episode_0026

I extended a kind hand to the man whose face was buried in the floor, not moving.

Despite my kind gesture of extending a hand, the man showed no sign of movement. Hmm, did he faint?

“You must have been studying very hard to fall asleep in the cafeteria like this. As expected, Academy seniors are amazing. Though I don’t really want to follow suit.”

“Pffft!”

Other students who were watching burst out laughing at my words. Since everyone here was an Academy student, they had seen exactly how the man had fallen.

If he had simply tripped over my leg while running, he wouldn’t have fainted. The reason he fainted was that he had been running while strengthening his body with mana.

“You bastard!”

Perhaps because his friend was being mocked, someone who appeared to be the man’s friend shouted at me. Looking at his massive build and the sword at his waist, I could tell he was a Swordsman. He reached out his hand as if to grab me.

However, his hand didn’t reach me. Someone had grabbed the man’s arm before I could even move.

The hand that suddenly clutched the massive man’s outstretched arm was thin and white, incomparably so compared to the man’s hand. The man struggled with all his might to shake off the grip.

“Ugh.”

But no matter how much the man struggled and thrashed, he couldn’t shake off that one thin hand. The woman holding his arm tightened her grip and spoke in a low voice.

“What were you trying to do?”

“Jo-Johanna. Stop iiiit!”

The person holding the man’s hand was Johanna. She had instantly moved from directly opposite me to grab the arm of the man who had reached for me.

‘When did she even move?’

I clearly saw Johanna sitting in her seat just before the man reached out.

The man knelt and groaned in pain from how much force Johanna was applying. The sight of a man with such a massive build kneeling and groaning in front of a woman seemed incredibly surreal.

The man kneeling and suffering now was one of the strong ones among the third-years, likely someone that worm kept around.

The reason that top-ranking third-year couldn’t shake off Johanna, a second-year, was simple.

Johanna was overwhelmingly stronger than that man.

Johanna was the top of the second-years.

If the third-years were included, Johanna would be ranked second.

What this meant was simple. Among the students, no one could defeat Johanna except Joden.

With her characteristic blank expression, Johanna twisted the man’s hand without hesitation. When Johanna let go, the man screamed in agony.

“Aaaaaagh!”

The man’s scream echoed through the cafeteria. Johanna left him there and walked toward me.

“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

She asked me with a worried expression, unlike when she twisted the man’s arm.

“No! Thanks to you, Senior, I’m not hurt at all. But that guy over there doesn’t seem to be, though?”

I pointed to the man who was still lying on the floor, wailing.

“Are you really not hurt?”

Ignoring the man I pointed at, Johanna came closer to me, checking me all over to make sure I wasn’t actually hurt.

“Want to go to the infirmary just in case?”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m truly fine!”

I wasn’t even hurt to begin with. Joden had frozen the first person who drew a sword, and Johanna had dealt with the one who reached for me.

The worm, who had been watching all this unfold, angrily lashed out at his innocent subordinates.

“What are you doing, you bastards! Get those useless trash out of here now.”

“Yes!”

The worm’s subordinates picked up the man who had fainted after tripping over my leg and the man who was groaning in pain with his arm twisted by Johanna.

“My subordinates were very rude. Johanna, I’m sorry, but would you allow me to treat you to a meal sometime?”

The worm spoke to Johanna, trying to maintain a relaxed smile.

“Johanna?”

As if she hadn’t heard the worm, Johanna was still checking if I was hurt.

“Cough.”

When the worm was completely ignored, a sound of stifled laughter came from among the students watching us.

The worm heard the sound and tried to find out who was trying to laugh, but there were too many people, so it wasn’t easy to find them.

“Tch.”

The worm glared fiercely at the watching students, then took his subordinates and walked out of the cafeteria.

“You, be careful.”

Before leaving, he placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke in a chilling voice. When his hand touched my shoulder, I felt an unpleasant sensation, as if bugs were crawling all over my body.

“Thank you for your concern. You, too, should always be careful.”

