Ch.8585. More is Better? Too Much is as Bad as Too Little!

# After the Lecture

After the lecture ended, Celia and I headed to the Student Council Hall once again.

It was already a place we’d go when we had nowhere else to be, but today we had a specific reason.

[Alkine: Can you come to the student council when you’re done with today’s schedule? I have something to tell you.]

Alkine had sent that message.

By the way, her messaging style has completely loosened up. It was especially noticeable compared to the messages she sent just recently.

[Alkine: Can you delete the conversation history above?]

…What? Did my thoughts get automatically transmitted somehow? How did she know to send such a message…?

I kind of wanted to keep the messages, but if I got caught doing that, who knows what would happen… So I followed her instructions and deleted all the previous records.

A little while later, we arrived at the Student Council Hall.

For some reason, the place that would normally feel quiet was quite bustling today.

I could clearly hear voices murmuring from inside.

When I opened the door slightly and peeked in, I saw the second-year student council members—Grain, Cain, and Golid—sitting around a table chatting away.

“Hey, isn’t it our talented junior?”

“Your midterm ranking was lower than expected. Did something happen?”

Cain and Golid greeted me with those words when they noticed me coming in.

I hadn’t had many chances to talk with these people since they were always stuck to Grain like glue… but after this recent Synthetic Rift incident, I felt like we’d gotten noticeably closer.

I found out later that they had previously seen me as some kind of… love rival.

-“Ludion? He’s a monster of a junior. Talented too. But from my perspective… he doesn’t seem human, so I don’t have those kinds of feelings you guys are thinking about.”

After the rift conquest ended that day, I gathered my courage to ask, and Grain firmly declared that, which seemed to clear up the misunderstanding.

Thanks to that, I achieved the remarkable feat of “0 confessions, 1 rejection,” but since I’d already experienced the even more ridiculous “0 confessions, 2 acceptances,” it didn’t really affect me much.

Anyway, they seemed to be discussing the second-year top student ranking.

I was curious about that too, so that worked out well. I’d have to ask them about it later.

For now, my conversation with Alkine took priority.

Even now, she was staring at me while I exchanged a few words here, and if I kept wasting time talking about second-year rankings, I’d definitely get an earful.

So I quickly wrapped up the conversation and approached Alkine.

“Senior. We’re here.”

I greeted her using the title she wanted, but for some reason she looked dissatisfied.

“…Add my name when you call me.”

I wondered why, but it turned out she was upset because I didn’t call her by name.

This person is really annoying.

“Alkine. You’re really more annoying than I thought.”

Celia said exactly what I was thinking.

The difference between us was that I only thought it, while she actually said it out loud.

“W-what? I’m just asking for what Ludion promised me.”

Alkine responded rather confidently to Celia’s comment, but it was clear the direct criticism had affected her quite a bit, as her pupils were trembling slightly.

But well… it’s not difficult to add her name when addressing her. I decided to just do as she wanted.

“Senior Alkine.”

“Yes, welcome.”

Alkine finally seemed satisfied with my greeting.

I kept my voice low enough that Grain’s group couldn’t hear us from where they were talking, which made it sound almost like whispering… There was something about the feeling of secretly talking that stirred up strange emotions.

At that moment, Celia suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Ludion. Where’s that bracelet?”

“Huh? I stored it in my subspace. Why are you asking all of a sudden?”

“Give it to me. I need to read what you’re thinking right now.”

What’s with her all of a sudden?

But I felt like something bad would happen if I handed over the bracelet as she asked, so I carefully removed her hand from my wrist.

“…Ludion?”

“No. I can’t give it to you. It’s mine.”

“So that’s how you want to play it? Just wait. I’ll make everything you own mine.”

What are you saying, Celia? Even as a joke, you shouldn’t say things like that.

“I’m not joking though?”

“No, you have to be joking.”

“Actually, I am joking.”

“…Do you two practice having conversations like this?”

As the conversation subject suddenly shifted to Celia, Alkine started showing signs of disappointment.

But she seemed to realize that she had joined the conversation late, so she didn’t express any further complaints.

So instead of saying anything more, she immediately got to the point.

“Well, the reason I called you here is… I think things might get a bit annoying for you soon. I thought I should let you know.”

Annoying things? Did the student council get more work to do?

“You know… the third-years will probably be coming to see you quite often.”

