As William and her group of seven stepped onto the stage, the still feverish students gave them a warm round of applause while assessing them curiously.

  It was rare to see anyone from Knight Kingdom Pendor in Saint Freya Academy, and their nobles were known to be averse to traveling outside their country. Over time, this isolated country became associated with so many legends that one couldn’t help but wonder if they were true.

  It was inevitable that the First Grade students would be excited to meet them, and the group of seven that walked onto the stage didn’t disappoint their expectations.

  The armored knight who revealed not a crevice of unprotected skin, William.

  The adorable pink-haired, pink-eyed lady with a gentle smile, Teresa.

  The valiant golden-haired woman dressed in light armor, Brittany.

  The extraordinarily tall and muscular man who was surprisingly unarmored, Kurt.

  The slim man who had covered his eyes with a mysterious piece of cloth, Stuart.

  The cute black-haired, crimson-eyed woman dressed in a noble laced gown, Juliana.

  The orange-haired, green-eyed woman with a small stature but a discomforting smile, Selina.

  When these seven atypical youths appeared on the stage, the students broke into excited murmurs.

  “Woah, that man is really tall. He’s buff too!”


  “Don’t you think that blindfolded man over there looks a little suave?”


  “A knight in armor; he gives off an air of secrecy.”


  The female students assessed the students in front of them while applauding. As for the male students, they were so excited by the unique appearances of the transfer students—particularly the female ones—that their unfiltered thoughts flowed out from their mouths.

  “That pink-haired girl is really adorable!”


  “Hey hey, that crimson-eyed woman is clearly more beautiful. She gives off an air of grace.”


  “Holy Sia, that golden-haired woman is stacked!”


  But amongst the male students, there was a certain ash-haired man whose reaction was completely different.

  W-why is she here?

  Geralt’s face crumpled the moment he saw the golden-haired woman on the stage. He would have never thought that the ones transferring in from the Knight Kingdom weren’t struggling students but high nobles.

  Yes, high nobles.

  Other than Prince William, the remaining six of them were all successors of their respective high noble houses. Two of them, Teresa and Brittany, were even daughters of ducal houses.

  However, none of this information was important to Geralt now. The important thing was that there was one person amongst the transfer students whom Geralt couldn’t allow himself to be seen by.

  She can’t see me. She can’t see me. She can’t see me……

  Eyeing the golden-haired woman whom he was engaged to, Geralt covered his agape mouth and began chanting profusely under his breath. He tried his best to hold his trembling body still so as to not appear out of place. He wanted to escape right away, but he feared that would be too conspicuous.

  This assembly hall is filled with at least thousands of people. There’s no way she could spot me amidst so many other First Grade students!

  Geralt glanced at the crowd around him as he reassured himself.

  He was not wrong to say that the huge crowd did provide him some cover, but it was all futile when he was sitting right next to the human spotlight himself.

  Roel Ascart, the brightest star of the venue.

  The armored William swept her gaze through the crowd and met eyes with Roel almost in an instant. Tracing her gaze, the other six also swiftly found their observation target.

  Juliana narrowed her crimson eyes. Selina revealed a belligerent smile. The towering Kurt seemed to have noticed something and frowned. Stuart turned his head over as if he was able to peer through his blindfold.

  Teresa waved her hand over and smiled sweetly at Roel, but she froze up upon noticing the ash-haired man sitting next to him. For some reason, she found that man oddly familiar.

  Wait a moment, isn’t he the young master of the Stephensons who is engaged to…… This is bad!

  Teresa widened her pink eyes in horror upon recalling Geralt’s identity, but her realization came too late. The valiant golden-haired woman standing next to her had already released a huge burst of mana, followed by a deafening roar.

  “GE! RA! LT!”


  “!”


  Brittany’s Valkyrie Bloodline eroded her rationality. To the astonishment of the other six, she charged down the stage and leaped her way toward Geralt. Teresa and William tried to hold her back but they were unable to stop the rampaging Brittany.

  With this, their promise with Principal Antonio to only observe Roel from a distance was broken. The six remaining transfer students looked at one another before following Brittany down.

  The twist in the situation first left Geralt dumbfounded before horror gripped his body. He instinctively leaped to his feet and attempted to escape, but it was already too late.

  Brittany morphed into a golden bolt of lightning that zapped across the sky, arriving right above Roel and the others in the blink of an eye. At some point, a glowing halberd had appeared in her hands, and she furiously swung it down on her escaping fiancé.

  Boom!

  Brittany’s mana morphed into a bombardment of destructive lightning that sought to destroy everything in its path. Geralt quickly snapped out of his shock and constructed a glowing mana barrier to protect himself.

  It turned out to be an unnecessary move.

  The infuriated attack from Brittany was intercepted by a crimson skeleton hand before it could even land on Geralt’s barrier. The black-haired man standing beneath the crimson skeleton hand raised his head and stared deeply at Brittany.

  Brittany found herself locked inside a pair of mesmerizing eyes that felt mysterious yet authoritative, like candlelight blazing in the darkness. Those eyes felt placid like a serene lake, devoid of any ripple of emotions, yet they weren’t disconcerting.

  Caught under such a gaze, her fury and grudge swiftly faded as if they were quelled by some force. The tremendous pressure she felt jolted her rationality back into her.

  “!”


  Upon realizing that she had made a grievous faux pas under the influence of her bloodline, Brittany quickly landed on the ground and stepped backward.

  Geralt turned to look at Roel with eyes brimming with gratitude.

  It was only then that the students finally snapped out of their daze and escaped with flustered shouts.

  “W-what’s going on? Why did she suddenly launch an attack?”


  “Son of a banshee! Is she here to exact vengeance?”


  The sudden evacuation of the students created a huge clearing around Roel and the others. Paul was utterly bewildered by the situation whereas Brittany found herself at a loss.

  Unfortunately, the situation only continued to worsen.

  “Brittany was the first one to cave in. You can’t blame me for making a move now, right?”


  “Heh, that fellow must be the eldest son of the Stephensons. Who could have thought that he was hiding here? Heh, it works in my favor anyway!”


  “Wait a moment!”


  With Brittany having made the first move, the other problematic children from the Knight Kingdom went along with the flow and revealed their true nature as well.

  Selina obeyed her beastlike instincts and rushed toward the center of the conflict. Juliana wrapped herself in a layer of darkness and traversed through the shadows. The two of them ignored William’s shouts for them to stop and appeared before Roel the next instant.

  But before the overexcited duo could do anything, there was a sudden outburst of blinding holy light, followed by a series of spatial ripples.

  “I’ve long heard that the Knight Kingdom prides itself on its strength, but I never thought that its nobles would be this barbaric. It looks like there’s only so much etiquette one can expect from a bunch of oafs.”


  “How dare transfer students like you launch an assault on a Ringbearer? Unbelievable! Should I take it as an attempt to undermine the authority of the Ringbearers?”


  The light-clad Nora and gun-wielding Charlotte simultaneously appeared beside Roel, and they questioned the Pendor nobles with chilling tones. The Goldenrose Ring, Redrose Ring, and Bluerose Ring glowed brightly on their fingers, symbolizing the highest authority in this academy where students had strong autonomy.

  However, Selina and the others didn’t back down despite Nora and Charlotte’s intimidation.

  During this momentary standstill, William and Teresa arrived at the scene too. William was intending to mediate between both sides here, but for some reason, she fell silent upon seeing the two women standing by Roel’s side.

  Both sides glared sharply at each other, and the increasing concentration of mana they were emanating showed that they weren’t just putting on a show.

  Meanwhile, the already forgotten Antonio on the stage gazed upon the confrontation between both sides with an unsurprised look.