"This can't be happening..."
Mel was denying the reality that had unfolded before his eyes.
Azelan was the overpowered protagonist of this romance-fantasy world.
With his innate abilities, he could lightly resolve every problem that appeared before him, and even if some absurd misfortune—so-called forced plot favoritism—brought him a slight crisis,
it would immediately be followed by an equally absurd stroke of luck, so-called forced favoritism, making him a cheat character beloved by the world to the point of trampling over plausibility itself.
But what on earth was this situation?
Azelan, unconscious on the screen.
Loss of consciousness due to the complete depletion of all stamina and mana.
Incapable of continuing the battle.
It was an unmistakable defeat.
"Hey, Hero. Stop kidding around. This is that, what was it, WWE, right? I'm starting to get bored here."
He let out a hollow laugh and denied reality, but nothing changed.
And then one thought flashed intensely through Mel's mind.
'The original story has been shattered.'
This was absolutely not the story of the romance-fantasy world Mel knew.
There had been somewhat unstable elements up until now, but in the end, he had felt that the main flow remained unchanged, so he had not paid them much mind.
But this was not on the level of the main flow.
This was a massive accident on the level of the pillar itself being completely snapped.
No, since this was the starting point, should he say the roots themselves had been torn out entirely?
"Ha... hahaha..."
Feeling that all the plans he had made until now had turned into scraps of paper in this very moment, Mel could only laugh hollowly.
"W-wait, what is she trying to do?"
"N-no way?"
The people around them, who had been happily watching the duel between Azelan and Sisne, began to murmur.
For an entrance ceremony duel, it had been quite high-level.
The outcome had soon been decided, and the nobles had been projecting themselves onto Sisne, feeling the superiority of nobility.
But at the scene that unfolded immediately after, everyone sensed the gravity of the situation.
Standing before Azelan, Sisne slowly raised her sword with an expressionless face, exuding a sinister aura.
Beneath her sword, Azelan remained kneeling with his head lowered, not moving in the slightest.
The match had already been decided long ago.
Even so, Sisne was trying to deliver the final blow to Azelan.
To take his life.
At this unprecedented situation in which a brutal murder was about to be committed at the sacred academy entrance ceremony, everyone was aghast.
The ink-black sword in Sisne's hand rushed toward Azelan like the scythe of a reaper.
"That is enough."
"?!"
At that moment, someone spoke briefly in a low voice.
A middle-aged man with black hair and red eyes, draped in a pitch-black cloak.
He was clearly in the shape of a human, yet the tremendous aura emanating from him made everyone who saw him think the same thing.
A black lion.
He was a man with such overwhelming presence that one might mistake him for a beast of prey that had appeared in this place.
"W-wait, that man is...?"
Everyone attending the entrance ceremony, and everyone watching it, knew who that middle-aged man was.
How many people in the world did not know him?
A great noble whose fame ranked among the highest in the empire.
The Grand Duke of the North, who guarded the northern territories.
The current head of House Seronis.
The empire's greatest warrior.
Many other epithets were attached to him, but the people of the world gathered all their reverence into one title when they referred to him.
—The Sword Duke, Darkan Seronis.
"Why has that old man shown up already? What the hell is going on here?!"
It was no longer possible to properly grasp the situation through the image being broadcast by the magic projector.
Then he had no choice but to confirm it directly with his own eyes.
But for him, who was not even an incoming student, to go there?
Near Sisne, who was obsessed with catching him after he had run away from the family?
On top of that, the Sword Duke, the strongest warrior of the age and a man who doted terribly on his own blood, was there too?
It was no different from making a suicide charge into a lion's den.
Those two were black lions far more vicious than any ordinary lion.
It might be better to take a shower in oil and jump into a burning house.
"Ugh..."
But Mel had no choice but to go.
Just as time did not stop flowing, the story did not stop flowing either.
Even if it was a story already shattered, that was no exception.
Two things that should never have happened had already occurred.
If so...
There was no law saying it would not happen a third time.
Holding on to his chaotic mind, Mel ran toward the entrance ceremony hall.
.
.
.
"You have gone too far, my daughter."
Gripping Sisne's mana-infused sword with his bare hand, Darkan spoke in a low voice.
"Father. What are you doing here?"
"Do you truly not know? As your father, I could not bear to watch my beloved daughter swing the sword of Seronis in such a manner, and so I came."
His voice was full of affection for his child, yet it carried an inexplicable pressure.
"He is a child of the same age as you. Even if you do not know it now, one day far in the future, he may become a worthy rival to you, and further, a great talent for the empire. As a father, as a warrior, and as a noble of the empire, even after considering every position I hold, I concluded that stopping you was the correct answer."
"Hmph! As if a mere commoner could ever...!"
"Hold your tongue! How dare you carelessly utter the word this father of yours hates most!"
Darkan raised his voice.
Those who witnessed the presence of the Grand Duke of the North, who held sway over the empire, shrank back despite the fact that his force was not directed at them.
