Ch.9696. Scheduled Encounter (3)

Taking him away, she says. A professor’s guidance session tailored to a student’s growth isn’t something to be casually interrupted.

Yet the conversation between the two professors continued without including the student, and permission was soon granted.

…In favor of Professor Jake taking me away.

This doesn’t seem right.

“…Professor. You’re not dragging me off somewhere, are you?”

“Hmm? Why would you think that?”

“Because last time you took me away like this, you made me clean the swimming pool as punishment for causing trouble.”

I thought I’d become practically a salt farm slave then. How could he make me clean that enormous swimming pool all by myself?

Professor Jake only showed up around sunset to tell me I could stop.

Because of that incident where I had to sweat it out just for causing a bit of trouble, I developed a habit of being suspicious whenever Professor Jake said he was taking me somewhere.

“Ahem… It’s nothing like that, so don’t worry.”

“Really?”

“Come now, I even bought you meat afterward because I felt bad. Why do you still remember that?”

Seeing Professor Jake clear his throat made me flinch and tremble with anxiety.

Not again? Junon raised his guard, ready to bolt if necessary. He certainly didn’t want to go through something like that twice.

Despite maintaining his vigilance through the casual conversation that followed, by the time he noticed what was happening, it was already too late.

Their destination was outside the academy. At least he could be certain he wasn’t being taken somewhere to work.

But… this seemed like an even bigger problem than cleaning the swimming pool.

“…?”

“This is where you’re going in. I won’t be following you from here, and there will be someone else to guide you.”

Is this a joke? No, even Professor Jake, who loves pranks, wouldn’t pull something like this.

…That’s what makes it more concerning.

“Um… Professor?”

“Ahem. I’ve told you everything. They’re waiting for you, so hurry inside. Don’t be nervous. Understand?”

“I don’t think nervousness is the issue here… How could I possibly dare to enter such a place…”

This was… the residence of the leader of this country, the Grand Duchy of Ardelion.

If he were working as the chairman, professors from the academy might visit him there. But this wasn’t the chairman’s office.

It wasn’t strange at all that I stood there with my mouth open, blinking in confusion. Then I felt a push on my back.

“Don’t you know His Excellency is waiting while you’re standing here like this?”

“Ah…”

The Grand Duke himself was waiting, and here I was hesitating. This was problematic in its own way.

“Haaa……”

A long sigh escaped me, but Junon had no choice but to head into the residence.

“…I never imagined you’d be summoned like this either.”

Even as he had to push his disciple’s back, urging him to enter despite seeing the confusion on his face, the professor wasn’t taking this situation lightly either.

Why Junon, of all the many students?

He couldn’t help but wonder. However, this thought needed correction.

It was that thunderbolt-like tenacity, never giving up and always charging forward, that had spread these new waves throughout the academy.

Therefore, it should be corrected to say that among all those students, only Junon had caught the Grand Duke’s eye.

***

There’s no time to think about how this happened. I need to go in and hear why I was called and what he wants.

That was all I could think about as I followed the maid who was guiding me.

Finally, the door opened.

“Welcome.”

The Grand Duke who had invited me here greeted me with a bright smile.

Professor Jake told me not to be nervous, but I think any student in this situation would be tense.

But I… I’ve lived through even greater tensions than this.

“It’s an honor to meet Your Excellency.”

“…Oh?”

When I calmly bowed my head in greeting, the Grand Duke let out a small exclamation of admiration.

“I was worried you might be too nervous, but it seems that wasn’t necessary. Good. Please sit wherever you’re comfortable.”

Then the Grand Duke himself got up from his desk chair, gathering some documents, and sat on a sofa.

“Hmm. Where should I begin…”

“Please speak however is comfortable for you.”

After all, I had no intention of running away.

At those words, the Grand Duke grinned.

“There have been many significant incidents recently. Each one could have put students in danger or escalated into bigger problems, yet the damage was contained.”

The beginning-of-term assessment. The Osoptera defense battle. The forced engagement by Count Kutelli’s family. The creation of the soundproof barrier within the academy. And finally, the terrorist incident at Dubevan.

The incidents the Grand Duke listed one by one were all major events.

And there was one person commonly involved in all these incidents.

That person was me.

“It seems difficult to view this as simply bad luck causing you to always get caught up in these events. What do you think?”

“Well. As I recall, there were always others who got caught up along with me in those incidents.”

I can’t readily agree. As long as I don’t know what the Grand Duke wants from me, I’ll stand my ground.

“In the case of the Giant Kud Rats, quite a number of students were attacked, and during the Osoptera defense battle, all students were in a state of confusion. I was just one of them. As for Adel’s engagement ceremony, I couldn’t ignore it as a friend, and during both the soundproof barrier incident and the Dubevan terrorist attack, I was in the vanguard position, which is enough to get caught up in such events.”

