I was in a room with one transparent wall.

[Smash it.]

Hearing the voice echoing in the room, I glanced at the sturdy-looking chunk of metal placed in front of me.

“Smash it,” the voice said, so I punched the metal.

With a loud crash, the chunk of metal crumpled.

However, as a price for hitting it, my hand was far from unscathed.

Pain surged through me, but I didn’t stop pounding on it.

It still hadn’t broken.

It was only after my hand became battered and bruised that the metal finally shattered.

Just after that, a suspicious smoke filled the room.

As I inhaled the smoke, my mind became hazy, and my vision faded to black.

When I regained consciousness, my hand was strangely back to normal.

At that moment, someone approached and started injecting me with syringes all over my body.

Seeing the syringes filled me with revulsion, but my limbs were bound by chains, leaving me unable to resist.

A moment after the syringes were in me, extreme pain hit me.

It felt as though all the blood vessels in my body were melting; I already knew from past experiences that these injections were unbearably painful.

Shivering in my bindings, I let out a silent scream.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

I hate this.

Thinking so, flames erupted from my body.

The silver hair of the one injecting me sparkled in the flickering flames.

*

“Ugh…!”

Startled awake, I quickly scanned my surroundings.

What I saw was the familiar sight of my room, and I took a slow breath.

…Was it a dream?

This time, it was a surprisingly vivid dream, leaving me dazed even after waking up.

It seems I’ve had many dreams lately.

I don’t really know why, but it didn’t feel good.

Anyway, it was a truly unpleasant nightmare. To be subjected to such cruel treatment in a dream…

It was comparable to the one I had the day before my discharge from the army.

Waking up the day before my release to see the ceiling of the enlistment examination room was hard to judge which was worse.

Checking the time, it was a bit too early to get up, but also too late to fall back asleep.

To shake off the discomfort left by the nightmare, I took a longer shower, but I still had plenty of time before school, so I decided to put some extra effort into making macarons today.

With the day for living expenses not too far off, I had a little extra money, and I bought some ingredients for different flavors of macarons at the store yesterday, so I was planning to make strawberry-flavored macarons today.

While holding the mixing bowl with my feet, I vigorously whipped the meringue batter when I accidentally miscalibrated my strength and splattered the batter on my face.

It felt too wasteful to throw away, so I wiped it off with my hand and licked it, thinking.

Making macarons like this with such determination… Honestly, it wasn’t rational.

Sylvia wouldn’t care if I didn’t give her any macarons.

I was the one with a missing arm and limited cash; there were plenty of reasons not to do it.

But I couldn’t stop.

Sylvia considers me her first and closest friend.

She believes I approached her solely because I wanted to be friends.

But what is the truth?

Even if it’s no longer the case, I initially approached her clearly with a goal.

That’s why I wasn’t someone who could be her friend.

Still, I decided to maintain my relationship with Sylvia.

To repay even a little of the emotional debt I felt toward her.

To avoid being crushed by the weight of guilt whenever I put on the ring.

Today too, I wrapped up the macarons I was going to give her.

*

One corner of the gym was bustling with people.

Two groups of about thirty were awkwardly eyeing each other.

One side was the 1st-year Class A, to which I belonged.

The other side was Class B, a group I had seen around, like at the cafeteria.

As the silence lingered, making it awkward to start a conversation, Eve clapped her hands to grab everyone’s attention.

“Morning! You all heard that starting today, training will be conducted jointly with Classes A and B!”

Perhaps due to the recent defense against the demonic beast invasion in the western border area, changes had occurred in the academy’s curriculum.

There was an increase in class hours to get students accustomed to collaborating with others who have different skills, and the training that used to be conducted class by class was now changed to joint training.

That’s why all first-year students gathered in the gym like this.

“The original idea was to have you mix with kids from other classes, but since it’s the first day and we don’t know how each of you fights yet, right? Directly facing off against each other is the best way to understand someone else’s combat style. So today, we’ll have a mock battle of 5 against 5 between the classes to observe how the others fight!”

With Eve’s words, the awkward atmosphere shifted.

“Bring it on, you losers! I’ll show you the strength of Class A!”

“Did you hear that, everyone? We absolutely cannot lose to those Class A guys!”

As Daniel yelled first, cheers erupted from Class B like there was someone there to hype up the crowd, and other kids started chiming in, heating up the atmosphere even further.

A month is enough time to develop a sense of belonging to one’s class.

The mention of a class competition seemed to ignite the competitive spirit of these boiling adolescents.

Eve seemed to be aiming for this, as she watched the scene with a smile.

It was certainly an effective way to eliminate awkwardness.

Groups with a strong sense of belonging are usually quite closed off, making it difficult to mix with others.

