Roommate Sean

"Wheeze... wheeze..."

Somewhere in the Slums of the Royal Capital, a brown-haired young man stared intently at the attacker opposite him, panting faintly.

The attacker had a Third-Class Magic Rank.

He was powerfully built, his muscles nearly bursting through his clothes.

His face was covered in folds of flesh, and his completely bald head seemed to glow beneath the setting sun.

By comparison, Sean, the young man standing before him, looked like a little lamb.

The burly man had clearly come from some knight family and had at least learned a certain amount of Knight Technique. His body was extraordinarily tough.

Although Brown-Haired Youth Sean's magic rank had already reached Tactical Rank, he was unfortunately a commoner. The instructor who had taught him magic had not given him special treatment to learn proper knight techniques.

That was why Brown-Haired Youth could only fight the burly man to a draw.

Even so, Sean felt more relieved than anything else.

Fortunately, he had noticed something was wrong in advance and jumped from the carriage before he was completely surrounded.

Fortunately, apart from the bald brute before him, the others were all worthless.

Otherwise, Sean would probably have died here.

If he had died here on his first day reporting to the Royal Capital, Tonalie would probably have laughed herself to death when she found out...

At the thought of Tonalie, Sean's vision grew somewhat hazy.

He wondered how his Childhood Sweetheart, who had gone to the Medical Department, was doing now.

She had tremendous talent in Healing Magic, so she should have already started working in the Medical Department.

A montage seemed to flash before Sean's eyes.

But the burly man before him had already charged over like a mountain running wild.

Sean immediately pulled his thoughts back and swiftly dodged the brute's lunge.

A ferocious grin spread across the brute's face. His hollow mouth formed the words:

I'll kill you soon.

Sean roughly understood what he meant.

His heart tightened slightly. Sean focused even more, his gaze passing over the brute and lingering briefly on a corpse behind him.

The corpse was also one of the attackers. In his hand was an old-fashioned revolver, an outdated weapon.

Although it could not compare to the revolvers commonly used nowadays, it was still a rare and powerful weapon.

If Sean remembered correctly, that man had fired only three shots. An old-fashioned revolver held five rounds, which meant two bullets remained.

As he calculated the distance between himself and the revolver, then looked at the brute before him, Sean immediately made his decision.

He put on a resolute expression. The remaining magic inside his body circulated rapidly, granting him strength. Then he charged at the other man as though he intended to fight the brute to the death!

"Ahhh!!!"

As he ran, he shouted to bolster his courage.

Seeing this, the brute's grin nearly reached his ears. He stopped in place, clenched both fists, and brought them heavily down on the charging Sean!

But the brute's punch missed.

Sean had never intended to meet him head-on.

Just as he was about to reach the brute, he feinted, slipped past him, and slid behind him. Then he grabbed the revolver from the corpse with his right hand.

The brute turned around and finally realized what Sean had intended.

He was startled and hurriedly lunged at Sean, trying to snatch the gun away.

But Sean's fingers moved faster than he could.

He turned, took aim, and pulled the trigger!

Bang! Bang!

Two bullet holes appeared in the brute's chest and the side of his neck.

The brute's eyes flew wide. His body tried to remain upright before collapsing onto Sean.

"Ha... hahaha...!"

Pinned beneath the nearly two-hundred-pound brute, Sean felt no discomfort. Instead, he burst out laughing, gazing at the sky dyed crimson by the setting sun and laughing in exhilaration.

No matter what, he had survived.

But not long afterward, Sean's laughter abruptly stopped.

Because he heard someone calling his name.

"Sean Sweet..."

"!!!!"

Sean immediately pushed the corpse off himself, picked up the gun, and looked toward the source of the voice.

An officer in an Army Uniform stood in the distance, watching him with a faint smile. He said:

"You passed, freshman."

"..."

Only after hearing this did Sean understand that the ambush he had faced today had all been a test for him.

His strength drained again, and he collapsed onto the ground with a bitter smile.

