First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 70
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 70
Everyone’s attention, including Amelia’s, turned to Fail.
“What’s wrong, Fail?”
“Ah, haha. It’s nothing.”
At Amelia’s question, Fail laughed awkwardly and sat back down.
“What’s the matter?”
Cathy, who was sitting in the back seat, whispered.
Fail murmured with a serious expression.
“It’s that guy.”
“That guy?”
“The guy who defeated Ragnor von Grantuan.”
Cathy’s eyes widened.
Tap tap.
“Now, everyone pay attention.”
Amelia tapped the attendance book on the podium again.
“Some students may have already guessed, but starting from the second semester, a new student will be joining our class. Asel? Say hello to your friends.”
The black-haired youth stepped forward and smiled brightly.
“Hello? My name is Asel. Nice to meet you.”
A typical and ordinary greeting.
But Asel’s name was intensely etched into everyone’s minds.
And for good reason…
‘He’s handsome!’
‘Damn, he’s really handsome.’
I don’t know about his skills.
But his face is just too handsome.
* * *
I looked around at the faces of the 1st Year Class B children.
There were 20 people excluding me.
Since these were the guys I’d be living with from now on, I needed to familiarize myself with their faces.
Then, the moment I confirmed one guy’s face.
A feeling of joy blazed up like wildfire.
‘So you were here.’
Ilmbo Maek.
Max had already become a grown young man without any trace of his former pathetic demeanor.
I felt it with Seria too.
Whenever I see how the children have changed, one side of my heart feels like it’s being pricked by thorns.
I deeply regretted not being able to watch their growth right beside them.
Of course, I couldn’t show such inner feelings outwardly.
“Asel’s seat will be, hmm. That empty seat over there looks good.”
“Yes.”
Coincidentally, there was one empty seat by the window.
It was the very back seat.
I quietly unpacked my bag and sat down.
“Hello?”
Some boy next to me struck up a conversation.
“I’m Fail. Peil de Bremen. Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you. I’m Asel.”
“I know you?”
Fail suddenly smiled brightly and acted friendly.
“I saw you taking the test in the control room. You were really cool.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“How old were you when you started training with the sword?”
“Since I was eight.”
“You’ve been at it quite a while. You’re a commoner, right?”
“That’s right.”
“If you’re a commoner, your training environment couldn’t have been that good, but you’re really amazing.”
Fail smiled as if asking me to take care of him and extended his hand.
I grasped Fail’s hand and shook it.
For a noble, he was an incredibly sociable guy.
At worst, I was prepared to get into trouble right after arriving.
‘The Bremen Family…’
It’s not a family I’ve particularly heard of.
Since I’ve heard of most families from when I lived in the Imperial Capital, if I don’t know them, it means they’re not a very prestigious family.
That might be why he has no resistance to getting along freely with commoners.
“Did everyone have a good vacation?”
“Yes!”
“We missed you, Professor!”
At Amelia’s words, several students gave affectionate responses.
“Starting with unfortunate news, but the second semester curriculum will be more challenging than the first semester. If the first semester was time to build fundamentals, the second semester will mainly consist of classes that utilize and apply what you learned in the first semester.”
But I haven’t learned anything?
At first glance, it seems like a disadvantageous structure for transfer students, but thinking of Ragnor, Tanya, and Irin’s faces, it seems like unnecessary worry.
“Also, at the end of the second semester, a Combat Department integrated tournament is scheduled. First, preliminary matches will be held by grade level, and students with excellent results will advance to the finals. It’s true that as first-years, your chances of winning are low, but don’t give up.”
Fail chimed in from beside me.
“I heard last year’s winner was a first-year. They’d be a second-year now. Isn’t that incredible? They defeated all those formidable upperclassmen and seized the title of Millennium Academy’s strongest.”
It was content I had briefly heard from Artie at the consecration ceremony.
In Millennium Academy’s long history, first-years winning only happened three times total, including last year.
Actually, it was a story completely unrelated to me.
‘Why would I participate in that?’
Even at this moment, Baal’s agent might be hiding somewhere plotting evil schemes.
I didn’t have the leisure to participate in some brat fighting competition.
“That’s all for morning assembly. There’s an opening ceremony at 10, so everyone gather at the auditorium on time.”
“Yes!”
The students answered energetically.
“And class president, show Asel around the school too.”
“Understood, Professor.”
The owner of that voice was Max.
That guy was the class president.
Amelia delivered only the essential business and walked out of the classroom.
Once the professor disappeared, I became the recipient of tremendous attention.
“Hello!”
“Nice to meet you!”
“Where do you live? What are your hobbies?”
“What rank did you get on the transfer exam? Did you happen to meet Ragnor von Grantuan?”
Students swarmed over and thrust their faces toward me.
What was interesting was that most of them were female students.
Several male students stood still with their arms crossed, glaring at me with annoyed looks as I was surrounded by the crowd of female students.
Especially one large male student with a chubby build.
That guy grinding his teeth with a particularly fierce expression was a face I knew too.
Lessor de Balkaud.
