I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman - Chapter 27

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Chapter 27: I Got Dumped

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Winter receded, and spring arrived in full.

I was standing in Nevil, the academy city built on the northeastern plains of Luft, the imperial capital.

Nevil was home to all the academy’s educational infrastructure. Having grown around Ruidel Academy, it was a place of learning where the Empire’s brightest talents gathered.

The Work Workshop, the Erandar Church, shops and restaurants, libraries, dormitories, training grounds, and even leisure facilities. It had every kind of facility students could need.

If I had to name one symbol of Nevil, it would undoubtedly be the central station of the Christoph Cross-Country Train.

After all, Aren’s story began with his arrival here aboard the Christoph.

The upcoming scenarios would also have me traveling to other imperial cities aboard the Christoph under the pretense of dungeon training.

In that sense, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Nevil was where most of Academy of the End’s scenarios took place.

Which meant being granted a mansion in Nevil was good news for me.

Aside from the fact that it still wasn’t finished.

“...?”

Right now, I was staring at a bleak plot of land where the walls had barely been raised before construction stopped.

When had I cleared the Beast Dungeon?

It had been over a month, hadn’t it?

At this rate, how long would it take to finish the place?

Come to think of it, I’d heard there was supposed to be prize money too, but I hadn’t received any.

All I had left was a soldier’s measly salary. And since it had practically been unpaid labor for years, even that was pocket change.

Why the hell had this happened?

Thinking about it, I could make a rough guess.

Right. A knighthood, a title, a mansion, and prize money.

I’d thought they were giving me too much.

Some noble faction bastard probably didn’t like seeing a commoner rise up and pulled some strings behind the scenes.

“Haah.”

A sigh escaped me.

I’d already left the barracks, and my discharge procedures were complete.

I should’ve just applied for a dorm room if this was going to happen.

‘Where am I supposed to sleep for now?’

I might have to sleep rough on campus if things got bad.

Still, nothing would change just because I was frustrated.

‘It’ll work out somehow.’

In the end, I turned my heavy steps toward Ruidel Academy.

Ruidel Academy was a little over twenty minutes from the mansion I’d been granted, roughly ten blocks away.

When I reached the main gate, the first thing I saw was a stone arch engraved with a golden sun emblem.

Beneath it stood a majestic statue of Cyrus, the first emperor, holding a sword upright as he looked down on those passing by.

Students walked past the statue without a second thought.

A few even paid their respects to it.

Later, there was a scenario where the statue moved and became an enemy during an attack by the cult.

‘They’d curse me out if I smashed it now, right?’

They’d call it blasphemy.

In the end, I pretended not to notice the statue and followed the students into the building.

Starting today, my official status was Halibal Velder of Ruidel Academy’s first-year Reconnaissance Corps A Class.

As I headed toward the classroom at the end of the second-floor hallway, I organized my upcoming schedule in my head.

I was familiar with the route for the Raid Corps Aren had belonged to, but I wasn’t certain about the Reconnaissance Corps route.

All I knew was that the professor in charge was Calux, a man rumored to be strict.

I’d once had the chance to use him as a guest character later on. Maybe because he was an A Class instructor, I remembered his performance being better than expected.

Still, during the class evaluation later on, the Reconnaissance Corps and Support Corps would all gather together, so things would probably follow a route similar to the original story.

That meant the first day would likely involve Follower Selection.

The long-awaited time to choose a party member.

Follower Selection was the first main event in Academy of the End.

It was an event where you chose a partner to complete dungeon training with for a month. You picked one party member, interacted with them, and built a bond. In other words, it was a month-long companion contract.

Here, the player could not only gain a new weapon but also build a relationship with the person they chose as Aren.

Depending on whom you picked, it even gave bonus points toward the heroine you could choose at the ending.

Originally, I planned to pick a suitable mage from the Reconnaissance Corps as my Follower.

After all, there was a high chance I’d have to clear the Doll Dungeon.

The Doll Dungeon’s bosses were the twin dolls [Rose and Lilian].

Even if one was defeated, it would revive after a set amount of time.

That meant it was best to defeat one and quickly take down the other. Rose had weak physical defense, while Lilian had weak magic defense.

In other words, physical damage was best against Rose, and it was best to use magic DPS against Lilian.

The problem was that the game’s two key magic DPS characters had both ended up in the Reconnaissance Corps.

