Chapter Index

    Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
    163

    Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
    163

    If an etiquette teacher saw
    this, they would applaud the aristocratic grace with which Joy was
    dining. Beside her, Phoebe was moving her hands quietly, maintaining
    a gentle smile with not a hair out of place. I couldn’t help but
    smile watching them.

    Thank goodness for my
    [Mesugaki] skill.

    Without it, I probably would
    have been grinning like a creepy old man by now.

    I had always wanted to eat
    with others.

    Eating alone without someone
    to talk to feels incredibly lonely!

    At home, I can bear it!

    But eating alone in the middle
    of classmates who are laughing and chatting with their friends during
    the same class brings a huge sense of relative deprivation!

    At least, it did for me!

    If it weren’t for Grandpa
    chattering away inside my head, I might have died out of loneliness
    like a rabbit!

    But at this moment, I was
    fulfilling my dream of eating with others at the Academy.

    And not just with ordinary
    people.

    If someone asked who was the
    best dealer to have in your party at Soul Academy, people naturally
    named Joy.

    And Phoebe, who was so vital
    because of her excellent performance that she was indispensable
    during various challenges, naturally became a beloved character.

    I was eating with these two
    people.

    How could I not be happy!

    Ah, just watching those two
    eating and talking makes me feel full.

    Is this a mother’s heart? This
    must be paradise.

    ‘Right? I’m so happy that
    these two are having a meal with me.’

    ‘A political sense?’

    Hearing grandpa’s words, I
    took a moment to think and soon understood his meaning.

    Until just now, it felt like a
    dream to be eating with these two, and I was lost in that enchanting
    fantasy, not wanting to wake up. But once I gathered my thoughts, the
    answer became clear.

    Joy is Phoebe’s close friend.
    Everyone knows this; it’s a well-established fact. They have been
    friends since they were very young.

    So, if I had been bullying
    Phoebe, the person who would react most sensitively would be Joy.

    Of course, Joy is also quite
    close to me, and she owes me a favour, so she wouldn’t confront me
    aggressively.

    But if I had truly bullied
    Phoebe, she wouldn’t come over here to eat with us.

    Joy may be airheaded, but she
    still steps up when it matters.

    In other words, the fact that
    Joy willingly came to eat with us indicates that there was no problem
    between Phoebe and me, and Lady Joy of the Partan Duke’s Family was
    vouching for that.

    After organising these
    thoughts, I shared them with grandpa, who chuckled.

    ‘It’s thanks to you,
    Grandpa.’

    I naturally picked up these
    things from hearing Grandpa’s stories whenever something happened.

    As I casually praised Grandpa,
    he let out a pleased chuckle.

    ‘Do you think Joy intended
    this?’

    ‘Impressive.’

    Seeing Joy in a way that
    befits her status as the Duke’s Lady, rather than her usual airheaded
    and sloppy self, naturally evoked admiration.

    That’s right. Unlike me, who
    lacks any knowledge befitting a noble, Joy was born into the Duke’s
    Family and raised as a Lady.

    A person who stands at the
    centre of many Ladies in high society wouldn’t have done this without
    knowing exactly what she was doing.

    ‘I’m grateful, too.’

    Thanks to Joy moving things
    directly, many of the bad rumours about me would significantly die
    down.

    Unlike me, whose reputation
    has fallen and holds little influence within the Academy, Joy remains
    central to many Ladies.

    If such a person openly
    disproves the rumours, whoever fails to grasp the situation and
    spouts nonsense would face dire consequences.

    They would be subject to
    lynching by several terrifying Ladies, just like what happened to me
    in front of the infirmary last time.

    I had nothing to lose, so I
    broke through with force, but others can’t do the same.

    If they act recklessly, who
    knows what kind of terrible fate awaits them.

    From what I saw in the game,
    harassment by noble Ladies is extremely insidious.

    ‘I should give her a gift
    later.’

    I can’t thank her verbally
    because of my [Mesugaki] skill, but I can give her something, right?

    So, instead of words, I’ll
    express my gratitude with a gift.

    Talking like this makes me
    sound like a taciturn man.

    Anyway, I need to visit the
    auction house once during the vacation.

    At that time, I’ll buy a gift
    for Joy.

    When I think about it, there
    are quite a few people I need to get gifts for.

    I need to get something for
    Karl, I promised Arthur a gift as well, since I’ve caused him so much
    worry, I should get something for Benedict too, and also distribute
    gifts to Allen’s Knight Order.

    As I was lost in thoughts, I
    frowned.

    On top of that, if I consider
    the things I need for myself, I’ll need quite a bit of money.

    No, actually a significant
    amount.

    “Lady Allen, what are you
    thinking about so deeply?”

    While I was frowning, thinking
    about all those things, Joy spoke to me.

    Seeing the concern in her eyes
    melted away the various thoughts in my head.

    Worries can be dealt with
    later.

    What’s important is to enjoy
    this moment!

    I’m certain I’ll have to eat
    alone again tomorrow, so I can’t waste this enjoyable time with
    unnecessary worries!

    ‘It’s nothing.’

    “Don’t worry about it. I was
    just thinking that the Airhead Lady eats in an air headed manner even
    when having a meal.”

    “…In what way am I
    airheaded? I was just eating according to regular etiquette.”

    ‘Indeed. You’re not that
    airheaded?’

    “Don’t you know? Puhaha.
    You’re so slow, that’s why you’re called Airhead Lady. You airhead.”

    “So what exactly is the
    problem?!”

