Hulim Heyerar entered her fourth year at the Preparatory Academy—the final year of the academy’s curriculum.

  Ordinarily, this would be the year when most students began to ponder their futures. But this year felt somehow different...

  "A new course? Are you serious? What’s it about? I’ve never heard of anything like this."

  "How should I know? My family’s just ordinary merchants. You’d have to ask someone with better connections for the details."

  "Ugh, then where did you even hear this?"

  "Everyone’s talking about it! And this morning, I swear I saw someone who looked like a new teacher on campus."

  "......"

  On the first day of the new school year, this topic was the talk of the classroom.

  Word had spread that a brand-new course would be added to the Preparatory Academy’s curriculum starting this year.

  "Hulim, you already know about the new course, don’t you?"

  Fran plopped down cheerfully in the seat next to Hulim—having unceremoniously evicted the original occupant back to their own desk.

  Ignoring her friend’s overly familiar, clingy antics, Hulim nodded. She’d actually heard about this a few days prior from her father, Rezelian.

  "......Father said it was a directive from the upper echelons of the empire. Starting this year, all preparatory academies are required to offer a Combat Training Course. And the final grades for this course will be officially documented and archived by the authorities."

  "Close—but it’s not an imperial directive~!"

  Fran’s father, Baron Banton, was a trusted confidant of the influential Count Lester. Naturally, their family had access to far more inside information than the Heyerars. Now, those tidbits of gossip circulating only among the nobility were spilling from Fran’s lips into Hulim’s ears.

  "The order to add the Combat Training Course came jointly from the Seven-Day Church, the Adventurers' Guild, and the allied nations of the multiracial coalition. Rumor has it the main purpose of this course is to skip the basic training phase when the next Demon Lord’s invasion arrives—so we can conscript a large number of troops ready for actual combat right away."

  "......I see. That does make sense, in a twisted way. Following the pattern of the Demon Lord’s attacks every four hundred years, starting to train young warriors on a large scale now means they’ll be in their physical prime when the time comes."

  "Bingo! But word from my dad is that some people have been pushing for this course for over a decade. But many countries refused, arguing that arming the common people too early would destabilize their rule. So both sides have been bickering back and forth until now."

  "......It’s incredible they dragged their feet on something this important for ten whole years. Don’t they realize the Demon Lord might not wait exactly four hundred years to attack?"

  "Haha~! Exactly! That’s why even the most stubborn conservatives are starting to panic. After all, opposing this any longer would be playing with their own lives. So the plan got fast-tracked and approved this year in the blink of an eye~!"

  Ring~! Ring~!

  "Students, please return to your seats. Class is about to begin!"

  As the school bell chimed and the teacher walked into the classroom, the previously noisy room fell silent in an instant. The students filed back to their desks—all except Fran, that is.

  She was still perched right next to Hulim. Did she have no intention of moving back? Or did she plan to sit there for the entire year from now on?

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  ......

  "Everyone, I’m sure many of you have already heard the rumors about our new Combat Training Course~?"

  Standing at the podium was Colette, the same red-short-haired teacher clutching a magic wand, just like she’d been last year.

  "Well then, let me introduce the person who’ll be teaching this course for the rest of the year—Mr. Kuno! Please give him a warm welcome~!"

  A smattering of applause broke out across the classroom.

  As the clapping died down, a burly middle-aged man with jet-black hair strode in.

  He scanned the classroom with a sharp gaze, then cracked a faint smile and introduced himself.

  "Good morning, everyone. My name is Kuno. I’m a retired officer from the Imperial Army, with a combat rating of C-Rank. And I’ll be your Combat Training instructor for the next year."

  "Since this is our first meeting, I’ll go easy on all of you. But—!"

  His tone suddenly turned icy and harsh.

  "Open your eyes wide and remember this well: this is the first, and last time you will ever see me smile!"

  The grin on Kuno’s face hardened into an expression as cold and unyielding as steel. Combined with his chiseled, angular features, he looked every bit the part of a drill sergeant from hell.

  "I’ll make sure you learn the meaning of real combat—through the pain of your own bodies! This is no joke, and it’s certainly not some childish game of make-believe! Any of you who’ll wet your pants and cry for your mothers when you face a single green-skinned goblin in the future can get out of my class right now!"

  "......"

  Dead silence descended over the classroom. Almost every student was frozen stiff with terror. A few of the more timid ones had already started tearing up, shooting pleading glances at Colette, who sat off to the side looking thoroughly amused.

  But Colette maintained her cheerful smile, as if she hadn’t noticed the students’ silent cries for help at all.

  On the surface, Kuno looked disappointed by their reaction—but deep down, he was actually quite satisfied. After all, this was exactly what his own drill sergeant had done to him when he first joined the army.

  It was a long-standing tradition in the Imperial Army. A drill sergeant who didn’t terrify the new recruits half to death on day one wasn’t considered a qualified instructor.

  What’s that? These kids aren’t soldiers?

  Heh. Do you think the Demon Lord’s army will care whether you’re a commoner or a soldier when they come knocking?

  In a world shadowed by the threat of the Demon Lord, there were no such things as civilians—only those who could still fight were considered alive!

  That was Kuno’s philosophy. It might have been a touch extreme, but it was shared by many in the military and among high-ranking adventurers. Only those who faced monsters head-on day in and day out truly understood how precarious humanity’s existence in this world really was...

  Hmm. While the brats’ reactions were mostly satisfying, though... it seemed there were a few troublemakers in the bunch. This could be a bit of a problem~!

  Most of the students in the classroom had been scared witless by his little act—but a handful hadn’t shown the slightest hint of fear.

  There was that snooty little girl with her nose stuck up in the air, looking utterly defiant. A noble, no doubt—typical spoiled aristocrat attitude. Just wait until she’s under my tutelage. We’ll see how much of that attitude she has left then.

  And then there was that little boy—oh~, is that a look of eager anticipation in his eyes? Not bad at all. He might actually turn out to be a decent soldier someday.

  But the real wild card was the last one...

  From the moment he’d walked into the room until now, her expression, her gaze, even her breathing hadn’t changed so much as a hair’s breadth. She was an absolute enigma! The most unsettling part? He actually felt a faint flicker of threat emanating from her?

  It was the same feeling he got when he stood in the presence of his old legion commander—the one who’d slain countless monsters in his time......

  "......"

  Hahaha~! What am I thinking? I must be getting rusty from all these years of retirement. Imagining a harmless little girl as that demon of a legion commander.

  Kuno chuckled to himself, shaking off the absurd thought.

  He scanned the classroom once more, deciding the mood was just right to continue.

  "Of course, you all don’t have to fear the future. Because over the next year, as a retired Imperial Army officer, I’ll teach you real, practical skills that could save your lives!"

  "Just picture it, everyone—one year from now, you’ll be wielding your swords with grace, trampling goblins and other foul creatures under your feet like the heroes you dream of being!"

  Of course, Kuno was exaggerating a little. There was no way a bunch of kids could be turned into battle-hardened warriors in just one year...

  But his words worked like a charm. Immediately, the eyes of many students lit up with excitement. They were at that age where heroism was the ultimate fantasy—and what if someone told them they could actually become those heroes?

  In an instant, the grim, uncertain future they’d been dreading vanished. One by one, the students sat up straighter, their faces glowing with newfound enthusiasm.