched as if she was delighted to be sparring with me.

...

Well, I suppose it’s nice to see someone so excited.

But I couldn’t gauge her skill level. Unlike the unorthodox fighting style she used in the game, this version of Claire seemed to use a more traditional swordsmanship, similar to Leo’s.

Would that make her easier to deal with?

I had seen her use a saber in the original game. Compared to that tricky weapon, this would probably be easier.

Alright.

I pulled the bolt back on my rifle, chambering the first round.

Then, like a soldier on the battlefield, I pressed the stock against my shoulder and leaned slightly forward. I spread my legs slightly, ready to move—

But wait, was it really alright to have me, essentially a foot soldier, standing in front of someone wielding a sword?

“Alright then! Begin!”

Before I could object, Jennifer shouted the start.

...Well, of course she would say something like, “On the battlefield, you must be ready to fight in any situation!”—

“I’m coming!”

—Before I could even finish my thought, Claire shouted and charged toward me!

Like a kendo practitioner yelling “Men!” she lunged forward, her left foot taking a large step as she raised both arms above her head.

In a game, this move would probably be called a “downward slash” or something.

Simple, but incredibly fast.

I leaped to the side with all my might. I barely managed to avoid falling over, and my shoes scraped loudly against the sandy ground.

Dry sand scattered as I landed.

My rifle was long, and even though the time needed to raise it was short, aligning the sights to fire would take too long. Claire was too fast, and by the time I was ready, she was already too close for me to aim properly with such a long weapon.

Alright.

Next time, I’d go for a shorter gun.

Click.

I pulled the trigger anyway, but Claire had anticipated it and moved to avoid the barrel before the shot went off.

“Missed!”

I heard Jennifer’s voice call out, but I was already jumping backward.

I released my right hand from the grip, reached under my left arm—

“Hyaah!”

Hearing Claire’s shout, I quickly pulled back again.

She had brought her sword down with force but then swiftly changed its direction, swinging it toward me. If I had stayed where I was just a second longer, I’d have been struck—

“Ugh!?”

I felt a delayed impact on my right arm, and I was flung to the left.

What? What just happened?

I scrambled to my feet, feeling the eyes of everyone in the area on me.

“Sister?”

Claire was looking at me with a surprised expression.

My arm throbbed. The pain had been numbed for a moment, but now it was rushing back as my brain registered the blow.

Claire’s sword was glowing faintly blue.

...A sword aura. Claire had wrapped her wooden sword in aura.

And that aura had followed behind the actual sword, coming slightly later and snapping out like a whip.

...A saber technique!

Isn’t using aura with a wooden sword a bit unfair!?

“Again!”

Feeling a bit indignant, I shouted resolutely.