Right after watching Artel's sparring match.
I glanced around, searching for Yuria.
Ah, there she is.
"Uwaaa..."
Because so many cadets had crowded in to watch Artel's match from up close, the petite Yuria was trapped in the middle, unable to move.
"Yap."
I slipped my body smoothly into the throng.
"Excuse me, just passing through."
"Huh? O-okay!"
"Coming through here..."
The cadets hesitated and parted to make way.
But look at these guys?
Just this morning, they were treating me like trash for being dead last...
But after I smashed Kaiser, they parted like the Red Sea.
After clearing the area so easily, I reached out a hand to the struggling Yuria.
"Ah! Jeron!"
"Hey, Yuria. It's too cramped here—let's head over there."
I rescued her from the crowd and successfully made it to a quiet spot.
We found a nice open area and sat down side by side.
"Did you see that, Jeron? That cadet Artel earlier—she was amazing, right?!"
Yuria spoke in an excited voice, but she quickly changed the subject.
"Oh, right! No, more importantly, Jeron! What the heck happened?! You beat Cadet Kaiser...!"
"I was really worried! If you had skills like that, you should've said something sooner!"
I smiled as I gave vague replies to her, who was chattering nonstop like a baby bird.
"Haha, I told you I'd win."
She's such a genuinely kind kid.
Just having her around feels healing.
After that, the sparring matches continued. But...
'No need to watch those.'
Sadly, I had no interest in wasting attention on extras.
Better to rack up more sloth during that time.
I covered my eyes with my arm and lay back in my seat.
"Yuria. Wake me up when it's time for your match."
"Wow... You slept through all that and now you're sleeping more...?"
Yuria stared at me with an incredulous look.
Hmm. This vibe... It's a different flavor from Artel's.
How long had I slept?
"Jeron, wake up. I'm heading out now!"
"Mmm..."
I woke to Yuria's voice.
[Sloth +5!]
As expected, such a short nap didn't stack much sloth.
I lost 5 listening to Professor Kate earlier, so it evened out.
"I'm definitely gonna win! Cheer for me!"
"Yeah, Yuria. Go get 'em."
I stretched my languid body and watched Yuria's back as she hurried off to the sparring grounds with quick steps.
Truth be told, I wasn't worried at all.
I told her to do her best, but she didn't need my cheers.
She was going to win anyway.
Yuria's entrance exam score was mid-tier. She looked like an ordinary cadet now, but...
'She's actually a real genius who'll soon surpass even Artel.'
That was Yuria Isolde—hiding tremendous potential in her small frame.
"Next match: Yuria Isolde versus Mark Johnson!"
At the instructor's call, Yuria stepped onto the sparring grounds with a tense expression.
"It's an honor to face you. I'll learn a thing or two."
Her opponent, a guy named Mark, was a muscle-bound bald mage.
...Huh? Hold on, a mage?
I totally thought he was a warrior.
His look made you forget Class 1 was the magic department.
But... is that guy really a mage?
Hell, is he even a student?
Bald head shaved clean, a grizzled old-man face full of menace.
Arms and legs bulging with muscle and veins.
He had the build where you'd believe it if he said he came from some back-alley gang.
Yet his speech was unnecessarily polite, causing cognitive dissonance in my brain.
"Yeah...! Let's both do our best!"
Yuria responded bravely.
The sight was like little David facing Goliath—a hopelessly lopsided physical mismatch.
...
'This might actually be worrisome.'
"Three, two, one—begin!"
"Rroooaaar!"
At the instructor's signal, Mark let out a beastly roar and charged at Yuria.
As expected from that physique, he wasn't just for show—he was a battle mage like Artel.
Wooong—!
He wrapped his fist in mana, forming a sphere, and swung down at the tiny Yuria. Right then—
Slip—!
"Urk?!"
Mark, charging ferociously, couldn't control his momentum and crashed to the ground.
His heavy bulk caused a huge racket as he slid, and he looked like he'd taken a solid hit.
Kikikiki!
Cackle cackle!
Laughing at him were the small blue spirits Yuria had summoned at some point.
They'd created a shallow puddle under his feet.
"Good job! Water spirits!"
Splash!
Yuria high-fived the water spirits happily.
Mark, sprawled on the ground, shouted indignantly.
"Foolish me, I let my guard down...!"
As he quickly got back up to charge again—
"Ah, my eyes?!"
This time, a mist created by the spirits obscured his vision.
Blind status effect—gotta be annoying.
The spirits toyed with him inside it, tugging his clothes or tripping his feet.
From there, Mark attacked while Yuria countered with her spirits, gradually gaining the upper hand.
"Urgh— I admit my defeat...!"
A few minutes later, the utterly exhausted Mark dropped to his knees, and Yuria was declared the winner.
I nodded.
Indeed, Yuria's spirit arts were tricky to deal with even in [Stella Academia].
Now that the game had become reality, they'd be at least as strong, if not stronger.
Plus.
'She's only summoning lower spirits right now, but...'
I watched her match and thought about her future.
There are different types of geniuses,
And Yuria was a "growth-type genius."
Weak at first, but with no ceiling to her peak.
Follow the main story, and Yuria ends up contracting with spirit kings later on, becoming a powerhouse.
'Better build favor with her early.'
Even in the game, the most efficient route for magic department starts was befriending Yuria quickly to recruit her.
Of course, efficiency aside, having a sweet kid like her around was always welcome.
'...Hm, but so far, I haven't put in any real effort—it's all been on her end.'
Why'd she warm up to me?
Maybe my rotten traits triggered her instinct to look after people?
