Ch.55. First Steps (2)

“Ah, Silvia is such a pain in the ass…”

With 90% of my mana depleted and completely drained of energy, I barely had enough strength left to walk.

Given who my opponent was, it’s understandable.

I’ve managed to subdue Vesta, Pallas, and others who looked down on me or picked fights, but Silvia has always been the exception.

Not once have I ever claimed victory against her; in every fight with Silvia, I’ve always been pushed back.

She was nothing like those arrogant types who boast they’d never lose to someone from Class C or who openly provoke others.

This time was no different. My victory was only possible because I knew Silvia’s habits.

“Haah… I hope this somehow resolves things.”

Those nobles who think it’s natural to look down on students from Classes D and E.

Nobles who break the academy’s principles of equality and guaranteed basic rights.

Apparently, it’s common practice for them to get ahead through advanced studies and then crush the lower classes.

That’s why I wanted to squeeze out a victory against Silvia even more.

I don’t know the details, but I’ve heard they gain something from repeating these malicious acts.

I thought if I could break this vicious cycle just once, something in their process would get disrupted and things would fall apart.

Professor Jake told me to wait until the end-of-term evaluation, but honestly, if I waited that long, something worse would happen.

After the victory banquet following the Shute extermination in the northeastern region, the Class D and E students would end up confronting Silvia in rage at the entrance.

Anyway, if Silvia shows up, I’ve at least gained one weakness I can use against her.

Right now, I’m holding her ribbon as a trophy in my right hand.

“I’ll be meeting Michelle soon anyway.”

I knew Silvia was chasing after me to deal with her target, and I did try to disrupt the nobles’ plans.

But my real purpose was different. This is actually closer to the core reason.

Originally, I was supposed to be completely defeated by Silvia here.

I would have desperately charged at her, but what chance did I have against someone from Class C who was determined to subdue me?

With a two-class difference, not just one, catching up was practically impossible, so all I could do was attack recklessly.

Throwing my body around recklessly, getting up again and again. Charging in like a madman without any technique or skill.

After being thrown to the ground repeatedly, just when Silvia would unleash a powerful spell to ensure I couldn’t get up again…

That’s when Michelle and I would have our first meeting.

At the moment my defeat was certain, with no way to resist Silvia’s final attack, Michelle would appear, neutralize the magic, and stop the fight.

With Michelle’s intervention, Silvia would back down, and for the first time, someone would offer a hand to me as I lay on the ground.

She would ask about my well-being, inquire about what happened, and then become furious upon learning that upper-class students were bullying those in lower classes at this academy.

She would become both an example that shattered my prejudice against nobles and upper classes, as well as my first friend.

But she’s also a member of Tembris and the one who recommended me there. That’s why I’m trying to avoid her.

…It’s somewhat bitter to think about it now, but I have no choice.

One more thing. Even considering what follows, the meeting between Michelle and Silvia was necessary.

It’s related to the downfall of the Cutelli County family, which would later be announced as a house that had been extending its dirty reach throughout the duchy.

Since the Cutelli family began to falter a few months after Silvia, a member of the family, met Michelle, I could deduce that some incident occurred centered around Silvia.

“Well, I guess the rest will work itself out.”

If Silvia is conscious of me, she won’t come to the banquet hall. I’ve successfully avoided meeting Michelle, a Tembris member, and Michelle must have found Silvia by now, so all three objectives have been cleanly achieved.

That’s satisfying enough.

“…But I can’t train today, can I?”

With my body in tatters and barely enough energy to walk, how could I possibly go to the training room?

I should rest well in the dormitory today.

***

At the same time, Silvia was moved to the infirmary shortly after being discovered by Michelle.

“Where am I…”

The ceiling was unfamiliar to Silvia as she opened her eyes.

A place she never thought she’d end up. She was looking at the infirmary ceiling, her back against a medical bed.

‘Did I actually faint? Then I…’

That means she lost. As her memories before losing consciousness gradually returned, she realized she had held back at first, then panicked and fought with all her might.

However… the result was Silvia herself lying in bed. Despite using her full power, she had been defeated and even knocked unconscious.

The opponent, who had been a troublemaker from Class E and someone she had easily subdued before, seemed like a completely different person now, as if they had been grinding their teeth in determination.

Even if they fought again, victory wouldn’t be guaranteed.

But what mattered to Silvia now wasn’t Junonn’s skill.

