Fencing Class Lounge
Seila had called Perbek to this place.
But she wasn’t the only one here.
“Ah… you guys.”
Seven students whose swords had been broken were gathered together.
Seila spoke first.
“Right. These are the friends who lent you their swords.”
“I know.”
“As promised, I’ve brought wooden swords. You just need to pay the proper price and purchase them.”
“Alright, I’ll do that.”
“The price is 1 million rupees.”
At that, Perbek paused for a moment, then widened his eyes.
“What? 1 million rupees? Not 1 million diamonds?”
“Yes. 1 million rupees.”
“You want me to pay 10 million diamonds for a wooden sword? Did I hear that right?”
“That’s right.”
“You do know that each student can only purchase up to 5 million rupees per semester, right?”
“I know.”
Seila was slightly surprised at Perbek’s strong reaction.
‘He’s supposed to be a noble with a good sense of money.’
In fact, the price of 10 million diamonds was the optimal price she had determined based on experience.
For commoners, it was an absurd amount, but for nobles, it was a price they could rationalize with a nod and a shrug.
Surprisingly, Perbek had a fairly practical sense of money.
He even knew about the 5 million rupee purchase limit per person.
“10 million diamonds… That’s ridiculous. Do you know that’s the amount an ordinary worker would have to labor for half a year to earn?”
Although he had lost in the duel, he could not purchase the wooden swords at such an absurd price.
He needed to buy a total of eight wooden swords.
That amounted to a staggering 80 million diamonds.
For a minor duel among students, that was an excessively harsh cost.
“80 million diamonds… That’s the annual salary of a highly skilled craftsman.”
“……”
“Of course, I understand that I’ve shown you great disrespect. But this… this is too much.”
“Too much?”
Everything Perbek said was correct.
Seila herself admitted it.
But that didn’t matter.
“Can’t you see the seven classmates standing behind me?”
“Suddenly… why are they here?”
“They’ve given you their unwavering trust.”
The students, who had come blindly when Seila called and were just standing there confused, tilted their heads.
‘Trust? I just lent my sword because of the atmosphere… because they were close…’
“The 10 million diamonds—or 1 million rupees per sword—is a price infused with their trust.”
“……”
Perbek was speechless.
He could see the students hesitating behind her.
It was as if he could read their thoughts.
‘Yes. What we lent was not just swords, but trust.’
‘Perbek must pay a proper price for our trust!’
He wanted to shout:
‘Then why am I paying Seila instead of you?! Idiots!’
He felt deeply wronged, but it was awkward to argue here.
‘Even if I try to argue now… I’ll just look like a merchant bargaining for trust at a cheap price.’
In the end, Perbek could do nothing but nod reluctantly.
Cold sweat dripped down his back.
‘I feel like I’ve fallen into a trap.’
He wanted to say:
‘You’re all being fooled by Seila’s noble presence.’
She was doing all the scheming herself, yet taking all the credit.
At this point, Perbek was intimidated by Seila. How could someone commit such blatant trickery and still appear dignified?
Perhaps this was Seila’s greatest weapon.
“Of course, this will exceed your rupee purchase limit.”
“……Yes.”
Seila gracefully extended a piece of paper.
“I’ll lend it to you. This is an IOU.”
“……”
–High interest, please. Jackpot!
“The annual interest rate is 25%. Set within legal limits. Don’t lose your credit, and repay it next semester. I’ll wait until then.”
Perbek stared blankly back and forth between Seila and the paper she handed him.
‘25% is only legal on the Eastern Continent! In the Central Continent, it’s 20%!’
It felt like being cut open with eyes wide open.
Even while taking such exorbitant profit, she still looked dignified—it was terrifying.
On top of that, other students were whispering:
“Seila’s generous.”
“Of course, it’s Seila.”
Perbek felt like he was going insane.
‘I am clearly being scammed.’
Even knowing full well he was being scammed, Seila still radiated elegance.
‘An absolutely terrifying ability.’
He made a vow: he would never, ever cross Seila.
The rumor that Seila had overwhelmingly defeated Perbek spread quickly throughout the academy.
“This rumor might actually be true…”
“It’s true. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Wasn’t Perbek weaker than expected?”
“Still, he was supposedly quite skilled.”
The story of Seila defeating Perbek sounded much more realistic than rumors of beating Galf of Beruck, stopping a tsunami in Molita, or being on par with Hamun.
