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After the exams were all over, Luke stayed overnight at the Empire’s inn. The results of the exams were set to be released a day later.

The next day, as he headed back to the Academy, Luke spotted a large bulletin board displaying the list of successful candidates.

In order from top to bottom, the names of successful candidates were written from Class A to Class F.

[First Best – Riche Winchester]

[Second Best – Tia Roseberry]

Both the First and Second Best were indeed nobles. Naturally, that was to be expected. Nobles born with more magical power than commoners had an advantage, trained under good conditions with great instructors, while commoners had nothing to rely on.

Luke slowly lowered his head. His name was nowhere to be found in Class A, and of course not in Class B either. Still, he didn’t care. He hadn’t expected much. His initial goal was just to get admitted. As long as he passed even Class F, it was enough.

His name wasn’t in Class C either. E class… unfortunately, it was absent as well. Not seeing it up to that point made Luke anxious. Only ten students filled Class F, after all.

As he lowered his gaze to check the last remaining ten names, one stood out to him.

[F Class – Arthur Passed]

‘So that person passed too.’

It was a connection made by coincidence the day before at the exam site. He had mentioned being a commoner too. Feeling a strange sense of kinship, he congratulated him inwardly and continued to look.

Even as he looked down, not seeing his own name made him wonder, could it really be that he failed…? Heart pounding, he reached the end of the admission list.

[F Class – Luke Passed]

‘…!!’

Though he was at the bottom, he felt like sitting down right there. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t show off like he was proud in front of those around him who wore sad faces, forced to leave.

Steeling himself, he mustered strength in his trembling legs and checked the bottom of the list. Written at the end were instructions for the successful students.

It stated that the entrance ceremony would be tomorrow and until then, each student should rest in their dormitory or wander around the Academy according to their ranks.

Though he had items to drop off, Luke thought it best to first leave his luggage in the dormitory and then explore the Academy.

Luke’s dormitory was the Zogaton Dormitory. It was where the bottom ten students resided. The location was indicated on the map, so he headed straight for the dormitory.

As his imagination soared, upon arriving, reality hit him hard.

“…This is a bit much.”

It was a reaction that slipped out involuntarily upon seeing the inside of the dormitory. No matter that it was Class F, the treatment was too harsh. A desk and just one bed. The space between was barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through.

“No, let’s just be thankful for this.”

How many have turned back without even seeing this? If he didn’t like this dormitory, he could just work harder to move up to another one. First, let’s celebrate the fact that he got admitted.

Thud. He tossed his meager belongings onto the corner of the bed and collapsed on top of it.

Lost in those thoughts…

-Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door to his room. He was puzzled. He had just enrolled today. Who would come all the way to this obscure place when he didn’t know anyone?

Since there was a knock, he figured he should at least open the door. Rising from the bed, Luke walked slowly to the door.

“…Who is it?”

“Hey, I came to say hello… Huh?”

Standing at the door was the guy he had seen yesterday, dressed in a striped outfit.

“Arthur…?”

Now that he thought about it, he was indeed in Class F. It was obvious they would share a dormitory, but he had completely forgotten that.

“Uh… who are you… um…”

“Call me Luke.”

“Right, Luke. Nice to meet you.”

Arthur extended his hand. It seemed they had shaken hands yesterday too…

‘What can it hurt?’

Shaking hands doesn’t wear out your hands. He shook hands with him again.

“By the way, what brings you here?”

“Well, actually, I was looking for someone to train with.”

Didn’t he just check the list of successful candidates moments ago…? In the short time they spoke, Luke felt he could gauge Arthur’s personality.

“I asked around while wandering, but no one was available.”

“Of course they wouldn’t be…”

“So, how about you? Want to go train?”

Training… that actually sounded good. He was in a position where he needed to put in more effort than anyone else at the Academy. He had barely passed with a last-minute effort, so he needed to move his body while he still could.

“Sure. Let’s go together.”

The two moved towards the training grounds. Since they had taken the entrance exam there just the day before, finding the route wasn’t difficult, even as newcomers.

Upon reaching the training grounds, the two faced each other. They both drew their swords. Ordinary longswords, nothing special.

Dueling benefits from a close balance of strength between opponents. If one side is too strong, there isn’t much to learn from each other. In that sense, Arthur was a well-matched partner.

