Not far from the bulletin board, Group 7 and Group 8 had just ended up gathering in roughly the same area after meeting back up with Simon and Rick.
Naturally, their attention was fixed on the massive crowd of students packed around the board.
"Ugh, that's way too many people," Cindy muttered, standing on her toes a little as if that would somehow help.
"We're not getting through that easily," Claudia said with a small sigh.
Rick folded his arms and stared at the wall of bodies in front of them.
"Seriously, did the whole first year come here or what?"
Even Simon frowned slightly as he looked toward the bulletin board, where students were crammed shoulder to shoulder with no sign of a gap anywhere.
And then—
the crowd suddenly split in two.
It did not happen noisily, nor was there any dramatic shouting.
The students simply moved aside one after another, opening a path straight down the middle so neatly that, for a moment, even Group 7 and Group 8 could only stare.
"Huh?" Rick blurted out.
"What's going on?" Cami asked, blinking in confusion.
Merida, who had been half-awake until then, lifted her eyes a little more.
"...What?"
At first, none of them understood what had caused it.
Then they saw her.
A beautiful girl with black hair and crimson eyes walking calmly through the parted crowd.
And the moment they recognized her, understanding hit almost instantly.
"Huh?" Rick's eyes widened. "Isn't that Lorain Archbold?!"
"Ah," Claudia murmured softly, as if everything had immediately made sense.
"Well... that explains it," Cindy said.
Lorain's presence alone was enough to draw attention, and with her reputation, beauty, and overall air, it was hardly strange that students would instinctively move out of the way for her.
But then—
someone else came into view beside her.
For a second, Group 7 and Group 8 just stared.
And then their expressions changed all over again.
"...Knox?" Simon said.
"No way," Cindy muttered, then looked again just to make sure. "It's really Knox."
Rick looked completely thrown off.
"Wait, what?! Why is Knox walking next to Lorain Archbold like that?"
Meilyn glanced at him with a flat expression.
"They're childhood friends. You already know that."
"Yeah, I know, but still!" Rick shot back. "Knowing it and actually seeing it are two different things!"
That, unfortunately, was true. They all knew Knox and Lorain were close.
But seeing the two of them walk side by side through a crowd that had practically split open for them was a very different experience.
Especially because, from a distance, the sight looked far too eye-catching.
Claudia watched the two quietly, then let out a faint breath.
"Honestly... the two of them together are a bit much."
"Too flashy," Merida added.
"Very unfair," Cindy said at once.
Meanwhile, Rick was still staring in disbelief.
"Seriously... how is he childhood friends with that Lorain Archbold?"
Beside him, Simon remained silent, though even he could not deny that the scene in front of them was striking enough to make anyone pause.
And just like that, before they had even seen the matchups themselves, Knox had already managed to become part of the spectacle.
Meanwhile, Knox himself was also a little surprised by the spectacular scene unfolding around them.
He had expected a few stares at most.
Not... this.
The crowd had split so cleanly for him and Lorain that, for a brief moment, Knox felt oddly out of place. It gave him the strange sensation of being some absurd final boss who had accidentally wandered into a beginner village far earlier than he was supposed to.
Naturally, he knew perfectly well what the real cause was.
Or rather—
who.
Knox glanced sideways at the "princess" walking beside him and immediately understood.
Yep. This was definitely because of her.
While walking toward the bulletin board beside Lorain as if the two of them were some overly dominant young CEOs making their grand entrance, Knox suddenly noticed a familiar group nearby.
Group 7 and his own Group 8 were standing not too far away, all of them still staring in their direction with complicated expressions.
The moment he spotted them, Knox immediately brightened and raised a hand.
"Oi~ over here!"
Without the slightest hesitation, he called them over.
Naturally, the reason he did that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he did not want to be the only one feeling awkward in this bizarrely overblown situation.
Absolutely not.
Then, both Group 7 and Group 8 were visibly startled when Knox suddenly called out to them.
For a moment, neither group moved.
After all, stepping into that already-open path meant stepping directly into everyone's line of sight.
Fortunately, each group had at least one person shameless enough to handle that kind of attention.
Rick and Cindy.
The two of them immediately waved back at Knox with bright, cheerful energy, as if none of the countless eyes around them mattered in the slightest.
And because both of them were genuinely delighted to have been given such a perfect excuse, they wasted no time at all.
With the confidence of people who either felt no shame or simply did not believe in its existence, Rick and Cindy began walking straight down the opened path as brazenly as they pleased.
Naturally, once those two started moving, the rest of their groups had little choice but to follow behind.
That, however, did not mean everyone else was even remotely immune to the stares raining down on them from all sides.
For example, Cami's face was already practically red.
Not from anger. Not from heat. But from pure embarrassment.
She looked like she wanted to shrink on the spot and disappear.
Meilyn's expression was stiff in a different way, as though she was enduring the situation through sheer willpower alone, while Claudia tried her best to maintain her usual composure despite the obvious awkwardness of walking through a parted crowd like this.
Merida, on the other hand, looked as if she had simply decided that being half-asleep was preferable to processing what was happening.
Simon could at least keep a calm face, but even he could not hide the faint tension in his posture as he followed along.
And so, led by the terrifying shamelessness of Rick and Cindy, Group 7 and Group 8 ended up walking through the open path as well, drawing even more attention than before.
Then, once both groups finally reached the front, Knox clapped his hands lightly as if none of the bizarre atmosphere around them existed at all.
"Oh, right. Since everyone's here..."
He turned slightly toward Lorain, then gestured toward the others one by one.