"...Instructor, sorry for the trouble, but could you take me back to the academy later? I... I don't have any strength left..."

The magic within his body was completely depleted, and he had almost no energy remaining. He truly lacked the strength to walk back to the academy himself.

"N-no, don't come over--!!"

Elsewhere, a young man with dark golden hair wildly waved the blade in his hand, trying to keep the attackers away.

But what he did only caused the attackers to close in further.

Just as several of them were about to attack him, several gunshots rang out from afar.

The attackers surrounding him all fell to the ground.

An instructor in an officer's uniform approached with a grim expression and looked at the Blonde Youth.

"...Jamie Railward! Failed!!!"

Hearing the thunderous shout, the Blonde Youth collapsed limply onto the ground.

"Baron Jack... failed!"

"Andrew White, congratulations. You passed!!"

"Leicho Shude... failed!!!"

Without the other students knowing, the Freshman Assessment ended just like that.

Only three people passed, while a full seven failed.

What was surprising was that one of the three successful candidates was a noble student whom Bolent had not favored. Meanwhile, one of those Bolent had thought might pass had nearly died in the test.

Regardless, Sean passed the assessment smoothly, and that night, someone took him to his Student Dormitory.

After reaching the Student Dormitory, Sean opened the door.

When he noticed that it was a room for two, Sean froze for a moment.

Accustomed to the military's large shared dormitories, he had assumed his dorm would hold at least six people, or four at best.

He had not expected a double room with a private bathroom and toilet. The room was also much larger than he had imagined.

"Did they assign me a double room because I passed?"

Looking at the empty room, Sean muttered to himself.

Sean carried his luggage inside and was about to put it away when he noticed that the bathroom light was on.

The Military Academy did not use Kerosene Lamps, but more advanced Magic Lamps.

The Magic Lamp had already been turned on when Sean arrived, illuminating the entire room. That was why he had not noticed the bathroom.

Only after walking closer did he realize that someone was inside.

It should be his roommate.

The instructor had told him that ten freshmen had entered the academy as transfer students this time, but only three had passed.

If Sean's earlier deduction was correct, and only those who passed were qualified to live in double rooms, then the person bathing inside should be one of the successful candidates.

At this thought, Sean grew slightly nervous.

He had heard the instructor say that everyone's tests had taken place at nearly the same time.

The other person had arrived at the dorm before him, arranged his luggage, and even had time to take a bath. This proved that the other person's strength was definitely greater than his own.

Hopefully, he'll be easy to get along with.

Otherwise, Sean would have a hard time during the next two years.

Just as he thought this, the bathroom door opened.

A small figure wrapped in a bath towel and drying his hair with a hand towel walked out of the bathroom.

"!?"

Sean unconsciously froze when he saw the figure. Judging solely by his build, the other person seemed underage.

Sean was not entirely certain, however.

Only after the other person turned around did Sean become completely sure.

This was a child!

"Oh? A newcomer? I thought I was the only one."

The boy turned his head, his blue eyes settling on Sean.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Sean actually felt pressure coming from him.

"Y-you... hello... My name is Sean, Sean Sweet. I... I'm a new student."

Regardless, he should introduce himself first.

Thinking this, Sean extended his hand to the "child" before him.

But the boy ignored his hand completely.

Drying his hair, the boy walked to the bed and sat down. He said indifferently:

"Li Qi Grat. Like you, I'm a new student."

As he spoke, he picked up the clothes lying on the bed.

They were officer's clothes slightly too large for the boy.

Sean glanced over unintentionally. When he saw the Military Rank on them, his eyes widened.

Warrant Officer!!!

This child, who did not even look fourteen, was actually a Warrant Officer!?

I'm only a Corporal!

Realizing that after more than a year of hard work in the military, he could not even compare with a child in rank, Sean immediately grew depressed.

But after hearing Li Qi's name, Sean tilted his head and began thinking.

Li Qi... he seemed to have heard that name somewhere before...