Chapter tree

"While they take on the form of one being, an Aragami is composed of a colony of hundreds of thousands of semi-sentient single-celled organisms that group around under an Aragami Core as something like a central nervous system. In short, Aragami are superorganisms with swarm intelligence that takes on a variety of formations. These forms can appear organic, artificial, or mythical, hence the name Aragami." Ms. Summer recited from the textbook.

"........." Ms. Summer'd lost Nero a while before that. There were five books on her table. She was leafing through the top one, rattling down vocab Nero didn't know.

Nero looked at the girl next to me... She was nodding as she took notes. He had guessed they'd had prep lessons before coming to the Academy. Doll pilots were the main line of national defence against Aragami, so the school was rearing the best of the best. Only the very most delicate students passed the entrance exams. Nero didn't want to be the elite... There was no way... he didn't want to study. He hung his head, feeling inferior, and looked at the girls taking notes around him.

"C-Can I help you?"

As Nero figured, she was nervous and surprised. She was also expecting more to come from him and smiled.

"Oh, never mind. It's nothing. Sorry."

"O-Okay..."

She seemed disappointed and relieved at the same time and returned to taking notes. Nero wondered if he'd done something to make her dislike him.

"Nero, is there anything you don't understand?"

Ms. Summer noticed Nero talking to the girl next to him.

"Um..."

Nero looked back down at his textbook. Still, he didn't understand anything.

"Please ask if there's anything you don't understand. I'm your teacher, after all!" Ms. Summer proudly proclaimed, posturing upright.

"Hey, Teach!"

"Yes, Nero!" she replied excitedly.

"I don't understand a single thing." Nero decided to be upfront with it. Usually, people were pretty accepting of it.

"Um... E-Everything?" Ms. Summer looked confused and startled. The excellent teacher act had disappeared. "U-Um... Is anybody else having problems understanding it besides Nero?" Silence.

"Nero, did you read the textbooks I gave you before you entered here?" asked Nero's sister Artoria from the corner of the classroom.

Okay, let's be honest here... “I thought they were old phone directories, so I chucked them.” Bam!

"I wrote you saying they were required reading! I'll send you new ones. Learn what's in there in a week. Got it?"

"E-Erm, those were thick as hell. I can't learn all that in a week..."

"You will."

"Okay... I will." She was worse than the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket. A human being in the shape of a demon, being human-made her all the crueller. She knew the best ways to make others suffer. Nero wasn't in that situation because I wanted to be. One day, men in black suits showed up and left him with an application form for the Academy, whatever the hell that was about. They talked about protecting him, but does that mean throwing him into a school full of girls?

"Right now, you're thinking that you never wanted to be here, right?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Whether we want to or not, human beings can only survive in a group. If you want to renounce that, try renouncing your humanity first." Artoria has always been a bitter person. Nero guessed she was telling him to face reality. Artoria had always been a realist and an extremist.

"Buy the way, aren't you a huntress? shouldn't you know already know this?"

"You don't need to know this stuff to kill an Aragami."

"........."

"Hmm. Fine, then." Nero had figured that at least he had to ensure his sister Artoria wouldn't be embarrassed at her workplace.

"Nero. I'll teach you the things you don't understand after school." Artoria came up to Nero.

"Okay. I'll come to visit you after school."

"Meet me at the Huntress Guild." Artoria returned to the corner of the classroom.

"Ms. Pendragon. Y-you'll be alone with a student after school... Oh, no! Th-This is bad, Ms. Pendragon. A teacher shouldn't be alone with their student... W-What if something happens?" Ms. Summer was beginning to turn red and rambled on. Was Ms. Summer going to be okay? The gazes of the other girls were painful. If their looks could physically harm Nero, he would have turned into Swiss cheese.

"Noelia, have you forgotten that I'm Nero's older sister? I'm 25, and Nero is 14. there were plenty of times I was alone with him."

"Um... Ms. Summer, please continue the lesson."

