I Start with a Bad Hand!

“Huh? Why?” 

I asked, ignoring the déjà vu I felt from somewhere. Agatha looked back at the target and adjusted my stance as she spoke.

“You shoot arrows well, and you hit well. If you practice diligently until the autumn hunt, you could catch a couple of game animals.”

As she said this, Agatha continued, and I released the bowstring, waiting for her to go on. The arrow struck dead center in the target again.

“But just shooting and hitting doesn’t necessarily mean you can kill the game. It’s fine for animals like rabbits or deer, but thicker-skinned beasts might not be killed with one shot.”

And unlike targets, animals move.

Agatha took my bow as she spoke.

Standing firm, Agatha then shot an arrow, splitting the one already in the target in half. I thought to myself that there must be a reason she was appointed as a professor at such a young age and asked Agatha,

“If I could just get the power to penetrate the hide, that is, if I can sufficiently hit a moving target… is there a possibility?”

My question, brimming with confidence, made Agatha laugh as if amused.

“Seems you have another way to compensate for the handicap?”

I closed my mouth again, sporting a slightly assured smile. Agatha, indicating she would not ask further, shook her head and said,

“Yes. With really, really hard work and practice.”

“You might as well practice with moving objects. That’d be good.” Agatha patted my shoulder and added,

“Do your best. You really have to work as if ready to die in practice to even get close to the ranking.”

“For your information, I was the runner-up.” Saying this, Agatha walked away towards another student with a mischievous smile, her barley-like hair fluttering in the wind.

***

As I left the archery range, mulling over the scheduled midterms and my plans to achieve my goals, an odd smell began to mix with the scent of the flowers decorating the academy.

It was somewhat grassy, a bit acrid. It wasn’t the tobacco smell I’d encountered a few times in Heylem. An indescribable, unique odor mingled faintly with the floral scent.

‘Fortunately, it doesn’t smell like something burning…’

Could it be something like marijuana in this world?

Though I was smelling it for the first time, the strange odor was far more intensely suggestive of crime than its mysterious nature. But as long as the academy wasn’t on fire, there was no need for me to get involved. I naturally moved away from the scene, pretending not to have noticed the smell.

While heading to the training grounds, I noticed someone standing askew in a secluded spot between the entrance and the academy. From the bushes, a strong, odd fragrance wafted through, unmasked even by the intense smell of grass. It was incomparably more potent than before, almost dizzying.

I had a feeling that he would approach me at some point. Hayden, who secretly circled around Roxanne and surely knew about the commotion in the student council room.

I looked at him with a bit of tension.

Neat, relaxed, and with a settled gaze, Hayden’s brown eyes scanned me.

As someone who has lived as a law-abiding citizen, facing Hayden, who emitted a suspicious smell, wasn’t exactly appealing.

“Hello.”

We had met before. Even though he smiled broadly, making him look quite handsome. He was as much my type as Prince Elius was—a neatly handsome man.

As Hayden approached, that strange scent I had smelled earlier hit me strongly. I instinctively stepped back, but he took a step closer. I flinched slightly but didn’t avoid him.

‘Ah, what is this?’

Hayden was a character that was neither easy to approach nor completely avoidable. In fact, other male protagonists in the original work were predictable. Each had their own ways, but it was described why they liked and cared for Roxanne.

However, Hayden was different. Until the end of the first part I read, it never revealed why he lingered around Roxanne. Yet, if anyone flirted with Roxanne, he was the first to discreetly revenge as much as she suffered, even more so than the prince. So, him approaching me like this must mean he thought I had done something to harm Roxanne.

But, despite whatever malice Hayden might hold, it was difficult to completely avoid him. After meeting Hayden in the clock tower, I had read almost all the academy’s historical books in the library. However, even after days of searching, I couldn’t find any mention of the legend about the clock tower that Hayden had spoken of.

Hayden, Dietrich, the clock tower, there must be some connection…

It seemed that the only person who could provide the answers was Hayden, who knew the story. Lost in these thoughts, I was staring down when he brushed my wind-blown hair aside as if arranging it. An indescribable fragrance lingered from his fingertips.

