The first to speak up after silence had taken over the Academy’s great hall was the headmaster.
“I’m sure it just malfunctioned.” He called over a member of the staff. “Have the backup magical instrument prepared for assessment.”
The backup was immediately brought out, and I placed my hand on it as instructed. Unfortunately, the result hadn’t changed. After a pause, the headmaster spoke again. “It seems that you are level 99, after all.”
In an effort to confirm if the magical instrument was functioning properly, teachers took turns assessing their own levels. The previously silent hall began to fill with the murmuring of uneasy students, so I allowed myself to escape the discomfort by thinking back on my level grinding once more.
I was already at the max level? All that extra EXP I worked so hard for... What a waste...
Finally, the teachers concluded that the magical instrument was indeed not broken, and one teacher made their way toward me.
“Lady Yumiella, do you have any idea as to why your level is so high?”
I didn’t just have ideas... I probably knew the exact reason. For a moment, I considered coming up with an excuse, but the thought of having everyone suspicious of me for three years made telling the truth sound like the better idea.
I’d rather take action now than spend my days terrified of the truth coming out.
“Yes, I can think of a few reasons why this assessment is correct.”
“The magical instrument itself is working properly. You must have done something to meddle with it, did you not?”
“No, I did not. Level 99 should be my correct level...” I said tentatively.
“You may not know this, but in order to increase your level, you must defeat monsters. We’ll know if you’re lying, so just tell us the truth.”
I was telling the truth, and yet I was under suspicion for falsifying my level. It’s a hard world out here for honest people.
All of a sudden, the headmaster spoke up in a powerful voice that reverberated throughout the entire hall.
“Everyone, please settle down. Whether or not she speaks the truth will become clear when classes begin.” With the teachers not any closer to an explanation that would satisfy them and the students’ unease increasing, he probably felt he had to say something.
The headmaster turned to address me. “Lady Yumiella, finish your introduction and return to your seat.” I could see his glare in my peripheral vision. It seemed that even the headmaster was suspicious of me.
Would they believe me if I blew up the school with magic?
I gave up on trying to explain my situation with words and decided to keep my introduction short.
“I’m Yumiella Dolkness. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” As I returned to my seat, I began to mentally prepare for the worst-case scenario.
I’ll just leave the kingdom on my own. I can probably strong-arm my way through the borderlands.
The level assessment and introductions continued in the apprehensive atmosphere. If things had progressed according to the game’s story, the main character should have stood out as the only commoner in the incoming class. However, her assessment and introduction took place with no particular attention drawn toward her, and the entrance ceremony came to an end.
Sorry about that, Miss Heroine.
It should be noted that, just like in the game, she was at level 1.
After the entrance ceremony, a buffet party was held to welcome the new students. Since I didn’t know anyone, and no one seemed to want to get to know me, I hung back in the corner of the venue.
I should start thinking about my plans for my future here.
If nothing else, I didn’t want to get involved with any drama related to the revival of the Demon Lord. I would need to keep my distance from the main character and love interests to make sure that didn’t happen.
I’ll just wait a bit longer and then say I’m not feeling well and head back to my dorm.
Just as I was finished coming up with my escape plan, I locked eyes with someone making their way toward me.
Speak of the devil.
The clearly angry male with fiery red hair making his way toward me was one of the love interests. His name was William Ares, the swordsman of the hero’s party. He had an extra strong sense of justice and a short temper—in other words, he was a hothead.
Without any sort of preamble, William loudly snapped, “You with the black hair! What kind of trick did you use? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, pulling a stunt like that?!”
“Um...are you talking about the level assessment?”
“What else would I be talking about?! I don’t know if you just wanted attention or something, but don’t you have any pride as an aristocrat?” William, who seemed to be a second away from taking a swing at me, was stopped by someone who came chasing after him.
“Calm down, Will. I understand how you feel, but don’t cause a scene at the party!”
It was Edwin Valschein, the second prince of this kingdom and the main hero of the story, complete with his sparkly blond hair. He was a magic swordsman—proficient in magic and competent with a blade. Realizing that I was in the presence of the prince, I hastily curtsied.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I am Yumiella Dolkness.”
“The Dolkness family. So, a pseudo-centralist,” Edwin whispered to himself. He looked up to address me. “Lady Yumiella, Will has worked harder than anyone on his swordsmanship from a young age, and he finally reached level 10 just before entering the Academy. What you did made a mockery of his efforts.”
