Chapter 84 – Good News and Even Better News

From morning till afternoon, throughout the elective lectures, Stella, whom I ran into from time to time, still seemed listless. To make matters worse, she refused my offer to have dinner together after class and shut herself in her room.

Pina, who usually followed Stella around like a shadow, also left for supplementary lessons, saying she couldn’t keep up with today’s class.

Meanwhile, Yurasia was slowly packing her things.

“Ugh… I should probably get going soon.”

Today was the day Yurasia was going back to her family home.

Normally, she wouldn’t be able to leave because of the travel ban, but thanks to the First and Second Princesses pulling some strings, she was permitted to leave without any issues.

Impressive.

“You’re right. You’re coming back next Friday, was it?”

“Yes… Should I come back a bit earlier?”

“No. Relax and take your time. But don’t skip your morning training, alright? You need to keep a consistent routine so you can develop good habits. Eventually, it’ll become as natural as breathing—”

“Argh, I get it already!”

“…What’s gotten into you?”

Despite my sharp glare, Yurasia puffed up her cheeks, undeterred.

“I have to be away from you for a whole week, and yet, even now, you’re nagging me?!”

“Nagging? This isn’t nagging, it’s advice for your own good.”

“…Whatever.”

“What do you mean, ‘whatever’?”

I pinched her puffed cheeks playfully. Chuckling at her now-stretched face, I relented and spoke more gently.

“Have a safe trip. Don’t get hurt.”

“Okay.”

“Be careful of carriages and people on the way there, okay?”

“Heh… My lady.”

As I released her cheek, Yurasia’s pouting face relaxed into a smile.

“Hmm?”

“You’re seventeen, two years younger than me, and you look so… delicate and pretty. But why… why do you sound like my grandmother whenever you talk?”

“What’s this? Is this our last meeting? Are you handing in your resignation today, Yurasia?”

“Eek! No, that’s not it! It’s just… sometimes you seem so much older than me.”

Well, I am older.

By about thirty years, more or less.

Of course, I couldn’t tell her that.

Yurasia would probably look at me as if I were crazy, which would break my heart…

“If you read more books, you’ll sound more mature as well.”

“…If reading makes me like that… then I don’t want to read too much.”

“My, you’re full of cheeky remarks today. Are you getting all of it out before you leave for a week?”

“Ehehe.”

Yurasia smiled brightly, slung a backpack bigger than her body over her shoulders, and stood up.

“Hug me before I go!”

“No.”

“Fine!”

Spreading her arms wide, Yurasia jumped at me and hugged me tight, as if I were a stuffed toy.

This wasn’t the first or second time she’d done this, so I was used to it by now.

“…If you were going to do that anyway, why even ask?”

“Because me hugging you and you hugging me are different!”

“I’m smaller than you, so even if I hugged you, it wouldn’t really mean much.”

“It still feels different! Hnng!”

With a firm nod, Yurasia squeezed me even tighter before finally releasing me.

“Fully recharged…! I’ll be back!”

***

After seeing Yurasia off at the academy gates, I decided to enjoy my rare moment of solitude.

So, I headed to the private training ground Leona had arranged for me.

And there, standing before it,

“You’re finally here.”

“…You’re surprisingly persistent.”

…I ran into Silina.

“Persistent? That’s rude.”

“How long have you been waiting here?”

“Let’s see… A little over an hour, I think?”

“…You’re starting to scare me.”

“That’s the proper response.”

“Not in that way. I mean you’re scary as a person.”

“That’s better than being underestimated. Think of me that way from now on.”

What a shameless response.

It seemed Silina had finally learned how to deal with me.

This is why I dislike quick-witted brats.

“So, what do you want? Want to spar?”

“Spar? That would be nice. But there’s something more important.”

Swiftly glancing around, Silina checked the surroundings before jerking her chin toward the entrance of the training grounds.

“I think it’d be better to talk inside.”

“No.”

“…Why not?”

“It’s my private space.”

Silina’s face crumpled in annoyance.

“…I didn’t think you’d care about that sort of thing. Judging from how you act, you don’t seem like the type.”

Yurasia and now Silina… Why is everyone picking on me today?

“I really do think it’d be better to talk inside. If you haven’t cleaned up, I can wait. I already waited an hour, what’s another thirty minutes?”

“Hah… Whatever. Come in.”

I placed my finger on the lock. The door slid open with a click, and Silina quickly slipped inside.

Standing in the middle of the training grounds, Silina’s platinum eyes scanned the surroundings.

“It’s quite spacious for just two people. Doesn’t smell like sweat, and it’s quiet. Must be nice, Eliaernes, having this all to yourself.”

“It is.”

I casually replied to Silina’s comment as I pulled out a drink from the fridge and tossed it to her.

“…What’s this?”

“Mint chocolate milk.”

“You actually drink this?”

“Why are you making a face when you haven’t even tried it?”

“I don’t need to try it to know it’s going to be disgusting.”

“Just try it. It’s surprisingly good.”

“What’s so good about chocolate mixed with toothpaste?”

“Mint and toothpaste are different.”

I don’t understand why everyone calls this toothpaste.

How could mint possibly be the same as toothpaste?

If anything, toothpaste is the one copying mint.

And it balances out the heavy taste of chocolate perfectly.

Even my father said it was delicious.

At first, he seemed a bit shocked and disgusted, but when I made him try it, he smiled and kept asking for more.

We tried everything from mint chocolate milk to mint chocolate bingsu, mint chocolate cake, and even mint chocolate pie. Every mint chocolate dessert on the menu.

Truly a masterpiece. Even a Duke of the Empire couldn’t resist.

