Ch.148148. Law School Faction War (5)

Lana stared at Adel with wide eyes, her expression asking how she knew.

“If you’re trying to prove yourself because you hate feeling helpless and frustrated… that’s the wrong answer.”

“…!”

Adel gently took a seat beside Lana and began speaking softly.

“I was once like that too. What I did long ago… was all an effort to prove my own worth.”

Life as a member of the Cutelli family—memories she’d rather not recall. The life of an illegitimate noble child. This story began from there.

“I bullied others, stepped on them. I even used my status as a weapon. It was truly terrible.”

Adel had certainly tried to prove her value.

But in reality, nothing remained from those efforts.

The way the Count and other nobles looked at her. It only brought a false sense of satisfaction and kept her fears at bay. Though she was aware of this, the meaningless behavior continued.

Eventually, her senses dulled to the point where she couldn’t even feel the sting of the rod.

But even for her, the day came when this meaningless proof and hollow effort was cut short.

“Then one day, I was told I’d eventually pay the price for what I’d been doing… and that became reality.”

A life as a puppet bound to the Count’s family.

That life was thoroughly cracked by a certain man who demonstrated an indomitable will with his bare body, and before long, it was completely shattered.

“That’s when I realized. Chasing after yourself, trying to prove something first… it only breaks you.”

The end-of-term evaluation in her second year. Adel only realized after losing everything.

That she had committed irreversible acts through her own stupidity and complacency.

She was overwhelmed by genuine self-loathing that couldn’t be ignored—that she had committed atrocities against innocent people without hesitation.

That’s right.

This was something she had experienced firsthand as “Sylvia Cutelli,” not Adel Lisia—not knowing why she had done such things or why she had believed them to be right.

“…Why are you telling me this story?”

It’s something that would leave anyone feeling self-loathing. It was an indelible dark history, and the label of having once done such things wouldn’t simply disappear.

Lana’s heart was moved a little by this.

“Because I saw my past self in you. That’s why I had to stop you.”

“…”

Advice born from experience.

Even Lana, who had been ready to give up thinking she couldn’t do anything, began to reconsider her actions.

Still, this was difficult to just let go.

“But what if someone tells you right to your face that no matter how hard you try, it won’t work?”

“Huh…?”

“That person from Levrant earlier. He just spouted nonsense about how no matter how hard I try, it won’t work. What am I supposed to do about that?”

Adel tilted her head in confusion.

If she was talking about someone from Levrant, it must be Junon, who had just saved Lana. Would Junon say something like that?

No matter how she looked at it, this seemed like a misunderstanding…

“I… I don’t know exactly what Junon said to you, but he was probably trying to give you some insight. He can be insensitive sometimes, but he never means any harm.”

“Come on, how can you be so sure?”

“Because sometimes he’s very firm with me too, bluntly telling me certain things won’t work or are meaningless to try. R-really!”

Lana was intrigued, having heard similar comments herself.

Just like what she’d heard moments ago—rigid criticism suggesting something obviously wouldn’t work. But when Adel continued, Lana’s attention perked up.

“I asked if studying would make me as smart as him. I asked after attending an academy lecture. I wasn’t good at lecture notes, you know. Want to know what happened?”

It was even almost identical.

Lana had also asked Junon if she could become like him.

Then Adel smiled slightly and said,

“He said how could two people possibly be the same. He said it’s impossible unless our brains overlap, that becoming exactly like him is absolutely impossible. Funny, right?”

She had stated something obvious, something anyone would know, out of nowhere.

But this obvious fact sounded strangely meaningful.

‘Wait, so… could it be that when he said it wouldn’t work, he just meant I couldn’t become exactly the same person?’

After hearing that, she could only come to this conclusion.

Though it was frustratingly obvious… people don’t typically criticize others for this reason.

The moment she realized this, Lana took a disbelieving breath, and her tears retreated back into her tear ducts.

In other words, Adel was saying that Junon was just being pedantic about strange details.

“Would you… like to hear what happened?”

“Hm?”

This time, Lana cautiously shared her story.

“About what happened there…”

There was a chance she had misunderstood. After all, she had misinterpreted Adel’s earlier statement when she’d only heard part of it.

After listening to the story and nodding along, Adel confirmed without hesitation.

“Yes. He was probably just trying to say how two people’s bodies can’t be identical.”

“R-really…?”

“He probably also mentioned how male and female bodies can’t be the same. If you’d kept listening, he might have gone into a tedious lecture about age, height, weight, and everything else.”

“Huh…”

Based on what she’d just heard, that really could be the case…

An incredulous sigh escaped her.

To think he had flatly said it wouldn’t work, causing such a misunderstanding.

“Isn’t that humanizing? Even someone as perfect as Junon has a flaw—being too perfect.”

“…That’s just weird. Not humanizing.”

Lana felt she had completely misunderstood, and finally began to shake off the self-loathing that had gripped her.

“I want to go back.”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“…Yes.”

Though she still seemed a bit upset, she was compliant.

It seemed the misunderstanding had been cleared up.

“Oh, by the way. With everything that happened, I didn’t ask earlier.”

“Hm?”

