The Shut-In Prince’s Splendid Social Debut — Me, a Villainous Imperial, Have Spent the Last Fifteen Years Fighting the “Wicked Thoughts” Eating Away at My Mind. When I Finally Returned to High Society, There Were Way Too Many People I Didn’t Recognize — - Chapter 28: Turbulent D Class

The designated time was approaching.

Seeing the surrounding students gradually begin to move, we wrapped things up as well.

We returned our plates to the counter and headed toward our respective classrooms.

Although, when I put it that way, everyone except me was heading to A Class.

(Come to think of it, I haven’t talked to the protagonist yet.)

The thought suddenly occurred to me.

In ERT, the encounter between the protagonist and Yoan happened during this very moment of the Entrance Ceremony.

Yoan nastily harassed Naphna, and the protagonist, unable to watch any longer, challenged Yoan to a fight.

That was the so-called Battle Tutorial.

You would chip away at one of Yoan’s HP bars, but then a second bar would appear and the scene would shift into a movie.

At that point, it turned into a “Lose Event.”

“Weak—too weak, Larsen or whatever your name is. Did you really think someone of your level could defeat me? Kukuku… Kuaahahaha! This world revolves around Level! A stable suits trash like you!”

And then he was actually forced to sleep in a stable.

In this world, however, nothing like that existed. Everyone was given a single room equally.

By the way, Naphna—whose eyes had become dull—was temporarily imprisoned by Yoan.

At that moment, a movie scene would play showing the bittersweet memory of the “Dragon Riding Ritual” she shared with Naphna.

That was the point where players’ brains got burned.

(However, that movie really was good…)

Through the protagonist’s eyes, the lively figure of the heroine from the past was depicted.

Because the Naphna with sparkling eyes existed only in the past, it made the scene feel all the more painful.

Since I had reincarnated as Yoan, I had to remain wary of the protagonist now.

But he was also someone I had once empathized with deeply.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I was the person in this world who held the most affection for the protagonist.

Speaking to him felt like speaking to a star I admired.

“Larsen Ragnar, I have high hopes for you.”

“Tsk?!”

In truth, I wanted to say I’ve always been rooting for you, but considering my current position, I stopped at that.

And so, I—Lv. 1—headed toward D Class.

◇◇◇◇

Gara gara.

I opened the sliding door and entered D Class.

The classroom, which had been buzzing with noise—zawa zawa—suddenly fell silent, and everyone’s gaze turned toward me at once.

(Eh, what…?)

Not a single gaze was friendly.

Yet in the very next moment, everyone returned to their conversations as if they had lost interest.

(I see. So this is “Level Supremacy.”)

Even if I held the title of Prince, the number Lv. 1 came first.

(Well, as long as I don’t stand out, that’s fine.)

My seat was the window seat in the very back.

It seemed the seats were arranged in order of level, starting from the front on the hallway side—five rows of four students each, making twenty people in total.

Naturally, since I was Lv. 1, I was at the very end.

By the way, D Class had very few upper nobles.

Most of the class consisted of lower nobles.

As the class rank rose, the number of upper nobles increased.

The reason was simple: upper nobles generally had easier access to dungeons and received better education, so they inevitably surpassed lower nobles in ability.

Lower nobles, on the other hand, tended to carry a somewhat rough image.

That impression showed itself in their clothes, speech, posture, and general conduct.

Just by looking at the students in D Class, it was obvious.

Some had modified their uniforms, others wore hoodies underneath, and some had rolled up their sleeves or hems.

In other words—they dressed freely.

When I tried to sit down, however, someone was already occupying my seat.

Very troublesome.

Having lost my place, I ended up staring at the bulletin board at the back of the classroom.

“Like, isn’t our D Class totally doomed?”

“Right? But my family said just getting into Hero Academy is amazing, so whatever.”

“Exactly—. Normally speaking, climbing back up from D Class is impossible, so Atishi (me) is fine just coasting here for three years.”

The female students talking nearby had extremely short skirts.

Perhaps they were a species known as Gyaru Noble Ladies.

My seat seemed to be surrounded by them.

“Hey—what do you think, Lala-san?”

Suddenly addressed, the navy-blue twin-tailed girl flinched—bikuri.

She was the girl seated directly in front of me.

“U-Uyuu…?!”

“See, Lala-san, you’re one of the few upper nobles in D Class, right? So I’m wondering if everything’s really okay.”

The way they asked sounded quite harsh.

Yet strangely, perhaps because they were Gyaru Noble Ladies, it didn’t feel particularly sarcastic.

“Umm… I-I think I’m probably in trouble. Since I’m Lv. 10…”

The twin-tailed girl replied while poking her fingers together—tsun tsun.

Watching her gesture, I thought she resembled a small animal that had been thrown into a cage of beasts.

The three gyarus sighed in admiration.

“Aaah…”

“Lala-san is from that Lorietta Count family, right? And part of the First Prince faction.”

“Right now the Princes’ factions are divided between A, C, and D classes. So people like Lala-san who got left behind from their Prince’s class might have to make some decisions soon… Well, before that, being in D Class already means we’re losers, though.”

