Namgung Se-ga, the warrior, was reincarnated in Romance

It was only after meeting Shayden in the dormitory dining hall that I remembered what I had planned to do today.

From a distance, I noticed the boy’s face light up when he spotted me. With his reddish, soft hair fluttering as he walked toward me, Shayden placed his tray down on the seat across from me and greeted me.

His face, looking fresh from a nap, was glowing with a warm smile.

“You came today? I heard you were swimming, but you’re not even a bit sunburned. It’s been a while, Mika.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while. Where have you been all day?”

“I was hanging out with the Management Department. Somehow, I got friendly with them. I’ll introduce you later.”

“Hm. What’s your schedule like?”

“I was waiting for you. Let’s eat, then we’ll go see each other afterward.”

Despite it being nearly two months since we’d last seen each other, it felt as if we had met just yesterday, and I felt at ease.

The conversation during our meal wasn’t much different from what I had heard in letters.

I asked if he wasn’t tired after attending various banquets and social gatherings during the long break, and he responded that he actually enjoyed it because he met so many good friends.

“When we’re in academy classes, we mostly talk about the subjects we’re learning rather than personal matters,” he said.

“Right.”

“But after the debutante ball, every party and tea time is a gathering for socializing, so everyone tries to present their best selves. I really like that.”

“…You mean presenting a good image?”

“Focusing on my best side. When I repeat the best and most elegant actions I can show, I feel like I’m becoming a better person. If I keep doing it enough, I might really become that person… or maybe not, but for now, that’s what I think.”

“Hmm.”

His words about having a period where you can practice showing your best self under the gaze of others really resonated with me and left a deep impression.

Shayden wrapped up his story about the debutante ball and then casually mentioned the Servel siblings and passed on their regards, nodding gently and giving a light reply.

We entered his dorm room as if it were a familiar place.

Sitting across from each other in the reception room, we reviewed various lecture materials Shayden had laid out.

There were many classes I wanted to take, but a lot of them overlapped in schedule.

I marked my priorities, set them aside, and carefully considered which ones would be best.

However, once again, I didn’t leave out any of Professor Maelo Sanson’s classes.

This semester, Professor Maelo Sanson was teaching introductory swordsmanship on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and advanced swordsmanship on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I neatly wrote down the classes in the empty spaces on my schedule, and Shayden sighed heavily and shook his head.

“Why the sigh?”

“Well, it’s true that as a member of the swordsmanship department, it makes sense to take swordsmanship classes, but… isn’t it a bit much?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… advanced swordsmanship classes count for extra credits, but the introductory ones don’t. If you take the same course multiple times, only your highest grade counts for graduation. Both of us did well last semester, so why bother?”

“But Professor Maelo Sanson is teaching, isn’t he?”

“…That’s true.”

His schedule also included the introductory swordsmanship class.

As I was mulling over my course choices, Shayden picked up two syllabi from Professor Cedric’s classes and placed them in front of me.

“This one is from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning, and this one is from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning. The course content is the same, but which one do you think is better? If I ask Professor Sanson in advance, we could drop the Thursday advanced swordsmanship class.”

“Friday and Saturday would be better. I can catch up with study on Sunday.”

“Hmm. So, you’re giving up your weekends this semester… I see…”

“Are you matching your schedule with mine, even though we’re not in the same group?”

“Well, it’s for the camping course. Don’t you mind?”

“No. I appreciate it.”

After all, after a camping trip, there’s always time spent cleaning up, so I thought it would be more sensible to reduce my play days than to skip weekday classes.

I filled in the Friday afternoon slot with an alchemy and hunting course, then spread out the syllabi for Professor Douglas Mustang’s classes.

Professor Douglas Mustang was teaching three classes this semester. After carefully considering the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule, I decided to add his class on Tuesday afternoons.

Shayden immediately asked, “What’s that class? Professor Mustang doesn’t teach on Tuesdays.”

“I’ve made special arrangements with him because my aura is unusual. I spoke with him in advance, and he agreed to meet with me for about half a day during his free time. I think we’ll talk with a few other mages and do some demonstrations.”

“Wow… I’m curious, but I can’t follow that. You’re talking about the mana inside your body, the pink dragon, right?”

“Don’t call it that.”

“Well, on Tuesday afternoon, you’ll meet with Professor Mustang. So, let’s take this class together on Monday.”

“…Magical Equipment and Artifacts?”

When I first mentioned taking magic classes in the first semester, it was Shayden who was most surprised. As I was puzzled, he calmly explained.

