Chapter 6. Entrance Exam (5)
Drenor Ajerum.
The illegitimate son of the current emperor of the Ajerum Empire and the protagonist of Spell Breaker.
To take revenge on the emperor who abandoned him, he hid his family name, disguised himself as a commoner, and sneaked into the academy.
The Drenor in front of me was just as rudely handsome as I remembered from the game.
His cold, black eyes and sharp features matched well with his blue hair, giving off an air of strength.
But contrary to appearances, Drenor should still be weak. For him to be strong from the beginning, he would have had to awaken his royal blood at an extremely low probability at the start. And if he had, there would be outward signs.
Drenor spoke in his characteristic low voice to a noble student named Kain Tromer.
“Did you not hear me? I asked you to give me one reasonable reason why I should apologize.”
Kain was at a loss for words and gave a hollow laugh.
Drenor sighed.
“You can’t even argue, can you? Because there’s no reason for me to apologize.”
At that, Kain clenched his fist and ground his teeth.
Unlike the two who were on edge, the surrounding students were excited.
“Are they fighting even before the entrance ceremony?”
“Watching fights is always the best!”
“Is there anything to snack on?”
They were only interested in the fight itself, not in who was involved.
The event Drenor was experiencing was a cliché “delinquent encounter” event.
It’s triggered when you eat dinner at the student cafeteria before the entrance ceremony—Kain flirts with a female student, and Drenor intervenes to help her, which starts the event.
But despite its generic nature, if you handle this event poorly, it links to future character events, creating recurring problems.
For players trying to save Leina, it was a critical issue—so much so that it was nicknamed the “Hard Mode Trigger.”
However, skipping it is very easy. Just lose the fight. Then Kain won’t care about Drenor, and no linked events will occur.
Besides, this isn’t a game—I can talk freely, so maybe I could resolve it with words.
“I’d prefer if you left now, since I don’t want to hurt anyone before the semester even begins.”
But this protagonist didn’t seem to have such intentions.
Naturally, Kain pulled out his wand.
The surrounding students cheered, making it difficult for Kain to back down.
Drenor sighed as if he found it all annoying, and the battle began.
Kain used 【Fire】, and Drenor responded with the same spell.
Even though both used the same magic, and Kain had a wand, the flames Drenor created swallowed Kain’s completely.
“Don’t try to confirm what’s already obvious.”
Cringe-worthy, edgy lines aside—wait, could it be that guy doesn’t know how to play the game?
I had approached Drenor to assess his condition and decide my next move.
Originally, I planned to leave the main events to Drenor and just stop the assassins trying to kill Leina. But if he’s like this, it complicates things.
While I was debating, Kain shouted in anger.
“You bastard!”
He cast the 1st-circle wind spell 【Wind】 to create a gust, but Drenor dodged it effortlessly, closed the distance, and kicked him in the gut.
“Gah!”
As Kain collapsed, clutching his stomach, Drenor placed a palm on his forehead and said:
“If you want to assert authority, gain the strength to back it up. If you can’t, stay down.”
It was a short, clean, and perfect victory that earned applause from the students.
Drenor turned around as if it were all over and began to leave—but Kain’s gaze was filled with rage.
Suddenly, Kain drew a ceremonial dagger from his coat and charged forward with a scream.
“You bastard…!”
Because he practically announced his sneak attack, Drenor turned around quickly—but he was still too late to react to the dagger.
But the dagger never reached him—because I stepped between them and grabbed Kain’s wrist.
That was a dangerous move.
I could have gotten hurt instead of Drenor. More importantly, it could throw the storyline off course.
Still, this was an early event—one I knew inside and out—so I judged it was safe enough to interfere.
Plus, since Drenor had already splashed water on the fire, some cleanup was needed.
Kain’s dagger was laced with a cursed poison. If it hit, Drenor would suffer a stat debuff until the next event ended.
Drenor looked at me with a face that seemed to say, “What the hell are you doing?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have helped him.
Meanwhile, Kain gritted his teeth and shouted my name.
“Van Astrea…!”
He had clearly lost his mind—he tried with all his might to stab Drenor.
But he was a mage.
There was no way someone with maybe 1~3 physical strength could overpower me with my strength stat at 15.
