I'm disappointed to say the least.

　At a coffee shop in a corner of King's Landing, Elysia lifted her lips from the straw in her glass and said.
　The peach-colored liquid that filled the glass was a limited-time fruit juice, the most expensive item in the store. The clean and calm atmosphere of this store is said to be a favorite of the upper class people living in the capital. Perhaps that's why the prices are a little high for commoners.
　Naturally, the juice that Elysia was drinking right now was on me.

You guys are playful, aren't you?

　Elysia says, glaring coldly at Gran and me sitting across from her.

...... You're not going to believe this, but this is the first time I've picked up a girl.

Yes, a lie. Absolutely not. I've been watching you for quite a while now and you're acting very familiar.

　I had nothing to say to that.
　I fell silent with Gran and expressed my regret.
　Then the silver-haired girl sitting in front of me let out a depressed sound.

"Nah, it was just a pick-up. ...... Wow, I thought I was going to show you the way because you seemed to be in real trouble. ......

I'm sorry.

　My conscience is aching.
　I'm not picking up girls anymore.

You know what? Why don't you guys at least learn the faces of your classmates?

　At Elysia's words, the silver-haired girl and I both groaned.
　Surprisingly, this girl was a classmate of ours.

　Mzee-Hoens.
　I remember now that this is the girl who told me she wanted to be an adventurer when she introduced herself. I believe she was a student of the normal school, like me and Gran.

I'm sure she was a normal student like me and Gran. Toate is a bit of a shadow, so it's understandable that she's hard to remember.

"...... Hey.

　I want to argue, but I know what Elysia means. I'd like to argue, but I understand what Elysia is saying.

　By nature, I'm not that bad at remembering people's faces. On the contrary, when I was in the Agency, I had to remember the faces of my targets no matter what, so I used a special memory technique to desperately remember people's faces. In addition to memorizing the image of the face, he would also memorize the features of each part of the face, such as the eyes, nose, and mouth, by associating them with symbols to form a semantic memory.

　You have to remember the faces of your superiors and targets. If you forget your target, you will fail in your mission, and if you forget your boss, you will be beaten senseless. Classmates, however, do not pose such a risk. You subconsciously think, "Don't I need to remember? and forgot to make the effort to actually remember. I'm out of my mind. That's my fault.

"I knew it was you, Mize.

"...... what?

　At Gran's words, I turned around quickly.

No, how could I not have noticed? Mize is our idol in the regular course. I've been here less than a week and the rest of the class already knows about it.

I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

　Mize's face turns red and she is embarrassed.
　The idol of the regular school. I didn't know such rumors were circulating. But that's not what you should be worrying about right now...

"Hey... Then why didn't you tell me?

Well, I was thinking that Twight could be a real pick-up artist.

　I think I'd better blow this guy up.
　Thanks to him, I had to pick up a classmate.

"You suck.

　Elysia glared at Gran.
　Elysia glared at Gran, but Gran gave an impassioned speech with a resigned expression.

I'll tell you one thing, I'm not going to force myself on a woman who doesn't want to be with me.　I'm not going to force myself on a woman who doesn't want to be with me. That's the golden rule of pickup.

　I give Gran a cold stare as she confidently tells me this.

You've never been successful, so how can you talk like that?

I'm sure you're not the only one.

　There was no one who would take this unreliable information seriously.

What were Elysia and the others doing there, by the way?

You're so blatantly off topic.

Give me a break. ...... I bought you a drink.

　I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure it's a good idea. Then, with a big smile on her face, she said.

Refill.

"......, please.

　Elysia asks the waiter for a refill.
　This is the third exchange. That's four drinks for Elysia.

I'll let you off with that. ...... We were just taking a normal stroll through King's Landing.

"A stroll. I'm not surprised, I thought Elysia would be working out after school as well.

You told me that before. You told me once that I should not be in a hurry. ...... Since then, I've been trying to relax my shoulders a bit.



　Apparently, my advice that day was not in vain.

How did you and Mize meet?

"Two days ago. We talked briefly and hit it off, and since then we've been hanging out a lot. I especially like the fact that you attend the school with a sense of purpose.

　Her words sounded a bit superior, but perhaps this was Elysia's true nature. Mize understands this, and doesn't seem to be offended by it.

I'm sure you're thinking of becoming a ...... adventurer?

"Yes!

　Mize affirmed cheerfully.

"Adventurers ...... are good, aren't they? It feels like freedom. I definitely want to be an adventurer one day and travel the world. That's why I joined the Builders Academy, but I failed the entrance exam for the Heroic Department. ......

　She was ecstatic as she talked about her dream, but her expression gradually darkened.
　Just as the fourth glass of limited time juice arrives at the table. After Elysia received it, Mize also drank a little juice.

　...... This is not the manner of a commoner.

　The way you pull up a chair, the way you sit, the tone of your conversation, the way you hold your drink in your mouth. There is something slightly off about it all.
　Mize is probably not a commoner. A nobleman. And a very high one at that.
　But people don't notice. And he doesn't seem to want to talk about it either. ...... Let's keep quiet.

If you're going to be an adventurer, you might as well be a hero.

That's right. ...... I hate myself for not being good enough.

　Mize says dejectedly.

You can't be that depressed. The test was not fair, to say the least.

　Elysia said, and Mize rolled her eyes.

I also found out later that ...... the pass rate for nobles is unusually high this time.

