SFMC 12

Chapter 12. First Lecture

Students of Iris Academy are divided into three main departments based on their primary abilities: the Martial Arts Department for physical strength, the Magic Department for magical power, and the Divine Department for divine power.

In the game, players could freely choose any department except for the Divine Department. But now that I had become a direct descendant of the Astrea family, I had no choice but to join the Magic Department.

Unofficially, there were also specializations like Combat, Research, and Crafting, but regardless of one’s department, students were free to take any lecture they wanted. So being in the Magic Department didn’t really limit me.

Still, since it’s hard to score well outside your specialty, few students bothered to take lectures from other departments. But I planned to take lectures from the Martial Arts Department as well.

That’s because the easiest way to build relationships with characters was to attend lectures together.

I had already memorized not only the schedules of all the main characters but also those of every important supporting character. All that was left was to succeed in course registration.

Thus, the first lecture I would attend was the Joint Tactics course, a mandatory first-year class that integrated all departments.

The name sounded grand, but the actual content was quite simple: students were grouped into teams each session and learned how to cooperate in battle.

I arrived at the lecture hall a little early, but it was already crowded with students.

Among them were the protagonist and all the key characters who would be intertwined with him over the next three years.

The protagonist, Drener.

Next to him was the heroine, Sonia Serium, chatting with him.

The spacey girl who stared blankly out the window despite being surrounded by other students, Ceres Laplace.

The eccentric girl who was chatting while still clutching an alchemy book in one hand, Melor Kreutte.

The timid girl curled up in the corner, Ridipin Lightzjus.

Each of them had their own personal history and exceptional talents.

Since Reina hadn’t arrived yet, I figured I could ease Drener’s anger a bit by sitting near him.

But the moment I took a few steps toward him, he glared at me like he wanted to kill me.

…Guess teasing him earlier left a deeper scar than I thought.

I quickly turned away and sat down somewhere else, but at that moment, the students around me silently shifted one seat away.

…Being a notorious delinquent is harder than I imagined.

Still, unlike during the entrance ceremony, I had something to do now, so I wasn’t bored.

【Tutorial completed.】

【Affinity System unlocked.】

I was worried the system wouldn’t appear since I didn’t possess Drener, but the system window popped up as soon as the entrance ceremony ended.

The Affinity System indicated how strong a bond I had with each character. Depending on this affinity, character-specific events could be triggered.

Affinity rarely decreased, because it treated both positive and negative relationships as valid bonds. But once a bad relationship formed, it was hard to fix.

First, I checked which characters I already had affinity with.

【Affinity List】

Albert Alham – 100%
??? – 25%
??? – 20%
Reina Serenia – 11%
Drener Azerum – 7%
Seren Astrea – 5%
??? – …

What the—why are there so many?

In the game, affinity was only shown for major characters. But now, even side characters like Albert and Reina were included.

I knew the names of most extras too, so if some showed up as question marks, it probably meant we hadn’t “officially met” yet.

Still… how was it that Seren, my real sibling in the game, only had 5% affinity? That felt off.

Maybe the devs intentionally set her affinity low for balance reasons since her events rewarded you with great items?

Well, since I possessed Ban, increasing Seren’s affinity should be easy.

But I couldn’t figure out who the 25% and 20% ones were.

Since both were above 20%, it meant they met the conditions for their first character events. Yet their names hadn’t appeared, probably because we hadn’t formally interacted yet.

That usually meant bad affinity events, but I had no way of identifying them, which was frustrating.

And why did Albert, whom I only trained with for a week, have max affinity, while Seren had only 5%? Was it because of Ban’s past connections?

…No idea.

Just when I was groaning in confusion, someone sat next to me.

“What are you doing all lonely by yourself?”

It was my favorite—Reina.

I sighed in mock frustration at her question.

“No one wants to hang out with the delinquent, so I’m just sitting here sulking.”

“So what? At least you’ve got me. Don’t be so gloomy.”

She patted me on the shoulder reassuringly. Seriously, you’re the best…

Her comfort helped, but I still had one concern.

“Are you sure this is okay? You know being near a delinquent means you might not make any friends.”

Reina smiled wryly and looked away.

“Whether it’s the empire’s biggest delinquent or the fallen noble branded a traitor, there’s not much difference between us…”

“What? But you’re still the top of the class.”

In the game, being top of the class earned you respect and admiration. Shouldn’t Reina have that too?

Even if she came from a disgraced family, she had been officially cleared of all charges.

It didn’t sit right with me.

But Reina just gave a bitter smile.

“It’s just a title. You might not care, but names don’t mean much at Iris Academy. It’s who holds the name that matters.”

I wanted to argue, but she was right.

If someone else had been top, they’d have received praise and envy. But Reina’s fallen family background ruined that for her.

Even though the empire’s Ministry of Justice had declared her innocent, people still called her “the survivor of Serenia” and dragged her family name into it.

In fact, not becoming top might’ve made her less of a target for prejudice.

Not every student cared about politics or history, especially the commoners from remote regions.

Still, the reason I made Reina the top student was because the professors would take notice.