“This might seem sudden, but… who are you? You don’t seem to be from Sirah.”

“Ah, me? I’m… I’ll tell you when we get back. It’s something Junon should hear too.”

The scene the two would witness upon returning to the road school might bring great changes to this institution.

***

“Ugh… how did I end up here?”

If Michelle, who was following right beside her, were to recall the reason… it was all because of a certain pink-haired someone who had been slacking off.

-‘Ariiis? Haven’t I always told you not to waste time and study a little?-‘

Aris still gets goosebumps all over her body when she remembers Senia glaring at her with those fierce eyes.

“That’s your fault for not preparing, Aris.”

“But Michelle, studying is my kryptonite!”

“If you don’t study, this will keep happening, you know?”

Ever since the deputy principal changed to Professor Muniher, the frequency of written exams had increased significantly.

If it were about slaying magical beasts, that would be one thing. But for Aris, who detested studying, exams were always a challenge.

As a result of neglecting her written exams, she alone faced the precarious risk of demotion from the Tembris party. That’s why she came to participate in the faction battle at Sirah Road School to make up for her grades.

“B-but with you here, Michelle, I should get a decent evaluation for the faction battle… right?”

“Logically, I won’t be the one grading you. Another inspector will grade you instead, so you need to work hard.”

“Aagh! How am I supposed to teach theories I barely understand myself!”

“Then you should study. So you can teach.”

Aris clutched her pink hair in despair while Michelle watched with a slight smile.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion reached their ears.

Both immediately prepared for battle. By now, they were quite accustomed to this.

“It’s coming from the direction of the road school. Could it be a magical beast?”

“That can’t be. I heard magical beasts appear much further north…”

“Whatever it is, let’s go check it out, Michelle. We can’t just ignore this.”

“Right!”

At the same time.

At the source of the explosion, the schoolyard, everyone was struggling to make sense of the situation.

In the middle of the yard, there was only a male student helping exhausted students one by one, supporting them as they moved.

Though there had been a loud noise, it wasn’t an explosion. There was no trace of any explosion in the area.

It was just that the sound of magical energy breaking was so large that it felt like an explosion.

“You, what do you think you’re doing? How dare you interfere with my telekinetic magic.”

“…”

The professor berated Junon again.

“I asked what you’re doing, faction battle participant! You’re disrupting the education and lectures you claim to want so badly?”

Though he shouted in an unpleasant voice, Junon silently continued to help the students. This was the last student.

‘Crudely pouring magical power to destroy the formation. He’s somewhat clever.’

But this was what he had wanted.

“You’ve crossed the line. You may be a Levrant Academy student, but this is clearly overstepping your bounds, disregarding the policies of a professor like me.”

The professor smiled viciously as he raised magical power in his hand.

The professor’s magic formed a magic circle, preparing for attack.

“The professor is using magic again…”

“We might get caught up in it… everyone run…!”

“Aaaah! I don’t want to know!!”

Having experienced it before, students who didn’t want to suffer under the telekinetic pressure fled the scene without exception.

Soon, only the two of them remained in the yard.

The black-haired boy who had shown no expression until now was staring directly at the professor’s viciously smiling face.

“Heh, do you think I’ll be scared if you glare at me like that? We’re not children. Besides, do you know what? There are no witnesses now.”

No witnesses meant a very good opportunity.

Whatever happened here wouldn’t be known. Even if someone suspected something, it would be impossible to find concrete evidence.

“You grabbed my collar earlier, and that felt really shitty, you know? Do you know why I was expelled from Levrant Academy? It was because of corporal punishment.”

“…”

“Kuk, kukuk…! Disciplining a student who overstepped their bounds is perfectly understandable. So you’d better prepare yourself. I return what I receive twofold, so it’s going to hurt quite a bit, you impudent brat!!!”

The professor’s prepared spell activated, and the magic circle emitted light.

A huge iron mass floated up, forming a massive weapon. The iron mass became a metal battering ram aimed at Junon.

‘Just standing there blankly…! Kukuk, have you given up?’

This battering ram was not something an ordinary student like him could block.

He wasn’t holding a weapon, had no visible armor to defend against it, and wasn’t a noble, so he wouldn’t possess artifacts.

Even if he had all of those prepared, he would still be knocked down by the tremendous force of the battering ram.

Anticipating how he would take out his frustration on Junon, who would soon be crawling on the ground, the professor fired the battering ram with complete confidence.

KWANG!!

The metal battering ram hit its target squarely.

The professor, who had been fidgeting with anticipation, finally let out a vulgar laugh of triumph.

“Puhahaha! That’s what you get for challenging me! Did you really think you, with just an E-rank on the request page, could face me?”

This friction sound, ringing more clearly than the earlier magical breaking sound, surely indicated that Junon had fallen.

The crazed professor slowly approached Junon to finish him off.

“You should have known better. You shouldn’t have provoked me! You stupid… huh?!”

The professor’s voice trailed off.

Junon was standing perfectly fine, pushing away the battering ram with one arm.

Then he suddenly sighed.

“Oh dear. Did I fail to properly control my strength against a student after so long? Well, I suppose I restrained myself since getting more disciplinary action here would be troublesome.”

