Scene 1
Click—shhhk. The classroom's sliding door moved aside.
Haruto, Yui, and Reina stepped inside. The room was empty. Crumpled paper balls, paper planes, and tiny folded paper shooters littered the floor — the kind of little paper toys kids flicked with rubber bands. A faint breeze fluttered a few papers across the desks.
Reina scanned the mess and snapped, "This class is so dirty… don't you ever clean your classroom? In our class, no one even dares to throw trash around."
Haruto shrugged casually. "We didn't do this. It's those who come here just to have fun."
As the thought hit him, he turned to Yui with a bright grin. "Oh wait, I just remembered, Yui — you didn't eat lunch, did you? You've been with me this whole time, sorry about that. You must be hungry. Go ahead and eat."
Yui's cheeks turned pink. "N-No! I… I'm not hungry."
A faint growl escaped her stomach — grrrr.
She froze, mortified, and gently placed a hand on her stomach as like she could silence it.
Haruto waved it off. "Oh, come on, eat something. Don't be shy. We'll step out so you can eat in peace."
Yui shook her head, still blushing. "A-Actually… I forgot to bring my lunch."
Haruto smiled. "Oh, that's all? No problem then, you can eat mine. I'm not hungry anyway." He reached for his bag.
Yui panicked, stepping forward to stop him. "N-No! No, it's fine! I'll eat when I get home."
Ignoring her protest, Haruto went to his bag, unzipped it, pulled out his lunch box, and came back to Yui, holding it out to her.
Reina nudged her with an elbow. "Come on now, just eat. You're hungry."
Haruto scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "A-And besides, I bought this lunch from outside — I didn't cook it. If I had, it'd probably taste awful."
Yui rushed to say, "N-No! It's not like that, I—"
Before she could finish, Haruto opened the box, picked up a neat bite of rice with chopsticks, and — without a moment's hesitation — placed it in Yui's mouth.
Her whole face turned bright red. She quickly pulled back and sat at her desk, hiding her face behind her hands.
Haruto set the lunch box in front of her. "Here, finish it all."
Still blushing, Yui peeked up shyly and began eating in small, careful bites.
Haruto wandered toward the blackboard. Reina looked at it and muttered, "So you've only studied about the Lands so far? This academy is seriously slow."
Suddenly, Haruto clutched Reina's ankle dramatically and dropped to the floor, pretending to sob. "I made a mistake! I didn't know it would be this boring. Please help me escape this place, Reina! Renzaki was right — this is such a waste of time!"
Reina scowled and kicked him off. "Let go of my leg!"
Haruto sat up, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. "I know it's important… but it's so dull and time-consuming. If this keeps going, I'll never reach my goal. I have to kill Yamara as soon as possible — only then can the fire inside me rest."
Reina's eyes softened slightly. "I might have an idea… not immediately, but I can at least save you a lot of time by making you skip classes."
Haruto leaned forward eagerly. "How? Tell me now!"
"Just wait," she said coolly. "Let Class 1's Okamoto-sensei come first."
Haruto quickly bowed a few times, his back tilting lightly with each motion. "Thank you so much, Reina! You're amazing. You'll save me so much time that I can use for training!"
Haruto suddenly darted to his bag, pulled a candy out from the bag's pocket, and held it out to her with a goofy flourish.
Reina folded her arms, shaking her head lightly. "Oh no, that's not necessary. You can have it yourself."
Haruto leaned forward a little, both hands still stretched out with the candy, insisting silently.
With a small smile and her eyes closed, Reina finally reached out, her face turned slightly aside. "If you're insisting that much, then…"
But before her hand touched the candy, Haruto popped it into his own mouth. "If you don't want it, I'll eat it then."
A small vein twitched at Reina's temple. She turned slightly away, forcing her irritation down.
Yui just stared at them, speechless.
Haruto grinned. "So, come on, tell us your idea already!"
