The sun rose from the east, bathing the entire Eldoria Empire in its warm light.
The warm rays pierced through the window of Hastora's room, waking him from his sleep. Hastora sat up, stretching his still stiff body.
Today was the day Hastora would take the entrance exam for the Velmora Grand Academy. He had to hurry, so he wouldn't miss the entrance test.
He got out of bed and left the room—and walked down the stairs one by one to the lower floor.
"Oh... You're awake—so early," the inn girl said with a smile as she wiped down the counter.
Hastora didn't answer immediately; he walked to one of the tables first.
When he got there, he sat down—and leaned back in the chair.
"I have to take the entrance exam at Velmora Grand Academy soon," Hastora replied to the girl's greeting.
The girl's eyes widened, surprised to hear Hastora's words.
"W—What? Academy?" she asked.
Hastora, who was still feeling a little sleepy, turned his head, his eyes still not fully open.
"What's wrong? Why are you so surprised?" Hastora asked curiously.
"How old are you?" the girl asked.
Hastora rubbed his eyes; his drowsiness had disappeared. He looked at the girl with a flat expression.
"15 years old," he replied.
The girl was even more surprised after hearing him; she shouted loudly—still unable to accept the fact that Hastora was a 15-year-old boy.
"What!" she shouted. "I thought you were 20 years old."
"Huh? 20 years old?" Hastora asked curiously.
"Yes! You're so tall and... handsome. So, I thought you were a 20-year-old man." The girl replied.
The girl added, "I can't believe you're still 15 years old. You're still just going to enter the academy."
Hastora was surprised by the girl's words. 'What is this girl saying?' he thought. He stretched his still-stiff head—and asked what the girl meant by her words.
"What are you saying? Why would you think that?"
The girl leaned forward, "how tall are you?" she asked.
Hastora held his chin, trying to gauge his height by guessing.
"... Maybe 1.80 meters?"
"Ha? 1.80 meters? That's so tall," the girl seemed disbelieving of what Hastora had just said. "How can you be that tall?"
"I don't know... Maybe it's just something I was born with."" Hastora replied, trying to give a reasonable answer.
"Genetic trait?... Do you do any sports?" the girl asked curiously.
"I exercise every day," he replied.
"Do you do any special exercises?"
"Special movements? I don't think so. I just often do pull-ups, push-ups, run, and practice swordsmanship."
Hastora added, "I also sometimes practice magic and kill monsters."
The girl raised both her eyelids, "...Monsters?"
"Yes," Hastora replied.
"Where do you defeat monsters?" the girl asked curiously.
"Hmmm... I guess the forest, the gate, and the mountains."
"Ha! Is that right?"
"Yes."
The girl's eyes sparkled, amazed by how great Hastora was. She immediately believed Hastora's words without a doubt.
Actually, there was a little lie in Hastora's words. After reincarnating, he only hunted monsters in the forest and in the mountains—not at the gate.
The last time Hastora entered the gate was 20,000 years ago. After reincarnating, he had never entered a gate once.
Hastora felt that he had spoken too much. He looked at the wall clock in the inn; it showed 08:30.
"It's time."
"It's time?. For what?" the girl asked.
"It's time for breakfast. I ordered a cup of coffee and a sandwich," Hastora replied, feeling a little hungry.
"Alright, wait a minute, I'll prepare your order quickly."
The girl quickly put on an apron—and took bread from the storage area.
"Don't take long," said Hastora.
"Okay, I promise this won't take long," the girl replied.
The girl baked a piece of meat. After it was cooked, she put it on top of the bread she had taken earlier.
She also put some vegetables like tomatoes, lettuce, and onion. Then she put sauce on top of all the ingredients—and covered everything with another layer of bread.
The order is ready.
She brought Hastora's order to his table.
"Your order is ready," she said.
"Thank you," Hastora replied. "Where's my coffee?"
"I'll get it ready right away, just wait a minute."
The girl went back to the cooking area to make a cup of coffee.
Hastora, who was already hungry, immediately ate the sandwich with gusto. The spiciness of the sauce mixed with the tender venison—made the sandwich very tasty.
Soon, Hastora's coffee was ready. The girl put it on the table, then went back to wash the dishes.
Hastora quickly finished the sandwich, then drank the coffee that had been served on his table.
After finishing, he immediately left the inn and walked towards the academy.
"I have to hurry."
Hastora quickened his pace; he couldn't be late for this entrance exam or all his goals would become more difficult.
...
On the way, a pink-haired girl with blue eyes seemed to be falling on the road.
She wasn't far from Hastora, only about 3 meters. He looked at the girl for a moment with a flat expression—then decided to ignore her.
Hastora continued his journey to Velmora Grand Academy while pretending not to know.
"Wait!" called the pink-haired girl.
The thing he most avoided at this moment happened. Hastora didn't turn around immediately; he stood for a moment.
'Damn pink blob, turn around or not?' he thought. Hastora sighed, then decided to turn towards the girl.
"What?" he asked with a flat expression, showing no emotion or care at all.
"Mmp! How can you ignore a beautiful girl who is falling helpless like that," said the pink-haired girl, pouting—a little upset with Hastora who was not sensitive.
"So? What do you want me to do?" Hastora asked, seemingly indifferent to the girl's words.
"What else? Help me, please," the girl said.
Hastora sighed, "So be it."
Hastora approached the girl with a little laziness. When he got there, he extended his hand—trying to help the girl stand up.
The girl took Hastora's hand with a slight smile, "Well... That's how you do it, be a little sensitive."
Hastora also helped pick up her belongings that had fallen, then gave them to her.
