Taming The Villainesses

(EP-49.2) Another Name Is Enrollment #2

049 – Another Name For War Is Enrollment #2

“You can now enter!”

In the morning, the faculty and staff opened the door to the teller in charge.

After scrambling through the throngs of people, I had to wait quite a while for my turn before finally being able to talk to the counter staff.

“I am Theo, Her Majesty Aira’s aide. Can I enroll in the Queen’s stead? There will only be two subjects.”

“Her Majesty is a Platinum Class, correct? I’ll take care of it right away. What about Sir Theo’s?”

“I will have 15 credits, here.”

I then handed my temporary timetable to the staff. She wore a neat dress and glasses, while her brown hair was tied back like a horse’s tail. She looked at my timetable for a while, then subtly asked.

“Are you fine with this? There are two highly competitive subjects here…”

Hearing the words ‘highly competitive” made me remember the Class A information I heard at the entrance earlier.

“Yes, please.”

“You came early so there might be some plaques left behind. Please wait a moment.”

She then rummaged through the window-like drawer at the back before holding something out to me. It was like a wooden dog tag.

This seemed to be an identification that proved my enrollment in a certain subject.

“Alas, there are no more plaques left for the ‘Tea Time’ subject. All available spots are full.”

“… For real?”

Despite coming this early, there were no more vacancies!?

I had to get one for Aira, otherwise…

“Is there no other way?”

“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do for you. The Tea Time class is popular, so it’s one of the first to run out of spots.”

‘I’m doomed!’

I didn’t know this would happen…

What should I do now!?

Maybe… change Aira’s timetable?

No, if I got caught doing something like that, Aira might just crush my skull…

“But, I could put you in the ‘Fun and Exciting Philosophy’ subject. It has a lot of vacancies!”

‘Fun, what’s fun!?’

Fųck!

I didn’t expect to feel the pain of failing to enroll for a subject here…

I had no choice but to take a step back. Upon turning my head, I could see both the joy of those that succeed in enrolling and the despair of people who failed to do so.

━I’m screwed. ‘Understanding the Precise Concept and Principle of Nymphophobia’. What subject even is this!? Why do I have to listen to this!?

━Still better than me. I’m in the 1st class…

The situation clamoring all around was similar to the strife of war.

I looked down on my enrollment application.

“Hey, friend. How did it go? Any success?”

Then someone spoke to me. Looking at the belly fat that came out under the school uniform, I could tell that it was Hans. It actually felt rather strange that he was treating me like we’d always been good friends…

“I failed one subject.”

“Heh heh, that’s pretty good… Could this be the famous ‘beginner’s luck’?”

With that out of the way, it was time to talk about each other’s timetable and move forward.

“These insignificant Bronze bas†ards sure cry a lot today. Who’s got the good subjects? I, Efside, want to take a look!”

Suddenly, someone appeared in the crowded enrollment area.

He was a tall, dark-haired giant with a huge scythe. His muscles were lumpy and his school uniform was torn, like some sort of end-of-century biker punk.

How could there be someone so unfit for a uniform like that?

Anyway, as soon as he appeared, the bustling atmosphere instantly turned silent.

Even Hans, who was telling me about his wonderful timetable, had his mouth and bowed his head. He then tapped me on the side.

“Hey, friend. Don’t make eye contact with him.”

“Why not?”

“That’s Lecture Hunter, Efseid. He’s a very spiteful and terrifying Barbarian bas†ard. If possible, avoid eye contact and do not move.”

What was this? What was even a ‘Lecture Hunter’?

But I immediately understood the meaning of said nickname.

“You there, you seem to be happy? Did your enrollment go well? Let me see your timetable!”

“… My, my timetable is bad! There is nothing to see!”

“That’s up for me to decide! Let’s see-“

Lecture Hunter Efside grabbed the weak, fragile-looking girl’s wrist and lifted her up into the air. At the same time, he looked through the course enrollment on the girl’s arm.

Efside then said aloud.

“Understanding Elves? Who the heII takes a subject like this!? Rediscovery of Sacred Music? What else?”

“… Ugh-.”

Having been insulted with her timetable, the girl’s face turned red from embarrassment. Or, well, maybe she was just feeling the pain from her arm since she was literally being lifted.

It was then.

“But this sounds like a great subject, ‘Tea Time to Foster the Mind’. However, it seems like this would be a little too difficult of a subject for a Bronze Class. Here, how about this, I’ll take this in your stead!”

“Ah, that-!”

“Instead, I’ll give you my ‘Introduction to Architecture’. How is it? Sounds good, right!?”

“That too much-! That’s an F Class subject!”

“Are you dissatisfied? If you are, why don’t we have a duel? I will accept any sport or match. If you win, I’ll give you my rank brooch. So, shall we?”

“Ugh….”

Ah.

Just like that.

That guy called Efside was a very terrifying and devious guy who stole subjects that other people had painstakingly taken.

Hans, who was next to me, quietly explained.

“They steal lectures like that. That’s why it’s meaningless to take a bunch of Class A subjects at the beginning. There’s a lot of people that try to steal subjects from others.”

“Wait, how could the Church tolerate this kind of behavior!?”

I looked at the faculty staff around me. Despite their role as supervisors, they were being willfully ignorant!

“So nobody is going to stop this?”

“… Yeah. It doesn’t matter how great you are or how high of a status you have outside. Here, rank and skill are everything.”

‘So that’s how this works.’

This enlightened me quite a bit on the Academy’s system.

“That Efside guy was also a Bronze Class who ranked 900th at first. But he stole the brooches of seniors in a confrontation and climbed up to Silver Class. Worse still, the better subject he gets, the more his skills grow….”

“It’s possible to take brooches?”

I looked at the brooch with a ‘1021’ on my chest. This was my ranking right now. It WAS my rank and number.

But, there was a system out there where you could steal other people’s brooches?

“It is possible if it is a duel following the presence of the leading party. Anything is possible as long as there’s no killing. But, Theo, you shouldn’t care about that.”

“Why?”

“Hey, it’s a famous story that you failed all the physical tests. You also ranked more than a thousand.”

Aha, so that was why this guy, a Bronze Class, felt that I was so easy to talk to.

They must have thought that I was a friend like themselves.

But, there was something I couldn’t stand.

The ‘Tea Time’ subject that Efside just took.

It was the class that I had longed for. Thus, the moment I realized that it could be taken away, I could hardly calm myself down!

“Friend! What are you doing?!?”

Looking back at the bewildered Hans, I gave a modest answer while still moving forward.

“If there is a ladder up, you have to climb it!”

Edited by: faker and gargnaveen