The day's classes are over.
　The first day ends with just a classroom lesson.

'Hey, Lug, would you like to go to the café this afternoon?　I think all of us S ranks should stick together.

Noish calls out to me as usual.

'Sorry, I can't make it today. Please invite me back.

I know that the opportunity for the whole class to get to know each other is valuable and that it would be a huge disservice not to participate in these occasions. But I want to check the contents of the letter as soon as possible.

'I'm sorry to hear that,'
If Lugue doesn't go, I'm leaving.

Dia started to say something like that and Tart nodded.

'No, you two should go. As expected, it's bad enough that we all won't be there. I want the two of you to go and represent Touahade.

We don't want the three of us to be isolated.
　The worst thing that could happen is that only those linked to Touahade would be left out of the group.
　As long as the two of you show up, we can make a connection.

'All right. I'll go get along with everyone else for the rogue's part.

Dia was just living in that kind of political world, so it was nice to know that she understood without having to say her thoughts about it.
　I smiled at the anxious tart and returned to the dormitory alone.

◇

In the dormitory birdcage, a white carrier pigeon was resting on its wings, a letter wrapped around its feet.

'Thank you for your hard work, it must have been hard to get this far.
"Crook.

I collect the letter and pet it.
　I open the letter.

"It's your dad's side. I'm not so sure I'm happy about this.

The sender of the letter was my father.
　The content of the letter was, "Are you feeling ill due to the unfamiliarity of school life?　Are you eating nutritious food?　The idea is that if you're in need of money, you'll send money home.

Of course, this is a disguise.
　There is no way that father would use a courier pigeon to deliver a message just to say such a thing.
　A messenger pigeon is the risk of being retrieved by a third party and having the information leaked.

That's why it was encrypted, so that a third party could see it as 'a father who is just worried about his son'. If it read that way, they would be convinced without thinking too much about it.
　On the other hand, if the text didn't make sense, they would suspect that there was something in it.
　I'm going to read that code.

''........I see, so my father is going to contact me.

I had to laugh at the content.
　It's because it's a request that my father can't do anything about.
　The assassins have entered the school and are targeting the brave Epona.
　The assassin has entered the school and wants to kill Epona.
　There is no information about the assassin. Then how they know the assassin is there is an assassin is questionable, but it's only because my father asked me to do so. It's probably reliable information.

"You want me to protect Epona from assassination?　What a joke. If you can kill that thing, go ahead and do it.

I've been trying to figure out how to kill him since I met Epona.
　But I've been reminded that it's not possible.

Even when I'm on my guard, I almost fail.
　When that Epona came to miss me and spoke to me unguarded, I simulated a kill in my brain. The result was failure. It's so substandard that I can't even kill it in such a situation.

........Currently, the most probable assassination method is to use the 【God's Spear】 that I used to defeat Setanta.
　It's not a single shot either.
　While Epona is asleep, I will launch more than a hundred rounds of 【God's Spear】 to carpet bomb her.
　My reasoning is that if we carry out that plan, we have a chance of killing about 20% of them.
　Who in the world can kill such an opponent?

Well, let's find out.

Maybe there is such a thing as a weakness of a brave man that I don't know about.
　Still, it's ironic that I, who's trying to kill a brave man, would try to protect him.

◇

In the evening, I was in the training room again.
　There are only three training rooms, and I thought it would be hard to get a reservation, but apparently they prefer the large yard as a training place, and this room indoors is rarely used.

It's a good thing for those of us who do our training under the radar.
　Right now, I'm having a mock battle with Tart.
　The tart accelerates. A combination of enhanced physical strength and wind acceleration.
　I'm going to use the same move. I was the one who taught the tart this trick. There's no reason why I couldn't do it.

We're evenly matched in speed.

But a distinct difference begins to emerge. It's the difference in eyes. It's no match for the tart who can't even grasp his own movements satisfactorily and me who can see perfectly.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them.

"As I thought, I can't win against Lug-sama at all...
'No, I'm on the right track. Maybe I'm cheating.
Those eyes....I'm jealous.
Tart, do you want those eyes?

I ask her.
　I want to give the tart these eyes.
　But it might be self-serving.

'Of course. With those eyes, I can help you more, and most importantly, I can be with Lug-sama.'

He's happy to tell you.
　It's such a tart that you should tell him everything.

'I'm willing to give it to the Tart if he wants it. But in the unlikely event that he does, there is a risk of going blind. You'll have to take that into account when you make your decision.
Don't bother. Still, I want it. Master Lugue can't fail, and if he does, I won't regret it.
''Well I can never fail when you say that. I don't want to betray my tart's trust.

If she fails, she doesn't regret it.
　Because she's like that, I never want to deprive her of the light.

If I find an assassin who wants to kill Epona, I'll experiment with that one until I'm satisfied.
　It's enough to put me in charge of killing a brave man. There's no doubt that she's a powerful magician.
　Since we're going to kill it anyway, we should make good use of it.

