chapter_0240

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
240

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
240

Why did she come out in
person?

As I took in Serene Soladin’s
insincere smile, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment. I hadn’t expected
Serene to personally interact with me at this point in time.

You don’t have time for this!
You’re supposed to be running around without any rest since the King
is announcing his heir in a year and a half.

Someone who rarely appeared in
the game due to being busy everywhere, why would she show up in
person now?!

The situation was not good.
Serene Soladin is not only the Second Queen of the current kingdom
but also the daughter of the Duke Bedfor Family. She is the de facto
ruler of the Second Prince Faction.

Simply put, she is one of the
most powerful figures in the Soladin Kingdom.

If I say something offensive
to someone of her stature, it will cause a lot of trouble.

I’ve already called the Second
Prince Idiot Prince and accumulated their faction’s resentment. If
personal grudges are added to that, who knows what might happen?

I really don’t want to imagine
it.

What worries me more is how
the [Mesugaki] skill will address her. Since Serene didn’t have a
significant role in the game, she didn’t have a nickname.

Based on her background
mentioned in the game’s setting book, I could guess: vulgar? Chaotic?
A troublemaker? Something along those lines.

It’s possible that the mother
of the Idiot Prince could be called the Idiot Queen.

While I was trying to keep
quiet, thinking that any words might get me into trouble, Serene let
out a laugh.

“It looks like you’re
very flustered. I understand. I appeared without any warning, after
all.”

She interpreted my silence as
confusion and continued speaking as she pleased.

“I have a lot to say.
Whether it’s the small matter of how Sir Benedict has been or why I’m
speaking to you, or even the recent stories about the Second Prince.”

Between her cheerful
expressions, Serene’s cold eyes became visible.

Eyes filled with reprimand and
annoyance.

Normally, those eyes would
signify the anger of a mother whose child has been insulted, but with
Serene, it’s different. She doesn’t care how much the Second Prince
gets crushed.

So why does Serene show
irritation?

It’s obvious. Because of me,
the Second Prince’s reputation has been utterly destroyed.

“Idiot Prince. A
straightforward and insulting term that describes our Prince very
well. This is problematic. The more fitting the derogatory term, the
faster it spreads.”

“To smooth this over, we
should officially protest to the Allen Family and reward those
spreading the derogatory term with needles and thread.”

Listening to her talk, it
sounded like a threat to me.

“But I won’t do that.”

No, she wouldn’t.

“After all, our Prince is
also at fault for this. We can’t trouble someone who is the future of
the kingdom over this matter.”

She firmly declared that she
wouldn’t pursue the matter any further.

“Besides, if you think about
it, the Prince has gained some enlightenment from this. His martial
prowess has also become widely known, so it seems we gained more from
it. That’s why we prepared a gift. Nabil?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t end there. As soon
as Serene finished speaking, Nabil pulled out two vials from his
pocket.

“These are elixirs. We
prepared something to aid Lady Allen’s growth.”

I checked using the
[Appraisal] Skill.

An elixir of strength and an
elixir of stamina.

These are rare items, even the
Allen Family’s storage holds only a few of them, and they’re clearly
useful to me right now.

Despite the whole incident
with the Second Prince starting because I picked a fight and ending
with me defeating him, they presented these to me as gifts.

‘…What on earth is going
on? Grandpa?’

It’s been almost a year since
I last consumed an elixir, and I do need to find more. Out of the
three types I need, two have just practically fallen into my lap for
free, so I should be happy. But, I couldn’t bring myself to feel that
way.

I feared the kindness more
than hostility. I didn’t know what would happen if I accepted them
without thinking.

Why is this lady acting like
this?!

You’re not this kind of
person!

Is this some sort of variable?

What variable could it be?!

Unlike me, who was flustered
and didn’t know what to do, Grandpa continued speaking in a calm
voice.

They might be evaluating my
worth highly.

They might think I’m not
someone who would back down from threats.

Or they might want me to view
the Second Prince Faction favourably despite the Second Prince.

‘…What do you mean by
that?’

‘Come on, Grandpa. That’s
too exaggerated. No matter how much of a doting father Benedict is,
he wouldn’t get involved in the fight for the throne to that extent.’

I recalled Benedict’s
reputation.

The Hero of Salvation. The
Protector of the Kingdom. The Strongest Knight of the Continent. A
figure of admiration and respect.

If they could make someone
like him owe a favour, then forgiveness could indeed be granted.

Oh. Could it be that what the
First Prince mentioned about a debt was this?!

Did he use Benedict’s favour?!

So that’s why they helped me
out of that situation?!

…Wow. Having Benedict’s
backing is really huge.

Listening to Grandpa’s
explanation, I let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, I was shocked
thinking that this woman might have become a variable, but it turns
out she’s just the same as I knew.

Thank goodness. I was worried
that she might have changed in some strange way.

“We hold you in high regard,
Lady…”

“Your Majesty, a moment
please.”