Reina huffed, crossing her arms. "Shut up and wait. Let everyone arrive first."
Scene 2
Okamoto stood in front of the blackboard, eyes calmly sweeping over the students.
"So you're saying I should let them go on an adventure?" Okamoto's tone stayed calm and flat.
Reina stepped forward. "Yes. It'll make studying more interesting for them. They'll learn much faster if they experience the outside world themselves."
Okamoto frowned. "But they're still too young. Sending them out isn't appropriate. Besides, Class 1's curriculum doesn't include practical field lessons."
Reina brushed her thumb over her chest and smiled confidently, eyes closed. "Then how about I teach them myself?"
Scene 3
Reina stood before the blackboard, chalk in hand. Okamoto leaned against his desk, rubbing his jaw like a man half-asleep, his eyes half-lidded with boredom.
From the back, Rina spoke sharply, "Reina, do you even know how to study yourself?" But Reina ignored him. She picked up the duster, wiped the board clean, and turned toward the class. "Today, we'll study about the Rankings — how powerful each rank is, and when it's achieved."
Haruto sighed inwardly. She said she'd help me skip classes faster, and now she's the one teaching them.
Haruka let out a lazy sigh, straw still between his lips as he took a slow sip. "Oh come on, this is pointless."
Reina pressed the chalk to the board and wrote a straight line: C, B, A, S, Z.
"These are the basic rankings. Easy to remember. C-Rank — these are the Hunters who barely know how to fight. They usually need a mentor or a team to take down an enemy."
The class snickered, whispering and trading jokes about weaklings.
Kento, the kid with earrings, puffed his chest. "Hah! That weak? Then my Rank must be at least S-Rank."
Aiko crossed her arms. "C-Rank Hunters must feel ashamed to even call themselves Hunters. We're not even official Hunters yet, but we already know how to fight alone."
Reina's tone cut through their chatter — sharp but controlled. "I'm talking about real battles. You're comparing practice to war. There's a huge difference. Have any of you ever actually fought a real fight?"
Silence swept the room.
Haruka finally broke it. "Then what real battle have you fought, huh? The kind that makes you talk like that?"
Reina's expression didn't waver. "We're still students. We won't be sent into real combat until we pass this academy — until we complete Class 4."
"Miss Reina!" Haruto raised his hand, his eyes curious. "What about the other ranks? How strong are they?"
Reina let out a quiet chuckle. Miss?? That sounded so weird coming from him. She cleared her throat lightly. "Alright, listen. These ranks don't only apply to Hunters — they're used to measure Demons, Devils, other creatures, and even magic itself."
She tapped the next letter. "B-Rank — Hunters at this level know how to fight. They can face a Demon head-on and might even defeat one, especially if they're in a group."
Then she moved on. "A-Rank — Hunters strong enough to take on a Demon alone and kill it easily. Their groups can even hold their ground, at least for a while, against a Devil."
Reina paused, then wrote the next letter slowly, deliberately: S.
"S-Rank… these are our elite Hunters. The ones who can fight Devils directly. A team of just two or three can take down a Devil. They're sent only on special missions — or sometimes, they choose their own. You can guess their strength from that — they're so powerful, they treat battle like a playground."
Reina kept her eyes on the class as she continued, "But that's just their playtime. You can't imagine how powerful they'd be in real combat."
Riku bounced in his seat. "What about the last rank? Tell us already, I can't wait!"
Reina's chalk traced the final letter: Z.
"Z-Rank… achieving this rank is nearly impossible. Only those born with miraculous power can ever reach it. In today's era, only a handful of people are said to be Z-Rank level."
Toma adjusted his glasses and peered over them. "Then who are those people? The ones who actually reached Z-Rank?"
Reina listed the names without hesitation. "Lord Shinjiro… Kagezuru… Yamara… and… Einzuro Sensei. There's one more, but his rank isn't confirmed — so they're not officially considered Z-Rank."