I've got a rogue's proposal. I think it would be a good idea to perform the eye surgery on one side of the body and see how it goes. If we do one, and if it works, then we can do the other, and if worse comes to worse, you'll only go blind in one eye.
'If you ask me, that's true. I'll do that when I do the procedure.

I don't think about the consequences of failure, but we should avoid the risks that can be avoided.

'Master Lugue, when should I perform the procedure?

The tart who has convinced me to trust me from the bottom of his heart asks me with a glint in his eye.

'Don't be in such a hurry, it's probably a month later. I'm ready for it.

If that's all I had, I would have caught the assassin and had some practice.

''You're looking forward to it... but can I get those eyes? It's the best kept secret in Touahade, isn't it?
I don't mind. The tarts are my family. My father gives me permission. He said it was okay if I took charge.

He has been serving me since I was very young. Tart is not just a servant.
　.... and taking responsibility means that when Tart leaves Touahade, I will kill him with my own hands.

It's not possible. But still, if it did, I would kill the tart.

'Family, responsibility, it's like, well, you know, ha-ha-ha.'

Tart began to slump, his ears turning red.

''Well in case you're wondering, that's not what I meant.
Yeah, I know, I know. I know exactly what I'm doing.

These things about her are really cute.
　Maybe one day we will really become a family in the sense that Tart has imagined.
　If a child like Tart becomes my wife, I'm sure we'll have a happy life together.

◇

When the academy started and a week passed, the actual battle training began.
　The students were paired up based on their abilities, using blade-drawn acquisitions, actually striking swords against each other, and even being allowed to use magic.

Tart finishes the match and walks off the stage.
　Her opponent was not a servant slot, but a fifth seat that came in on merit, but she won without danger.
　There is a spear in her hand.
　Normally, this school doesn't train each of their specialty weapons, but only the S class is an exception, and they can receive specialized training related to their desired weapons.
　Tart had become strong by learning the spear of the orthodox path that I couldn't teach him at this school.
　He has the best of both worlds, front and back.

''How was it?''
'Good spearmanship. Just a couple of mistakes, though. First.....

The tart is listening with a serious face.
　This kind of honesty and the ability to learn to use it next is Tart's greatest weapon.
　In the meantime, the match between Neusch, who shows an overwhelming talent in orthodox swordsmanship in this class, and Finn, who was born into a prestigious family of warriors, has begun.
　All the students are fascinated.
　Their swordsmanship is truly spectacular, as it is only in orthodox swordsmanship.
　In the end, Neusch won, but it didn't matter who won.
　And finally, it was my turn.

Already, Neusch, Finn, Dia, and Tart. All of the matches for the top players have been completed.
　Then, it is natural that there are only a few left.

"Next, Epona Rhiannon. Roug Touahade.

This is what happens.

Actually fighting and feeling the power of the brave is the most efficient way to gather information.
　But that's if you can get back alive.
　In the exam, it seems that the knight commander who fought against Epona is still on the bed.
　That's it after being treated by a top-notch restorative surgeon.
　The instructor picked me because he thought that would be the case if it was anyone else's game but mine. In a way, that's one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

Hey, look, Roug, I'll look after you. I'll do my best.
Well, let's make sure we do it fair and square.

Look at the instructor's face.
　Are you sure you want me to do this?　With the intent to do so.
　The instructor just nodded.

In case you're wondering, I know I told Epona earlier not to get serious.
　What I should be thinking about is how well I'll lose while she's holding back.
　If Epona gets serious, it's over.
　But that doesn't mean we should let Epona down.
　You will need to be good at losing.
　It's not easy, but it's not impossible.

"You're both ready.
I don't mind.
I'm good, too.

He holds a knife with a drawn blade. He has no intention of fighting with a sword. You can't prevent an accident if you don't move in the most familiar way.

The instructor raises his hand.
　At the same time, he pours magic power into his eyes.
　If I don't increase the power of Touahade's eyes to the limit, or even higher, I won't be able to even follow the shadow.
　The excessive enhancement causes intense pain, but I maintain that state while forcibly healing it with 【Super Recovery】.

''Hajime!''

At that moment, Epona was gone.
　I saw it one day, a reenactment of the battle with the Knight Commander.
　But I have Touahade's eyes, enhanced beyond their limits.
　I can just barely see them. So, while stepping sideways, I leave the knife in its place.
　I just put it in the air.
　If I leave my whole arm to intercept, my hand will shatter.

The ring cracked as the brave Epona stepped in, and the knife I had left behind blew up like a bullet, piercing the auditorium.
　I was able to duck just in time, but unbelievably, the wind pressure alone blew me off a few inches.
　And with the knife I left in the air, the bruising is slightly, if only slightly, etched into the brave Epona.
　At this speed, just hitting something should be a huge damage.

My, the blow. After all, rogues are unbreakable.

He was smiling.
　Innocent, heartily happy.
　And then he looks at me.
　Well, I ducked the first blow.
　Now what do we do?
　I'm going to enjoy this life-threatening battle practice to my heart's content.