[Hated Hero, Meeting the Holy Knight in the Corridor]

The next day.

After having an enjoyable lunch with Tayte and Cornell, who had somehow ended up tagging along with us, I parted from them and was now heading to the teachers’ room to deliver the assignments collected in the class to the homeroom teacher.

The one in charge of this was the student on duty, so everyone should get to do it at least once, but unsurprisingly, I was excluded.

So, I decided to directly ask the homeroom teacher to include me as well. My classmates—who had the most opportunities to interact with me—were no longer surprised by my change; in fact, it was generally well received, to my relief.

Incidentally, Raul was back in class today.

But well, because of what had happened, our classmates were avoiding him. I had to solve this problem as soon as possible.

On the way to the teachers’ room with a tall stack of printouts, my mind was occupied with worries about how to deal with the two problems plaguing me.

The first was Raul.

The second was Barrett’s woman trouble.

Honestly, I was still stumped on how to deal with the latter. I could declare that I would never have a relationship with any woman other than Tayte. To begin with, was there a woman who was better than Tayte? No, there was not—no arguing that.

But I digress. According to the note I got from Marina, Barrett apparently hadn’t crossed the line with any of the women.

Though the number had left me surprised yesterday, looking back, it had only been a year since he had enrolled in the academy, so compared to the Barret in the original storyline, it was actually on the few side. It sprouted wishful thinking in my head that the victims might not hate me too much yet.

Anyway, the only thing I could do was to first sincerely ask for their forgiveness.

“Well, looks like I’d have to go on an apology tour for the next while…”

…It would no one any good if I just keep worrying about it, after all.

Everything was for Tayte’s sake.

Besides, when it came to things like this, it was better to act and seek a solution rather than just sit around and keep worrying about it.

Alright, I’d first contact Melia as I had originally planned.

“That leaves the other problem… but what am I even supposed to do regarding Raul…”

While I was mulling over the matter, a handsome, but suspicious guy appeared in front of me. He was looking here and there with a small note in his hand.

Although his behavior was suspicious, he was neat appearance-wise—wait, wasn’t that the uniform of Bramshal Kingdom’s knightly order? Furthermore, the embroidery on his chest… if I wasn’t mistaken, that was something that could only be worn by the highest-ranked people in the order of knights.

As I was wondering about his identity, I suddenly met eyes with the handsome guy.

The handsome guy approached me with his smooth blond straight hair swaying behind him.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you while you’re busy, but can I ask you something?”

“Please, ask away.”

“Thanks. Can you tell me which building the principal’s office is in? I’m an alumnus, but it looks like its location has changed from back then, and now I’m completely lost.”

“The principal’s office is in the Central Academic Building. You can get to the building through that corridor, and from there just walk straight until you find a flight of stairs, climb up to the third floor, and then you’ll find the principal’s office.”

“Oh! So the Central Academic Building was that way! Geez, I sure have absolutely zero sense of direction.”

“H-haha.”

How should I put it? This person seemed unreliable.

“Anyway, thanks so much for your kindness! As an alumnus, may I have the honor to know the name of my kind junior?”

“My name is Barrett Albers.”

“! So you are the Barrett Albers… you seem quite different from the rumors, and pretty skilled, to boot.”

After saying that, he extended his hand for a handshake.

As I was reaching out my hand to shake his, I smiled embarrassedly, “No, you flatter me…”

“The name’s Klaus, the Holy Knight. I’d like to give you a proper thanks, but I’m in a bit of a hurry, you see. I’ll come visit you again another day. Alright, see you later.”

“Ah, y-yes.”

The Holy Knight, huh.

I wondered what he was doing here. Did it have something to do with Raul’s case, perhaps?

“……Mm?”

“Holy Knight Klaus?!?!?!?!”

I looked back while screaming, but the Holy Knight Klaus had gone.

…No, wasn’t his image quite different from the one in the original storyline?!

Shouldn’t he be, like… stricter?!

Why did the real one seem so unreliable?!

Well, to be fair, he only appeared in the academy arc, during the scenes where Raul was training—that was to say, during flashback scenes. As for his appearance, it was only mentioned that he was a ‘handsome guy’.

There was no other description of him.

――Wait, I got no time to waste!

I had to go to the teachers’ room.

While I was there, I would ask Mr. Walter to let me have a rematch with Raul today! Who knew when he’d get to demonstrate his swordsmanship to the busy Holy Knight! This was the perfect chance to bring the Protagonist Raul to the fore!

With that, I rushed to the teachers’ room.