The Villain is Too Good at Sniping

29. Classes and Daily Life (1)

“…That’s it.”

A violent storm had passed, and several hours had elapsed.

The morning of Arsene, which everyone had been waiting for, had finally arrived. And from the first day of official classes, murmurs erupted in every corner of the classroom.

Many students had expected that classes might be postponed due to the huge incident the night before, but unfortunately, the decision was made to proceed with regular classes.

What can you do? That’s how the original story goes.

In the original story, a ghost incident occurred, and many students were injured, but classes still continued. The first class couldn’t be postponed due to the setting.

The school authorities couldn’t do anything about it either. Since they received support from all over the continent, they couldn’t just take tuition fees without teaching.

As one of the top three academies, they had to maintain their reputation.

…Of course, that’s a fact only I know, who is familiar with the original story.

“Yes. As your instructor, I’ll say it again.”

Among the despairing murmurs, the instructor’s platform remained calm. A female professor with dark circles under her eyes stood upright.

Our current instructor, ‘Isabella Gaston’, smiled calmly, unaffected by the murmurs. With a firm attitude, she announced the school authorities’ decision.

“The first class will proceed as scheduled. Please refrain from asking questions about it.”

“…….”

“Ah…….”

The students, who had initially been resistant, eventually gave up and accepted the decision due to Isabella’s unyielding attitude.

“The first class will consist of an orientation that guides you on the direction of future education, the curriculum, and the school rules that you must know as Arsene students.”

Isabella pointed to the blackboard. A beam projector suddenly turned on, displaying a detailed explanation on the wall.

As soon as they saw it, they were taken aback. Unfortunately, it wasn’t related to the novel they had read.

“For students who cannot attend this class, a separate guide will be sent to them. From now on, you can use all the functions of your Watch, and we will guide you on this part as well.”

Beep!

The Watches of all students in the classroom started vibrating simultaneously. The screen displayed a message sent by Arsene.

Isabella, who had been waiting for a moment, adjusted her glasses.

“Also, for students who are not present here and for the purpose of fostering camaraderie among you, we will implement the ‘Ignatos Perseo’ program for one semester.”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

Murmurs of confusion spread throughout the classroom. Some students looked puzzled, as if they had never heard of the term before.

One of them, with familiar pink hair tied up in a ponytail, was Iri De Sugamond, who was assigned to the same class.

Iri, who had been anxious, suddenly raised her hand.

“Um, teacher. I’ve never heard of that term before… what is it?”

“It’s an ancient language that means ‘ecret friend’.”

A simple relationship diagram was drawn on the blackboard.

A helps B, B helps C, and C helps A, forming a triangular structure.

“You will be divided into roles of ‘Peltus’, who gives help, and ‘Reto’, who receives help, and will be assigned to support specific students. All participants will receive special service points.”

Isabella tapped on the diagram. Three different lights appeared on the diagram, flowing along the outer edges of the triangle like water.

It was a truly reciprocal cycle of help. If it proceeded smoothly, the Arsene dormitory, which had been in chaos, would regain its vitality.

Of course, this is all just hypothetical.

In reality, it wouldn’t be like that.

If the world were as smooth as a painting, laws wouldn’t have been created, and there wouldn’t be hundreds or thousands of clauses.

There’s always a backlash to these things. Human creativity is astonishing, and it’s bound to create unintended consequences. That’s why there’s another rule here.

“The person providing help must not reveal their true identity as ‘Pelteus’ until the end of the first semester.”

In other words, the helper must keep their identity hidden. If the other person finds out, they’ll lose the special service points they’re supposed to receive.

On the other hand, if the person receiving help discovers who their ‘Pelteus’ is, they’ll get additional points.

It’s a simple mini-game, really. I’ve played both roles in the original story, and it got old really fast.

It’s just a game version of the real-life “mani-to”.

Due to the dormitory incident, some students are hospitalized, but classes must go on.

Naturally, hospitalized students can’t attend classes, and that’s a problem. Arsene is trying to make up for it by holding an event where students help each other, using special service points as bait.

It feels like a makeshift solution, but what can you do? Arsene’s resources are limited, after all.

“The special service points will be calculated based on your behavior and actual achievements during the semester,” Professor Isabelle said.

But in reality, the special service points you receive aren’t that significant.

It’s barely worth +@, to be honest. If you were to convert it to store points, it’d be around 1-2 points.

In the original story, it wasn’t about achieving 100% collection rate, but rather a casual event that you could just breeze through.

But what can you do? Other people might think similarly. Most students in this classroom will probably participate in this mani-to event sincerely.

It’s an event that combines camaraderie and rehabilitation, so even if you don’t receive points, it’s not a big deal. But if everyone else gets points and you don’t, it’s a bit frustrating.

It’s human psychology to follow what others are doing.

But this doesn’t really apply to me.

I’ve already done it to death in the original story, so it’s whatever to me. I don’t need to participate and can just make up for it somewhere else.

There are probably other students who think like me.

Guys who think it’s a hassle to participate and would rather not do it.

For those people, Arsene has prepared another bait.

“If you achieve significant results or show positive effects, you’ll be given priority to participate in various events hosted by Arsene.”

The triangle on the blackboard was erased, and another picture was drawn.

