Rozenfall Academy.
Throughout its existence, it has always been an impartial institution that sided with no one but accepted students from a plethora of other powers. A focal point of both learning and competition for those who will politically lead the future of the world.
That all changed twenty years ago when the current headmaster took the mantle.
He opened the doors of the academy and welcomed everyone, turning the once sacred and silent grounds of the academy into a bustling city, teeming with wealth and money comparable to the greatest capital cities of nations throughout history.
The academy, established to unite all of humanity, is now a hub for opportunities and dreams of the common people and nobles alike.
In Rozenfall, a white, spire-like tower that seemed to reach for the heavens overlooked the city surrounding it. The people underneath were like ants before the eyes of those who resided at the top with their gaze directed down where their feet stood.
A large silhouette of a man towered before the glass window overlooking the scenery beneath him. A knock sounded from behind, as the door slowly opened.
"Headmaster. These are the lists of special individuals coming this year." A woman in black suit, similarly tall with long black hair and tinted glasses spoke dismissively, putting a stack of paper on his desk.
"Hm…" The headmaster didn't even turn around to look, just menacingly standing.
"… Are you going to look or not? I'm busy."
"…" The large man turned around with an uptight and icy glare.
"Understandable. Have a great day."
"Wait! Didn't I tell you to call me papa when we were alone?" Reaching out his hand, he stopped the woman from leaving through some sort of invisible force.
The woman's face contorted in disgust hearing the large man's complaints.
"Screw off old man. I'm twenty-nine." She spat with venom, clearly used with the situation.
"No! You'll always be my precious daughter! Nothing in this world changes that!" Indignant, the headmaster complained tearfully, thoroughly distorting the image of an imposing giant.
"Sure, sure. I'm leaving."
"Ahem. Alright, enough messing around. Take a seat, chancellor."
"…"
Every year, the academy will open its arms to welcome new students. Sometimes, formidable and famous names would come, sometimes they're just the usual arrogant nobles or hardworking commoners.
Today, Vica was here to report whose matters have been settled and which one agreed to study under the academy. It wasn't like there's no academies in the respective capitals of each nation, but those places were more focused on sharpening their prospects at a young age before sending them to the Rozenfall.
The headmaster looked over the profile at the top of the list. Compiled information about the 'Special Students' were gathered personally by the academy's hands and given to the headmaster at the end of his 'negotiation' with their guardians.
They couldn't exactly conduct an investigation for each country simultaneously, making his visits significant by bringing along his very skilled and trusted investigator. At first, a surface level of information such as rumors is reported.
Upon verification, the headmaster will move himself and visit. During and after the investigation, information is withheld until it is all done. And just before the academy opens, the headmaster looks at the information himself.
"Oh? The hero's descendant is a girl?" He did visit their secluded village by force, but at the time, they hid the rumored descendant with the most characteristics inherited from the hero. Of course, with his power and standing, they had no choice but to meet with him.
"Yes."
"Great, another motivation for our lively kids." The rivalry was sure to spike, disturbing even those in their higher years and about to graduate. A hero was never a noble from birth after all.
A Hero. Such a title with considerable weight was uttered in his mouth with indifference. After all, even that hero had origins at the roots of the academy. Besides, while it's certainly an impressive lineage, the headmaster is confident that he's no slouch just as well.
'An existence that hasn't appeared in the past twenty years…' Due to the lack of conflict with the demons, humanity has entered an era of preparation and somehow, prosperity without any particular 'Hero that will slay the demon king' appearing.
There were skirmishes and battles on the very frontlines but nothing too intense.
Instead, there are heroes that fought and sacrificed their life against the existence of monsters known as Agrind beasts. A threat since time immemorial that plagued humanity and its heroes.
Apart from their basic information like age, height and such, their preferred weapons were listed. The Hero seemed to favor using a sword and a shield at the same time. He moved on and saw something rather interesting and rare.
"A blind pugilist? I mean, we do have someone who can't see but…"
"Caesar can take care of her." Vica cut her off, mentioning a quite infamous name in the academy these days.
