TL: Zimmings
âItâs the same guardian star as the founding emperor of the empire. It has never come outâ¦â¦.â
Mina asked with her eyes wide open.
âWhat is the Godâs star?â
âIt is also called the star of the hero. It is a star of great heroes, such as the founding emperor and the legendary knight who subjugated the dragon king.â
âAhaâ¦â¦.â
When Mina nodded her head, the people around her got excited.
âItâs a huge thing! If their guardian star is the Godâs star, they are considered a hero as soon as they are born!â
âHm, I have a different opinion.â
âHuh?â
âItâs just that we were born at the same time. No one can be sure how a child born with the Godâs star will grow up. Perhaps a child born with the Godâs star may have lived under the pressure of a sense of duty, âI am destined to be born as a hero, so I have to live as a heroâ. So I donât think itâs that great.â
Mina muttered with the tip of the fork in her mouth, and the surroundings became quiet.
Every world has its own rules.
According to Chul-soo, there are customs in his world and Minaâs, such as [respecting elders], [offering ancestral rites on holidays], and [dressing in black at funerals].
Those customs are already like the law there, and it couldnât be questioned.
Of course, there are such things in our world as well, but Mina, who came from another world, pointed out those things here. And the point is-
âYouâre talking very strangely.â
People wonât accept her words.
A few students looked at Mina with an antagonistic expression.
âWhat Miss Mina just said sounds like weâre shifting our duties to you.â
âA child with a star of God enjoys rights that are different from those of ordinary children. For example, Ligetoris, the legendary knight who subjugated the Dragon King, has the status of a commoner, but was educated at the royal palace as soon as he was born.â
âThatâs right. Isnât it strange for those who have rights to shoulder duties?â
As the atmosphere turned strangely, Mina widened her eyes.
âNo. I donât mean thatâ¦â¦. I mean people are all special without the guardian star too.â
âWhat?â
âEveryone is special, even if they donât have the Star of God.â
âHuh?â
âItâs not me, but Miss Sandra, Alan, Tenor, and Mary Jane, who knows that the one who enjoys the right should also bear the duty⦠and Emeline is also very special.â
The surroundings became quiet again. Mina smiled with a look of embarrassment.
âIs it correct to call it this way? Oh, Iâm not used to the title. In my world, miss or sir is a bit awkward.â
People forgot the answer and looked at Mina in a frenzy, and Sandra quickly spoke with an apologetic look on her face.
âThatâs right. Iâm glad you remembered my name.â
Then the others nodded hastily. A large man named Alan said scratching his red ears.
âI havenât even introduced myself yet, do you know my name?â
âI heard it before entering the cafeteria. And, Miss Emelineâ¦? Ugh, Iâm embarrassed to say it as well.â
Mina smiled as she said it, rubbing her cheek with both hands.
The Mina in this life is no different from the Mina in my memory.
Even if we resent her at first, if we talk, they will know. This child is a good one and had faith. And her beliefs are unique that everyone is fascinated by this childâs light.
After that, the conversation revolved around Mina.
People tried to tell Mina, who didnât know much about this world, and the atmosphere was friendly the whole time.
After the meal was over, we decided to have tea time.
âLetâs go with Leblaine, okay?â
I shook my head and got up.
âI have to prepare for evaluation in the afternoon.â
âEvaluation?â
Then Alan answered for me.
âEvery freshman will have an evaluation and aptitude test. Students in the other grades are split into classes based on last semesterâs grades, while freshmen are split in classes this afternoon.â
âAhh, Then I canât interfereâ¦â¦. Okay, letâs have tea together later. The lemon tea Alan brought from home is so delicious.â
Mina smiled and waved, and I left the cafeteria. Emeline followed me from behind. As I left the cafeteria, I turned to Emily.
âHey, didnât the kids drink tea together? Itâs an opportunity to build relationship.â
âI will also prepare the afternoon evaluation.â
âFor me itâs because of the Elysiano Class, but youâre different.â
To enter the Elysiano Class, I must have excellent grades this semester.
In this academy, there are times when the test is held in only some classes. That is why I had to get good grades in the afternoon evaluation by all means and be assigned to class A. Emeline walked close to me with a nonchalant expression.
