"Have you heard that the number one student in the first years turned out to be a commoner?"
"Shhh... Are you crazy!? Do you want to be the target of the nobles? Don't talk about this in the public!"
While I was waking in the hallway, I heard countless rumors about the protagonist. Their reaction was understandable because it was the first time in the entire history of the academy that a commoner was even able to get into 1st layer.
Although it was forbidden to use your background in the school, this didn't stop students with higher status from pressuring the lower ones. So commoners had to be cautious around nobles to avoid getting into trouble.
After walking for a bit, I stopped before a door.
'1-A'
"Haa... Here we go..."
I grabbed the doorknob firmly and pulled it towards me. The classroom was almost full. There was only one seat left that was empty, which was for me. However, as soon as I realized where that seat was I cursed inside my mind.
'Fuck! I came too late!'
The empty seat was right next to the protagonist. No one had taken that seat because they were afraid of drawing the anger of nobles towards them. So I was basically the scapegoat.
As I walked towards the seat, I realized some people were peering at me. I didn't know why they did but it felt uncomfortable anyway. I reluctantly took the seat next to the protagonist and glanced at him.
'Leon Holden'
He had golden hair and eyes. His eyes resembled to a lion. The king of the jungle. His face was flawless. He had the same height as me, around 180 centimeters. As I looked at him my expression darkened.
'Is he the legendary (S)-rank charm?'
Getting uncomfortable of my piercing stares, Leon turned his head towards me with a frown on his face.
"Hey, can you stop staring at me like that?"
"Oh, my bad."
He was a little aggressive right now, but that was because he had been constantly facing injustice and suffering since his childhood. This made him retreat into his shell. But that shell will slowly crack open as he makes friends and falls in love in this academy.
He was initially a normal commoner, living his peaceful life with his parents and a lovely little sister on the outskirts of the capital. Although they weren't rich, they had enough income to live a comfortable life.
However, at the age of 7, his life crumbled into pieces when a dungeon overload occurred near the village where he lived with his family. Since the village was far away from the centre of the city, the forces couldn't come for help in time.
While the awakeners were on their way, the demons that leaked out from the dungeon razed the village to the ground and killed every human on their way.
His mom and dad had sacrificed their lives to save their children. However, only one of their children came out alive from that night...
Whilst Leon and his sister, Ava, were trying to escape from the demons. Ava stumbled over a rock and fell to the ground. Seeing this Leon immediately ran over to help his sister get up. Yet before he could reach her sister, a humanoid demon caught him and restrained him from moving.
As he witnessed his sister being eaten alive by a bear-type demon, that scene engraved itself to the deepest part of his soul. He felt helpless. He felt powerless. He felt pathetic. As Ava's desperate screams of help and mocking laughs of demons reverberated in his head, he could only watch.
When the awakeners arrived at the village, Ava was already dead. It was a gruesome sight. Limbs and organs were scattered on the ground. Although, Leon was rescued at the last moment, this night would turn his life into hell itself.
Like all other protagonist, he blamed himself.
He thought, 'If only I was stronger to protect my family...'
As the sole survivor of that massacre, he could only silently watch his village being burn in the flames that brightened the dark night. That night he swore on killing every single demon in the world.
Since that night, he has been training non-stop to get enrolled into the Light Academy and further increase his strength.
That was the story of Leon Holden. A pitiful protagonist I would say.
I was at the left of Leon. At the right was the first heroine as well as the who Leon will fall in love with according to the plot.
'Isabelle Clark'
Her height was close to 180 centimeters. She had shoulder-length black hair that was neat and soft. She had blue almond eyes that resembled to the ocean. Her face was the reflection of an angel.
She was the only daughter of Stephen Clark, the head master of the number one guild in the human domain. This guild was called 'Black Star', which I had invested in a few days ago. Stephen Clark was one of the (S)-Rank awakeners. His guild was an influential one, which could even rival a duke rank household.
However, unlike those who were born with a golden spoon in their mouth, Stephen was originally a commoner. He gained everything with his own two hands. He created the guild and raised it on his own. So he knew the importance of self-discipline to achieve something.