If I had my way, I would have cut off that worm’s hand on my shoulder.

“From now on, I’ll make your Academy life enjoyable.”

But I couldn’t do that right now.

“Oh~ I’m looking forward to how you’ll make it enjoyable, indeed? I’ll make your Academy life enjoyable for you too.”

This is why masks were so good. I didn’t have to manage my facial expressions; I just had to focus on my voice.

As I responded to each provocation the worm threw at me, I heard the tense gulping sounds of the students who were watching.

“Let’s go.”

The worm finally removed his hand from my shoulder and walked out of the cafeteria, and his subordinates also glared at me as they left.

Strangely, no one glared at Johanna or Joden as they left. Well, I suppose I’m the easiest target among us.

I sat down and looked around. Everyone in the cafeteria was watching me.

Lucas looked at me worriedly, yet also seemed to be thinking about how to move.

Even though the Academy was founded on the principle of equality, as the Empire’s Crown Prince, there were political considerations he had to keep in mind.

Sepia, who had primly ignored me when I waved at her just a moment ago, now looked at me with worried eyes, perhaps because I had been targeted by the worm.

Clara’s eyes had been trembling uncontrollably ever since Joden appeared, but now she looked at me with slightly more relaxed eyes, perhaps because I had caused an even bigger incident.

Besides these three, all the students in the special class looked at me with concern.

To look at me with such concern, even though we haven’t known each other for long, Professor Alicia certainly picked good students for the class.

I raised my hand high and waved at them to signal that I was fine. But the worried look in their eyes didn’t change.

Normally, it would be natural for them to look at me like that if I had been targeted by a prince of a kingdom, but there was something they were mistaken about.

It wasn’t me who was targeted by the worm.

It was the worm who was targeted by me.

“Everyone, return to your seats and eat your meals.”

The noisy cafeteria fell silent at Joden’s single command. Everyone returned to their seats and began eating.

No foolish student dared to defy Joden after witnessing the magic he had just displayed.

Joden walked past me and whispered in a low voice.

“Your personality has calmed down quite a bit.”

“Ahaha.”

Hearing that, I could only give a small laugh and say nothing else. Joden, who knew my past self, made me uncomfortable.

If it had been me from back then, how would I have acted?

I toyed with my cafeteria tray, which was almost empty since I had already finished my meal.

If it had been me from back then, the moment that worm touched my mask, I would have smashed his head with this.

Thinking only of what I wanted to do at that moment, without considering the consequences. Back then, I truly lived like a beast.

“……”

As I was thinking about my past self, I felt a gaze and looked up to see Johanna staring at me with a somewhat displeased expression.

“Are you acquainted with that person?”

Even if Joden spoke quietly, Johanna, being close by, must have heard him. Moreover, Joden even used honorifics, so it was understandable she’d be curious.

“Yes, I received a lot of help from him in the past.”

“How long have you known that person?”

I met him almost immediately after I arrived, so.

“About six months. But why do you ask?”

Hearing my words, Johanna muttered, “Six months, six months.” Why was she doing that?

“You’re not going to join the Student Council, are you?”

It was a rather sudden question.

Why would the Student Council suddenly come up?

“I did receive an offer, but…”

Hearing me say I received a Student Council offer, Johanna leaned her face closer to me and spoke. Why was she doing this, really?

“When?”

“On the day of the entrance ceremony, before I went to the inn. Oh, and of course, I declined.”

At my words that I declined, Johanna looked relieved. And realizing that she had leaned too close, she slightly blushed and put some distance between us.

Still, she seemed to have many questions and didn’t stop asking.

“What did that person’s words mean?”

It seemed Joden’s comment about my personality having calmed down quite a bit was bothering her.

“It’s nothing!”

Even if I could answer everything, talking about my past self felt a bit… odd. How could I say I acted like a beast?

When I evaded the answer, Johanna looked at me intently with a slightly pouting expression.

And then she said something truly unexpected.

“After you graduate, come join my family.”

“Excuse me?”