episode_0017

“…This is bad.”

Rose left the necklace given by Charlotte and came back.

Charlotte never imagined that Rose’s intuition would be so sharp.

Even if it’s a 2-star, is she a sword genius heroine?

“What should I say to Rose…?”

Silence.

Returning to the mansion, Rudy let out a quiet sigh.

*

The next day. The day of the 1st-year mock battle.

Fortunately, the Four Princesses were unharmed the night before.

Charlotte seemed to have gone straight home after that incident.

…Rudy returned to the training ground to retrieve the necklace, but it was nowhere to be found.

Wearing the elegant clothes Rose gave him,

Rudy walked through the bustling streets towards the stadium.

Thousands, tens of thousands of students were heading to the Academy stadium.

A huge stadium in the form of a colosseum.

That was where the 1st-year representatives gathered for the mock battle.

By the way, the mock battle does not take place in the center of the stadium.

Riding on the teleportation magic circle prepared in the center of the stadium.

In a special environment prepared by the Academy, the representatives of each class will battle in the system ring.

The current time is 08:20.

Rudy had to go to the meeting place with Yuriel by 08:30.

Normally, they could comfortably watch the mock battle on the broadcast screens in the stadium seats.

But knowing that the Eclipse Sect had infiltrated, Rudy and Yuriel had to go to the place where the mock battle would take place first.

Rudy ran.

He had overslept yesterday while watching the heroines, so he had to hurry.

As Rudy hurriedly made his way through the crowded students,

“…Must be careful. The Four Major Powers-”

“….!”

A group of wizards who had just passed by.

‘…It seemed like they mentioned the Four Princesses?’

Of course, talk of the heroines of the Four Major Powers in the mock battle was a common topic of interest.

It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

Rudy quickly changed his course to follow them.

And then.

-Identified!

“-!”

“Ugh!”

He collided with a male student.

The student fell back with a shallow groan as his forehead hit Rudy’s chin.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay-”

As Rudy reached out to apologize to the male student,

“….?”

“….”

Mocking laughter seemed to come from somewhere nearby where the fallen student was.

As Rudy looked puzzled, the male student took Rudy’s hand and helped him up.

After a moment of confusion, Rudy spoke.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Don’t mind the laughter. It’s because of me.”

“…May I ask why?”

“Haha… I’m sorry, but I have to go participate in the mock battle now.”

“Ah!”

Rudy almost forgot.

“Hurry! I should go now….”

Spectators, until 8:30!

They had to monitor what was happening with the heroines of the Four Major Powers.

‘And.’

Rudy had planted a magical thread in the group that had mentioned the heroines of the Four Major Powers earlier.

In a short moment, he showed his sense by not letting them notice.

Following them, Rudy didn’t hear any suspicious movements or conversations.

They were just making fun of the heroines of the Four Major Powers, making trivial comments about who would win.

‘False alarm.’

Arriving at the meeting place he had agreed on with Yuriel, Rudy teleported with him on the magic circle.

Dozens of professors were waiting for them as they teleported.

Among them were the professors with the highest status and combat power.

One of them spoke to Yuriel as if he had been waiting.

“Second Prince, and the person next to him wearing a mask…”

“They are disciples of the Grand Master Rose. I brought them here to help.”

“I see. Please come this way.”

The place the professors led them to was a space resembling a system ring where mock battles took place.

It was another space that displayed the battles through a magic screen.

To borrow Rudy’s possessed tone, it was a space that seemed to have CCTV cameras installed.

Fortunately, just as Yurian and Rudy arrived.

The mock battle started on the magic screen right on time.

It wasn’t too late.

*

“Who is this magician from the Eclipse Sect?”

Even though the mock battle had been going on for a while.

The Eclipse Sect showed no signs of moving at all.

Could the information be wrong?

No, that couldn’t be it.

The Imperial Alliance is composed of only the most powerful factions.

They must have competent intelligence and reconnaissance teams.

When it seemed like the right timing.

They would target the heroines praised as geniuses.

As Rudy pondered this.

“Please take care of me.”

“…I’ll leave it to you.”

Before he knew it, it was Charlotte from Class B who had single-handedly defeated all three members of Class A, Rudy’s classmates.

Charlotte was the first heroine to participate in the mock battle.

But that wasn’t all.

“…Who is that?”

As Rudy tilted his head while looking at Charlotte’s opponent, Yurian spoke.

“Have you found any problems?”

“Oh, no. I just saw the person I bumped into earlier today.”

“The person you bumped into…? Are you talking about Charlotte’s current opponent?”

“Yes.”

“……”

Yurian’s expression was unreadable.

At that moment, a mocking laughter reached Rudy’s ears.

“Haha… So you’re talking about Monmon, huh? The only commoner who received a scholarship to enter the academy.”

“…? Yurian, do you know that person? It seems like the other students are making fun of him. Is it because he’s a commoner?”

“Um, that’s not it.”

