“Hmm…”

“Something on your mind?”

Helena, who was walking beside me, asked me as we were walking through the courtyard.

“No, it’s nothing…”

I scratched the back of my head and smiled awkwardly.

It was a peaceful day like any other. I had sword training and finished my meal as quickly as possible to avoid meeting Sylvia. During that time, I happened to run into Helena and agreed to stroll with her.

“Is it because it’s too quiet?”

“…Perhaps.”

I had also heard the news that Cain had left the academy for a while due to a family issue. So somehow, I thought that soon Leonhardt would appear and start making trouble for me in earnest.

But it was quieter than I expected.

…Now that I put it that way, it did sound like I was waiting for Leonhardt to make a mess, but that wasn’t the case.

The mere fact that I was by Sylvia’s side was enough to irritate that unruly man, but judging by how he was still holding back, Sylvia seemed to have managed to keep him on a tight leash.

Of course, if Leonhardt did start making trouble for me, I could deal with it in my own way, but the best scenario would be for him not to bother me at all.

So far, I had fallen for his provocations too easily, but there was nothing more inefficient than getting into a verbal fight with him.

“You sound like you want some kind of incident to happen.”

“It’s not like that.”

I denied Helena’s remark with an awkward smile as she poked my side with a scolding tone.

To put it accurately, I was just surprised by Leonhardt’s patience.

Anyway, if it was peaceful, that was fortunate.

***

I didn’t think the future had changed. Or rather, I didn’t think it had changed drastically.

I thought the future might have changed slightly, just a little bit.

So, without realizing it, I had come to accept that Sylvia had kept Leonhardt on a tighter leash than in the original work, which is why he hadn’t come to pick a fight with me for no reason.

It made sense since not only was I not by Sylvia’s side, but I had also thoroughly provoked him in our previous conversation.

However, I soon realized that this was just my misconception.

At the academy, there were certain subjects that all students had to take.

In addition to their main subjects, all students were required to take some subjects, one of which was a class called “Joint Training.”

Unlike the original work where no real threats were portrayed in detail, the academy itself focused on educating students for the great demonic beast war they would face when entering society.

In any case, as a member of Class 1-A, I participated in the Joint Training class, and it was there that I saw Leonhardt and Sylvia and realized why Leonhardt hadn’t come looking for me.

Leonhardt wasn’t in a position to pay attention to me right now. Because…..

‘Looks like they’re still fighting.’

Sylvia and Leonhardt didn’t even look at each other, and they were sitting far apart from each other.

While Sylvia sat with a few friends in the class, Leonhardt, as usual, sat with his noble followers.

Normally, Leonhardt would have tried to stay as close to Sylvia as possible, but now they weren’t even looking at each other.

It seemed that the quarrel Sylvia had mentioned before hadn’t ended yet.

Well, I didn’t particularly like Leonhardt, and I had no reason to try to improve the relationship between the two, so after briefly watching them, I averted my gaze.

“Who was the teacher in charge of the Anti-Demonic Beast class?”

“…I don’t know either.”

For the first two weeks of the new semester, we didn’t have any joint training classes. Today was the first day.

At some other schools, they would have first-year students take the Joint Training class without considering how awkward it might be, but at least this academy had some discretion.

They gave students some time to get acquainted before starting the Joint Training class, which will improve their adaptability and teamwork with one another.

In response to Helena’s question, I furrowed my brow and looked ahead, shrugging my shoulders.

The details of the class were not mentioned in depth in the original novel, and I had no idea where the class introduction pamphlet distributed by the academy had gone.

Naturally, I also didn’t know which teacher would be teaching this class.

“Shouldn’t you show a little more interest?”

“…You don’t know either, so you’re not in a position to nag.”

I muttered in disbelief at Helena’s scolding, and she turned her head away, pretending not to hear me.

I let out a small laugh at her reaction and turned my head, only to accidentally make eye contact with Sylvia.

Sylvia, who had been glancing back and forth between me and Helena, smiled slightly and waved her hand when our eyes met.

I responded with a casual wave and clicked my tongue.

‘I hope she doesn’t provoke anything unnecessarily.’

As I averted my gaze while watching Sylvia turn her head away, I let out a small sigh inwardly when I saw Leonhardt’s followers glancing at me.

It’s a bit late to say this now, but even I could see that this was going to rub Leonhardt the wrong way.

Not that I had any reason to ignore her from the start, but still.

In the somewhat rowdy atmosphere, I tried my best not to make eye contact with Leonhardt or Sylvia. There was no need for me to go out of my way and cause any trouble.

Creak.

Just when I thought more time had passed than during a regular break period, the classroom door opened, and a woman appeared.

With her plain brown hair and brown eyes, and a long scar running from her left eye down to his cheek, her unkempt physique and rough-looking face made her seem more like a thug from a back alley than a teacher. But in a clichéd way, she was clearly a teacher who cared about her students.

However, the oppressive aura emanating from her large build was no joke, causing all the chattering students to immediately fall silent.

After striding up to the front of the classroom, the teacher looked around at the students and spoke.

“Nice to meet you all. My name is Selenda, and starting today, I’ll be teaching your Joint Training class for the year.”

“Selenda…?”

“Isn’t that Selenda, the commander of the Jibril Mercenary Corps?”

I thought her name and face were unfamiliar, but it seemed I was the only one. As soon as the students heard her name, a quiet commotion arose among them. Selenda calmly nodded her head as she watched the students with an indifferent gaze.

“That’s right, I’m that Selenda.”

I thought some students might have objections to a mercenary teaching at an academy attended by nobles, but her name seemed to carry quite a lot of weight.

From the moment she acknowledged the students’ thoughts, no one seemed to have any doubts about her.

Of course, some, like Leonhardt, might still not regard her skills very highly but still fell silent going along with the atmosphere.

“As you all know, the Joint Training class is conducted with four students per group.”

Just when an ominous feeling started to arise, it only turned out to be a group project

Well, I was already used to the cliché of group projects at the academy.

If my memory served me right, nothing major happened in this class, so I could approach it with peace of mind.

Of course, this wasn’t a game or a novel, but real life, so I would still need to work hard to get a good grade.

I just hoped I would be assigned to a good group.

“The groups have been randomly assigned, so please check them.”

At Selenda’s words, I frowned slightly and scratched the back of my head.

It would have been nice if we could form our own groups, but I guess they were concerned about imbalances between the groups.

“The groups were formed considering your grades, so if you have any objections, come see me directly.”

With a beep, Selenda operated a remote, and a holographic chart appeared behind her.

Let’s see, my name is…..

“Felix! We’re in the same group!”

As I scanned the chart looking for my name, Helena called out to me, and I followed her outstretched finger.

And at the end of her finger, I found my name and couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh.

[Group C: Felix von Astria, Helena Fell Degreff, Sylvia Bersche, Conan Jugaar]

Looking at the group composed of two vanguards, one rearguard, and one healer. It was a perfectly reasonable composition.

I couldn’t help but instinctively know that this was a group where something was bound to happen, no matter what.