Life in the academy is mundane?

"Ah that hits the spot!"

"Itdd surrr doss."

Just like any other school day, I'm having lunch with my school friends in the corner of the cafeteria. We had just finished our meal and no matter how many times I've had this I have to say that this food does taste amazing even compared to the decadent meals of a noble.

I guess it's to be expected from the glorious Fermone magic academy, the so called greatest in the kingdom. It's known for it's top notch curriculum at producing high quality mages throughout the country. It's most famous for their close combat style, Fermone blade technique. Although they call it the so called "greatest" in the kingdom, from what I've seen it's about average compared to the close combat fighting styles I've seen in the past.

A few months have passed since I've started school. Nothing much has happened and I intend to keep it that way. I've been put into the relatively average "middle" class so as to not expose my identity since I don't want to gain any unnecessary attention if possible.

Here in the Fermone magic academy, status doesn't really matter which works out in my favor. Although I have been given the occasional, "He's from a count household yet in the middle class?"

But other than that I'm fine.

"Hey should we skip this afternoon's sword training?"

Says Corn, the third son of the baron Nock. He's a skinny dude around my height who always tries to look cool. He tries to be fashionable and wears fancy clothing whenever he has the chance, but I just don't get it. How can someone have no fashion sense at all?

But speaking of stuff he's missing, there's also his hair...

"Yshh...Yeshhh"

And that's Max, with a whole chicken in his mouth. He's the second son of baron Culeo and comes from a merchant family. His appearance is tall and chubby, and although he looks intimidating at first glance and looks like he could beat mostly anyone in a fight, he's extremely docile and harmless. To put it simply, he's a coward. I still recall the time when he nearly shit himself thinking he saw a ghost in the bathroom.

Ah that was funny.

The guy has been eating non stop since just now. I look down to stare at the 7 plates he has on his side of the table, they are all neatly stacked and towering. I'm not really surprised though, Max eats the equivalent of 3 meals for regular people for one of his meals. It's because he has super high metabolism which is apparently a condition in his family. From what I deduced using magic, his energy gets used up faster than a normal person which is the reason for his diet. His body structure is kinda unique because it acts like a black hole for food.

So that's the 3 of us, all your average NPC like characters. I strive to continue being this way, It's quite relaxing actually, since the academy is pretty much useless to me, I'd rather laze around with the dimwits in front of me and graduate just average.

"Tch!"

"Doesn't he just piss you off?"

Says Corn with a huge look of disdain plastered all over his face. His face was full of contempt as he curled his lip.

Me and Max turn around to face what Corn was looking at.

Ah yes. Now I see why he had such a look on his face.

The person Corn was referring to was the third son of Duke Mammelion, Leroy Mammelion. A tall, charming and good looking man always surrounded by girls flocking to him wherever he goes. The exact opposite of the guy who sneered at him.

Well, it's not like I don't get him, Leroy has virtually everything.

Fame, grades, good-looks and a shit ton of money.

Beside him are his so called bodyguards, I don't really remember their names but they are sons of viscount households. We just refer to them as lefty and righty since they never leave Leroy's side.

All three of them also have a yellow stripe on their collars to signify the second years.

However, despite the trios' family having a lineage of prestige, from what I was told, these guys are hiding a pretty heinous secret.

"Ahhh!"

Corn exclaims in excitement.

I turn my eyes to the beautiful young lady that had just walked past Leroy. Another celebrity had entered the dining hall.

This time it was the foreign lady with bright green hair and dazzling blue eyes that had captivated everyone in the hall.

Her name was Estelle Di Ashe, the princess of the neighboring nation of Ashelocke and the current strongest student in this school.

From the graceful yet proud way she walks, anyone could tell she's of royal descent.

She flips her hair as he walks past the crowd and her gaze turns serious. Based on the rumors, she acts like an ice cold princess while being extremely bossy.

She's called names like "ice cold princess", mostly due to her attitude but also because of her high proficiency in using ice magic, which is from what I've seen, the best in the school even among the professors.

As Estelle approaches an empty table, Leroy had interrupted her path.

"Tch. That guy...How dare he."

That was Corn. He has been looking so intently at the princess so when the Duke's son entered the scene, he couldn't help but feel angered.

"I have nothing to say to you."

Says Estelle with a cold voice.

"Don't be like that, I've been waiting very patiently for your answer."

Leroy says with a huge smile on his face, almost as if he's mocking her.

"Move."

The moment she said that Leroy gave up and walked the opposite direction and exited the dining hall.

The scene had everyone gossiping, whispers could be heard throughout the entire hall. Even though most of them couldn't hear the conversation that just took place, everyone knew what it was about.

Leroy was trying to ask for the princess's hand in marriage once again.

And every time he would be met with the same cold voice.

Estelle sat down and looked around the dining hall. It seemed like she was looking for someone as she was watching keenly.

Because of this it wasn't long till we locked eyes.

But the moment we did, she stood up.

Well that was weird. Why would she stand up after seeing me? And to make things worse she's still staring at me. I better look away.

I turn away and stare out into the window.

But moments later I hear footsteps.

They're coming closer, closer, until they stopped.

I really hope it's not what I think it is.

I turn to see the faces of my two friends and sure enough both had a shocked face.

After a few moments, I finally turn around.

The person who stood there with a straight face was none other than the princess herself.

"You. We need to talk."

"HUH?!"

Voices echoed throughout the dining hall in unison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Umm...Is there something you need from me?"

Me and Estelle are standing at a back alley behind the dining hall.

Thirty, that's the number of idiots trying to peek at us right now. I'm sure Corn and Max are part of that number. The others are probably the kids from the dining hall.

"Hmph."

"Activate."

Oh! A small scale sound barrier. This thing blocks all sorts of sounds from escaping, unless someone is third rate or above that, they won't be able to hear us. It seems to be quite an expensive item if purchased from an artifact refiner, especially since neither this kingdom nor her nation seems to have many of them.

But that makes me wonder more. For what reason did she bring this thing out for just to talk to a normal student?

"Now let's talk."

She says with her signature icy hold voice.

"You..."

"Are you hiding your abilities?"

"What?"

Is what I said in a nervous voice on the outside, but inside I'm like, "WHAT?".

"50 for magic theory, 50 for mana beast theory, 50 for social academics, 50 for potion mastery."

"And 50 for sparring. Does that sound familiar?"