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I got washed. Every inch of my body was washed.

Embarrassed, yet comfortable, I got out of the bath without really knowing which feeling was stronger.

The kingdom had apparently prepared clothes for us as well, so I got dressed in the simple shirt and sturdy trousers that Alks had prepared for me.

“How would you like breakfast?”
“What do you mean how?”
“Would you like to eat in your room, or would you join the others in the main dining hall. If you want to go to the dining hall then we should hurry up and get you ready.”
“In that case, let’s hurry up and go to the dining hall.”

(I’ll probably only be able to talk calmly with my classmates during mealtime. We’re going to be training together as well, but I doubt we’ll have time to talk then.)

Alks showed me the way to the dining hall, which was already bustling with noise from my classmates.

(The air seems way calmer than it was yesterday. They’ll probably listen to me this time.)

Is what I thought, however, I couldn’t be more wrong.

The moment I entered the dining hall, everything around me fell silent. After that, someone pointed a finger at me and whispered.

“That pretentious small fry sure has the nerve to show up here.”

While many people looked on from a distance, Kyosuke Takuma, one of the worst-behaved students in the class, approached me with a smirk, leading his cronies.

“I’m not pretentious…”
“How not? Why’d you go and disgrace the king right off the bat then? And you went ahead and made that promise without even consulting us. Who knows what could’ve happened to us if you’d make a mistake? This is not just me we’re talking about here. You’d be dragging both Ichinari and Tsukihara as well. Even I thought that it would be best to cooperate in this situation.”

Takuma said, looking for approval from both Tsukihara and Ichinari, who usually tended to disagree with him.

(By the smug look on his face, I can tell without even waiting for Tsukihara and Ichinari’s response that they, too, thought my actions were inappropriate. They really did?)

“It pains me to agree, but it is true that I do not agree with your actions, Toriyama. We should be thankful that the king was so generous. This world is not the same as ours. As such, it’s great that nothing happened, but it would be a problem if you continue acting selfishly.”
“I wish you would have at least consulted us before acting. Why did you act like that?”

Both Ichinari and Tsukihara voiced their opinions on my actions. They both looked at me somewhat troubled, but the question I wanted came at the last moment.

(I’m sure they’ll understand once I explain!)

“That’s…”
“Because you wanted to stand out, no? You’re usually by yourself, aren’t you? You just wanted to oppose the king to look cool, didn’t you? Why don’t you keep that kind of self-satisfaction to yourself and not bother with us, you scum.” Kyosuke said and punched me.

Although I should’ve been hit in the face I felt an impact from my back and was sent flying towards the wall. The last thing I remember was slamming against the wall and losing consciousness.¹

◇

The moment I opened my eyes I was in my bed.

My left cheek was swollen, and even a slight touch caused considerable pain.

It seemed to have been treated at least once, and something like gauze touched my hand.

It appeared that my internal organs had been damaged as well, not to the point of coughing up blood, but enough to cause a creeping pain inside my body.

I forced myself to sit up with my aching body and found Alks waiting next to me.

“How long was I asleep?”
“Just a little while. However, the dining hall is already closed so all we’re left with is normal meals.” Alks said, handing me a piece of cobbler bread and soup.

It was not much for a growing high school boy, but it was also not the black bread and vegetable scrap soup with salt that one regularly sees in these stories. Rather, it was a piece of soft white bread and a soup with lots of ingredients.

It was probably really tasty but alas I couldn’t taste it due to the pain.

I felt depressed just thinking that I had to go to combat training in the future. After all, I’d never been given a chance to explain myself.

Though I was now sure that even if I had been given that chance nothing good would’ve come out of it. That was because Ichinari had described the king as generous.

Although I wasn’t sure about everyone, I could say with confidence that most of my classmates were of the same thought as Ichinari.

In other words, my classmates do not harbor any bad feelings toward the kingdom. If it was only Ichinari that was curious about the first princess, then it would’ve been fine. However, from my other classmates’ actions last night, I can deduce that it isn’t only Ichinari.

If I am to be honest, I had almost been swayed as well, however, that was until I reached the dining hall. My feelings towards the whole situation shifted suddenly after I saw Alks, who seemed not to care about what had happened to me now that we were amidst people and not by ourselves.

She was probably not going to take any action to stop fights between us, classmates. Even if it meant that one of us could be killed. Thankfully the kingdom won’t do anything to me as per the contract, and I can probably also get some of my wishes granted if I ask properly.

The only person I can trust now is myself. Only I can protect myself. My position in the class became clear when Ichinari, Takuma and Tsukihara rejected me. The other prominent figure in the class, Hirayama, is still an option, but given that Tsue is in the same group as her, and the way she looks at me, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to get through Hirayama.