"You, more than anyone, know best that one must not look down on others simply because they are commoners, do you not, Sisne? And yet you have shown such disgrace. Hoo... Rest for now."
At Sisne's rebellious attitude, Darkan sighed.
"Y-you!"
The instant Sisne saw Darkan sigh, she immediately sensed what was coming and tried to retrieve her sword from his grasp.
But even though her sword was merely caught between his fingers, it would not budge no matter how hard she struggled.
"You are still immature. At a time like this, letting go of the sword is the best course."
"U-ugh! D-damn it, Father...!"
With Darkan's lament as the last thing she heard, Sisne felt her consciousness blur against her will.
She had clearly sensed the sign of it, but that alone was nowhere near enough to block the hand of her father, the strongest warrior in the world, known to all as the Sword Duke.
"You can even react now. You truly were born with talent."
Darkan spoke as he caught the body of his daughter, who had reacted to his movement.
For a girl of only eighteen to react to his sign at all was remarkable.
Even setting aside the affection of blood ties, that talent was innate.
And as he felt her entering a growing rebellious phase as well, as a father, he could not hide his bitterness.
"If you had been a son, I could have closed my eyes and beaten you black and blue, but how could I possibly lay a hand on such a lovely daughter?"
Even when he had knocked Sisne unconscious, he had done it with firm resolve, but still, it had felt as if his heart were being torn apart.
For now, the situation had been urgent, so there had been no helping it, but he never wanted to do it again.
'At times like this, what I need is that deputy head butler...'
For a moment, he recalled the deputy head butler who had run away from the family three years ago, but that fellow was no longer there.
Feeling that his daughter's deviation had grown even worse since then, Darkan looked down at the daughter in his arms.
"Your Grace. We will move this student first."
The two men placing Azelan—the top student of the With Class, or in short, the commoner class—who had collapsed first, onto a stretcher spoke to Darkan.
"That was quicker than I expected. Do so."
When Darkan nodded to the people who seemed to be academy staff, the two left the entrance ceremony hall with Azelan.
With the top incoming students of both classes having lost consciousness, and with his unannounced appearance added on top of that, Darkan sensed that the atmosphere among the incoming students in the ceremony hall had become extremely unsettled. He cleared his throat.
"Attention!!"
At his voice, imbued with mana, the chaotic noise that had filled the entrance ceremony hall vanished in an instant.
The grand duke, who had created silence with a single word, stood at the center of the stage.
"Many of you likely know me, but I suppose an introduction is still in order. It is a pleasure to meet you, everyone. I am Darkan Seronis, lord of the Duchy of Seronis located in the northern part of the Sigrian Empire."
It would not be an exaggeration to say there was no one in the empire who did not know House Seronis.
How could anyone not know a great noble house that had aided in the founding of the empire and that even now defended the empire's north like an iron wall?
"An unfortunate incident occurred at the sacred academy entrance ceremony. My own blood is still immature, lost control of herself, and committed an excessive act of violence. As her father, I apologize to all of you in place of my unworthy daughter for her conduct."
As he said that, Darkan bent deeply at the waist.
The Grand Duke of the North, who could maintain a dignified attitude even before the imperial family, lowering his head and apologizing before students far younger than him—and even commoners among them—was an extremely shocking sight.
"It is the fault of a father who failed to properly educate his child, and though I have only taken office today, it is also my fault as the academy's new Special Grade 1 professor. Especially toward the incoming students of the With Class."
"W-wait, what did he say?"
"Did he not say new Special Grade 1 professor?"
Realizing that there was something tremendous hidden within Darkan's apology, the previously silent hall began to stir.
The Special Grade 1 professors of Sigrian Academy, also called special professors, were the highest-ranking among the academy's professors and held a rank directly below the headmaster. Even within the vast campus, there were fewer than ten of them.
And every single one of them was renowned and famous in their respective fields.
"As a sign of taking responsibility for this, I, Darkan Seronis, Special Grade 1 professor, shall, for the duration of my contract, take charge of teaching the students of the With Class. I solemnly declare that, staking the honor of House Seronis, I will teach the students with all my passion and sincerity. I earnestly ask the incoming students present here, as well as everyone watching this scene, to bear witness to my declaration."
An unprecedented situation.
The professors of the With Class, the commoner class, were generally of lower caliber compared to those of the noble class.
Most were Grade 3 or 4. Even if they were much higher, they were Grade 2 at most, and even then, they did not stay long.
That was because teaching nobles served as a great advantage in spreading one's fame or later moving within noble social circles, so professors who rose above a certain rank generally transferred to the noble classes without exception.
And yet a Special Grade 1 professor had volunteered to take exclusive charge of the commoner class.
The fact that he had even staked the honor of his house—an expression nobles used when they were one hundred percent sincere—proved that this was no joke.
And it was not just any noble house, but House Seronis, counted among the greatest prestigious families in the empire. For its head himself to stake the family's honor carried an even more extraordinary weight.
Thus, this tremendous bombshell kept the academy buzzing for days even after the entrance ceremony ended.