    Joy raised her voice,
    seemingly unable to accept being called airheaded. However, her
    reaction only further provoked my mischievous side.

    She looked so adorable that I
    couldn’t resist teasing her.

    “Aren’t you even trying to
    figure it out? ♡ Spoiled Lady ♡ How long are you going to live in
    your mama’s arms? ♡ You’re totally pathetic ♡”

    “I’m not like that!…”

    “Puhaha.”

    Phoebe, who had been
    desperately holding back her laughter at Joy’s airheadedness,
    finally burst out laughing.

    Joy glared at her, but Phoebe
    was too busy trying to contain her laughter to care.

    Phoebe’s giggles must have
    been annoying for Joy since a frown appeared on her forehead.

    “What’s wrong with my
    perfect etiquette?!”

    “If you’re incompetent, at
    least try harder, okay? ♡ Figure it out yourself, Airheaded Lady ♡”

    “Ugh…”

    Watching Joy bite her lips and
    then hurriedly cover her face with a fan made me laugh.

    This must be because of the
    [Mesugaki] Skill.

    I can’t be someone who enjoys
    bullying others without reason.

    Because of the rumour that I
    bullied Phoebe, I ended up eating with both Joy and Phoebe, which
    left me feeling much more relaxed as I headed toward the faculty
    office.

    Ah, even now, thinking about
    Joy getting angry makes me so happy.

    I don’t know who spread the
    rumour, but I want to extend my thanks. Of course, that’s one
    thing, but I won’t forgive them.

    Why would I forgive someone
    who spread rumours with malice?

    The moment I catch them,
    they’ll find out exactly what real Mesugaki bad-mouthing is, so
    they should look forward to that.

    While thinking about how I
    should torment them, I soon arrived at the faculty office where the
    Combat Studies professors stay.

    The reason I came here was
    because of what I heard while talking with Phoebe last time.

    A rumour related to Nacrad. A
    man in black who provides information.

    Using the excuse of offering
    what they wanted, he must have made deals with several Academy
    students and planted a seed of darkness in them.

    Just like he did with Phoebe.

    Clearly, that will be utilised
    negatively in the future, so it was necessary to eliminate that
    darkness in advance.

    Ideally, Phoebe should be the
    one to talk about this kind of thing, but I couldn’t tell someone
    who’s already mentally unstable that the power of an Evil God has
    been lurking inside her.

    So, I had to take action.

    “What brings you here,
    Miss?”

    As soon as I opened the door
    and stepped inside, Karl’s voice greeted me from the side.

    ‘Karl.’

    “Sloppy mutt?”

    “Yes, Miss. What’s the
    matter?”

    ‘How did you…’

    “How did you know I was
    coming here?”

    “It’s nothing special. I
    sensed your presence walking down the hallway.”

    So, while he was working, he
    sensed that and prepared himself in advance?

    What a uselessly impressive
    skill.

    I was impressed by the
    extraordinary skill, something beyond my current capabilities, but
    considering that the user was Karl, it was a bit…

    “It’s unpleasant.”

    Well, it made sense. He might
    track my movements using his skill, hiding behind the flimsy excuse
    that a knight must always stay close to their master.

    Karl, receiving my sincere
    dislike unfiltered by my [Mesugaki] Skill, staggered backward with a
    despairing expression as if his world had collapsed.

    His face looked like a
    dejected puppy, but I didn’t let that fool me.

    I’ll definitely ask him
    later what he did with that skill. It’s obvious he used it for
    something useless.

    Having successfully repelled
    Karl, I approached Anton in the middle of the faculty office.

    Since the last field trip,
    Anton had been favourable toward me and greeted me with a smile.

    “What brings you here, Lady
    Allen?”

    ‘There’s something I need
    to tell you.’

    “Of course, I came to say
    something. Trash professor.”

    I explained to Anton about the
    rumour spreading around the Academy and the matter concerning Nacrad.

    At first glance, it sounded
    like absurd delusions, but Anton listened to me attentively.

    It was only natural. After
    all, the messenger was me!

    I was the one who
    single-handedly repelled the Apostle of the Evil God who attacked the
    Academy’s streets and later thwarted the Apostle’s scheme against
    Phoebe.

    Having faced the Apostle of
    the Evil God before, my words carried credibility.

    “Indeed. It’s possible
    that the Apostle of the Evil God may have implanted malevolent power
    within the Academy students.”

    ‘Exactly. So…’

    “You catch on quickly for a
    trash professor. Exactly. The clueless sidekicks probably don’t even
    realise the mess they’ve created, so we need to conduct a thorough
    investigation.”

    Since Nacrad serves the Evil
    God of Darkness, the magic he plants would also follow the
    characteristics of that deity. It’s covert and difficult to detect
    easily.

    Therefore, we need to
    cooperate with the Church to find the ones harbouring the darkness
    and purify them.

    After I explained this, Anton
    nodded in agreement.

    “Understood, Lady Allen.
    I will discuss this with the Church.”

    ‘Will you definitely take
    care of it?’

    “Trash professor, if you
    listen and let it go in one ear and out the other, I’ll pluck out all
    your beard hairs.”

    “Haha, don’t worry. How
    could I do that with your knight right beside me?”

    Great. This should pretty much
    settle the internal issues at the Academy.

    Imagining Nacrad frowning
    because his prepared plans were ruined made me feel good.

    Now, he won’t be able to pull
    anything during the final exams, so I can relax a bit.

    I should ask Joy to study
    together!

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