Gulp, gulp.

“…Hah…”

Silina reluctantly drank the milk, grimacing and shuddering.

“If I were the Emperor, I would have tortured the person who invented this.”

“If I were the Emperor, I would have made the person who invented this a count.”

Silina shook her head and slumped into a chair placed in the corner of the room.

“Let’s talk before we spar.”

“I never agreed to spar with you.”

“…Eliaernes, why do you dislike me so much?”

“I don’t dislike you.”

“Then why do you act like this?”

“Because it’s annoying.”

Silina narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

“I don’t think I’ve ever annoyed you. If anything, I’ve only helped you, haven’t I?”

“That’s true. But to others, it would just look like I’m trying to align myself with the Second Princess’s faction.”

“I never knew you cared so much about what others thought.”

“I’m a Duke’s daughter, of course, I do.”

“Pfft-” Silina scoffed.

“Yet, you don’t seem to care about the rumors going around the academy about you right now.”

At those words, I tilted my head slightly.

“Rumors?”

“Rumors about you. Haven’t you heard?”

“Well, I have noticed people avoiding me. I just assumed it was because I’m an Eustetia. What rumors?”

Silina gave me a strange look, pulled out her terminal, and started tapping the screen.

Then, beckoning me closer, she held it out to me.

“Here. Take a look.”

After tossing the empty milk carton in the trash can, I walked toward Silina. As I got closer, I could make out the words on the terminal.

It wasn’t a message, or a note, but…

“What is this?”

“The community forum that opened today.”

“Oh, this is it.”

I nodded and sat across from Silina, looking closely at the terminal’s screen.

***

[Is it true that a first-year hazed the second-years?]

‘Yeah, it’s true. I’m too scared to mention any names, but it’s true.’

‘The student council president, her sibling, and ‘that first-year’ came together and completely ripped into the second-years.’

‘But that’s not the end of it. The rumors about ‘that first-year’ are crazy.’

• Called into the headmaster’s office during the entrance exam.
• Cussed out the vice-headmaster during the entrance exam.
• Summoned by the vice-headmaster on the first day of classes because of that.
• Ripped up the schedule the homeroom professor handed out.
• Had a private meeting with their homeroom professor because of that (I heard there was shouting coming from the professor’s office).
• Had their parents called to the academy.
• And today, one of their friends left the academy despite the travel ban (probably suspended?).

‘Some of this is true, but since I’m posting this as a rumor, I’m calling it a rumor.’

***

ㄴ “They didn’t mention any names but everyone knows who it is lol.”

ㄴ “I heard about it too.”

ㄴ “Wow, that’s impressive… They really did all that?”

ㄴ “Wait, haven’t the first years only been here for like, a week? lol”

ㄴ “Wow, so cool.”

ㄴ “Whoa… that’s actually scary.”

ㄴ “So who is this first-year? Some kind of secret weapon?”

ㄴ “Aren’t those second years just pathetic for getting hazed?”

ㄴ “They didn’t haze them. The second-years tried to bully the first-years, and that first-year helped them out. Stop spreading nonsense.”

ㄴ “That’s right. They were helping us. Don’t talk badly about them.”

ㄴ “What’s with this guy’s annoying tone?”

ㄴ “So, are they pretty?”

ㄴ “Crazy pretty.”

ㄴ “Oh really?”

ㄴ “But… kind of small.”

ㄴ “What do you mean?”

ㄴ “Just… Overall.”

ㄴ “Whoa… nuoooong lol”

ㄴ “You perv lol”

***

“Nuoooong…? What the hell does that mean?”

“It’s the rumor about the delinquent first-year on the community forum.”

“I mean, I get that but… Isn’t this talking about me?”

“Who knows?”

“‘Who knows?’”

I glared at Silina, my face twisting in annoyance.

Silina shrugged with a smirk.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, but… can’t we do something about this?”

“About what?”

“I mean… it’s not… entirely untrue, but it sounds bad when they write it like this.”

“What can you do? This is the Karela Academy’s community forum. That’s just how it is here. And besides, if you try to find out who wrote this, the academy itself might intervene.”

“…Why? Isn’t this… slander or something?”

“Does your name even appear here? This is the academy. Just like how you can casually speak informally to me, they can also casually post nonsense like this. Sure, posting something that could identify a student isn’t ideal, but what can you do? If they want to post it, they will.”

Silina chuckled, seemingly amused by this whole situation, as she waved the Terminal casually.

“And, just in case, let me give you some advice. Don’t write a response or a rebuttal to this. Doing something reckless will only backfire on you. For well-known figures like us, it’s best to just ignore things like this.”

“…But even if I did write a reply, they wouldn’t know it’s me, right? It’s anonymous.”

“That kind of thing always gets found out eventually. There are more idiots with too much time on their hands than you think at Karela Academy, especially on the community forum. So, it’s better to just ignore it instead of posting something and embarrassing yourself even further.”

With that, Silina tapped the Terminal a few times and showed me a different post.

“It’s best to just let them talk among themselves. If you try to intervene directly, you might make things worse.”

I took the Terminal from her and looked at the titles of the posts.

[That popular post is total BS.]

[If it weren’t for ‘that first-year,’ the other first-years would have been so screwed.]

[I don’t care about the rumors, ‘that first-year’ is incredibly pretty.]

[‘That first-year’ is scarier than the student council president’s sibling.]

As Silina had said, they were discussing me amongst themselves.

But then…

[Beastkin spotted leaving campus grounds despite travel restrictions.]

“…Beastkin?”

Among the titles, one, in particular, caught my eye.