Ch.229229 – Prove Your Skills

# 229 – Prove Your Skills

“Oknodie. The princess wants to consult with a male student named Zaku about you. Want to come along?”

“Sure!”

When I followed Titosoga’s enticing suggestion, something truly interesting happened.

“Who discusses secrets with the person they’re about to talk about? Titosoga, you idiot.”

“Waaah! I’m sorry, Princess!”

“I told you not to call me princess anymore, you idiot Soga.”

“But… it’s stuck in my mouth and I keep calling you princess without meaning tooo…”

While Arcadia was thoroughly scolding Titosoga, I approached Zaku and held out my hand.

“Can I see the letter?”

“Sure.”

━━━

I already know that you are a scholarship student of the Wiheomhae Foundation.

And that you feel indebted to Oknodie.

If you want to repay that debt, follow the child who delivered this letter to where I am.

I hope you won’t refuse.

I’ve already figured out your lecture schedule and assignment status, and I know you have no plans afterward since your social relationships are terrible.

━━━

“Wow, that’s harsh. Hitting someone with no friends with the fact that they have no friends!”

“…Don’t you think you’re the worst for saying that to my face? And don’t arbitrarily treat me like someone with no friends. I do have friends.”

“Who’s your friend?”

“I can’t say.”

“See? You don’t have any after all.”

“……”

Though he’s playing dumb, I’ve already predicted the psychology of this quiet freshman extra NPC.

“Are you worried that if you tell me, your friend will also be treated as a Foundation scholarship student?”

“…!”

Zaku steps back in shock.

He’s even sweating—clearly terrified.

“Hmm… is it someone I know?”

“N-no, it’s not.”

“Why lie? I saw you before. Hanging out with Morb in that club.”

When I poked his side with my finger while chuckling, Zaku’s expression turned completely pale.

Seeing this, Arcadia scolded me instead of Titosoga.

“Di. It’s unladylike for a girl to whisper to a boy and make him squirm.”

“Yes~”

“Sigh. I suppose you’ve always been like this. Since you’re here anyway, I’ll just be straightforward.”

Arcadia realized her secret game had failed and decided to be honest about her thoughts.

“I suspect the Foundation has issued an assassination order against Di.”

“What?!”

“Please be honest. Di’s testimony might someday help free her from the Foundation.”

“Nonsense.”

Zaku replied cynically.

“Don’t talk like it’s someone else’s problem. Do you think the Foundation would quietly watch one of their scholarship students leave? They would definitely seek revenge.”

“We have the Academy.”

“Right. The same Academy that attacked your Ceviche duchy until it became an earldom. As if they would simply let Oknodie go.”

Arcadia’s face became one of suppressed sadness, like someone who spent money on a mobile game only to be told it was a personal mistake.

SLAP!

“ARGH!”

“Zaku. No mean words!”

“A-are you trying to kill me, you monster brat?!”

“Hey now!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

When I raised my hand, Zaku immediately surrendered.

Why act tough when you’ll quiet down after one hit?

“Sister Arcadia. I don’t care whether you’re a princess or an earl’s daughter.”

“Di…!”

I knew from the beginning.

If she fails the event, she’ll fall to commoner or slave status, and even if she succeeds, she’ll have to leave the duchy.

The Ceviche family will only become a duchy again after Arcadia graduates, achieves great success, and is honored by His Majesty the King to become a duchess.

“But if you ask whether the Foundation issued an assassination order, I can only say I don’t know. Though I think they probably didn’t!”

“Evading the question about your own situation… Are you unable to answer? Afraid I’ll be in danger if I get involved in Foundation business? Don’t be ridiculous! You got involved in our duchy’s dangerous affairs, but I can’t do the same for you? That’s unfair!”

I understand how she feels, but this is really troublesome.

“I really don’t know about this!”

Would the Pierrot Mask Group have ordered the assassination of my body’s original owner?

Seeing how no one recognized me, I don’t think so.

But considering the circumstances, it seems scholarship students did pass through these kids.

Yet when I recall meeting Jona at the inn on my first day of possession, it also seems unlikely.

It’s like looking at a stock chart and not knowing whether it will go up or down.

“So you’re going to keep evading like this? Whenever something dangerous happens, you’ll face it alone without telling anyone, keeping it secret from us. Is that how you plan to continue living?”

Arcadia’s eyes trembled.

Great sadness filled her eyes—sadness that wasn’t there even when Zaku mentioned the declining Ceviche family.

Hmm.

