The Sprouts of Disaster Should Be Stomped Early

“…..Tsk.”

Sheena slightly puffed her cheeks and clicked her tongue.

[Demonic Casanova – When conversing, more easily excites the other party if male, and causes slight affection if female]

• • A qualification given to a Casanova who monopolizes everyone’s idols and earns the resentment of many of the same gender. One thing is certain: life from now on will be tough.

I didn’t do anything, yet I suddenly became a Casanova.

‘This feels unfair.’

For someone who hasn’t even had a single lover to be given the title of Casanova, there’s no greater comedy than this.

The performance of the title itself isn’t bad.

For me, who induces strong attacks from opponents through conversation during battle, having one more ability to distract the opponent’s mind will definitely be helpful.

‘The problem is that this applies not just during battle but in everyday life.’

From now on, I’ll have to be especially careful when talking to men. I don’t want to cause unnecessary discord.

Actually, thinking about it, since I don’t talk to men much usually, I might not need to worry too much.

“Finally, the student who showed the most outstanding performance in this mock occupation war. Sion Frelia. Please come forward.”

But looking not at the present but at the future, it becomes quite a headache.

Especially if this title has a negative influence when I encounter Jeremy, it would be really troublesome…

“….Sion!”

“Ah, yes? Did you call me?”

I woke from my thoughts at the sound of Sheena’s voice calling me.

“The principal called you, why are you spacing out? Hurry and go to the front.”

Sheena spoke to me with a grumbling face.

Huh, did I do something wrong? Why is Sheena’s expression like this?

Wait, I was called? It seems I was too focused on the newly acquired title to hear.

“What? I’m being called? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, that’s not it, Sion….”

Sheena made an exasperated expression and began to open her mouth.

And, it seems it wasn’t just Sheena who was getting impatient.

“Whoop…!”

Suddenly, a dimensional gap appeared beneath me, and then I was sucked into it.

The place I arrived at through the dimensional gap was on the stage.

Thankfully, thanks to the Parkour trait, I was spared the embarrassment of falling in front of everyone.

“Ho ho, quite a unique entrance, Sion.”

“Ahaha, I hear that a lot.”

Fortunately, the principal who laughed off my novel(?) entrance soon opened his mouth.

“Sion Frelia. You are the first in the history of Ruin Academy’s mock occupation wars to form a team alone and perfectly defend a territory, and in this process, you single-handedly defeated up to 34 enemies through wisdom and improvisation.”

As the principal recited my achievements, the students began to murmur.

“Could you even form a team alone in the mock occupation war?”

“No, does it make sense to take down nearly thirty people alone? Isn’t that a lie?”

“The principal has no reason to lie….”

The majority of responses were skeptical.

“What’s even more surprising is that Sion is a 1-star ability user, and those who invaded his territory were ability users ranging from 2-star to 3-star. The achievement of a single person defeating dozens of stronger enemies and defending a territory is unprecedented in the history of Ruin Academy.”

“Wait, did he say 1-star?”

“So he single-handedly defeated dozens of opponents several times stronger than himself?”

“……Is the Frelia family full of monsters?”

The students murmur to a degree incomparable to when it was Sheena’s and Charlotte’s turns.

That’s probably because what I did was insane.

‘It’s like an ordinary person winning in a tug-of-war against 30 bodybuilders.’

But that’s what actually happened.

“Therefore, in high recognition of this unprecedented achievement, along with the certificate…. I will grant you the right to take any item you want from Ruin Academy’s artifact repository.”

Wow, I wondered if it was possible, but I can’t believe this reward is really being given. The corners of my mouth started to rise involuntarily.

Artifact selection right. An additional reward given when a player performs truly insane achievements in the mock occupation war.

‘I’ve only received this once before when I occupied 6 territories alone with a time magician route character.’

For this ruined character without a single attack skill to obtain something so difficult to get, life is truly a wonder.

“I’m glad that Ruin Academy has a talent like you. Please continue to do your best in the future.”

“Haha, I’ll try my moderate best.”

“You’re quite the joker.”

The principal chuckled and handed me a certificate and a flower-shaped badge.

“Sion. Do you have any words to share?”

“Ah, of course. I definitely do.”

I received the amplification artifact from the principal and said with a grin.

“Ah, I would like to dedicate all this credit to the team members who fought alongside me….. but unfortunately, since I was the only team member, I have no choice but to monopolize it myself.”

Chuckle, laughter was heard from among the students.

“But if I were to share it anyway, I would give credit to everyone who has helped and supported me….”

I looked around searching for someone.

Ah, there he is.

“And the remaining ant claw-sized credit to Lord Pascal over there~.”

I smiled carelessly while looking at Pascal’s crumpled face.

