Episode 27 – The Strongest in the Academy
“Eeh? Iris-senpai, you’re really leaving?”
The one who tried to stop Iris was a female student with short brown hair held back by a headband.
She was probably a first-year student, having only just enrolled. Nada had no recollection of seeing her among Iris’s usual entourage.
“That she says, that she says. Why would you go talk to some Vinya’s Great Tree, Iris-senpai…? Hey, you say something too! Even speaking to Iris-senpai should be too intimidating for someone like you.”
The girl with long black hair who nodded along with the brown-haired student was someone Nada recognized.
In fact, she was the one among Iris’s entourage whom Nada knew best.
Her name was Ameisha, one of the oldest members of Iris’s followers.
Her long, straight hair falling to her waist was one of her charms, and paired with her sharp, beautiful features and frameless glasses, she was strikingly attractive. Her Ability was also rare among adventurers, and paired with her looks, Dan had once mentioned that she was one of the most popular girls of her year—something Nada recalled now.
Even though she was in the same year as Nada, she also served as the president of Iris’s fan club, and she was easily the girl who treated Nada the harshest.
“Oh… It’s you again.” Nada let out a sigh as he spoke to Ameisha.
They had shared many classes together, so they were acquaintances.
But only acquaintances—neither ever took the initiative to talk to the other. Nada had no particular feelings toward her, but Ameisha’s dislike for him was intense. One reason was that he was branded a Vinya Great Tree—“the failure.” But more than that, she could not understand why Nada—of all people—had been invited by Iris herself to join Aghiya. For a girl who admired Iris deeply, that alone made her dislike him all the more.
“Why do I have to be called ‘you’ by someone like you? Iris-senpai, do you really have business with this man?”
Ameisha shot him a harsh glare.
Nada wanted nothing more than to avoid Iris, Ameisha, and the rest of the entourage and go straight home.
“Yes. I have several things I want to ask him. A status update—and about the dragon subjugation.”
Iris’s expression shifted for a moment.
She took on the look of a fierce beast. The corners of her mouth rose slightly, revealing sharp teeth.
Her eyes widened, and her posture leaned forward just enough to show she was entering battle mode. With just that, Iris radiated the presence of a seasoned adventurer.
Strangely enough, she resembled Nada.
No—Nada resembled her.
From the moment he wandered into the dungeon city Inferno of his own will and met Iris, he had seen that expression countless times.
He saw it when they encountered strays in the dungeon.
He saw it when they crossed paths with influential nobles in Inferno.
He even saw it when someone merely told a story about a powerful monster.
Watching her over and over, Nada naturally grew into an adventurer who resembled Iris.
Neither of them consciously tried to imitate the other. They didn’t even have a mentor–disciple relationship; as adventurers, they were independent individuals.
Yet simply by being near one another, they influenced each other.
And now, Nada remembered.
Iris was a pure, innate adventurer.
She wasn’t like him, who adventured because he had no choice, staking everything just to live.
She was someone who had abandoned countless other paths and chosen the adventurer’s life out of sheer passion.
Iris was a noble.
Not a third-rate one, either—she was from the House of Scarlet, a great noble family whose name was listed alongside the royal family of the Paraiso Kingdom. Even as the third daughter, her beauty and standing meant that she could have married into royalty if fortune aligned. In fact, there had been those within House Scarlet who plotted to arrange her with the crown prince, who was close to her in age.
But at twelve years old, she rejected every objection and came to Inferno of her own will, enrolling in Larva Academy.
She said she wanted to become an adventurer.
That it was her true calling.
Nada also recalled something she told him a few days after they first met—that her goal was to hunt the kind of “strays” that heroes had once slain.
“…I see. Got it.”
Nada was in no position to refuse Iris’s invitation in the first place, so he agreed without hesitation.
At that moment, he heard the sound of teeth grinding coming from Ameisha.
It wasn’t his imagination.
When Nada actually turned his gaze toward Ameisha, she was glaring at him with eyes burning with jealousy.
“Good answer. Well then, I have something to do with Nada after this, so—sorry, everyone.”
After Iris put her hands together in apology and tilted her head adorably, the people around her gradually dispersed.
Nada had heard about this: apparently, one of the iron rules of Iris’s fan club was don’t interfere with her private life.
However, only Ameisha stayed behind—and once she was the last one remaining, she shot Nada one more glare before turning her back and leaving.
“Well then, Nada, shall we go?”
An invitation from a stunning beauty.
Normally, any man would be thrilled, but unfortunately, Nada wasn’t a normal man, and Iris wasn’t a normal woman.
Nada let his shoulders drop heavily and quietly followed after her.
◆◆◆
Iris had lived in Inferno for a long time.
As an adventurer with ability and status, she had spent her days dining with all sorts of people and thus knew many good restaurants. Naturally, she knew far more places than Nada—and today, too, it seemed she planned to take him to one of the places she knew.
“Hey, Nada—”
Slowing her pace a little, Iris lined up beside him and spoke.
“What?”
“It’s been a while since we walked together like this. How long has it been, I wonder?”
“No idea. More importantly, how far are we walking? I’m getting tired of all these stares.”
They were walking together through the Academy City.
Most of the people around them were students of Larva Academy.
To them, Nada and Iris were both well-known.
Iris was one of the academy’s strongest adventurers, often called “the second coming of a hero” or “the reincarnation of Adamas”—but the name she was called the most was Gemeos, the “Two-Colored.”
This came from the fact that she possessed both an Ability and a Gift, and that her appearance changed between normal and Ability-activated states.
Nada, on the other hand, was infamous as the academy’s failure—known well as “the Vinya Tree.”
That name was famous not only in the academy but throughout Inferno.
“You’re used to this, aren’t you? Both of us are.”
“…Yeah, I guess.”
Nada nodded quietly, but the various voices coming from every direction still reached his ears whether he wanted them to or not.
However, no voices were questioning why Iris and Nada were walking together.
Of course not.
Not only had they been party members in Aghiya, but their relationship was known throughout the academy to be closer than ordinary friends.
Many people liked to speculate about their relationship, but since both denied it—and because the students thought Iris, daughter of a great noble family and an extraordinary adventurer, didn’t match well with Nada, an average or below-average adventurer from the countryside—the rumors never spread too far.
“Anyway, I found a place with really good fish the other day. How about we go there so you can tell me all the details of this little ‘adventure’ of yours?”
Her expression flipped from that of a cute girl to that of a fierce beast—a seasoned adventurer.
Nada was once again reminded that the woman before him was no ordinary girl but a hardened adventurer.
As they talked, suddenly a voice called out from behind.
“Iris!”
It was a young man’s voice.
But for a man, it was quite high—perhaps one would call it a velvet voice. It was beautiful. The complete opposite of Nada’s raspy growl.
His tone was bright and lively.
“…You again.”
Iris’s voice, on the other hand, carried a sigh.
She sounded fed up.
Naturally, Nada knew exactly who the voice belonged to. He was famous at the academy, and Nada had met him several times back when he was all still in Aghiya and Iris was still part of the party.
His name was—Koroa.
Like the majority of men at the academy, he was in love with Iris.
He was the most forward in pursuing her, and at the same time, he was known as one of the academy’s strongest alongside Iris and Corvo—nicknamed the Prince.
True to that name, he was a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Paraíso, and his beautiful red hair, characteristic of royalty, was proof.
And naturally, he was also one of those who openly hated Nada. Nada’s shoulders slumped heavily the moment he saw him appear.
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