"…How did my life end up like this?"
Berian Kalburden, the second-ranked first-year student of the Knight Faculty, let out a deep sigh.
It wasn't even halfway through the semester yet.
The once-proud heir of the Kalburden family and second-ranking first-year in the Knight Faculty—those titles were now a thing of the past.
He had lost to Armian's vassal, someone he had to surpass for the Kalburden family to become a margrave.
Then, he was abandoned by the prince he had trusted as his powerful backer.
And now, he was falsely accused of being in a contract with a demon he had never even met, falling into the clutches of Pellenberg's influence.
It was already bad enough that he'd fallen off a cliff just short of reaching the mountain's summit—now he was rolling in the mud. It couldn't get any worse than this.
'Aint Armian…!'
All the glory that should have been his was now someone else's.
'He's climbing the ladder of success…! That damned bastard!'
Just yesterday, Berian had seen it. The person he had desperately wanted to befriend—Valrossi—was showing a yacht club invitation to Aint Armian.
'That should've been my seat. I should've been the one receiving that invitation.'
The Yacht Club—an exclusive group at the academy, only open to the sons and daughters of high-ranking noble families with both status and skill.
Considering his family and talent, Berian Kalburden should have been a shoo-in. But after his defeat to Aint, everything had unraveled.
'It's not like I can quit halfway through…'
This wasn't just anywhere—it was the Imperial Armian Academy.
Quitting now was no different from giving up on life.
"…That's it for today's lecture."
As the lecture ended, Berian quietly gathered his textbooks, when a shadow fell over his head.
"What is it?"
His face twisted in annoyance as he looked up to see Aint Armian staring down at him.
"Wanna have lunch together?"
"What?"
"I dunno, you looked kind of lonely."
"You think I'm like this for no reason?"
Berian growled.
Ever since his defeat to Aint, Prince Rudger had started to treat him coldly, and the other students had followed suit like water flowing downhill.
Nothing explicit had happened, but as everyone began distancing themselves from him, Berian was left all alone.
"…So this is my fault?"
"Then is it my fault?"
"It's not a crime to put effort into a sparring match."
"…Ha."
Berian couldn't argue—because it wasn't wrong. And that only made him more irritated.
"Did you come here just to piss me off? Can't you buzz off?"
"Fine, if you hate it that much, then let's say it's my fault. Still, let's eat together. I'll apologize."
"Are you kidding me right now?"
"I'm serious."
"This is your last warning—get lost. Unless I get possessed by a demon, there's no way in hell I'm having lunch with you."
Berian stood up roughly and stormed off. Whispering voices rose around them.
"…Jeez, does he think I enjoy this?"
Left alone, Aint sighed.
'Do I really have to go this far?'
"Sure, he lost to you, but objectively, the guy's talented."
"He only lost because I, a miraculous being, was by your side. Without me, you wouldn't have stood a chance against him."
'Well, without you, Gardner, I wouldn't have been able to reclaim my family's swordsmanship, so of course that's true.'
Aint made a face that said you've got to be kidding me.
No matter how gifted someone was, talent alone meant nothing without proper technique to support it.
"Anyway, the point is, he's talented, but he's got no friends. Just like you."
'It's not that I don't have friends…'
"Whatever the reason, the result is the same."
And honestly, the reason was the same.
No one approached Aint either, because they were all wary of Rudger Schwaben.
"Still, that guy has talent and comes from a good family. Building some kind of connection with him could be useful in the future."
"Especially now that he's been abandoned by Schwaben's usurpers. The timing couldn't be better."
Gardner wasn't just thinking about demons—he was wary of the Schwaben faction too.
From his perspective, Armian was the only rightful successor to the Empire. In that sense, it was only natural.
'I'll try. Can't say for sure if we'll ever be close though.'
"Don't just try, make it happen. You damn outcast. Who else are you gonna team up with if not another outcast?"
'Come on…'
Aint muttered under his breath as he walked out of the lecture hall.
Bella Hoenne, a second-year student in the Knight Faculty, woke up from a nightmare.
"…Ah, no…!"
She jolted upright—only to find herself in her familiar room.
Sweat was pouring down her body like rain, soaking her clothes completely.
Burning with thirst, she instinctively reached out for water.
"Here."
"Thanks."
Bella took a gulp of cold water handed to her by someone—and jumped in shock.
"What the—? Ruina? Why are you here?"
"You don't remember?"
"Remember…?"
Only then did Bella recall the searing pain that had felt like her whole body was being set on fire—no, was being set on fire.
"Jace, that bastard…!"
A so-called Saint. What kind of saint does that, for god's sake?
Burning someone alive?!
"So you do remember. How's your body?"
"…Terrible. Absolutely terrible."
She tried circulating her mana, but it wasn't going well.
If the flames had only burned away the demonic energy, it would've been fine—but they had scorched her aura and stamina as well.
The destructive flames had even weakened her mind, if only slightly.
But that wasn't the biggest problem.
"I've got no strength left in my body. I feel weak."
"Because your demonic energy's gone."
"…Was it really demonic energy?"
"You confirmed it yourself."
"No, it could've been a trick!"
"What would the Saint of the Church gain from tricking you like that?"
