The Tale of Gerald Vader, the Heretic Knight’s Rampage Through Another World
“…That’s weird, right?”
After the entrance ceremony.
Together with Twina and Nora, I went to look at the exam results posted outside the auditorium.
Those were the first words that came out of my mouth.
The list, printed on two lavish sheets of high-quality, large-sized parchment, contained the names and scores of about 100 students.
Of course, my name was there too.
It was where it was listed that was the problem.
“That can’t be right.”
I looked at the bulletin board again.
I looked again.
I looked a third time.
And then… I screamed, stifling my voice.
(Why the heck did I end up in the Special Class?!!!)
I couldn’t help but clutch my head… though I managed to resist the urge to drop to my knees.
The Special Class.
There, I ended up pestering Klaus—the protagonist of the main story, known as “Commoners’ Style”—who had also been assigned to the Special Class, and that’s exactly why I’d end up losing my life.
And to think I’d taken every possible measure to avoid that…!
At first, I couldn’t find my name anywhere.
Of course not.
I was looking around the middle of the list of new students posted on the bulletin board.
But it wasn’t there either.
It wasn’t in the bottom half either.
Well then, it must be somewhere in the upper middle… I kept moving my gaze higher and higher, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find my name.
A bad feeling flashed through my mind, but… I moved my gaze even higher.
And then I found it.
For some reason, my name was listed second from the top.
Second.
To put it simply,
“The fact that my name is in the second position among all the new students means I’m number two among the new students.”
That’s what it means.
And shining brilliantly above my name was the academy’s crest.
It was proof that I was, without a doubt, a member of the Special Class.
I don’t get it.
Where…!?
Where did I go wrong…!?
I did my best on the written exam, but I deliberately got a few multiple-choice questions wrong so I wouldn’t score too high.
As for the physical fitness test, my physical stats were clearly below average.
Even my magical power, while slightly higher than the average freshman, shouldn’t have been anything to write home about.
As for the practical exam, well, I did manage to land a hit on that old examiner…
But that fighting style was utterly despicable—a cowardly, underhanded fighting technique unworthy of a knight. I can’t believe that was actually evaluated positively.
My family background is another story.
The Vader family is certainly a traditional knightly house, but even so, we’re nothing more than a knightly family from the frontier—far from just the sticks.
To the nobles and prestigious knightly families gathered in the capital, we must seem like nothing more than nobodies.
No… even so… I do have one possible explanation.
Alissa.
She currently serves as the secretary of the Academy Student Council.
The Student Council has enough power to be involved in administering exams.
So, is it a connection?
Is it a connection…!?
True, since the Knight Academy is attended not only by knights but also by the children of nobles, that sort of favoritism is to be expected.
If Alisa pulled some strings behind the scenes, it wouldn’t be impossible for her to squeeze me into the Special Class… or would it?
Even so, making me the second-in-command is going way too far!
No… I don’t think even Alissa has that much power.
Then is it the scenario?
Is the scenario’s “Great Correcting Force” or something trying to steer the story back to its intended course…!?
Damn it, the more I think about it, the more I feel like I’m digging myself into a hole!
“Gerald? Are you okay?”
“Lord Gerald, what’s wrong? You look rather frightened… could it be that you’re feeling unwell?”
Damn it.
I’d gotten lost in my own thoughts, but Twina and Nora are right here beside me.
Nora, in particular, was peering at my face with a worried look.
No, no.
I can’t lose my composure here.
It’s okay—there are still plenty of chances to avoid that death flag.
I take a quiet, deep breath to calm myself down, making sure the two of them don’t notice.
“Nah, I’m fine. I just didn’t expect to be second in line, so I… well…”
Saying that, I casually swept my hair back.
Even I thought it was a bit of a cheesy move, but it worked like a charm.
Nora’s anxious expression gradually softened, turning into a relieved smile.
“Hehe, I see. So Lord Gerald was pleased with your own results, were you!”
“Y-yeah. I just didn’t expect to score higher than you.”
I wasn’t actually happy about my own results, but what I said to Nora was sincere.
Nora came in third, right after me.
I’d heard she was confident in her written exams, and that she’d given the examiners a run for their money during the practicals.
And above all, her magical power is the best among the freshmen.
So, based on my prediction, I’d thought she’d come in first or second.
After all, she was second in the main story, too.
But Nora shook her head vigorously and clung to my arm, looking delighted.
“No way! Lord Gerald’s words are always brimming with intelligence and refinement. It’s surprising that I came in third, but as far as I’m concerned, your ranking is inevitable.”
“I-I see.”
Somehow, Nora’s opinion of me is way too high.
That’s fine, but I feel like she’s looking at me as if I were a god or something. Is that just my imagination?
I’d hate it if she turned on me, fell into darkness, and stabbed me in the back, you know?
By the way, as for Twina…
“Gah! Why am I in the ‘Advanced Class’?! This means I can’t flirt with Gerald to my heart’s content!”
With a wail of despair, Twina collapses to her knees right there.
She lowers her head and pounds the floor, making the students around her cringe.
Actually.
“Twina, you’re in the Advanced Class too. That’s pretty impressive.”
I had expected her to be in the Intermediate Class, you see.
But when the results came out, Twina’s ranking was a surprising 15th.
In other words, Twina has made it into the top 20% overall.
I suppose this is the result of her extraordinary efforts up to now, but I was still surprised.
“To begin with, more than half of the Special Class lessons are held jointly with the Advanced Class.”
“Is that so?”
Twina looked up at me in surprise at my words.
“Yeah. There are only seven of us in the Special Class.”
“F-Fufufu…! What’s the big deal? You should’ve told me that sooner!”
With that, Twina perked right back up in an instant.
She’s such a practical person.
Well, though I’d rather not have them getting all lovey-dovey during class.