‘My choices are Cecilia or Luna.’

Since things had come to this, I decided to enjoy it.

After crossing swords with Senia, I could be certain.

She was all-in on physical damage.

I could handle physical damage myself, so there was no real need for Senia. That left only two people.

Cecilia was a familiar face, so I would feel more comfortable with her.

But purely in terms of performance, Luna, a hybrid type, was overwhelmingly tempting.

The problem was that Luna’s behavior was far too suspicious.

The other students had only changed their behavior because of the butterfly effect I’d caused.

But when it came to Luna, even I had no idea what motivated her actions.

If I’d fought her in the entrance exam, I would definitely have lost. Maybe Viktor had deliberately placed Luna last.

Yet Luna had given up on the exam. On top of that, a character who should have been in the Raid Corps in the original story had somehow joined the Reconnaissance Corps.

More than anything, I couldn’t understand why Luna alone had Affection Level 3.

A few days ago, out of curiosity, I’d pointed Renee at Senia and Cecilia to check their Affection Levels too.

[Senia Ren]

[Affection Level: 2]

[Cecilia Ren]

[Affection Level: 2]

Even those two, whom I’d spent quite a while with, only had Affection Level 2.

For reference, Elia’s Affection Level was 0.

Even 2 was considered quite high.

But Luna?

We hadn’t even spoken once, yet her Affection Level was 3.

That was why I chose Luna instead. I thought I might learn something if I spoke to her directly.

The moment I stepped into the classroom, the eyes of the students who had already arrived all turned toward me.

Still, I was getting used to it.

These looks would disappear in a few days anyway.

The ones that stood out most were the Ren sisters’ and Luna’s.

“Welcome.”

“You’re later than I expected?”

The Ren sisters were seated side by side in the very front row, and for some reason, they had left the seat between them empty for me.

‘Have they lost their minds?’

The front row on the first day of class.

And they wanted me to sit between two girls.

The twin beauties who drew the most attention on campus, no less?

Yeah. Rejected.

Wasn’t the back row the sacred rule of classrooms? I gave the two a light nod, then headed straight to the back.

Senia just laughed it off with an “Ahaha,” but Cecilia kept glaring at me with a deeply displeased expression.

What are you going to do about it? It’s not like you can do anything.

Once I took my seat, the clock pointed to nine.

The noisy classroom quieted down. The moment the first class began had finally arrived.

I watched the door and waited for Professor Calux to appear, desperately trying to remember his profile.

Glasses, strict... wasn’t there something else?

Maybe not.

But the person who appeared beyond the door was someone I had never expected.

No, I could tell before the door even opened. Brilliant sunlight had leaked in from the other side.

“Alright, attention.”

Golden hair and golden eyes.

And a voice I knew better than anyone.

“My name is Adeline Windsor. Starting today, I’ll be in charge of Ruidel Academy’s Reconnaissance Corps A Class and serve as your swordsmanship instructor.”

Why was Adeline here?

She’d definitely told me she turned down the instructor position.

That was why I’d gone through all that shit in the entrance exam in her place. How could she stab me in the back like this?

When Adeline’s eyes swept across the students, the classroom immediately became noisy.

Most of them looked at her with awe and respect.

Naturally. She was the Empire’s Greatest Sword, famous enough that no one in the Empire would fail to recognize her name.

If Abyss Cores were removed from the equation, there were probably no more than three people in the Empire who could be said to be definitively stronger than Adeline.

Adeline calmly ignored the students’ heated gazes as though she was completely used to them.

Still.

‘Shouldn’t she be with the Raid Corps? Why the Reconnaissance Corps?’

In the original story, Adeline was in charge of the Raid Corps.

Since the Raid Corps had the highest profile, it would have been reasonable for the Ruidel board to assign her there.

As if she had read my mind, Adeline continued with a gentle smile.

“For reference, I was originally assigned to the Raid Corps, but I insisted on coming to the Reconnaissance Corps. I heard there are many excellent talents in this year’s Reconnaissance Corps.”

She looked at me and smiled.

I’d learned something I hadn’t wanted to know.

“Also, some of you may know this, but I originally belonged to the Reconnaissance Corps. I thought it would be better to take responsibility for the Reconnaissance Corps, which I’m familiar with, rather than the Raid Corps, which I’d be handling for the first time.”

