Chapter 57: Disobedience (1)
by fnovelpia
“…..”
What was that absurd sight I witnessed today?
Considerable time had passed since the class assignment ceremony, but that surreal scene remained vivid in my mind.
‘Baldo? Why? How?’
I know well what Baldo is. A cowardly technique to catch opponents off guard with surprise attacks.
I’m familiar with facts related to that man, but why did Mr. Peter proclaim Baldo as the greatest?
Was he forced to display such unseemly behavior due to blackmail?
If he was blackmailed, what could they have used against him? If not, why would he act so disgracefully? I can’t even begin to guess.
‘I don’t understand…. Just who is that man?’
At first, I merely thought of him as a suspicious character, but now my impression of Ian has shifted from suspicious to dangerous.
With skills like that, he shouldn’t need to enter the academy. So why? For what purpose did he enroll?
Carrying this unsolvable mystery, I arrived at the villa where Prince Euclid was staying.
As I stood before the villa, one of the knights guarding the main gate approached and bowed to me.
All the knights guarding the villa had memorized my face, so there was no need for tedious procedures.
The knight who had bowed a bit too deeply raised his head and said:
“Lady Rain. What brings you here today?”
“I heard His Highness was unwell, so I came to pay a sick call. Please inform His Highness of my arrival.”
“Yes, I will notify him right away. Please wait a moment.”
A few minutes passed after he went inside.
The one who emerged from the door was neither the knight from earlier nor Prince Euclid, but a large knight in full blue armor covering their entire body.
Rather than a knight, “small fortress” seemed a more fitting description. As she walked towards the main gate, though it didn’t actually happen, it felt as if a great rumbling could be heard.
“Move aside for a moment.”
“Yes!”
When she spoke upon reaching the gate, the other knight who had remained at his post swiftly moved aside without question.
“It’s been a while, Lady Rain.”
“Yes, it’s been a long time, Lady Nana.”
Nana – despite her imposing stature of over 2 meters, her name was as cute as a village girl’s, but her sword skills were far from cute.
At a young age not much different from mine, her skills that earned her the position of Royal Knights Commander were beyond doubt.
“…How is Prince Euclid?”
“This happens often in the kingdom, so there’s no need to worry too much. However, as his condition isn’t particularly good, he said he must decline your visit.”
“I see….”
He seemed so healthy when we last met, but what could I say about it?
“Then I’ll be taking my leave. Please convey my wishes for His Highness’s swift recovery.”
“Certainly, I will make sure to relay your message. I’m truly sorry it turned out this way after you came all this way.”
As I headed back to the academy with Lady Nana seeing me off, I looked up at the prince’s room I had once entered during a previous visit to the villa.
The light was on.
For some reason, I stopped midway and stared intently at that room, though the curtains obscured everything from view.
And a moment later…
When a faint shadow with feminine curves appeared on the curtain, my heart began to race.
‘…Who?’
A maid? Or another woman?
I couldn’t tell. I didn’t even have the courage to find out.
“Huh…!”
Was it because my face had become known at the entrance ceremony? As I walked to the special classroom prepared for S-Class, students’ gazes focused on me.
They were by no means friendly looks, and I could hear occasional tongue-clicking, but thinking that Baldo was finally getting attention made me feel elated.
‘Cowards… If you don’t like it, just come at me directly.’
If I had been rejected from S-Class, I would have immediately unleashed Baldo on all the S-Class students and taken their places.
These guys who lack both the initiative to act and the magnanimity to accept their own inadequacies just glare at me, inadvertently making me snicker.
“Heh!”
As if they heard that tiny sound, I felt their gazes intensify even further. It was then that:
“Hey! Wait a minute!!”
The curly-haired lady, whose appearance was so amusing it made me want to burst out laughing rather than just snicker, called out to me, but I didn’t react.
Acting as if I hadn’t heard anything, I just kept walking straight ahead. Jessica, who had overtaken me, spoke with a huff:
“Why are you doing this again today after yesterday?! I told you yesterday! It’s okay to talk now!! So answer quickly! What on earth happened yesterday?!”
Jessica had been persistently following me since yesterday, asking about the minor incident at the class assignment ceremony.
Of course, I kept my mouth shut to keep my promise to her, but Jessica didn’t give up and continued to follow and ask until I returned to the boys’ dormitory.
‘Huh, she didn’t follow me into the boys’ dorm.’
If it were me, I would have followed even into the women’s restroom, let alone the women’s dorm, to ask.
Seeing that she stopped where she should, maybe if I keep my mouth shut for a few more days, she might stop on her own.