“Hmm, Seila seems stronger than I thought.”
“Exactly. Even Professor Rhino, who was on duty, praised her.”
“She wasn’t chosen as an outstanding student for no reason.”
Seila felt the rumors about her spreading firsthand.
‘Hmm…’
She could see the girls’ eyes sparkling, especially the students from the academic class.
‘To them, I must seem really special.’
Most academic-class students were nobles from the Central Empire, Romados.
For them, a physically disadvantaged girl defeating a boy was fascinating and astonishing.
“It’s not just a story in a fairy tale.”
“Beating up Young-sik with a wooden stick! So cool.”
Not a stick, a wooden sword!
And not beating up, but a duel with a sword!
Seila wanted to clarify, but didn’t intervene.
Her world was so different that she couldn’t even begin to make them understand.
‘After a few years here, I’ll get the hang of it.’
Wherever Seila moved, the girls’ eyes followed.
‘I thought it would be stressful, but…’
Surprisingly, it wasn’t.
‘Actually, I like it.’
Whispers of “Unnie, so cool” floated around, and notes were delivered through Dorphina.
[To the admired Seila.]
[To the strong and beautiful Seila.]
[To the elegant and noble Seila.]
[To Seila, whom I want to be friends with.]
The expressions differed, but the content was essentially the same.
After reading all the notes and lying on her bed, Seila chuckled.
Wow, to enjoy this kind of popularity in school.
And she enjoyed it.
‘Living this long (?) has its perks.’
‘Feels a bit like a protagonist role.’
Notes like this were usually sent to the main characters by Leonpha, Jermiel, or Hamun factions.
‘Well, not exactly a love letter.’
More like fan letters, but still somewhat similar to love letters.
“Seila… were you smiling just now?”
Opening her eyes, she saw Dorphina’s face.
Dorphina puffed her cheeks, displeased about something.
Seila had to resist the urge to pinch them.
“I didn’t want to deliver these notes, but the others kept pestering me…”
“Why didn’t you want to?”
“Well…!”
Dorphina blushed.
“Because you’re my friend.”
Then, embarrassed, she returned to her bed and pulled the covers over herself.
Seila felt an urge to hug and tease her, but her dignity stopped her.
“I want Seila to be just friends with me.”
Some time passed.
Though Seila didn’t care much, Dorphina had agonized deeply before speaking.
“But this is just my selfishness, so you don’t need to worry. Seila is a good person, and good people have good friends. If you make many good friends, I’ll be happy too… though I might feel a bit jealous.”
Survival Class
Dark Elf Professor Neifin spoke with a blank expression, delivering shocking news.
“Next week, there will be seven days of outdoor training. A practical exercise. It’s called the ‘7-Day Experience.’”
“But Professor, we have other classes.”
“I’ve sent cooperation notices to the other professors.”
Note that he said ‘sent notices,’ not ‘obtained permission from other professors.’
‘I just sent the notice; what the other professors do with it is none of my business’… though the students didn’t catch the full meaning.
Anyway, everyone realized Professor Neifin was not in his right mind.
The students instinctively understood:
‘Seven days?’
‘He must be trying to kill us!’
‘Someone among us will definitely die!’
Yet no one dared to disobey him.
Only the heroine could have challenged this.
‘If the heroine heard about this class, she would say, “I hate camping! It’s scary, cold, and uncomfortable!”’
A normal student would get in trouble, but this was a world for the heroine.
With typical heroine-level protection, no matter what she did, she would be the “cutest in the universe.”
‘Since I’m not the heroine, I’ll have to participate in this training…’
The problem was that the ‘7-Day Experience’ was extremely harsh and dangerous.
‘For normal students, maybe it’s fine… but for me, it could be deadly.’
The threat of death lurked constantly.
‘But ironically, there’s no better place to learn how to survive extreme situations than Professor Neifin’s class…’
Indeed, the safest way to experience danger was under his teaching.
‘It might be too dangerous.’
Seila debated whether she should avoid this training like the heroine or participate properly.
She thought of one person.
‘Before participating… I should learn more about Troy.’
He was too mysterious.
Troy disappeared when sought and reappeared unexpectedly, as if he didn’t exist.
‘None of the students find this odd.’
Everything was strange.
Finally, Seila secretly sent a note to Jermiel.
[Please make some time for me tonight.]
He was the right person to ask about the things she didn’t understand.
