To put it bluntly, ranking matches were impossible.

“No, what is this… … !”

Seeing the objects in front of him, Noah was confused.

“This is a foreign language textbook, this is a Korean history textbook, this is a medical textbook, this is a world history textbook, and this… … .”

“Why are there so many textbooks?”

The employee who was distributing the textbook laughed at Noah’s lamentation mixed with despair.

“Well, this is a school for training knights. They teach not only swordsmanship, but also basic education and everything necessary to carry out missions.”

“ruined.”

He had confidence in swordsmanship.

That is in swordsmanship.

However, if I had to do even normal studies like this, I was honestly at a loss.

“When was the last time you studied… … ?”

Noah wasn’t just playing around in the mountains.

When I was young, my grandfather took care of the housework, so I was able to receive basic education during that time.

From noble mtl dot com.

After my hair grew quite thick, I had to make money, so I studied calculations and commercial law.

“At least, it was at the level of scratching the surface of a watermelon, but even if you pretend, this is a different level, right?”

“Oops. No matter how strong this school is for swordsmanship, you have to pass all of these to graduate.”

“Is there no other way?”

“doesn’t exist. Graduating from Nightray means receiving the title of an official knight. If you don’t meet all the minimum requirements, you won’t be able to graduate even if you’re ranked first.”

In addition, the employee spread two fingers and said.

“As a bonus, we can’t let you go to school forever while receiving a failing grade, so if you fail the same subject twice or more, you will be expelled.”

“Damn, do I have to cut the number of subjects in one semester in half?”

I wondered if I could somehow keep up with the progress of the other guys if I cut the number of subjects in half.

Of course, that would double the time it takes to graduate.

“Kuh, look at that spoiled bastard. He said he defeated Regina-sama, so he’s just worried about failing his writing.”

“After all, he was just a mouthful.”

As Noah was tearing his hair out, the other freshmen looked at him and whispered.

Tiu said as if he was disapproving of them.

“Those guys, a topic that I couldn’t even talk about at the entrance ceremony. Have you already erased the fact that Noah stood out alone?”

“Leave it alone. I heard that the headmaster is a highly respected knight? I said it arrogantly, so I can’t help but hate you.”

“but… … .”

“Once you hate something, somehow you only see the bad side. You can suppress that kind of voice with your skills.”

The real problem was something else.

“If you think you have to take classes in the future, it will be difficult to continue your part-time job. How can I apply for a dormitory?”

Noah had to earn money while attending school.

“Since the dormitory is also a ranking system, it is difficult for freshmen who start at the bottom of the ranking to enter right away. Of course, there are dormitories for freshmen, but… … .”

“How are you?”

“Because there is so much competition there. The guys who are aiming for the freshman dormitory must have gone there before here?”

* * *

Those who are aiming for a dormitory for freshmen said that as soon as the entrance ceremony was over, they started looking for a dormitory instead of textbooks.

It is said that it is too late to come and run now.

“I’ve heard that, but I can’t give up.”

“Huh! Huh! Noah! Go with me!”

Noah started running straight to the freshman dorm.

Tiu was panting and barely followed Noah.

‘I knew that guy was good at martial arts, but what kind of stamina is that?’

Tiu, who continued to practice at the same inn as Noah for a month, recognized that his rigid body technique was at an unusual level.

The strength of rigid body art was largely determined by two factors.

how many auras do you have

Also, how efficiently do you use that aura?

In the former case, it was a matter of time and money.

No matter how many elixirs he drank, he couldn’t catch up with the person who drank more elixirs for a longer period of time.

In the end, the amount of aura had to be proportional to age.

Efficiency, however, was another matter.

Unlike muscles, Aura can focus on one area.

If the Aura from the unused part was driven to the needed part, the same amount of Aura could produce greater power.

Aura efficiency is experience, but innate sense was important.

‘He’s the same age as me, but there’s such a difference in physical strength. It doesn’t seem like I’ve taken the elixir, but this difference means… … .’

It wasn’t just rigid physiognomy.

Rigid body was, after all, a technique to strengthen the body.

It is another matter to perform desired movements with such strengthened physical abilities.

Noah basically had the kinesthetic sense of an animal.

Thanks to that sense of movement, Noah was consuming less stamina even though he was running the same distance.

“What kind of life have you been living?”

In the end, Tiu did not know until he arrived at his destination.

That if they had traversed the woods rather than along the roads, they would not have been able to keep up even this short distance and would have fallen behind.

“Ha ha ha, we have arrived… … .”

“Anyway, it seems we are late, as the employee said?”

“What? Have you been running so hard?”

The guys who came earlier were already gathered in front of the dormitory building.

“Ranking match is over. The winner of the match is Addie Moore!”

“Good! Then, room 202 will be taken by me with a higher ranking!”

Seeing the ranking match taking place on the street, not in a stadium, Tiwu said as if he was dumbfounded.

“The freshmen don’t apply for dormitories, so why do they say it’s a ranking match? Could it be that the freshman dormitory also enters according to the ranking?”

“Good. It’s late, but you mean we have a chance, right?”

The dormitory manager, who noticed the two of them, approached them first.

“Are you freshmen too? You’re a little late.”

“Can I apply now?”

“It is possible, but here too, priority is given according to ranking. You don’t have any experience before ranking, right?”

Noah nodded and the manager explained the current situation.

“This school’s ranking system is divided into two sections. The ranks from 1st to 1,000th are called top rankers, and a swap method is used to exchange rankings with the other person by fighting each other for rankings.”

For example, if A, ranked 30th, and B, ranked 50th, fight,

If A, ranked 30th, wins, the ranking will not change.

