The Main Heroine Falls for the Extra

I advanced through the forest accompanied by Riel and our summons.
My summon Baduk was at the front, followed by Riel and myself, with Riel’s summon Freya bringing up the rear.
At first, we moved forward without any formation, but before our first encounter with a magical beast, Baduk quickly detected its presence.
After discovering Baduk’s excellent ability to sense magical beasts, I decided to place him at the lead.
“Magical beasts… there aren’t that many.”
Hearing Riel’s muttered comment, I thought for a moment.
About ten minutes had passed since our first encounter with a magical beast, but we hadn’t run into any others since then.
Well, we’re not the only ones in this forest, so perhaps that’s to be expected.
“Still, be careful, Riel. The ones we met earlier are among the lower ranks of magical beasts living here.”
The magical beast we had encountered earlier was a Gray Wolf.
It’s classified as a magical beast since it contains magical energy, but strictly speaking, it’s not much different from an ordinary animal and is categorized as a low-difficulty magical beast.
Even so, it’s still dangerous if it attacks.
However, a warrior or magician with some training can handle it easily.
Just now, thanks to Baduk’s advance warning, Riel and I were on guard and dealt with it effortlessly.
“According to the materials, there seem to be higher-ranked magical beasts as well.”
I took out a piece of paper from my pocket and read it.
This was a document the professor had distributed to each academy student along with emergency magical tools, summarizing the magical beasts that inhabit the outdoor training area.
Understanding the types of magical beasts in advance would allow us to respond without panicking, increasing our safety.
Of course, this might make it harder to develop the ability to cope with sudden situations, but since this is an academy that prioritizes student safety rather than mercenary guild training, it might be a necessary sacrifice.
That said, it’s also true that I was somewhat letting my guard down.
In the original story, the outdoor training section passed by as a regular school activity without any major incidents.
However, now that this world had become reality and was flowing quite differently from the original, I couldn’t completely relax.
“Woof woof!!”
“Ah, it looks like Baduk found something!”
Hearing Baduk’s barking and Riel’s voice, I quickly stopped my train of thought and looked around.
Indeed, there was a rustling sound coming from the direction Baduk was facing.
However, based on the distinct sound of footsteps from shoes, unlike magical beasts…
“Riel, I think it’s fellow academy students, not magical beasts.”
“Really?”
No matter how large this outdoor training area might be, with 17 teams inside, encounters between teams were inevitable.
Still maintaining our guard, we stared at the source of the sound, and two academy students emerged.
They were two female students from the same class.
They seemed to notice us too, startling slightly before our eyes met.
“Tch.”
The brown-haired girl in front, with her hair tied back, openly clicked her tongue.
Well, that was to be expected.
Her name was Aria Owen.
She was one of the sub-heroines and a commoner student who always hung around Allen.
And the black-haired female student behind her.
As I shifted my gaze toward her, she was startled when our eyes met and quickly looked away.
Like Aria Owen, she was also a commoner student and sub-heroine who followed Allen around—Feris Baltreia.
Beside them were what appeared to be summons: a small bird and a lion cub.
Wow, of all teams to encounter first, it had to be these two who follow Allen around.
And they’re openly displaying their discomfort too.
Clicking one’s tongue and glaring at someone upon meeting them seems questionable human behavior, regardless of noble or commoner status.
It’s incredibly jarring to see this side of them after only witnessing the heroines’ kind and righteous portrayals in the original story.
No, it’s not that they never showed such attitudes in the original work.
They did act this way toward the villains, corrupt nobles who targeted them, and such people.
…In their minds, I must be on the same level as those guys.
Anyway, unnecessarily clashing with these people who were openly expressing hostility would be tiresome and meaningless.
I lowered my sword and moved to pass by them, ignoring them.
Riel followed behind me, and just as we were about to walk past them…
“Wait, please.”
Aria Owen called out to stop us.
I’m trying my best to ignore their obvious provocation and move on, but now she’s stopping me.
Pushing down my bewildered feelings, I composed my expression and turned only my head to look at her.
“What is it?”
“Don’t get too cocky, Kyo Wentos.”
