Chapter 27

### Z-Class Plan

This was a plan that King Froi of Exador had been nurturing for a long time. While the traditional class system could identify excellent individuals, it failed to find those with specialized talents, the ones with "outstanding abilities." However, such "outstanding abilities" were difficult to measure through exams, and the king often struggled with this issue.

But a turning point came for him. It was the existence of his son, "Yuri." Yuri had a keen eye for people and was particularly good at identifying those with "outstanding abilities."

So, the king decided to launch the Z-Class Plan in the year Yuri entered the academy. This year, he tasked Yuri with identifying and gathering students with "outstanding abilities" into one class.

Upon hearing this, Luisha and Sharo were heading towards the "Z-Class." Since this class had not existed until last year, the classroom was located in a newly built annex next to the main school building. Although smaller than the main building, it was well-constructed.

"Really... to come up with such a plan. I was hoping to enter A-Class and have a graceful school life."

When Sharo grumbled, Luisha tried to soothe her.

"Hehe, well, it's good that we ended up in the same class, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I should be grateful for that. ...Well, now that we've arrived at the classroom, let's meet the 'oddities' gathered by the prince."

As they reached the classroom, Sharo put her hand on the door and said. The two of them, nervous about meeting their new classmates, opened the door with a burst of energy.

At that moment, curious gazes from all the students inside the classroom were directed at them. There were ten students, a mix of boys and girls, all of whom were the ones Yuri had carefully selected for their "outstanding abilities."

Feeling uncomfortable under their gazes, the two of them took their seats. Luisha sat in the middle of the front row, and Sharo sat to her left.

Luisha, who had grown up in a village and had no experience attending school, was incredibly nervous. She was thinking about making lots of friends when three students appeared in front of her.

"Your name is Luisha, right? You were the one who had that flashy duel in the exam, weren't you?"

The one who spoke was a flashy student with a red mohawk. Behind him were two of his friends: a small, bald boy and a tall student who could be mistaken for an adult.

None of the three looked like they came from privileged backgrounds, and the way they surrounded Luisha made it seem like they were about to bully her. However, Luisha, undaunted by his intimidating attitude, calmly replied, "Yeah, that's me."

Upon hearing this, the mohawked boy slammed his hand on the desk and loudly said to Luisha,

"Hey! That duel... it was a really great match!!"

"Wh-what?"

Luisha was taken aback by the unexpected words. Meanwhile, he continued to enthusiastically talk about the duel.

"Man, I haven't been that excited in a long time. Challenging a swordsman with your bare hands, that's just awesome. A man should fight with his bare hands, you know. And your magic was great too, the heat from the flames you produced even reached me!"

"Um, thank you."

"Oops, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm 'Burn.' My specialty is fiery explosion magic, nice to meet you! And the big guy behind me is 'Dokabe,' and the small one is 'Merel.' They're both good guys, so please get along with them."

"Nice to meet you," they both said.

"Y-Yeah, nice to meet you."

The two introduced themselves in a friendly manner, offering their hands. Confused by their unexpected response, Luisha asked the three,

"Um, why are you treating me like this on our first meeting? You don't really know me yet."

"Huh? It's obvious, someone who can have such a heated battle can't be a bad person! Right, guys?"

Burn's words were met with nods from the two behind him.

"Anyway, that's the reason. See you around!"

"Um, yeah."

Hearing Burn's words, Luisha felt a warmth in her eyes. She had never realized how gratifying it was to have her efforts recognized. She was glad she had worked hard to become strong.

At that moment, Luisha truly felt that it was all worth it.