…It’s like a part of the blackboard was ripped off and replaced.

Isabelle is doing copy-and-paste in real life, just like in fantasy. It’s quite an amazing sight.

“Representatively, you’ll have the right to participate in the Hunter Association’s raid, visit the magic tower, attend various seminars and events, and get priority in the magic research society’s application process.”

Looking at this, it’s no wonder Arsene is called one of the top three academies.

“‘Pelteus’ and ‘Leto’ are randomly selected, but students who wish to participate can submit an application.”

“Ah, then it’s natural to participate… Wait, what?!”

Iris, who had been sitting down, suddenly stood up with an awkward smile.

Iris will probably participate in the mani-to event, just like in the original story. Kai and Serin Anett will probably do the same.

Especially Iris, who’s from a noble family and has a reputation to uphold.

She’s probably trying to achieve good results to surpass her sister, who’s studying at Yoahim.

There seems to be some complicated family dynamics behind Iris’ actions, but…

“No, that’s not it.”

Before that, I saw the name Sugamond on the list of participants. I don’t remember who it is exactly, but it wasn’t Iris.

I won’t participate in the Manitto, but it seems like I need to keep an eye on Airi for now.

If I carelessly provoke the Sugamon family at Esperand, my school life might get complicated. I should give them a heads-up in advance.

“That’s the end of our first class. Thank you for your hard work.”

Applause erupted as Professor Isabella exited the room.

It was the departure of our homeroom teacher, whom we would be with for the next year. However, I felt a bit sorry for Isabella.

She was still suffering from chronic fatigue, and the dark circles under her eyes were already beyond what could be covered with BB cream or foundation.

Sadly, those dark circles would only get worse and darker over time, all because of these people who were laughing and chatting carelessly in front of me.

“Wow, that was scary… How about you, Kyle?”

“Professor Isabella Gaston?”

“I saw her during class, and it seemed like she wouldn’t even wake up during nap time. I saw the dark circles under her eyes.”

“Yeah, I saw them. I saw them.”

It seemed like Kyle had already activated his [Affinity] trait, as he was chatting with the students in front of and behind him. It was amazing to see how quickly he could get along with others.

With his bright and affable personality, Kyle might actually do well in the Manitto.

In fact, that was the case in the original story.

Kyle performed well in the Manitto, caught the attention of the professors, and was invited to various events, where he would unfortunately run into Rebecca and suffer a lot.

Kyle would likely have a strange experience of both good and bad luck happening simultaneously within the first semester.

It might be entertaining, though. I was also into the Manitto at one point.

However, I didn’t plan on participating, wasting my time. I’d rather complete another mission on the bulletin board. Either way, the scores would be similar.

Ding-!

My watch beeped at that moment.

If someone were to contact me at this point, it would likely be Kyle or Serin Anet, but it didn’t seem like they would be the ones contacting me.

Suppressing my ominous feeling, I checked my watch.

[Congratulations, you have been selected as ‘Pelteus’.]

[Siion Illeayonheart -﹥ Airi De Sugamon]

I had planned to keep an eye on Airi until she developed her talent, but it turned out like this.

My bad premonition always seemed to come true, causing problems. Still, since the other party was who they were, I wouldn’t get entangled in as much trouble as I thought.

The person I needed to help was ‘Airi De Sugamon’.

Just last night, she was a colleague who had shared life and death with me.

Airi probably didn’t even dream that I was Pelteus. She wasn’t stupid, but she was surprisingly oblivious in this aspect.

“Heh.”

I didn’t plan on participating, but I ended up getting free points.

***

It was a short break after our first class.

I walked down the corridor with Airi. Our next class was a mobile class, and since Airi and I were in the same combat department, our paths would cross.

“…Lara Stillhyden?”

“Yes… That’s the person I met during the entrance exam.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? Just go up to her. You’re good at that sort of thing.”

“I don’t know… If I approach her first, I might get found out right away.”

It seemed like Airi was still worried about the entrance exam incident.

Was that a request or an order? Anyway, since I have a past record of suddenly attacking without warning, I didn’t think it would be a good idea to take it lightly.

Even if it was during a ‘Battle Royale’, from the receiving end, it wouldn’t feel good at all.

Of course, from my perspective, it was just a trivial matter.

Anyway, there would be plenty of friendly matches and duels between students in the future, so I didn’t want to waste my energy on such petty things.

“You, you must get special points.”

…Unlike me, Airi had a serious expression, but anyway.

I understood.

Airi’s emotions were clearly visible on her face, so if I approached her awkwardly, anyone would be able to notice.

Moreover, the opponent was Rara Steelhyden.

If Airi was the one being pulled, Rara was the one pushing back. They were like two people who just didn’t get along.

“But, Airi.”

“Yes?”

However, Airi was overlooking one important fact.

“If you do that, what will you do if I tell Rara?”

“…”

I had casually thrown out those words, but Airi was taken aback, as if she had been hit by water.

“Are you not going to say anything?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

As usual, her reactions were over-the-top and excessive.

We had finally arrived at the classroom door. The name written on it was not exactly welcoming to me.

[Classroom 3]

[Basic Understanding of Magic]

[Instructor: Professor Vien]