𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏: 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 (1)

Oswald returned from his errands the previous night. No matter how much his strength, agility, and endurance had increased, he couldn’t help but feel the fundamental fatigue.

The next day. . . . . .

As Oswald headed to class as usual, as if nothing had happened, an annoying girl followed him.

“Hey.”

“. . . . . .”

Ignoring her and continuing to walk, she came right up to him, blocking his way and calling out to him.

“Where did you go yesterday?”

“Do I have to report everything to you?”

“Isn’t it obvious? A criminal like you sneaked out of the academy at night?”

“I had permission.”

“Permission? Ha, that’s funny. Who would believe a criminal like you and give you permission? Hurry up and tell me, what did you do yesterday?”

As he looked at her with a bewildered expression. . . things became even more complicated when the children who had heard the commotion gathered around.

“It’s a personal matter.”

“So, what is this personal matter?”

“Sigh. . . . . .”

She’s really persistent. I can’t just punch her. . . . . .

Just then, one of the five dukes, Elsa Nightwalker, and one of the followers of the protagonist Gilgamesh, approached.

“What’s going on?”

A student with a bulky build. His face was so haggard that it was hard to believe he was a student who hadn’t yet reached adulthood.

The guy was Azel Solcrushid, the eldest son of Duke Solcrushid, the so-called Guardian of the Empire. Just by looking at him, he seemed like a savage warrior who would charge at the enemy and engage in a merciless slaughter. . . but surprisingly, he was a delicate person with a naive personality.

“I was questioning this criminal about what he was up to.”

“Elsa. . . no matter what your record is, as a mere student who is not a Vanguard, it doesn’t seem right to be prying into the private lives of other students. . . . . .”

“What? So you’re saying I’m doing something wrong?”

Elsa’s furious scream turned the savage warrior Azel into a crybaby. At that moment, Gilgamesh, the protagonist and a regressor, appeared with the other members of the five dukes.

‘𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘩. . . . . . 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴. . . . . .’

He also noticed the situation and immediately approached Oswald with a murderous aura. He quickly grabbed Oswald by the collar without hesitation and pushed him against the wall.

“Didn’t I warn you before? I told you that if you did anything stupid, I wouldn’t let you off the hook.”

‘𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯?’

No matter how much he had possessed Oswald, he was still being treated like a criminal, and his anger flared up. No, the more accurate word would be irritation.

“Sigh. . . . . . Who are you?”

“What?”

“Who are you to talk nonsense like you’re not going to let me off the hook?”

At those words, the veins in the arm of the man who had grabbed his collar bulged. Then, Gilgamesh lifted Oswald up. . . thanks to which Oswald, who was dangling in the air, was subjected to a very proper humiliation play.

‘𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯. . . . . . 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐’𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. . . . . .’

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Oswald grabbed the two wrists of Gilgamesh, who was holding him by the collar.

“Let go.”

Thud. . . . . .

“Hmm?!!”

Gilgamesh, sensing the immense evil power emanating from Oswald, let go of him without even realizing it.

“You. . . . . .”

Just then, the headmaster, who happened to be passing by, intervened.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh. . . Headmaster.”

“I asked you, what are you doing?”

Elsa Nightwalker stepped forward.

“Headmaster, we were just questioning a criminal about his suspicious behavior.”

“A criminal? Who is a criminal?”

“Of course, this. . . student Oswald.”

“What crime did he commit to be treated as a criminal?”

“Don’t you know, Headmaster? He. . . . . .”

“He has already been punished for that, and it is a thing of the past. Surely you’re not still causing trouble between students over something that happened then?”

“Yes! Of course not. I witnessed this student Oswald sneaking out of the academy last night. He already has a criminal record. . . . . .”

“Ah. . . . . . I can explain that. This student Oswald went outside the academy at my personal request.”

“What?”

At those words, Elsa, the other members of the five dukes, and even Gilgamesh looked at him in surprise.

“What on earth did you ask him to do?”

“Student Elsa.”

“Yes?”

“Do I have to tell student Elsa something like that?”

“. . . . . .”

Only then did Elsa realize that she had crossed the line.

“Rather than that, student Elsa.”

“Yes. . . . .?”

“By what authority are you questioning another student?”

“Well. . . . . .”

Elsa was at a loss for words. According to school regulations, no one except the Vanguard could conduct private investigations or interrogations. This was strictly the Vanguard’s domain, and if a crime was witnessed, it was mandatory to report it to the Vanguard. In a word. . . . . .

“Student Elsa, do you know that this is the second time you have overstepped your authority?”

Second time exceeding authority. . . . . .

The first time was when she suspended Oswald, and. . . this time again, she overstepped her authority in an attempt to pick on Oswald.

“. . . . . .”

“I will give student Elsa a one-week suspension. You will write 100 reflection papers a day and submit them to me.”

In the end, Elsa was suspended. And. . . . . .

“Student Gilgamesh?”

“Yes, Headmaster.”

“You know that violence is prohibited within the academy except for duels, right?”

“. . . . . .”

“Student Gilgamesh will also be suspended for one week. You will also write 100 reflection papers a day and submit them to me.”

In an instant, the headmaster suspended the protagonist Gilgamesh and his follower Elsa. However, no one dared to object. The headmaster had witnessed the incident, and they had also violated school regulations.

Violence was basically punished by suspension, and depending on the severity of the victim, it could even lead to expulsion.

“Oh, and this student Oswald will often go outside the academy at my personal request, so I hope that something like this will not happen again.”

With that, Oswald, who had settled the matter with the help of the headmaster, thanked him and returned to class.

