IRHWSDD 14

From Perennial Last Place to First in the Entire School

“Lady Lukna, next period is Practical Applications of Magic!”

Hans—who had once gotten a solid beating from her—now checked Lukna’s schedule like a dutiful secretary.

Behind him, Potato No. 2 and Potato No. 3 carried Lukna’s textbooks and pencil case.

After being thoroughly thrashed, Hans and his gang had done a complete 180 and now followed Lukna around as if ready to pledge their loyalty.

“When you purify someone with holy power, the weaker the person, the higher the chance they’ll be influenced, Master.”

The Holy Sword called this phenomenon “conversion.” Lukna had wondered what kind of ridiculous feature that was, but since they made her school life easier, she didn’t mind too much.

‘Considering what happened before, I’d love to beat him senseless with a mop handle—but I’ll observe for now.’

Lukna shot Hans a sharp look.

Hans mistook it for the gaze of a hungry predator and quickly pulled out a bag of bread he had prepared in advance.

“Lady Lukna, you like bread, right? I got you some Mountain Bunny Bread.”

The effect was tremendous. The predator, now chewing diligently, lost all hostility and smiled happily.

“Hehe, you really didn’t have to.”

When you’re angry, carbs are the best medicine, she thought as she munched on bread and moved to the lecture hall.

The corridor, neither wide nor narrow, was packed with people. It felt like boarding a subway during rush hour.

On the left were second-years who had just finished class and were moving to another college. On the right were third-years just entering their classrooms.

“Protect Lady Lukna!”

The three Potato brothers desperately tried to secure space, but there was no stopping the tide of students.

“Urgh, Lady Lukna, we’re sorry!”

“Our legs are tangled, Lady Lukna!”

Because of the Potatoes’ weak lower bodies and frantic flailing, Lukna, stuck between them, could barely breathe. Honestly, they were no help at all.

‘If only I were a little taller, I wouldn’t have to go through this.’

For a woman, her height was average—but for a cadet, she was noticeably small.

Still, no one thought much of it.

With beastkin sporting animal ears and dwarves among the international students, who would pay attention to someone just for being short?

‘Ugh, I can’t breathe!’

With bread still in her mouth, Lukna was being flattened among the sweaty cadets when—

Someone grabbed her by the back of the neck and lifted her up.

Huh?

Flailing, she turned her head.

Blue eyes stared down at her with mild exasperation.

“Matian?”

“Not bread—drink more milk, Lukna.”

Matian smiled gently as he recommended more dairy intake.

Though the hand holding her by the scruff looked as though it were picking up a dirty rag.

“Then why not just put me down?”

“I haven’t even sparred with you yet. It’d be a shame if you got trampled to death here.”

“…Is that something you say with a smile?”

“You should focus on the part where I said I’d be disappointed, Lukna.”

Matian carried her all the way to the lecture hall.

As a result, Lukna had to enter looking like a cat caught stealing food.

This class was Imperial History.

Lukna sighed as she looked down at the midterm exam paper.

‘I don’t have any answers coming to mind for this subject.’

While her body had excelled in Basic Medicine and Divine Studies, History was apparently her weakness. Even Lukna, newly reincarnated into this world, had only shallow knowledge of history.

Then suddenly, her hand began moving frantically, filling the blank test sheet with answers.

The Holy Sword was pushing her.

“Master, the answer to number 21 is Closet, who laid the foundation for Divine Studies and Herbalism.”

“You got number 25 wrong. The Demon War began on April 2nd, Year 135 of the Imperial Calendar.”

‘Ugh, whatever. I’ll just skip it.’

“Go ahead and skip it. The great Visbi will remember your absurd wrong answer forever.”

‘Does this stupid sword have a full-score ghost attached to it or something? Why is it doing this to me?’

“Oh dear, with such a crooked heart, you even misspelled it, Master. You left out the L in Archmage Golden.

Shall I start calling you Lukna Goden instead?”