It wasn't intentional, but the result was good anyway.
"Jeron! I won!"
When the high-energy Yuria returned from her match, I tossed her a few words of praise, and her face lit up with joy, cheeks flushing brightly.
After that, the remaining cadets' matches went on... and I, of course, slept through them all, sweetly farming 5 sloth points each.
How much time passed?
With the instructor's announcement that all matches were over, the official schedule for the day finally ended.
By the way, dinner for the post-sparring cadets was some kind of energy bar substitute. Special magic processing made one fill you up hugely.
[Level: 20]
[Sloth: 670]
"Hmm. A fulfilling day."
I nodded proudly at the status window floating before me.
Yuria let out a small sigh beside me, like she couldn't do anything about it.
By the time we exited the sparring grounds, the sun had fully set.
It had been a long, long day, like the first day of military boot camp.
Now it was time to head back to assigned dorms.
"...So, starting tomorrow, we pick electives, right? I'm so excited for spirit arts class! It's a shame we can't take it together..."
I walked through the darkening academy grounds with Yuria, chatting about this and that.
I wondered if the system would nag me for diligence even in casual talk like this, but fortunately, it had some common sense and didn't.
It freaked out on anything remotely serious, but idle chit-chat like this seemed fine.
"Ah. Jeron! The girls' dorm is this way! Today was so much fun—see you tomorrow!"
At the fork, Yuria waved with a reluctant goodbye.
I waved lightly back and headed to the boys' dorm building.
The dorms were much bigger and grander in person than in the game.
"...Wait. Where's my room?"
Where was Jeron Airgia's room again?
I knew the main characters' rooms, but no way I'd remember some extra like Jeron's.
Just then, voices of two cadets gossiping drifted from the dorm hallway.
"No, for real. After the match, Artel looked at me, her face turned bright red, and she turned away!"
"Pfft, no way. Artel?"
"Yeah, our eyes met, and right then..."
I gave them a cold stare.
Delusions have limits.
And what reddened on Artel were her ears, not her cheeks.
Even in the game, she never blushed like that. That icy girl getting flushed? Don't overdo the exaggeration.
Anyway, whatever—maybe ask these guys.
"Excuse me, got a question."
As I approached and spoke, the one blabbing excitedly turned with an annoyed look.
"What?"
His face rang a bell.
Who was it? Oh, right. One of the cadets mocking me as a "rotten punk" this morning while I slept.
Of course, I had no interest in some extra #1 like him.
I just looked down at him with blank eyes.
The guy's expression froze the instant he recognized my face.
"Eek...! J-Jeron... N-no, Cadet Jeron!"
"W-what can we do for you!"
Gone was their cocky attitude from moments ago; they answered politely.
As expected, smashing Kaiser and brazenly taunting had made a huge impact—everyone's gazes had shifted.
Sometimes it's good to be mistaken for strong.
I said I'd forgotten my room and asked, and they checked each one personally with super tense faces until they found it.
'Here it is.'
Thanks to them, I checked out the room.
A spacious, clean single. Just like in the game.
I flopped onto the bed and thought about future plans.
'First priority is still the [Ultimate Growth Elixir].'
330 points to go until the Ultimate Growth Elixir.
I'd gathered two-thirds in just one day, so I'd buy it soon.
'But...'
There was another hidden piece like the elixir—super efficient early-game.
"Tsk, wonder if it works here too."
This was reality, not the game, so no guarantee the system replicated it.
But since quests popped earlier, the odds were good.
Worst case, no loss.
I steeled my resolve, got up,
And left the dorm room again, heading toward the small flower bed by the girls' dorm.
***
"Haa..."
Artel stood on her dorm balcony, letting the cool night breeze wash over her as she gazed at the night sky.
It had been a complicated, restless day.
Awe at facing a true genius.
Bitter defeat and self-loathing.
And at the end, an unexpected warmth.
Her mind was a total mess.
Her thoughts naturally drifted to Jeron Airgia.
He'd been weird from their first meeting.
At first, thinking he was weak, she'd acted cold on purpose to make him forfeit before getting hurt.
But he hadn't shrunk back at all—instead, he'd called her name casually. Artel.
Calling a girl by her first name from the get-go.
'Is that normal for him?'
Handsome face, strong too—no wonder girls flocked to him.
Even today, that doll-like, cute and sweet girl Yuria was always by his side.
Already so close on day one, all chummy.
Compared to a friendly girl like that, how boring must her own icy self be?
And yet, why had he been so...
Then, suddenly, her gaze shifted downward, and she blinked in slight surprise.
"...Jeron?"
There was Jeron by the flower bed next to the girls' dorm.
Of all times, appearing while she was thinking of him. What a weirdo.
'What's he doing there, anyway?'
He was squatting in front of the flower bed, rummaging intently.
A moment later, he pulled something out triumphantly. Too far to see his expression clearly, but his body language screamed joy.
"...Huh?"
That flower bed—she'd seen it on the way to the dorms. Full of clovers... No way, was he hunting for a four-leaf clover?
"Pfft."
Artel let a small laugh slip out unwittingly.
A monster like him, with that genius strength, getting childishly excited over a mere four-leaf clover—it was silly, but somehow pure.
Yeah.
A lazy slacker always lounging and picking clovers probably wasn't into girls much.
That thought somehow lifted her mood.
But then—
A shadow shot out from the darkness at high speed, stopping right in front of Jeron.
It was a female cadet with a sword at her hip.
"...?"
She seemed to chat happily with Jeron.
'What the hell is that?'
Artel's eyes, which had softened moments ago, turned icy without her realizing.