After parting ways with Drenor, I immediately went to look for Reina and Ridipin. The two were sitting on a bench not far from the leather and fabric crafting section, watching the smithing process.
I naturally leaned on the back of the bench where they were seated and spoke.
“Yo.”
“Oh, you’re back?”
“You were pretty close. I was getting worried you might’ve gone deep into the workshop.”
“I thought it might happen, so I stayed back and watched from a distance.”
“Was it really that—or you just didn’t trust what I said?”
“Ahem… Of course not. We totally believed you, right, Ridipin?”
“Y-Yes! I absolutely didn’t doubt you just because you sounded way too knowledgeable about the workshop!”
I glared silently at Reina, and she avoided my gaze, pretending to whistle—very poorly, I might add.
To be honest, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t have believed a word from a known troublemaker, no matter how close we’d gotten.
Really, I’m grateful they’re even friendly with me, knowing the rumors about Ban.
So I let it slide with a smile.
“Anyway, what’s your next class?”
“Um, I have Basic Aura Theory.”
“Oh! Me too! Let’s take it together!”
“Th-that sounds good…!”
Reina beamed and hugged Ridipin.
It looked like they’d gotten closer already, as Ridipin carefully returned the hug.
Why do I feel left out all of a sudden?
“Nobody curious about my schedule, huh?”
“Oh, right. Ban exists too.”
Wow.
But Reina was clearly teasing, her face full of playful mischief.
“Okay, fine. I’ll ask what you’re taking.”
“Thank you, Class Rep. I’m taking Basic Magic Circle Architecture.”
“Ugh, even the name sounds boring and difficult.”
“Still, I’ve got no choice. It’s a required course for the Magic Department.”
“That’s too bad. If you were in the Martial Arts Department too, the three of us could’ve hung out. What a shame!”
No kidding.
If I had possessed Drenor instead of Ban, that would’ve been possible. Bit of a regret there.
Then Reina suddenly remembered something.
“Ah! Don’t forget you promised to buy me something tasty! Ridipin’s with us too, so treat her as well!”
“B-but I didn’t even do anything…”
“It’s fine, Ridipin. Join us. Honestly, it’d be a little awkward to eat alone with just the two of us, anyway.”
“U-uh…”
“And it’s better to just accept when someone offers to treat you.”
“T-then I’ll gladly accept…”
Reina nudged my side with her elbow.
“Oho~. I was just joking, but you sure you’re not gonna go broke, Mr. ‘Empire’s Most Notorious Troublemaker’?”
“I’m loaded right now. I could treat you today if you wanted.”
“Not today. Next week.”
“Why?”
“I overheard that restaurants will officially start running next week.”
I didn’t know where she heard that, but she was right.
Since the whole Iris Academy would be used for the freshman initiation ceremony next week, most restaurants and shops had held back and planned to start business in earnest afterward.
“Sure. Doesn’t really matter when.”
“Oho~. Sounding confident. Or are you underestimating my appetite?”
She gave a meaningful smile, reminding me she was a heavy eater.
Suddenly, a chill—no, my wallet—ran cold.
She might be a glutton, but she’s got a good heart. She probably won’t go overboard.
…I choose to believe that.
I chatted with Reina and Ridipin for the rest of lunch break and made it to the classroom for Basic Magic Circle Architecture just before class began.
But something was off—it was unusually noisy inside.
Some kind of event?
No… Nothing like that should be happening at this point in the story.
The only thing that came to mind was a chain event triggered by the Cafeteria Incident, but I had only dealt with the aftermath. The main player in that event was Drenor, not me.
As I ruled out all other possibilities, I remembered what I’d heard earlier in the workshop—about Sonia.
Is something changing from the version I know?
Cautiously, I opened the door and peeked inside the classroom.
Even the noble students looked shaken, glancing around nervously. A group of male students was pacing around, clearly searching for someone.
Among them… was that noble who had gotten into a fight with Drenor in the cafeteria: Cain Tromer.
If he’s here…
Even though I already understood the situation, I still peeked toward the lectern, half in denial.
There he was—as expected. A boy with navy blue hair and a scar on his left cheek, arms crossed, frowning.
He tapped his foot aggressively, broadcasting his bad mood. Then he growled,
“Come out here, Ban Astreia! You thought you could mess with my subordinate and walk away unscathed?!”
I quietly shut the door and rubbed my aching temples.
No doubt about it.
That guy at the front is Tyron Drake, the one who triggers the follow-up event after the cafeteria scene—the mid-boss of Chapter 1 in [Spell Breaker], known as the Mad Dog.
Tyron, direct heir of the Drake family, a renowned martial arts clan, is as infamous as Ban.
They’re both infamous delinquents, but with key differences: Ban’s wild and free-spirited; Tyron is unhinged and reckless.
He doesn’t care if you’re a noble, royalty, or elder—if you piss him off, he’ll bite. Once he sets his sights on someone, he doesn’t let go.
Assaults, gang fights, threats—you name it.
According to in-game rumors, he even runs a drug ring. A full-blown gang leader.
Compared to Ban, who once blew up part of the Magic Tower, Tyron might almost seem tame… which is both hilarious and sad.
