SPO 48

I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes.

Even among the screaming students, calm red eyes were looking down at me, almost trapping me in place.

But only for a moment. The pressure from behind pushed us forward, and Lena ended up completely hugging me.

Feeling sorry, I grabbed Lena around the waist as she leaned her face against the wall.

“I told you to go first…”

At this rate, our fragile Lena is going to get crushed.

Anxious, I stood on my tiptoes and glanced toward the exit.

The exit, ruined by fear, was pure chaos.

To make things worse, the monster wasn’t going to wait for us.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Each time the monster moved its massive legs, the ground shook. Wherever its merciless feet landed, chairs and everything else were smashed to pieces.

“Ahhh!”

With a terrifying scream, the monster leapt high into the air.

Its huge head aimed straight for the exit, where students were crowded together.

Boom!

Unfortunately, its head got stuck in the doorway and couldn’t get outside.

Frustrated by the unexpected situation, the monster slammed its front paw against the floor.

Taking that chance, the students who had gathered near the exit scattered back into the auditorium.

“Grrr…”

Pulling its head free, the monster turned around again.

Its fierce gaze scanned the students clinging to the walls like barnacles.

The students covered their mouths, barely daring to breathe. They stiffened like corpses, trying to erase their presence.

But their efforts were useless. The monster soon bared its teeth at the most tempting prey right in front of it.

It moved swiftly and reached a female student in an instant.

But at that moment—

Smack!

“Kieeek!”

A red light struck the monster’s backside.

The monster stomped in place for a moment in pain, then turned its furious eyes toward the source of the flames and charged.

Black smoke poured from its body as it rushed forward like the wind.

In front of it stood Rihat, unfinished flames flickering in his hand.

The spells that flew in to help him only caused small injuries. They couldn’t stop the monster.

Thick, hot saliva dripped down. Its heavy front paw came crashing down toward Rihat’s head.

“Ahhh! Someone help!”

“Lord Rihat!!”

Wooooong—!

At the same time a light shone from my hand, a vibrating gust of air sliced cleanly through the monster’s neck.

The monster vanished without even letting out a proper scream, dissolving into black smoke.

All that remained was a tiny stone, no bigger than a mustard seed.

“W-what…”

Among the stunned students, Rihat slowly turned his stiff face.

At the end of his gaze stood Professor Lily, who had appeared without anyone noticing.

A sharp wind swirled around her right hand like a small tornado.

She looked over the wrecked auditorium and calmly said,

“The Knight Order has arrived.”

She jumped down from the stage and walked over to Rihat.

“You deserve praise for risking your life to draw the monster’s attention. However, your use of mana was noticeably lower than during monster combat practice. Since this was your first mock real battle, I suppose you were quite nervous?”

Professor Lily took out a notebook and began writing something down.

“Performance score: A.”

Rihat’s green eyes, which had been clouded by confusion, gradually regained their original clarity.

“So this was…”

“A performance evaluation.”

Smiling with her eyes, Professor Lily checked the faces of the students who had cast spells and marked her notebook.

“A perfect escape without hesitation. A.”

“You showed some hesitation. You should build more courage. B.”

As the students slowly began to understand what had happened, Professor Lily’s steady steps brought her in front of me.

“Archel Nodovan.”

When her gentle voice called my name, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.

“Almost everyone who didn’t freeze in fear got an A. The student council president should be the same.”

“Yeah… Wait. Is she holding something? That’s—!”

Professor Lily smiled at me with satisfaction.

“You used the Knight Order summoning artifact.”

A blue, gem-shaped magical device glowed in my hand.

“Archel Nodovan, A++.”

“President!!”

The tightly shut door burst open, and rose-tinted red hair poured into the room.

“Meriosa.”

I put down the pen I had been holding and called the head of the disciplinary committee by name.

Her forceful entrance was impossible to ignore.

As expected, Meriosa stormed up to my desk, snorting like an angry rhinoceros.

Despite her fierce energy, she stood properly beside the desk and looked down at me with determined eyes.

“I’ve decided.”

Even though she skipped all explanation, I calmly picked up a document from the stack beside me and slid it toward her.

“Fill it out.”

“Yes.”

She bent over and carefully read the document. Soon, she frowned and protested.

“Aren’t you curious who I plan to sponsor?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I’m curious. You should listen to someone until they finish.”

Meriosa’s deep red eyes widened in shock. Then, seemingly satisfied, she pulled a chair over and sat down.

“Listen, President. Martin is a genius. A genius in swordsmanship!”

She looked around as if sharing a top secret and whispered.