Their techniques differed, but their weapons were the same, and their skill levels were similar. However, Luke fought unarmed, while Arthur enhanced his body with magical power.

After exchanging a few blows…

“Whew… this feels good! It seems we have good chemistry, huh?”

“Sounds a bit off, but I guess you’re right.”

Their dueling filled the gaps in each other’s shortcomings. It felt like their skills would greatly improve if they kept at it like this.

At that moment, Arthur, curious, asked a question he’d had in mind.

“Hey, Luke, you didn’t use any magical power during the entrance exam yesterday, right? Why not?”

“…It’s not that I won’t use it.”

Even if he wanted to, he simply couldn’t.

“I don’t have any magical power.”

“And yet you’re this strong…?”

Normally, when someone claimed they had no magical power, pity or ridicule followed; it was one or the other. Yet Arthur showed no sign of either.

“This isn’t nearly enough. To achieve my goal, I need to become much stronger than this.”

“What’s your goal?”

“The Royal Knights.”

“Big dream you’ve got there.”

“Feel free to laugh if you want.”

He would show anyone who laughed at him through his abilities.

“Laugh? Me? If you didn’t have that kind of ambition, how could you even call it a dream?”

“…”

He didn’t hide it when asked about his lack of magical power or his aspirations. But this was the first time someone like Arthur hadn’t mocked him.

“Why so quiet all of a sudden? You’re not tired already, are you?”

“Cough… No way.”

Once again, the sound of swords clashing filled the training grounds.

*

During their practice, with nothing but swords to wield, having good facilities, and great instructors following the Academy’s curriculum, it served as a fast track for Luke and Arthur’s rapid growth.

Before long, they managed to rise to Class E just a short time after enrolling. However, while growth was smooth, life at the Academy was anything but.

Before they knew it, the word of Luke’s lack of magical power had spread throughout the Academy, and due to his ominous black hair, making friends was proving difficult for him.

As for Arthur…

“P-Please stop…!”

“Shut up! A commoner should just do what I say!”

“Bernard, stop it!”

Because he couldn’t stand injustice, he had caught the eyes of the nobles a long time ago.

“…Tch.”

An E class noble with a bad attitude but no skill. Especially the trio consisting of the chubby Bernard and the two skinny guys who followed him were the worst of the worst.

They had quite the notorious reputation, having had several run-ins with Arthur before, only to be thoroughly defeated each time. Even though they couldn’t change their foul personalities, they were now quick to flee whenever Arthur showed up, often clicking their tongues in disdain.

After receiving a thank you from a female student, Arthur came back only for Luke to state, “You’re quite the dedicated one.”

“If I have strength, I can’t just stand by and watch something like that happen.”

Arthur had a strong sense of justice. He couldn’t stand injustice and would rather suffer himself than let others be wronged. Such a character was admirable, one Luke wished to emulate in his dream of joining the Royal Knights.

“What if something happens to you?”

“Better to do this and regret later than to hold back now.”

“Yes, yes. Sure.”

Luke pointed over Arthur’s shoulder at the female student he had just saved. She had a face like a girl falling in love for the first time.

“You’re going to get another confession soon, aren’t you?”

“……”

Even though Arthur was drawing the attention of the nobles, this was not the first time such a thing had happened. Every time it occurred, Arthur had naturally helped, and a commoner girl had just happened to be in the mix.

His actions were more than enough to garner affection, and if one looked just at his appearance, they would mistake him for a young noble. Thus, he had received several confessions up until now.

However, Arthur had turned all of them down apologetically.

“Must be nice to live the life of a popular guy.”

“…Don’t tease me.”

Finding it amusing, Luke laughed, and Arthur quickly changed the subject.

“Enough of that. Let’s hurry and train.”

“Again? I’m going to win anyway.”

“This time will be different.”

“Heh heh… Sure, I’ll look forward to it.”

Though Arthur was his only friend, life was enjoyable enough.

At that moment.

*

Months passed after enrolling in the Academy.

Arthur and Luke were back at the training grounds, now drenched in sweat, just like any other day. Having moved up from Class E to Class D, their dormitory was now much better than before.

Their rooms were located near each other, allowing them to frequently meet and chat during the evenings.

“Oh? What’s this?”

Just as they were about to retire to their respective dormitories, Arthur picked up a letter that had been slipped under the door of his dorm room.