Bella fell silent, at a loss for a counterargument.
"But I've never even seen a demon."
"I know. You were just infected by chance. The problem is, we still can't figure out what the infection source was."
Ruina's words made Bella exhale in relief.
It was unfortunate they hadn't identified the source, but at least she hadn't been branded a demon spawn—that was a huge relief.
Even if demons hadn't appeared for a thousand years and people had grown numb to the threat, they were still regarded as enemies of humanity.
Especially since the very foundation of the Empire was built on their extermination.
Instinctive repulsion was to be expected.
"So what now… Wait. Did I drink?"
Bella sniffed the air.
The source of the smell was close—her clothes, her hair, her body.
"I doused you. Had to fake you being drunk to carry you out."
"Didn't we meet during lunch?"
"Yeah."
"So you're telling me I ended up being the girl who was drunk in broad daylight and got carried on someone's back?"
"Sorry. I covered your face with a robe though."
"Well… I guess that's something… right?"
Still, if someone was close enough to Ruina to recognize her, it probably wouldn't be hard to figure out who the girl on her back was.
"My Academy life is over… Wait a second."
As Bella let out a heavy sigh, her eyes shifted toward the window. The light peeking through the closed curtains was a soft orange glow.
"…How long have I been asleep?"
"…Sorry."
"No way."
"I'm sorry."
Ruina avoided her wavering gaze. Bella rushed to pull the curtains open.
The sunset was beautiful.
"…Tell me. Hurry, Ruina."
Ruina cautiously raised her fingers.
"…Two hours?"
No way. It had been noon. How could the sun be setting at 2 p.m.?
Ruina shook her head.
"…Twenty hours?"
That didn't make sense either. If twenty hours had passed, it would be 8 a.m.—no reason for a sunset.
"No way, right? I had so many lectures…! This can't be happening. Right?"
Bella's voice trembled as she sensed the worst possible outcome. Her desperate denial was met with Ruina silently shaking her head.
"…Sorry."
"Two days? Seriously, two full days?! I've already missed a few lectures—I can't afford to skip any more! You know that!"
"I know."
What lectures did she have yesterday? How many days had she missed?
Bella's mind was racing. But no matter how hard she thought, no answers came—and her face began to pale.
"Fernan! Jace! Those bastards…!"
"No, Bella."
At that moment, Ruina recalled Fernan's advice.
"Redirect Bella's anger, Ruina. Toward where it really belongs."
"You think letting a friend fall into ruin is better? How's that not worse than fighting back against a demon?"
"What do you mean no?! I'm like this because of them—!"
"The ones you should be furious with… aren't Fernan and Jace."
Ruina grabbed Bella's shoulders to calm her down, then continued slowly, carefully:
"They didn't do anything wrong. If anyone's to blame, it's the demons and the tainted ones."
"Demons? Tainted ones?"
"Think about it. What turned you into this—what infected you with demonic energy—wasn't Fernan or Jace. It was a tainted one."
"Well, that's true, but…"
"I'll admit Jace's treatment method was… intense."
"I was unconscious for two days! You think 'intense' covers that?!"
Ruina shook her head again.
"That's not the point, Bella."
"I nearly died!"
"But you didn't."
"…Ruina, were you always like this?"
She didn't answer Bella's question.
"Bella. Whatever the outcome, Jace's goal was to save you. It hurt, sure—but it worked."
"I guess…"
"What really matters is the tainted one. Shouldn't we go after the thing that did this to you?"
Finally, Bella's rage began to redirect toward its rightful target.
"…I'm going to get revenge. For my grades."
"That's right, Bella. I'll help you. We'll do it together."
"You?"
"I found another trace of a tainted one. Want to go hunting with me?"
"Of course I do! I'm going to kill them all!"
It took Bella a while to finally calm down.
"So, where is it?"
"Fernan says there's a strong chance the tainted ones will be infiltrating the Yacht Club."
"The Yacht Club? You mean that Yacht Club?"
"Yeah."
"That place is crawling with top-ranked students! If something happens there, it could be a disaster!"
"Exactly. That's why we need to stop it."
Ruina pulled an invitation out of her coat.
"A Yacht Club invitation?"
"Got it from Fernan."
"But Fernan was the one stopping you from joining the Yacht Club. I guess staring down demons really did remind him of the greater good."
Bella let out a scoff.
"Alright, I get it. First thing's first—let's go buy clothes."
"…Huh?"
"You don't have anything formal enough to wear to a ball."
Ruina had never once attended a banquet since entering the Academy.
She'd always focused purely on grades and swordsmanship—far removed from a life of enjoyment.
"Exactly. So we're going shopping. And this time, it's a masquerade ball, so we'll need masks too."
"…Fernan didn't mention anything about a masquerade theme."
"He didn't? Weird. You can't even get in if you don't follow the theme."
Maybe he just left it out for Bella to fill in the details.
"Whatever, let's go shopping. I need to vent all this rage somehow."
"Wait, I don't have any money…"
"Just come along. I've had my eye on a few dresses I thought would suit you."
"…Since when?"
"Since every time I asked you to come to a banquet and you bailed, I started window-shopping just in case."
Bella grabbed Ruina's wrist and pulled her along.