A few days later.

  "So you've finally decided to join Elevrad?," asked Miss Karina.

  "Yes, Miss," I replied.

  I was currently in the academy principal's office with Miss Karina. The reason I was here was because Senior Gretta had previously instructed me to deliver some documents completed by Elevrad to the principal.

  "So, what do you think after joining Elevrad? Is it tiring?" asked Miss Karina.

  "I can't say that joining Elevrad is tiring yet, since I've only been here a few days. Besides, for a junior like me, I only have a few tasks to complete," I said.

  "You're right," said Miss Karina.

  "But joining Elevrad has given me new experiences, allowing me to interact with important figures in this country. Furthermore, all the seniors at Elevrad are very kind to me. You could say they don't discriminate against me. Even though most of the Elevrad members are nobles, they still treat me well," I said.

  "It's possible they did that because of the rules of this academy, and Elevrad is an organization within the academy that must enforce them. Couldn't they themselves be breaking the rules by discriminating against others, even though they're the ones who enforce them?" Miss Karina asked.

  "Yes, you're right, Miss," I said.

  While they may seem nice on the outside, they could harbor their own dislikes deep down. So far, I haven't detected any dislike for me from the other Elevrad members when I read their minds. But I still have to be wary of that.

  "I'm glad you joined Elevrad and decided to help the academy with your participation as an Elevrad member. But you have to be careful, Rid. You haven't forgotten the possibilities my sister mentioned earlier, have you?" Miss Karina asked.

  "About the possibility that I might be killed so that Irene can participate in the ~Matchmaking Battle~ again?" I asked.

  "Yes, and it will likely be carried out by one of the other three Dukes besides Duke San Lucia. In Elevrad, there are the sons and daughters of these three Dukes. Enzo, the son of Duke San Angela; Amelia, the daughter of Duke San Quentine and also Irene's opponent in the ~Matchmaking Battle~; and Florian, the son of Duke San Minerva and also the current vice-chairman of Elevrad. Also, don't forget the current leader of Elevrad, Vyn, who is Duke San Quentine's nephew and Amelia's cousin. You must be careful and wary of those I mentioned. Who knows, they might send information about you to their father. And they could also set you up on their father's orders,"

  "The possibilities my sister mentioned earlier aren't necessarily true, but they aren't necessarily false either. So there's no harm in being cautious, right?" said Miss Karina.

  "You don't need to worry, Miss, because I already considered that before deciding to join Elevrad. I thank you for reminding me," I said.

  "Okay, then you may go. Surely you still have other tasks to complete, right?" said Miss Karina.

  "Then I'll take my leave, Miss," I said.

  "Yes, don't forget to always be alert, Rid," said Miss Karina.

  "Okay, ?Miss," I said.

  Then I left the principal's office. After leaving the principal's office, I walked down the hallway to the stairs.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "Even without Miss Karina reminding me, I always kept in mind the possibilities Her Majesty the Queen spoke of. One of the reasons I joined Elevrad was to seek evidence of those possibilities. Elevrad is the only organization in this academy and the sons and daughters of the Dukes also join Elevrad. By joining Elevrad, I can secretly obtain information from the Dukes' sons and daughter and observe their movements from a close distance," I thought.

  -

  After I joined Elevrad, every day during class, I always went to the Elevrad building after our daily matches. I felt bad for Noa and Kotaro for having to leave them alone because we had to do our assignments at Elevrad. It's true that since the others and I joined Elevrad, our time together after school has decreased. But we still get together on holidays and when we don't have any assignments at Elevrad during the holidays.

  When I'm at Elevrad, I usually just help with some paperwork and then it's over. If I don't have any paperwork to do, I usually patrol around the academy looking for rule breakers. Sometimes I encounter violators and have to discipline them myself. Some immediately stop their unlawful activities when I show them my Elevrad Brooch, while others counter attack and sometimes attack me even after I've shown them my Brooch.

  ?Of course, I don't remain silent in such situations and immediately attack them. Fortunately, as an Elevrad member, I'm permitted to use force when dealing with violators. After dealing with these violators, I also report them to the academy for punishment.

  -

  Time flies, and before I know it, it's almost the end of March, which means the third exam will soon begin. And as usual, as the exams approach, we continue our lessons at the first-year training ground. Rather than calling it 'lessons,' perhaps it would be more accurate to call it 'individual training.' Because when we use the training ground for study, we usually practice more often alone or with our friends. Although sometimes we'll also be taught new techniques or abilities by Mr. Alan.

  Meanwhile, I'm currently sparring with Charles and Chloe. Charles continued to attack me from close range while Chloe attacked me from a distance. Every time Chloe fired her fire arrows, I always deflected them with my sword, and I immediately sensed a difference in Chloe's arrows compared to the previous sparring sessions.

  "It seems like you're always training diligently, Chloe. I can feel that the fire arrows you're shooting are more powerful than the ones before," I said.

  "That's just your feeling, Rid," Chloe said.

  Then I continued fighting them both until I finally won again in the sparring session.

  "No matter how much we spar, it seems impossible to defeat him, Rid," Charles said.

  "You're right, brother. Even if we both use our full strength, there's no way we can defeat him," Chloe said.

  "Why are you two so obsessed with defeating me? Isn't the purpose of sparring just to improve your coordination?" I asked.

  "Yes, that's true, but if we manage to defeat you, doesn't that mean our coordination is already good?" Charles asked.

  "That makes sense," I said.

  Then the practice session ended as today's lesson was about to end.

  -

  As Mr. Alan was about to conclude today's lesson, a student asked him a question.

  "Mr. Alan, we'll be taking the third exam in a week. Isn't there a little hint about what we'll have to do on the third exam?" the student asked.

  "Hmm, that's right, I almost forgot. This third exam will probably be easy for those of you who have studied and practiced so far. Because the third exam will be similar to the first exam," Mr. Alan said.

  "Similar to the first exam?"

  "Will we be fighting those wooden dummies again?"

  "If I were to fight those wooden dummies again, I would definitely be able to complete it easily. Even though I had trouble passing the first exam before, it's different now," said the other students.

  "I said it's similar to the first exam, but that doesn't mean it will be the same. It's possible that one of the elements in the exam is similar to the first. So, feel free to guess for yourself, and don't forget to prepare yourself."

  "Since today's lesson is over, I'll take my leave. See you later, everyone," said Mr. Alan.

  "See you later, Mr.," we all said.

  Then Mr. Alan left the training ground.

  "I wonder what we'll be doing in this third exam. According to Mr. Alan, the third exam is the same as the first. It looks like it will be individual exams again, and we'll be asked to fight something again," said Charles.

  "Yeah, I think so," I said.

  "By the way, Rid. Are you serious about completing this exam?" asked Noa.

  "Yeah, why?" I asked.

  "Even though your points have already reached over 30,000, you're still going to take this exam seriously? Why don't you just relax? Even if you don't get any points, you'll still have enough to advance to second year," Noa said.

  "I won't relax even if my points reach 150,000. Relaxing isn't my style," I said.

  "But seeing your points increase makes me insecure," Noa said.

  I just laughed at Noa's words.

  -

  Then a week passed, and today, the third exam began.

  -To be continued