027 After the Vacation

Several days had passed since the attack on the House Fanscent estate.

At the moment, we were inside a carriage, where Cynthia and Lilith were busy styling each other’s hair. While they occupied themselves, I went over the details my father had uncovered regarding the mysterious assailants.

The leader of the raid had been a man named Jeff Miano. I believe his age was thirty-two. Apparently, he was originally a mage from a small eastern nation called the Kingdom of Ringa, but he had vanished from the public record after his country lost a war.

According to the man’s own testimony—extracted later—he had eventually drifted into the underworld to become a mercenary. Well, "glorified assassin" was probably a more accurate description. I heard he had a family and some sort of tragic sob story to justify his actions, but honestly, I didn't care.

The rest of the attackers were just adventurers and soldiers Jeff had rounded up. For what it was worth, they were supposedly a "highly skilled" bunch.

The man I’d decapitated was known as the Black Wolf, a figure who had apparently gained a decent amount of notoriety. It was almost laughable how little of a fight he’d put up, but it was a relief to know that my skills were effective against professionals in the "outside" world.

Jeff had been hired specifically to target nobility; his contract stipulated that he wouldn't be paid until he delivered a head. A child like me, in particular, would have fetched a high price.

As for the mastermind behind the whole thing... that was where things got truly troublesome.

I’ve said it before, but this world was a game. One of the reasons it was so popular was the sheer volume of side stories—content completely unrelated to the main plot. It was the kind of game where you could spend dozens of hours just enjoying the fluff. You could take a thousand detours, or you could stick strictly to the Main Story.

Usually, that freedom was part of the charm, but now it was coming back to bite me.

The culprit wasn't an individual, but an organization. Every member was a radical who harbored a deep-seated hatred for authority. Their goal was to eradicate the concept of peerage by assassinating not just royalty, but every prominent noble they could find.

Their name was Equality.

Naturally, I had cleared most of the side stories in my past life, yet I had never heard of this group. Most likely, some action of mine had acted like a butterfly effect, altering the scenario and bringing them out of the woodwork early.

Still, my father was incredible for uncovering all of this in such a short amount of time. His interrogation methods had been... impressive, in a terrifying sort of way.

He told me that from here on out, he would be taking personal charge of dismantling the organization. I had tried to volunteer my help—after all, I couldn't exactly sit back and watch after they’d tried to kill me—but he had resolutely refused.

"Weiss, I acknowledge your strength," he’d said. "But I am afraid. Afraid of losing you..."

His words had pierced right through my defenses. Besides, I was technically still a student. For the time being, I decided to keep my head down until there was a major move.

We still didn't know how they’d managed to nullify magic. Jeff had apparently committed suicide before we could get the technical details out of him. However, magic was just another form of technology; every country was constantly refining it to outsmart their neighbors.

Still, seeing a story unfold that I don’t recognize is actually kind of exciting.

You certainly won’t get bored in this life, Weiss.

While I was lost in thought, the carriage came to a halt. When Cynthia, Lilith, and I stepped out, the stern, imposing gates of Nobless Academy were there to welcome us back. It hadn’t been a long enough vacation to truly say "it’s been a while," but for some reason, I felt a wave of nostalgia. It almost felt like coming home.

"Weiss, shall we? I believe there is a Magical Pharmacy test today," Cynthia remarked.

"Ah..."

I completely forgot.

It was my absolute weakest subject. I had zero interest in memorizing the names of weeds found on some random mountain in the middle of nowhere. But well, I suppose that’s just part of being a student.

At that moment, Lilith tilted her head. "Weiss-sama, did you bring that rope with you?"

"Yeah. I figured it would be useful from now on."

"Fufu, that brings back memories. Let’s... use it again sometime soon."

That reminds me of the night we first met... Well, I guess that kind of thing is fine every once in a while.

At this Academy, interesting things happened whether you wanted them to or not.

