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Chapter 60: First Quarter (Day Three)(Students’ POV)

On the morning of the third day of the Academic year, early before most of the student arrives at the Academy, one female student with brown hair arrived early in order to have some time to go to the Academy’s Library to read before the classes start, but three other female students dragged her to behind one of the buildings and surrounded her leaving no openings for her to use to escape.

“Ora! Shiho! You actually dared to refuse Mira-sama’s invitation!”(Female Student 1)

“What a cheeky bitch you are!! Don’t think you’ll be able to get away with this!!”(Female Student 2)

“You know what it means to refuse an invitation from Mira-sama!! Don’t blame us but blame yourself for being this stupid!!”(Female Student 3)

The three female students started walking towards Shiho with some small blades in hand, but suddenly the female student in the middle felt an impact on her back and that impact launched her forward which led to her falling on her face which led to dirt to enter her mouth and nose, both the other female students and Shiho were surprised by what happened and especially they were surprised by the sudden appearance of a white-haired man with his right leg raised up to the front. Yes, this white-haired man had just kicked the female student in the back.

“You bastard! What do think you are doing to a girl!!”(Female Student 2)

“You dare kick a woman from behind?! You are a coward! The worst!”(Female Student 3)

The white-haired man, Soma, quickly slapped the two female students in the face and they fell to the ground next to their kicked friend, he then crouched down and took the three small blades they had with them before glaring at them and sending 0.0001% of his full Intimidation at them.

“I don’t want to be called a coward and the worst by three less than human scum like you three! Ambushing your classmate three on one and trying to hurt her with the small knives you had with yourselves! And you call me a coward? In case you don’t know, I am Soma the Teacher of the Actual Combat Class and the Magic Item Creation Class. As well as the Law Enforcer of the Academy! And it’s my job to deal with students like you three! Just now I caught you three assaulting one of your classmates with unsheathed blades in the Academy’s ground! And thus using my authority as the Law Enforcer I declare you three expelled from the Academy and to be handed the Town’s guards for interrogation, Marina! Tie them up and hand them over to the Headmaster and tell her the full story and what I decided!”(Soma)

“Yes! Leave it to me!”(Marina)

The three female students wanted to talk back to Soma, but they couldn’t because of his Intimidation. Shiho, the victim of it all was so surprised by what happened to the point of not being able to keep up with what happened here.

“The student over there! From what they said, your name is Shiho, right?”(Soma)

“…Y-Y-Yes!”(Shiho)

“I see… Sorry I was a little late there”(Soma)

Soma bowed his head and apologized to Shiho for being late to stop the three female students from hurting her, and that made Shiho very confused, as she wasn’t hurt by them just now.

“…N-No… b-but you did save me before they could do anything to me…”(Shiho)

“Physically speaking, yes. They were unable to do anything to you just now, but that doesn’t mean the same mentally. Them not able to do anything to you today doesn’t mean they didn’t do it to you before the start of the Academic Year or the in the previous years and experiencing such a painful thing is pound to leave some mental scars along with the physical ones”(Soma)

“…”(Shiho)

Shiho was surprised by what Soma said to her just now, she couldn’t believe that there other Teachers other than the Teacher of the Magic Class Milin, that are able to show this level of concern for a student, she actually was moved to the point of tears starting to form in the edges of her eyes.

“So… Could you go with me to meet with your Teacher Milin? We have to report what happened here to her”(Soma)

“Y-Yes! I’ll go!”(Shiho)

Both Soma and Shiho went towards Milin’s Office and found out that she just arrived at the Academy and was opening the door to her office, and when she saw Soma together with Shiho, and the fact that Shiho had traces of dried tears at the edges of her eyes made her worried, she invited them inside right away and listened to their report.

“…I see, Soma thank you very much for saving my student!”(Milin)

“Don’t mind it, it’s my job after all”(Soma)

“Shiho is one of my very good students, especially her knowledge concerning magic, so I’m glad that she is safe”(Milin)

“… I just like to read in the library and that’s how…”(Shiho)

“I heard that it all started because of an invitation, do you have any knowledge about that?”(Soma)

“Yes, Mira Hoggs is a student in my class, she is the daughter of one of the big noble families and has the support of most of the noble families in Akud, she is the founder of the Queen’s Society, because of her influence on all the students in the Academy, she is known as the Queen, and that Queen’s Society of hers was founded with the outward pretext of studying ‘Strong magic that is fit for a noble’ but the truth is that it’s nothing but a society that she founded in order to collect followers, and those three today are such followers, yesterday I was present when Mira invited Shiho to join the society and since I was there they couldn’t do anything to her when she refused”(Milin)

“I see, that’s quite interesting indeed…”(Soma)

“Well, since they were able to attract your attention, I don’t think they are going to survive for long anymore…”(Milin)

“Seeing the small blades and hearing about them from you, leads me to understand their methods of dealing or punishing those who don’t obey this Mira girl”(Soma)

Soma said that as he shifted his line of sight to Shiho who was seated next to Milin, Shiho understood that and held her right arm with her left hand and looked down.