A voice that wasn’t Serene’s
came through the Crystal Sphere. Serene then excused herself, got up,
and went somewhere.

“I apologise, Lady Allen.”

When she returned shortly
after, she said she had an urgent matter and abruptly ended the call.

I don’t know what came up, but
it’s a relief. Thanks to that, I didn’t have to find out what
[Mesugaki] skill name Serene was called by.

“Oh dear. I apologise. As
you know, our Queen is extremely busy. I ask for your understanding.”

With an awkward smile, Nabil
put the Crystal Sphere back into his pocket and continued speaking.

“Let’s wrap up the
conversation here for now. I understand you are quite busy as well,
Lady.”

Really? Are we just moving on
from the matter related to the Second Prince like that? Shouldn’t
there be more persuasion or inducement?

As I blinked in confusion,
Nabil placed his fedora on his head.

“Ah, and next time you
have a chance for a conversation, please be sure to greet the Second
Queen politely. She is the Queen after all.”

Uh, well, I would love to be
polite, but…

My mouth tends to be the root
of all troubles, so opening it often just creates more problems.

I mean, ugh.

‘I’m sorry.’

“Why should I be polite
to that filthy old monste? I don’t like people with wrinkled faces
like hers.”

Involuntarily, I murmured my
apology in my head, only to hear my words being twisted by the
[Mesugaki] Skill. I was left frozen in place.

Nabil was no different. He
stared at me with a blank expression, forgetting even to maintain his
composure, before regaining his senses and forcing a smile.

Maintaining his sharp gaze.

“…Oh. Well.”

With that short exclamation,
Nabil vanished, leaving me alone in the room. Staring at the two
elixirs placed casually on the table, I relaxed my body and leaned
back in the chair.

…Thank goodness I kept my
mouth shut during the communication.

I almost got myself seriously
screwed.

“Hey, Employer. Did you
really refer to the Second Queen as a Wicked Old Queen?”

‘Yes. It seems that way.’

“Isn’t that quite fitting,
though?”

“…Got it. I’ll do my
best to make sure you never run into the Second Queen.”

The nickname assigned to
Serene by the [Mesugaki] Skill was exactly this:

Wicked Old Queen.

This nickname insulted both
the Second Queen’s actions and her appearance, most likely enough
to make Serene decide to come after me.

Just when I thought I had
passed one bomb with the Idiot Prince, another one landed.

Well, at least it’s
fortunate that Serene and I don’t have many opportunities to meet.
She’s likely too busy running around dealing with matters related
to the succession.

“Speaking of which, the
Second Queen herself approached you. They must really want to have
you on their side.”

I think so too. Whether it’s
me who’s important or Benedict behind me, it’s clear she wants to
pull me into her camp.

It wasn’t enough to just
send Nabil; she talked to me although not quite in person. If that’s
the case, wouldn’t it have been better for her to step in from the
start rather than sending the Second Prince? That way, we wouldn’t
have formed any bad blood.

Wait. No, if she’d done
that, it would have been a Wicked Old Queen instead of an idiot
prince. That would’ve created even worse animosity. Right.

“The Second Queen must be
incredibly busy with matters related to the Duke Burrow Family, but
she still made time to speak with you.”

‘Duke Burrow Family?’

“Burrow?”

“Ah, Employer, you might not
know. It’s not widely known yet. You know how the Duke Burrow heir,
who’s in the same grade as you, took a leave of absence, right?
This is the reason why he applied for a leave.”

The Duke Burrow heir? He’s
been taking a break from the Academy?

No wonder I’ve never run
into him!

I thought he was just avoiding
me, like in the first semester, but it turns out he’s been on
leave. What happened to make him take a break…

Huh?

That’s strange.

In the scenarios I know, there
is no case where the Inferior Duke would take a break from school.

He is determined to struggle
desperately because of his strong inferiority complex.

Even while suffering from a
life-threatening illness, he couldn’t let go of his pen, and now he’s
taking a break from the Academy?

A cold shiver ran down my
spine.

This was a variable.

A type of variable I did not
know.

I have overcome countless such
variables up to now.

That’s why I know.

These kinds of variables most
often come back as problems.

An ominous thought wouldn’t
leave my mind.

No matter how much I reassured
myself, all I could think of was the worst possible outcomes.

It was impossible to think
positively.

There have been far too many
dangers until now for that.

Ding.

All my thoughts stopped at the
sudden sound.

No. Don’t do this.

Stop butting in so cluelessly,
Sloppy Armadi.

This is not the time to joke
around.

I’m really serious right
now.

I lifted my head, hoping that
Sloppy Armadi was just playing a prank on me as usual.

[A Strange Phenomenon in the
Duke Burrow Family]

But it wasn’t.

[It seems something unusual is
happening in the Duke Burrow Family.]

There was no joke in that
message.

[Please confirm this.]

It was undoubtedly a
pronouncement of disaster.

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