If B, who was in 50th place, won, B would become 30th in the rankings, and A would become 50th.

“On the other hand, starting from 1001st place, the lower rankers are given points for each win and loss, and it is a rating system in which the ranks are ranked in order of the highest number of points.”

This method started at 800 points, earned points for beating a higher ranker, and lost points for losing to a lower ranker.

In addition to ranking matches, points were awarded for academic performance and tournament prizes.

“If you haven’t played any ranking matches, your score is 800 right now. However, the minimum score for freshman dorms has risen to 920 now.”

“Then I can also play a ranking match here and raise my score to 920, right?”

“That’s true, but it’s probably hard… … .”

“thank you!”

Noah greeted the janitor and found a guy named Addy whom he had just heard had won in the ranking match.

“Are you Addie? Let’s play ranking match with me!”

“no.”

“uh?”

Addy waved the dorm key proudly at Noah, who was flustered.

“I’m already in the safe zone, so why do more ranking matches? I just finished the ranking match, so I have the right to refuse, so I’ll refuse everything.”

When the opponent seemed unwilling to accept the ranking match, Noah hurriedly looked for someone else.

However, those who had already earned enough points were rejecting all ranking matches.

“I said no one would fight me… … ?”

“If you want to come like that, you should have come earlier.”

The dormitory manager said as if he felt sorry for Noah.

“The guys who are aiming for the dormitory have already been filtered out here in the ranking match. If you come late and look for someone, there is no way there will be someone who will stick with you with the key you just acquired.”

“What kind of ranking does this school follow even in the dormitory for freshmen?”

“Where is the only dormitory? Starting with the restaurant, textbooks, and furnishings, everything is ranked first.”

Noah was desperate.

“Higher rankers are exempted from tuition, food, and textbooks. There’s even a subsidy out there. On the other hand, lower rankers should be discriminated against even after paying all of that.”

“No, like that… … .”

“A competent person and an incompetent person are never equal. This is a place where competent guys are raised as knights, not a nursery school that makes incompetent guys work as human beings.”

Knowing the rules and using them well was a part of competence.

What Nightray wanted was not an idiot with excellent swordsmanship, but an all-around knight who could accomplish any task.

“I’m sorry, but consider this a good lesson for your future school life.”

In the end, Noah had no choice but to give up and turn around with Tiu.

“It was good because I saved money when I went to the dormitory, but I didn’t have to. Noah, what are you going to do now?”

“I thought I could do part-time work if it didn’t work. I didn’t know there was so much to study.”

Cost of living was an issue.

There was more to study than I thought, and thanks to that, I didn’t have time to earn my living expenses.

“Raising the ranking will solve all the problems, but judging from today’s events, I can’t just raise the ranking just because I want, right?”

“Because if you want to play ranked matches, you have to save your opponent too.”

“I think this is a big deal.”

“Why don’t we go and visit the princess? Originally, I was supposed to buy a sword, so instead of receiving financial support… … .”

“No, that’s not it. Where are we walking right now?”

The two stopped on the spot.

“what?”

“I couldn’t ask because I was worried about what to do in the future, but where are we going?”

“I was following you Noah?”

“Did I follow you Tiu?”

“… … .”

“… … .”

At this point, the conversation they had been having this morning passed through their heads.

“The fact that there are missing people every year… … .”

“It was our story… … ?”

It was a really big deal.

“Now, wait. Still, we’re on the road now. If you follow the road, it must lead somewhere!”

“That’s right, I roughly remember the map. Considering the time we walked and the location of the freshman dormitory… … .”

At each fork in the road, I couldn’t remember which way I took, but I knew the approximate direction.

I didn’t walk all day, so I was able to limit the expected location to some extent.

“It seems to be located a long way from the front gate. I can’t even be sure of that.”

“For now, let’s follow the road. Whatever comes out, you can ask the people there.”

Fortunately, the road was a single road.

Unfortunately, it was filthy long.

The two continued walking along the road for a while.

However, no matter where I went, all I could see was trees and grass on the side of the road.

“It’s a nasty twist! Doesn’t this keep going around the same place?”

“That’s probably not it. You’ve been alone since you came to your senses. I couldn’t hear it because I had to hear the wrong way.”

“Wait, can you see the fence over there?”

As soon as I saw it, I ran to the place where I found an antique mansion.

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“What is this building called?”

The mansion is quite run-down, with vines covering the walls and spider webs everywhere showing poor maintenance.

“Is this like a training site for infiltration operations?”

“Isn’t that too creepy for something like that? It’s like a haunted mansion. Surely this isn’t the ‘unmapped building’ from that ghost story?”

It didn’t look like a completely abandoned facility to Noah.

The grass was cleared on the road leading to the entrance, and, crucially, a fire was turned on inside the building.

“It’s the first time I see your face. Are you a freshman?”

Startle!

Hearing the voice from behind, the two reflexively threw their bodies away from each other.

‘You didn’t know until you came into this street?’

I was very nervous in front of the haunted mansion.

It was a clear-looking young man who entered by fooling his senses that could even detect the movements of grass insects.

“Are we finally getting new students into our dormitory?”

“A dormitory?”

“You came here knowing nothing? Then I’ll introduce you here. I am Aslan. I’m the student dean of the Black Moon Dormitory.”

“Ah, yes.”

Noah suddenly took his outstretched hand and shook it.

However, Tiu shrank a lot.

“Ah, ah, if it’s Aslan… … .”

“The person you think is right.”

Aslan introduced himself with a friendly smile.

“I am Aslan, the current number one in the rankings.”

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