For some reason, I found myself breezing through that hated Magical Pharmacy test. While I was away, Allen had apparently been racking up points by defeating upperclassmen in unsanctioned duels. The idiots who had been bullying Carta had all been expelled.

...And the school had hired a new temporary instructor.

"I am Milk Abitus. As of today, I will be in charge of combat training for the underclassmen. Any questions?"

No... why!? This definitely wasn't in the original game!

It was true that Teacher Milk held a teaching license. I was the one who had practically begged her to become my private tutor. But even so! Even so!

I was the type of student who never raised his hand, but right now, I wanted to thrust my arm into the air with every ounce of strength I possessed. I wanted to scream, What are you doing here?! No, seriously, why did you come?!

But I couldn't. There was no way I could actually do that—

"I have a question!"

A massive arm, bulging with overdeveloped muscles, shot into the air. Duke—or "Muscles," as I called him—asked the very question I was dying to know: "Why did you decide to take a temporary position here?"

Muscles... as of today, I'm upgrading your nickname to 'Protein.' That was a top-tier question.

"Silence. Do not waste my time with pointless questions," Milk snapped.

The students began to murmur. Yeah, I got it. I really did. She asked for questions, he asked one, and she shut him down. It was completely irrational. Duke looked absolutely crushed, his shoulders slumped as he wore a face that said, Wait, did I do something wrong?

You did nothing wrong, Protein. Just for today, I’m on your side. (Not that I’ll ever say that out loud.)

Eventually, Chloe arrived to explain the situation. Apparently, since the Tag Tournament, there had been a massive surge in upperclassmen demanding extra combat training outside of normal hours. This had left the regular faculty completely overwhelmed. The seniors were desperate not to be looked down upon by the younger students.

...Whose fault is that? Allen's? Or maybe Cynthia and the others?

Good grief. I welcomed the competitive spirit, but this kind of deviation from the script was—

At that moment, Teacher Milk glared at me. "Weiss. You’re thinking about something unnecessary."

"N-No, ma'am. I was just spacing out."

"Is that so? Then start doing push-ups."

That wasn't even a logical response to what I’d said, but Teacher Milk looked pleased. (Since she was expressionless, I was probably the only one who could tell.) Come to think of it, she’d seemed happy when I returned to the mansion for vacation, too. Does she just enjoy bullying me?

"Hey, Weiss. Hurry up."

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

By pure conditioned reflex, my spine snapped straight and I dropped to the floor, counting out "One! Two! Three!" in front of the entire class. The other students started whispering, some finding it hilarious and others looking on in pure shock.

"H-Hey, Weiss is actually listening to her?!"

"He used formal speech... Who the hell is this new teacher?"

"She looks like someone you definitely don't want to piss off... but honestly, a polite Weiss is actually kind of cute."

Everyone was just saying whatever they wanted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carta hiding in the shadows, laughing at my expense.

...Next time I see his shoes, I'm stuffing them with cherry tomatoes.

However, the surprises didn't end there.

"I intended for today to be nothing more than a greeting, but it seems some of you have grown soft over the break," Milk announced. "Everyone, we’re going mountain climbing. We won't stop until the date changes."

It was currently 7:00 AM. If we were going until the date changed... that was seventeen hours.

One of the students actually let out a chuckle. They probably thought she was joking. Listen, kid. Do you have any idea? The last time I saw this woman, she was silently gouging out a man's eyeballs. You want your eyeballs to go 'pop' too?

Slowly, the rest of the class looked at Teacher Milk’s face and realized the truth. She was dead serious.

"Weiss, your push-ups are slowing down."

"M-My apologies!"

So, I’m going to be seeing a lot more of Teacher Milk from now on, huh? Am I going to survive this?

Still, despite the impending torture, I was honestly happy that we’d be spending more time together.

"Weiss. Why don't you try climbing the mountain while maintaining your push-up form?"

"That is impossible."

Never mind. I take back what I just said.