Chapter 14 : Sympathy For The Sick – (2)

Crack!

As the mock battle continued, Sophia grew more confident.

She swung her sword with more boldness than I had expected, and I matched her movements with the appropriate body motions.

Our coordination was quite good.

The cadets, whom I had expected to be severely beaten by the demon of the academy, remained silent as we continued training amicably.

The instructor, a hunter, seemed to be surprised and shrugged his shoulders.

By the end of the class, it seemed Sophia had realized that I wasn’t as bad as the rumors had suggested.

“Uh, thank you for today,” she said, politely folding her hands in gratitude.

It seemed a bit too formal, considering we were probably around the same age, but in the academy, there was an unwritten rule about hierarchy.

Sophia, who had been ostracized by the other cadets, was at the very bottom of the social ladder, while I had recently defeated Luerin, an elite cadet, and was a rising star.

Sophia was strictly adhering to the academy’s rules.

The reason she couldn’t speak up when she was bullied was probably because of that.

“You can speak freely,” I said, not wanting to force her to adhere to the hierarchy.

What I truly needed was just a companion for my lonely life at the academy.

“Do you have time later?” I asked.

“Ti-time?” she stammered.

“I’m new to the academy and need some introductions.”

After blinking in surprise, Sophia nodded vigorously.

“Yes, yes!”

She bit her tongue again.

Sophia had been at the academy for about six months, which made her far more senior than I, who had just arrived a month ago.

“Newcomers like us usually only move along the right side of the stairs. Like this, in a single file.”

She then explained more about the academy’s culture—or rather, its bad practices—to me in detail.

“Uh… I’ve been walking through the middle without thinking…” I admitted.

“Th-that’s because Aiden is exceptional. All of my classmates walk in a straight line like this,” she replied.

She shared more customs, such as how one must memorize all the names of the senior cadets and how one must always eat standing up.

I didn’t think too much of these practices.

The mercenary group I had been with before was even stricter.

For instance, it was the responsibility of new recruits to guard the campfire during the night, and if it went out by morning, the senior mercenaries would beat them senseless.

Compared to that, the academy’s culture didn’t seem all that tough.

“Thanks. This really helped,” I said.

“Ah, th-thank you,” Sophia replied, giving a shy smile. Her green eyes sparkled brightly through her rather scruffy face.

Now that I had an overview, it was time for us to share more about ourselves.

I asked Sophia why she had come to the academy.

“My family was killed by a vampire. I was left all alone… until a hunter took me to the academy,” she explained, sitting on the stairs, revealing her past honestly.

Most cadets who wanted to become hunters had lost their families, friends, or lovers to vampires.

The academy existed to channel that hatred into a passion for hunting.

“But in my case, I’m just a weakling. If Aiden hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have been able to contribute at all,” Sophia said.

She was small and clumsy, and the harsh academy culture seemed unsuitable for her.

The very idea that she could adapt seemed absurd.

“Is that why your classmates bully you?” I asked.

“…Did you know?” Sophia flinched and glanced at me nervously.

Then she tried to wipe a stain from her face with her sleeve.

But there were more traces on her body than just that.

Ashes on her brown hair, her uniform torn in places—there was no way I could have missed it.

“I tried to be friendly at first, but… I’m just so incompetent that… naturally, the distance grew between us. In the end, I’m just the one who drags everyone down, so it’s not surprising they dislike me…” she said.

“…Hmm.”

I didn’t feel qualified to give her advice.

However, there was one saying I remembered from my time living in Stormgate.

A rare friendship or bond, no matter how small.

And Sophia, with her weak personality, reminded me of Lily in some ways.

Maybe that’s why I spoke out of turn.

“So, are you just planning to keep getting beaten up?”

“Wh-what?”

“I’m not exactly educated, so I might not know much, but there’s one rule I learned in the city I grew up in.”

“W-what kind of rule?”

“If a dog bows its head too easily, it’ll keep getting kicked. But if it bares its teeth like a mad mutt, people stay away.”

“Bare… its teeth?”

“That’s the point.”

Back when I was begging on the streets of Stormgate with Lily, I got into a lot of fights.

But after that, no one picked fights with me anymore.

The reason was simple.

“You just have to beat them to a pulp. Even if you lose, even if you get hurt, no matter how strong they are—if you go at them like you’re ready to kill, eventually they’ll back down. They get tired. No one wants to fight a rabid dog.”

“Ah… ugh…”

Sophia turned pale after hearing my advice.

“I… I’m not good at fighting. I really do want to become a vampire hunter, more than anything, but… I just don’t have the talent.”

“Doesn’t matter if you’re good at it or not. What matters is grit.”

“Grit?”

“Yeah. You need to come at them like you’re ready to kill. Even the ones throwing punches will get sick of it eventually.”

At least, that’s how it had always worked for me.

After a brief pause, I added,

“How about this—try imagining the people who bully you as vampires?”

“Vampires?”

“Yeah. Vampires. Imagine they’re the ones who killed your family. Doesn’t that make you feel a little braver?”

I had always projected every vampire I met onto the image of the Vampire Queen.

I didn’t bother suppressing my seething hatred.

In fact, both the priest and Aila seemed to appreciate that mindset.

