Everyone on the breakfast table was shocked by the headlines on the newsletter, everyone except Alicia.

  As students of Saint Freya Academy, they did know a thing or two about the academy. Such as how transfer students were rare here. Or that transfer students from Pendor were basically a miracle.

  On the whole, Knight Kingdom Pendor was heavily inclined toward physical prowess, making it the hub of combat techniques. They had devoted significant resources to establishing their own academies and were extremely proud of them. Few from Pendor would choose the foreign Saint Freya Academy over their more nationally prestigious Saint Fran Academy, let alone transfer from the latter to the former.

  Putting aside those factors, it was also hard to understand why those people would transfer in at this timing, when half of the semester was already over. One had to know that transfer students weren’t given any special exceptions for examinations, and they would have to take remedial examinations if they failed.

  It was already unbelievable for there to be a single transfer student from Pendor given such poor circumstances, but there was actually a group of them.

  The first thing Roel thought of was William and her group, though he was a little perplexed by the message he had just received from the Goddess of Fate’s Guidance as it hinted that this matter was related to Geralt too.

  So, he glanced at the ash-haired young man, only to see that the latter’s initial surprise had already faded to nonchalance. Geralt didn’t seem to think that this matter had anything to do with him, so Roel decided not to say anything about it either.

  Though Roel did have a faint inkling of what might be coming thanks to his in-game knowledge.

  There was a plot where a noble from the Knight Kingdom named Brittany transferred over to Saint Freya Academy to capture her fiancé, who was none other than Geralt. After a series of incidents, she ended up joining the protagonist’s Request Club.

  It was just that this event was supposed to occur quite a while later. Geralt did a good job maintaining a low profile in Leinster, such that it took quite a bit of effort in order to track him down. But now…

  “Why are you looking at me with such eyes, chief?”
“… It’s nothing. Here, have more.”
“Ah?”
Having guessed what was going to happen, Roel couldn’t help but direct sympathetic eyes toward the oblivious Geralt. He personally passed a slice of bread to the latter in hopes that he would have sufficient energy to pull through what was going to come next.

  Geralt felt a mixture of confusion and uneasiness from Roel’s actions, but he still accepted the bread anyway.

  After breakfast, the lot of them proceeded to their respective classes.

  Roel entered Chris’ Classroom, where he naturally bumped into Lilian. Without anyone to cover for them this time around, their attitude toward each other was much more polite and distant.

  “Good morning, Senior Lilian.”
“Good morning.”
From the front row seat, Lilian responded to Roel’s greeting with her usual placid attitude, hardly showing any change in her expression at all. It was just that when no one was looking at her anymore, the corners of her lips irrepressibly crept upward. She was in a good mood.

  Following the peaceful greeting from Lilian was the explosive welcome from the Second Grade seniors. They quickly gathered around Roel to rowdily interview him about the award presentation ceremony last night. He also received quite a few pieces of news.

  “Have you seen the academy newsletter yet?”
“You’re talking about the transfer students from Knight Kingdom Pendor, right? It looks like there’s going to be quite a few of them.”
“My friend who works in the academy press told me that this news came straight from Principal Antonio himself. She told me that there’ll be another more important announcement that will be made in the assembly hall later in the afternoon.”
Roel began analyzing all of the information that was coming from his seniors.

  The ‘more important announcement’ here likely referred to the Challenger Cup being opened to First Grade students as well. What he was more concerned about here was the fact that it was Principal Antonio who let out news regarding the arrival of the transfer students.

  As shocking as it was for transfer students to arrive from Knight Kingdom Pendor, it wasn’t that important as to require the principal to personally relay the news to the academy press. Roel had a feeling that Antonio had done this on purpose to warn him about something.

  It looks like I should really have a good chat with Antonio soon, be it about Astrid or this matter, he thought.

  Chris soon entered the classroom, ending their idle chatter.

  After a month’s break, Roel was once again reminded of the hellish difficulty of Chris Classroom, though fortunately for him, he didn’t need to worry too much about catching up. Chris was going to personally tutor him to ensure that.

  She had previously entrusted the job to Lilian out of worry that it might stir controversy if she were to display excessive bias toward Roel. It was different this time as Roel had made a huge contribution to the academy, and it was in the midst of doing so that he ended up lagging behind in his studies. It was perfectly reasonable for Chris to step up and help him given his circumstances.

  Of course, this meant that lesson time with his mentor was greatly reduced, and Teacher Lilian was definitely not happy about that. It was just that their awkward identities made it hard for her to voice her grievances out loud.

  Time slowed to a crawl in this gruelling classroom, and it felt like an eternity had passed before lessons finally ended in the afternoon.

  Roel, Paul, and Geralt were having their lunch together when an announcement was made through the broadcast system, requesting for all First Grade students to gather in the assembly hall.

  “Is it going to be about what happened during the banquet?” mumbled Paul as he chewed on his hotdog.

  “I guess so,” replied Geralt casually, not thinking much about it.

  Only Roel looked at the two of them with a gleam in his eyes. He was a little amazed by their obliviousness toward what fate had in store for them.

  I guess the Goddess of Fate favors dense characters.

  Geralt was taking a sip of the newly released fruit wine with a serene look on his face, fully enjoying his academy life. He seemed to have already forgotten about the transfer students, though it was understandable since there shouldn’t have been anything to worry about here. Theoretically, at least.

  Transfering from the more comfortable Saint Fran Academy into the foreign Saint Freya Academy was so terribly inconvenient and counterintuitive that it was hard to imagine any high nobles wanting to do that.

  Common sense led Geralt into a mistaken assumption, but Roel didn’t think it was necessarily a bad thing. It was not as if he would be able to avoid it for life anyway. This was a crisis he was bound to encounter from the moment he got engaged as a child.

  Roel’s soft sigh was unheard amidst the chatter of the surrounding students.

  After lunch, the three of them rested a little longer before heading toward the assembly hall with the other First Grade students.

  Settling down on the soft comfy seats, Roel glanced at Geralt and Paul, who were seated by his sides, before taking another look at the Goddess of Fate’s Guidance in the System. He was starting to get curious.

  The previous guidance led to Paul convincing Antonio and the other top brass into opening the Challenger Cup to the First Grade students. I wonder what will come out of this guidance.

  It didn’t take long for the First Grade students to settle down in the assembly hall.

  A short moment later, Principal Antonio stepped onto the stage wearing a simple robe. Unlike last night, there was no music accompaniment or cheering, making the atmosphere solemn. He slowly made his way onto the center of the stage and announced shocking news.

  “First Grade students of Saint Freya Academy, I’m delighted to inform all of you on behalf of the Challenger Cup’s organizing committee that the tournament will be opened to all of you as well.”

  “Huh? Wait a moment, the tournament will be open to us as well?”
“Doesn’t that mean that we’ll also be able to…”
“Woohoo—!”
There was a moment of surprised murmurings amongst the students after Antonio said those words. It took a while before the news finally sank in, and deafening cheers broke out in the assembly hall.

  Excitement was contagious, and more and more people started cheering along. It was to the point where their voices could be heard from the square outside. It was only till the smiling Antonio raised his hands and lowered it gently that the excited students finally suppressed their emotions and sat back down.

  “I understand your excitement, but allow me to announce another piece of important news first. A group from a foreign country shall be joining our Saint Freya Academy. They are students from Knight Kingdom Pendor’s Saint Fran Academy, and I ask you to welcome them with a warm round of applause!”

  Along with Antonio’s announcement, William and her six other companions slowly made their way out from the backstage. With this, the gears of fate started clicking once more.