Sword, Magic and Academic Society

In the Knight and Mage Royal Academy of the Yugria Kingdom, there are many regulations, and one of them is— students must join a club.

It was one of the education policies of the academy, which focused on raising all-rounders. Except, this rule, which had been continued for a long time, was now no more than a mere formality and there were just a handful of proper clubs currently.

Take the example if someone wanted to learn martial arts, there were as many excellent dojos in the Royal Capital as you could count. This wasn't the only example, the situation was the same for other pursuits. After all, it wasn't that difficult to arrange for an excellent training environment.

As society became more civilized, club activities also began to go down in trend.

One month after enrolling in the academy—

"Don't just run aimlessly!

Think about the significance behind the running!

Those who don't have willpower go away!

Drop any idea of leniency!

Those who are slow go away!

Surpass your yesterday's self!

Those who can't triumph go away!"

I had turned into a strict coach.

Surprisingly, the entirety of Class A was participating in the morning running session. Apparently, the fact that I could hold my ground against Leo for so long with my mana capacity stunned my classmates.

According to Leo, he had seemingly consumed around 70% of his 50,000 mana units in that 30-minute scuffle. He couldn't find any opening to use his interference techniques due to the quick rotation of my mana, and when he sensed he was about to be outdone, it inevitably led to him increasing the output of his body-strengthening magic to bring out more power.

But of course, such bold moves couldn't decide the outcome immediately. He was already at his wits end dealing with my attacks and creating the gaps.

But my swift counters brought the situation back to a draw.

At first, no one had thought we would fall into such a stalemate. Furthermore, I was facing Leo immediately after my battle with Parry-kun which lasted for over 10 minutes, and the former himself had absolute mana capacity that only appeared once in a decade or two even in the Royal Academy's mana capacity exam.

Even if I tried to aim for a short-term battle with my remaining mana, it would be his win as long as he could endure. Deciding on that, he focused more on closing any opening that otherwise would have given me a chance to exploit.

But contrary to this, my mana capacity which has been judged as merely C rank was like a relentless river.

As a matter of fact, he was apparently sweating internally seeing the gradual depletion of his mana.

'It was by chance that I managed to draw the distance I needed when your attack pushed me away. If we fought again, I believe the result could reverse as well.'

Leo had said to me with a dead-serious expression. From his appearance, he didn't seem to be lying.

It seemed like he was telling the truth when he said he didn't have any interest in winning or losing, and his only purpose in joining the Royal Academy was to further polish himself.

The day after I earned the recommendations of my classmates to stay in Class A — though I wish they had kept their generosity to themselves — a problem arose.

It was the late arrival of my classmates.

I set my time to wake up 30 minutes earlier than usual to deal with Sora's bizarre breakfast, so we all gathered at the main entrance at 5 a.m.

From there, I did a clockwise run around the Academy's perimeter like usual, but it was only Leo who managed to keep up with me while my remaining classmates gradually dropped one after another after we had crossed one-third of the distance.

Even Leo, unable to withstand it anymore, sat on a nearby stump while I was doing my hill dash and gave me a reproachful glare.

Well, there was no point waiting for those who couldn't keep up. I had my own schedule to follow.

With that, I promptly abandoned my classmates and returned to the general dormitory. After having Sora's horribly bitter breakfast, I arrived at the class around just before 9:10 a.m. But to my surprise, I only saw Leo and Mob A-kun— whose name seemed to be Dan.

Contrary to his ordinary bystander appearance, Dan was, in fact, the number 2 in mana capacity after Leo and was considered a genius who could easily have been ranked first overall if it weren't for the super-genius Leo this year.

◆◆◆

"Allen Rovenne, do you intend to close the doors of this Year-1 Class A just on the second day?"

Godorfun questioned me when the rest of my classmates finally gathered before 10 a.m.

Not like any of this was my fault though.......

"It's not like I asked them to follow me. They decided to run on their own and ended up being late due to their actions. Well, they should have learned their lesson and understood where their limits lie. By tomorrow, they might retreat with their tails tucked between their legs. So we can ignore this for today."

I replied, smirking and taunting my classmates. I still haven't forgotten their 'Serves you right' smirk from the previous day.

At that time, I still underestimated the pride of those who entered Class A of the Royal Academy.

Each of them was hailed as 'The prodigy of their family ever since its inception', and unlike the past 'Allen', they had diligently studied and worked hard.

"Hmm, don't you have any sense of consideration for your friends who helped you out, and even used their family names to vouch for you?"

But they were the same friends who secretly conspired behind my back. Truth be told, I didn't have any interest in Class A.

"Hmph. Just some comforting words are fine, right? Hey, Fey-sama! Oh my? No reply today? Aww, I guess you must be tired from staying up all night researching magic, right? Should I call a carriage for our dear princess from tomorrow on at the main entrance?"

"Alright. Stop there."

I declared, ignoring Fey who gave me a tearful glare.

◆◆◆

The next morning, I didn't find anyone at the main entrance when I arrived there at 5 a.m.

I didn't expect even Leo to skip after the first day. Well, whatever, I paid it no more heed and followed my running routine.

Apparently, my ever-so prideful classmates had woken up even earlier and adjusted their departure time in accordance with their speed. They must have heard about the hill dash from Leo as when I arrived at the lovely slope at 6 a.m., all 19 of my classmates were waiting there.

To be honest, I was genuinely delighted to see them value me so much.

"When did you start running?"

I asked Coco, who had been the last to arrive in the classroom yesterday.

"I started at 3:30 a.m. Today, we didn't plan anything jointly, so everyone just set off at different times."

Heh. So they all ran at their own discretion without any discussion.

Even after I had taunted them so much, none of them showed signs of breaking the schedule. In each of their eyes was shining an intense gleam. I had assumed that fundamental training was a solitary endeavor.

'Well, whatever' was my true feelings when I saw the deserted entrance earlier. But...

I was glad I came to this academy after all. I dropped my grudges there.

◆◆◆

"Can you wake up at this time every day and keep going? You don't need to force yourself to keep up with my pace. It'll be pointless if you can't sustain it."

"...I think my stamina and body-strengthening magic talent in this class is at the rock bottom. I don't want to become that 'Official who is all about theory but can't do anything in the actual scene' that Godorfun-sensei had talked about. I also have something I want to achieve… Can you share your thoughts?"

No longer was he the shy, timid, and nervous Coco. Instead, there was determination in his eyes, showing his strong will to accomplish something.

I couldn't help but be pleased at that sight.

"...What I'm going to say here is just my opinion."

Everyone paid attention as I started speaking.