"That mean's he will be assigned to the Silver bough's…"
"Is there a problem?" She tilted her chin up while fixing her glasses, insistent on proceeding as planned.
"… No. It's just that many professors might complain. Well, I'll shut them up for my precious, so go ahead." The headmaster knew the man as the youngest instructor ever admitted in the academy. Of course, his abilities spoke for himself.
The head master looked over the other profiles. Some names were there because of the significant money they had donated to the academy which he ignored. The only thing special about them was their money and their parents.
However, one of their richest sponsors had admitted, not just one, which he understood, but three more students.
'Carmillia Montagne.'
"… Hm, that duke's daughter? I wonder what she's like. Her mother, Lisa, was always a good girl back then…" Although he did find her strange, it was not to the point that his insight warned him of anything wrong.
In fact, his insight felt nothing at all. While the duke, young at the time, burned with fervor and zeal. Now, he's even become an unrivaled blaze that swept away lives left and right.
"I can't believe Renedon married her… What a mix of ice and fire." He observed reports and parameters compiled by investigators of the academy. According to Carmillia's file, she's an exemplary mage with an amount of mana bordering on absurdity.
"Hm? Are you sure about this, Chancellor?" Even the headmaster was in disbelief.
"Yes. The report states as such."
"Well, that's interesting. I wonder how that turned out… Maybe because of her parents?"
As for the other three… There were two names that he recognized. Previous attendees of the academy that suddenly disappeared after attending for some time.
'Serika Cranel… attended and finished first year as the 3rd seat in her batch. Lucinelle Broquia, attended until second year and was 1st seat both times.'
"These two unfortunate souls were under that lunatic, Renedon?" Slightly surprised, the headmaster raised his eyebrows.
"Yes. Traces of them were found after their disappearance. It was said that they actually lived together with the main family ever since the incident that destroyed their families."
"Well, damn! He sure is cruel, making subordinates out of his massacre survivors. How did he even convince these two prodigies…" The headmaster wished he had those same abilities that the Duke had. Then convincing old fogeys and pompous figures to enroll their talented child in the academy will be easier.
"We couldn't gather more information due to the 'Shadow' of Montagne's eyes on us. So how and when they ended up there is unclear." Vica frowned with a sharpened glare, displeased upon remembering the shadow she spoke of.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't cross that old nerd. He's an annoying opponent." He spoke, stroking his long beard recalling his first confrontation with the 'Shadow' and his strange power.
He flipped the page and saw the last person on the roster. A man with provoking eyes and red hair.
"Hm… But, who's this guy? A special butler? Why are there a lot of unknowns?"
"That… he's a new guy that recently came on their estate. His purpose is unknown, but we speculate that he was sent by the duke himself."
"If that's the case, there must be something. Renedon isn't someone who wastes personnel as duds." He looked at the profile of the special butler. His specialty and talents were unknown. But with the money, sponsored by the duke himself, he's eligible to pass and enter the academy.
'Xian? This brat looks arrogant. Should I punch this kid when I see him?' He playfully thought about the idea, but a punch from him might exterminate generations of his ancestors. He chuckled internally when he imagined it.
"Make sure to watch over him and report anything suspicious."
The other profiles were already familiar to him, with their respective guardians willingly introducing them, so he brushed over each and moved on.
"Is this all of it?"
"Yes headmaster. Is there anything else you need?"
"Hmm. My goodbye kiss?" He pointed at his cheek, mimicking a pitiful expression.
"…" Vica, the chancellor channeled her power as he struck that cheek.
…
"It's beautiful… Rozenfall." A girl stood before the academy's open gates with confident gait, alone, carrying only her sword and a case containing her necessities. She stepped forward with a smile, unbothered with the crowd.
All of them would soon be swooning her way anyway.
She has soft curtain bangs and lightly side-parted fringe that framed her face without hiding her flame-like eyes. Her face and smiling expression was the definition of ideal and perfect girl. Heads turned for every step she took and she met everyone in their eyes happily instead of chasing them away.