…?
What is this nonsense out of nowhere?
“I don’t know what kind of cowardly trick you pulled, but that duel was practically Allen’s victory!”
“Th-that’s right! You must have bribed the professor!”
???
No, it was your Allen who lost by disqualification due to a cowardly act.
Apparently, in their minds, I must have bribed the professor to get Allen disqualified.
Allen himself seemed to accept it since he fought directly and understood, but not these two.
“Worthless nonsense not even worth responding to.”
“What did you say?!”
“Feris Baltreia.”
“!!”
When I called her name, Feris was startled and hid behind Aria as if escaping.
She peeked out slightly to look at me.
“Wh-what is it?”
“You just claimed that I bribed Professor Altman, didn’t you?”
“So…so what!”
Does this girl have any sense of fear or not?
In the original story, she was timid but spoke her mind when needed.
“If your claim is wrong, you’ve insulted an honorable academy professor and nobleman from the Altman family.”
“!!”
Feris’s face turned pale.
If you’re going to openly claim a professor was bribed, shouldn’t you naturally consider that level of risk?
In reality, Professor Altman was bribed by Kyo Wentos in the original story and occasionally committed minor corruptions, but in this case, he was definitely innocent.
“If you still maintain that claim, I’m prepared to prove both Professor Altman’s and my innocence.”
“T-that…”
Feris trembled with a pale face.
Yes, she may have had suspicions, but she’s flustered now that I confidently offered to prove my innocence.
“I-I’m just saying it could be possible…”
Feris finally backed down.
Of course, she wouldn’t hold firm to her opinion if it meant risking being charged with insulting a professor of noble birth.
Still trembling, she took a step back, and Aria Owen stepped forward as if to shield her.
“How cowardly! Using your noble title to threaten us!”
Wait, what?
How does that causality work?
I was now certain.
Aria Owen, like Allen Ludwig, belonged to a species that didn’t communicate rationally.
“It’s a waste of time to continue dealing with you.”
In such cases, it’s better to just ignore them.
Having decided that, I turned my back to leave.
That’s when it happened.
“Woof woof!!”
Baduk’s barking, plus the magical energy I felt from behind.
I roughly guessed what was about to happen in this situation and was inwardly horrified.
‘Are they seriously going that far?!’
I immediately gathered magical energy and shot it toward the magical energy surging from behind.
Wind magic: “Wind Cutter.”
Though the difficulty of learning it was quite high, I favored this spell for its extremely fast activation and relatively good power.
As I cast the spell, I looked back.
Aria Owen’s “Lightning Bolt” collided with my Wind Cutter, causing a small explosion.
But my Wind Cutter seemed slightly more powerful, as the remaining energy after the explosion formed a small blade of wind that flew toward Aria Owen.
Swish!
The wind blade grazed Aria’s face.
It left a small wound on her face, and about half of her tied-back hair was cut off.
“Kyaaaaaah!!”
“Aria!”
Aria collapsed, clutching her cheek and screaming, while Feris worried over her.
But I felt no sympathy at all.
“Lightning Bolt may be a low-level spell, but a direct hit can cause serious injury. What were you thinking, shooting it at someone who had their back turned? Are you sane?”
“Sob… hic…”
“Don’t whine over just grazing the remnants of magic; it’s nothing compared to what you tried to do.”
I mean, I’m the one who was attacked and almost seriously injured, yet she’s crying over just a graze.
And now Feris is glaring at me as if I did something wrong after hearing what I said.
Is this what they call “crying victim” or something?
“I will report this incident to the professor later.”
“Sob… waaaaaaah!!”

Now she’s outright wailing. What does she think she did right?
She should be facing academic probation for casting magic at a defenseless opponent.
“Riel, let’s go quickly.”
“Okay.”
Riel, who had witnessed the entire exchange, was also looking at them with cold eyes, so I decided to take her and leave.
Aria’s crying continued to echo from behind, but I ignored it.
However, both Aria Owen and Feris Baltreia frequently hang around Allen Ludwig.
I could feel a headache coming on, sensing that something troublesome might happen.