‘…It’s like a medicinal herb from my hometown.’

My gaze lingered on the suspicious tobacco in Hayden’s hand, and he lightly smiled and shook it. “It’s a sedative, a sedative.”

‘Ah, he said he was from a foreign nobility….’

Despite his explanation, the strange scent and smoke made it hard to take his words at face value. Of course, Hayden looked a bit drowsy, but otherwise, he was no different from last time, and although he said it was a sedative…

‘Is it a culturally insensitive attitude to see it as an illegal drug just because it’s unfamiliar to me?’

There are countries where marijuana is legal… So, in Hayden’s country, smoking it might not be strange at all. Yet, unable to hide my uneasy expression, Hayden pulled something resembling a pendant from his pocket and rubbed out the long cigarette.

Then he brought up something unexpected.

“A bit… lonely.”

Maybe because it’s been a long time since he couldn’t return to his homeland. His voice carried an indelible weariness as he spoke.

“I smoked it because of that, I hope you won’t misunderstand.”

Brushing off the ash that clung to his hand, Hayden silently looked at me. Apart from the light rustling of the wind, the surroundings remained still.

Seizing the moment, I was about to ask him about the story that no amount of searching in the library had revealed.

“Senior, I have something to ask you. About what you mentioned last time at the clock tower.”

At my words, Hayden’s expression softened, and he stepped toward me. Despite his somewhat imposing approach, I didn’t back down and continued.

“About the story tied to the clock tower. I’m curious. No matter how much I searched in the library, I couldn’t find any information.”

A light laugh carried on the wind.

“It’s nothing special. It’s just a story I heard from someone else…”

Hayden paused slightly before continuing.

“There’s a story that if you offer a soul to the clock tower of the academy, it grants a wish.”

I frowned. What nonsense. But then again, considering I had ended up in this world through possession, it seemed this world was prone to nonsensical events. Just as I was about to continue, looking at Hayden who nodded for me to ask more,

“That story. Did anyone by chance…”

“Dietrich!”

Someone shouted my name unexpectedly, and I turned with a surprised look to see who it was. It was Klaus, Irene’s younger brother.

He seemed to have walked briskly, breathing a bit heavily. Wearing training clothes, he appeared to have just rushed out from the training grounds.

Although he called out my name, Klaus was not looking at me; his gaze was intensely fixed on Hayden. The usually somewhat naive expression was gone, replaced by a stern face. Klaus quickly walked up and stood next to me.

“Good day, senior.”

His greeting was polite, but his voice carried a somewhat confrontational tone. Hayden responded with a relaxed smile and nodded. Before Hayden could speak, Klaus spoke again.

“I have something urgent to discuss with Dietrich… I apologize if I interrupted your conversation.”

Klaus spoke in a somewhat stiff manner and respectfully bowed his head to Hayden. It was a stark contrast to his usual carefree demeanor. Seeing him like this, it seemed suddenly clear that he was the scion of a noble family and Irene’s brother.

Hayden looked back and forth between me and Klaus with a curious expression, then chuckled and shook his head.

“No, I was just saying hello because I’m glad to see you.”

“I’ll be going, have a good talk. See you later.” With that, Hayden turned and walked away. Klaus watched him until he was completely out of sight, then turned to me with a serious expression.

“Do you know that senior?”

“More like, we just spoke once when we bumped into each other.”

Hearing this, Klaus’s expression grew even grimmer. He glanced around slightly, then lowered his voice and said,

“Be careful with that senior.”

“…Why?”

I asked, feeling a bit tense. It was not something I expected the usually jovial Klaus to say. Perhaps Klaus knew something about Hayden that wasn’t in the original story.

Klaus leaned in closer to me. The heat from his strenuous exercise wafted towards me. I quietly swallowed to avoid making any noise.

Klaus then whispered near my ear,

“My sister… really dislikes him.”