I Became the Academy’s Munchkin Sniper

After class, I headed to the student cafeteria. It was lunchtime, and students were pouring in endlessly.

“Should we eat this?”

“I’ll have this one. This stew looks more delicious.”

“Hah. Do you not understand the magic of spaghetti and bread together?!”

The line was long.

Groups of students were already gathered, deciding on what to eat from a menu with over dozens of dishes. 

The Artena Academy cafeteria prided itself on high-quality meals. They even hirer chefs who once served the royal family. So, it was understandable why choosing a dish wasn’t easy.

‘Makes sense.’

I nodded to myself.

There are times when you want to eat both this and that.

Of course, that didn’t apply to me…

I sat by the window alone. I pulled out some herbs wrapped in leaves from my bag.

They were what I gathered this morning.

“This is my lunch.”

It was a bit lacking, but I’d make up for it with some meat for dinner, so it was fine. Eating meat every meal would make for too heavy a diet.

Besides, I didn’t have a container to store the meat in.

As I was picking at my herbs, I could hear the murmurs of the other students.

“Isn’t that guy the only one who got F-grade in the Magic Department?”

“How did he even get in… The professor said he must have a special skill, but it’s probably just some cheap trick.”

“Yeah, pure luck. That’s all.”

In the Magic Department, I had quickly become an extra among extras. Even on my way from class to the cafeteria, I could hear students talking about me.

An F-grade mana perception? Makes for an easy topic of conversation.

And what’s my situation?

I was a fallen noble. A third-rate scoundrel with F-grade mana perception.

For the nobles, I was a laughingstock; for the commoners, an easy target to vent their feelings of inferiority.

This was all Kyle’s doing, so I just silently continued eating. Honestly, it didn’t even make me angry. I had too much to do today anyway.

‘I need to meet Lien, buy a jar for making jerky, get a mop and a bucket, pay back my loan except for my emergency stash, then head to the library to borrow the ‘Introduction to Magic’ textbook and some basic magic books… And maybe find a decent standard swordsmanship book… Phew, busy.’

I didn’t have time to care about other people’s opinions.

While I was organizing my thoughts.

“Uh, excuse me. Are you… Kyle?”

Two male students spoke to me. When I turned my head, I saw Cedric and Roden.

“Yeah. I’m Kyle.”

“Oh…! I see. Do you, um, want to eat together? Ah! N-no pressure or anything, it’s just… I, I wanted to be friends.”

Cedric lowered his head shyly. It didn’t seem like he had any bad intentions.

He wasn’t the type to have those kinds of thoughts in the original story. In fact, he was more of the bullied type.

But he wanted to be friends with me?

As I quietly looked at Cedric, Roden suddenly plopped down in the chair beside me and started talking with a loud laugh.

“Don’t feel too pressured! Actually, two days ago, we found out that the lowest-ranked student in the Magic Department is you, Kyle. We’re ranked 348th and 349th, so we were curious about what kind of person would be below us. That’s why we came to see you.”

“R-Roden! That’s so rude!”

“And today, we realized it, huh? That you’ve set an incredible record of having F-grade mana perception! We’re all kind of losers, so we should get along, don’t you think? That’s why we wanted to talk to you.”

“K-Kyle, you know I definitely don’t think like that, right? Roden is just saying things on his own. Really!”

Putting these two together was like watching a sitcom. A fantastic combination of E and I personalities.

In the original story, these two entered Artena Academy ranked 349th and 350th. But since I ended up at the very bottom, I seemed to have caught their attention.

They were typically very kind to students who were in the same position as them.

And besides, they were characters on the righteous side. In terms of power, Cedric eventually awakened as a swordsman, while Roden mastered intermediate-level magic using earth elements.

‘It wouldn’t be a problem to get closer to them…?’

Anyway, since I was playing the role of an extra, it wouldn’t hurt to be around them. Those two were designed as part of the ‘Extra Duo’ in the original story, so having them around could be helpful.