“…Yes, they use those small blades to put small cuts on the hidden parts of the victim's body, generally on the palaces hidden by their clothes. Those blades are made with the property of having good Mana Conductivity and when someone is cut with them while pouring Mana through them leave traces of that Mana in the body of the victim, and since that Mana is foreign to the victim’s body, the Mana in the body will fight with the foreign Mana leading to ugly scars forming on the cut place. Doing such a thing to a girl is unforgivable and so the Headmaster tried to fight against them, but she couldn’t do anything against them with all the support they had, which led to them having free rain in the Academy”(Milin)

“For how much time have this society been around?”(Soma)

“For four years now…”(Milin)

“I see…”(Soma)

“…You seem happy about it…”(Milin)

“Nothing is more refreshing than crushing someone who has been victorious for long enough for him to start looking down on everyone else, that’s all”(Soma)

“My mind tells me that you are mistaken but my heart tells me that you are quite right, and since it’s you we are talking about…. What can I say….. it’s scary…”(Milin)

“Well then, I’ll be on my way to meet the Headmaster. But before that, Shiho take this! Drink it and it will help you with the pain caused by those scars, and Milin, I’ll send a full box of them later today so make sure to have all of the students who have those scars drink some of it as well”(Soma)

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“T-Thank you very much!”(Shiho)

“Got it! Leave it to me!”(Milin)

Soma left Milin’s office and headed towards Leona’s Office next. After Soma left, Shiho asked Milin about him.

“erm…Teacher! He is going to fight the Queen’s Society?”(Shiho)

“No need to worry about him”(Milin)

“B-But…”(Shiho)

“It’s your first time meeting him, but he is someone that the Headmaster scouted specifically to deal with those sorts, dealing with mere humans is nothing at all for him, from where he was scouted, he is known as the Giants’ Killer, he is a traveling mercenary who specializes at dealing with big monsters, and he does it in many vs one format, where he himself fight against dozens of Giant Orcs and Ogres at the same time, that’s why dealing with some brats who has the support of some nobles is nothing but a game for him, I just hope that we are not going to witness any gore in the Academy…”(Milin)

After that, all of the students, teachers, and other staff of the Academy were ordered to assemble in the Academy’s training space, and there Leona presented the three female students and announced what had happened and what Soma’s decision was, and that she is going to follow his decision on expelling the three of them and having the town’s guards to interrogate them for more information, and finally announced that Soma’s authority in law enforcement cases exceeds hers and that the final decision is his when dealing with students’ safety and law enforcement at all times.

Early in the Actual Combat Class since they were asked to assemble and then after the assembly, they had 30 minutes before the start of the class, all the students aside from Greed, Las, and Mino, decided to go to the classroom and wait for the class’s start there, and it was the perfect chance to talk with each other before the start of the class.

“…Don’t you think that the Headmaster has thrown the whole responsibility concerning what happened today on Teacher alone?”(Zac)

“I do feel that that’s what happened…”(Zeek)

“She said that it’s his job as the Law Enforcer, didn’t she…”(Emma)

“Yeah, but turning him into the enemy of all the nobles in the Academy is a bit… don’t you think?”(Zac)

“Actually, after going home yesterday, some thugs came and started banging the door yelling and accusing me of stealing the Horned Rabbit I had with me, and when I opened the door I saw Teacher smashing their faces on the ground, and then he explained to my parents that I didn’t steal the Horned Rabbit and left dragging the two thugs behind him, and after a short moment we could hear the voices of the screaming thugs and the sound of breaking bones…”(David)

“Something similar happened to us yesterday too, we were surprised when he appeared out of nowhere…”(The Four Brothers)

“This one too experienced the same thing…”(Anolan)

“…We know that he is strong, but is that enough to deal with the nobles here?...”(Zac)