‘I’m exhausted. Seriously.’

“Excellent, Master! You’ve forgotten the cause of the Demon War again, just like yesterday. As expected of Lukna Goden!”

The Holy Sword repeated the cause of the Demon War exactly three times until Lukna wrote it properly.

“The reason the dark mages summoned the demon egg and started the Demon War was—”

‘I know! I already wrote it down.’

“Wrong. That’s incomplete. It was to extract the ‘Black Sage’ from the egg, create a new humanity, and conquer the Empire, remember?”

‘Sigh. Those dark mages… who exactly is this Black Sage that they had to make history so complicated?’

“He is presumed to be either the immortal Demon King or a vessel containing the Demon King. If a dark mage who sacrifices life force for power gained immortality, they would be truly invincible.”

‘I see.’

“If you understand, then write it down, Master.”

In the end, Lukna clutched her head in frustration during the exam.

‘Think about it, Visbi. If I suddenly get perfect scores in every subject, people will obviously get suspicious.’

“It’s fine. The skill of the great Holy Sword Visbi is genuine.”

‘I’m not talking about you! I’m talking about me!’

“Must I concern myself with your reputation as well?”

Wow. Look at this sword.

It used to act like artificial intelligence, and now it was talking back like this.

Lukna tried to ignore it, but her right hand kept writing down every correct answer as if possessed.

‘Is this brat Visbi controlling my body now?’

She grabbed her uncontrollably moving right hand with her left.

A professor passing by frowned at the strange sight.

“Are you unwell?”

“Ugh, my hand keeps…”

“Is there something wrong with your hand?”

“It keeps writing only the correct answers.”

…Oops.

Realizing she had just spoken her inner thoughts aloud, Lukna stiffened and checked the professor’s expression.

He stared at her as though she were insane, clicked his tongue, and walked away.

After many twists and turns, Lukna was the last to submit her paper.

The professor skimmed it and looked up in surprise.

“You’re Lukna Golden, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You and Matian Wiegratz are the only ones who solved the final question.”

To think the student muttering nonsense earlier would produce such an excellent answer sheet.

“At this rate, you and Matian will both receive perfect scores—”

“T-That’s not allowed!”

Lukna waved her hands in alarm.

Though Matian appeared relaxed, he secretly worked hard. Sharing first place with someone would irritate him to no end.

‘With the Holy Sword already making people suspicious, I really don’t want to stand out.’

But the professor seemed to misunderstand.

“Ho… Lukna, you must have studied desperately to surpass even Matian.”

“N-No, that’s not it!”

“There’s no need to be modest. As a professor, it’s gratifying to see a student so devoted to academics. But let me say this—I see my old self in you.”

The middle-aged professor patted her shoulder with teary eyes.

“Studying to the point of mental collapse is not the right path.”

“…Pardon?”

“You should come to graduate school instead. If you’re mad about studying, it’s perfect for you.”

He handed her a business card with his research office address.

Lukna didn’t answer immediately.

She didn’t know much, but whether in her past life or this one, graduate school didn’t seem like a place to enter lightly.

“Think carefully—and hold on to your sanity, new rival of Matian Wiegratz.”

With that, the professor anointed her as Matian’s competitor and left.

Lukna hurriedly scanned the room, worried someone might have heard.

If that reached Matian’s ears, he might be offended at being compared to her.

‘And then he’d smile sweetly while crushing me thoroughly.’

Dragging her feet toward the next college building, Lukna sighed at the floating clouds.

Hans’s gang hovered nearby. “Lady Lukna, why do you look so troubled?” they fussed.

The next class was Practical Applications of Divine Power.

‘Visbi, if you make a scene again, I’m leaving you in my room!’

For this subject, she resolved firmly to maintain an ordinary ranking.

Never again would she receive a conspicuous score.

Until graduation, she would remain as unremarkable as possible.

Invisible. Average.

And then graduate quietly.