Which means that the only one who can protect me is myself. I must get strong. And to do that I must train, no matter how much I don’t like it. After all, an amateur like me won’t be able to get strong efficiently by myself.

“Where will we be training?” I asked.
“I will guide you to the training grounds.”

I wasn’t going to show respect to anyone anymore.

Alks didn’t seem to notice this new conviction of mine and simply walked forward.

◇

“You sure dared come out.”
“I made a contract.”
“Hmph. A small fry is a small fry no matter what he does. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
“You’re right, Kyosuke! He did get sent flying after all!”
“How lame!”

Takuma and his goons continued their banter after I reached the training ground.

Ichinari would usually come and stop them when they were being this blatant, however, this time he simply ignored them.

Takuma and his friends’ laughter became even louder as they watched me bite my teeth and simply endure the situation. However, this continued only until training began.

After training started, everyone did the same thing. Both boys and girls were given swords with broken blades and were made to do basic swings. Although all of us were amateurs, some of my classmates’ form looked good, most likely due to their skills.

Today we were all doing the same things, however, starting tomorrow each would have their own training assigned to them.

In the afternoon, we returned to the castle to learn about Magic. We were first taught about Magic Attributes and then were explained the basics of Magic. Magic had a total of six Attributes. The four basic ones, Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. As well as two Special ones, Light and Darkness.

In this world if a person had one of the attributes then they had a wider range of tactics they could use. And if they had two they could manage with Magic alone, depending on their Status that is.

If you had three, you were considered excellent. If you had four, you were respected. Apart from that, Special Attributes were considered valuable on their own, and people who had them were treated differently simply because of them.

As for my classmates, they generally had two or three attributes, although there were a few with one attribute here and there.

I had two as well. Earth and Water.

There were also quite a number of people with four attributes and with each new addition, our teachers, the ones who taught us magic, and our instructors, the ones who taught us physicals, would get extremely excited.

There were also a good number of people with Special Attributes, but more than that, the teachers were completely baffled by Ichinari’s results.

Not only did he have the four basic attributes, but he also had the Light Special Attribute. Furthermore, not only was he a Hero, but he also had the skill, Emissary of Light, which meant he had the qualities to become a top-notch wizard.

It was said that having the Hero skill gave one spectacular sword skills, and with this new information, everyone couldn’t help but wonder if Ichinari was the second coming of the legendary hero.

My other classmates didn’t stop praising him as well, and because of this our training did not go as well.

◇

The first day of training ended, not surprisingly, just before evening. I initially thought it might be because it was our first day, but they said they finish at about this time every day.

The sessions lasted about 3 hours each, with one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It all seemed quite normal and fair.

After the training, we were allowed to spend some free time on the castle grounds until dinner.

Our personal maids would only tell us where not to go, but apart from that we were free.

“Toriyama, play with us.” Takuma suddenly called out to me.
“I have something to do.”
“No you don’t. All you have to do is be our toy. Or rather, I think we became too strong, so we need to train how to hold ourselves back. Won’t you help us?” Takuma said, punching me.

I had neither time to agree or disagree. However, as he’d said just now, Takuma was holding back. It hurt, but not to a point I’d get knocked out. However, with our overwhelming difference in stats, him holding back was just prolonging this hell.

By the time Takuma and his friends got bored and went back to the castle the sun had already gone down.

I felt miserable. I was just laying on the ground, crying. However, I knew that I would get even more miserable if someone saw me, so I stifled my voice and cried quietly.

◇

After my tears had dried up, and my eyes were no longer swollen, I returned to my room.

My classmates had apparently already finished having dinner and were freely exploring the castle. It felt like they were on a school trip. I couldn’t help but notice the stark contrast between my experience and theirs.

“Ew… It’s Toriyama!”
“Whoa! He’s so dirty! At least come out after you’ve gotten the mud off!”
“He got ambushed by Takuma and the others after training, no? Serves him right.”
“You’re right. I can’t imagine he’s still alive. If it were me I would’ve already killed myself.”
“He really should just drop dead.”

I could hear the backbiting and laughter as we passed each other. The pitying looks in their faces were not for me, but rather for Alks.

Back in my room I immediately got into the bath.

Alks wanted to come in and help me, as she’d done the morning, but this time I refused and only took a shower. Then I ate exactly the same thing as in the morning and went to bed.

1. Silva: I’m glad my high school days are filled with accepting classmates but I definitely did feel ostracized when I was in my old school. Chinese are a proud pretentious bunch, and I guess Japanese are the same since this pattern is quite common in their stories…