"Is it true that you ran away?" asked Miss Bahraeel.
'Ran away, huh...' I thought.
From Miss Bahraeel's words, it seemed she knew the full content of the rumor. I just sighed and replied, "Sigh~... Yes, it's true. I'm just too lazy to deal with those kids."
Miss Bahraeel remained silent without answering. She just stared at me expressionlessly, then nodded. Her gaze returned to her desk again. She didn't move from her seat either.
"A person like Ishma Shermin Bahraeel seems to be interested in gossip huh?" I asked to break the awkwardness.
After a brief pause, Miss Bahraeel answered in a flat tone with a slight smile. "Not really, I just heard it from people passing by in the academy."
Her answer sounded ordinary. Then what was with the pause before answering? And that smile? Well, whatever. My gaze shifted back to the whole class. I could see some boys glaring at me with nasty looks. The five 'NPCs' from yesterday were also there, but they seemed hesitant to approach me.
I glanced at Miss Bahraeel and then back at the five NPCs from yesterday. I squinted my eyes and an idea popped into my head.
"Where are you going after this, Miss Bahraeel?" I asked without looking at Miss Bahraeel.
After a brief pause, which I assumed she used to think about her answer, Miss Bahraeel said, "I'm going to the academy's training ground."
"What a coincidence, I'm heading there too. Would you care to go together?" I suggested.
"No objection." Miss Bahraeel replied briefly without hesitation.
"Alright. Shall we go now?" I asked while standing up from my seat.
"Mhm." Miss Bahraeel then also stood up from her seat and walked out of the class with me following behind her.
At that moment, I glanced at the five NPCs and smirked. I could see they were slightly irritated from their looks towards me.
'Having someone like Ishma around, for now, will protect me from these annoying bastards. They are causing unwanted attention.'
Leaving the class, Miss Bahraeel and I walked together in the academy hallway. Two attractive people from prominent families walking together naturally drew attention. Some students occasionally glanced at us, and a few even stopped to stare.
'I managed to get rid of those five annoying people for a while, but the price is increased attention.' I thought.
I mentally shook my head in silence. At the same time, I observed Miss Bahraeel. She seemed accustomed to this kind of attention. Or I could say, she didn't care much. This must be what an ice queen is like.
"Your way of dealing with disturbances is quite good, Young Master Vallois," Miss Bahraeel said after a long silence.
My gaze fell on her face, which was focused on the path ahead. There was a small smile there. It seemed she was aware of my method of avoiding disturbances in the class earlier. Well, I wasn't surprised. She already knew the full rumor about me and seemed to keep her observation on me in the class. As expected of one of the strongest women in Zephyr's harem. It's a shame she had to be a less prominent harem member.
"I appreciate your kindness in allowing me to take advantage of you, Miss Bahraeel. And rest assured, this is only temporary." I replied with a small smile and slightly turned my head towards Miss Bahraeel, who was walking on my left.
Miss Bahraeel also turned to me. Her gaze was slightly upward because I was taller than her. By the way, Miss Bahraeel's height was up to my chin, roughly to my mouth line. Soon after, she smiled again. What's up with this ice queen?
She then looked forward again and replied, "As long as it doesn't bother me." Her face returned to being expressionless.
Ishma Shermin Bahraeel's character was indeed like this. Even though she appeared weak with her current ranking, her straightforward nature and demeanor made her hard to approach. Especially since she didn't talk much, this woman was often considered an ice queen. Although that wasn't entirely true. Ishma Shermin Bahraeel just hadn't found someone she deemed suitable to talk to. And perhaps, she talked and interacted with me because of my sudden change.
Additionally, considering her true strength, if anyone knew about this, they would think twice before approaching this beautiful flower.
Her wealthy family was also very influential. The Bahraeel family was a family of merchants. Major merchants who could rival high-ranking nobles. With businesses based near the coast, the Bahraeel family mostly sold marine commodities, whether processed or raw materials. Not only that, they were also involved in providing maritime transportation and protection services run by their guild. Their members were quite strong since they sometimes had to face sea monster threats.
After walking for a few minutes, we finally reached the Hero Department's training ground. Unlike what I expected, there were fewer people training here than I imagined. Actually, maybe because the place was spacious, it looked somewhat empty, but the number of people training here was quite a lot. And I also guessed Zephyr would be here, but he wasn't, or maybe not yet.
Passing by some people, training dummies, archery targets, and training equipment, we walked along the edge of the field to a relatively empty spot. We were in the duel area.
"Are you really going to train, Young Master Vallois?" Miss Bahraeel asked while placing her bag on a bench at the edge of the field.
I, who also put my bag next to hers, raised an eyebrow. Then I looked at Miss Bahraeel with a puzzled look.
'Does she think I lied about training just to take advantage of her?' I thought.
It was understandable if she thought that way. After all, the real Edward never trained at the academy's training ground. His pride wouldn't allow it. He would surely train alone in a secluded place.
I sighed before answering, "Of course, I'm going to train."
Miss Bahraeel looked at me sharply but expressionlessly. Then she slightly squinted her eyes. It seemed she was watching me with her Identification Eye.