âAnyway, Iâd love to join a good class too. A commoner with special admission like me has to go home right away if I donât meet the requirement.â
ââ¦â¦.â
She squinted her eyes, I looked at Emeline and asked, âWhat?â
I snorted and continued,
âAre you worried that youâll be alone?â
âNo! I just donât like that girl. What is special about herâ¦â¦.?â
Emeline looked at me and smiled bitterly.
âMina is a girl who is easily liked. She says what the other person wants to hear, without a single lie. Sheâs different from me.â
Emeline stopped walking. After looking around for a while, the girl confirmed that no one was there and opened her mouth.
âBut why are you doing that?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âWhy canât you say a word in front of that kid? Youâre like someone who lost before fighting!â
âWhat should I say to her? Mina didnât say anything wrong, and she didnât even start a fight. Rather, she is showing interest in me. However, if I become vigilant and attack, I will only become a strange person. If I get criticized in the place where I came to build connections, that would be my defeat.â
âI meanâ¦â¦!â
Emeline bit her lips.
âNevermind.â
âEmeline.â
As I grabbed her wrist, she moved my hand away and looked at me.
âYouâre still somewhat a nice girl, but Iâm not. Thatâs why I donât want to have a weak friend who dies for others!â
ââ¦â¦.â
âDid Mina ever said youâre her hero? For me, my heroâ¦â¦ it was a nine-year-old lady who reached out to a child abandoned by her father!â
Emiline, who was full of anger, pushed me away and cried.
âHow could you do this! I will erase my hero from memory!â
The child who shouted left me and ran to the dormitory. I was stunned.
âNo, who said I would dieâ¦â
I looked at Emelineâs back, sighed, and headed to the dormitory.
***
In the afternoon, I changed into my training uniform and headed to the training ground, looking for Emeline among the noisy freshmen.
She couldnât find Emeline until the test.
From quite a distance from the students, I could see a glimpse of ivory-colored hair.
âEmeline!â
I quickly approached the child.
âEmeline!â
ââ¦â¦.â
âIâve been looking for you. Where have you been? For todayâs evaluation, I had to form a group, but I couldnât even team up with the students because I was looking for you.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âLetâs hurry up and form a group-â
However, the atmosphere surrounding Emeline was strange.
Unlike lunchtime, the students looked at Emeline with hostile eyes.
âWhat happened?â
Emeline did not answer. Alan, a boy who was a little further away from us call me instead.
âLeblaine.â
âYes?â
âCome here. Iâll put you in our group.â
ââ¦â¦?â
âAh, You say you are the same age as Mina right? Iâm three years older than you. Come quickly. Donât deal with that madman.â
âWhat do you mean?â
As I frowned, Alan snorted and looked at Emeline.
âSheâs arguing with Mina out of nowhere.â
Then Alanâs group of girls sarcastically imitated Emeline.
âYou say that everyone is special, I think youâre wrong. I know youâre trying to convince people with nice words, but itâs irresponsible in a class-based society. You didnât deserve to say that as someone who enjoys special privileges.â
Did Emeline say that?
I hurriedly looked at Emeline, she kept her mouth shut and looked straight ahead.
âThis fool!â
In the end, it seems that he couldnât bear it and went and poured it all on Mina.
But it was a disgrace in the eyes of others. The quarrel was clear from what I heard.
Mina was a child who was easily liked. She seemed to have become friends with most of the freshmen after lunch. But in this situation, if she argued with Mina, the center of the group, she will inevitably be seen as an enemy.
Laughter erupted from all around.
âIsnât it funny? Is it the pride of commoners?â
âSheâs doing everything so that she can to stand out.â
Her gaze was sharper than when she was in seminary.
âThe timing is not good.â
Now is the time to form a group. If there is a public enemy at such a time, it is perfect for entertainment.
If Emeline, the target of ridicule, doesnât get through this time well, sheâll have a hard time until graduation.
It wasnât just a matter of relationship. This school has a lot of group evaluations. It will be difficult to get good grades if she becomes an outcast like this.
Moreover, for Emeline, who was admitted through the special admission for commoners, grades are very important.
âIn a situation like this, Mina should sort it out, but⦠Mina hasnât come to the training ground yet.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Alan beckoned to me.
âCome here. Letâs do it together. Should our group name be the children of fate?â
Then laughter erupted around me.
