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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
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A1 Class Lecture Hall.
Creak.
As the lecture hall door slid open and new people entered, the students inside naturally turned their gaze towards them. After all, these were the students who would be attending classes with them starting tomorrow. Everyone assumed they were new classmates, which was why they looked.
"Oh?"
"Isn't that a C-Class uniform?"
But as most of the students looked at Cheonseong and Glacia, who had just entered, they couldn't understand. Why was a C-Class student in A-Class?
Among them was Leonhardt's group.
As the students' attention focused on them, Yumiya, who had naturally looked their way, blinked.
"...Oh, isn't that Glacia? And who's the man with her?"
As Yumiya, who was sticking close to Leonhardt, spoke, Leonhardt naturally turned his gaze to the two who had just entered. He briefly admired Glacia's beautiful appearance, which had first caught his eye, before his attention immediately shifted to the man who had entered the lecture hall with her.
Black hair, black eyes. If anything, that was his defining feature. His appearance was sharp, but his eyes held a curious gaze as he surveyed the lecture hall, which was quite peculiar. He exuded a remarkably unfamiliar aura. He seemed very different from anyone Leonhardt had ever encountered.
Yet, what truly stood out was still his uniform. In this lecture hall, he was the only one not wearing the same uniform. The uniform, a mix of blue and black, clearly symbolized C-Class.
"I wonder. I don't know who he is, but I'm curious..."
"Leonhardt, you too? I mean, Glacia always disappeared right away when she was with us. But now she's acting like *that* with a *man*."
As Yumiya, with her short red hair, naturally emphasized the word 'man,' Leonhardt gave a slight nod. Even so, it bothered him. Just how was that man able to be with Glacia, just the two of them? Being with Glacia, who was completely unlike any woman he had ever met, he'd be lying if he said it didn't bother him.
Step.
As he thought, Leonhardt simultaneously took a step forward.
"Huh? Leonhardt, where are you going?"
"Just going to talk to them."
"...With a C-Class student?"
Leonhardt chuckled softly at Yumiya's words, which already implied class discrimination.
"Even if our classes are different, we're all academy students. There's no harm in getting to know anyone, no matter who they are."
Speaking softly, Leonhardt felt a pure curiosity. He was curious about how that man could act alongside Glacia, and he also felt that by talking to him and getting to know him, he might naturally discover the method himself.
Step.
As Leonhardt moved forward, Yumiya immediately followed beside him. And they arrived in front of them.
Leonhardt smiled lightly and opened his mouth.
"Hello, Glacia?"
"Oh."
"It's good to see you in the lecture hall. By the way, who's the student with you? You two seem quite close. Could you perhaps introduce him?"
As he spoke gently, Leonhardt found himself looking at Cheonseong a little more closely. Was he surprised by his sudden approach, or perhaps nervous? He stared intently, which was quite interesting.
"...Han Cheonseong."
"Han Cheonseong?"
As Leonhardt turned his gaze at Glacia's curt reply, the man slowly nodded.
"I'll introduce myself. As Glacia said, my name is Han Cheonseong. As you can see, I'm C-Class... and I just happened to come here to look around the lecture hall while accompanying Glacia."
"I see. My name is Leonhardt Royant. You can call me Leonhardt. And the person next to me is—"
"...Yumiya. My name is Yumiya. As for you, Han Cheonseong, I'd prefer if you didn't call me casually."
Watching Yumiya reply so rudely, Leonhardt inexplicably felt sorry for him.
"Ahaha. Please don't take it too badly, Yumiya just seems to be a bit shy with strangers."
"It's fine. I don't really mind. Still, it's quite an honor, isn't it? To actually see Leonhardt, the top student in the entrance exam, renowned for his Legendary Trait. As expected, he really feels completely different compared to other students."
Looking at the man who replied so calmly, curiosity naturally arose within him.
'Different feeling, huh?'
Just what exactly was different?
"Me being the top student this year? It was just luck, really. What honor? We're all just fellow students."
"It's kind of you to say so."
Unlike when he had first stared intently, seeing Han Cheonseong, a man who responded well, gave him a rather unremarkable impression. Calm and composed. Just one of the ordinary students engaging in conversation.
'...Ordinary?'
Then, a moment of doubt struck him. Being ordinary actually made no sense. They were currently in the A-Class lecture hall. And this man seemed to know everything, even that he was the top student in the entrance exam with a Legendary Trait and had given the congratulatory speech. Yet this man, Han Cheonseong, was treating him as if it were nothing. His ordinary demeanor was, in Leonhardt's eyes, anything but ordinary.
Just then, he saw Yumiya flash a sweet smile.
"Glacia! So what's your relationship with Han Cheonseong? Are you, by any chance, a couple!?"
"...Yumiya. What an impolite thing to say to someone you just met."
"No~ I was just curious. When Glacia's with us, she acts all distant and awkward, but now she seems to get along so well with a C-Class student~ I just wondered if you were a couple."
Yumiya spoke rudely and without hesitation, looking around. Then, he could feel several gazes from within the lecture hall turning toward them. So he couldn't stop her. Because Yumiya's words also made him curious. Just how did this man, Han Cheonseong, get along with Glacia?
Although he didn't think they were a couple, as Yumiya suggested, the gazes of others made him inadvertently look at Glacia as well.
"..."
But surprisingly, Glacia looked at them with composure. He had expected her to be upset or show some other reaction. But she just seemed indifferent.
'No way.'
