Chap 6-First Day at the Academy

 

Schperen was no exaggeration to call it the best educational institution on the continent.

Though it couldn’t compare to the Imperial Palace where the Emperor resided, its grounds and building size were enormous.

Of course, it had to be large to accommodate the students. Even considering that, its size was unseen even in the kingdom.

One building alone was larger than a noble’s mansion.

And what about the dormitories?

The Lion Hall, the male dormitory, and the Rose Hall, the female dormitory, were both quite stylishly built to appeal to the nobles.

They were probably a bit larger than the palace of a minor kingdom.

Ciel quietly looked up at the academy building.

With a profound gaze.

Looking at it closely, it seemed quite ripe for the picking.

Of course. Perhaps just taking some of the building’s decorations and selling them at the black market would be profitable.

Dormitories like this were obvious.

Or perhaps just robbing the rooms of the young ladies in the dormitory would do.

The young ladies were bound to bring in expensive dresses and accessories to show off to their hearts’ content.

Come to think of it, this place was truly a gold mine.

‘No, let’s change my thinking.’

Ciel shook her head.

She wasn’t worried about getting caught, but still, it was a request from her master.

It would be troublesome to unnecessarily cause a commotion at the academy.

“What are you staring at so intently? If you’ve done a lot of business with nobles, you should know.”

“Ah, I was just wondering if there was anything to eat.”

“Eat?”

“Something like that.”

“But the problem is I don’t know your skills at all. I can’t just relax. Looking at you earlier, it seems you know something.”

Arietta was still very worried.

Well, she understood the judgment that going to Schperen was safe.

After all, like that maid earlier, she didn’t know what dangers lurked and targeted her.

But still.

She couldn’t just trust the suspicious Bathory in front of her.

“Hmm?”

“Well, with those breasts and that seemingly delicate body, it’s another question whether a woman like you can protect me with force.”

Arietta’s eyes scanned Ciel’s body.

From top to bottom, thoroughly, like a mother-in-law examining a prospective daughter-in-law.

In Arietta’s view, this suspicious Bathory didn’t seem strong at all.

Even if her attire was plausible.

Those outrageous breasts, too.

That curvaceous body didn’t seem to have a single muscle, and her skin was so white and flawless.

‘Something’s a bit annoying.’

To have such looks and say she’s strong.

Just by looking at her, she seemed like a young lady of marriageable age looking for a family to marry into, and they’re assigning such a person to me. Could it be that my mother actually enjoys putting her daughter in danger?

Of course, Ciel was somewhat wronged. It was largely due to her body changing as she became a woman.

Yet, her strength remained the same.

It was as if her previous self had been refined and compressed into a woman.

“Being strong doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be muscular.”

“No, the aides of my other siblings all have bulging muscles.”

“Hmm.”

Certainly, when she visited the Empire before, even the soldiers guarding the nobles had quite bulky bodies.

She thought it was a battle of prestige among the nobles, seeing who raised better soldiers or hired better mercenaries.

Then the royals would be even more so.

“Why?”

“I can make Princess Arietta bulge if you want.”

If she really wanted, there were various ways to build muscle.

However, Ciel herself refused to become like that.

Of course. Even though she had become a woman, a woman should be beautiful.

And with this body, it was easier to work. It was an appearance that made men lower their guard.

So, if she had to develop her body to threaten someone, it should be the princess.

At Ciel’s absurd words, Arietta imagined her own body bulging and quickly erased it from her memory.

“I don’t want to.”

“Anyway, I’m strong. I’m confident I can take on tens of thousands of the Demon King’s Army without batting an eye.”

Arietta wouldn’t know that.

Ciel had no choice but to become strong in her environment.

Even if it was unintentional, the hero party usually threw her into dangerous places to ostracize her.

‘Come to think of it, wasn’t me embezzling from behind a fair reward?’

Recalling the past and doing the math, it was. Even if she stole not just the Holy Sword but the Holy Sword’s grandfather(?) and kept it, she would have received a fair price.

How much had she dedicated herself to the kingdom, only to be betrayed and chased out like this?

Even if she stripped the hero party of all the clothes they wore, they would have nothing to say.

Suddenly feeling resentful, Ciel decided that she had to take revenge on the hero party someday.

“You’re good at joking. Well, the bigger the dream, the better. Fine. As long as you keep me from being threatened.”

However, the time to show off her skills came sooner than expected.

At this point, several days had already passed since the Schperen Academy welcomed its new students.

In other words, Princess Arietta’s start was not good.

‘She should be going around asking, “Will you be my friend?” and she’s even refusing to attend the academy.’

This Arietta woman had been thinking that the outside of the Imperial Palace was dangerous and hadn’t even attended the academy.

Of course, as a princess, she would have received basic education.

But this would only make her more ignored.

If she confidently went to Schperen and sat there with a thick face, she wouldn’t be ignored at least.

Just then, there was a group blocking the two.

“Oh my, my cute little sister has come to this academy.”

A woman greeted the two entering the academy’s main building. And her followers stood as if showing off their power.

Arietta was a woman she had seen countless times.

It was her older sister, Ailia.

The second in line to the throne in the Paleob Imperial Family.

“Are you still giving your sister that look?”

“Think about what you did, sister.”

“Isn’t it natural to be punished if you commit a crime?”

At those words, Arietta was momentarily speechless.

She would have been furious as usual, but since that Bathory, or whatever noble she was, was meddling from behind.

For a moment, various scenarios played out in her head, wondering if that Bathory was connected to her sister Ailia.

