Chapter: 7. The Beautiful Transferee Appearing as a Lost Girl
“Tsukimi~ It’s so great to be in the same class with you~”
“You’re too close, too close! Don’t just hug me out of nowhere!”
After finishing a meeting in the teacher’s office, Kanade followed the new class schedule to the new classroom.
The moment he pushed open the classroom door, he faintly heard some girls exclaiming.
In the next moment, he saw Uemon rushing towards him, tears and snot flowing freely.
Startled, he quickly pushed Uemon away.
“Did your… unfortunate halo act up again?” Kanade could guess what had happened to his friend.
Despite being above average in both height and appearance, and aside from his peculiar quirks, Uemon could definitely be considered a handsome guy.
One reason this handsome guy remained single despite being popular with girls was his rather peculiar luck.
“When I was about to leave the dorm today, I found that my personal terminal showed ‘insufficient permissions’ several times.” Uemon complained, “Worried about being late, I had to climb over the wall to escape from the girls’ dorm—”
“But I couldn’t get through at the girls’ dorm either and was mistaken for a pervert by the girls.”
“That’s an unnecessary worry; even if you didn’t do anything like that, to the girls, you’d probably already be seen as a pervert.” Kanade retorted.
His comments elicited nods from the other girls in the class.
“And what’s with your train of thought? If there’s a problem with the access control, why not contact the maintenance team?” Kanade pointed out. “Why would you specifically climb over to the girls’ dorm…”
“Because it’s not just the access control that malfunctioned, but also my terminal…” Uemon took out his terminal, an intelligent phone issued by Ark Academy, but the screen simply wouldn’t light up.
A terminal that could supposedly be carried during battles, who would have thought it would malfunction in daily life?
Kanade could only admire his friend’s misfortune.
A guy who looks so good but has such bad luck, he must be the protagonist of a comic or something, right?
“So Tsukimi, can I trouble you to accompany me back to the dorm today?”
“…That’s a bit tricky.”
“Hm? What do you mean?” Just when Uemon was looking confused.
Kazuko’s voice came from behind them—
“Tsukimi! Is it true that you’ve been assessed as having low erosion levels?” Kazuko approached Kanade and Uemon with a worried look.
“Low erosion levels?” Uemon immediately understood what this meant.
“Tsukimi, have you been assigned to move to a different dorm?”
“Ah, yes, so after today’s class meeting, I might have to report to the new dorm first…”
“Um, Tsukimi, is that really okay?”
“No, it’s not really about whether it’s okay or not. I originally planned to return to a normal life…”
Kanade avoided Kazuko’s worried gaze and turned his eyes away as he spoke.
Perhaps in Ark Academy’s eyes, staying in the extraordinary world and returning to a normal life was merely a student’s choice.
But in the eyes of students from the “Supremacy of Abilities” special course, being deemed as “low risk” often meant—
“You really are useless.”
Unpleasant words came from the other side of the classroom.
There stood a small group that seemed to have a rather conceited air, led by a blond boy.
His fluffy golden hair, along with his tall and strong physique, easily reminded one of a “lion.”
“Lion堂, what do you mean by that?” Uemon immediately showed a displeased expression upon seeing the newcomer.
“I’m just speaking the truth. I thought I’d finally get to broaden my horizons alongside the legendary ‘Tsukimi Kanade’ this year, but it turns out he’s just another ‘mortal’ deemed useless.”
The blond boy, known as Lion堂, didn’t hold back on his malicious words.
At the same time, his statement prompted laughter from his group of followers behind him.
Ryuu Lion堂 was quite famous among the special course students.
“I heard he was heavily recommended by the ‘ACE Hybrid Dragon Princess’~ I didn’t expect he would turn out to be a ‘mortal’ who can’t even awaken his abilities.”
“Both Hikari and Tenjou who entered school at the same time as him are now in the top ranks of Ark Academy. How did he end up with a rank in the thousands~”
“Hey now, comparing a low erosion level ‘mortal’ to the ‘Queen’ and ‘Princess’ is a bit much, don’t you think? Hahaha!”
…
The students following Lion堂 chimed in with jeers.
【Ranking System】
The ranking system specifically set for the special course students at Ark Academy assesses a student’s capabilities to determine their rank.
From the “thousands” to the “single digits.”
The higher the rank, the stronger the ability.
Students who graduated from Ark Academy with “single digit” ranks basically become recognized as “A-Class Ability Users” or, in rare cases, elevated to “ACE.”
For special course students, A-Class Ability Users and ACE are idol-like figures.
Thus, the special course students attach great importance to this “ranking system.”
“Single digits” can be considered a dream target for every student.
This results in a strong emphasis on “abilities” and “strength” among students in the special course, even organically fostering a “strength supremacy” atmosphere.
