Standing before room 405, Charles finally found his assigned dormitory for his time as an exchange student.
"Damn that awful woman," he muttered under his breath.
He was referring, of course, to Shingūji Kurono. Though he'd anticipated she would pull some childish stunts, he hadn't expected her to assign him and Stella to the same dorm room.
At Hagun Academy, dorm rooms were shared by two students. Although there were already cases of mixed-gender arrangements, Charles was certain Kurono didn't place him with Stella because of "housing shortages" like she claimed.
Predictably, after Charles strongly objected, Kurono conveniently "discovered" another room with a vacant bed—occupied by a student currently living alone after repeating a year.
Before transmigrating, Charles might've fantasized about sharing a room with a beautiful girl, like in a light novel. But now? He had zero interest in such complications.
Stella was a legitimate princess. Becoming her friend was one thing—but jumping straight to cohabitation? That would invite a world of trouble.
Charles wasn't afraid of trouble—but that didn't mean he went looking for it. Especially when that trouble was arranged by a certain chaos-loving administrator.
Besides, sharing a room with a girl he barely knew made him deeply uncomfortable.
What surprised him, however, was Stella's reaction. At first, she clearly opposed the arrangement too—but when Charles was the one to reject it, she became huffy and irritated… Girls really were impossible to understand.
Looking at the nameplate below the room number, Charles muttered, "Kurogane… now that's a famous surname."
Kurogane was one of the most prestigious families among the island nation's Sword Bearers. One of the country's two greatest heroes, "Samurai Ryōma," was actually Kurogane Ryōma.
After the island nation joined the International Magic Knights Alliance, the head of the Kurogane family had always served as the director of the local Alliance branch. The current director was the family's patriarch, "Iron-Blood" Kurogane Gen.
Using the key, Charles entered the dorm room. No one was inside, but sure enough, one bed was unoccupied.
He glanced around the room. The furnishings and tidiness suggested his roommate was someone organized and disciplined—good, fewer chances of clashing over daily habits.
Charles took out the student planner provided by the academy—a compact electronic device that included a wealth of data on Hagun Academy. It featured everything from directories to maps and communication tools.
Another welcome convenience of modern society.
Opening the search interface, Charles entered the keywords "Kurogane" and "repeater" to learn more about his new roommate.
Given his growing understanding of Kurono's scheming tendencies, he couldn't rule out that her placing him in this room had some ulterior motive.
The search result popped up quickly. On the screen appeared a slightly delicate-looking young man's face.
"Kurogane Ikki. Sword Bearer rank... F?"
Charles was reasonably familiar with the Alliance's grading system for Sword Bearers. The Alliance evaluated candidates across six attributes—attack, defense, magic power, control, luck, and physical ability—and then assigned a comprehensive rank.
These metrics were weighted in importance:
Type of ability > Total magic power > Magic control > Physical stats and other factors.
The ranks ranged from A to F. Most Magic Knights fell within the top five categories. F-rank meant the bearer's ability, magic power, and control were extremely poor—deemed unsuitable for any Sword Bearer-related career.
In short, an F-rank Sword Bearer was only marginally stronger than a normal human. No wonder Kurogane Ikki was repeating a year. But his title…
"'Worst One,' the Failed Knight?"
Charles hadn't expected his roommate to be the protagonist of this world.
How did he know that, even without reading the original series?
Because this world was clearly that of Chivalry of a Failed Knight. Who else but Kurogane Ikki would be the protagonist here?
Why did all the main characters Charles met have the same template?! Ikki, just like Asta, lacked what society considered "talent."
Still, Charles wondered what kind of "protagonist's luck" this one possessed.
Closing the student planner, Charles set down his luggage and changed into his Hagun Academy uniform. Just as he was adjusting his collar in the mirror, the door opened—and a young man walked in.
He looked exactly like the photo in the planner. This was indeed Kurogane Ikki.
He wore a tracksuit, a towel draped around his neck, sweat still glistening on his forehead—clearly just back from morning training.
The moment he saw someone in the room, he froze. If not for the fact that Charles was already in uniform, he might've reacted defensively.
Charles stepped forward and extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Charles. Starting today, I'll be living here as an exchange student."
Ikki snapped out of it and shook his hand. "Ah, a new roommate. I'm Kurogane Ikki. Pleased to meet you."
Charles sized him up and wore a serious expression.
This is an F-rank? Hagun Academy's weakest?
If that's true, no wonder the school bombed in the Sword-Art Festival!
Charles could feel the man's aura—a presence honed like a perfectly tempered blade. In the world of Black Clover, only a few magical swordsmen like Licht or Yami had this kind of "edge."
Unlike raw magic, aura represented something more essential—a person's very nature. It didn't guarantee strength, but it marked someone walking the path of power.
Charles had assumed Ikki would grow stronger over time like Asta. He hadn't expected that Ikki was already this powerful.
It was hard to believe the search results described this man.
Then it clicked—perhaps this was why Hagun had fallen from grace.
If someone like Kurogane Ikki could be mocked and dismissed purely due to his stats, it spoke volumes about the school's toxic culture.
Noticing Charles's strange gaze, Ikki asked, "Is something wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Charles let go of Ikki's hand and shook his head. "No, it's just… I didn't expect my roommate to be so surprising."
Ikki scratched his head. "So… you know about my 'Failed Knight' title, huh?"
Charles smirked. "Thanks to that title, my expectations for this school dropped quite a bit."
Ikki looked at Charles in surprise.
Charles said, "To call someone like you the weakest… to completely overlook your strength… those people are only revealing their own small-mindedness."
Ikki scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed. "You're giving me too much credit. I'm just an F-rank Sword Bearer struggling to graduate."
Charles replied coolly, "The Alliance rankings work for the average case. But when it comes to judging a Sword Bearer… what really matters is strength.
And if you ask me, your power isn't inferior to that A-rank student, Stella."
He meant it. Based on aura alone, that Crimson Princess—who hadn't even awakened her true ability—was no match for Ikki.
For Ikki, it was only the second time someone had ever acknowledged him like this—the first being when he met Kurogane Ryōma as a child. Emotion welled up in him.
Having spent so much time with Asta, Charles understood what Ikki must be feeling. So he said, "The director asked me to take a basic evaluation. Since I'm still new here, would you mind showing me around?"
"Of course! I'd be happy to!" Ikki replied enthusiastically.
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