I didn’t mean to make Arcadia sad.

But there’s nothing I can do.

There aren’t even any high-point Arcadia events on the schedule for a while.

“Yep.”

A player can’t be led around by NPCs because of sentiment.

Sometimes cold, sometimes resolute.

Knowing where to draw the line is how you follow an efficient veteran player route!

“Di…”

I waved goodbye to the shocked-looking Arcadia.

“I have things to do, so I’ll go first! It was nice seeing you today!”

* *

Oknodie ran with light steps and then vanished like a ghost.

Arcadia’s face, which had been following that retreating figure, showed utter despair.

As expected of one of the “butler’s” children—those selected for their demonic talents and corresponding distortions, worthy of being called the devil’s children.

Moreover, as the top scholarship student, Oknodie drew a cold line with Arcadia.

“Did you expect to have a genuinely supportive relationship with someone from the Foundation? How foolish.”

“You don’t need to say it like that. Do you really need to hurt Arcadia more when she’s already wounded?”

The overly kind Titosoga, torn between chasing after Oknodie or comforting Arcadia, ultimately stayed by Arcadia’s side and pointed accusingly at Zaku with wide eyes.

Of course, with his naturally harmless face resembling a small animal, he didn’t look intimidating at all.

Sometimes such weakness can exert its own power.

Zaku felt a twinge in his chest.

It was the sound of his conscience screaming.

“Bullshit.”

Those who followed the voice of conscience never became scholarship students.

They either failed the entrance exam or were filtered out earlier in the Foundation’s own verification tests for apprentice scholarship candidates.

Weakness leads to falling behind.

Falling behind leads to receiving more brutal orders.

And what awaits after that is only death.

“Don’t you think you’re the selfish ones?”

“How is Lady Arcadia being selfish?!”

“She demanded acts of treason against the Foundation without knowing how vast the Foundation truly is. That’s something one should never ask of Oknodie. Even more so of me.”

“Coward.”

“Can you say the same thing to Oknodie’s face?”

Titosoga stuck out his tongue and turned away.

“Let’s go, Lady Arcadia. There’s nothing to discuss with such a super-coward.”

Arcadia, being led away by Titosoga’s hand, looked powerless.

He shouldn’t be drawn to that pitiful figure.

This wouldn’t benefit either party.

Zaku kicked at the ground and followed the two.

“Wait.”

“What is it, Mr. Super-Super-Coward?”

“I’ll tell you the Foundation’s next move.”

“What?”

“If you really want to save Oknodie from the Foundation’s grasp, then stop the Foundation’s next move. If you can’t even do that much, give up gracefully. And don’t bother Oknodie or me again.”

Life returned to Arcadia’s lifeless gaze.

Zaku’s heart sent frantic signals at her expression of renewed hope.

Hope is the name for the worst despair left at the very bottom of Pandora’s box that sealed away despair.

Misplaced sympathy would only put these fools in greater danger.

Nevertheless, he ultimately couldn’t withstand the voice of his conscience.

“Next week, there will be a sports festival at the Academy. The Foundation plans to injure upper-class students one way or another during the festival.”

“Is it a plan targeting all upper-class students regardless of who they are?”

“Yes. This is a common directive issued to all lower-class scholarship students. Even if we fail, there’s no penalty, but success will improve our standing with the Foundation.”

He said it.

He committed to this even knowing that if they became vigilant and started looking for suspicious individuals, they would be the first to catch the Foundation’s eye.

Having gone this far, it’s better to dive in completely than to pull back halfway.

“I’ll give you a hint. The Foundation wants the despair of Academy students. It’s easier to reach out to and use students who are in despair. The fastest way to spread despair is to accelerate the collapse of balance between the Frontier faction and the Imperial faction.”

“So the targets are upper-class students from the Frontier. That’s what you’re saying.”

“Eek! That includes Oknodie and Lady Arcadia!”

From Titosoga’s outcry, Arcadia realized something.

Perhaps it was a forbidden realization that she shouldn’t have come to.

“If it doesn’t matter who, then I could be a target too. If I deliberately show vulnerability… scholarship students would flock to threaten me like moths to a flame, right?”

“Perhaps.”

“Thank you. For giving me this opportunity.”

“We’ll see.”

Zaku thought to himself.

Would this be an opportunity to prove they had the ability to stand against the Foundation, or would it be the catalyst that ended Arcadia’s Academy life that Oknodie had finally permitted?

He began to feel somewhat afraid of the sports festival day when the results would be determined.