'What are you all looking at you inferiors?' She mused, still maintaining her best smile she had practiced many times. Some girls were awed with her and murmured, while a few others can be seen whispering with disgruntled glares, probably envious.
'It's not even the first day of classes, but these dogs are already leering at me.' Despite her thoughts, she maintained a polite smile for those who obviously looked at her a 'certain way'. She noticed that most of those guys were escorted by an impressive entourage.
'Clearly, those fools think they have a chance.' She couldn't help but sneer internally. She was here to build up her reputation from the ground up and not for anything useless like finding a man. The best will vie for her once she's on the top of them all anyways.
With a proud heart and her confident strides, she walked past the other entrants without looking back.
…
Somewhere in the corner of the academy grounds, a figure was watching all the commotion transpire. Whenever someone enters and causes people to talk amongst themselves or whether acquaintances meet each other, they are all projected to her naked eyes.
Although, she would give but a glimpse before turning her attention to a book once again. Unlike the other entrants, she sat on the high academy fence, lazily waiting for the entrance exam to take place, occasionally yawning.
However, her figure blurred, as if nothing was in her place at all, blending into the surroundings. Thus, no one noticed this particular hooded girl with an expressionless face, that would otherwise cause an uproar among mages.
…
"Onwards! To the academy! Lets gooo!" A loud shout interrupted the people, mostly young nobles talking among themselves. They turned their head to the source of commotion and were dumbfounded.
A brown haired girl with a wide smile ran towards the academy carrying a giant sack, a sword and shield with dirty and mud stained clothes all over herself. One man followed him, breathing heavily despite carrying ten times smaller sacks than the girl.
"Hah! Ugh! Slow down Rumi! Ah, I'm dying…" He gasped, fixing his glasses and trying not to fall over.
Though it all fell in deaf ears as he was left in the dust by his companion.
…
Such commotions were occurring throughout the academy and amidst all of it, an unassuming boy with a rather gentle but handsome features arrived. He took in a deep breath, as if to relish this moment and stretched his body, clad in some sort of training clothes.
At the same time, a rather large and luxurious carriage with a dark accent arrived, followed by a slightly less eye-catching one. A total of five people stepped down the carriage before the academy gates. The total silence was almost deafening, with everyone recognizing the insignia it bore.
Unlike all the other noble houses that had come, they were particularly late, thus a lot of eyes from similarly prestigious households were directed at them.
Carmillia, walked past all the glares unbothered, escorted by two dark guards, the signature personal army of the duke. And the very units that caused a massacre under his order.
Some nobles bowed their heads towards their direction, clearly indicating their allegiance towards the formidable family. Behind those three, was Xian who earned gazes looking his way and Miri who walked looking ahead.
Xian scanned his surroundings and already saw familiar faces. There were some characters that will only appear inside or later on in the academy. There were some that were hidden among the crowd.
But, if his memory is right, the person he's looking for would be gazing towards Carmillia and her entourage.
Just then, his eyes met a boy in training clothes he had seen countless times. Every time he restarts the game, those very same clothes would be worn by his character.
'There you are.'
Xian never bothered to rename his character whenever he played, thus he remembered well what his original name is.
'Adrian Wylert.' Their eyes briefly met, but he quickly turned his gaze away. It wasn't the time to make contact with him yet.
But then, he was puzzled to find that someone had dared to block Carmillia and her two escorts.
He moved closer to get a better view.
What he saw that day was the beginning of the first death flag in the academy, never seen before any of his runs.
One of the main heroine's with a rather problematic and similar background to him, was facing Carmillia and clearly emitting bloodlust.
'She's here!? And angry too?'
Her wrath can only mean one thing.
That somehow, in her past life, Carmillia had been someone who did something she despised.
That's right.
He met one of the heroine's who's also a regressor just like him. A one time regressor, unlike him, whose experiences went beyond years. Someone, who's quite elusive and only appears after the players first playthrough.
But that didn't make the situation any better.