On the first day back at school after finally being discharged from the infirmary, I entered the classroom and felt numerous inexplicable stares directed at me.

"Isn't that him?"

"Wasn't he ranking last in grades?"

"He's here, he's here..."

"What is it?"

At my shocked comment, the entire classroom fell silent. Everyone quickly turned their heads, pretending to study, as if nothing had happened.

‘...What on earth? These people usually ignore me.’

Confused, I ended up sitting far from my usual seat. Laurent, a usually indifferent Disciplinary Committee executive, approached me.

"That's not your seat."

"Does it matter where I sit?"

There weren't any assigned seats anyway. Laurent listened to my words and then pointed to the corner of the classroom.

"Can you still say that after seeing that?"

Where her hand was pointing, there was a heap of things that didn't seem like lecture materials at all. As I looked closer, I saw a pile of meticulously wrapped gift boxes and letters.

"Huh?"

"The kids who were on the mission with you last time prepared those for you as a welcome-back."

"Really? I only got a little injured."

"A little?"

Laurent furrowed her brow.

"Someone who was on the brink of death with completely shattered bones calls that 'a little'?"

"..."

Now that I think about it, I was indeed badly injured. Thanks to the Academy's advanced medical technology, I could walk around normally, but if this were in modern times...

I didn't even want to imagine it.

Still, being nearly killed by mere cultists made me think I needed to train even harder.

"Well, I should gratefully accept the gifts..."

As I pondered and looked at the mountain of presents, I spotted a familiar gift wrapping and letter on top.

[Don’t do anything reckless]

On a yellow wrapper tied with a brown ribbon, there was a letter written in black pen on light yellow paper.

This... I've seen this in a game before.

Just like any other gacha game, Hero Academy also had events where you would receive gifts from heroines. Among those, the 100-day anniversary event had gifts filled with handwritten letters from the heroines...

I was so familiar with this design that I could guess who used it.

I turned my head to look at Laurent.

Laurent, with a startled expression, asked, "Yo, what are you looking at?"

"...It looked like there was some dust."

I made a half-hearted excuse, naturally slipping Laurent's gift and letter into my arms.

‘Hehe... Did she add the ‘yo’ to avoid getting caught?’

"What, what are you doing?" Laurent demanded.

"...What do you mean?"

"Why are you holding that?"

Well... It's a real-life item from my favorite game character. Who would just let that go?

I tried to play it off nonchalantly, but sharp Laurent persisted.

"You figured it out, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm not worried about someone like you, so don't misunderstand!!!"

“Hehe... alright.”

"Aaaah!!!"

After that, I organized the mountain of gifts and prepared for the lecture.

"Today's lecture is..."

The lecture focused primarily on the theoretical understanding and practice of mana.

Anyway, the Hero Academy is an institution that trains heroes to fight monsters.

Since the theoretical studies were not deeply explored, it wasn't too difficult for the students.

I, on the other hand, was encountering this 'mana' for the first time since entering the Academy, so I had considerable difficulty understanding it.

‘…This is driving me crazy.’

For instance, right now.

I couldn't manage to create a flame at my fingertips, which was our practical assignment.

“Wow… Can you really not do this? Did you even graduate high school?”

Laurent, laughing her head off beside me, seemed to find it surprisingly easy.

It was understandable that she found my struggle amusing.

However, I didn't intend to give up or seek help from the instructors.

If it doesn't work, make it work.

“Grrr!”

[ Draw mana from your heart and release it through your fingertips. ]

I repeated the simple incantation, gathering strength at my fingertips.

‘Drawing mana from my heart? What does that even mean?’

I wondered if it was related to summoning my unique weapon, so I tried to recall the sensation from when I summoned it.

Bang!

Only a bullet without any mana flew out from my fingertips.

There was not even a hint of a mana flame.

”Kya-haha! What are you doing! Try to go bang like this, not boom.”

Bang!

Laurent started to show off some strange tricks by lighting flames on each of her fingertips. She even ignited a flame at the tip of her shoe.

Boom!

Even seeing that, I couldn’t imitate her.

“Ugh… Is this not it?”

While I was ignoring Laurent’s antics and racking my brain alone, someone gently wrapped their hands around my arm with a calm voice.

“That’s not how you do it… You have to do it softly like this.”

Beneath the puffy blue hair and under the pristine white skin, a person concealed her emotions with bright makeup and tightly shut eyes—one of the 5-star characters.

Astasia, the Head of the Legal Department.

She was guiding my mana with a gentle touch, holding my hand.

‘…Why did she suddenly appear?’

She was the leader of the Punitive Squad, a group proclaiming meritocracy and reigning over the students, and she led the Legal Department within the Student Council.