“Another love letter, huh?”

Luke said, sounding familiar with the situation. Shy girls tended to send love letters like this.

“…I don’t think this one is like that.”

Indeed, it had a plain look that didn’t seem like a love letter. Arthur opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. Luke leaned over to peek at the letter’s contents alongside him.

Though eavesdropping on another’s letter would typically be rude, they had seen so many that Arthur didn’t particularly mind.

With a light heart as always, Luke glanced at the letter, but the contents inside were anything but light.

The letter contained the news that Arthur’s parents had passed away…

“……”

“……”

Neither of them could find the words to speak. After maintaining a heavy silence for a while, Luke was the first to break it.

“T-This must be a bad joke, right?”

“Y-Yeah, it must be.”

“Right! No matter who it is, we’ll hunt them down and give them a piece of our minds.”

“…Yeah. Still, I’ll go check on my home tomorrow just in case.”

“Alright.”

So the next day, Arthur quickly explained the situation to their professor and left the Academy as soon as morning came.

According to what Arthur told Luke, his territory was a week by cart from the Academy, meaning two weeks before he’d be back.

Even without Arthur, there were still classes, so Luke entered the classroom as usual, only to hear laughter coming from somewhere.

“Hehe.”

“……?”

The trio was looking at Luke with strange smiles. It was odd, but he didn’t think too much about it; they were usually like that anyway.

As time passed, however, their behavior started to become more bizarre. They were oddly reserved. Normally, they should have acted raucous as usual now that Arthur was gone. Yet they remained strangely quiet.

Not only that, but other commoner students began to glance at Luke with weird expressions. Their gazes were filled with remorse and some sort of guilt.

This strange situation continued until two weeks passed, and Arthur returned.

After such a long time apart, Arthur’s face… couldn’t be described as good even to say the least. Luke had hoped that the letter had been a bad joke, but from Arthur’s expression, it seemed the contents of the letter were, in fact, true.

“W-What happened?”

“…They said he went out to the market and got ambushed by ruffians.”

“And what about the ruffians?”

“They fled. The security forces tracked them down, but they vanished outside the territory…”

Arthur ended his statement and couldn’t even say it was good news, even in passing.

A family disappearing overnight, no one could remain cheerful after such a loss.

“Are you okay…?”

“……”

He couldn’t even lie and say he was fine. Arthur muttered that he wanted to rest for a bit and went towards his room, while Luke could only watch his desolate figure without being able to offer any comfort.

*

After that, Arthur’s demeanor changed completely, doing poorly in training.

He often lost his sword due to a light attack, and these days he stopped training altogether. Previously, he would have been the one to invite Luke to train.

The biggest change of all was…

“You bastard! You’ve been cocky, now look at you!”

“Shut up and keep screaming like usual!”

“……”

Arthur was getting beaten by the trio.

“…Arthur!”

Luke, startled, rushed to help Arthur, making the trio quickly flee. Arthur’s hair was disheveled, and his clothes were covered in dust.

Immediately helping him up, Luke brushed off the dust from his clothes. Just as he was about to ask if he was alright, Arthur swayed and headed towards the direction of the dormitory.

“Sorry, I just want to take a break…”

Having returned, he had lost all motivation.

“I’ll walk you back.”

“…No, I’m fine.”

“But…”

“Luke.”

Arthur cut him off with a serious face, leaving Luke speechless.

“I’m really fine. So you go to class. The lesson’s starting soon, right?”

“…Alright.”

Even if he wanted to offer some comfort, if Arthur insisted that much, it was probably better to give him space. Without saying a word, Luke turned and entered the classroom.

*

Luke couldn’t relax throughout the lecture. Arthur lingered in the back of his mind. So as soon as class ended, he headed toward Arthur’s room.

-Knock, knock.

“Arthur…?”

-Knock, knock.

Trying again to knock, but no response came back.

“Arthur? I’m coming in, okay?”

He was certain he was inside, yet Arthur remained unresponsive. Was he too consumed by grief to move? If so, shouldn’t he offer some comfort as a friend? Thinking this, he turned the doorknob.

“……!!”

However, as soon as he opened the door, the sight unfolding before him made his heart drop, and he let go of the doorknob.

In the middle of the room, there was a chair with a rope tied to the ceiling and a limp body hanging from it.

Arthur was… no longer a part of this world.

 

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