Peace Hunter

In class A, second year.

"Good morning, everyone. It's hard to believe that a month of vacation has passed, and you're now second-year students. A round of applause for all of you who have successfully advanced to second year, and a round of applause for this class, as all of its students have successfully advanced to second year," said Mr. Alan.

Then we all applauded.

"Since you're now second years, that means from now on you must wear the Silver Badge on your uniform," said Mr. Alan.

"Yes, sir," we all said.

"Good," said Mr. Alan.

Then Mr. Alan looked around the class, observing his students.

"Hmm, wait a minute. Noa, why are you still wearing the bronze badge?" asked Mr. Alan.

"Huh, me? Oh yeah, why am I still wearing the bronze badge?" asked Noa after realizing he was still wearing the bronze badge.

Several students laughed at Noa's antics.

"Do you want to be a first-year again?" asked Mr. Alan.

"That's not it, sir. I didn't realize it because I was in a hurry this morning. So I didn't realize I was still wearing the Bronze Badge," Noa said.

"Okay, it's fine. Starting tomorrow, wear the badge properly according to your rank," said Mr. Alan.

"Roger, sir," said Noa.

"Before we begin, I'll give you some information about the second year."

"Just like the first year, you are still required to participate in daily matches every day they are held. Since you are now second-year students, there is a possibility that you will be challenged by your juniors, the first-year students, in a daily match. Of course, you are free to decline or accept the challenge. And please note that if you accept the challenge and win or lose, the points gained or lost will be different from matches between students in the same year. I already told you about the point calculation for all classes last year, ​you can refer to the notes if you've been keeping track."

"And regarding the second-year exams. You might not know that the exams for second-year students are the same as for first-year students, as they both have four exams. The timeframe is the same as for first-year students, as are the number of points awarded for successfully completing the exams. However, the exam content will be different from when you were first-year students, so you must be prepared for them."

"As for the schedule of events held by the academy, such as academy tournaments and festivals, it remains the same as last year. You will also still get a one-month holiday in June next year after your promotion to third-year students,"

"For those of you who may have forgotten, the requirement to advance to third year is to accumulate 60,000 points. Don't forget that and keep working on earning points throughout this school year," said Mr. Alan.

"You're in good shape, Rid, because you've already accumulated 60,000 points. If you don't do anything during your second year, you'll still be promoted to third year," said Noa.

Noa can talk to me in class because he sits across from me. So even during class, he can chat with me since we're close.

"There's no way I can do nothing during my second year. The daily matches and academy exams are mandatory for academy students, so even though I have enough points to advance to the next year, I still have to participate in the daily matches and academy exams."

"But, even though I've accumulated 60,000 points now, I'll still be serious about accumulating more points in the future," I said.

"Even though you're safe, you still won't relax, huh?" Noa said.

Then we stopped chatting and turned our attention back to Mr. Alan.

"That's my brief explanation about the second years. Do any of you have any questions?" Mr. Alan asked.

Charles then raised his hand.

"I have a question, sir," Charles said.

"A question about what, Charles?" Mr. Alan asked.

"Since we're now second years, that means the training ground we'll be using is also the training ground for the second years in this building. But we don't know where our training ground is yet, as each class has a different training ground. So, where is the training ground for our class, sir?" Charles asked.

"As for your training ground in this building, you'll have a training ground on the 5th basement floor, just like your training ground when you were first years," Mr. Alan said.

"The 5th floor again? Why do we always have training grounds so far down?" Noa complained.

"Is there anything else you'd like to ask, Charles?" asked Mr. Alan.

"Nothing, thank you for the information, sir," said Charles.

"You're welcome. So, everyone else, do any of you have any questions?" asked Mr. Alan.

All the students seemed silent. This meant none of them wanted to ask questions.

"No one wants to ask questions, huh? Okay, then let's begin today's lesson. Since today is the first day, we'll start with theory," said Mr. Alan.

-

A few hours later, it was break time.

"*Haaaah, I'm hungry. Let's eat soon, and then we'll have our daily match. I want to see the match arena in the second-year building," said Noa.

