I’m Not Becoming a Graduate Student! – Chapter 4

“Since it’s orientation day, I won’t make it too long.”

Whoosh, whoosh.

She swung the training wooden sword around to warm up.

Her squirrel-like ears and fluffy tail caught everyone’s attention.

Finally, when she had finished her warm-up—

Like a bolt of lightning, she sliced through the air.

“Hah!”

Woosh! Whoosh!

Her strikes literally cut through the wind.

Everyone held their breath, watching her sword.

Smooth movements reminiscent of a dance.

It blended perfectly with her bouncy, squirrel-like rhythm.

An irresistible strange charm radiated from her.

How much time had passed?

The seemingly endless sword movements finally halted.

Professor Heruj, with a dazed look on the faces of the freshmen, grinned.

“The swordsmanship I just showed you is what you all will learn this semester!”

Wiping the sweat from her forehead with a relieved expression, as soon as she finished speaking, the freshmen exchanged glances.

Sion was no exception.

‘How am I supposed to learn this in just six months…?’

What appeared to be an easy art of swordsmanship.

But if someone makes something look easy, it’s a clear sign they’re exceptional at it.

“Today is just orientation, so we’ll wrap it up here! From the next class, we’ll dive right into sword training, so everyone needs to come in comfortable clothing~.”

““Yes~!””

The announcement of an early class raised the volume among the students.

After all, concerns about the future are best left to future selves.

The students scattered in all directions once again.

“Wow, I did practice swordsmanship a bit when I was younger… but the professor is definitely something else.”

“Patrick, you’ve swung a sword before?”

“Just picked up a few things while sparring with my brother. Played the role of the punching bag too. But what about you?”

“…Well…”

Sion scratched the back of his head at Patrick’s words.

In his past life, he had only ever held kitchen knives or box cutters.

Maybe if he had attended a sword academy, but he had never even tried Taekwondo.

“There’s no need to feel disheartened. They did say it’s a general class, right?”

“Y-yeah….”

“Let’s go grab a bite. The academy’s dining situation has quite a reputation.”

Sion and Patrick headed toward the student cafeteria.

The cafeteria, divided by grade, was bustling with people.

‘I came yesterday, but I still can’t believe this is all free…?’

It was buffet-style, where you could take as much food as you wanted.

But it was free as long as you proved you were an academy student.

He found himself wishing that the university in his past life had something like this.

There were plenty of familiar Western-style dishes like pasta and steak.

He could fill his plate without a care in the world.

Everything tasted just as good as any regular restaurant.

As Sion sat down to eat, he heard—

“Hey, Sion. Look over there.”

“Huh?”

“See that? The table right behind you. You can tell they’re all from rich families.”

“Whoa… I see them.”

Sion turned his head to look behind him.

At a table quite close, four or five people were eating together.

They exuded an atmosphere of elegance and sophistication, as if they had just stepped out of a restaurant.

The star of the show was undoubtedly a girl sitting in the middle of them.

Her bright white hair radiated a sense of holiness.

The way she chatted with a shy smile looked like a scene from a movie.

She seemed to embody the very term ‘nobility.’

“She’s one of the famous figures from the Magic Department. The Perrawell family, a prestigious family of magicians.”

“The Perrawell family?”

“…Do you seriously not know? They’re one of the three greatest magical families of the Empire.”

Patrick continued to explain.

In the Empire, there were three huge magical families.

The Murinjis family, with the blood of great dragons.

The Cendric family, founders of the White Tower of Magic.

And the Perrawell family, consistently producing court magicians.

“Estroja Perrawell. She’s quite a prominent figure even within the Perrawell marquess family. A cadet branch, but still.”

“Is that so…?”

“Look at that; they’re already gathered among the nobles. At least a count’s offspring, I bet.”

It was a sight one wouldn’t see in universities in South Korea.

Of course, it’s said that the children of chaebols know each other from a young age.

But seeing it so starkly felt oddly surreal.

“Hey, hey! You’re staring too hard!”

“Ah.”

Did they feel his gaze locked onto them?

Estroja Perrawell’s eyes met his.

Her white irises blinked as if questioning his intentions.

Bowing his head, Sion felt embarrassed and responded.

Fortunately, she soon smiled and nodded slightly.

Even the noble offspring talking to her glanced over in his direction, prompting Sion to refocus on his meal.