Adeline spoke with a cheerful laugh, then narrowed her eyes.

“So as long as I’m here, don’t even think about losing to the Raid Corps or Support Corps in the class evaluation. Got it?”

At Adeline’s declaration, I could feel the students in the classroom filling with expectation and excitement.

“Lady Adeline is going to teach the Reconnaissance Corps... This isn’t a dream, right?”

“I knew I made the right choice picking the Reconnaissance Corps!”

“Don’t underestimate the discipline of the Reconnaissance Corps!”

I snickered inwardly.

‘We’ll see...’

Adeline’s training method was beating the hell out of people.

That much was the same in the original story and reality.

The Raid Corps in the original story endured it well, but could these guys?

“Alright, alright.”

Adeline clapped her hands, calming the classroom.

After the students gave brief introductions, Adeline immediately went to the front of the classroom and picked up a piece of chalk.

“First, we’ll proceed with Ruidel’s official curriculum. I’ll give you a more detailed introduction later, okay?”

The words written on the board were Follower Selection.

Just as expected.

Some students tilted their heads and whispered among themselves. It looked like many of them had never even heard the word Follower before.

“As you all know, Ruidel Academy was founded to clear the Dungeons of the Evil God. But you know that dungeons can’t be cleared alone, right?”

At those words, several people looked at me.

With expressions that said, Didn’t that bastard do it alone?

They weren’t wrong, but that wasn’t entirely true either. Here, “alone” only applied to the front lines.

I had only been able to clear the Beast Dungeon because people had supported me from behind.

To begin with, if Mine hadn’t healed me, I might have died several times already.

“That’s why Ruidel always begins by choosing the companion you can trust most. In my case, the person I formed a bond with back then became my adjutant too.”

She was talking about Kruus.

“For the next month, you’ll receive Ruidel’s education with the partner you choose now. Dungeon training, practical evaluations, sparring, all of it. That is Follower Selection.”

Adeline looked down at the entrance exam evaluation sheets she had brought in and continued.

“You’ll be given priority in choosing a Follower according to your entrance exam scores. The other person can accept or refuse the offer. If you’re rejected, your turn is moved to the very end, and you’ll have to wait for someone else to choose you.”

Of course, most people didn’t refuse in the end.

There was no reason to turn down a high-ranking student with priority.

Follower Selection directly affected every score for the next month.

No one would want to be pushed back and end up stuck with a less capable partner.

But I wasn’t entirely pleased with this system. I hadn’t taken the test in the same way as the other students.

There was no telling how my score had been calculated.

The problem was that Cecilia and Luna, whom I was aiming for, were effectively the top picks.

If I got pushed to last place, lost both of them, and even had the mage students taken from me, my plan would be completely screwed from that point on.

“Alright, I’ll announce the first priority.”

At that moment, Adeline’s eyes turned to me.

“Total score, 85 points. Halibal Velder.”

Thankfully, my worries had been pointless.

I didn’t know what the evaluation criteria were, but priority was in my hands either way.

The students seemed unexpectedly accepting of it too. A considerable number had been defeated by my “Do You Understand?”, so they appeared to agree with the result.

“Then, Cadet Halibal?”

Adeline spoke with a mischievous smile.

“Would you like to choose a student here as your Follower? For reference, you can choose me, your instructor, too. Though I can’t guarantee what will happen to your grades if you do.”

Honestly, I was tempted.

‘Should I choose Adeline and bulldoze my way through the fourth dungeon?’

It was an appealing temptation, but I desperately resisted it.

Cecilia and Luna, as planned.

I looked at the two of them in turn.

Cecilia’s face reddened when she caught my gaze.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t my choice this time.

The truth was, Cecilia wasn’t yet a fully developed magic DPS at this point. Even if she equipped herself with White Shards, it would still take a long time before she could perform efficiently as one.

So the conclusion had been set from the start.

“I choose Cadet Luna Grace.”

Heads nodded throughout the classroom.

The only daughter of the Grace Family and a genius mage. Choosing Luna was an entirely reasonable decision.

Senia and Cecilia were the only exceptions. The two glared at me as though they couldn’t believe it.

But what could I do?

If they didn’t like it, they should bring magic DPS.

I quietly approached Luna and waited for her answer.

Then Luna opened her mouth.

“I-I refuse...”

“?”

I got dumped.