"Here," said Hastora.
The girl smiled, "Thank you."
"Yes," Hastora replied briefly. And Hastora was about to continue his journey.
As he was about to walk, the girl grabbed Hastora's clothes, trying to stop him from leaving immediately.
Hastora turned his head slightly, "What?" he asked.
"Why are you leaving so quickly?" the girl asked.
"So? What do you want me to do again?"
"Nothing."
Hastora closed his eyes—trying to stay calm in the face of this girl's attitude.
"If there's nothing, you should let me go, I might be late for the entrance exam," Hastora said flatly.
"Entrance exam?" the girl asked.
"Yes," Hastora replied. "I want to take the entrance exam at Velmora Grand Academy."
Hastora added, "so please let me go, I might be late. You also want to take the entrance exam to enter Velmora Grand Academy, right?"
The girl was a little surprised, a little curious about how Hastora knew she was going to enter Velmora Grand Academy as well.
'How do you know?' the girl asked.
"Your appearance," Hastora replied.
The girl tilted her head to the left, as if asking; How?
"What do you mean by that?" the girl asked.
Hastora sighed, "I know from your appearance that you look like a noble."
Hastora added, "it's impossible for a girl who is carrying a lot of things and wearing luxurious clothes not to go there, right?"
"Besides, you look the same age as me."
The girl's eyes widened, surprised and amazed by Hastora's ability.
"You're amazing!" she shouted.
"I'm undeniably great" he replied, his expression flat.
"Let's—" the girl hadn't even finished her words. Her friends came up to them both. There were three of them, all girls.
"Gisella!" called the yellow-haired girl.
Gisella, the pink-haired girl, turned around. "Yes! What's up?"
"Where have you been?" the yellow-haired girl asked.
"I was on my way to the academy, but I tripped and fell. This man helped me," Gisella replied, a small smile on her face.
All eyes were on Hastora. He seemed indifferent to them all—he just had a flat and cold expression.
"What?. He asked me to help him," Hastora said, trying to explain why he helped Gisella.
"Is that true?" the green-haired girl asked.
"Yes," Gisella replied.
Feeling that there was nothing more to say, Hastora turned around and walked towards Velmora Grand Academy.
But his actions were stopped by the white-haired girl. The girl pulled his arm back and dragged him towards them.
'So annoying' Hastora thought, starting to feel uncomfortable with their attitude.
"What else?" Hastora asked, his voice calm but cold.
"Where are you going?" the white-haired girl asked. She had very beautiful blue eyes, even more beautiful than Gisella's.
Her face was also very beautiful. Her long white hair that flowed down her back and beautiful blue eyes made her appearance perfect.
However, it didn't interest Hastora at all. "Going," Hastora replied to the white-haired girl's question.
"Going? Where?" the white-haired girl asked.
"Velmora Grand Academy entrance exam," Hastora replied.
"We have the same destination," the girl said.
"So?"
"We can go together, right?"
"No."
"Why not?. Consider this a thank you for helping Gisella."
The girl added, "my name is Valeska von Asterea. And you're lucky to be able to go with beautiful girls like us—so just follow along."
Hastora's expression, which had previously shown no emotion at all, now turned cold after hearing those words.
"Ha?. I don't need that, I can go by myself," he said coldly.
Hastora added, "and just consider all of you indebted to me because I helped your friend just now."
Hastora turned around and continued his journey.
One of them felt offended by Hastora's attitude just now. The green-haired girl felt furious with Hastora's words.
She gritted her teeth. Her veins were visible because of her anger that was reaching its peak, she clenched both her arms.
"You!" she shouted. "How dare you be rude to Emperor Kyle's child?"
Hastora stopped his steps, then turned his head slightly back.
"So?"
The girl's anger reached its peak, she vented all her anger.
"You bastard!. Who do you think you are to dare to be rude to high-class nobles like us!. You damn bastard!"
Hastora stared coldly at the girl, looking at her with disgust. "Ha?... Noble? You mean those useless creatures?. They are just living garbage in this world—they exploit the weaker creatures for their own gain. Garbage like that should be cleaned up as soon as possible."
Hastora pulled out one of his spare swords: Bloodmounrd from behind his shadow.
Evil, dark, and bloodthirsty energy emanated from the sword. Hastora walked slowly towards the green-haired girl.
"W—What are you doing?" the green-haired girl asked, her body shaking uncontrollably.
All the girls there were scared, their bodies trembling—unable to move. Gisella swallowed her saliva, shivering at Hastora's attitude at this time.
"Stop!... W—What do you think you're doing?" the green-haired girl asked.
"Nothing special, I'm just going to do some cleaning," he replied coldly.
Hastora raised his sword, trying to slash the green-haired girl. The girl couldn't move because of fear.
The girl closed her eyes, her tears falling. "D—Don't... ".
"Goodbye."
There was no blood.
Hastora put his sword back into the shadows, then walked towards the academy, leaving them all behind.
"W—What happened?" the green-haired girl asked, stuttering slightly.
"He just wanted to scare you," Valeska replied.
"W—What?"
The atmosphere became silent, they all stood silent, looking at Hastora who was walking away from them all.
Valeska sighed, "we better hurry."
"Valeska is right. We might be late."
They all walked towards the academy together, following Hastora from behind at a distance of 5 meters.
...
Hastora realized the presence of the girls who were walking behind him. But he didn't turn his head at all, he just pretended not to know.
"Why are you following me?" Hastora said.
Valeska replied, "who's following you?. You're the one in front of us."
To be continued in the next chapter…