He didn’t want to be the center of attention on his first day.

“…Patrick, isn’t this a bit much?”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s not like we need to change tables.”

Somehow, Patrick had shifted from directly across from Sion to a diagonal position.

From afar, they looked like complete strangers.

He was already sitting diagonally before Estroja even looked over.

“I gotta survive, you know.”

“You jerk.”

Sion felt a little hurt by Patrick’s actions.

Though Patrick quickly made it up by treating him to ice cream for dessert.

*

The next day.

Patrick and Sion walked through the forest.

“How big could the academy possibly be?”

“Not sure. I’d guess it’s about the size of a small town? From what I know, there’s no detailed map of Byzantine Academy.”

“…That sounds a bit scary.”

Following a brown hiking trail that wasn’t overgrown.

The reason was to attend class.

‘Who on earth holds classes in a place like this?’

Today’s classroom was situated in the mountains next to the academy.

Not just classes in the mountains, but the classroom itself was in the mountains.

Sion’s mind felt like it was about to short-circuit at the thought of such an extraordinary setup.

“That must be it. The hut.”

“…Seriously?”

The place they arrived at looked like a hut suitable for human habitation.

It was hard to believe this was a classroom where classes would take place.

But judging by the familiar faces presumed to be from the first year of the Magic Department, it seemed that classes indeed were happening.

“Hey, Sion. Look around. Doesn’t it feel like there are fewer people here?”

“I guess they thought it wouldn’t matter since it’s orientation.”

“…Should we have brought fewer people too?”

“Shh. The professor is coming out.”

Creeeak.

The wooden door of the hut opened.

The first-year students chatting quietly instantly fell silent, all eyes fixated in one direction.

What emerged from that door was none other than an elf.

‘Wow… they really exist. Elves.’

She looked exactly like the ones seen in fantasy novels or games.

Long ears, yellow hair, and emerald green eyes.

She matched the typical appearance of elves that Sion had in mind.

If there was one difference…

‘…Isn’t she a bit too scruffy?’

The elf that emerged from the hut was wearing a worn-out tank top and short shorts.

Her hair looked unkempt, and she had dark circles under her eyes that made him worry she might be unwell.

“…Are you sure she didn’t come to the wrong place?”

Patrick whispered cautiously to Sion.

He had no thought of her being a professor at all.

She lazily scanned the students with her tired eyes.

Eventually, the elf’s lips parted.

“I-I’ll take attendance.”

“…?”

“G-Galadin students!”

“…Yes!”

Out of nowhere, attendance was called.

She stuttered and spoke softly, making it hard to hear her over the sounds of chirping birds and rustling leaves that required focus just to catch her voice.

What surprised Sion was the very concept of taking attendance at this moment.

‘Aren’t there still people missing…?’

He looked around.

There were only about ten students left.

Remembering that more than twenty students had gathered in Professor Ronda Magret’s class earlier…

It meant roughly half of the corresponding students were absent.

Nevertheless, the elf calmly continued her attendance check.

She was just calling names, but she wore a proud expression as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

However, everyone had no choice but to be shocked by her next statement.

“Um, students who aren’t here will be marked absent…”

“…Huh? Marked absent?!”

“Why…? Do you have any objections…? If so, please let me know! I’m all ears. Hmm… Sion, right?”

“Ah.”

Taken aback, he stammered in response.

The elf stared directly at him, calling his name.

The surrounding students also turned to look at Sion.

“N-No, it’s nothing…”

“Yeeaah…! If you have any complaints, please! Tell me right now! Uh, let’s start the class? Hehe.”

“……”

It was already baffling to have a hut in the mountains as a classroom.

But the elf emerging from the hut seemed oddly delighted.

“Ah, just so you know, we’re jumping right into lessons starting from Week 1! Why? Because we have a lot to learn in this class~! Can’t afford to waste time, right?”

“……”

“Hehe, so let’s kick off the class…”

While everyone was intent on wrapping up orientation quickly, the elf professor boldly declared for full classes with a broad grin.

The strangely manic energy in her smile left not a single student able to return the expression.

It was the same for Sion as well.

‘…What the hell did I get myself into?’

Four years in university, two years in grad school. Sion could sense deep in his bones.

The elf professor in front of him was a ‘real’ dangerous one.