The ceremony concluded, and the new students were taken on a tour of the academy to see all the available facilities. Class S, consisting of 10 individuals, immediately gathered on the left side of the auditorium. A female instructor approached the Class S group.
"Hello everyone, I am your instructor for Class S. My name is Minerva Darlie Rylies; just call me Minerva. I will call the roll for each of you. Shall we begin?" Minerva asked.
"Please, Instructor Minerva," Eva replied.
"Alright... Alicia Herlena Einhard from the Fredonia Kingdom?" Minerva asked.
Alicia raised her hand. Minerva observed Alicia and checked the list on her clipboard.
"Ainsley Calisto Heindrich from the Ateras Kingdom?" Minerva asked.
A bespectacled young man, thin and short, raised his hand. Minerva observed him and checked her list.
"Ard? Hmm, just Ard? Ard from Orthus?" Minerva asked.
"Yes... that's me," Ard replied, raising his hand.
"Oh, okay," Minerva replied, observing Ard and checking her list. She then glanced at Princess Beatrice and Princess Eva, who were standing next to each other, and checked their names.
"Geoffrey Neil Bragnister from the Durnhill Kingdom?" Minerva asked.
A burly, tall young man with a buzz cut, whose uniform looked too small, raised his hand. Minerva checked her list again.
"Irwin from Fredonia?" Minerva asked.
Ard turned. He saw a young man who looked similar to him, only his nose was different, and he had black eyes, not blue like his own. His hair was also messy and black like his own. The young man raised his hand. Ard saw Eva glance at Irwin behind her, then look back to the front.
"From Fredonia too, huh... I hope he doesn't recognize me," Ard muttered to myself.
After checking her list, Minerva searched for the names that hadn't been called, then faced everyone again.
"Milia Gladis Orlaf from the Durnhill Kingdom and Patricia from Orthus?" Minerva asked.
Milia raised her hand simultaneously with a simple girl with braided black hair named Patricia. Minerva checked her list again.
"And finally, Rosalind Zoya Flaurend from Rellios?" Minerva asked.
A beautiful girl with blonde hair tied up and a straight, knight-like physique raised her hand. Minerva checked her list immediately. Minerva smiled, looking at everyone.
"Alright, now that introductions are complete, before we tour the facilities, we should divide into teams. Each team will consist of five people, and since there are ten of you, there will be two teams for the Hero Class this year. Please decide among yourselves now," Minerva said.
The moment Minerva finished speaking, "clutch," Eva grabbed Ard's arm, and Alicia immediately took his other arm. Milia held Ard's shoulder from behind, and Beatrice, not to be outdone by Eva, hugged Ard from the front, all at once. Naturally, Ard was shocked and utterly confused.
"Wait... what is this?" he asked myself.
Ard turned to look at Ainsley, Rosalind, Geoffrey, and Patricia, who were also looking at him and smiling. Their faces seemed to be saying, "It's decided, then." But when Ard turned to look at Irwin, he could see Irwin's face was pale when he saw him, although he finally forced a smile.
Minerva, observing them, smiled. She immediately wrote on her list, then looked at everyone once more.
"Alright, the team division is complete... honestly, this year's team selection is the fastest compared to previous years, and because your numbers are exact, there's no need to recruit or combine with Class A," Minerva said, smiling.
Ard looked at Alicia, who was currently locked in a glaring match with Eva, and Beatrice, who was smirking at Eva, plus Milia, who was still trying to soothe Alicia.
"Wait... so I'm on a team with Eva, Alicia, Milia, and Beatrice? Are you serious... how am I supposed to have peace like this? The atmosphere is already this tense without us even doing anything," Ard muttered to myself.
After that, Minerva led all ten of them out of the auditorium. As they went through the corridor, Minerva read out the academy rules, such as: weapons or magic are forbidden outside the arena, no discrimination between classes or between nobles and commoners, men are not allowed into the women's dormitory and vice versa, arrival to class must be five minutes before the lesson starts, and so on.
Naturally, Ard only half-listened because he was busy trying to prevent a needless fight within his team. He then briefly turned and glanced at Irwin, who was currently in a situation similar to his: being a commoner, and who looked uneasy while walking beside him.
"What's his deal, I wonder? Why does he look so much like me? This guy is a little weird; for some reason, I feel like there's something wrong with him," Ard muttered to himself.
They finally arrived at the spacious dining hall with long tables spread across the huge room, which had a very high vaulted ceiling adorned with hanging crystal lamps. On the right and left sides, there were many tables with buffet-style serving dishes on them, which were currently empty, of course.
Minerva explained that academy students all eat together in the dining hall, with no difference between commoners and nobles. After they were done looking around, they continued their tour.
Minerva showed them the classrooms, which looked like large, curved, tiered stadiums or theaters. After that, she also showed them the very vast, multi-story library with bookshelves packed all the way up to the ceiling. Then they arrived at the arena where students exercise and practice sparring.
In the back part of the academy building, there was a large, beautiful garden with a fountain pool and several pavilions for afternoon tea. After that, they walked toward the dormitories, which were still part of the academy complex.
Three wide, five-story apartment-like buildings were visible standing side-by-side. The building on the far left was the women's dormitory, and the one on the far right was the men's dormitory.
The apartment building in the middle, which looked like a mini-mansion, was the exclusive dormitory for female members of the royal family, as male members of the royal family stayed on the fifth floor of the right-wing building, which was the men's dormitory.
Eva immediately turned to look at Ard next to her. Naturally, Ard was confused to see Eva's cold, expressionless face, without being able to tell whether she was angry or not.
"Tonight you'll sleep in the royal princesses' dormitory, that building," Eva said, pointing to the exclusive royal family princesses' dorm.
"Huh... what? He's a man, he has to be in the men's dorm," Alicia shouted loudly and angrily.
"H-hey... Alicia," Milia said, trying to calm Alicia down.
"Yep, Ard will be sleeping in the royal princesses' dorm, more specifically in my room," Beatrice said, pulling Ard's arm and making him press against her.
"What did you say? I've already prepared a special room for him," Eva said, tugging on Ard's arm.
"No, he has to be in the men's dorm," Alicia yelled, pulling Ard backward.
"S-stop it, Alicia," Milia said, trying to calm Alicia.
Finally, Eva, Beatrice, and Alicia began to argue while Milia continued to try and pull Alicia away from the dispute with the two princesses, who were clearly of a different status than they were.
Ard, stuck in the middle, simply remained stunned without saying a word, his face blank as he was tugged back and forth by Eva, Beatrice, and Alicia like a prop in a dramatic scene.
"Okay... now two princesses are fighting over me... plus Alicia, my noble fiancée... why is it so chaotic all of a sudden? Do they forget I'm nicknamed 'trash'? But as long as no one draws a weapon... it's still safe," Ard muttered to myself, already resigned to his fate.