Normally, if the player loses to the noble in the cafeteria, Tyron shows up midway through Chapter 1. But if you win, he shows up early and relentlessly harasses you.
Even if you defeat him, more enemies keep showing up—there’s no way to stop the chain event.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down… but it was no use. I was still screwed.
All I did was help Drenor, so why is Tyron coming after me instead of him?
I wallowed in unfairness for a moment before realizing this guy doesn’t understand logic. I had to push away unnecessary thoughts.
Should I escape?
No. If not today, they’d find me eventually.
Should I face him head-on and purposely lose to clear the event?
Nope. In [Spell Breaker], even losing to Tyron doesn’t stop the chain of events. You just get a bad ending after dying in a boss fight.
While I was still deliberating, I ran into a rough-looking student trying to enter the classroom.
He looked shocked the moment he saw me.
I only realized too late he was one of Tyron’s henchmen and lunged to stop him, but he opened the door before I could react.
“Tyron! Ban Astreia is right here—!”
BAM!
I did manage to silence him, but it was too late. The door was open, and Tyron saw me.
[Affinity Gauge]
Tyron Drake – 20%
Damn it. So this is one of my affinity targets?
Tyron flared up the moment he saw me.
“Ban Astreia…!”
“Ha ha… You found me, huh?”
He marched over and reached out a hand.
Slap!
“…?!”
I grabbed his hand before it could reach my neck and slowly stood up.
“Violence is bad, you know.”
“Hah! And the Empire’s #1 delinquent says that?”
He wasn’t wrong, but I grinned and tightened my grip.
“Being a delinquent is one thing. Violence being bad is another.”
“Don’t play word games with me!”
“It’s not a word game.”
Outwardly I smiled, but inwardly I was terrified.
Part of me wanted to apologize profusely and grovel—but as someone possessing Ban, I couldn’t back down.
This guy blew up part of the Magic Tower. If I showed weakness, they’d start to suspect me.
I was working to slowly shift Ban’s image, but drastic changes would be risky.
So I succeeded in not backing down… but how do I get out of this?
Even as I thought, I didn’t let go of Tyron’s wrist.
He glared and tried to grab my neck again, but I resisted.
Of course, I couldn’t beat a martial arts student in a strength match.
As his hand neared my throat, I twisted away and released him.
Off-balance, Tyron tumbled into the hallway.
Thud!
The crash drew more attention.
“A fight!”
“The Empire’s top delinquent vs. the Mad Dog!”
“Is this the start of a new pecking order?!”
Apparently nobody had class, because a crowd formed around us like a battle arena.
Tyron recovered and charged at me.
“Graaah!”
His wild attacks were predictable—I’d seen them all in-game.
I maintained distance and dodged accordingly.
Frustrated, he sped up—but it made no difference.
Even if I’m weak now, unless he’s a one-hit-kill like Reina, I can dodge this.
Eventually, he panted heavily behind his guard.
“Just like before. Still can’t beat you like this, huh?”
…Huh?
While I blinked in confusion, he reached into his subspace pouch and dropped a pair of gauntlets.
Thud!
They didn’t look thick, but the sound was heavy.
Wait… why is he pulling out gauntlets?
In the game, this event was just a warning: “You’ve made an enemy—watch your back.”
But this?
This meant he was here to end it.
And judging by what he said, it seemed Ban and Tyron were on bad terms from the start.
As he strapped on the gauntlets, a blue aura shimmered—Aura.
A rare power only knights of a certain level could wield.
Even Reina, a hard-working prodigy, was still at apprentice level and couldn’t use Aura yet.
In other words, Tyron was currently way out of my league.
Though in-game, you could still beat him early on thanks to a bug…
But there’s no guarantee that bug still works.
He raised his fists in a boxer’s stance.
“I’ve finally reached this stage, Ban Astreia. Draw your weapon. Let’s finish our previous duel.”
“…Wait, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. You… you stole my woman!”
I froze.
Wait, WHAT?
Did this idiot not only cause massive incidents… but steal someone’s girlfriend too?!
My already low opinion of Ban just dropped even further.
To resolve this, I’d probably need to apologize—but as Ban, that was impossible.
Tyron growled,
“You told me to hate you as much as I wanted. Well, I will!”
Wow. Ban even gave him permission to be petty?
Tyron advanced, signaling the start of phase two.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Even his smallest movements made chilling noises from the Aura.
At my current level, two hits and I’d be out cold.
I used [Fire] for defense, but he shattered the flames with a punch and kept coming.
“Ugh!”
I could dodge thanks to knowing his patterns, but I wouldn’t last long with my low stats.
My only option was to use fire spells to stall without defeating him… Ugh, so annoying.
I wanted to slam him into the ceiling with earth magic.
While dodging, I messed up my footing—and his punch came straight for my stomach.
I braced for impact—only for a massive sword to crash into the wall and block the blow.
“…!”
The owner of the greatsword didn’t even glance at the shocked Tyron as he spoke calmly.
“As I said before—I’ll step in whenever I want.”
The one who saved me: rude but reliable protagonist—Drenor.
