THAT week, I was in normal mode. In the mornings, I went to class, then I ate lunch in the cafeteria. In the afternoons, I went to the extreme-difficulty dungeon.
“Master Arius!!”
When Vern and I walked down the hall during lunch break, the girls shrieked when they saw me.
“Is that Arius, the champion of last week’s Combat Tournament?”
“Hey, you’re talking about the son of a marquess. The proper address is ‘Master Arius.’”
The tournament also made it so upperclassmen were paying attention to me, and the girls’ shrieks only drew more attention.
“You’re practically famous now,” Vern grinned. “Even the upperclassmen finally see how strong you are.”
“That doesn’t exactly make me happy.”
I knew it was my fault for going along with Eric’s plan, but I didn’t have the time to deal with people who were just curious about me.
After picking up enough food to feed five, I was about to sit at a random table when someone drew my attention.
“Arius, Prince Vern. There are some seats over here.”
It was Milia, and she was sitting next to Noelle. Noelle had been eating lunch alone until recently, but Milia had started asking her to join her. Milia had been sitting with Sophia and the noble girls of her faction, but she started using the open table next to her table so she could ask Noelle to join her.
“Do you need something?” I asked Milia.
“I wouldn’t say I need something. I was just talking to Noelle about our training, and we had a question we wanted to ask you and Prince Vern.”
We were still doing our morning practice sessions even though the tournament was over. Milia and Vern wanted to keep getting stronger, and Zeke was still in the process of trying different things out. It even looked like Sophia and Noelle had found some purpose in the training for themselves, and I wanted to help them all out.
“Oh, and Sasha said Raymond wanted to talk to you about something,” Milia remembered.
Sasha’s older brother, Raymond Blancard, had defeated Milia, Vern, and Zeke in the tournament.
“He wants to talk to me? I have no idea what he’d want to talk to me about.”
I’d beat him in the tournament, but I’d met him several times before then, ever since I’d started making appearances at high society events. I really doubted he wanted revenge for being defeated in the tournament. He wasn’t like Keith. He was a stand-up guy.
“I’ll ask Sasha for more details when I see her. I don’t think it was urgent.”
And that was the end of the talk about Raymond. Not that I really cared. Until class the next day.
“I’d like to speak to Arius Gilberto. Could you ask him to come see me?”
Raymond had come to my first hour classroom just as class was about to finish. He was a good-looking guy with rose gold hair and sea-blue eyes. He greeted Eric and Ragnus, then went out in the hall with me.
Even though Raymond was a second year, he showed respect to Eric, a royal, and Ragnus, the son of Duke Crawford. Status technically meant nothing in the Academy, but it showed Raymond was well-mannered in that regard.
“Arius, I apologize for calling you out during your break. I had assumed someone as strong as you would take the championship in the tournament, but that final match was of a completely different level.”
It seemed like Raymond didn’t mind at all that he’d lost to me and was happy to compliment me.
“What was it you needed me for?” I asked. I didn’t think he’d called me into the hall just to tell me that. Raymond smiled wryly when I ignored his compliment.
“I know this is out of the blue, but do you have any interest in the student council?”
That really was out of the blue.
“No, I’m not interested in that kind of thing at all. You should ask someone else.”
“Don’t say that. The council is short on members.”
“You’d be better off asking Eric or Zeke.”
“…I had heard rumors that you didn’t use titles with the princes. I do intend to ask them, of course.”
I did show myself in the social sphere, but not often. Even when I did, I didn’t stay very long, so maybe Raymond hadn’t ever seen me talking with Eric or Zeke.
“Anyway, could I ask you for some time to discuss it?” Raymond continued. “I know you spend time with my sister, Sasha. I’m sure she would think more of you if you did.”
“Raymond, I’m sorry, but I don’t like the way you’re asking. I’m going to have to say no.”
He wasn’t a bad guy, but he could be a bit pushy.
“I understand. I’ll back down, for today, but I’m not giving up.” With that, he left.
In the game Love Academy, Raymond had still been the president of the student council when Milia and the love interests were first years. He also appeared quite a few times in the Zeke route, and he won the tournament we had the other day. Despite his standing and accomplishments, he didn’t leave any impression whatsoever. He was your normal hard-working guy who was good-looking in a normal way. In a game, that meant he left no impression for better or worse.