For these groups to become friendly, there needed to be a natural trigger.

For instance, stimulating their competitive spirit like this.

If they were simply told that they would be in class together, it would have only resulted in discomfort. But seeing this, I was reminded that Eve was indeed a teacher.

Although sometimes I wondered if she was doing it just for her own amusement as she laughed out loud.

Regardless, looking at that scene gave me a sense of nostalgia.

Originally, Classes A and B had been merged after the gym incident due to a reduced number of students.

In the original story, there hadn’t even been 30 students combined…

Thinking about it, if I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have needed to say those things to Yun Si-woo yesterday.

With other original heroines in that class, they would have taken care of Yun Si-woo’s mental state if I had just left him alone.

Oh well, it’s too late to have regrets now.

Plus, I hadn’t really helped Yun Si-woo with any counseling yet.

As I pondered this, I listened to Eve explain today’s training.

It seemed the mock battles would take place among teams of five from each class.

To maintain balance, Eve would designate which students went where.

For reference, my name wasn’t included in any team.

Simply put, I was a spectator.

I had been mostly exempt from practical classes since adjusting to a prosthetic arm after having gotten used to having no arm could be tough.

I had never been exempt from anything even during my military service…

Feeling a strange sense of deprivation, I zoned out when Jessie spoke to me.

“Just wait a bit. Someone famous that my big brother knows helped with the prosthetic design, and they finished yesterday. We’ll make sure it’s ready as soon as possible so you can join the classes with us! In two weeks, no, maybe a week, somehow!”

You really don’t need to rush it that much…

I felt like I was somehow going to owe something, which put a bit of pressure on me.

“Take your time with it.”

When I said this, Jessie smiled broadly and shook her head.

“No! I want to see Scarlet be impressed by the prosthetic soon!”

That answer made me feel a flutter in my chest, so I just gave a slight nod.

*

As I spaced out, it seemed preparations were done.

The first teams from each class, five from Class A including Daniel and Andre, and five from Class B, put on protective gear, and Eve cast a spell on them.

Under Eve’s illusion magic, the mock battle began between the first team of each class, with a building separating them.

Simultaneously, the kids sitting by class began cheering for their respective sides.

From my corner in the back right where Class A was seated, I observed the faces of the Class B kids reflected on the screen that Eve displayed.

They probably held very little significance in the original work.

How do I know? Because the significant characters from the original work are obvious at first glance.

A characteristic of school-based stories: Most characters have striking appearances, and their importance tends to correlate with that.

Just like that girl from Class B, sitting nearby and staring at me.

First off, she had a remarkably cute appearance, and her distinctive twin-tails hairstyle stood out.

And above all, her pink hair made her a true eye-catcher. Her name was Florene Dolos.

As you might guess from her looks, she was one of the heroines in the original story.

Truthfully, I wanted to ignore her, but I couldn’t resist her intense gaze and glanced in her direction.

She blushed a deep red and said to me,

“Umm, I think I fell for you at first sight… would you go out with Florene?”

I had a feeling this would happen, which was precisely why I wanted to ignore it.

Internally chuckling, I ignored her confession, but the person beside me couldn’t do the same.

Sitting to my left, Sylvia glared at Florene, perplexed by her strange behavior of confessing to someone of the same sex at first sight.

Under normal circumstances, anyone would feel intimidated by Sylvia’s icy gaze, but sadly for Florene, she wasn’t ordinary.

Under Sylvia’s stare, Florene turned even redder and said to her,

“Wow, you’re super pretty… Hey, would you go out with Florene too?”

The look in Sylvia’s eyes, which had previously been ‘What is this person?’ swiftly changed into ‘What the heck is going on here?!’ upon witnessing Florene’s bizarre behavior of confessing to multiple people at once.

Sylvia was taken aback by Florene’s strange conduct, yet Florene was far from finished.

“Ahh! You’re so handsome! Hey, hey, would you go out with Florene?”

This time, upon spotting Yun Si-woo looking our way, she let out a shrill shriek and rushed over to confess to him.

As Florene’s antics unfolded, Sylvia’s pupils trembled furiously.

In that moment, a tall girl with a calm demeanor and blue hair dashed from where Class B was seated.

The girl, who seemed about 150 cm tall, effortlessly scooped up Florene, who was clinging to the bewildered Yun Si-woo.

“Let me go, Marine! Let me go!!!”

Florene flailed in the girl’s grasp.

“If I let you go, will you behave? If you don’t, I’ll just keep holding you like this?”

“I’ll behave, I promise!”

When the girl set Florene down, she became quiet and obedient.

The girl who had neutralized Florene in an instant was also quite a beauty.