“Teach him one thing, and he understands five. He’s still at a basic level, but his potential is clearly different. I can’t let him waste away here. My family will raise him into an outstanding knight.”

Meriosa, famous in the Swordsmanship Department, pumped her fists in the air proudly.

Then someone cast a shadow over her.

“Romera is the same.”

Marirosa, her dark red hair elegantly braided, crossed her arms.

“That child has perfect pitch. She’s never learned piano, but she can roughly play a song just by hearing it. That’s pure talent. I plan to raise Romera as a pianist.”

The twin Rosa sisters had identical hair and eye colors but completely different styles.

I handed another document to Marirosa.

“You fill this out too.”

She rounded her lips in satisfaction and walked to an empty desk.

The Rosa sisters of the Rose Count family.

Their family is known for excelling in both swordsmanship and the arts, producing many great knights and artists.

The reason they could excel in two completely different fields was their twin gene. Every generation produced twins—or even triplets and quadruplets—so naturally the children split into different paths.

In this generation, the older sister Marirosa is known for music, and the younger sister Meriosa for swordsmanship.

Meriosa, with sharp features and her hair tied tightly back, gave off an almost ascetic atmosphere.

Marirosa, on the other hand, looked like an elegant queen.

I rested my chin on my hand as I looked at the two sisters.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, Meriosa raised her head sharply.

“No one else has already decided to sponsor these children, right?”

Seeing the desperation in her face, I smiled.

“Of course not.”

I pointed toward the large window.

The dark blue sky outside was still dim before sunrise.

“At this hour, who besides you two would charge into my room?”

I slowly lowered my finger, pointing at my rabbit-patterned pajamas, and finally at someone lying on the bed.

Janet, wearing a carrot-patterned eye mask, sleeping in a strange position.

“Cough.”

Meriosa awkwardly cleared her throat.

Marirosa, who had been writing at Janet’s desk, finally turned her chair.

I straightened my posture and crossed my arms.

“How exactly did you get into my room?”

“Well…”

“We used a little authority,” Marirosa replied smoothly, brushing her hair behind her ear.

Authority? On whom?

My gaze naturally shifted to Janet, who was sleeping peacefully.

Under my cold stare, Meriosa finally confessed.

“Janet Marcella was caught violating the dress code.”

“Janet?”

I looked surprised, though it wasn’t unexpected.

Changing the uniform’s accent color to orange. Wanting to make a carrot-shaped ribbon.

I should have known when she got angry saying she would attach rabbit ears to her hoodie.

Meriosa continued seriously.

“In addition to the modified uniform, she was repeatedly found carrying unauthorized items.”

So she did everything after all.

Since I left earlier and returned later than Janet, I hadn’t noticed her uniform changes.

I nodded for her to continue.

“So we went beyond just giving demerit points and even confiscated her belongings…”

“And?”

“Instead of confiscating them, we agreed to let it slide if she left her door open tonight.”

Marirosa stepped closer and answered while patting Meriosa’s flushed shoulder.

Clearly, it had been Marirosa’s idea.

“So Janet sold me out.”

Sighing, I took the sponsorship agreement from her hand.

A sponsorship agreement.

As the name suggests, it’s a document promising to sponsor a child—stating how much money per month and for how many years.

The special rule: each child can only have one sponsor.

So if someone wants a specific child, they have to act quickly.

That didn’t mean charging in at dawn on the first day.

I pressed my tired eyes as I looked at the huge amounts the Rosa sisters had written.

Still, it was a good thing.

“Remember this. You are not only sponsors of certain children, but also teachers to all of them. It’s natural to feel attached to someone, but you must try to treat everyone equally.”

I said this seriously while collecting the forms filled with detailed information.

Thankfully, no one objected.

Most of the students applying for sponsorship had already formed bonds with the children.

Many even promised to treat the unsponsored children better out of guilt.

After the noisy crowd left, silence filled the room.

“Phew.”

I leaned back in my soft chair and stretched my legs.

It would be two more weeks before the Talent Class reached its first month. Yet already so many had volunteered to sponsor.

And today was only the first day.

As I tapped the armrest and looked at the growing stack of agreements, I felt a deep emotion.

Students had knocked not only on the student council room door but even on my dorm room door as soon as the day began.

He’s a piano genius.

She sings well.

He’s good at math.

A swordsmanship genius.

Our family should raise them.

They all had different reasons.

Officially, it was about discovering geniuses to bring honor to the Tersen Empire and their families.

But there was clearly affection for the children as well.

Even a hedgehog loves its own child. Many exaggerated small talents because they cared.

Some didn’t even have a special reason.

For example—

“Benjamin can’t do anything.”

Like Aven.