Ark Academy, in a bid to encourage students to master their abilities, has not taken measures against this trend. Except in extremely rare and severe cases, Ark Academy largely refrains from interfering in the interactions among the students.
The “Queen” and “Princess” mentioned by Lion堂 and his followers naturally refer to Mana and Amakusa, who transferred to Ark Academy along with Kanade.
Due to their unique circumstances and abilities, they hold top ranks within Ark Academy’s ranking system.
Particularly, Mana broke records in various artificial learning academies as a first-year high school student last year, ranking in the “single digits.”
This year, she was directly assessed as “rank two.”
Meanwhile, Amakusa has maintained a stable presence, constantly at “rank nine” in the “single digits.”
In comparison, Kanade, who has yet to awaken any abilities and is at “rank thousands,” feels out of place.
However, Kanade doesn’t care about their mockery.
Since before coming to Ark Academy, he clarified his objective.
Kanade’s destination isn’t the special circle SEMA or the three big academies, but back to the side of that girl.
“Enough, Lion堂, we’re all classmates; why say such things?” Kazuko seemed unable to hold back, stepping between Kanade and Lion堂.
“Hmph, Tsukimi Kanade, you really do just hide behind women, tail tucked away and running?” Lion堂’s eyes passed over Kazuko, locking onto Kanade.
This aspect of Lion堂 has always irked him.
This seemingly ordinary black-haired boy before him not only has no abilities, but also barely meets the standards in various skills, yet a whole crowd of girls surrounds him.
What Lion堂 loathes about Kanade isn’t just that.
It’s Kanade’s gaze—
Lion堂, looking into Kanade’s light yellow eyes, truly feels no trace of “anger.” Clearly being publicly humiliated as a man without any power in this ability-centric world…
It seems that the fact that he lacks abilities holds no value in the eyes of a “waste.”
This is what Lion堂 truly cannot tolerate.
“Tsukimi Kanade, if you’re a man, how about you dare to duel with me after class?” Lion堂 provocatively challenged, “Don’t worry; I won’t even use abilities—let’s settle it purely based on physical strength instead.”
Kanade silently sighed in his heart.
Although he vaguely knows the reason why Lion堂 sees him as a thorn, he truly doesn’t want to engage in conflict.
Just as Kanade was about to refuse, a teacher with fiery hair opened the front door of the classroom, her fiery little braids swaying as she walked to the podium.
The tense atmosphere between Kanade and Lion堂 dissipated instantly under her single glance.
Even someone as arrogant as Lion堂 immediately obediently returned to his seat.
“Hello everyone, I’m your new homeroom teacher this year~”
“My name is Maria Maki, Maria Maki~”
“Perhaps you’re more familiar with my other name—”
【Former ACE Blood Crow】
This beauty, who appeared to be just over thirty, once belonged to the top tier of ability users, the “ACE.”
However, Kanade still couldn’t understand why a former ACE would willingly work as a teacher at Ark Academy.
…
…
Today marks the start of the new semester.
For students of all grades, after the first day of class meetings and with no classes scheduled thereafter, they could freely choose to participate in club activities or return to their dorms to rest.
Nagi plans to use this opportunity to find Kanade.
According to the clues provided by Garuda, it seems that the access control system at Ark Academy has malfunctioned today.
Thus, even though Nagi’s classroom is located in the elite division on the east side of the teaching building, she now has a way to sneak into the special division’s classrooms on the west side.
After all, she only needs to act like a “lost” natural airhead.
As for how she ended up lost in the special division’s classroom… all the blame can be placed on the faulty access control system~
Eager to reunite with Kanade after a long time, Nagi naturally doesn’t want it to be too mundane.
It would be best to make full use of their reunion in public and assert her claim in front of those scheming girls around Kanade…
Thinking this way, Nagi “accidentally” used her student ID to open the access control to the west teaching building.
Thanks to Garuda’s prior investigation, Nagi had drawn a clear route to Kanade’s classroom in her mind.
Just as Nagi was contemplating how to declare her claim, the sounds from the corridor ahead interrupted her thoughts.
“Tsukimi Kanade, so in the end, you just hide behind women and run away, huh?”
Hearing this, Nagi’s curiosity was piqued immediately.
It seemed something truly reminiscent of a school city incident was unfolding in the corridor ahead.
Surely she must possess the spirit of the heroine? To encounter someone publicly provoking the protagonist in a situation like this?
What a perfect opportunity for her entrance…
While thinking this, Nagi cautiously poked her head around the corner to see the direction from which the sound came.
This was Nagi’s first sight of Kanade in two and a half years.
Can it really be said that he’s worthy of being a galgame protagonist?
Kanade, looking rather ordinary at first glance after growing up, turns out to be quite handsome upon closer inspection…
No wait, why should I care about whether a man is handsome or not?