But this time would be different.

He created another metal battering ram with even more magical power than before and aimed at his target again.

And fired.

Once more, a loud noise filled the schoolyard.

Behind the billowing smoke appeared a silhouette.

It wasn’t the image of someone lying fallen on the ground, but of someone standing perfectly fine.

“What… what is this…?”

Even a stump in this area would have its core shattered by one hit from this metal battering ram.

How could an ordinary, mere E-rank student’s body withstand such force?

The professor swallowed hard.

The silhouette disappeared, and that same face from before appeared.

Those eyes, staring as if they would gouge out his own, approached without any change in expression.

Slowly, as if tightening a noose.

-Rustle.

Without realizing it, he backed away from Junon, and the sound of a branch breaking behind him broke the silence.

Faced with the boy who had blocked two battering rams right before his eyes, the once-confident old professor suddenly recalled what had happened a few minutes ago when the telekinesis was canceled.

‘Could it be… that the sound came from him injecting magical power into the line core of the magic circle…?’

The breaking sound occurs when magical power collides head-on and is offset, returning to magical energy and creating impurities that transmit auditory information.

If the sounds from these two battering rams were not from colliding with a human body, but from dismantling the spell…

“No…! That’s impossible! Such a thing can’t be possible!!!”

Insisting something was wrong, he frowned deeply and deployed another spell.

Seeing Junon approach step by step, it seemed he had no way to counter ranged magic. If that was the case, he would counter with projectile magic.

“Astaroth’s third spear. Rushark, tear apart this wild dog before me!!!”

This was magic that even a B-class student from Levrant Academy, currently with a page rank of B-, would barely be able to block with all their might.

It was also lightning-attribute magic, which had an advantage against approaching opponents.

There was absolutely no way this youngster before him could block it.

However.

-CRACK! TING!

“Th-this can’t be… h-how is this…”

The spear simply broke like taffy against a hand wrapped in pure white magical power, losing its form and dissipating.

And once again, he approached calmly as if nothing had happened.

Cold sweat began to form on his hands.

His back became damp with cold sweat trickling down.

That pressure from earlier was returning.

He was afraid.

What the old man faced was the fear that no attack might work.

“Eek!! Stay away!! Stay away, I said!!!”

The professor’s magic circle, which had been drawn for some time, activated. Telekinetic magic with twice the magical power compared to when he had pressed down on the students.

This magic, which even had lethal force, was enough to be arrested as a criminal, not just receive disciplinary action.

He deployed the spell as if he didn’t care what happened afterward, even if the target died from the explosion.

Please.

Just this once, please work! That was his only wish.

-KEEENG!!!

But, inevitably, once again.

The professor’s fearful wish was shattered in Junon’s hands.

Now he was right in front of him.

Even for a ranged magician, it was nearly impossible to gain an advantage at zero distance.

“You said you return what you receive twofold… Then, should I repay you for the seven students who suffered because of your pretense as a professor?”

“Ukhuk…! Kak, kagrrrk…!”

The professor choked on his breath and fell backward.

He groped the ground as if trying to grab onto something in fear, retreating.

The face that had once been filled with confidence, anticipating punishment, now held only desperation, as if hoping someone, anyone, would help.

Like being about to have his neck bitten by a predator.

“Hrrk…!”

“What, does it hurt? You think it hurt when you were hit, but not when the others were?”

“S-stop… stop… kuhuk!”

The mouth that had smiled viciously was now forced to bite down on a piece of firewood, unable to make any more sounds.

Junon’s voice, which had been silent until now, was now lowered menacingly.

“Seven… no, including Lana, eight. I’ll thoroughly beat you for the sake of all the students who wasted their time with you.”

“Heek! Heeeeek!!! Ughrrrh……”

He foamed at the mouth, his eyes rolling back, and then fainted, sprawled out on the yard.

“…”

There was no movement from the old professor’s body.

Though he confirmed this, Junon still hadn’t withdrawn his magical power.

He had lingering regrets.

Would it end like this?

Without him feeling in his own body what those seven students had suffered?

If a healthy tree has a rotten branch sucking away all its nutrients, isn’t this old professor that rotten branch?

He couldn’t accept it.

It was a natural grievance.

He wanted to throw water on this old professor to wake him up and then mercilessly punch him.

He wanted to engrave the punishment of fear into him.

But… he had to stop. If he tried to regain his reason, this was the wrong answer.

“…”

He was just a student who came to participate in the faction battle. This man was a professor.

He had no qualification or authority to impose severe punishment.

If he did something in this situation… this place would remain unchanged forever.

It needed to change. By setting a precedent.

And to set a precedent, he had to remain here. Not get disciplined and expelled for trying to cut off the rotten branch himself.

Junon rose from his position and turned away, leaving the unconscious old professor behind.

And then, he noticed two female students who had just arrived at the yard.

“You held back well. Really well…!”

Adel, who was relieved that he had restrained himself, and,

“The students are all safe thanks to you. I also heard direct testimony about the absurd punishment this professor inflicted.”

Michelle, who expressed her indignation after hearing about the professor’s atrocities.

“We’ll handle the rest. Junon.”