Haruto blinked. "The order you said them in — is that from strongest to weakest? Or weakest to strongest?"
Reina shook her head calmly. "No. We don't know who's stronger or weaker. Maybe they're all equal at Z-Rank."
Daichi raised a hand. "So… how can we actually earn these ranks? What's our current rank then?"
Reina explained, "To earn a Rank, you must first become a Hunter. And to become a Hunter, you have to take the Hunter's Exam. That's when you'll be assigned your Rank. For now, we're just students."
Haruto's eyes burned with resolve. "Exam? When is it? When do we take it? I need to become a Hunter soon — so I can leave this Land and fight. I need to reach my goal."
Reina placed her hand against the board. "There's no fixed date. Sometimes the exam happens one day after the last one ends — sometimes it doesn't happen for ten years. But it's estimated that the next exam will be held this year. To be eligible, you'll first need to complete all four Academy classes."
Then — footsteps.
A slow, dragging rhythm echoed through the hallway. Every head turned toward the sound.
The classroom door slid open with a soft, drawn-out whoosh.
An old man stood there, one trembling hand gripping the doorframe for balance. He took a few slow steps inside.
The students watched quietly — not scared, but confused. His eyes were closed, yet they were moving beneath his lids. His lips twitched, forming soundless words. His frail body trembled with age.
He held his katana in its saya (scabbard), using it as a walking stick. Step by step, he approached Yui's desk.
"Grandpa..?" Yui whispered, her eyes widening slightly.
The old man stopped at her desk, reached into his pocket, and gently placed a lunch box before her.
Most of the class turned away and began chatting again, returning to their little groups as if nothing unusual had happened.
Reina's voice cracked sharply through the noise. "Hey, you all! Don't you see someone just entered the class? Show some respect! Why are you back to talking already?"
The old man's lips stopped moving. He placed a trembling hand on Yui's head, then turned to leave, his mouth moving again without a sound.
Itsuki, wearing his mask, froze. His body tensed, sweat sliding down his temple. He tore the mask down and yelled, voice cracking with panic, "Hey!! Nobody move from your place!"
And then — everything stopped.
Bodies froze mid-motion, like puppets with their strings cut. The world fell silent. Sound vanished. Air thickened — even breath refused to move.
Reina tried to lift her hand, muscles shaking with effort. Veins bulged along her arms, her skin pulling tight — but she couldn't move.
The old man's mouth kept moving soundlessly as he took a slow step forward.
Khk—kfff!
A wet cough ripped through the silence. Blood burst from his lips, splattering across his trembling hand before dripping to the ground.
The instant the blood touched the floor, the unseen force shattered — a soundless break that cracked through the air like glass under pressure.
The spell collapsed, unraveling in a flash of invisible backlash.
The recoil hit Itsuki a heartbeat later. His throat locked, lungs spasmed, and blood spewed from his mouth as he staggered back, choking under the force.
Toma tore off his glasses, blinking rapidly. His vision spun — countless lines of light shot in from every direction, forming a chaotic web that flickered across the air. Strange words floated among them, shifting and vanishing before he could read them.
When his gaze locked on the old man, he saw it — a surge of insane magic energy burning within him.
Before Toma could even process it, red veins flared across his eyes until they blazed crimson. Pain shot through his skull. He screamed, clutching his face, and collapsed.
The entire classroom froze in shock.
The old man kept walking, lips moving silently. Kento felt it next — a trembling deep inside his skull, like a low, vibrating hum. Blood trickled from his ears… then his nose. His eyes stayed open as his body went limp, collapsing to the floor.
Okamoto's eyes flew open. He shot to his feet and snapped, "Hey! Who are you?! Stop right there!"
He bolted toward the door. The old man was already across the threshold. Before running out, Okamoto turned sharply toward Reina. "Reina! Take them to the hospital — now!"
Then he vanished down the hall in pursuit.