The Grand Duke probably found this unsatisfactory.

After all, I was just reciting superficially correct statements that left an uneasy feeling.

If he wanted to strip away the veil of suspicion immediately, he would need to present solid evidence. Definitive proof that I was there.

“Haha. This is too much. I’m not trying to interrogate you.”

“…”

“Right. I should be honest too. I suspect you were at the center of all these incidents. Isn’t that so?”

“I’m not sure.”

In truth, it was difficult to deny, as these were indeed major incidents, as the Grand Duke said.

Besides, from the end-of-term assessment to the class placement exam, the hastily arranged welcome duel replica, and more—I’d been involved in too many events recently.

The Grand Duke simply hadn’t brought all of these up. If he wanted to find evidence in the documents, he could have found plenty.

I needed to know how much had been uncovered.

From what point others might become suspicious. How much of my information was known.

“Well. If that’s your stance, I have no choice.”

Noticing this, the Grand Duke handed over two other documents he had set aside.

“I first felt something was off with the Blushire Arc. An ordinary student wouldn’t have access to such an influential object.”

“…That’s right.”

“Even Ophelia would have had to report to me about lending such an important object. That’s when I began to question you. Well… except for the Marquis and Marchioness of Emerald and the Count and Countess of Beryl, no one else would know.”

The Blushire Arc. With the princess’s help, I had tried to make excuses to get past this document.

But even this alone was enough to raise suspicion. If anything else happened after this, it would be impossible not to suspect me.

And then Count Kutelli’s actions erupted for all to see. From that point, it would have been strange not to investigate all my activities.

All these suspicions came together to create that thick document.

Yet contrary to my worries, this fact hadn’t become public knowledge. Even after weeks turning into months.

This means… he had been accommodating me as much as possible.

“You want something from me, don’t you?”

“Why do you think that?”

“You could have revealed my activities immediately and brought change to the academy. The fact that you didn’t means Your Excellency has been considerate of my circumstances. And so you want something in return. Am I wrong?”

He chose a time when others wouldn’t notice, sending Professor Jake with an excuse.

This private meeting was arranged not as an order or coercion, but as a request and invitation, with full consideration for one person’s circumstances.

Despite the Grand Duchy desperately seeking someone to right this tilted scale.

Despite the fact that revealing all this could empower the lower-class students currently in positions C and D, corresponding to vanguard and support roles.

Until the end, he had been considerate of the possibility that the person involved might feel uncomfortable or burdened.

The Grand Duke showed a faint smile.

“Yes. You’re right about what you’re thinking.”

“You deliberately steered the conversation this way, didn’t you?”

“Precisely. I did consider getting straight to the point, but I threw out a line, believing that a man who had accomplished such feats would follow along perceptively.”

So what does the Grand Duke want from me…

This was too easy to figure out.

“If you want to put me at the forefront of the academy… I’d like to decline.”

“…Why is that?”

“My image has been somewhat exaggerated. It might have looked impressive to you, but I’m not suitable for such a role. It also diverges from the goals I want to achieve.”

Bringing about change to right the scales of the Grand Duchy is good, but it doesn’t guarantee my survival. Standing out too much catches too many eyes. That’s too big a risk.

The faint smile on the Grand Duke’s face immediately turned bitter.

Grasping at straws, he offered another suggestion.

“You don’t want to join any team either?”

“No.”

This is the same issue. Even if I joined a team other than Tembris, it would become a vulnerability for me.

It’s a kind of trauma, I suppose—I no longer wanted to continue team or party life. I’ve become too accustomed to being alone anyway.

“That’s unfortunate…”

The Grand Duke, wearing a bitter smile, closed his eyes.

Having witnessed all the nobles’ machinations over many years, he couldn’t force someone who was refusing to cooperate.

Such coercion would prove poisonous, as his years of experience would attest. So, he wouldn’t press me further.

“I understand. If your resolve is so firm, I won’t insist any further. However, could you make one promise?”

What the Grand Duke asked me to promise… wasn’t anything to worry about much.

It wouldn’t happen in this lifetime anyway.

The private meeting with the Grand Duke ended there.

In accordance with the individual’s wish that the truth in those documents not be revealed, this truth was covered by the Grand Duke’s hand. The only stumbling block that had been troubling a corner of my mind had been removed.

Riding in the carriage prepared by the Grand Duke, I arrived at the academy just in time for the lecture.

And… it was starting to become visible.

“Gasp, why are you so injured?”

“Hahaha, well… I just rolled around a bit.”

“How is this an injury from rolling around? What happened…”

The number of injured students was increasing one by one.

Why were they coming in injured? The reason was…

“I somehow managed to get through this semester, but I couldn’t handle the next one. So I had to pay with my body…”

The rapidly increasing tuition fees. So it was because of money.