“So, what do you think of our offer? Are you in?”

“R-Roden, please—”

“Yeah. I’ll join.”

“W-What, really?”

“I don’t have any friends, so it was getting tough. If we hang out together, it’d be great for me.”

“Great. Looking forward to it!”

Roden grinned and set his tray down next to me. Cedric was still a bit hesitant and took a seat as well.

We didn’t face each other directly and sat side by side with the window behind us. It was just like the way extras live their lives.

In the original, they were a duo, but now we were a trio.

As I ate my herbs, we started chatting.

“Hey, did you know? The Catlic Hall can also be used for sparring. There’s a sparring session in the academy schedule, so do you think we’ll have to fight each other…?”

“If we do, we just have to win them all!”

“Ugh. You make it sound so easy when you say it like that. What about you, Kyle?”

“Well, I’ll just prepare as much as I can. For sparring.”

“I see…”

‘Cedric, you’ve got a talent for dropping plot hooks.’

I passed the time chatting and exchanging trivial, unimportant comments.

And before I knew it, five minutes had passed, and I finished my salad. 

Cedric and Roden also appeared to be wrapping up their meal and were about to stand up together.

“L-Look, it’s the top student!”

“To think I’d see Ciel in person. How lucky!”

“She’s so pretty. If you try to talk to her, she’ll probably freeze you on the spot…”

There was a buzz around us. 

Wondering what was happening, I turned to see Ciel entering the cafeteria. 

She stood at the entrance, scanning her surroundings.

What’s she doing…?

I narrowed my eyes but quickly dismissed it. I didn’t have time for this. I had a mountain of things to do.

“Let’s go return our trays.”

I got up from my seat. My plan was to part ways with Cedric and Roden after returning our trays.

“…?”

But then, in an instant, my eyes met Ciel’s. She began closing the distance between us, her steps unrestrained.

No matter how I looked at it, it appeared like she was heading toward me.

‘No. It’s possible she’s not coming for me. Just back away slowly…’

I shook my head and started stepping backward cautiously. However, despite my efforts, the gap kept closing, and eventually, I backed into a wall.

“You…”

Ciel and I were now face-to-face. And the position was quite… something. Her hand was braced against the wall, making sure I couldn’t escape.

It felt just like… One of those classic ‘kabedon’ moments.

“W-What’s going on between that guy and the top student?!”

“What the heck is happening right now?!”

“Ciel is talking to him?”

The attention of the entire cafeteria was suddenly focused on us. At a time when people were most curious about romance, rumors like this would spread like wildfire.

And that would pull unwanted attention onto me. Given that my goal was to quietly graduate, I was absolutely against that.

There was still a chance to fix this.

“Uh, excuse me, I think you’ve got the wrong person…”

Proving that I had nothing to do with her—that was all I wanted to do. 

But then, she put an end to the situation.

“I have something to talk to you about. Come with me.”

Ciel’s calm voice rang out in the cafeteria. It was the same composed tone as usual, but the context made it different.

It was as if a storm of attention had descended upon the cafeteria. Every student took a sharp breath. Cedric and Roden beside me were the same.

They looked as if they had been betrayed.

‘Ah…’

My eventful life as an extra…

I could hear the sound of that premise shattering to pieces.

———-

Staying in the cafeteria would only cause more rumors, so I followed Ciel outside.

She led me to the training room. I wondered why the training room, but then remembered she was known as a relentless hard worker.

There was a backstory that she spent every day in the training room.

So, to her, the training room probably felt like home—a place without her family’s retainers keeping an eye on her.

“Come in.”

The training room was a bit distant from the cafeteria. It was clean and well-maintained. 

Ciel’s belongings were scattered around, suggesting she had come to find me in the middle of her training.

I stepped cautiously over the threshold.

Click.

After closing the door and ensuring no one was around, Ciel got straight to the point.