"O-Okay!" Ms. Summer rushed back to the front, stumbled, and fell. "Uhh... Ouchies."

Nero felt like his classes would be a bit of a problem.

"Do you have a moment?"

"Huh?"

Nero thought the class atmosphere would be awkward again during the break after the second period, but instead, a girl came up to talk to him. he reacted nervously.

She was beautiful, with naturally blue hair. She looked at me with clear large blue alluring eyes. Her hair was curly, and she gave off the impression of someone of high birth who had already found her place in society; it was the same girl who spack to Nero's sister about hitting him.

Due to the Dolls, women received much better treatment than men; to say it was favourable would be an understatement. Women had all the power, and men were brought to be enslaved for manual labour. It wasn't rare to see men in town being made to do things by random women they ran into. The girl next to Nero was just like that. She had her hands on her hips, demonstrating to him who she thought was in charge.

"Are you listening? What is your answer?"

"What do you want?" Nero answered.

“Goodness! What sort of response is that? Don’t you believe you should address me in a way that reflects the honour I bestow upon talking to you?” she replied, having raised her voice.

“......... Sorry, but you aren't ringing any bells.”

Nero had no clue. he thought that she had probably introduced herself at the being of class, but he couldn't remember it. The girl was shocked by this. She narrowed her eyes and continued to belittle Nero.

“You don’t know me? Me, Cecilia Hyrule? of the Hyrule kingdom, and the one who took first place in the entrance exams!”

“Hey, can I ask a question?”

“Hmph. Enlightening the rabble is part of the duties of nobility. Go on, then.”

"Why should I care who you are? just ask your question."

Some of the girls in the classroom who had been listening were agitated now.

A... A... A...”

“Ah?”

“Are you really asking that?!”

Cecilia glared at Nero menacingly. "You know if this was a manga, the artist would have drawn you with rage veins."

“.........” Cecilia’s rage calmed down. She put a finger on her temple and began to mumble. “Unbelievable. Utterly unbelievable. The fused nations of the east are truly a land of savages. This is common knowledge, you plebeian. Have you no television?”

"Excuse me. We have television. I just watch anime on it."

"I'm the Hyrule Kingdom's first princess; you should be able to understand as much from what I'm saying.” She pointed her finger at Nero. It was so close that it almost touched this nose. “Ordinarily it would be a miracle if someone exceptional, like myself, would share a class with you. Appreciate your luck. I recommend being a little more aware of it.”

“Right. Lucky me, eh?”

“Are you making fun of me?”

"Aren't a smart one."

Cecilia glared at Nero menacingly again. “I’m stunned that you were able to enter this school despite knowing nothing about the Dolls. I heard that you are one of a few men able to pilot Dolls, so I expected a little more knowledge from you... But I was disappointed.”

“It’s best not to expect anything from me.”

“Hmph. On the other hand, I am a person of vast magnanimity. I will treat you properly.”

"magnanimous? a new world that I don't know the meaning of."

"Magnanimity is the virtue of being great of mind and heart. It encompasses, usually, a refusal to be petty, a willingness to face danger, and actions for noble purposes. Its antithesis is pusillanimity." said Houki

"How very... “magnanimous” of you, Cecilia. Never met anyone half as good in my 15 years on this Elgin."

“If you don’t understand something about Dolls, well... Cry to me that you need help and I might just help you. I am, after all, the elite of the elite who managed to beat a teacher during the entrance exam. The only one.”

"The only one...? Wait a sec. what is this Entrance exam you keep bringing up?"

"you don't know what the Entrance exam is? you have to take it to enter the Academy. how can you be here if you didn't take the Entrance exam?"

"you don't need to take the Entrance exam if you are already in the Huntress Guild," said Artoria.

"Oh. I didn't know that," said Cecilia.

"So the magnanimous Cecilla didn't know something."

Ding-dong. The beginning of the third period interrupted their discussion; It was a blessing, frankly.

“I shall return! Don’t run away from me! Got it?”

"No."

Cecilia glared at Nero menacingly for the second time.