“In fact, without Lord Pascal, I wouldn’t be standing here. I don’t know if anyone knows this, but Lord Pascal was in charge of organizing the Red Team members. In other words, the fact that I was able to defend the territory alone is entirely thanks to Lord Pascal.”

When I dropped the bomb, the students began to murmur again.

“Lord Pascal Frelia did that? It’s hard to believe….. but if it’s true, isn’t that an abuse of power?”

“Nah, no way. They’re from the same family, would he abuse his power to do such a trashy thing to his brother?”

“But Sion has no reason to lie while standing on the stage.”

“Then….”

I can hear the voices. I can hear Pascal being buried.

“Ahaha, of course I’m grateful to Lord Pascal as well. Lord Pascal personally abused his power to set the stage for me to face 30 people. And without a single comrade. Wouldn’t that be impossible without faith in me?”

I can see Pascal gritting his teeth.

In response to that clear expression of anger, I simply put my hands in my pockets and stared at him steadily.

“If not that, it doesn’t make sense. Surely someone like Lord Pascal, who is admired by everyone, wouldn’t have taken such a filthy action just to sink someone frivolous like me. Right?”

“……..”

“You look so cool, steadily watching over me without saying anything. Thank you once again, Lord Pascal.”

Ah, now I should go down.

I was about to return the amplification artifact to the principal-

“Ah, right. Lord Pascal, I heard you lost your territory. Don’t be too discouraged. Fighting!”

With those final words, I returned the amplification artifact to the principal and came down from the auditorium.

During my walk to my seat, I could feel Pascal’s cold gaze filled with hostility.

Of course, I didn’t care at all and returned to my original seat.

I didn’t even react.

“Sion, are you alr….”

“Lady Astorius, excuse me for a moment.”

Sheena tried to speak to me, but Chloe, who interrupted, asked for her understanding and then pulled me to a corner.

“Are you… crazy?”

“What? What do you mean?”

When I played dumb, Chloe glared at me with a sharp gaze.

“What you just did on the stage is equivalent to trampling the honor of the Frelia family into the ground. Are you really in your right mind? If Father finds out about this…..”

“Well, it’s no big deal if I get scolded a bit. Surely I won’t be expelled from the family?”

“Haa… you really…!”

I knew that publicly disparaging Pascal would be seen as an insult toward the Frelia family.

But it was an unavoidable choice.

“Lady Chloe, do you know how people think of Lord Pascal?”

“A genius of the Frelia family, a magnanimous person who protects the weak, and a young man with beautiful looks. Satisfied?”

“That’s right. Just as Lady Chloe said. The public looks up to Lord Pascal like an idol.”

I nodded and continued.

“Then, would you please tell me the image of Lord Pascal that we know? Feel free to speak. Whatever you say now, I will keep it a secret for life.”

“…….”

Chloe looked around, and after confirming that there was no one listening, she let out a small sigh and opened her mouth.

“Trash. A person with an arrogant personality who is intoxicated with his talent and looks down on people, and treats others as consumables. On top of that, his temper is filthy and unstable, and he needs to ruin everything that doesn’t suit his taste to feel satisfied. Is that enough?”

Seeing Chloe vent her frustrations so refreshingly, it seems she too had a lot piled up against Pascal.

Yes, if my one month of bad blood with Pascal is this much, Chloe, who has known Pascal for a full 17 years, must have seen much worse than me.

“Haha, well said. As Lady Chloe said, there is an enormous gap between Lord Pascal’s public image and his true image. Until now, he’s been moving around with a fake image without getting caught from behind…. but can he do so forever?”

“So, you exposed him in advance? Tarnishing the honor of the Frelia family is still the same…..”

“No, Lady Chloe. It’s completely different.”

“What do you mean….”

“Listen carefully.”

I held up one finger and hypothesized a situation.

“Here’s the first case. A student named Pascal from the Frelia family did something at Ruin Academy that would cause social controversy and was publicly cursed. As a result, the honor of the Frelia family was naturally tarnished.”

I held up another finger and hypothesized a different case.

“Secondly…. it was revealed to everyone that a high-ranking official named Pascal from the Frelia family is actually trash who despises and oppresses people. Many people were disappointed, as much as they had respected and trusted him. As a result, the honor of the Frelia family was naturally tarnished.”

Now, choose.

“Lady Chloe, of the two cases mentioned earlier, which case would bring more burden to the Frelia family?”

“…..The latter.”

“That’s right. The higher a person’s position, the more criticism they receive when their true nature is exposed. In short, what I just did on the stage is just.”

I opened my previously closed eyes and said.

“Before the boil named Pascal grows larger, I simply burst that boil in advance.”