I Stole the Heroines’ Tragedy Flags

After the intense conclusion of the entrance ceremony, the students followed the guidance of the faculty and returned to the academic building.
It seemed the sorting process had already been completed, as the students were assigned to classes based on their chosen primary department.
The place I was currently in was [Support - Class B]. This was the class for students who had chosen the Support Department as their primary focus.

"Nice to meet you all. I’m Halen Ainus, and I’ll be your homeroom professor starting this year. Feel free to call me Professor Halen."
A middle-aged female professor who looked quite experienced.
"Ainus… Wasn’t that a viscount family?"

Not a particularly prestigious house.
However, Halen was famous both in the game and in this world.
Most of the affordable and practical magical tools currently distributed among commoners were her creations.
Because of that, she was immensely popular among the common people.
Looking around, I could see most of the students staring at her with shining eyes—likely commoners themselves.

"Still, there are really a lot of people here."
Roughly fifty students had been assigned to this class.
And yet, the classroom was so absurdly large that it didn’t feel cramped at all.
The spacing between desks, set two seats apart, reminded me of the seating arrangements in elementary, middle, and high school.

Since the seating was completely random, I ended up at the back row by the window.
Right next to me sat a girl I didn’t know.
…Or rather, she was the only one who didn’t know me.
"I had a bad feeling when I got assigned to Class B, but to think she’d be sitting right next to me."

I glanced sideways at the girl sitting beside me.
A girl with vivid scarlet hair, tied into half twin-tails—a striking look that was difficult to pull off, yet she managed it well.
Kiana Edenvice.
The daughter of Count Edenvice, a family renowned for alchemy.

She wasn’t a playable character, but among the many people connected to them, she was one of the key figures.
And, as expected in this game, anyone with a significant role was always teetering on the edge of death.
Among them, Kiana Edenvice was categorized as a "character who always dies."
She was the first student I had planned to approach after entering the academy.

Unlike the playable characters, this was our first time meeting in this world.
‘…Okay, but how do I start a conversation—’
"Hey, you little shit."
"…Huh? Me?"

She suddenly spoke to me first.
Her voice was quiet, just enough for me to hear.
"Yeah, you. Why the hell do you keep sneaking glances at me? It’s fucking disgusting."
"…Ah."
She shot me a sharp glare.

It was only then that I realized—while I was lost in thought, I had been staring at her way too obviously.
Given her signature ungenteel way of speaking, she was clearly pissed off.
"Why aren’t you answering? Are you mute?"

I quickly ran through my memory for the best possible response.
Digging through the countless moments I’d seen of her in the game, I found the optimal reaction.
"…Sorry. Your hairstyle caught my attention. It actually suits you really well."
"…Huh? Really?"

Her lips curled up slightly at the corners.
Judging by that, I must have picked the right choice.
"You’ve got good taste, huh? Even my dad says it looks nice~"
"…I see."
I figured she’d probably look good with her hair down too.

Maybe she had some pride in her hairstyle, because suddenly, she was talking a lot more.
"Anyway, what’s your name? I’m Kiana Edenvice. You can just call me Kiana."
"Ain."
"Ain? Are you a commoner?"
"Yeah, I am. …Is that a problem?"
"Hm? Not at all. There are nobles out there who are worse than fucking trash, so I’ve got no reason to look down on a commoner."
Nobles who despised commoners.

Though few openly expressed it, many young noble heirs grew up drunk on their status and treated commoners like dirt.
Because of that, in other academies, there were often frequent conflicts between nobles and commoners.
In that sense, Kiana Edenvice wasn’t so bad.

I had already expected this, considering her father’s reputation, but her family was well-regarded among adventurers as well.
She spoke comfortably with commoners, was naturally sociable, and had a personality that would make her the "life of the party" in any social group.
…If only she’d tone down the swearing, she’d actually be pretty nice.

"Hearing that from the daughter of a count is an honor."
"Ah, fuck! That’s gross, don’t bring up my family name. Just talk to me normally."
"As the lady commands, I shall comply~"
"…Shit, you’re mocking me, aren’t you?"
"Busted."
SMACK!
‘…Shit, that fucking hurt.’

"Why the hell is an alchemy student this strong?"
"You two over there? It’s great that you’re getting along on the first day, but could you at least listen to the lecture?"
"Ah, sorry."
"…Sorry."
With the professor’s scolding, our conversation was brought to an end.