As he sat down and prepared for class, Alicia rushed in and sat down next to Oswald.

“Oswald, you might as well join the Vanguard. You don’t have to get involved in any more of that annoying stuff.”

‘𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥?’

The Vanguard episode had to do with the third prince, the greatest villain in the academy, so it could be a real pain in the neck. In particular, as the fourth prince and second princess later entered the academy, the headache would only get worse, as it was due to the succession struggle between the imperial family.

‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭. . . 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦. . . . . . 𝘜𝘨𝘩.’

The Imperial Empire had a senate composed of electors. It was the senate that was made up of the families that had voluntarily joined the empire when the empire had gone to war to conquer kingdoms. And of the current five ducal families, only four belonged to the senate.

In short, the succession dispute within the academy was a meaningless waste of time, and the episode that made you do all that meaningless waste of time was the Vanguard episode.

Oswald ignored Alicia’s persistent Vanguard recruitment offer to the end.

A week had passed since then.

“Now, let’s start forming teams for the practical training. Each team will consist of five students.”

The reason why there were five people in a team was simple. One tank to take the lead, two dealers to deal damage in the middle, one supporter or dealer to support and deal damage in the rear, and one to handle reconnaissance and assassination. This was the position that was mainly used in the current chaos dungeon as well as in the ‘league’.

That was why the five dukes who had gathered around the protagonist were so enthusiastically promoting themselves.

‘𝘜𝘨𝘩.’

“I’m going to be with Oswald.”

“. . . . . .”

Do you intend to bother me as a Vanguard even by becoming a team member?

Oswald hurriedly looked away. . . but most of them had already formed teams. In the end, the remaining members were Oswald, Alicia, and. . . . . .

“. . . . . .”

“What’s that look? Be honored that I’m joining you, criminal.”

Of all the stragglers, Elsa Nightwalker. . . . . .

‘𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. . . . . .’

The person who knew Elsa’s persistence very well was Gilgamesh. Because of that persistence, she would later become the head of the knights’ order created by the protagonist Gilgamesh. And the other one. . . . . .

“Well. . . I’ll be in your care.”

‘. . . . . .’

Natasha Romanova, a member of the five dukes and whose abilities were nothing special compared to Oswald. If she had any ability, it would be the wealth, or rather, the financial power that came from the fact that her father, Duke ‘Igor von Ivan Romanova’, held half of the empire’s sovereign power.

She had only learned a few auxiliary spells through that financial power. . . she, too, had entered this academy only through her father’s financial power.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. . . . . .’

It was Elsa. She, who would later be called the Knight Queen Elsa, was a woman who could do everything from tanking to close combat.

Now, the only remaining position was Royman, a guy who had zero presence even within the class. He was a commoner, quiet, and didn’t seem to have any friends.

‘𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.’

Royman Kronen.

He was the illegitimate child of the Kronen family, which was ranked as the left seat among the seven black families and was known as a prestigious assassination family, and was learning the Kronen family’s shadow assassination techniques.

The Kronen family, which had once been the ruler of a duchy, was defeated by the empire as the empire expanded and was forced to go into hiding in order to survive. Among them, he was the most reliable person after Alicia.

After a while, Oswald and his teammates, who could only sigh, arrived at a huge auditorium inside the academy. It was a place where space expansion magic had been cast, so it didn’t look that big from the outside, but when you went inside, it was a very spacious place.

A huge training ground with small forests here and there, or townscapes like villages. There was even an artificial dungeon. Dungeons were places created using space expansion magic and subspace magic.

Of course, monsters that had been trained in advance were released into the dungeons, and combat golems made for training purposes and monster homunculi created based on alchemy were in place.

Of course, the combat golems and homunculi were restricted so that they could not kill the students. This was because, even though it was training like actual combat, they were still students, so their safety was being controlled.

Of course, there were no such restrictions on monsters raised for training purposes. Most of them were at a level that students could easily handle or not handle.

There was also another safety device, the magic watch, which automatically warped the user out of the dungeon when their life was in danger. There were other functions as well, but the emergency escape function was the best feature of the artifact.

“Now, this is the first-year practice dungeon.”

A magic hologram floated above the dungeon gate, showing the status of each team, the monsters they had hunted, and so on.

‘𝘈𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥?’

The academy had also borrowed the ranks created in Chaos Invasion Defense and assigned ranks to each student. This was done by quantifying magical power and combat ability through a magic calculator and calculating it.

Gilgamesh was, as expected. . . gold rank. The academy’s rank was recognized as the rank of the Defense Department after graduation, so rank management was important.

‘𝘏𝘮𝘮. . . . . .’

The person Gilgamesh had recruited, even at the cost of giving up two of the five dukes, was. . . the only person from the Huan Kingdom, located in the eastern part of the continent. His current rank was gold. . . . . .

Huan Kingdom, modeled after Korea. Yuihan was born as the illegitimate son of a noble family in such a Huan Kingdom, and came to the western part of the continent in order to escape the fate of an illegitimate son.

The perception of illegitimate children was similar in the west and east. . . but in the east, especially in the Huan Kingdom, the discrimination against illegitimate children was enormous.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴. . . . . .’

Below him were the five dukes, Miguel Stendar, silver-level, Azel Solcrushid, silver-level, and Leika Glorious, silver-level. It was an incredibly unfair level.

Even so, no one could say anything about this balance difference because connections were also a skill in the academy. On the other hand, Oswald’s team. . . . . .

‘𝘛𝘴𝘬. . . . . .’