Drawing intense gazes from all around, we entered the school building to find a crowd gathered in front of the bulletin board.
It appeared to be the class assignments for Ouboro Academy's incoming students.
"Looks like we are all in the same class."
Rose, Lumine, and I were all placed in Class 1-D. For better or worse, I had no desire for anyone to make special considerations on my behalf. I had strictly ordered Chloe not to provide Ouboro Academy with a shred of information about me. Given that the aforementioned Seth Accard and Lorelei were also assigned to the same class, the academy's leadership had most likely crammed all the problem children into a single room.
Rose had originally been slated to enter the second year of the high school division, but having taken an extended leave of absence after being targeted by Gil, she was starting over from the first year alongside me.
I had expected her to feel down about it, but Rose seemed entirely unfazed. If anything, she looked relieved to be in the same grade as us. Had she wished, she likely could have continued her student life from the second year at her previous academy. Choosing not to do so, and instead opting to start fresh at Ouboro Academy, was entirely Rose's own firm decision. Furthermore, since she was being targeted by high-ranking nobles, the King insisted on keeping her by my side at all times, leading to a backroom deal with Babel to finalize this arrangement. I, for one, had no particular objection to it.
Catching the eye of Lumine, whose furrowed brow had softened slightly as she let out a small sigh, she immediately looked away and snapped,
"H-Hmph! Being in the same class is such a huge nuisance!"
"Is that so? My apologies, then."
Lifting the corner of my mouth, I lightly patted Lumine's head with my right hand.
"Stop treating me like a child!"
She flushed bright red and voiced her protest. It was precisely reactions like that which made her seem so childish.
"I am glad we are in the same class," Rose murmured with a look of relief.
"Surprising. Even you can feel insecure, Rose?"
To my candid question, she pinched the bridge of her nose with her left hand and countered,
"Excuse me, Kai, what exactly do you take me for?"
It seemed she was slightly offended. Given that she was waging a political war single-handedly against the upper echelon of the Holy Amelia Kingdom, I had assumed a mere class assignment wouldn't faze her, but it appeared she possessed the normal sensibilities of someone her age after all. At any rate...
"More importantly, it seems they have landed in the same class as well, wouldn't you say?"
Fixing my gaze upon specific names, I spoke to Rose.
"Yes. The headmaster of Ouboro Academy is a noble well-known within the Holy Amelia Kingdom as a member of the Bloodline Faction. That explains it, I suppose."
She nodded heavily with a stern expression.
"Just as I thought."
On the Class 1-D roster were the names of Kuzuki Baccano, as well as Ariel and Schikke. While I had instructed them to enroll the two into Ouboro Academy, I had never told them to place them in the same class as me. Out of four classes, having every single one of us end up in the exact same room was too blatant to brush off as mere coincidence. Ariel and Schikke were students forced into this academy by Chloe. In that regard, if the headmaster of Ouboro Academy was a high-ranking noble, he naturally belonged to the vice headmaster faction and opposed Chloe. That was likely why this class arrangement turned out to be so transparent. Well, it makes it easier for me to act, so it works in my favor.
"They will undoubtedly subject us to blatant harassment."
Harassment, huh. Judging by Rose's sour grimace, the headmaster seemed to be quite a troublesome character. Not that it particularly mattered.
"As long as they don't cross the line, it makes no difference to me."
If anything, it would serve as good training for Rose and the others.
"Whenever you say things like that, Kai, past experience tells me it has a way of becoming reality, as if fated..."
"You think so?"
Lately, I had been getting dragged into an excessive number of hassles, so the sad truth was that I couldn't strongly deny it. At any rate, we should head to the classroom.
I set off walking toward our room, Class 1-D.
◇◆◇◆◇◆
Ouboro Academy was, to put it charitably, seasoned with age—or to put it bluntly, a dilapidated, run-down building. The classrooms were no exception. Built of wood, every inch of it was falling apart. Our Class 1-D classroom, in particular, had barely seen any repairs; holes were left gaping in the walls, and the window frames were half-broken.
When we stepped inside, Kuzuki, Ariel, and Schikke widened their eyes in utter astonishment. It seemed they truly hadn't expected to be in the same class. Well, that made two of us...
Taking a seat by the window, I heard a voice behind me.
"Um..."
Turning around, I found an Elf girl with black hair styled in a half-up do, standing there with her hands clasped together. She was Seth Accard—one of the individuals I was paying the closest attention to in this academy.
"Hm? What is it?"
Don't tell me she had picked up on my movements?
"Thank you for saving me the other day," she said, bowing her head in a voice that was barely audible.
"The ones who saved you were those two. If you wish to thank someone, do so to them."
"I know. I just finished telling them."
Having declared that in a rapid rush of words, she hurried back to her seat.
The bustling chatter filling the room was suddenly shattered.
"Listen up, you dregs! The entrance ceremony begins right now! Head to the grand auditorium immediately!"
It was the roar of a man with slicked-back black hair.
Judging by the robe bearing the Ouboro Academy crest, he was one of the school's faculty. More precisely, our homeroom teacher, I presumed. Though his very first words—calling us "dregs"—were hardly fitting for an educator.
"Well, shall we do as requested?"
"Yes."
Rose gave a firm nod, while Lumine shouted her usual bravado:
"Stop bossing us around every single time!"
With that, we set off toward the so-called grand auditorium.