“Erna, you’re hitting the core too hard. Lala-san is about to cry.”

“Uyuuu…”

While listening to the conversation of the Gyaru Noble Ladies, I continued staring at the bulletin board.

Oh—there were meal discount coupons.

Nice.

Oh, there was even a music hall.

Looks expensive.

…No, actually.

It would feel awkward to interrupt their conversation.

After all, cheerful girls chatting together was “Teetee.”

“Like, does that mean we’ll get treated as part of the Third Prince faction too? Isn’t that bad?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty likely. If we contribute to this class, it means we’re basically helping the Third Prince faction.”

“Eeh? That’s unreasonable. Atishi and the others have zero intention of cooperating with the ‘Shut-in Prince.'”

The Gyaru Noble Ladies began voicing their complaints about me one after another.

It had stopped being “Teetee” entirely.

(More like awkward…)

You girls… have you forgotten I’m standing right behind you?

“Uyuuu…?! U-Um um um… E-Everyone, you should stop there! If you speak badly about that person, your noses will get torn off!”

Aren’t you saying something pretty extreme too, Twin-tail Girl?

“Pu—ahahaha! Lala-san, what are you saying? Third Prince Yoan is a Lv. 1 ‘Small Fry,’ right? There’s no way he could do that.”

“Exactly. Honestly, even we could pin down a Lv. 1 easily. I’m more worried he’ll die in the dungeon immediately. It would be terrible if people thought it was somehow our fault.”

“Atishi isn’t really into weak men either… Though his face isn’t bad. Lala-san thinks so too, right?”

“Uyuuu… Even if that’s true…”

Fufu.

But I blended in nicely.

Even if I told them I could fight a top-class Demon head-on, they wouldn’t believe it anyway.

That said, I still had to bring Fryure and Serta into D Class.

I needed to somehow establish a way to earn money in my current position.

“—Oya oya, isn’t that Yoan-kun over there!”

At that moment, a young man approached me with a triumphant grin.

It was Charl-kun—the chubby, freckled boy.

Behind him stood three others: a delinquent-looking boy, an otaku-looking boy, and a frivolous-looking boy.

“Ah, Charl-kun. I’m glad to see you again. It seemed like you suddenly collapsed earlier—are you alright?”

Earlier, I had knocked Charl-kun unconscious with a neck chop.

Since he didn’t wake up during the Class Sorting Ceremony either, his level measurement had been conducted while he was still passed out.

His level was 20.

In this class, that was the most common range.

“I’m perfectly fine. After all, I’m someone who will eventually become a Count. More importantly, I’m happy we’re in the same class. Nice to meet you from now on, Yoan-kun.”

Charl-kun extended his hand with a bright smile.

I see.

He seemed to have a fairly pragmatic personality.

Being treated with excessive reverence as the Third Prince would have been uncomfortable anyway, so this suited me fine.

After all, this was the academy’s rule.

“Of course. Nice to meet you too.”

“…Hea?!”

Oops.

I gripped his hand a little too strongly.

I needed to be more careful with my strength control.

“—Hmph. I’m not interested in weak guys.”

The one who spoke was a delinquent-looking young man with short brown hair, jingling necklaces, and rolled-up sleeves.

He was slightly taller than me.

“W-Wait, Ted-shi, you shouldn’t say that.”

“T-That’s right, Ted. Saying that to royalty is going too far…”

The otaku-looking boy and the frivolous-looking boy hurried to stop him.

“Like I care. I’ll say it to everyone else too. I’m not the kind of guy who’ll end up stuck in a shitty class like this. I’ll definitely become the top of this academy. By defeating that Larsen Ragnar in the ‘Competitive Battle’!”

Ted declared enthusiastically.

I see.

So he was the ambitious type.

Though personally, I thought it would be difficult for a mob character to defeat the protagonist.

At that moment—

Gara gara.

The sliding door opened again.

“—Hmm? What’s this, a dispute?”

The person who entered was a large man who looked to be just shy of thirty, with rough stubble.

“Oi oi, give me a break on the very first day of enrollment… Your generation already has a lot of ‘Problem Children,’ you know. …Well, the ones who won’t listen never will anyway. …Alright, take your seats. I’ll start homeroom.”

At the words of the adult who had suddenly appeared, the students who had been standing began returning to their seats.

Since the Gyaru Noble Lady also moved away from my chair, I finally sat down.

The seat felt faintly warm.

“Alright then, introductions first. My name is—Yubel Crossroad. I am your homeroom teacher. …Ah—, well, it’s homeroom, but what should I talk about first… Ah, there is something I should say at least…”

Yubel scratched his head—bori bori—then looked at everyone with a solemn expression.

(Oh? What is he going to say…?)

By the way, they say that for teachers, if students look down on them at the beginning, it’s over.

If they fail at the start, they’ll get teased by students for the entire year.

Especially at Hero Academy, where the students were full of quirks.

So he would probably say something like If you underestimate me, I’ll punish you, right?

I completely understood.

However, Yubel’s words went far beyond my expectations.

“It is unfortunate news. At least half of you will—disappear within this year.”

………………Harsh.