“Me?”

So the one who would be bothered wasn’t “us” but “me.”

But why would third-years want to see me? For what reason?

When I voiced those questions, Alkine continued.

“The midterm results came out today. Everyone was curious about your results, especially with the rumors going around. But…”

“…But my grades had dropped quite low.”

“Yes, that’s the reason.”

I was starting to understand the situation.

Until now, everyone had been somewhat reserved because of my entrance exam story and my position in the student council, assuming there must be something special about me. But with the midterm results out, that atmosphere had completely shattered.

“They came to me asking about you, and I answered honestly. But they all thought I was just praising you because you’re a first-year and a student council member.”

Yesterday, no one would have even thought of bothering me, but now with just one grade report made public, the situation had changed…

It wasn’t surprising. Public opinion always works that way.

“I told them, so handle it well on your own.”

“Sigh…”

As I sighed at the thought of the annoyances to come, Celia, who had been listening to Alkine, chimed in.

“Ludion. You know I have good hearing, right?”

“I know.”

It wasn’t a question that fit the flow of the conversation, but I nodded and answered anyway.

Her hearing truly exceeded human limits. Without any special traits for it, she must have been born with it.

Because of that, I had broken my habit of muttering to myself, but now she seemed to have reached the point of reading my thoughts… but let’s move past that.

“I’ve heard some things today while going to class and during meals.”

I wondered why she suddenly asked such a question, but it seemed she had already drawn a conclusion based on conversations she’d overheard from various places.

And that conclusion was quite shocking.

“It’s not just the third-years—I think students from all grades will be bothering you.”

“…Why, seriously?”

“It’s nothing major. It’s just that your giving up on the exam seems to have been misinterpreted somehow.”

From what I heard, my casual approach and withdrawal from the exam had leaked out in a very biased way.

Moreover, my subsequent achievements in duels seemed to have been completely excluded from the rumors… it was honestly laughable.

How did it spread so conveniently for them?

“There were always rumors, but people couldn’t act on them. Now with this incident, some people think they’ve found their opportunity.”

As I let out a hollow laugh at that thought, Celia stated matter-of-factly.

According to her, some groups had already formed a movement to take me down.

It was obvious which groups those were without even looking. It had to be Celia’s fan clubs that had been quiet until now.

They couldn’t do anything all this time, but now they’ve completely flipped their attitude just because one grade was made public.

‘There must be quite a few people in those groups. Didn’t they find this strange?’

Even for a rumor, hadn’t they tried to verify the facts?

Well, I couldn’t say their actions were completely thoughtless.

Honestly, my current situation could easily be seen as someone who showed promise initially but gradually fell behind.

It was quite unusual to be on a downward trend during the early part of first year when growth should be most prominent, and that’s exactly the situation I was in… so it was natural for it to be perceived as a weakness.

Still, with Celia by my side, wouldn’t she mediate to some extent?

With that hope, I looked at Celia, but she just smiled sweetly and shook her head.

“I won’t get involved.”

“Why not?”

“Because you wouldn’t lend me your bracelet.”

What a grudge-holder.

I stared at her in disbelief, and she chuckled before changing her tune.

“I’m kidding. I just like watching Ludion do things. If I step in, the situation would end before you could do anything.”

That’s true.

No matter how much they tried to pick fights with me, if she stepped in and questioned them… mere talented students wouldn’t be able to handle it.

In terms of both authority and even physical power, they would be far below her.

But… even so, I didn’t expect to be betrayed like this.

I trusted Celia’s favorability, but it seems my trust was too great and had the opposite effect.

“Well, good luck. They’re all good kids at heart, so don’t bully them too much.”

With Alkine’s additional vote of confidence, I truly had no backup now.

At this rate, I’d have to accept all the confrontations and duels coming my way.

I thought more trust was always better, but now I see it can be too much of a good thing.

Anyway, it seemed like things would get very annoying, but… since there was nothing I could do about it for a while, I decided to look on the bright side.

‘…This might actually be good.’

They say if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.

Bullying newbies is forbidden content.

But if they come to me voluntarily and make it legal for me to engage, then I should just say thank you and accept it gratefully.

Come on, newbies. I’ll respond with everything I’ve got, so be prepared to handle it.

Since they’re the ones coming at me, it’s not my fault, right?