Some professors might be biased, but the truly strong ones wouldn’t care about her background. They might even appreciate her heritage as a former master swordsman family.

If they noticed her talent, they might help her during the upcoming assassination event.

Of course, Reina didn’t know any of this, so I wanted to console her. But then she chuckled and said,

“No need to cheer me up.”

Guess my face gave away my thoughts.

She smiled playfully, looking like she really was okay.

“Who cares what others think? What matters is how I accept the situation, right?”

Yeah, Reina wasn’t the type to crumble from gossip.

Her words reminded me of a quote I once liked.

“Exactly. There’s no need to judge yourself by others’ eyes. You just have to prove you’re not a fallen noble, but Reina Serenia.”

She blinked, surprised, then smiled softly.

“That’s strange… I’ve thought that exact same thing before.”

Of course. I was quoting her future self.

“And until then, we outsiders can just stick together.”

“That works for me.”

As Reina and I were talking, the classroom door opened and the professor walked in.

The rowdy room went instantly silent, and the professor’s footsteps echoed through the quiet.

As he stepped to the podium, students began whispering.

“Isn’t he the one who singlehandedly blocked ten thousand enemies in the East-West War?”

“He’s one of the Trial Masters! They say he mastered all weapons and was called the ‘Blue Spear’ during the war 20 years ago!”

More info spread like wildfire, but the professor ignored it all and calmly wrote his name on the board.

“Nice to meet you, first-years. I’m Hazen Rouzer, and I’ll be teaching your Joint Tactics course for the next half-year.”

The applause that followed was filled with admiration and awe.

Professor Hazen accepted it without emotion and calmly scanned the room.

Then his eyes met mine. He raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Ban Astrea. We meet again, and so soon.”

“…Pleasure to see you?”

Professor Hazen had observed me during the entrance exam alongside Seren.

Back then, he seemed wary of me. But now he looked oddly pleased.

More importantly—why was he acting like he knew me?

The other students looked just as confused.

“How does that delinquent know the professor?”

“Maybe it’s because he’s the headmaster’s nephew?”

“Nah, that’s a stretch… Maybe it’s…”

None of their guesses felt right, and the room buzzed with confusion.

Though Professor Hazen moved on, students kept glancing at me, silently asking what was going on.

Even Reina tapped my shoulder.

“What did you do?”

“I don’t know.”

“You didn’t use water magic during the exam, right?”

“Do I look like I would?”

“Well, unless you did something crazy, there’s no reason for the professor to care about the guy who ranked last…”

Ouch. But fair.

Hazen was known for his sharp interest in talented students. I had no clue what caught his attention.

I wanted to ask him directly.

“Yeah. I wish he’d tell me what got his attention…”

Just then, Professor Hazen knocked twice on the podium, sending a small shockwave through the room.

The pressure silenced the students instantly.

His strength was overwhelming.

He let the silence linger before he finally spoke.

“Joint Tactics is a practical course where you’ll fight in teams of three. Your first task today is to form your teams.”

He pulled out a pocket watch.

“The time is now 10:03 AM. By 10:50 AM, you must form teams of three and report to me. Once set, teams cannot be changed except under extreme circumstances. After teams are formed, we’ll proceed with a monster combat simulation, so be sure to plan your strategy in advance. Any questions?”

Everyone was too busy eyeing each other and plotting alliances to ask anything.

“Then begin your team formation.”

The classroom descended into chaos as students began forming teams.

Some had already arranged their groups and rushed to Hazen, while others scrambled desperately, afraid of being left out.

I, on the other hand, just sat and observed.

Since I had possessed Ban, wandering around would only get me rejected. No point in trying.

Scoring too high would just draw suspicion, and I’d be solo during the assassination event anyway, so it didn’t matter who my teammates were.

As I sat calmly, Reina tugged on my sleeve in a panic.

“Shouldn’t we find teammates? If we wait too long, all the good ones will be taken!”

“We?”

“…Weren’t we already a team?”

“Didn’t you plan to team up with someone else?”

Reina frowned.

“Do you see anyone else by your side? Are you teasing me?”

I stared at her blankly before it hit me.

In the game, even if you got close to Reina, she always formed a team with others around this point.

But now, since she was the top student, she was under scrutiny. And since I was infamously a delinquent, she couldn’t make friends easily. She’d also been teaching me swordsmanship, so she likely hadn’t had time to meet others.

That’s why we could now be on the same team.

This was a huge opportunity. If all went well, we might be better prepared for the assassination event than in the game. And I might even get a high grade in Joint Tactics without raising suspicion.

Just as I finished thinking, Reina nudged me again.

“Why are you so quiet? Are you teasing me or what?”

Oops. I forgot to answer her.

“No way. I was just surprised that someone like you didn’t already have a team.”

“Well, anyway, what do we do about a third member?”

“Just sit tight. With me here, rejection is basically guaranteed.”

“Still…”

Her concern was valid.

If no one joined us, the professor would assign a leftover—usually the one everyone else avoided.

I patted her shoulder gently.

“Don’t worry. The world’s big, and there are other outsiders like us.”

She looked puzzled, but I motioned for her to follow and stood up.