"Lorain, these are my friends."
He started with the ones closest to him.
"This is Simon, Rick, Cami, and Meilyn from Group 7."
Then he shifted his hand toward the others.
"And these are Claudia, Cindy, and Merida from my group, Group 8."
After that, Knox turned his head toward the two groups with an easy smile.
"And everyone, this is Lorain Archbold."
That introduction, simple as it was, still made the atmosphere around them grow a little more delicate.
After all, even if most of them had already heard the name before, properly standing face to face with Lorain Archbold was a different matter entirely.
Especially when she was even more striking up close. Her black hair, crimson eyes, and composed presence made it difficult not to feel at least a little pressure.
Rick was the first to recover.
"H-Hello!" he said, suddenly much straighter than usual. "I'm Rick Hayward!"
Cindy also brightened at once.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Cindy!"
Claudia followed with a much more composed greeting, while Simon gave a polite nod and introduced himself in his usual calm manner.
Cami, meanwhile, looked like she was trying very hard not to trip over her own words from sheer awkwardness, and Meilyn kept her expression under control, though the slight stiffness in her shoulders gave her away.
Merida simply gave a small nod.
Lorain looked over them quietly, then offered a faint, restrained smile.
"Nice to meet you."
Her tone was calm and elegant.
And somehow, that only made several of them straighten up even more.
Knox, watching the scene, suddenly looked very pleased with himself.
"Hmhm. Good, good. Everyone's getting along already."
Meilyn shot him a flat look.
"No, we literally just greeted her."
Then, Lorain's gaze moved across Group 7 and Group 8 one by one.
At first glance, it looked calm and ordinary.
But for some reason, especially to the girls, it felt a little too thorough.
Her crimson eyes seemed to linger just enough to give the faint impression that she was quietly evaluating them, as though sorting through faces and filing away names in her mind for reasons known only to herself.
Cindy blinked.
Claudia straightened slightly.
Cami froze.
Meilyn narrowed her eyes just a little, as if she could somehow sense that Lorain was not merely "looking."
And then—
Lorain smiled. A very beautiful smile.
"By the way," she said, her tone perfectly pleasant, "did you all come here to check your opponents too?"
The groups collectively paused for half a beat, still caught off guard by how smoothly she had taken control of the conversation.
Then Lorain continued, as if nothing at all was unusual.
"If so, then let's check them together."
At Lorain's words, both Group 7 and Group 8 immediately moved closer to the bulletin board to check their respective first opponents.
Because of the crowd parting earlier, the group managed to secure a good enough spot without too much difficulty.
The bracket for Group 7 was not much different from the original arrangement.
[Stadium 2 – Round 1 Match 12]
Class A Simon Polentia vs. Class G Haren Cork
[Stadium 4 – Round 1 Match 15]
Class A Rick Hayward vs. Class G Ligang Chopra
[Stadium 4 – Round 1 Match 16]
Class A Meilyn Villenne vs. Class C Ivan Barshani
[Stadium 4 – Round 1 Match 18]
Class A Camibarez Ursula vs. Class C Egir Atlier
As expected, Group 7's eyes quickly moved over their own names first.
Rick pointed at the board almost immediately.
"Ooh! Found mine!"
Simon silently checked his own matchup, while Meilyn and Cami also searched for their names nearby.
Then Knox shifted his attention to Group 8's side.
His gaze moved across the board one name at a time.
He found Merida first.
Then Cindy.
Then Claudia.
[Stadium 1 – Round 1 Match 3]
Class A Merida Hugh Ickel vs. Class A Toto Amory
[Stadium 5 – Round 1 Match 10]
Class A Cindy Vivace vs. Class N Elijah Crovis
[Stadium 1 – Round 1 Match 13)
Class A Claudia Menzies vs. Class M Fitzgerald Ingles
But before Knox could find his own—
"Knox, here's your name."
Lorain's voice came first.
When Knox turned, he saw that she had already found it for him.
And not only that—
she was smiling.
Not her usual faint, restrained smile.
But a visibly brighter one. A genuinely beautiful smile.
For a moment, the students around them went completely dumbfounded.
After all, Lorain Archbold was famous for her cold, distant image. Seeing her smile like that so openly was enough to make several nearby students stare as if their minds had briefly stopped functioning.
Knox followed the direction Lorain indicated and found his name.
[Stadium 1 – Round 1 Match 24]
Class A Knox Aznable vs. Class I Chatel Mayer
Seeing the name of his opponent, Knox slowly raised the corner of his mouth.
Then he smiled.
"Hoo, this will be an interesting fight~"
As he said that, his fingers lightly tapped the pink badge pinned to his suit—the one shaped like a cute little pink creature. (Mi-mii ♪)
Chatel Mayer.
In the original story, he should have been the Special Entry No. 3.
But in this world, that rank had been pushed down—because Lorain existed.
Author's Note
Special Entry No. 1: Knox Aznable, Simon Polentia
Special Entry No. 2: Serene Aidark
Special Entry No. 3: Lorain Archbold
Special Entry No. 4: Chatel Mayer
Special Entry No. 5: Merida Hugh Ickel
Special Entry No. 6: Jule Vincere
Special Entry No. 7: Elisa Celin
Special Entry No. 8: Laheim Northfold
Special Entry No. 9: Greg Crow (?)
Special Entry No. 10: Malcolm Randolf
(As far as I know, even until now, the original holder of No. 6 has not been revealed at all, so I decided not to include that original character and use my own instead. Of course, let me know if any of you happen to know!)