The issue was why she was here, and why only one person was lying in bed, not two.

At first glance, it might seem like just one humiliating defeat, but for Silvia, it was pushing her toward a precipice.

“No…!”

What if some noble had seen it?

What if some commoner had witnessed it?

No, if even one person, regardless of who they were, had seen this scene, it would be fatal.

Rumors would spread instantly, and after being isolated in noble society, news would follow that she had disgraced her family’s reputation.

When it finally reached the Count’s ears…

“I’ll be disowned…”

Disownment. A word Silvia couldn’t help but fear.

The moment she was disowned, she would lose her rights as a noble and be expelled from the Cutelli family.

The nobles, who had always been hostile to commoners, would certainly not help her, and she had even forced some of them to their knees.

The same goes for other nobles. With rumors constantly swirling about fallen noble families, the shadow of a disowned illegitimate child would be the worst possible label, impossible to remove.

No one would help her, and those she had bullied would seize the opportunity for revenge.

Determined to prevent the severing of her only lifeline—her noble status—Silvia threw back the blanket and tried to put on her shoes, despite her body not having fully recovered.

“Ugh…”

Just bending over to put on her shoes caused a wave of dizziness, as her body hadn’t yet recovered from the mana panic.

Touching and breaking a magic circle by injecting mana, twisting the mana circuit… such a technique was something she had never heard of or learned.

The critical hit Junonn had dealt to Silvia.

Due to the anti-cast that exploited the principles of magic circles, Silvia still couldn’t properly control her body.

As she held her head, complaining of a throbbing headache, footsteps could be heard from outside the infirmary.

Were they nobles who had already heard the widespread rumors, coming to mock her?

Or commoners and lower-class students, showing their white teeth in gleeful laughter?

If not them, perhaps the Count’s servants, coming to inform her of her disownment after the news reached his ears?

Whatever it was, it was all the same. Those footsteps seemed to Silvia like they would announce her impending isolation. But…

“Oh? You’re already awake. Are you feeling better?”

Unexpectedly, the person who came to see her was a well-known honor student with a reddish-brown ponytail.

A second-year Class A female student who had no interest in slandering others and focused solely on academics and magic. It was Michelle Granodia.

***

“You fool!”

“Aaack!”

Without an attendance book, I guess I get punched instead. A large fist came down directly on my head, making it feel like a lump was rising on my clean scalp.

Really, this is too harsh for a patient.

Professor Jake is as serious about hitting as he is about teaching, so my hands automatically go up to the spot he hit.

“What on earth did you do in such a short time to end up like this? Didn’t I tell you to wait until the end-of-term evaluation?”

“Tsk…”

“I told you not to cause trouble, and yet… oh, my head…”

Professor Jake sits in a chair, lamenting as he looks at me.

After my battle with Silvia, I was heading back to the dormitory when I unfortunately ran into him.

With his keen eye, he immediately recognized from a distance that I had been in a fight and gave me a direct ticket to the infirmary.

“Getting angry like that won’t help. Wouldn’t it be better to avoid and ignore them when possible?”

If I could do that, I wouldn’t have stepped in.

If I had left things as they were, Silvia would have appeared at the banquet hall, and then what?

I had no choice, Professor!

…That’s what I wanted to say. But I’d be treated like a madman if I did.

“So, how are you feeling?”

“If you could just do something about my uniform, I think I’ll be fine.”

“If you’re complaining about your uniform, that’s a relief. It doesn’t seem like you’re hurt as badly as last time.”

Despite his words, it’s clear that Professor Jake is genuinely concerned, showing what a caring person he is.

Though his way of showing it—saying he’ll let me off with just a few punches since I’m a patient, despite skipping class—isn’t great.

“Now, go ahead and press it.”

With that, Professor Jake pulled out a black box.

The black box with a button and an empty space like a display panel for showing something looks familiar.

…No way? Surely he didn’t bring me to the infirmary just for this??? No, that can’t be it.

“Junonn, I want to go home early.”

It really was that.

Why is this real? Give me back my feelings of gratitude.

“I need to get home as soon as possible to talk to my wife. Hurry up and press it.”

“…”

Looking at Professor Jake’s cheerful face as he anticipated the end of his workday, I pressed the button on the box that would determine my end-of-term evaluation partner.

It felt like a betrayal.

[2nd Year Class E Junonn – 1st Year Class A Lenias Pair]