"It's probably the same match arena as the first-year building," I said.

I just realized that since we won't be using the first-year match arena anymore, that means we won't be able to meet Mr. Elgin, the match arena supervisor on the second floor of the first-year building. When we were first-year students, we often played matches on the second floor of the first-year building, so we often ran into Mr. Elgin. Now that we don't see each other anymore, things might feel a little lonely.

-

In the cafeteria.

A while later, we finished lunch. We decided to chat for a while before heading to the second-year match arena.

"This morning when I was leaving, I saw a very beautiful woman in front of the academy lobby. She looked like a princess, and she also carried a sword at her waist. She was wearing a uniform that resembled a royal knights, though not exactly the same," Noa said.

"You're amazing, Noa, being able to compliment another woman with the word 'beautiful' when your girlfriend is around," I said.

Indeed, every time we ate lunch in the cafeteria, Noa always took Lillian with her, just like today.

"Oh sorry, Lillian, that's not what I meant. Even if I said she was beautiful, that doesn't mean I'd be interested in her. Besides, she looked older than me. She was probably in her 20s," Noa said.

"It's okay. I know you wouldn't be like that," Lillian said.

"Thank you, Lillian," Noa said.

"So what was your point in telling us about meeting that woman, Noa?" I asked.

"I was just curious. Could that woman be the Duke's daughter or something?" Noa asked.

"Hmm, as far as I remember, there aren't any Duke's daughters in their 20s. The only Duke's daughters I know of right now are Irene and Amelia," Charles said.

"Hmm, I see. Well, let's forget about that. Let's head to the match arena for our daily match," Noa said.

We immediately headed to the match arena in the second-year building.

-

We arrived at the match arena in the second-year building. We chose the match arena on the second floor. The match arena looked quite deserted. Seeing that the match arena was still empty, we immediately requested a daily match to the proctor there. The proctor's name was Harold Godoy. I requested a daily match against Charles to Mr. Harold because Charles had previously said he wanted to fight me. After that, Charles and I went straight to the center of the tournament arena. Mr. Harold asked if we were ready to compete. After we both answered "ready," the match began.

-

"I commend you for continuing to challenge Rid even though you ultimately lost, Charles," said Noa.

"Even though I lost, at least this can make me stronger because with lose it's makes you stronger," said Charles.

"But Rid keeps getting stronger even though he's never lost," said Noa.

"Well, he's an exception," said Charles.

After our daily match, we returned to our classroom to resume lessons.

-

A few hours later, the day's lessons were over. Since we had already played our daily match, we decided to head straight back to the dorm. Perhaps because it was the first day, they seemed very tired and chose to go straight back to the dorm.

As we walked out of the academy lobby, we saw Princess Amelia chatting with a woman near the fountain in front of the academy lobby. We also saw Princess Amelia's subordinates watching her not far away.

"Ah, that. That's the woman I saw this morning," Noa said.

We watched the woman closely. She was indeed beautiful, as Noa had said. She also resembled a princess, wearing a uniform similar to a royal knights and carrying a sword at her waist. Those features were just as Noa had mentioned.

"Do you know who that woman is, Charles, Chloe?" Noa asked.

"No, I don't know who that woman is. This is the first time I've seen her face," Charles said.

"I don't know either," Chloe said.

"Who is that woman?" Noa asked curiously.

We were curious too. Moreover, the woman seemed very close to Princess Amelia. This was evident from the two of them being so focused on their conversation, oblivious to their surroundings.

Despite our curiosity, we decided to leave the area and return to the dormitory. It wasn't pleasant for us to continue watching them as they chatted.

As Rid and the others headed to the academy dormitory, unbeknownst to them, the woman glanced at Rid and the others as they were walking towards the academy dormitory.

-

I arrived at my dormitory with Irene, as she had also joined our group. Leandra and Lily also came along, but afterward, they went to their respective dormitories.

"I'm borrowing your room again, Rid. I want to change into the casual clothes I wore this morning," Irene said.

"Don't you want to take a shower first?" I asked.