"Well, you mean ......?

"In the Fourth War of Heroes, many nobles personally helped the heroic parties. Mainly in terms of funding. And now that the war is over, the nobles are now demanding something in return from the state. One of those quid pro quo's is a ticket to the hero school. Graduating from Builders' Academy's Heroic Department would be a big deal. That's why the nobles are so eager to send their sons and daughters to the school.

　It's probably because Elysia belonged to the Heroic Department that she had more opportunities to learn about the realities of the Heroic Department than we did. Elysia looked somewhat disappointed.

If not, just because you failed that exam doesn't mean you're not good enough.

　I agreed with Elysia.

"That test was a formality for some people. For example, the trapper. ...... trappers are supposed to set traps on the field in advance to decide the odds (・・・・・・・・・・) before the fight. However, in the entrance exam, they were not allowed to enter the field before the exam started, so they could not do so. In addition, the users who specialize in the support formula can not fight on their own, so they have to make friends to fight, but ...... in such a short time, it is difficult to find friends to entrust their backs.

"You know a lot, Mr. Twight.

Well, I took the test myself. I took the test, and I'm afraid I failed.

What do you mean, "unfortunately"? I didn't do it on purpose.

　Elysia made a sharp point, and Mize and Gran tilted their heads, "On purpose? Elysia and Gran nodded their heads.
　Elysia explains to them with a sigh.

I've never heard of me, have you?　"Have you two heard the rumors about me, that I defeated Professor Farnese in the entrance exam?

"Of course I've heard of you. Of course I've heard about it. It was a huge rumor right from the start. Who doesn't know about it? ...... In any case, it doesn't matter if you're a graduate or not, a guy who hasn't even entered the school yet suddenly defeated a teacher.

I've only seen Mr. Farnese once during an exam. ...... To be honest, at first I couldn't believe that someone from my generation had just beaten him. Farnese was clearly not at the same level of strength as the students taking the exam, and in fact, most of them were completely defeated.

　The fact that Elysia defeated Mr. Farnese during the exam is now a well-known fact known to all the students of the school. The fact that not only the regular students but also the students of the heroic department acknowledged this fact was probably a big factor. Some people say that Elysia is the strongest freshman.
　Elysia, however, let out a sigh.

"It wasn't really me who defeated Miss Farnese, it was Twight.

"What?

What?

　Mize and Gran were surprised by the loud voice.

"...... Elysia. Isn't that a little uncalled for?

Then explain it to me yourself. I don't want to explain this to you anymore.

　I don't want to explain this anymore," Elysia said, looking fed up.

　I have no choice but to take over the rest of the explanation.

"Technically, me and Elysia teamed up to defeat Dr. Farnese. But then there was a little trouble and I didn't pass the exam. That's probably why Elicia is supposed to have defeated Farnese on her own.



Actually, it's mostly to Eight's credit, not mine. Actually, most of the credit goes to Toate, not me, because he's the one who neutralized you. All I did after that was put the sword to his head.

"No, I couldn't have done that alone. No, I couldn't have done it alone. Elysia gave me a close fight, so he didn't have time to read my aim.

I hope you're right. I hope so. ...... Something tells me that Toate is hiding a lot more than he's letting on.

　As we were talking, I noticed that Gran and Mize were looking at me.

You guys are outrageous. You guys are outrageous. You're on another level. ......

"Hmm, you two are amazing .......

　The way they looked at me made me feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
　It was in the past that I needed strength. Now I don't feel happy at all when people bring it up, and I don't feel proud when people acknowledge it.

I mean, yeah. I wanted to ask you something, Twight. ...... You skimped on your wizardry lesson today. Why?　I thought you weren't trying to hide your abilities.

　I'm sure you're referring to the fact that I couldn't even activate the fireball today and was mocked by the hero students. It is true that Elysia, who knows my abilities to some extent, can be forgiven for wondering.

I didn't cut any corners. That was my ability.

"But you can use 'snipe'. That's a D rank magic. Then it's weird that you can't use Fireball, which is also a D rank.

　I was confronted with the obvious question.
　I told him the truth, honestly.

I told him the truth. "...... The only remote fire magic you can use is the Sniper and Bullet. I can't control the Sniper without a wand, and I couldn't get permission to use the Bullet.

　When I told her that, Elysia looked more and more doubtful.

You can use only two kinds of magic: ......?

You can't use any other magic, just the ones that fall under the remote fire type. I can't use any other magic ...... and I've hardly ever learned any. Instead, I'm more confident in my ability to use the two spells I just mentioned than most people.

I'm sure you're not the only one. ...... Well, it's true that your sniping was not humanly possible.

　Even a soldier in the agency would normally know a little more magic than that.
　But in my case, I only learned sniping and magic bullets. It's not that I couldn't learn them, it's that my instructor judged that those two were enough for me. In fact, I've been able to survive with them so far, so I guess the instructor was right.

　After chatting for a while, we decided to leave the cafe before it got dark and return to the dormitory.
　Elysia and Mize's drinks were paid for by me and Gran. Mize was somewhat reluctant, but my conscience would have been hurt if I had only apologized verbally, so I decided to force her to pay.

Hmm?

　As I walked out of the store, I heard a noisy voice.

"You!　Do you know that I'm the legitimate son of Baron Falsion?

　The boy shouting angrily was Zeke of the hero department.