“Are you even listening to me?!”
When we arrived at the S-Class exclusive building, a bit away from the main building, I thought it was about time to open my mouth and approached a nearby flowerbed.
Of course, Jessica followed, and stood beside me puzzledly as I stopped at the flowerbed.
I used my scabbard to write letters one by one in the empty soil, avoiding the flowers in the bed.
Jessica watched with narrowed eyes, and when the message was complete, her expression twisted completely.
[Apologize for being so cold.]
The completed message was a demand for an apology from Jessica, who should have apologized long ago for hurting my feelings.
Seeing this demand for an apology, Jessica, far from apologizing, became indignant and shouted at me, pointing her finger:
“What do you mean apologize! I didn’t do anything wrong in the first place…!”
Instead of answering, I abruptly turned my head away, just as Jessica had done before.
Then Jessica, who had somewhat grasped my personality through our interactions, realized that shouting would be futile and hung her head low.
“S-Sor…!”
As I heard Jessica’s trembling voice stumbling over words, the corners of my mouth began to lift.
“What?! What did you say?! I can’t hear our cute Jessica’s voice very well!”
“S-Sor…!!!”
Whether my words of encouragement actually gave her strength or not, Jessica’s voice gradually rose, and she shouted at me:
“…Y-You crazy bastard, you were wrong first!!”
With those words, Jessica ran off towards the S-Class exclusive building visible in the distance.
If she’s going to curse, she should use informal speech from start to finish, why switch to polite speech at the very end…
The way her ingrained polite behavior unconsciously slips out is really cute.
“Sorry Jessica!! I’ll tell you, so let’s go together!!”
“Shut up!! Don’t follow me or talk to me!!!”
A scene straight out of a youth drama I’d seen on Earth unfolded, with Jessica fleeing from me and me chasing after her.
In high spirits, Jessica and I arrived at the S-Class exclusive building and entered our classroom without stopping anywhere else.
“Wow….”
Though not quite as grand as the academy’s main building, the S-Class building was still so magnificent it made my family home look like a doghouse in comparison.
As I stood at the entrance, gawking like a country bumpkin visiting the capital for the first time, Jessica smirked and said:
“Heh…. I’d almost forgotten, but you’re a low-ranking noble, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. Though who knows how long I’ll remain there.”
Is there really such a thing as being born for greatness? Depending on how the story unfolds, I might even become king someday.
I don’t have any particular loyalty to the royal family, and perhaps that would help spread Baldo more widely.
“Jessica, if I became king, what kind of country do you think it would be?”
“It would go down in history as the first country where all citizens chose mass suicide. …But my, you say such things so casually. Depending on where you are, those words could be considered treason.”
“Hmm… That might be good too.”
A life where the entire kingdom is out for my head. What could be more thrilling?
Just imagining all the Baldo techniques I could use in the process made my mouth water.
“If such a day comes, I hope Jessica will be the one to come kill me.”
“Of course. I’ll definitely twist and crush that arrogant neck of yours.”
“I’m shaking in my boots. If that day comes, I’ll go easy on you, so don’t worry.”
“Tch…!”
Jessica clicked her tongue at my obvious provocation as we entered the classroom together, where one student who had arrived earlier was sitting demurely in their seat.
“Jessica, do you know that person?”
“…No, I recognize their face, but I don’t have any personal relationship with them. And don’t talk to me like we’re close. It’s unpleasant.”
Leaving those words behind, Jessica sat down in one of the empty chairs, and I sat in a suitable chair nearby.
I thought about saying something, but the gloomy atmosphere that permeated the air made it impossible to start a conversation.
As that unbearably awkward silence stretched on with none of us speaking, after a while, the sound of footsteps approaching from afar could be heard.
There are other rooms on the first floor of this S-Class special building, but this room is the only one actually used.
So those footsteps must be coming to this room, but the problem was that it wasn’t just one set of footsteps, and more importantly, they weren’t Peter’s.
‘Who could it be?’
As my gaze naturally turned towards the door, several first-year students like myself entered with somewhat anxious expressions.
‘What’s with those guys?’
As soon as they saw me, they approached and spoke, still visibly nervous:
“Are you Ian Barthow?!”
“Didn’t you attend the class assignment ceremony? Of course I’m Ian Barthow. Did you think that cute curly-haired lady over there was Ian Barthow?”
“…Shut up.”
Jessica responded primly, and the one who seemed to be the leader of this group pointed at me and said:
“Th-Then that settles it! Ian Barthow!!”
“What?”
“We challenge you to a duel!!”
“…What?”
What the hell is this bastard saying?
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