“You guys don’t know this, but at the moment, our town of Elk has only three noble families and all of the other families were executed because of Soma-san”(Nad)

“Executed?! Why?!...”(Zac)

“I told you about the Healing Potions he is selling in Elk, right? There were nobles who didn’t like him standing out like that, and there were those who wanted to take advantage of him, and there were those who just didn’t like him and so those nobles went on to do what they are used to do in those cases only for them to lose at every turn which led to them exposing all of their crimes and underhanded ways which caught Rendoulf-sama’s attention and executing them after uncovering all of their crimes to the public”(Nad)

“I see, My brother did….”(Rimi)

“Well, if he is going to get rid of those corrupt nobles then that will be for the best, right?”(Alice)

“Yeah, but are you going to be alright, Zac?”(Zeek)

“…Yes, I’m indeed the son of the Mist family, but I can’t agree with what they are doing nor do I want to be associated with them, and if justice is finally finding its way to them, then I can’t be happier! And I’m ready to help Teacher with all of my ability to see that happens! I’m just sad that my family is the way it is, since I do believe that the Mist Household is the most corrupt among all of the noble families in Akud”(Zac)

“This one indeed admire your resolve indeed!”(Anolan)

The students kept talking tell the first bell sounded and with it they all went to their seats and right then did Greed, Las, and Mino arrived, and right after entering the classroom, Greed glared at David as if threatening him, it was then that David remembered what Soma told him on top of the bell tower, and looked back at Greed with a sneering smile. David understood the meaning behind Greed’s glare, it was what happened today, the truth that Soma went after the Queen’s Society and actually expelled three of their members made him aware that Soma is not afraid of the nobles, and even if he was not that strong(According to what he thinks) he could cause a ruckus among the people of Akud, and that made him remember what he did last year, and Soma causing a ruckus might slightly ruin Greed’s reputation among the noble families, and that’s why he glared at David as a warning to keep his mouth shut. But David’s sneering smile was something he didn’t expect and that hurt his pride greatly and made him way beyond just mad, Las and Mino felt the same and prepared to attack David by placing their hands of their swords, but then a strong Bloodlust was directed at the two of them which caused them to stop and look at where it was coming from, and when they looked at the entrance of the classroom Soma entered with Marina behind him. Greed was confused as to why didn’t Las and Mino attack David as he hoped but seeing Soma coming shifted his attention to him.

“Good morning! As I told you yesterday, today we will look back at all of your yesterday’s performances and will point out what you’ll have to work on from now onward, and after that, each team will hold strategy meetings to come up with ideas of how to deal with your weaknesses!”(Soma)

“So, before that, if any of you have any questions concerning yesterday’s class, please ask me”(Soma)

“Yes! I have one!”(Zac)

“Go ahead”(Soma)

“On what basis did you divide us yesterday?”(Zac)

“First Team Four, the brothers were all close combat fighters and no one of them is good at long-range combat, and since Zeek is a mage who is good at fighting alone they made the perfect combination, by having them fight together I hoped they would fight two separate battles on the same stage against the same enemy at the same time, and this will lead to them getting in each other’s way, but the presence of a common enemy forced Zeek to stop firing his spells once the Horned Rabbit reached a certain distance from the brothers and the brothers stopped pursuing the Horned Rabbit once it was a certain distance from them, and that means they forcefully became conscious of each other’s range, it still can’t be called teamwork, but they were able to pull off a form of cooperation at the end of the class”(Soma)

“…Wow! You actually knew about our personal traits!”(Zeek)

“Of course! I fully researched each and every one of you, after all. Next is Team one, Rimi and Alice are both experienced at actual combat, so they have quite the confidence in their skills, that’s why I chose the hardworking and not so confident Emma to be their teammate, that way Emma could learn from their experience and for them by seeing her grow, they might come to notice something they are both lacking at and start learning from her”(Soma)

“…That’s what actually happened, after going back to my room and thinking about the battle I remembered how good Emma was at aiming, of course, my aim with the bow and magic is better than hers, but that is only due to my experience. Then a question came to my mind ‘at the time when I was as inexperienced as Emma now, was I that good?’ The answer was a hard NO, and then another question came to my mind ‘if I added my experience to Emma’s skill, how strong will she become?’ and the answer was, stronger than me…”(Alice)

“Exactly! I felt the same, and when I thought about it, I noticed that I was greatly lacking in terms of the basics, it’s not like I have forgotten them but it’s just that I in a hurry to become stronger that I neglected training in the basics…”(Rimi)

