Colt glanced at the girl on the neighboring balcony.
She was definitely beautiful—though, in Colt's eyes, not quite on Seila's level.
The wind tugged gently at her long black hair as she gazed out at the city.
She looked older than the girls in Colt's year, a little taller too.
Given her balcony's position, she was likely number 31. That would make her the top-ranked student of the third year.
So, probably seventeen. The height made sense.
She must have noticed his gaze, because she turned his way, surprise flashing in her eyes.
"Huh? How long have you been standing there? Who are you?"
"Ah, sorry. I just got here. My name's Colt. I'll be staying in room eleven." He made a point to sound casual—he didn't want to come off like a creep.
Though saying that probably wouldn't help much.
"Oh, Colt! You're the commoner everyone's been talking about. I'm Diane Tudor."
"Miss Diane, I hope we can be good neighbors."
"Hehe. That depends on you. I'm not giving up my room anytime soon. But the first-year rankings change a lot. And don't call me 'Miss.' Just Diane. We're equals here."
"Sure, Diane. And yeah, I don't plan on losing my room either."
"That's the spirit. I should get going, but we'll probably share a few classes later on. Ah—one tip before I leave. If you run into twenty-one, don't let him know you're eleven. See you!"
And with that, she disappeared into her room.
It hadn't been a long conversation, and she didn't seem like a bad person.
Still, Colt had no idea what her warning meant. What would happen if the second-year top student found out who he was?
Well, that was a problem for another day.
What puzzled him more was that he hadn't heard of her in the future.
Top-ranking academy students usually went on to become major figures in Arte. Colt had heard of Marquess Tudor, but never Diane.
Maybe she chose to keep a low profile, preparing to take over her house.
That would explain it, though it would also mean she'd done nothing during the war, when Arte was in danger.
He made a mental note to look into it later.
After pulling a few belongings from his inventory and settling in, Colt headed downstairs.
He and the others had agreed to eat together. There were no classes on the first day, after all.
And as he made his way down, unaware, he was walking straight toward the answer to Diane's warning.
---
"I thought we would get big rooms, but it is more like a small house with two rooms. Like the one you were staying when we get you, Myrin," Seila said.
She was talking about the cottage that had belonged to Myrin's mother.
It was actually larger than Seila's room overall, but the ground floor had only a kitchen and a single room, so the comparison still held.
"Is that so?" Myrin, seventh in the rankings, nodded. "My room's also big, but only a bit larger than the one back home."
The four of them were sitting together on the ground floor of the dorm, eating lunch from the cafeteria.
"Mine's about the same size as my room at home," Hei added. "Not that I need anything more."
Then he turned to Colt, a teasing edge in his voice. "What about you? If Seila's room is that spacious, yours must be huge."
Colt gave a modest shrug. "Yeah, it's big. Three rooms. But the real highlight's the view."
Seila's room probably had a similar balcony scene, since she was just one floor below. The others, not so much.
"Really? I'm curious," Hei said with a sigh. He appreciated a good view, though maybe not enough to claw his way into the top five just for one.
"You're welcome to check it out anytime. I don't mind," Colt said. Honestly, the place was far too big for him.
If it wasn't magically cleaned, he wasn't even sure he could maintain it.
"You sure?" Hei asked, surprised. Nobles didn't just drop by each other's rooms without warning. Maybe when they were kids, but not anymore.
They had to give prior notification to even visit each other's houses.
"Yeah. It's too big for me anyway," Colt said with a smile. He wanted more moments like this.
More time with his friends, especially Hei, who had died early in his past life.
"In that case, I'll stop by at least once," Hei said cheerfully.
That's when the doors at the front of the cafeteria burst open with a loud thud.
A red-haired boy strode in, a massive double-edged axe slung over his back.
Even though he was 16, he was longer than most.
"Where's number eleven!?" he shouted.
The chatter quieted instantly as heads turned. Some students scanned the room until their eyes landed on Colt.
Did he do something to offend this guy? they wondered.
There were students from every year in the cafeteria.
Some second, third, and fourth-year students just shook their heads and kept eating like they'd seen this before.
So that's it... Colt thought. This must be number 21. The one Diane warned me about...
She probably meant for him to ignore it. Maybe if Colt didn't respond, the guy would leave. But that wasn't how Colt wanted to handle it.
He stood up from his chair.
"I'm number eleven. How can I help you?"
The red-haired boy grinned. "Oh? I didn't think you'd actually answer. I like you already. Let's have a fig—"
"I don't want to."
Colt's response cut through the room like a breeze on a sweltering day. Whatever thrill had started to build in the air vanished.
"What do you mean, 'I don't want to'? I'm challenging you. You have to accept."
Colt kept his voice calm. "That rule starts tomorrow. Come find me then."
---
Challenge.
It was part of life at the academy.
Every student had the right to challenge anyone ranked up to twenty spots above them.
If the challenger won, they would swap numbers with the person they defeated.
But if they lost, they couldn't issue another challenge to that same student for a month.
Higher-ranked students could also challenge those below them, though the lower-ranked didn't have to accept. Still, if the higher rank lost, the exchange happened all the same.
But that wasn't all.
The top ten students of each grade were considered elite, and they could challenge across grades.
They could issue challenges to the top ten students one year below them, either with the same rank number or a higher one, and they could also challenge anyone in years above.
In those cases, the person being challenged had to accept.
But if someone challenged a student two or three years younger, the younger student had the choice to decline.
So when Colt turned him down, 21 clearly didn't take it well.
"Coward!" the boy spat before storming out of the cafeteria.
"Won't he come back tomorrow?" Myrin asked, her voice laced with worry. "Isn't that dangerous?"
Most nobles knew the academy's rules well, thanks to their family networks.
Students who had already enrolled often shared stories with their friends and relatives—sometimes just to show off, but not always.
Some genuinely tried to help. Others passed on the information directly to younger siblings or cousins.
But Myrin didn't have an older brother or sister who had attended the academy.
And her family rarely took part in social gatherings where these things were discussed, leaving her in the dark.
That was when Seila stepped in to help.
"Don't worry. Injuries are normal in duels, but killing is strictly forbidden. And any wounds are healed quickly thanks to the high-level priests here."
Seila knew all this because of one person—her brother.
He had graduated about four years ago, and he was eight years older than her.