âThatâs a good name to catch the professorâs eyes.â
âAh, thatâs unfair!â
The atmosphere was pleasant and everyone laughed except for Emeline.
âLeblaine, come over here quickly. I have to hand over the list of members-â
âIâm already in a group.â
âWhat?â
I took Emelineâs hand.
âIâll go with Emeline.â
â⦠Youâd regret it. Everyone made groups of five or more.â
âIt doesnât matter if there are less than ten members. Iâm going with Emeline.â
âAh, really? Then try it.â
Alan twisted his lips as if he was offended.
The other students looked a little perplexed, but Alan clapped and shouted.
âThe child of fate over there can face us all even with one useless person, so letâs face them with all our might!â
His gaze, which had been on Emeline, turned to me this time.
Emeline whispered to me with a puzzled expression.
âThis fool! You came to this school to make connections!â
âWe should clean up our friendâs shit.â
âHow could a noble lady said such vulgar wordsâ¦â¦!â
âAlright. Letâs go make a list of crew members.â
When I urged, Emeline hesitated but followed me to the desk on one side of the training ground.
I put Emelineâs and my name side by side.
Emelineâs eyes widened when she saw the groupâs name.
[Maxâs gang]
It was the name our beggars were called.
Before long, Mina ran to the training ground alongside the evaluation bell. The girl, who had wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, asked with a bright smile.
âAm I late?â
âYouâre right on time.â
A deep voice came from behind Minaâs back. He was a professor who had just entered the training ground.
The professor said, âGo to your seat.â while reading the list of members on the simple desk.
âMina and the children?â
âYes, teacher! Itâs us!â
When Mina raised her hand, the professor burst into laughter.
âYou must be the professor.â
When Mina made an embarrassed expression, a burst of laughter erupted from the training ground.
âThis yearâs class placement assessment is to rescue a hostage in a moving barrier. Hostages will be living beings. So, if you break the barrier recklessly, the hostage wonât be safe, okay? A comprehensive evaluation is made based on the time it takes to save the hostages, the state of the hostages, the number of hostages rescued, and the level of barriers broken.â
As he waved his hand in the air, a huge hourglass appeared. Eventually, the shape of the training ground changed to a maze-like shape.
âThe mana restriction will be lifted only for this evaluation. Letâs get started.â
That means we could use magic tools.
Alan was the first to untie the magic tools on both his wrists and ankles. Thud! With a sound, the magic tool fell to the floor, and a tremendous amount of mana shook the ground. Mina said to Alan.
âIt was really a test to save the hostages as you said.â
âOf course. My brother told me so. First of all, that purple circle has the highest score. Itâs a tough barrier. Weâre only going for that purple one.â
âHow do we break the barrier?â
âAll we have to do is hit the arrow perfectly in the center of the barrier. However, we couldnât know where the centre was for sure, and the barrier is moving, so it will be difficult to destroy.â
âHuh? Isnât that the center? Thereâs a dark color. And-â
âWhat?â
Mina climbed up the wall of the maze and aimed the bow she got before the evaluation started at the barrier.
âIâm a former archer!â
Hearing Minaâs story, the training ground became noisy.
Finding the center of the barrier is impossible unless they fully understand the magic formula.
The barriers used for training at Odis Academy are even more difficult. Even the professor looked at Mina with a surprised face.
Mina fired an arrow.
âAh! it went on the wrong spot. Itâs harder than I thought-â
Bang-!!
A condensed divine power and the barrier that Minaâs arrow deviated from collided. Precisely at the center of the barrier.
âLeblaineâ¦â¦!â
âMiss Leblaine!â
Alan and Sandra stared at me in astonished.
âThe center of the barrier, itâs not something only she can see.â
I smiled brightly.
âBesides.â
The limit of my divine power usage was lifted.
[Hey, kid. Iâm going stronger this time!]
[Itâs like a game event! Oh oh-! Is that an item drop?]
[Master, we must subdue it from above. Letâs go.]
The three devils helped me.
As soon as the first barrier was broken, seniors appeared in the audience around the training ground. At the top were the people of the Elysiano class.
Isaac and Henry show thumbs up at me.
Emeline looked at me with a surprised look.
âHow did youâ¦â¦!â
âYou said I was your hero. A hero should be like this.â
I smiled and said.