"I'll shower at home later," Irene said.

"You'd better take a shower now. Just use my bathroom," I said.

"Is that okay?" Irene asked.

"That's fine, just use it," I said.

"Ok then," Irene said.

After that, Irene went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. I went to my room to read a book while waiting for her to finish.

A few moments later, Irene finished her shower, and it was my turn. While I was showering, Irene prepared some food. Afterward, we ate together.

-

The next day, 4 a.m.

Usually, I wake up at 4:30 a.m. and get ready for my morning workout and exercises, but this time, it was unusual for me to wake up at 4 a.m. Since it was too late to sleep again, considering it was only 30 minutes until 5:30 a.m., I decided to get out of bed and go to the bathroom to wash my face. After that, I got ready for my morning workout and exercises.

I left the dormitory, and it was eerily quiet, considering it was 4 a.m. I walked to the dormitory gate and continued on to the front of the academy lobby. It was incredibly quiet, even the guards were nowhere to be seen, even though there were usually many guards around during the day and evening. It seemed they were currently focused on guarding the academy gate and the outside of the academy, near the perimeter wall.

Once in front of the academy lobby, I decided to run around the academy. I ran to the accommodations for staff and guests, and then continued running toward the academy garden. When I arrived at the academy garden, I heard the sound of swords being swung. Curious, I searched for the source of the sound. I wandered through the academy garden and saw a woman swinging a sword in one of the garden areas. It was the woman who had previously chatted with Princess Amelia. She had previously been wearing a uniform similar to a royal knights, but now she was dressed in casual clothes. The woman continued to swing her sword while I watched her.

"Who's there?" the woman asked suddenly.

Unexpectedly, the woman suddenly spoke while she was swinging her sword. She seemed to have noticed my constant attention. Since I'd been spotted, I immediately appeared in front of her. She looked at me after I appeared.

"Excuse me, miss. I'm a student at this academy. I originally intended to run around the academy grounds. But as soon as I arrived at the academy grounds, I heard the sound of a sword swing, so I became curious and went to find out what it was. And it turns out it was you," I said.

"I see. I didn't expect a student to be exercising at this hour. You're very diligent, aren't you?" the woman said, holding her sword.

I examined the sword the woman was holding. It was a pure white with a very shiny sheen. I was certain it was a high-quality sword. It appeared to be made of fine materials. The hilt had a floral motif. Not only the hilt, but the sheath at her waist also had a floral motif. In fact, the floral motif almost covered the entire hilt.

"Hmm, by the way. You're Rid Archie, right?" the woman asked.

"Yes. How do you know my name, miss?" I asked.

"About that, before I came to this academy, I looked at some newspapers and saw one that had a lot of news about you in it. It even had your photo in it. That's how I knew you were Rid Archie," I said.

"I see. I've heard that a newspaper has published news about me. Because of that, I'm currently the center of attention. It's really troublesome," I said.

"Being famous sure is troublesome," the woman said.

"You're right, miss. By the way, what's your name? And from what you said, it seems like you're new to this academy. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Violetta, and I'm currently appointed as the commander of the knights guarding this academy," Miss Violetta said.

"I see. I've also heard that this academy will be guarded by several knights led by a commander, so you will be the commander. Miss Violetta, is your name just Violetta?" I asked.

"I used to have a last name, but for now, I've decided to just use my first name. Besides, it seems I no longer have the right to use my last name," Miss Violetta said.

"I see," I said.

"By the way, do you always run with a sword?" Miss Violetta asked.

It seemed Miss Violetta noticed that I was carrying a sword at my waist.

"Ah, this sword is for morning practice, miss. I usually train in the morning after exercise. So I brought my sword with me so I don't have to go back to the dorm. I usually train with my friends at the training ground inside the academy every morning at 5 a.m. Since it's still 4 a.m., I'll continue exercising while I wait for them," I said.

"I see," said Miss Violetta.

Miss Violetta fell silent, as if thinking. After a moment, she spoke again.

"Hey, do you want to spar with me?" asked Miss Violetta.

-To be continued