* *

10.30 P.M.

Today is the opening ceremony of the Spiral Academy - my life goal.

Actually, I want to be the number one cadet!

It wasn't a blind hope though.

I have always tried my best to study and be the best student in all the subjects.

In addition, I have also practiced magic really hard!

So yeah, in the future, I will definitely be known across the world!

Everybody will recognize me every time I appear and save people!

I'm the strongest Wind Mage, the one and only daughter of the White Grand Duke Family, and the second most beautiful girl in the Spiral Academy.

I'm Esther White!

I have a lot of good friends.

One of my best friends is Takahashi Haruki, the boy that I currently like... ahem. He is polite, nice, funny, and... handsome... ahem.

I accidentally bumped into him while I was going to the extra classes to study.

He was really kind.

He even gave me a hand when I fell down.

Only after talking with him did I learn that he, himself, is a baron!

I was really surprised to know that he has achieved everything on his own because his parents have all passed away...

His life was really misfortunate... However, instead of giving up, he decided to stand up and surprise everyone!

His parents would definitely take pride in him!

I'm also really proud of him.

Therefore, he is my number one motivation and aspiration.

'Thinking of him also makes me really elated too.'

'I kinda missed him.'

Ahem.

The next one is Volkov Katia, the most beautiful girl in our group, she is the princess of Russia. I have known her since I was very young along with Charlotte.

Charlotte Williams, the second child in the Williams Royal Family, is also a really kind, and beautiful girl. She is the only girl whose beauty I can compare to.

But I'm a bit more energetic so I won against her. Heehee.

Moreover, she also admitted that I'm more beautiful than her so yeah there was nothing I could do anyway.

When I received the admission letter from the academy with the highest score, my father was proud of me!

And he even let me have a big party with my best friends!

That day was really, really fun.

It was gonna be the best day of my life.

But until I met that guy.

When my friends and I were going home after a long day hanging out together.

I accidentally bumped into some guy and almost fell.

But this time, Haruki caught me beforehand.

"Are you okay? Esther-san?"

"Haruki... thank you."

"It's nothing really." - said Haruki.

'Who did I bump into?'

'Ah... why does that guy look so gloomy, dirty, and disgusting?'

He put on a cheap hoodie and a weird mask, so I couldn't see his face.

'Damn that guy.'

"You peasant, what are you doing walking around!?"

He still looked calm.

"I didn't do it on purpose." - said that filthy guy.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You don't know who I am, do you?"

He made me furious.

And also that creepy-looking mask,

"And what is that weird mask?"

Haruki tried to dissuade me.

"Come on, Esther-san."

'But I still need to teach these stupid commoners a lesson!'

"Haruki, get out of my way so I can deal with this idiot."

"Esther, stop it."

The most taciturn girl in my friend group, Katia raised her voice, making me a bit surprised.

"We're standing in the middle of the road." - She continued.

"Stop messing around with people weaker than you, Esther."

'Damn, if you are not my best friend!'

"Whatever."

Talking against her is gonna make my head explode!

'This is the relationship between the two of us.'

'She is really arrogant and superior to other people. Thus, sometimes I don't like her at all.'

Charlotte gently gave that guy her hand, intending to help him.

She is nice in all kinds of situations, and also she is really innocent.

"I'm sorry for bumping into you." - said Charlotte.

And not just there, she continued asking about his well-being.

"Are you okay?"

But that guy just rudely stood up by himself.

'Sheesh, I really hate that kind of man.'

"I'm alright." - said the dumbass.

But then suddenly.

"Ryoshu?" Charlotte said a familiar name.

"Huh?"

Then not only me but also my entire group was dumbfounded.

We were staring at that guy.

'I need to take his mask out to check something.'

I flashed toward him and took out his mask so quickly that he couldn't do anything.

But then I saw his face.

His face was really... how to say that...

Oh yeah,

"Why does your freaking face look so disgusting?"

But then Haruki tried to salvage the confusing situation.

"Um, well I gotta admit that you look really different from a week ago."

I then told Charlotte that,

"I cannot believe that this idiot tried to be your boyfriend, Charlotte."

Yes, Ryoshu is the random commoner confessing to Charlotte a few weeks ago.

'He must be so lovesick that he even ruined his old face.'

"So you were that sad when being rejected?"

He seemed speechless.

Many people on the street were looking at us.

"No."

He acted too poorly.

"Are you guys done yet?"

