I Became The Academy’s Blind Swordsman

party’ that Edward had organized.

Edward waved his hand and called for someone.

“Third place already? This way, this way.”

The third place finisher appeared.

Maybe it’s because she’d seen a bloodshed just a few minutes earlier she plops down in the chair next to me, her hair looking unusually red.

“And in third place is none other than Cadet Yuri of the famous House of Clementine! Now, let’s see how the other 13 cadets rank.”

Edward announces excitedly, like he’s hosting a circus show.

‘Three of us?’

Aizel, Yuri, and me.

“…”

“…”

“…”

There was no conversation between the three of us, except for the occasional sip of tea from Aizel at the table.

I try to ease the tension, but I can’t bring myself to speak to them, looking at their impassive faces.

It was Edward, standing next to me, who broke the silence.

“…I was wondering… who was the first person to die in the illusion?”

The girls looked up at him, but didn’t answer.

‘Should I?’

The silence was uncomfortable, even for me, physically sandwiched between them.

“…Cadet Yuri next to me.”

“Hmm?”

My words made Edward question.

“And the second one?”

Edward asks, turning to me again.

“The second was Cadet Aizel.”

“…”

Edward pauses at my answer, but then the corners of his mouth turn up.

“Hmm? This… This might be unexpectedly fun.”

Edward’s suspicious tone drew the attention of all three at the table.

“…Is there any particular significance to the order?”

“Cadet Zetto…are you sure it’s okay for me to tell this now?”

“…No, I’m not curious all of a sudden.”

I politely declined.

Edward’s insidious smile made me feel crazy because he wanted to say something different from what it really meant.

This was bait.
I didn’t bite.
I could not bite.

But another fish suddenly appears and bites the bait.

“Why? I was just starting to wonder.”

That fish was Yuri.

Yuri was looking at Aizel or at Edward… Her gaze remains somewhat ambiguous as she continues.

“Uh, Instructor Edward, I was wondering if you could tell me if… Does the ‘order’ in which the characters die in the vision mean something?”

“Hmmm… this is awkward, but Cadet Zetto says he’s not curious…”

“What about you, Zetto, are you still not curious?”

Naturally, Yuri, who is speaking casually, looks at me.
She was clearly smiling brightly, but this was a clear threat.

I could feel her murderous intent.

‘I didn’t say anything.
Is it the effect of what happened with Aizel yesterday…?

Let’s pretend first.

I was afraid that the words, which Edward would blurt out nonchalantly if given permission, would open a Pandora’s box that shouldn’t be opened.

“Ahaha… is that so?”

“I’m so curious… Are you going to say, ‘friends?’”

The glass suddenly comes close to me.

Should I just ask and be done with it?

Maybe it’s not as bad as I thought, it could all be a prank by Edward.

…My head felt dizzy but just then I heard a voice behind me.

“I’m not exactly curious either.”

Aizel said, setting her cup down with a grimace.

“Just as Zetto.”

Yuri’s one eyebrow goes up at Aizel words that follow.

Beside us, Edward watched all of this as if it were exciting.
He was ready to pop some popcorn any minute.

“Ha… just tell me, Instructor Edwards, what is the meaning of that sequence?”

I wondered if I was worrying too much.

Most of all, I didn’t like how much he was enjoying the situation.

“Oh, well, I’ll take Cadet Zetto’s word for it, then.
It’s no big deal, it’s just a device I set up when I created the illusion.
You’ve all seen the cadets die, and I thought it would be no fun if they just died…”

Edward gently unraveled the mystery of his illusion magic.

“I made them die in the order they felt closest to each other, so it would be easier for them to panic, and I want you to know that it was just to test the waters, nothing selfish on my part.”

Yuri smiles at me after Edward’s condescending explanation.

Aizel is sipping her tea again, her expression unchanged, as if she’s really not interested.

“Intimacy… I suppose that explains it.

If the order was intimacy, it made sense that Yuri would die first, not Aizel.

Aizel was so different from the Aizel I had met in the game… Frankly, it was strange.
I still don’t feel the same intimacy with her as I do with Yuri.

Both characters have been a tremendous source of enjoyment for me, and they’re not the only ones.
Except that Aizel was dead for good.

“It really wasn’t a ‘big deal’ for being late to listen, was it, Instructor Edwards?”

Yuri narrowed his eyes at Edward, his face innocent.

“It was all for the amusement of you cadets, you know, watching Cadet Aizel and Cadet Zetto fidget, it was fun, wasn’t it?”

“Not really.”

“Hahaha, well, if I was the only one who found it funny, I guess I failed.
I’ll think of something more clever next time.”

Edward smirks and the conversation ended.

Out of habit, I check my status, and I have a question.

“…Mr.
Edwards.
Should we assume that the class is over?”

“Yes, for the three of you, class is over.”

The reason I was asking this puzzling question was because my level increased.
The class had been treated as over and I had earned experience.

‘Four levels in one class?’

The eye patch helped, but even with that, it was still a lot of experience.

‘How many small quests did I do just a few days ago to get to level 5…Is it because I had a good attitude in class?’

Sometimes the game would give you extra experience for impressing your instructor and right now, I was in second place out of 16.

“If you’re tired, you can go back now, but I’ll bet my name that it’ll be hard to see such a sight anywhere.”

Edward’s tastes, however, were quite unique, watching the cadets tremble in terror, unable to move.

He should be thankful there was no school board in this world.

‘At least for today…’

He was a very good instructor for me.

‘That’s enough for me to go get the ‘ingredients’ tonight.’

I took a sip of the tea on the table and began to formulate a plan in my head for what I wanted to accomplish tonight.