Were they plotting together?

However.

“But who are you?”

“I am Ciel von Adelaide Bathory.”

“Hmm. What is your relationship with my sister?”

Arietta realized that the two were meeting each other for the first time.

Looking closely, her sister was sending an unknown, strange gaze towards Bathory.

“We are friends.”

“My sister doesn’t have any friends? From birth until now-”

Is that possible?

Ciel turned her eyes to Arietta, just in case, but she avoided her gaze.

How could she not have a single friend?

Well, it was possible. At least after the Franz family fell. But even before that, didn’t she usually have friends?

At least introductions between nobles.

Should she have found out more about the situation?

Ciel sighed deeply inside.

It would be troublesome to be pushed around by that Ailia woman, who only knew how to talk and didn’t seem to have any practical experience.

Ciel smiled brightly at this Ailia princess without panicking.

“That just means you don’t know your sister well enough.”

“I don’t know my sister? Isn’t it that she has no friends if there’s no one next to her?”

Oh. Good heavens.

At this moment, Ciel sincerely pitied Arietta.

Of course, Ciel herself didn’t have many friends, but even the hero with a bad personality was kind of a friend.

But Arietta had no friends at all.

In this case, Ciel had to grab Arietta by the scruff of the neck and pull her up.

It would be troublesome to be pushed back here.

“If you knew your sister, you would know that she has at least one.”

“You said you were the Bathory young lady. You are extremely rude. Do you know who this person is?”

What is this bulk?

Suddenly interrupting the conversation.

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be from a knightly background, with a sturdy body and a handsome face, so he must be a noble.

Ciel quickly lost interest.

She wasn’t so kind as to care about weaklings one by one.

However, she couldn’t afford to lose the initiative because of a princess who had no friends.

“Why wouldn’t I know? Isn’t she the one who bullies her younger sister to aim for the throne?”

“What?”

“I’m sorry. I can only speak the truth.”

Ciel put her hands together and bowed her head with a smiling face.

A mocking tone that was clearly not an apology.

Such behavior was quite rude at first meeting. Ailia’s face, who had been maintaining her dignity as a royal, also frowned slightly.

Where did such a rude woman come from?

At least as far as she knew, her sister didn’t have such a rude friend.

That rude Bathory woman was probably a friend that her sister, who had no choice but to attend Schperen, had bought with money from somewhere.

“Arietta? It would be good to choose your friends carefully. Calling some nobody noble from who-knows-where your friend?”

“You said you were the Bathory young lady? Can’t you apologize to Princess Ailia right now?”

But who is this big guy who I don’t even want to know his name, picking a fight since earlier?

Ciel hated people who cut in from the side like this since her Sien days.

That’s why she hated the hero party members who stuck to the hero as if they were one body and interfered when she tried to have a conversation with the hero.

If she hated women, how much more would she hate men?

“I don’t bow my head to anyone weaker than me.”

“Ha, you dare to say you’re stronger than me?”

“Enough. Even if you don’t like her, she’s a noble young lady. You might get into trouble if you touch her.”

Where did the pretense from just now go? Ailia rebuked her aide with cold words.

‘Look at this.’

It seemed that the Ailia woman had a rather hot-tempered confidant.

The bulk in front of her was glaring with wide eyes just from being slightly ridiculed.

Why was he glaring so much?

Probably loyalty to his master.

Ciel could see that Arietta already knew the bulk.

It was the first day at Schperen.

It would be troublesome to cause a commotion from the first day at an educational institution that also had international students.

But what if it wasn’t her?

Weren’t these the guys who were targeting Arietta as soon as the competition started?

She had to establish dominance from the start.

She had to let them know what happens when they get bitten by a mad dog.

Fortunately, Arietta had no desire for the throne.

But that Ailia clearly seemed very interested in the throne.

Wouldn’t it be right to drop those things?

So Ciel decided to provoke this nameless bulk.

Should she provoke Ailia, his master, rather than himself?

It was almost time for class, so giving them a hit would be fine.

“I know that everyone is equal here at Schperen because commoners also attend. If you want to show off your royal pride so much, I recommend you drop out of Schperen.”

“How dare you!”

The man who was baited placed his hand on Ciel’s shoulder.

It was as Ciel intended.

“You’re the one who dared to touch my body.”

Crack!

Ciel grabbed the man’s hand on her shoulder and twisted it with force.

Then, she put her hand on the man’s shoulder and gave him strength as it was.

“Keuk?”

The man collapsed on the spot.

How strong was she? The man couldn’t withstand Ciel’s strength for a moment and knelt on the spot.

The man looked up at Ciel with an instinctive feeling.

The woman who had committed such an act was so calm, or rather, sending a contemptuous gaze.

As if asking how dare he touch her shoulder with only this much.

The gaze of a superior, far superior, being.

‘What the hell is this bitch? She’s not a noble young lady!’

The man was intimidated by that gaze.

He had bowed his head to a mere noble young lady.

Above all, that cold gaze.

That she could cut his neck at any time without hesitation.

Yes. It was the eyes of a human who had already killed someone.

Furthermore, a deep, deep abyss could be felt.

“Oh my, Princess. It would be good to choose your friends carefully. To be accompanied by such a weakling. Well, Princess. Let’s go. It’s right for us to leave since a humble person has come to such a precious place.”

“Pfft.”

Arietta burst out laughing without realizing it.

It was the first time she had so coolly made fun of her sister.

However, she was able to regain her composure soon after.