Sophia seemed to mull over my words for a moment, then gave a sheepish smile.

“I’m… not so sure.”

“Well, just something to think about.”

Of course, that was just how it worked for me.

Sophia would have to find her own answer in her own way.

Ding ding ding.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the academy’s leisure time.

“Looks like it’s time to part ways.”

“Y-yes.”

Still, I’d made a new friend.

Her name was Sophia.

Nickname: Sophie.

We had something in common—neither of us had any friends.

That evening, after finishing a late dinner, Sophia returned to the dormitory.

Unlike the male dorms, the girls’ dorms offered slightly more spacious accommodations.

But the space allotted to Sophia was tiny.

Half a bed.

The bed she was originally supposed to use had been piled with trash by the other female cadets who shared the dorm.

Sophia’s nightly routine was to clean up and throw away the trash they left behind.

It had become such a regular part of her life that she didn’t even think twice about it anymore.

She picked up the trash bag.

Since it included food waste, her hands got dirty.

As she dragged a bag larger than her own body toward the dorm’s exit, it happened.

“Hey, Sophie.”

A sharp, high-pitched voice.

Sophia flinched and turned her head.

Standing there was a girl—Bella, the top-ranked cadet of Girls’ Dormitory Building 3.

With a mocking smile, she looked at the bag Sophia was dragging, then came closer and scrunched her nose.

“Ugh, what’s that smell? Sophia, you should really wash. You stink.”

The smell came from the food waste that had gotten on her hands.

The real culprits—the ones who left the garbage—started giggling, nodding in agreement with Bella.

“I’m… I’m sorry…”

All Sophia knew how to do was apologize.

“By the way, you’re back pretty late today. Did something fun happen?”

“Th-that too… I’m sorry…”

“I heard you’ve been hanging around that new recruit. Do you really think you’re in any position for that?”

Bella didn’t seem too happy about how Sophia hadn’t gotten beaten up by Aiden during today’s training.

Spit.

Bella spat right in Sophia’s face.

“Filthy little whore, already tasting men, are you?”

Laughter echoed around them.

Just like Bella said, Sophia wasn’t in a position to fight back.

She tried forcing an awkward smile, but Bella’s expression only grew more twisted.

“I can’t stand that attitude of yours. Is ‘I’m sorry’ the only thing you know how to say? Absolutely pathetic.”

“I… I’m sorry.”

“Shut up.”

In a foul mood, Bella raised her foot and struck Sophia’s shin.

Sophia collapsed where she stood, her balance lost.

The difference in height between them, with Sophia on the ground, seemed to greatly please Bella.

She smirked.

“A girl who claims she wants revenge for her family crumples from one little kick? Your parents must be ashamed, raising such a pitiful daughter.”

Usually, Sophia would’ve laughed it off.

But this time, a small flame sparked inside her chest.

Maybe it was because of what Aiden had told her earlier.

“So what, you’re just gonna let them hit you forever?”

It was a frightening, violent piece of advice, but somehow, it had taken root deep in Sophia’s mind.

She let go of the trash bag in her hand.

She didn’t even understand why she was doing this.

She knew it was stupid—but her heart was pounding so loud it drowned out all thought.

“You don’t avoid a dirty dog because you’re scared—it’s just disgusting.
But a filthy, rabid dog? That you avoid because it’s both disgusting and dangerous.”

She recalled Aiden’s words clearly.

“Just beat them senseless. Even if you get hit, even if you lose—if you charge like you’re going to kill them, they’ll give up first. They get tired. No one wants to deal with a mad dog.”

What boiled inside her now was pure bloodlust.

And her body moved beyond her control.

Sophia grabbed Bella’s hair and yanked hard. A sudden, vicious move.

“Aaagh!”

Bella, who had never imagined she’d fight back, went down.

But Sophia didn’t stop there.

She opened the giant trash bag filled to the brim.

Then, she grabbed Bella by the collar and shoved her inside.

“Y-you bitch! You crazy—urk!”

Bella screamed, overwhelmed by the foul stench of the garbage.

Sophia didn’t care.

To her, what was in that bag wasn’t Bella—it was a vampire.

The vampire who had killed her family.

She was going to become a hunter.

“Die!”

She raised her foot and stomped the bag again and again.

Bella screamed, but once Sophia tied off the opening of the bag, no sound could escape.

Everyone around them froze in shock.

No one tried to stop her.

Sophia kept stomping.

The sensation under her foot thrilled her.

Her chest felt like it would explode.

Her ankle twisted, but she couldn’t feel the pain.

It was like mincing pork into tiny bits.

How much time passed?

Eventually, the bag stopped moving.

“…Ha… haa…”

She had done it.

She had shoved the top-ranked girl in the dorm into a garbage bag and beat her senseless.

The aftermath would surely be worse than any bullying she’d faced so far.

But the feeling… was freeing.

Sophia realized she was smiling—openly, freely.

She looked up.

The dormmates who, just moments ago, had thrown her looks of disgust…

“…”

…now avoided her gaze.

“Ah…”

Only then did Sophia realize Aiden had been right.

To survive, you must never let yourself be looked down on.

That night, a heavy silence fell over Dorm 3.