“You… Did you see someone that day?”

That day.

There was only one day I faced Ciel alone. The entrance exam for Artena Academy. 

Right after dealing with the intermediate-class magical beast was when I first met her.

“Who are you talking about?”

“The Master… No. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know. Did you see someone?”

When I asked, Ciel was uncharacteristically flustered. She asked again. 

With her barrage of abrupt questions, I didn’t understand at first. But with her slip-up, the context started to make some sense.

‘I understand now.’

The ‘Master’ she mentioned, the events that occurred that day, and the person she’s looking for.

It appeared Ciel was searching for the one who defeated the mid-level magical beast. And she seemed to be mistakenly thinking that person was a ‘Master.’

In this world, there were only seven known Masters. I knew how unbelievably powerful they were, but… Me, at that level?

I recalled the memory of Act 1, Scene 1. The pillar of light piercing the vast sky over the southern region of Magic Mountain.

Yeah. I suppose anyone would think that was the power of a Master.

Who would believe that was just a sniper rifle bullet?

‘Perhaps, even yesterday…’

This wasn’t the end of the misunderstanding. Yesterday, I also shot down Plak, the Mimic Demon.

In one blow.

From Ciel’s perspective, she witnessed overwhelming power twice, and in both cases, I helped her.

It was the kind of natural cute misunderstanding.

However, the assumption that this person was definitely a Master was purely her own idea.

The Dunhart family had an almost obsessive attachment to the honor of the title ‘Master.’

After producing one Master a few centuries ago, the Dunhart family had been in a steady decline. This was why Ciel was so determined to become a Master herself.

As far as I knew, her father, her late mother, and the family elders—all had high expectations for Ciel. The pressure on her was enormous, and she believed that only perfection was acceptable.

So what would she think if she saw the power of a Master?

She would want to catch up to it.

“Answer me. Did you see someone?” Ciel pressed me for a response.

“Well, uh…”

I took a moment to organize my thoughts.

Revealing that it was my doing and that the person wasn’t a Master? That’s off the table.

The moment my identity was revealed, my plan to live quietly would be ruined.

My goal was to help the protagonists only when they struggled, while leaving all the other difficult tasks to them. This carefree way of living was my foundational principle.

But it required careful consideration to admit that the person she was looking for wasn’t a Master?

Even if I told her, there was a high chance that Ciel, who saw the power firsthand, wouldn’t believe me. And hearing that the person wasn’t a Master might feel utterly disappointing to her.

That overwhelming power that eradicated the mid-level beast…

To her, it must have been an entirely new sight.

Which was why she mistakenly believed that person to be a Master.

‘But what if I tell her that he’s not a Master?’

If someone is flying above you, you only realize how much further you have to go. Maybe it could dampen her motivation.

Sometimes, a little white lie can do a lot of good.

“I think I might’ve seen someone.”

“Describe what they looked like.”

As I said that, Ciel’s eyes lit up momentarily. That subtle change in emotion was kind of cute.

I shamelessly started weaving my tale.

“He was wearing a dark robe that completely covered his face. All I saw were the layers of magic circles floating around him. But even then, I couldn’t make sense of what they were.”

“Tell me more.”

“That’s all there is to it. The only other thing I remember is that he said one thing when you were fighting. I have good hearing, you see.”

“Wh-What did he say?”

Ciel’s face was intensely focused. To think that this mysterious Master left a message for her… It was impossible for her not to be excited.

I put some force into my voice, imagining the kind of Master she was thinking of. If it were him, this is probably what he’d say.

“‘Not bad.’”

“…”

“That’s all.”

Ciel stood still, as if shocked. I poked her arm, tapped her cheek, but she didn’t respond. So, I quietly slipped out of the training room.

Or should I say, ‘quietly’? Even when I openly opened the door, she didn’t react.

Well, she’d figure things out on her own.

With that thought, I left to finish the rest of my day.