'Oh, so he is fleeing now.'

"Goodbye."

'Not too fast!'

I tried to catch his forearm,

"Hey, hey, where are you going? I'm not done with you yet."

But abruptly this time he could see my movement and hold my forearm instead.

And at the same time, he reached out and took back his mask.

"Esther White." - He glowered coldly at her.

"You wanna start something?"

'His voice is so scary.'

I couldn't move or say anything.

He immediately turned around, put his mask on, and went straight forward without looking back.

After a while, I could move my body again.

I ran as fast as possible to his place.

However,

He whispered something tiny and then the next moment, he totally disappeared.

I'm not kidding... I could not even sense his existence.

It really startled me.

"Where is he?"

"That freaking bastard!"

'Damn, he turned up on the best day of my life!'

"I hate you!"

"Calm down, Esther-san."

Haruki tried to settle me down. He was so gentle as always.

"Yeah, I should forget about him."

But everything didn't stop there.

I met Ryoshu again in the running test.

He was trying his best to overrun me,

"But that's impossible, you commoner."

Hehe, looking at him being a clown is really entertaining to watch.

When I finished my running test, I tried to hide from him.

'Finally, I could feel my everyday peace."

"Now I will finish all the remaining tests with the highest score!"

Section 1 was easy enough, but my last shot was just a little away from the center.

But anyway, I still scored 49 points!

I'm even 2 points ahead of second place!

Hehehe, Section 2 will be a piece of cake too.

'I will choose my highest difficulty just like at home, difficulty 9!'

And I have scored a new personal best - 230 points!

'I will rank first in class A for sure.'

"Difficulty 10?"

'Huh?'

'What?'

'Difficulty 10?'

I turned around and found the person who was being talked behind his back.

"That guy is crazy."

"Who does he think he is?"

"Even the best archers of this course only pick 8 or 9."

I went to his place and looked at him.

"Esther only picked 9, but he doesn't even know how to measure his limits."

"Esther got first place with 230 points, 12 points ahead of second place!"

'Who is that?'

'Why is he wearing the mask?'

'That mask looks familiar...'

That is the weird mask that Ryoshu put on his face last time...

'Why did that commoner choose the highest difficulty?'

'Even I couldn't do it at home.'

'Why?!'

Then, in the first minute and a half, he misses all the targets.

Many people made fun of him, making me feel good.

But he didn't give a shit about everything that was happening.

He just kept focusing on his targets.

'Why is he still doing that?'

'Maybe he is an idiot, and also a deaf after all.'

'Nothing interesting.'

I turned my back around and waved at someone looking at me.

But suddenly, I felt something.

But this time, the moment I turned around.

Everything suddenly went slower as if I had entered the accelerated world.

A beautiful trajectory flew in a straight line and hit the first target.

But that's not all.

The arrow unexpectedly got stronger and faster by more than double its initial speed.

It penetrated through all the targets in nearly 0.02 seconds.

'It's so gorgeous...'

I was staring at him with jealousy and indignation.

'How could he shoot a stunning arrow like that?'

'I want to defeat this guy.'

At all costs.

After that, I noticed him a lot more often.

But I felt so angry and envious of him that I wanted to beat him so much.

Especially while I was looking at him unintentionally before the opening ceremony even started, he looked at me with that filthy and disgusting face!

I was so irritated that I could even kill him at that moment!

But I couldn't find him after the ceremony, I was a bit hungry and went to the cafeteria.

And suddenly I found him, I should tease him about his confession to Charlotte.

But... talking with him made me realize that...

"By the way... about your best friend, Charlotte... I'm sorry."

'What is this guy trying to do?'

"Sorry for what?"

"For bothering her."

"…"

"I don't like Charlotte anymore. That's the truth, she is just a normal person to me from now on."

After telling me that, he immediately went away.

'He is a rude and ugly person.'

But perhaps he is not that bad?

He expressed his feelings to her, and then she declined his proposal.

'He didn't do anything like taking advantage of Charlotte or harming her.'

'If I confessed to Haruki and maybe got rejected, I would also really be sad too...'

But Ryoshu has overcome his pain and has a really distinct personality.

I didn't know too much about him in the past.

'But he absolutely looked way better and shyer... than him at present.'

Maybe he did change for the sake of his life.

I still really don't like him at all and I definitely want to defeat him in a match!

But overall, that guy may not be as bad as I thought.