Money. Wealth. Privilege. All of it, vanished like mist under a harsh sun.
Vale walked aimlessly, his fingers digging into the fabric of his trousers until his knuckles turned white. Objectively speaking, his life had become a total, unmitigated joke. How the hell did I end up like this? he thought, a bitter laugh bubbling in his throat before dying out. Why did they all want to throw me away so badly? Am I really just a stain on the academy’s pristine reputation in their eyes?
He stopped dead in his tracks on the cobblestone walkway, his hand instinctively clutching at his head as a harsh reality slammed into him
"HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO LIVE WITH TWENTY SILVER COINS?!"
The grand council meeting had ended with him taking a dramatic, heroic stance, but pride didn’t buy bread. How many days could he even survive normally with this pitiful amount? The first order of business was undeniably clear: he needed a stable job.
Standing frozen on the sidewalk, his mind raced. Then, a sudden realization sparked through his panic. Wait, why am I so tensed up? This is a fantasy world, isn’t it? If there’s one job that defines this kind of reality, it’s becoming an adventurer.
"Hey. Move."
The sharp, irritated voice from behind shattered his daydream. Vale blinked, suddenly realizing he had drifted to a halt right in the middle of a classroom doorway.
"Ah... Ha. I’m sorry," he muttered, instinctively scratching the back of his head as he stepped aside.
The girl stood a few paces back, motionless. Irritation was etched across her features with almost artistic precision, her dark brows knit into a deep, unforgiving scowl. Her jet-black hair was cropped into a sharp, curly pixie cut that framed a face full of undisguised disdain.
Vale gave her a sideways glance, stepping back further to let her pass. She strode by him without a second glance, but as she brushed past his shoulder, a single word slipped from her lips.
"Creep."
The word struck a raw, exposed nerve. After everything he had endured today, this was the breaking point.
"What did you just say?" Vale snapped.
"I sa—"
Before she could even finish the syllable, Vale’s fist cut through the air, stopping mere inches from her face. The sheer velocity of the wind from the punch rustled her bangs.
The girl froze, her eyes widening into saucers of pure terror. The world seemed to stop. Vale held the position for a fraction of a second before slowly, deliberately releasing the tension in his fist, dropping his arm to his side.
The sheer shock of the moment sent the girl stammering backward, her heel catching as she collapsed onto the floor.
"I am not a creep," Vale said, his voice terrifyingly quiet, devoid of the anger that had fueled the punch.
The girl stared up at him from the ground, her breath catching in her throat. Looking at him closely, the anger she expected to see wasn’t there. Instead, there was something unbearably forlorn about him—a silent, desperate plea buried beneath the fragile composure he was fighting so violently to maintain.
Without another word, Vale turned his head away and continued down the lonely path leading outside.
The girl stared at his retreating back, her voice barely a whisper as she muttered to herself, "What... what was that look? Is he really framed?"
Vale kept walking. As he passed the open windows of his own former classroom, the distant, droning voice of the instructor drifted out into the courtyard. His eyes lingered on the window for a fleeting moment before he sharply broke the gaze, forcing his feet forward.
"No class anymore," he muttered, his face turning entirely blank.
Behind him, the massive Academy walls stretched high into the sky. Sunlight spilled elegantly across the ivy-covered stone, and the distant hum of student voices echoed through the courtyards—a picturesque scene completely indifferent to another story quietly ending in its shadows.
His boots clicked sharply against the polished floor as he entered the main courtyard, a central hub where crowds of cadets were roaming. At the sound of his footsteps, dozens of heads turned. It was the same gaze he always received—filled with mockery, suspicion, and disdain. Vale merely slid his hands deep into his pockets, walking casually, utterly unbothered by the stares or the whispered comments.
The moment he crossed the threshold of the academy’s outer exit, a cool, crisp wind breezed past, tousling his hair.
"Mm. Let’s have a new start," he said aloud, a strange mixture of dread and excitement fluttering in his chest.
He paused at the threshold, dazed for a moment as the sheer weight of his circumstances caught up to him.
He remembered the overwhelming relief of receiving the acceptance letter from the top academy in the empire.
He had been an arrogant noble, yes, but he had tried harder like anyone else.
He had spent sleepless nights reading old, forbidden books, constantly extending his limits, believing that one day he could stand as an equal to the geniuses around him.
But hatred had consumed him, twisting his path until his old memories finally resurfaced.
Hope truly was a twisted thing; it could elevate some to the highest realms, while dragging others straight into the abyss.
Acceptance had turned into exile. Instead of being an equal, his reputation had plunged into the bottom pit.
Same soul, different body, same injustice, he thought bitterly.
He stretched both his arms and legs, trying to shake off the stiffness. "Weak body... I can’t even stand to look in a mirror," he murmured lightly to himself, a frustrated expression crossing his face.
Looking just a little further ahead, the massive, golden illuminating gates of the academy grounds marked his freedom. A faint, genuine smile plastered itself onto his face as he took a step toward it.
//SMACK//
The impact was sudden and brutal.
Vale’s vision abruptly blurred into a violent smear of color. It felt as if the world had violently stopped at a certain point in time, only for his body to be sent hurtling through the air. He rolled across the dirt multiple times until he crashed hard against a stone patch wall.
Thud.
The rough, carved stone scraped painfully against the palm of his hand. His head throbbed, and his knees threatened to buckle, but he stubbornly forced himself to stand.
Blood began to drip from his scraped palm, splattering onto the dirt. His eyes locked onto the figure standing in front of him..
"You can still smile after what you have done?" Erwin spat, his voice dripping with self-righteous fury as he stared down at Vale.
Vale stood there, motionless for a beat. He struck the side of his own head with his clean hand, trying to clear his blurred vision and steady the picture in front of him. Once the world stopped spinning, he tilted his head, leveling a venomous, piercing glare directly at Erwin.
How dare he? Vale’s inner thoughts roared. I am compromising myself this entire time, swallowing my pride, accepting my exile, but this is entirely out of line. I got what I deserved from the council, and then this bastard blatantly kicks me into a wall just because I smiled?
The absolute lifetime of hatred he had tried to suppress began to stream out of him. Taking a heavy step forward, Vale closed the distance between them, his voice dropping into a dangerous register.
"How dare you have the audacity to speak to me like that?" Vale growled, stepping right into Erwin’s personal space. "My childhood friend chose you over me. You stole my position. My own family chose you instead of me."
Vale reached out, his bloody fingers gently landing on Erwin’s shoulder, gripping it just tightly enough to make his point. "Well done. To me, you are not the top one cadet. You are the top one stealer. Tell me... how does it feel to become a noble?"
Erwin’s face contorted in anger, and he violently shoved Vale’s hand away.
Vale didn’t fight the shove. Instead, he used the momentum to turn around, taking his final steps out of the massive golden gates.
"Don’t become like me, Erwin," Vale called out over his shoulder, his voice carrying perfectly through the quiet air, embedding itself deeply into the other boy’s head.
Without looking back, Vale raised his hand, lazily waving a final goodbye to the academy, his past, and the boy who had stolen it all.