After struggling uselessly a few times, he realized it was pointless and shouted at me.
“Why are you protecting this guy?!”
Because he’s the one who will handle the main story for me. Not that I could say that aloud.
So, I acted like the delinquent I was supposed to be.
“Dunno. I just felt like it.”
“You crazy bastard!”
Normally, people were careful not to provoke Van. But this guy had clearly lost it and was now openly hostile.
He didn’t get the situation at all.
I tightened my grip—and there was a crunching sound from his wrist.
Crrrack!
“Aaaaargh!”
As soon as his strength weakened, I yanked him toward me and grabbed his neck with my other hand, lifting him up.
He thrashed around, trying to shake me off, but it was pointless.
I smiled coldly and said:
“You know I’m that crazy Van, yet you still dared to mess with me?”
“Grrk…!”
“Haven’t you heard? People who block my path usually go up in flames…”
Kain stopped struggling and gulped.
“Backing and strength. Which one do you have?”
I didn’t bother to say “If you have neither, I’ll burn you.”
His eyes were already trembling in fear.
I gathered mana in my hand like I’d kill him if he didn’t answer soon.
Sensing the flow of mana, Kain panicked and started struggling again.
Then, almost in tears, he shouted:
“S-sorry! I’m sorry!”
I smirked and let him go.
As soon as his feet hit the ground, he stumbled and ran off without looking back.
When I looked around at the remaining students, they awkwardly coughed, averted their eyes, and quietly dispersed.
With the situation handled, I was about to leave too, but Drenor called out.
“That was unnecessary, Van Astrea. There was no need for you to step in.”
This guy would’ve been writhing on the ground by now if not for me, yet he wasn’t even grateful. Unbelievable.
“Still, since you received help, couldn’t you at least say thank you?”
“I told you, it was unnecessary. I would’ve been fine without you.”
This guy just has to get the last word in, huh?
Well, that’s Drenor for you.
I didn’t help him expecting gratitude, and he’s going to suffer plenty from now on anyway, so I wasn’t too bothered.
As we exchanged a few words, a girl pushed through the crowd and approached Drenor.
“Thank you for helping me!”
A plain-looking girl with long, light brown hair—Sonia Cerium, the main heroine of Spell Breaker.
You can build a relationship with her by helping her during this cafeteria event when Kain tries to harass her.
She’s a great character—naturally high affection levels, supports in battle, research, alchemy, and more.
She’s also known as the “Newbie Helper” for being dependable and always surviving by your side.
I didn’t know what choice Drenor would make, but Sonia would definitely be a big help to him, so I left to give them some alone time.
But then Drenor said:
“Remember this, Van Astrea. If you ever face a similar situation, I’ll be the one stepping in.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that.
Seriously… it’s hard to truly hate this guy.
He may be rude and terrible at expressing gratitude, but he’s the protagonist. We’ve gone on many journeys together in this world.
Not as much as with Leina, but he was a pretty solid character.
I replied to his tsundere-style thank-you with a grin.
“Whatever. I bet I won’t even need your help then.”
“I didn’t ask for your permission.”
“Then do whatever you want.”
I started walking away again.
He was like a bratty little brother just entering puberty.
Still, thanks to that conversation, I was able to finalize my plan of action.
Help this newbie, and save Leina.
I had more to do now, but it felt surprisingly simple.
This newbie Drenor would probably miss out on powerful allies and hidden pieces.
So I’d scoop them all up.
A fair trade, since I’d be covering for him anyway.
As I left Drenor behind, Leina came up to me.
“Van! You scared me, jumping out like that!”
“Sorry.”
“Do you know that guy?”
“Well, technically, no.”
“Hmmm… Then why did you help him?”
“Didn’t I already say? I just felt like it.”
Leina poked my side with her elbow.
“Oooh~. That was kinda cool.”
No, wait. I appreciate the compliment, but…
Now that I thought about it, I’d acted like some cringey edge-lord noble from my imagination.
Probably lost my mind sewing clothes earlier…
“Anyway, let’s eat. I heard they’re serving something good today.”
“What, are you embarrassed?”
Please just drop it…
I pushed Leina inside the student cafeteria.
“I’m starving. Let’s go!”
“Okay, okay, stop pushing.”
