"Hey... Luca."

"Why?"

On the way back to the dormitory, Ottbo, who had been deep in thought about something, called out to Luca.

"Did Milia really act from the beginning? Just to get close to us?"

"Only she herself would know that. Haven't you realized yet that you shouldn't trust everything she says?"

"Ugh... I really can't understand women at all..."

Ottbo made a gloomy face, then glanced over at Luca.

"... What's wrong?"

"Luca. You're good at understanding women, aren't you?"

"I'm not that good at it. It's more that I can see through people who are hiding something, like her. And are those kinds of feelings really something you'd call a woman's heart...?"

Whether it was as Luca or as Luca Traverse, he didn't understand women's hearts very well. This time, he had just stumbled into things by chance. Nevertheless, Ottbo apparently thought Luca was a master at reading women's minds.

"Teach me! How do you tell when a woman is lying?"

"This isn't something you can learn just because someone tells you."

"Please! At least give me a little tip!"

Even if asked, Luca, who had never so much as held a woman's hand in his previous life, couldn't possibly answer. He thought for a moment about what he could say, then recalled something he'd seen somewhere.

"... A woman's tears are like sweat."

"Uh... what?"

"When things aren't going her way or when she's in a tough spot, a woman will cry first. So don't be fooled by that."

It was a rather distorted view of women, but this was all Luca could offer. After all, he had learned about women through the internet. But Ottbo nodded, seemingly entranced.

"A woman's tears are sweat... Got it!"

"..."

For some reason, it felt like something was off, but Luca decided to just let it pass.

'Well, what could go wrong? At worst, the only thing that'll happen is he'll get criticized again.'

It wasn't his problem anyway—at least, that's how Luca felt. While having such idle chat, they arrived at the dormitory before they realized it.

"I'm tired. I'm going in first."

"Yeah! See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah."

After parting with Ottbo and returning to his room, Luca had dinner with Bella, who was waiting for him, and then went into his bedroom. Lying on the bed, he fell into thought.

'I said all that, but honestly, I have no idea how things will turn out from here.'

This whole situation was a pretty big gamble for him as well. He had made significant investments to save Milia and Isella. And along with that, he had taken on a lot of risk.

'I don't know if the Third Prince will find out about us or not, but since you always have to assume the worst, let's act as if we've been found out. According to Bella, it shouldn't affect the family too much but...'

While Ottbo was worrying over things, Luca wasn't just sitting idly either. He had looked for Milia's whereabouts, anticipated what would happen next, and even made plans beyond that.

'Nine times out of ten, some faction within the academy supporting the Third Prince is going to come at us. According to Pasmo, the Theodore faction, having lost their focus, will be a headache for us too.'

'But if I can manipulate the Theodore faction properly, I can make them my allies. I have information on them, and if I show them my strength, I can make it work.'

'If I form my own faction, the Third Prince's supporters won't be able to attack us so easily, either.'

He had likely made such plans believing in the information he'd received from Bogus and his current strength, but there was a big flaw in this plan.

The innate nature of the Theodore faction—their love of fun—was something he would have to accept.

Subduing or showing strength alone would not be enough to absorb the Theodore faction.

'For now, I need to focus on absorbing the Theodore faction.'

However, Luca, not knowing any of this, simply thought vaguely about keeping them under his control.

And there was another thing, something he wasn't considering now, that would start giving him trouble as soon as tomorrow. Unaware of that, Luca slowly closed his eyes.

'It looks like I'll be busy starting tomorrow.'

And he really would be busy from tomorrow onward.

* * *

"Alright, today's basic skill is suppression. It's one of the most important things in swordsmanship. Since there are quite a few types, we'll break the lessons into separate classes. Today, we'll start with..."

After what felt like an extremely long weekend, the weekday had come again.

Naturally, what was being taught today was something Luca had already mastered, so he passed the time helping other students adjust their stances and accepting practice duel requests until class ended.

"..."

While the other students finished up their last practice, Luca took a furtive look at Isella. It felt awkward to suggest going together. Sensing his gaze, Isella glanced over at him.

"The young lady said she'd like to have lunch together today. What will you do?"

"... Let's go."

The conversation proceeded more smoothly than he expected. As usual, the two of them walked together in silence to the Magic Department building and waited there for Ottbo and Milia.

Not even a few minutes later, the two appeared.

"Did you wait long? Ottbo was late because he failed another pop quiz."

"M-Milia!"

"Not surprising. I'm hungry, so let's head to the cafeteria right away."

It was as if nothing had happened last week—everyone carried on their conversation as usual, and all four of them let out a sigh of relief inside.

'It's easier to talk normally than I thought.'

Despite everything that happened, it was remarkable that they could still have such a normal conversation.

"Today's meal is really tasty!"

"Really? The place we ate with the Theodore faction was even better."

"W-what..."

With Ottbo's excitement, Milia naturally brought up the events from last week, and though Ottbo was flustered, Luca didn't miss a thing.

"Since we're already on the topic, tell us what you did then. That Isella person only said it was amazing, and that's it."

"... There really was no other way to describe it."