“Then Team two, Zac is a very good leader, but he lacks the experience and the confidence to command someone stronger than him, and Nad is strong, but he is not used to fighting in small groups and calmly following someone else’s orders, that’s why I placed them in the same team, and I was confident that Nad is smart enough to recognize Zac as a better leader than him and would follow his lead, and as for Anolan and David, they both are really good at fighting in a team, and that’s why I placed them in this team in hops for Anolan to compensate for the gaps in terms of close combat, and for David for the gaps in terms of magic, till both Nad and Zac get used to their positions, and once that happens we will have a team that have no gaps and is perfectly coordinated with each other”(Soma)

“That’s right… I wasn’t sure if I was suited to order Nad who is stronger and more experienced than me around…”(Zac)

“As Teacher said, I am way too used to fighting alone and to top it off I’m no good at coming up with strategies, and following Zac’s commands resulted to me having new experiences…”(Nad)

“And next Team three, I put these three in the same team alone due to their unwillingness to cooperate with the other students, Las and Mino would never allow others to command them, and Greed is way too arrogant to cooperate with others and share what they hunted together with them. Leaving me no choice but to place them in the same team without adding anyone else with them”(Soma)

“Humph…”(Greed)

“…”(Las and Mino)

“Is there any other questions?”(Soma)

“…”(Students)

“Then let’s start reviewing! Anolan, you are a Quarter-Beastman, right?”(Soma)

“That’s right! This one’s grandfather is a Bear Beastman, that’s why I have such a big and sturdy body!”(Anolan)

“And yet you use a short sword? I think with your strength, size, and fighting style a Greatsword would be perfect for you”(Soma)

“This one thinks so too! But this one doesn’t have the money to get one and that’s why I am using this second-handed short sword!”(Anolan)

“In that case, I’ll provide you with the Greatsword, and that applies to all of you! If you need a weapon but can’t afford it, I’ll get you a basic one and you can pay me back when you are able to hunt by yourselves!”(Soma)

“…I-Is that alright?”(Anolan)

“Yeah, don’t worry about it! And for the next student…”(Soma)

And like that, Soma went on telling each student their weak points and gave them a hint on how to work on it one by one.

At noon, at lunchtime, the students who could afford it and are not from noble birth went to the cafeteria to eat, and so as the students formed a line to receive their food, one male student came strolling leisurely towards the front of the line, all of the students averted their gazes from him in fear as he went towards the first student in the line and placed his arm around his neck.

“Yo! You reserved this place for me, right?”(Bully)

“B-But-!”(Student)

“Huh?! You said something-!”(Bully)

Suddenly, the Law Enforcer, Soma appeared behind him and kicked him in the balls, the scene and sound were enough to cause all the males present to grimace. The bully himself fell to the front, fainted and foaming at the mouth. Soma calmly dragged him and threw him outside the cafeteria before addressing the workers there.

“This guy is prohibited from eating in this cafeteria till the end of this week, and if he dares to cause more trouble I’ll castrate him in public in front of everyone in the Academy, I’ll be sure to tell him that, but if he came looking for food this week refuse him and remind him of what I said!”(Soma)

The workers all bowed to him with wry smiles on their faces as he left and all of the students started talking about what happened just now, and some of them were interested in how the bully is going to take revenge with the help of his friends.

On the night of that day, Shiho who was interested in the bottle she was given by the Teacher Soma as she examined the scars on her body. She was bullied and entangled with the Queen’s Society many times in the past four years, that’s why she had many scars, on her thighs, stomach, chest area, and the most were on her right arm. The number of scars on her right arm is more than twenty, and the biggest problem of these scars was that they were very painful, even after so much time has passed they are still very painful, and since the most scars were on her right arm, the pain she felt on it was enough to prevent her from using it completely. And because of the pain, she was having difficulty sleeping at night since the slightest movement is enough to increase the pain. That's why she hoped that the medicine in her hand would reduce the pain even if by a little. She even prayed before drinking it.

And the pain disappeared right away after drinking the medicine, and she opened her eyes in surprise because of how effective the medicine was, but that led her to discover an even bigger surprise…. All of the scars on her body had disappeared without leaving any trace. Shiho started crying from the bottom of her heart. Her mother and father who were aware of the scars situation heard her and rushed to her room, and were pleasantly surprised by what they found. That night both the parents and daughter cried themselves to sleep.