Normally, she wouldn’t even speak to a 1-star character like me and wouldn’t treat even talented students as people if they didn’t meet her standards.

A character who could be called the epitome of meritocracy.

‘But now she’s helping me finish my practice. Why on earth?’

I wasn’t someone talented enough to attract her interest.

While I was pondering her intentions, a blue flame sparked at my fingertip.

Boom!

"See? Once you get the hang of it, it's not difficult, right?"

"Thank you for your guidance, Head of the Legal Department."

"Hmm? So you knew who I was?"

Pulling my hand away from her touch, I used the mana she had infused as fuel for the mana flame and asked, "What brings you to our classroom?"

Thinking about the major event that would happen soon—the imprisonment of the Student Council President and the ringleader, Astasia, Head of the Legal Department—I grew tense. There was nothing good that could come from being entangled with her.

‘I guess she’s here to check out the person who managed to fend off the cult members…’

She would probably leave once she realized I was nothing special, just someone with a lot of guts.

But I was wrong.

Her interest in me was far beyond my imagination.

"It’s nothing much..."

I couldn’t understand why she was bringing this up.

"Freshman, would you like to join our Punitive Squad?"

===

The day before Gardner was discharged and he received a scouting offer from Astasia, the Head of the Legal Department, a regular meeting was in full swing at the Student Council.

“Let's set aside the issue of the breaching of the wall between Rose Hall and Blue Dragon Hall for now…”

The Student Council President, seated at the head of the table, spoke while holding a file titled [First-Year Talent Report].

“I checked the report submitted by the Human Resources Director, but there’s a name missing from it.”

“…Are you referring to the Disciplinary Committee member, Gardner?”

“Yes. Is it that difficult to keep track of the freshmen? According to the report you gave me…”

There's no one usable.

The Student Council President swallowed those words, knowing it was something everyone was already aware of.

“Please be more thorough in your talent investigation. There are many vacancies, especially in the Punitive Squad.”

The Student Council President continued, looking intently at the Head of the Legal Department, who had narrowed his eyes.

“It’s already mid-April. Even if we don't have suitable candidates, wouldn't it be better to hurry and just fill it with what is available?”

“Heh... I would like to do that, but there are no candidates who meet the standards.”

“Can’t you just choose them from the top of the list?”

“This time, the written test for the entrance exam was given too much weight, so that will be difficult.”

“…Fine, but make sure it's completed by the end of May at the latest.”

“Ah, come to think of it…”

Just as the Student Council President was about to conclude the meeting, the Head of the Legal Department suddenly interjected.

“The Disciplinary Committee member you just mentioned seems quite promising...”

“…”

The Head of the Legal Department prodded the Head of the Disciplinary Committee with subtle words, but the Head of the Disciplinary Committee remained as calm as ever, their expression unchanging.

Seeing that even a needle prick wouldn’t draw blood, the Head of the Legal Department got straight to the point.

“Why don't you send Gardner over to our side? The Disciplinary Committee doesn’t seem short on members anyway.”

“Do we really need to pull someone from an already complete organization, Head of the Legal Department?”

“The Human Resources Department will investigate and present talents for you to choose from.”

The Head of the Student Council and the Human Resources Director tried to dissuade the Head of the Legal Department, who then fell silent.

The Disciplinary Committee Head relaxed their fists.

‘They already took all the usable personnel in the first place... And now they’re asking for someone who’s showing promise…’

The Head of the Disciplinary Committee thought they would not hand Gardner over out of sheer indignation.

However… the vacancy in the Punitive Squad was a significant matter, so the Head of the Disciplinary Committee would have to yield to the Head of the Legal Department this time as well.

The Head of the Disciplinary Committee spoke calmly.

"I will respect Gardner's personal opinion on this matter."

It was a declaration that, while they would not proactively send him over, they would not actively prevent the Head of the Legal Department from recruiting him either.

The establishment and authority of the Punitive Squad was something that somewhat coincided with the interests of the Disciplinary Committee, thus the Head of the Disciplinary Committee decided to leave it up to the individual member's choice.

This was the maximum concession the Head of the Disciplinary Committee could make, and knowing this, the Head of the Legal Department would likely not express major dissatisfaction.

“Hoho... If that's the condition...”

As anticipated, the Head of the Legal Department grinned with satisfaction.

She acted as if Gardner was already within her grasp.

Normally, the sight of that face would have been infuriating…

But the Head of the Disciplinary Committee felt a sense of calm when they recalled Gardner’s face, battered and bruised, yet still grumbling.

‘The chief is the light of my life and the spark of my soul…’

At that moment, an unwavering conviction began to rise within the Head of the Disciplinary Committee — this time, things would not go according to the Head of the Legal Department’s plan.

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