It wasn’t intentional, but things seemed to have gone quite smoothly for a first meeting.
It had been a while since I had such a casual, meaningless chat, and it was surprisingly enjoyable, bringing back old memories.
"Now, we will take some time to set up your elective course schedules. Please use the sheets being handed out to arrange your timetable based on your chosen subjects~"
With that, a piece of paper and a pen were placed in front of me, just like in the previous classroom.

"A schedule, huh…?"
"Ain, what subjects are you taking?"
"Me? …Well, a bit of everything?"
"Let me see."
She leaned forward, pressing her head against the paper on my desk.
A fresh scent of shampoo tickled my nose.

"…Huh? Hey, are you insane? Why the hell are you taking so many classes?"
"Is it that much?"
"Most students only take about half of this! You signed up for over ten courses!"
Just as she said, I had pushed my schedule to the absolute limit, filling it with as many classes as the academy allowed.
I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it, but if I wanted to be involved in every major event happening here, I had no choice.

…Honestly, I already felt like dropping a few.
"I just have a lot of things I want to do."
"Ha, dumbass. Most idiots who take on too many classes like you don’t even make it to graduation."
"I guess I won’t be part of ‘most idiots,’ then."
"Bullshit."
I let out a small laugh as I watched Kiana shake her head and curse under her breath.

Despite how she looked, she was probably worried about me.
She had a naturally nosy personality, after all.
"Hmmm~? Anyway, I didn’t know you were interested in alchemy."
"Yeah, I figured I’d give it a try."
"Are you any good at it?"
"…Not really."
To be honest, I originally signed up for alchemy just to get closer to her, but since we ended up in the same class, it was pointless now.

‘Maybe I should drop it?’
The alchemy course didn’t seem crucial for any major events, so it wouldn’t matter if I removed it.
As I was considering it, she spoke up in an excited voice.

"…Then how about we match our class schedules? If you actually plan on taking all these courses, your grades are going to be fucked, so you should at least pass alchemy properly."
"That’s… true."
"Okay, then I’m matching this one with mine!"
With that, she started moving her pen back and forth between my paper and hers.
I didn’t really have a reason to refuse, so I just watched her work.

"…Done!"
"Why are there so many subjects?"
"Since we’re already taking alchemy together, it makes sense to match some of the other overlapping courses, right?"
"Is that necessary?"
"…You little shit. Are you abandoning your friend already?"
"I was joking."
We had only known each other for thirty minutes, yet she was already treating me like her first friend at the academy.
Having spent most of her life locked away in her noble household, she was starved for companionship, so she must have felt this connection even more strongly.

‘So, we’ll be taking alchemy, magical engineering, and mana control together?’
…Alchemy was fine.
But the other two courses were a problem.

Both of them involved awkward encounters I wasn’t looking forward to.
I was worried she might get caught up in something troublesome if she took those classes with me.
But at this point, I didn’t want to ruin her excitement by backing out.
So, I pushed the thought aside and focused on my schedule again.

"Seria will be in Divine Studies… and since Aria is a second-year, she’ll probably be there too."
Some courses were divided by year or separated into different classrooms,
but in most cases, students of different years could end up in the same class.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than .net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"Ron will be in the magic classes, and Ren will be in weapon training…"
I filled out my schedule while recalling the events from the game.
Not a single one of these courses was unimportant.
Just thinking about everything that would happen in them made my head ache.

After finishing my schedule, I stared at it for a moment before putting my pen down.
"Oh, looks like you’re done."
"Yeah."
"…Heh. Just imagining how much work that’ll be is making your head hurt, huh? You dumbass~"
"Yeah… I deeply regret this."
I agreed with her, but my thoughts had already moved elsewhere.

With this schedule, I’d be able to meet most of the key people in the academy.
But one person… was an exception.
In fact, of all the people in this academy, he was the one I wanted to find the most.

‘Where the hell am I supposed to meet that guy?’
The Sage of the Stars.
That was what the game called him.

His real name was never once mentioned.
He was supposedly a student, yet he was so elusive that you could barely ever see him, even during classes.
In the game, he was like a living MacGuffin.

At first glance, he seemed unimportant, but no matter what, he was always present before a major character’s death.
Or rather, he always showed up "dead" before someone else died.
Almost as if his corpse was an omen foretelling their death.

‘…If my theory is correct.’
Then for everything that was to come, I needed to find out exactly who he was.