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He was the empire's greatest archer and the younger brother of the current head of the Lambert Count's family.

Not only was he famous, but the Lambert Count's family was also a prestigious military family in the empire.

Therefore, they could become either an enemy or an ally in the imperial succession dispute that would later cause turmoil in the empire.

The Lambert Count's family supported the First Prince.

So, depending on whether the protagonist supported the same First Prince or the First Princess, their position could be distinctly different.

Honestly, I wasn't sure which was the correct choice. Both the First Prince and the First Princess had extraordinary abilities.

The problem was that neither had the qualities of a wise and benevolent ruler—not even a chick's tear worth of it.

Genetically or otherwise, both had unpleasant personalities.

So, no matter who ascended to the throne, a bloody storm was pretty much guaranteed to sweep across the continent.

They would become ruthless tyrants without blood or tears. Having played the game thousands of times, there were no exceptions.

So whether Professor Lawrence would become an enemy or an ally depended on the choices made at that time.

However, 'That's not the only character involved.'

In the game, you couldn't freely meet all the characters. There were human relationships that only opened up when certain conditions were met.

Professor Lawrence's sister was one such character. You could only meet her if you earned Professor Lawrence's recognition.

Marianna Lambert.

Interestingly, she was associated with the clergy because she had become a nun and joined the church.

But the truth was different.

She wasn't just a nun but the church's tenth sword. In other words, she was the 10th-ranked paladin, a very high-ranking position.

So, if I had to get involved with the church anyway, it was a good choice to open up a relationship with her.

Better a big fish than small fry. It's the obvious truth of the world. And she had a special quest that could only be obtained from her.

Anyway, what was important now was Professor Lawrence's reaction. Depending on his reaction, the timing of meeting Marianna would change.

'Huh?'

My eyes widened as I observed Professor Lawrence's reaction. Because Professor Lawrence was walking towards me, step by step. It was an unusual event.

No, it was an experience I had never had before. The guys next to me hadn't even shot their arrows yet, and he comes in during the evaluation?

That's not like him, right?

I was lost in thought when Professor Lawrence came up to me.

"What... what is it?"

"Why is the professor suddenly...?"

"Maybe because he shot too well?"

The other guys seemed puzzled as well. But Professor Lawrence didn't care about the reactions around him and stared straight at me. Then he blurted out a word.

"Why did you shoot in the strong wind?"

His expression did not seem like a rebuke. If I had missed, he would have completely scolded me for doing something crazy, but since I hit perfectly, he couldn't say anything.

"I wanted to show that I could use the strong wind as well."

I answered with a plausible response.

Whether that answer was effective or not, I couldn't tell because his expression remained as cool as usual.

"Do you think you proved that?"

"To some extent."

I answered without hesitation. If I hit two shots and managed to dock them, isn't that enough proof?

As I was thinking that, Professor Lawrence suddenly came closer.

He was so tall that I had to look up to meet his eyes. What is it that you're making me sore my neck by coming so close?

I was barely holding back the question I wanted to ask when Professor Lawrence leaned his head towards me.

Uh, what?

What are you doing now, you?

Do you have some weird taste?

I was genuinely confused. I caught a glimpse of the female students around me screaming 'kyaaak' and covering their faces in embarrassment.

What is this?

Near my ear, Professor Lawrence spoke.

"Do you see the path of the wind?"

No, do you have to ask so secretly?

I was incredulous, but I also felt it. This question was significant.

Otherwise, there would be no reason to come up and quietly ask.

How should I answer?

Honestly? Or just dodge the question? Or should I pretend to be something I'm not?

After a moment of thought, I spoke.

"I see it, but not always."

I answered honestly. It seemed like the best thing to do with someone like Professor Lawrence.

"Hmm, I see."

Professor Lawrence had a thoughtful look.

Then he asked again.

"Who is your teacher?"

Obviously, he was asking about my archery teacher. He seemed to have noticed that someone was teaching me archery.

But I decided not to answer that question honestly. There was no reason to reveal my secrets willingly.

"That's a secret."