And she was one of the heroines from the original work as well.

Yun Si-woo, you bad guy.

Anyway, the blue-haired girl, acting as a leash on Florene, Marin Eloise, bowed numerous times in apology to Eve and Class A.

“Sorry for the disruption during class. This girl tends to confess to anyone she finds attractive with no regard, so I’ll remind her to keep quiet. Now, Florene, apologize quickly.”

“I’m sorry…”

Eve gestured for them to sit down as if to say ‘go ahead.’

Naturally, I thought they would head toward where Class B was sitting, but Florene pointed at me with her finger and looked at Marin with eyes full of yearning.

Marin sighed, then she took Florene and approached me, saying,

“Sorry… She seems to want to sit here and watch. Is that okay?”

Florene gazed at me with pleading eyes.

Given that she had always shown interest in those she found attractive in the original story, I let out a deep sigh and nodded.

Florene beamed with joy and tried to sit directly beside me, but Marin took that spot first, sitting down, then plopping Florene onto her lap and hugging her.

It felt more like she was restraining her from causing mischief than a display of affection.

I was relieved, thinking that if they simply let Florene sit next to me, she might cling onto me or Sylvia again following her confession.

Florene, wrestling around in Marin’s embrace briefly, eventually gave up and turned her head toward me and Sylvia.

“Hey, so will you go out with Florene? Can you be the 69th and 70th girlfriends of Florene?”

Seeing Florene speak up, Sylvia made an expression as if she were looking at an incomprehensible creature, and Marin forced a smile as she introduced herself.

“Don’t mind her too much. She’s just asking if you can be friends with her. Oh, I’m Marin Eloise, the homeroom representative of Class B. And this is—”

“Florene Dolos! You both look so pretty, so I want to be friends! So be Florene’s girlfriends!”

Florene interrupted Marin, shouting.

Watching Florene, Sylvia opened her mouth slightly with an expression that suggested she wished to reject that idea.

“…I’m Sylvia Astra. Sorry, but I must refuse, Florene.”

Without intending to, Sylvia’s response was so direct it could potentially hurt her feelings due to the sensitivity surrounding friendship.

Sylvia fiddled with her ring as she looked at me.

“I’m Scarlet Evande. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to refuse as well.”

I thought it was fine to not get close to Florene, so I answered like that.

Sylvia seemed a bit happier, her ears perked up.

“Why? Florene really likes you both…”

“Florene.”

“…”

Though Florene was on the verge of tears at that, she soon quieted down when Marin softly called her name.

The person who had come to sit beside me had quietened down, leaving a gap in conversation between us for a while.

This is super awkward…

Sitting between three heroine characters from the original story, I felt a strong urge to say something.

Looking for a way to break the awkward silence, I suddenly noticed the teams from each class fighting fiercely on the screen in front of me.

To alleviate this discomfort, shouldn’t I stimulate a little competitiveness?

With that thought suddenly flashing in my mind, I opened my mouth on impulse.

“Between Class A and Class B, um… which one do you think will be more dominant?”

To my surprise, I received a simultaneous response.

“Of course—”

“Class A.” “Class B.”

The one who responded Class B was Marin, but the voice declaring Class A was not Sylvia’s.

Wondering about it, I turned to see the source of the voice, and Meina, who had been sitting in front of me, slowly turned her head to look at us.

Whoa, not this…

“Huh? Did I just hear something I shouldn’t have? Saying Class A seems superior, who are you?”

“Me? I’m Mei, the leader of Class A. By the way, saying Class B seems superior shows that your sight is quite lacking. I’m not so sure you deserve the title of leader of the class.”

With an audible pop, it appeared as if visible veins had popped up on the foreheads of the two.

No, I just wanted to create casual conversation, okay?

When leaders of groups intervene, even a simple friendly competition can turn combative.

The heads of Class A and Class B glared at each other, growling.

The atmosphere felt chilly, and the kids around seemed to shiver.

The only one who seemed unfazed in this situation was Florene, who looked dazed in Marin’s embrace.

“Seems to me your sight is the one that’s lacking. So, shall we bet on who wins? With six teams total, let’s calculate the overall win rate. Class B is definitely going to win at least four matches.”

“Oh, really? A wager sounds good. What are we betting on?”

Suddenly, a memory of when we had a competition between company units in the military floated back to me.

“If we lose, I bet the company commander will be pretty disappointed.”

That single sentence triggered a flood of memories about giving it my all to win.

“Well, it’s a bet between class representatives, there’s only one thing to wager on.”

Marin smiled slyly and uttered a word, and Mei nodded, equally smirking.

That word was

“Pride.”

With that impulsive remark, the civil war among first-year students of the Aegis Academy had begun.