DUMBW 01

Chapter 01

Don’t Underestimate Me Just Because I’m a Girl

Snap! A sharp, dry sound rang out.
My wooden practice sword had just broken my opponent’s blade in two.

“Hah… hah… So? Can you still say I’m ‘just a girl’ after this?”
Panting, I glared at him. The boy across from me flushed bright red and shouted back,

“Th-That was a fluke! There’s no way some girl could beat me—!”
“A fluke? You challenged me three times, and you lost three times. How is that a fluke?”

I forced a confident smile and raised my sword again.

“A woman, huh.”
“Wearing the boys’ uniform at a prestigious school like this… how disgraceful.”

They always said things like that. But how was I supposed to move freely in a skirt?

The crowd around us buzzed with murmurs. This was a noble academy, where future lords and generals were educated. And in the midst of them all, I was branded an oddball.
After all, I was the only daughter of a count, yet I chose to wear the boys’ uniform.

It wasn’t even true cross-dressing—just the male school uniform. But the complaints, the mockery, the sneers… I had lost count. And every time someone picked a fight with me over it, I answered with a duel and beat them down.

“You’re so damn arrogant for a girl!” the boy spat through gritted teeth.

“Because I’m a girl?” My voice sharpened. “Let me tell you something—I’ve had everything stolen from me for that one reason alone.”

A hot pressure rose in my chest.
At home, my male cousins were welcomed one after another as ‘heirs to the family,’ treated better than me—the daughter of the count himself.

Even though I was the only child. Even though I’d been raised since birth to believe I would inherit the house.

But then… because I was a ‘girl’… everything was ripped away.

“That’s why I’ll prove it. That even as a girl, I can surpass any man!”

That was when it happened.

Clap, clap, clap. The sound of lazy, offbeat applause drifted through the training yard.

“My, my, myyy~♡ As expected of our academy’s little rampaging lady!”

The flamboyant voice belonged to a man—or rather, a teacher.

With silver hair flowing to his shoulders, a bright robe fluttering around him, long lashes and lips tinted as though with rouge, he was the most striking presence in the entire school: the magic instructor, Safir.

“Another duel? You’ve got so much energy~! If you keep getting this worked up, you’ll wrinkle that pretty brow of yours, sweetheart♡”

“…Professor Safir!” I blurted, unable to hide the edge in my tone.
Of all the people, why did it have to be the teacher I disliked most?

Safir was known as the “Onee Teacher.” His speech and gestures were sensual, almost womanly, but his mastery of magic was undisputed.

Among the boys he was considered creepy and avoided, but among the girls he was oddly popular—“Surprisingly fun to talk to,” they said. In short, a troublesome figure.

“Now, now~ Don’t you think it’s time to stop? If this goes on, the poor boy’s just going to cry.”

He turned his gaze on the boy with the broken sword and gave a dazzling smile.
The boy’s face went crimson, and he scrambled away in humiliation.
Snickers and giggles rippled through the surrounding crowd.

“See? If you bully boys too much, you’ll only scare off your suitors, you know♡”

“Wha—! I-I wasn’t bullying him! It was a fair and square fight—!”

“Yes, yes, I understand, I understand. Hmhmhm, what an adorable angry face you make~”

Safir narrowed his eyes dramatically and reached out to poke my cheek.
I instinctively stepped back half a pace.

“Stay away from me!”
“Oh my, are you blushing?”
“I am NOT blushing!”

The onlookers burst out laughing again.
Shame and irritation burned inside me. Why did this teacher always seem to zero in on my weakest points?

…Running into him really was the worst.

But at that time, I had no way of knowing—
That this “worst possible teacher” would soon become the very person to throw my life completely off course.