New week

Standing outside on the same running track where we had the physical education course, I wasn't quite sure what we were doing there.

"Good morning! Your first week at the academy has now officially passed, and with that, your academy life will finally start for real!"

Mr. Froid was oddly excited today as he commenced homeroom with a wide smile plastered on his face, and I had to admit that I couldn't understand why that was. Fortunately, and unfortunately, it didn't take long until he enlightened me and my classmates about what was going on.

"This week, you will be getting your official rankings. These are based, not only, on your performances during the entrance exam, but also on how you performed last week. These rankings will be revealed to you on Friday."

'So that's what it was. But it still doesn't explain why we are out here.'

It made sense that a meritocratic structure would also have some sort of way to differentiate their students, as well as to foster some good-natured rivalries. And some extremely bad-natured ones as well.

For me, that was all well and good. Even if I had a lower ranking, I truthfully wouldn't care much. Or... at least I didn't think I would. Until Mr. Froid said something that very quickly made me straighten my back a bit.

"Also, from this day onwards, you will also be competing with the B-class!"

'B-class?'

I didn't even know there was an A-class, never mind a B-class, so how could I not be surprised by this sudden revelation? To this, I very subtly looked at my classmates' faces, but all of them appeared to have expected this already.

"Unlike you guys, they only arrived at the academy yesterday. This is one of the few benefits that you will have as students of the A-class where you had an entire week getting comfortable at the academy before they arrived."

The strong-looking teacher's face suddenly hardened and, for some reason, his eyes turned to me.

"But that doesn't mean that you will be able to keep your spots if get complacent. Just like you, they will also be a part of the rankings, and if they manage to rise to a higher rank than any of you, you will be demoted to the B-class."

'Isn't this... pretty messed up?'

It wasn't that I didn't understand the premise of what was happening, as well as one of the reasons why we hadn't even gotten to see the B-class yet. The easiest way to force a connection between individuals was to create a common enemy, and it would be much easier for us to view them as such if we didn't know their faces.

If we had gotten to know the B-class prior to receiving this information, there was always the risk that it might be difficult for us to think of them as enemies if we didn't dislike them.

This way, all of us would already create a perceived notion in our heads that the B-class students were threatening our positions, chasing us from the shadows like a hunter stalking its prey. Even if I didn't doubt that everyone should be smart enough to understand this, it was still an inevitable outcome.

I understood their approach, but I didn't like it.

In many ways, it could be said to be a pretty good symbol of society in both worlds that I had experienced, where you never knew when someone might sweep the rug beneath you. The main reason why I didn't enjoy this way of handling things was due to the fact that I had a feeling that things might get complicated for me if I were to lose my spot beside the main cast of the novel.

"This Friday, you will meet them for the first time during a simulated combat session. Naturally, your president and co-host will be the commander and captain during this event, just like they will be in the future unless they get demoted to the B-class. Class dismissed!"

As everyone started moving back toward the Central building, I needed a moment to simply look at the bright, blue sky.

'Ah... I fucked up, didn't I?'

Everything made a lot of sense now. From the number of students attending the academy, as well as why deciding class president and co-president was such an important event, even to the point where I was assigned a mission regarding it.

But our president was Mike. And I knew for a fact that Mike didn't like me. Not even a little bit.

So, in essence, Mike could to some degree decide how we as individuals would perform during these competitions, and it wouldn't even be difficult for him to do so. The only hope I had was that the teachers would probably judge his leadership skills as well, which should, theoretically, make him a bit less inclined to put me in impossible situations.

But that wasn't something I could take for granted.

"Is there a way to just remove him from the equation...?"

"Alex...? What are you talking about?"

'Shit...'

Turning my eyes down from the big blue, I wasn't sure what to think about the fact that there was now a pink-haired princess right in front of me, looking at me with complicated eyes.

I was well aware that she probably heard my clumsy words a second before, but it wasn't as if I had much choice but to put on a wide smile anyway.

She was still the princess of Estaria and after I had learned the truth of this world, I wasn't about to act casually with her again.

"Your Highness, what do..."

For reasons unknown to me, I wasn't even allowed to finish my sentence before her face turned grim.

"Don't do that."

Honestly, I sort of understood what she was getting at, although I had no idea exactly why she cared so much about it.

However, for me, this was a good chance to make sure that the earlier situation between us didn't escalate further.

Nothing good would come from her being interested in me, no matter how innocent it was. Therefore, I continued to act as if I had no idea what she was referring to.

"I don't quite follow, Your Highness, is there something wrong?"

It was a way to create a sense of distance through the use of words, while at the same time sparing myself from actually saying that I didn't want anything to do with her out loud.

The already grim face became even stiffer when she realized what I was doing, and the situation became a lot more tense than I had anticipated.

"I understand. I won't bother you anymore."

Then, Samantha just walked away, leaving me alone standing on the rubbery ground that made up the running track.

"Haaa... It's for the best. Better to show my intents sooner rather than later.

The princess could absolutely have become a very valuable ally, and maybe even a good friend, but the risks just outweighed the pros too much.

"But I still don't understand why we had to do this outside!"

==========

"Welcome to your first weapon arts class!"

'No! I can accept a lot of things, but why is weapon arts a mandatory course?!'

There was no way I could ever understand the reasoning behind everyone having to learn how to use a weapon, even more so in this world compared to Earth. At least back there, there weren't a lot of options if one was going to become part of the military.

Here, on the other hand, there was all kinds of magic to fill that gap.

So, why was it that we were all now gathered in one of the martial arts classrooms, where there were racks of weapons everywhere and several white circles to simulate arenas where we would fight each other?

The worst part was that I could see that most of my classmates, as well as our homeroom teacher who was responsible for the class, looked very excited. The only two people who I could see didn't want to be here were Eva and Robert, although I wasn't quite sure about my judgment of Eva.

Because, like always, her face was as expressionless as ever.

At first, I had thought that she and Lya had been very similar in that regard, but unlike the silver-haired, petite Elementalist, Lya had turned out to simply be a very insecure woman who wasn't good at expressing herself.

Eva, on the other hand, I somehow knew that that wasn't the case. She just didn't care.

"Let's not waste any time! Grab a weapon and I will pair you up for sparring!"

'Shouldn't we get to practice a bit before we start sparring?!'

Unfortunately, not a single one of my classmates opposed his words as they all walked toward the weapon racks and tables full of weapons, and I suddenly understood why that was.

The only reasonable explanation was that everything had most likely at least some experience with a weapon, including the small Robert who was also now picking up his weapon.

"Alex! What are you waiting for? Go get your weapon!"

"Yes, sir."