"Hehe, Isella is kind of immune to that kind of thing."

With a small laugh, Milia started to share what had happened with the Theodore faction.

"I was so surprised there was that kind of dance—it's not like classical or musicals. Apparently, people abroad have fun that way."

"I know about that! It was in 'Monthly Party People!'"

"Is 'Monthly Party People' something like the Akashic Record? Everything seems to come from there these days."

"There's a reason it's the most popular magazine in the empire!"

"Huh..."

They chatted about random things, and lunchtime came to an end.

"We should get going to our afternoon class."

"Yeah! It was fun. Oh, and Ottbo. From now on, you're coming with me during the afternoon free period."

"Huh... what?"

Ottbo looked dumbfounded and flustered at Milia's words. To that, Milia grew stern.

"How long are you going to keep falling behind in class? You're way too weak on the basics, so learn from me. If you're in my faction now, incompetence isn't allowed."

"But..."

"No 'buts.' Just come with me. Understand?"

At Hernan Academy, the schedule varied for each class, but generally, there were morning classes from 9 to 12, lunch from 12 to 1:30, afternoon class from 1:30 to 3, and free time from 3 to 5.

Morning classes were major-specific, while afternoon classes were common subjects.

Some common subjects were three hours long and ate up all the free time, but those classes were unpopular and often got canceled.

However, for basic education, you had no choice and so had to take the three-hour afternoon classes even if you hated it.

Free time wasn't for slacking off either.

If you wanted additional study for a class you took in the morning or afternoon, you could apply for extra study during this period, or borrow a practice field and train freely.

Some people did club activities, research, or tournament training during this time as well.

"You don't do anything during free time anyway."

"I do! Practice!"

"Doing what? Is that your actual magic skill after practice?"

Milia spoke rather sharply, indicating he really needed some shock therapy. Ottbo responded quietly.

"I practice drive magic..."

"That's the problem! You're only good at drive magic, and you're terrible at basic magic! What's the difference between you and an automatic carriage driver or a magic train engineer then?"

"..."

Stung by the shot, Ottbo flinched and lowered his head.

"Fine... I'll do it..."

"I'm using my own time to help you, so don't act like a victim."

"... Okay."

With things seeming to be sorted out, Luca gave the group a nod.

"Now that things have settled, let's go. The history professor is pretty hysterical."

"Okay."

Thus, the afternoon class ended and free time began.

"Luca, are you coming too?"

"I reserved a practice field for my own training."

"Alright."

Luca always reserved a practice field for his personal training.

It wasn't as intense as when he trained at his family's estate, but if he didn't train every day, the Luca Traverse inside him wouldn't let him be.

'And anyway, while my old body was terrible, training in this one actually feels refreshing.'

Since he was a klutz who never even played soccer as a student, training with such a well-coordinated and toned body was a completely new and exhilarating experience for him.

'Come to think of it, I should get another low-frequency massage soon, but there's still no word from Whistle. And without a recharge, I don't have any lightning energy...'

Whistle was still evolving, so Luca couldn't even recharge his lightning energy for now.

He thought about going to find Whistle but decided not to interfere, and just headed for the training grounds.

"L-Luca Traverse!"

"...?"

As he walked alone toward the training ground, someone called out to him. It was a female student. Judging by her brooch, she was also a first-year, like him.

"U-um..."

She approached him hesitantly, glanced up at him, then lowered her head sharply and held something out.

"Please duel me!"

"...?"

It was an envelope, beautifully inscribed with "Dueling Grounds."

Luca looked back and forth between the envelope and the girl, before replying reluctantly.

"Alright."

* * *

"Since nothing is at stake, let's do a light duel. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes!"

"No judge, no magic power allowed. If someone surrenders or gets disarmed, it's over."

With that, Luca picked up a wooden sword. Clearly, the girl wasn't a sword major. He couldn't understand why she had come to request a duel.

"Huff... huff..."

Maybe because she was nervous, the girl kept taking deep breaths. Up close, she had a cute, youthful face.

'Is she from the Theodore faction?'

Luca wondered as he readied himself.

"I'll count down from three."

"Yes!"

"Three, two, one."

Whoosh!

Luca swung his sword seriously from the start. After all, her nervousness could just be an act.

"Eeek?!"

Thunk! Tap!

But the result was embarrassingly one-sided. The girl dropped her wooden sword just because he spun his with some force. Her sword clattered to the floor.

"Uuuu... I lost..."

"...?"

The girl admitted defeat in a tearful voice and hurried out of the training field. Left alone, Luca frowned and watched her go, but then grew tense when a group of people entered the training field.

'Is this a setup?!'

He wondered if it was a trap to accuse him of violence against a woman, leading to suspension or expulsion. Seeing that the people entering were all girls, it seemed all the more likely.

'Wait a second. That's...'

But what they were carrying was familiar.

"L-Luca Traverse! Please accept my duel too!"

"Luca Traverse! Accept my duel!"

"...?"

The price for rescuing Milia—the one he hadn't remembered—had found him.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=They're not even dating and Ottbo is getting henpecked...【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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