Yurian awkwardly spoke.

“That person is…”

At the same time, Monmon, the student who had collided with Rudy earlier today, was seen whimpering and falling back in the magic screen.

– Ouch!

The difference in skill was too great.

Partly because Charlotte was an excellent swordsman, but Monmon showed somewhat lacking swordsmanship for someone representing his class.

“…His father is a criminal. That’s why he’s being bullied. Even though he has nothing to do with his father. I tried to help him, but the students are even more skillful at bullying him.”

“A criminal?”

“Yes. His father abandoned Monmon when he was young, fled, and was arrested by the Imperial Knights for theft.”

“Ah.”

Rudy understood immediately.

This world is set in a medieval fantasy background.

The level of civic consciousness would be dismal by old standards.

In fact, he himself had suffered from rumors due to the same reason.

“Even if he has no connection to the crime, if his father is a commoner thief, he will be labeled negatively.”

Being chosen as the class representative was probably forced by his classmates.

If he thought that way, the current skill gap between Charlotte and Monmon made sense.

Of course, Monmon was a skilled swordsman for his age, but it wasn’t enough to be chosen as the class representative.

“Hmm, for some reason, that Monmon guy keeps bothering me.”

Rudy stood up from his seat.

“Where are you going?”

“I have something to check.”

As he left the transmission room, Rudy thought to himself.

“Of course, those characters must be related to the accident later on… Of course, the situation is very pitiful.”

It’s just perfect for manipulation.

Where do you think you might be manipulated?

It’s the bad villain, of course.

“Of course, this is just my intuition.”

But even though he hasn’t played the game in the world he’s currently possessed in.

Rudy, who has played countless romance games as Kang Baek-ho.

Rudy, who was approaching the system ring where the mock battle was taking place with some hesitation.

The battle was already over. Charlotte had won.

Momon was coming down the ring with an empty expression, and just as Rudy was about to approach Momon.

“Listen well, Phantom.”

“……?”

Charlotte made a sudden move.

She needed to prepare for the next battle.

Approaching the cam where Charlotte was sharing the screen with magic out of the blue.

Charlotte approached the cam where the whole school was watching and said, holding up a necklace.

“If you want your necklace back, you should come up to the ring right now.”

“……!”

As Rudy was cautiously approaching Momon, he was surprised and looked up at the ring.

“What is that crazy woman saying right now?!”

Rudy hesitated for a moment.

What should he do?

The necklace contains a summoning spell of a higher spirit contracted by Rose.

If Charlotte does something to the necklace… the spirit will come out and cause a commotion…!

Rudy glanced.

He looked at Momon.

Momon was walking somewhere in a daze.

He was in a state of mental breakdown after Charlotte’s attack.

Momon might not be related to the lunar eclipse cult.

As mentioned earlier, it was just Rudy’s personal intuition.

…Let’s weigh the necklace and Momon.

If Momon has nothing to do with it, he may never get the necklace.

“I’ll count to three. Three… two……”

“……!”

As the countdown began, Rudy made a decision.

“…It’s not coming out after all?”

While Charlotte was sticking out her tongue, Rudy reached out and grabbed Momon’s shoulder.

A surprised Momon turned around.

“Y-You are from this morning…?”

“Where have you been?”

Rudy decided to trust his intuition.

The database accumulated from the romance games he had played so far.

The intuition of an old-timer.

“I, I have somewhere to go for a moment. Please let me go.”

“…….”

Indeed, Momon’s reaction was strange.

He was incoherent and unable to speak properly.

Rudy confirmed.

‘This guy is definitely suspicious…’

With determined eyes, Rudy firmly held Momon’s hands.

“W-What are you…?!”

“How difficult it must have been for you, I can’t imagine. Surely, you’ve been claiming to be good. You’ve been insisting that you’re not that kind of person hundreds of times. But, the people around you didn’t listen.”

“…….”

“But that’s not right. You can’t become the same person! I may not fully understand Momon’s situation, but as someone who has experienced something similar, I can assure you. Momon, you need to pull yourself together!!”

“H-How do you know all this…?”

“…….”

Caught.

That’s right!

There’s no character in a romance game who has an unhappy narrative for no reason!

It was the perfect moment for Rudy’s intuition to be spot on.

“Please tell me now who ordered you to do what. I will help improve Momon’s situation.”

“Sob… I’m sorry… I’ll tell you everything, sob, sob….”

It was definitely not gaslighting.

If he could solve this one incident, Rudy intended to truly help Momon.

“That person… where did he go…?!”

“…? Who?”

Momon pointed to the magic department where the next mock battle was being prepared.

“No, he was there just a moment ago-”

-Boom!

“You’re so stupid, that’s why you’re being played around with!”

Everyone in the special facility was shocked.

Suddenly, startled by the loud noise, we all turned to look in the direction it came from.

There stood a man who appeared to have destroyed the teleportation magic circle, connecting the academy and this special facility.