I had seen him on the list of nobles participating in the consecration ceremony, and had actually met him at the scene.
Of course, that bastard would never recognize me.
‘What is this.’
Though I had prepared myself for trouble due to being a commoner, I never expected this kind of reaction.
“Uh… nice to meet you too. My home is in the southern part of the Empire. And I barely made it in 6th place during the transfer exam. I don’t have that impressive skills.”
I answered the children’s questions one by one while feeling bewildered.
Fail seemed to have missed his timing to talk with me during break time and was making awkward gestures.
“I’m Cathy! Nice to meet you~”
A female student with short hair greeted me with a bright smile.
“I heard you defeated Ragnor? Tell us about what happened during the transfer exam!”
At Cathy’s bombshell declaration, the children showed surprised expressions and interest.
“Really?”
“Ah, so you were that guy?”
“But how are you 6th place?”
Sweat was pouring from my entire body.
This was very troublesome.
Now it wasn’t a matter of standing out or not.
‘I’m going crazy!’
In the first place, I’m a human extremely lacking in social skills!
Originally I wasn’t even human, so it was natural.
Though I knew well how to deal with malice, enduring the gazes of many people mixed with goodwill was a great ordeal for me.
“Haha… what happened was…”
I smiled awkwardly and briefly explained what happened during the exam.
Hoping this time would pass as quickly as possible.
* * *
“We will now begin the second semester opening ceremony.”
The large auditorium packed with students.
From first to fourth years, all students enrolled in the Swordsmanship Department stood watching the platform.
On the platform, professors sat in a row led by an elderly man with abundant white hair.
I mixed among the students and observed their faces.
‘Could Baal’s agent be among them?’
Millennium Academy is vast.
Even though the Swordsmanship Department is a super-large department, it’s insignificant compared to the total student body of tens of thousands.
In short.
Starting with the Swordsmanship Department, I need to gradually expand my investigation radius.
For that, it would be good to naturally become acquainted with students from other departments too.
‘What method would be good.’
The first method is to utilize liberal arts classes.
There are many liberal arts classes that can be taken regardless of department.
Didn’t Seria and Artie also meet and become close there?
‘Another method… clubs would be best after all.’
Clubs were the most effective means to interact with students from other departments.
Joining a large-scale club would help expand connections by itself.
“Next, we will have words of instruction from the Dean of the Swordsmanship Department.”
The elderly man with abundant white hair rose from his seat.
The aura felt at first glance was extraordinary.
The unique energy of a Master who had reached 7-star was seeping through his aged appearance.
“I am pleased that we can safely begin the second semester without any particular incidents during vacation. I hope you will strive in the second semester as you did in the first semester, and strive even more.”
I activated my insight.
With my current level of insight, I couldn’t immediately discern hidden identities.
What I was trying to determine was one thing.
‘Whether this person is good or evil.’
If they’re good, or at least a universal and ordinary human, no particular anomalies are detected.
If they’re evil, something like dark clouds can be identified around their chest area.
It’s a manifestation of the malice and dark intentions the subject harbors.
‘Even if they’re evil, I can’t hastily conclude they’re Baal’s agent.’
Still, if they were Baal’s agent, they certainly wouldn’t be good, so for now, investigating one by one with this method was the best approach.
With my current level of insight, examining all 800 Swordsmanship Department students at once would be a great burden.
Therefore, I decided to examine the faculty first.
‘At least the dean isn’t one.’
The dean’s inner self was clean without any malice.
I exclude one person from the list of suspects.
Then I examined the professors sitting in a row one by one.
There was no one else showing strange symptoms.
Then, the moment my gaze reached a middle-aged man sitting at the edge.
“!”
I clearly saw that the man’s gaze was also directed precisely at me.
Whoooosh-!
I involuntarily flinched at the pressure that suddenly approached.
For a mere professor to have an aura that could make even me tremble for a moment.
‘What kind of bastard is this?’
Then the dean brought up a new topic.
“Regrettably, Sir Simon, who was the supervising professor of Class F, expressed his intention to resign at the end of last semester. Therefore, from the second semester, a new professor will guide you.”
Scrape.
The middle-aged man who had made eye contact with me rose from his chair and walked to the front of the platform.
The man stood next to the dean, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth.
“Nice to meet you all. I am Garcia Greyven. I will be taking the position of supervising professor for first-year Class F starting this semester. Please treat me well.”
Clap clap clap clap!
After the plain introduction ended, applause broke out.
However, I couldn’t clap along with the people.
“…”
Around Garcia’s chest, huge and pitch-black clouds were floating around.
Very ominous and pitch-black clouds.
* * *
With the opening ceremony, today’s schedule comes to an end.
Full-scale school life would begin tomorrow.
I was about to return to the dormitory to organize my thoughts when Ilmbo Mac blocked my path.
I wonder if he’s cleared up that nickname Ilmbo by now.
It would take time to adapt to how much he had grown while I hadn’t seen him.
“Follow me. I’ll give you a school tour.”
Max spoke in a tone that was neither cold nor warm.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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