“The class you took in the first semester was about using mana to cast magic, right? This class is about learning how to safely use magical artifacts. And look, the class is held in the Management Department building. For non-mages, artifacts are indispensable everyday tools.”

“What about for mages?”

“They just use magic, don’t they? But look at the syllabus here. It even includes lessons on how to purchase artifacts wisely. This is an essential subject if you ever want to manage a fief.”

“I’ll take it.”

“Good.”

“Professor Jurgen Kaiser… Do you know anything about him?”

“Not much. I’ve heard he’s a nice guy. One of my friends took his class last semester and said it was really useful.”

My semester schedule was almost full now. There were still many classes I wanted to take, but time was running out, so I let out a long sigh. Shayden immediately brought over another syllabus and laid it down in front of me.

“And this one too.”

“…Alright.”

There was no need to add anything more.

Professor Calyps Agrizent taught the Imperial Genealogy course for two hours each on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Shayden and I added his class to our schedule for the first period on Wednesday afternoon.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. While Shayden went to open it, I carefully reviewed the remaining syllabi.

I wasn’t confident in my memorization skills, but I was curious about the culture of the Shieran people, and since the class I took last semester had been useful and enjoyable, I wanted to learn more about alchemy as well.

There was also a professor’s class on hunting techniques that taught the use of hunting traps and various tools, as well as stealth techniques, which sounded extremely interesting.

Another sheet of paper landed in front of me as I was deep in thought.

I wasn’t surprised, as I had sensed his presence before he entered. Benjamin Claudia, a large figure with black hair and golden eyes, was a friend I had spent the entire last semester with and had received a lot of help from.

He greeted me politely, and I nodded in return.

When I looked at the syllabus for Professor Bivan Otif’s course on horse training, I remembered the promise I had made with Benjamin.

“Didn’t you say you were going to take a horseback riding class with Young Master Claudia? It seems like the timing is good. You could take it during the second period on Wednesday afternoon.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Great. That time works for me as well.”

The class name was unique, but the syllabus content was nothing special.

It just mentioned learning how to choose good horses and then spending plenty of time practicing riding.

I carefully read the warning about taking care of the horse outside of class and ensuring regular visits even when there were no lessons.

I spent a long time thinking again to fill in the rest of the schedule.

Shayden, after hearing the reputations of various professors, started discussing which professors’ classes were better, helping Benjamin fill out his schedule.

Though we added one more person, the number of horses had multiplied fivefold.

After talking about various professors’ reputations and the usefulness of their classes, we eventually finished our schedules after drinking at least two more cups of tea.

I decided to take Professor Wilton Robert’s Practical Illusion Magic class on Thursday afternoon with Benjamin.

Shayden, after much thought, admitted that he wasn’t very interested in illusion magic and declared that he would instead take an art appreciation class.

So, this semester, I would attend classes with Shayden on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and with Benjamin on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We were all happy to take the horseback riding class together on Wednesday afternoon.

I felt a warm sense of comfort, knowing that a friend who understood my awkwardness in socializing was looking out for me.

Then, I suddenly had a question and asked Shayden.

“So, what happens if more people want to take a class than the class capacity?”

“Like if there are 100 applicants for a class that only accepts 50?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard they do a lottery for that.”

“…What?”

So, after putting so much effort into planning my schedule, I might have to redo it?

Feeling disheartened, I looked down at the schedule I had just finished when Benjamin, who was sitting next to me, patted my shoulder and offered some comforting words.

“It’s really rare for that to happen. There are a lot of classes, and even if the same class is offered multiple times a week, it helps distribute the students. And if it does happen, they usually check if there are any students willing to drop the class before doing the lottery.”

“But for popular courses or classes that can only accommodate a few students at a time, they might have to do a lottery. So, be prepared for that.”

“Does it not matter if you apply early or late?”

“Well, I’ve heard that it used to matter… but I guess it didn’t look good seeing students camped out in front of the academic office from early morning during registration periods. So they decided to leave it all to luck.”

Hearing that, I felt a pang of realization, as I had been planning to wake up early to reserve my spot. I immediately fell silent.

Shayden and Benjamin took turns reassuring me that there would likely be no problems and patted my shoulder to help calm my nerves.

They told me that the first round of course registrations would take place starting Thursday, with schedule adjustments on Friday, a second round of registrations on Saturday, and final results announced on Monday.

After promising to meet again the next day, I parted ways with the two of them. However, I couldn’t shake the strange unease, and I tossed and turned all night, struggling to fall asleep.