Like father, like daughter. His daughter wanted to become like her father. A honorable and respectable person. So she worked hard to become stronger. She never used her father's name to get what she wanted. She helped those in need. She was like a rose that bloomed in a battlefield.
Just beside Isabelle, was another girl.
'Juliet Walter'
She was a little shorter than the rest of us. Around 170 centimeters. She had long white hair that fell down to her waist. Her grey slanted eyes showed indifference. Her smooth face would even make the goddess of beauty ashamed of herself.
Her dad was Harley Walter, the current head of the Walter Household, making her the next heir. This household has been protecting its position as a duke household since the first time demons invaded the Arion. It's one of the oldest household in the human domain.
However, there were many nobles who disliked the Walters in the noble circle. That was because they were famous for their achievements in revealing and punishing corrupted nobles who had gotten into illegal activities.
While some nobles find this righteous act admirable, some others find it troublesome for their illegal businesses. One of those who found the Walters a pain in the ass was the other duke household, the Howards.
This caused a political polarization of nobles, creating two opposing sides. Those who followed Walters and those who followed Howards.
The household of Howard was completely corrupted from inside. The current heir of Howards was Albert Howard. He was even in the core trafficking business. Howards tried to bring down the Walters but they never succeeded in doing so.
They used dirty means to get rid of Walters. They paid to third parties to attack at their lands or businesses.
They couldn't send assassins to kill Harley Walter because he was an (S+)-rank. Yet that didn't stop them. They sent the assassins to kill the next heir of the Walters instead, who was Juliet Walter.
Since her childhood, Juliet Walter was the target of assassins. Her bodyguards constantly died. As she grew up witnessing so many deaths in her early years, she gradually became indifferent towards the concept of death. She gradually became colder and her life lost its color.
As I was recalling the contents of the novel, Ember entered the classroom with a smile on her face. As soon as she clapped her hands, the sound echoed in the classroom, cutting the chatters of students.
"Good morning everyone. I am Ember Bell, your classroom teacher. I will be responsible for each one of you throughout your life in this academy. So you can ask me anything regarding your school life or training."
Her eyes darted around the classroom for a second.
"It seems everyone is present. I hope you all have familiarized yourselves with the academy until now. Then let's proceed with a brief introduction."
All of a sudden her eyes paused at me. Her smile turned into mischievous one.
'What?'
My senses were telling me something bad would happen. I turned back to see if she was pointing to another student but it didn't seem to be the case.
"Theodore, would you mind introducing yourself to us?"
I stood up with a forced smile. I had no idea what to say. I just knew I was an orphan with a commoner background. I had come to this conclusion because no one had contacted me since I reincarnated into this world. And I initially had 6,000 BS, meaning my background wasn't great either.
"Haa..."
I sighed. Since my situation ended up like this, I may as well use it to my advantage.
"I am Theodore... And this is all you need to know."
I said in a monotonous tone and sat on my chair again. Following my words, silence descended on the classroom. Seeing how unfriendly I was, the atmosphere turned awkward. I did this so that no one would approach me, I just wanted to enjoy my days in the academy without any disturbance.
Ember was the one who broke the silence. She had a troubled look in her eyes. Seeing this I just smiled.
*Cough*
"Alright! We thank Theodore for his introduction. Then let's move on."
Next, she pointed at Leon.
"I am Leon Holden. I came this academy to get strong and I won't stop until I kill every single demon in this world."
He said with determination. Seeing how serious he was, some of the students felt pity for him. Most of the students here were a victim of demon invasion in one way or another.
"Great, next student!"
...
After 20 minutes or so the everyone finished introducing theirselves.
Injecting mana into her voice, Ember talked loudly to gather the attention of the classroom again.
"Be quiet! I have an announcement. We won't be doing any lesson today."
Hearing this students became cheerful. I didn't show any reaction knowing this was just the first part of the announcement. Ember's next words wiped off the smiles of students.
"Instead, we will do a practical lesson in the training hall. We will see who is lacking in which area."
She left the classroom for the training hall before any of the students could complain.