At that sight, the thought that she might actually be in a relationship with this man crossed his mind without him even realizing it.
"We're not a couple."
Glacia denied it with a curt reply. At that, he felt a sense of relief.
"Really? Then Glacia, what exactly is your relationship?"
"It's nothing."
"Aw~ You're lying. Glacia, you acted so awkward around us. You even left right after the entrance ceremony, didn't you?"
As Yumiya pressed a bit persistently, he thought he should stop her... but he couldn't bring himself to speak.
'What *is* their relationship, really?'
Yumiya's blunt questioning wasn't pleasant to witness, but at the same time, he was curious. What reason did Glacia have for associating with this man, Han Cheonseong? While he personally viewed people without class prejudice, in the eyes of other students, Glacia and Han Cheonseong's companionship itself couldn't help but seem strange.
—A-Class and C-Class.
Moreover, Glacia possessed a remarkably eye-catching beauty, so everyone, knowingly or unknowingly, was looking at her. In contrast to Glacia, Han Cheonseong was C-Class. And while his appearance was certainly unique... that was all there was to it. In short, the two of them were an unsuitable pair.
"..."
As he looked, Glacia slowly turned her head. Then she fixed her gaze on Han Cheonseong beside her. After a moment of silence, he wondered what was going on.
"Um, Glacia?"
As Yumiya asked, sounding puzzled, Glacia finally nodded. It was something he'd felt since first meeting her, but Glacia's demeanor was truly strange.
"I don't know either. What my relationship with Han Cheonseong is. It's a bit hard to explain in words."
She uttered such a peculiar statement. For a moment, he burst out laughing at her words.
"What? What on earth are you talking about, Glacia?"
Even as Yumiya repeatedly questioned her, sounding bewildered, Glacia remained perfectly calm. She merely shook her head or nodded, offering only short, curt replies. Her demeanor was as if she paid no attention to other people's gazes or actions, which made him look at her even more.
"Hold on. I'll answer this."
When Han Cheonseong spoke, he also erased his smile and turned his attention to him. It was difficult to learn anything through Glacia. He had clearly felt that from her demeanor just moments ago. If so, perhaps he could find the answer from Han Cheonseong. Since he seemed relatively easier to talk to.
***
She was truly consistent. Whether in a good way or a bad way, she was truly consistent...
Cheonseong, watching Glacia, thought to himself.
'In a way, I guess you could say she's amazing.'
Until now, I'd thought Glacia answered so curtly because I had a Common Trait. But that wasn't the reality. This was simply Glacia's 'true nature.' No matter who she was talking to, Glacia was consistently unenthusiastic and gave peculiar replies.
"Glacia and I just happened to meet by chance."
"By chance?"
I nodded, looking at Yumiya who had replied. Now that I thought about it, she was one of those characters with a truly awful personality.
—Yumiya Lirpol.
A heroine with bright, blunt short red hair like a sunset. She was also a 'sunflower,' only looking at the protagonist. She was incredibly kind only to Leonhardt, and treated everyone else with genuine indifference. She was a heroine character who, commonly known as a 'looks-obsessed fan,' had fallen in love with Leonhardt at first sight. When reading the novel, her devotion to only the protagonist seemed quite endearing. But now that I was personally being treated with disdain, honestly, it didn't feel good.
"Glacia and I met during the entrance exam. We talked a bit, and somehow we became acquainted. And as Glacia already said, we're not anything to each other. We just happen to be acting together, that's all."
I wanted to avoid any unnecessary gossip. Even now, it seemed there were many rumors circulating within the class about Glacia and me, but I wanted to stop them here and now.
"Hmm. Really? Well... I suppose that makes sense."
The moment I replied, Yumiya scoffed and answered, which was truly absurd.
"Yumiya. Don't say it like that."
When Leonhardt suddenly replied so coldly, Yumiya was visibly flustered for a moment. She looked back and forth between Leonhardt and me, hesitated, then opened her mouth.
"Um, Han Cheonseong. I... well. I didn't mean it with bad intentions. You know that, right?"
As if she was telling me to reply in a certain way, I just found it so preposterous that I chuckled.
"Yeah. I didn't take it that way."
While I gave her a suitable reply, my attention was more on Leonhardt than Yumiya. Actually speaking to him face-to-face like this, I really felt that he was indeed the protagonist.
'He's genuinely kind.'
The kind and warm personality that embraced everyone, as I'd seen in the novel, hadn't gone anywhere.
"Leonhardt."
Then, when Glacia suddenly spoke up, I wondered what she was up to.
"Would you like to spar with Han Cheonseong sometime?"
"...Me, spar with Han Cheonseong?"
"Yeah. I'm curious."
Suddenly, a conversation that defied understanding was taking place.
"..."
Listening from the side, it felt as though my thoughts had stopped for a moment. So I just stared blankly. At Glacia, who was saying something so utterly impossible with a straight face.
'What is this woman talking about right now?'
I couldn't fathom what she was thinking when she said that, or what her intention even was.
"I don't mind, but wouldn't Han Cheonseong be burdened?"
As Leonhardt replied cautiously, I was about to nod vigorously in agreement. To say it was absurd.
But.
...I couldn't.
"..."
Glacia was looking at me with an unwavering gaze. Now that I thought about it, from the moment she first spoke, Glacia had been looking only at me, not Leonhardt. Even now, her distinctive blue eyes were glowing brightly.
...I suddenly wondered if Glacia had gone mad.
However.
Ironically, I also strongly felt that I couldn't refuse here.