Why does everyone keep assuming I cheated? Maybe they’ll start believing me if I go on a magic shooting spree.
“I’m sorry, but my level being 99 is the truth. As the headmaster said, I’m sure you will understand once classes begin.”
Prince Edwin was unable to hide his irritation as he spoke. “So you’re going to feign ignorance until the end, are you?”
“Are you saying that you’re stronger than me? You’re lucky I don’t have a gauntlet to throw down!” William lashed out.
Is he trying to challenge me to a duel? William, my dear, you should really cherish your life more.
As the people around us quieted to listen in on our conversation, the final love interest unsurprisingly appeared.
“Level 99 isn’t even a realistic level to be at. Were you unable to even consider such a basic fact? Well, I suppose not.” This fellow with the insulting attitude was Oswald Grimsarde, a blue-haired mage with glasses.
The three love interests were childhood friends, so close that they called each other by the nicknames of Ed, Will, and Oz—The golden, orthodox prince; the red, fiery swordsman; and the blue, cool mage. This world was full of attractive people, but these three were on another level. However, while they were all good-looking, interacting with them was quite troublesome.
Welp, all the love interests are here now. Just my luck.
This might have been exciting for a fan of the game, but I was only into the RPG portion.
“Hey, why don’t you say something?” William seemed to have gotten impatient with my silence.
“It seems that I’m unable to get you to believe me, so...” I mumbled, eager to escape.
“You’re still not fessing up?”
“Is your head completely empty?”
“Are you a compulsive liar or something?”
Jeez, do they kiss their mothers with those mouths? Don’t they know that they’re just characters in an otome game?
In an effort to end my conversation with them, I tried to change the subject to something that would encourage them to go to the main character.
“Wasn’t there a commoner who uses light magic? She may be having trouble with...something. I think it would be best if you checked in on her.”
“Yes, that would probably be much more productive than playing along with your nonsense. I’m sure the Academy will issue a decision regarding your lies soon enough, so be prepared.” With that final remark, Prince Edwin turned and left with the other two.
Ugh... That was exhausting. I better hurry back to the dorm.
Having returned to my dorm, I had my maid Rita prepare some tea for me. Despite being a noble already, I couldn’t help but be charmed by how aristocratic it felt. Having tea like this was refreshing since, back at the mansion, I only had tea as a part of etiquette classes.
“My lady, are you sure you’re all right with being back so early? I believe the party is still going on.”
“It’s fine. It seemed like I wasn’t going to be getting friendly with anyone anyways.”
“You won’t be able to find a good partner with that kind of attitude. It’ll be a problem for the master as well.”
Rita was a maid working at the Dolkness mansion in the Royal Capital but was reassigned as my attendant yesterday when I entered the Academy. The Academy had a dining hall as well as specialized staff for chores such as laundry, making a maid feel unnecessary. However, there was no going against my father’s orders. It had only been two days since we met, but she took every chance she got to remind me about finding a suitor—likely an order from my father. She was probably also here to supervise me so I wouldn’t act out of line.
“With classes officially starting tomorrow, I’m sure you’ll meet someone great, my lady. Isn’t the second prince one of your classmates?”
I’ve already made quite a bad impression on the second prince. Wait, she doesn’t know about all the ruckus at the entrance ceremony? Well, she’s not a very good supervisor.
I was still curious about the term that Prince Edwin muttered after hearing my family name, and decided to ask Rita. “On an unrelated note, do you know what ‘pseudo-centralist’ means?”
“Someone must have called you that. Don’t worry. It’s nothing you should concern yourself with.” Just as I expected, it didn’t seem to be something good.
“I never said anyone called me that, but I suspect it’s something that describes the Dolkness family, is it not?”
“Er...” Rita seemed to give in and began to explain. “You know about central aristocrats and provincial aristocrats, right, my lady?”
“Yes, I believe the Dolknesses are provincial aristocrats, since we don’t hold any official positions at the Royal Capital or anything like that.”
“That’s correct. With regards to that, ‘pseudo-centralist’ is a derogatory name for provincial aristocrats who spend all their time in the Royal Capital without a central position.”
“I see, so basically, it refers to good-for-nothing aristocrats who leave their domain to a deputy and spend their time partying without working in the Royal Capital.”
As an employee of said good-for-nothing aristocrat, Rita kept her mouth shut and scowled. As the daughter of said good-for-nothing aristocrat, I let out a heavy sigh.