"Too bad."

Professor Lawrence straightened up from his leaning position. Everyone around was looking at us as if they were dying to know what we were talking about. Keep wondering. Because I'll never tell.

I smirked to myself.

Then Professor Lawrence spoke loudly.

"The last two shots were very excellent arrows."

My eyes widened in surprise. Professor Lawrence, who was stingy with praise.

He not only praised them as excellent arrows but as very excellent arrows. It wasn't just praise but extremely high praise. And he said it publicly, so everyone could hear.

Not only I was surprised by this unusual event. Everyone was looking at Professor Lawrence with eyes wide open in shock.

'This is...'

It wasn't just because of the docking.

The decisive difference from other plays was the focus time. The arrow I fired after reading the path of the wind perfectly had elicited this response from Professor Lawrence.

...Doesn't this mean I've been recognized?

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed so. As the protagonist, it would not be possible until the second semester of the second year at the earliest.

Thanks to gaining the focus skill, that period was accelerated beyond imagination.

"Anyway, sorry for the delay. Let's restart the evaluation."

The evaluation resumed. Perhaps because I had shot an incredible arrow earlier, the pressure had increased, and more people were making mistakes.

Shooting first had turned out to be an advantage.

As a result, I scored a high mark of 95 and secured the second rank in my year. It was a perfect achievement of the goal.

***

"Chairman, Chairman!"

A cute-looking twin-tailed female student burst into the student council president's office with a commotion.

It was Amy, a third-year student council executive. As always, she hurriedly approached the student council president with a baguette in hand.

"Did, did you hear?"

"What are you talking about?"

Regina Ernbert asked without any change in her expression.

"Max... rather, Max Celtrine got second place in the second-year archery assessment!"

"Is that so?"

Regina's expression remained unchanged. True to her nickname, the 'Ice Cold Chairman', she was unflappable.

"Uh... Why such a reaction? Does this make any sense?"

Amy shook her head in disbelief. She hadn't noticed.

The slight, strange twist at the corner of Regina's mouth the moment she heard about Max.

Of course, even if she had seen it, discerning Regina's emotional state would not have been easy.

"Wasn't he faster counting from behind in the first year?"

"Yes, he definitely was. But does it make sense for him to improve this much in just one year?"

"It's not impossible. A year is a long time."

"But, still..."

"It's better to acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged. Or do you think there's some variable other than skill involved?"

Amy looked disheartened. Indeed, her words were not wrong.

Archery is an assessment where cheating is not possible, and one must rely solely on their own skills. In other words, he achieved second place in the year purely on his own merit.

"But to improve so much in a year? That person?"

Amy still seemed unable to accept it. She knew what kind of person Max was from her experiences so far.

A character with the worst personality, someone who had built walls between himself and effort. It was utterly incomprehensible to her that such a person could achieve such results in just one year.

"That person."

"Ah... I'm sorry if I was rude..."

Amy's eyes rolled in embarrassment. Even if the relationship was almost ruined by negligence, a fiancé is still a fiancé.

It may have been rude to speak so casually to the chairman.

She knew this yet kept slipping up in her speech. It was telling of how little regard she had for him, usually. In fact, until recently, he had been just such a person.

"No, it's your freedom to call him whatever you want."

Regina seemed indifferent to such matters. Her words continued.

"However, it might be good to change your perspective. Once could be a coincidence, but twice?"

Amy still wore a reluctant expression. But that was an emotional response.

Logically, she had to accept that there was some merit in Regina's point.

Indeed, this hooligan troublemaker had changed. Or, maybe he had been hiding his true colors all along, which was an unpleasant thought.

"Huh?"

However, it seemed the esteemed student council president had a different thought.

Because she had seen it.

For a brief moment, a glint of interest had appeared on Regina's face. It was such a subtle sign that most people would never notice, but Amy was different.

Having followed her senior for a long time, she managed to catch it.

'The chairman feels interest in that person... What's happening!'

Amy was inwardly screaming.

Of course, it would be only a slight interest.

But even that was unacceptable to her.