I ignored her gaze and took off my black uniform blazer. Then I unbuttoned the top button and removed my tie, leaving only the white shirt with embroidery on its left pocket.
"By the way, please don't call me Young Master Vallois. It's too stiff. You can call me Edward, Miss Bahraeel." I said as I broke the silence.
Miss Bahraeel's mouth curved into a small smile, and her gaze shifted from my face. She then chuckled lightly and took off her blazer too.
"I'm just from a merchant family, Young Master. While you are the son of the Vallois family, Marquis-level novle family that renowned for being very strong in the empire. With your status, it doesn't seem appropriate for me to call you that." She said while unbuttoning her top button and removing her tie.
I could only sneer inwardly, 'Yeah, you are from a merchant family, a merchant with national-scale businesses, maybe even international. You can ignore this formality if no one is around.'
"It's uncomfortable to speak while maintaining such etiquette when we're both students here. So please, just call me Edward from now on." I replied while glancing at Miss Bahraeel.
Actually, I did this to build a good relationship with my seatmate. Establishing a connection with a large merchant family would surely bring some benefits. Especially since my family's support for me was currently unclear.
And there was another reason I wanted to get close to Miss Bahraeel. Simple. Maybe not emotionally yet, but I liked her. She was beautiful, mature, and of course, very strong. Somehow, I couldn't let her remain a minor harem member of Zephyr's, who wasn't much noticed. Maybe this just sounds like another reason for me to approach and get her. Call me a hypocrite. But who cares.
Miss Bahraeel, hearing my suggestion, didn't answer and walked towards the weapon rack. She took a training spear. It was a metal rod that looked quite heavy. My gaze followed her. Then she played with the metal rod. Afterward, she did a brief stretch. This silent moment lasted quite a while. Soon, Miss Bahraeel pointed her training spear at me and smiled slightly. Her eyes looked serious.
"Last Monday, the first day of this semester, you sat in the back row, next to my usual seat. I'll consider that a coincidence because I know you never paid much attention to the back rows in the previous semester. And I'll keep it that way. Then I got a little curious about you because of your changed behavior." Miss Bahraeel said and paused.
Then she continued, "Young Master, perhaps with me being curious about your slight change, it seems like I approached you first. But still, we never greeted each other. We don't have a close enough relationship for you to take advantage of me. And then with that opportunity, you tried to get close to me. I might not mind this, but others might think you're presumptuous."
Miss Bahraeel's tone was calm and steady. Her words seemed not to want to be treated like that, but there was no anger or anything. She was just stating the truth, and even with a beautiful smirk. I could only sigh and smile helplessly.
'Identification Eye is indeed quite troublesome,' I thought.
Without answering, I walked to the weapon rack. I took a training spear too and stood somewhat far facing Miss Bahraeel. Then I said with a smirk on my face, "Then I will meet your conditions so I can take advantage of you further and qualify to be get close to you."
"Seems like you understand my point quickly? I think we will get along well as friends," Miss Bahraeel responded while taking a fighting stance.
Before I could reply, she seemed to notice something unusual about me. Her eyebrow raised as she watched me. Still maintaining her stance, Miss Bahraeel asked, "Aren't you supposed to use a sword, Young Master?"
"Oh? I've been trying out different weapons lately," I replied while taking a stance similar to Miss Bahraeel's.
Actually, this was beyond my expectations where Miss Bahraeel would challenge me to a sparring match. I was only thinking about training separately. Fortunately, my Arkium had recovered from the combat simulation with Anetta yesterday. So I felt somewhat confident.
There are levels to evaluate an individual's strength in general. The lowest is for ordinary humans, 'Commoner.' Then at the soldier level, it is divided into 'Regular Soldier,' 'Semi-Elite Soldier,' 'Elite Soldier,' 'Champion Soldier,' and 'Elite Champion Soldier.' Then above the soldiers is the hero level, divided into 'Novice Hero,' 'Professional Hero,' 'Elite Hero,' 'Champion Hero,' 'Elite Champion Hero,' and 'Legendary Hero.' Anyway, this legendary class is still not official.
And according to Anetta's evaluation, I was equivalent to an Elite Champion Soldier level, but that's if I go all out. With that, I evaluated myself now as being at the Champion Soldier level. Equal to Miss Bahraeel. And it should be noted, Miss Bahraeel also had not gone all out.
"You're not underestimating me, are you?" asked Miss Bahraeel.
"Of course not. Maybe, I should be more cautious of you, Miss Bahraeel," I answered with a smirk.
Miss Bahraeel's gaze turned serious. The silence between us intensified.
...
"Who's going to fight there? Isn't that Miss Bahraeel? And…" A white-haired young man spoke while squinting his eyes. He was Zephyr Orion, the 'protagonist'.
"Edward Kazan Vallois." The long purple-haired elf behind him continued, glaring disdainfully at the young man Miss Bahraeel was facing. This elf was Rosaire Serenaia, one of Zephyr's major harem members.
Zephyr's eyes widened at Rosaire's words, "Young Master Vallois? I've never seen him train. At least not at the academy."
"Tch, that troublemaker is probably just showing off. And what's up with that Bahraeel? I rarely see her train at the academy either," Rosaire sneered in a low volume.