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430 p1. Noble Faction and New School Year [3]

The first of April.

The tumultuous spring break is finally over, and the new school year starts today.

「Well, then… Did you forget anything?」

「Nope. I’m ready.」

After getting ready in the morning, Ria and I left the dormitory as usual.

「The wind is nice.」

「It feels good.」

We headed to Thousand Blade Academy together, enjoying the warmth of the sunshine and the pleasant spring breeze. 　

Even though it’s only been a month since I’ve been to the academy, it feels like it has been a long time.

「Oh, the class division is out.」

There was a list of classes for each grade on the bulletin board immediately after entering the main school building,

「I’m… I’m in Class A again this year.」

「Me too. Rose and Claude are also in the same class as us.」

At Thousand Blade Academy, students are divided into classes from Class A to Class F in order of their grades, and they basically don’t change much after that.

「Going back to school after the holidays makes me feel somewhat nervous.」

「Really? I am rather excited to meet everyone again.」

After going straight through a long corridor, I opened the door to Class 2-A.

「Yo, Allen. How have you been?」

「Ria-san, long time no see!」

「Good morning, both of you.」

My classmates cheerfully greeted me.

「Good morning.」

「Good morning everyone.」

Ria and I raised our hands in response to the greetings and took our seats.

At the same time, Tessa suddenly jumped onto the seat in front of me.

「Hey, Allen. I’ve finally mastered Iron Cutting Style! With this, I can finally compete with you!」

He said so with a wild smile. Looking closely, his body had grown a size bigger and his fists were filled with calluses.

It seems that Tessa had a fairly productive spring break.

「I’m looking forward to it. Let’s have a mock battle late–」

Before I could finish my sentence, two classmates cut in from the side.

「But Tessa and Allen are not even on the same level, are you?」

「Don’t bother, Tessa. You’re just going to get hurt.」

「What’d you say? I dare you to say it again!」

Just like that, when Tessa started chasing the other two classmates, the back door of the classroom opened slowly.

The person who appeared through the door was the sleepy-headed Rose.

「Morning, Rose.」

「Good morning, Rose. As usual, you’re just not a morning person.」

「…um… morning.」

She moved to her seat while rubbing her eyes.

Right after Rose entered the classroom, Claude-san entered the room.

「Good morning, Ria-sama!」

「Ah, Claude! You are back!」

「Yes. It is an honor to meet you again!」

Claude had returned to Vesteria Kingdom in early January, so this was the first reunion in about three months.

If I remember correctly, the reason why she had to return temporarily was because she had to attend an important conference in the Vesteria Kingdom as the captain of the Imperial Guard.

「If you were already back here, then you should have at least given me a call.」

「I apologize. I only arrived in Ringuard on the last flight last night…」

「I see, then it can’t be helped.」

After understanding the situation, Ria backed down and happily clapped her hands.

「But since you are back here, then that means the meeting is already over, isn’t it? We can be together again like before!」

「I apologize once again… With the situation being what it is, it seems that I will have to return back home frequently.」

「Hmm…I guess you have your own troubles too, Claude. All your hard work is much appreciated.」

「Ah, I am undeserving of such words! It penetrates my heart and soul!」

Claude-san’s eyes turned moist as she shed tears of joy.

Her deep loyalty remained unchanged.

After that, I chatted idly with my classmates until homeroom started.

Where did you go during spring break? Did you get a boyfriend or girlfriend? Did you come up with a new training method? …Such trivial topics.

A normal everyday scene. But it felt like a lot of fun.

In the meantime, the chime rang, and the door opened with a rattle.

「Good morning, everyone! Fumu, fumu fumu fumu… No absences or lateness! Wonderful! A perfect start to the new semester!」

After looking around the classroom, sensei nodded with satisfaction and started the homeroom.

「Well then, let’s move on to the informative matter. Unusually, there are two today.」

She opened the black binder in her hand and cleared her throat.

「First, it looks like there will be a lot of “irregular schedules” set up this year. I think the details will be announced at the grade assembly later, but for the time being, just keep it in your mind.」

Irregular schedules…? I wonder if the class lessons will change or what?

「And the other matter is regarding your classmate Claude Stroganov. As many of you may already know, Claude is a swordswoman who belongs to the Vesteria Kingdom, and shoulders the heavy responsibility of being the captain of the Imperial Guard. With the international situation being so unstable, she has to frequently go back and forth between the Ringuard Empire and the Vesteria Kingdom. So she will be absent frequently for a while from now on. Thus she wanted to notify everyone on it. It’s not like she is taking a break due to poor health or anything, so don’t worry too much—that’s all.」

Claude-san is a student at Thousand Blade Academy as well as a swordswoman in Vesteria Kingdom. This simply can’t be helped.

「Now then, let’s start the first class of the new year! we’re going to be doing our best again this year, so give it all you’ve got!」

「「「Yes!」」」

■

After the rigorous morning classes, Ria, Rose, Claude-san and I — the members of the student council of Class 2-A — moved to the student council room to attend the regular meeting, aka lunch meeting.

「Phew… that was a pretty hard class.」

「That damn Leia… just because it’s the first class in a while, she got a little too enthusiastic…」

「Honestly, I think Allen is the only one who can call it a simple “hard class”…」

「You gutter worm. You have plentiful vitality as usual…」

Ria, Rose, and Claude were greatly fatigued.

While exchanging such conversation, we arrived at the student council room. After knocking on the door, I slowly opened the room. An unbelievable sight spread before me.

「Lilim, prepare a document for approval to be submitted to the staff meeting. Ferris, review this year’s budget.」

「Ro-Roger…」

「Eh, umm…」

The president quickly gave instructions, and Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai started moving with a pale look on their faces.

I stood stunned, seeing such an unusual sight.

「I-Impossible… the senpais… are working…!?」

The president, who usually doesn’t work at all, Lilim-senpai, whose head explodes when you tell her anything even a little complicated, and Ferris-senpai, who usually refuses to move from the sofa… are all working voluntarily!?

(Is this… a new type of Soul Dress!?)

I thought I was attacked by a mental interference-type attack, but… my spiritual power is not disturbed at all.

In other words, this is an abnormal situation that is actually happening in reality.