episode_0027

Duels among students.

Given that the competitive system at Gallimard is more structured here than anywhere else, such events are not uncommon.

Should I call it a kind of Spartan education?

It was an educational policy set by the Dean.

Conflict promotes children’s growth and draws out their potential.

It makes them bloom by using pain as fertilizer.

Perhaps due to the academy’s atmosphere, the procedures related to this are also well-organized.

So they can always be carried out smoothly.

-A duel is requested.

Duels proceed sequentially.

At this time, observing faculty members perform their designated roles and supervise the students.

Roles are largely divided into [Referee, Management, Execution].

A rough explanation is as follows.

[Category: General Post]

[Title: Roles of Professors in Duels]

Hello, this is the Strategy Guide.

Today, I’d like to share information about something many of you have asked about.

The periodically occurring duel events.

Many people asked what roles professors play during these events.

I think I can answer simply.

1. Referee -> Literally, the role of refereeing a duel. (Usually performed by the Dean)

2. Management -> The role of preventing safety accidents or managing injured individuals during a duel. (Performed by medical faculty, or Professor Cadell)

3. Execution -> The role of supervising the fulfillment of the terms agreed upon after a duel. (Determined randomly, regardless of position)

That’s all.

If this was helpful, please give it a like.

“Hmm.”

A post I uploaded once.

It was an informative post I wrote back when I was active as a game creator, before my transmigration.

I quietly chew on the content.

Is it because of the situation I’m currently in?

Related memories emerge one by one.

As I thoughtlessly fell into contemplation, suddenly my gaze met a pair of blue eyes.

The blue-haired girl sitting across from me.

“……”

Emilia immediately averted her eyes.

A room where only two people remained.

A thick silence had lingered since earlier.

Originally, Selena should have been here too, but she had left at my request.

I silently maintained my quiet.

‘The initiative is on my side anyway.’

The final stage of the duel: Execution.

It was the process of paying the price one had wagered, an unavoidable judgment.

The girl’s breath trembled.

-The price of defeat… is to leave Gallimard Academy according to the victor’s decision.

Getting expelled.

Now, all that remained for Emilia was expulsion.

Because the [Execution] carried out at Gallimard was absolute.

If Selena just signed once, the girl would immediately be expelled from the academy.

‘Her insides must be burning up.’

The girl’s complexion steadily stiffened.

Regardless, I was unhurriedly killing time, as if showing off.

Because I wasn’t the one in a hurry.

The core of negotiation.

You have to drive the opponent crazy.

Don’t release their weakness until they kneel in desperation, crying and clinging to you.

To make them completely submit.

‘There probably isn’t a way out for her.’

Emilia had nowhere to go back to.

Due to internal circumstances, her standing in the Benetti family was like a kite with its string cut [an idiom meaning she was abandoned or lost her support], and her position was extremely precarious.

If she were to be expelled because of this…

‘It’s over.’

Everything would truly become irreversible.

She would die.

I wasn’t just talking about her life as a noble. The thread of her life would be cut.

The girl was walking on a knife’s edge.

-I have a proposal I’d like to offer to the Benetti Young Lady.

-It’s about the execution. I’d like to discuss it with just the two of us.

I deliberately spoke loudly enough for the other side to hear.

Waving a faint possibility in front of her discouraged blue eyes.

I was certain.

That she would have no choice but to take this bait.

“……Excuse me.”

And the moment her red lips parted.

Certainty turned into reality.

A bitter smile spread across my lips.

“You said earlier you had a proposal.”

“Did I?”

“Then why aren’t you saying anything…?”

“Well…”

I replied nonchalantly.

My cunning, flicking tongue resembled a deadly viper.

“What kind of proposal does the Young Lady wish to hear?”

A sentence that seemed to offer a choice.

However, the meaning it held within was completely different.

“Tell me what you want.”

=You can’t do anything.

This was the part where our respective positions were cemented.

As long as Emilia’s life hung by a thread in my hands, I could manipulate her as much as I pleased.

In this situation.

What kind of reaction would our Young Lady show?

It was an obvious outcome, but…

“……You’re not afraid of the Benetti family’s name, are you?”

Yes, she would bring up her family’s name.

Because Emilia would naturally assume I knew nothing.

It was a decent escape route, in her mind.

But.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d drop those pathetic threats?”

=Are you sure you want to threaten me?

“W-What did you say…?”

“Because if it bothers me, I might want to proceed with the [Execution] right away.”

=Considering I hold the Young Lady’s weakness.

Or perhaps, she had the wrong opponent.

I knew what was happening in the Benetti family better than anyone.

Even more deeply than Emilia herself.

“I happen to know quite a lot.”

=I know about the situation you’re in.

These were all roundabout statements, but anyone involved would understand their meaning.

Blatantly provoking expressions.

An attitude that clearly maintained the upper hand.

Even an ominous smile that didn’t waver despite the mention of Benetti.

It was suffocatingly significant.

“I merely wish to have a sincere conversation.”

Perplexity spread across her blue eyes.

She tried to appear calm, but her characteristic trembling didn’t disappear.

The girl fell silent for a moment.

“……”

Was she calculating in her mind?

Seeing this, she was surprisingly quick-witted.

If it were a typical child, they wouldn’t have grasped the atmosphere and would have continued their brazen act.

Emilia was different.

As soon as she smelled danger, she changed her judgment.

She closed her mouth to avoid making mistakes.

Combining the dropped clues, she deduced possibilities.

‘Her ability to scheme is top-notch, huh.’

Well.

She wouldn’t have been able to survive otherwise.

In an environment no different from hell.

“Huhu, are you done thinking?”

“……Yes.”

Creak—.

Emilia quietly pulled back her chair and stood up.

She took faltering steps.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon approached the spot where I was sitting.

Her shoulders were trembling like an aspen tree.

“Please, Young Master,”

The girl stopped nearby.

Her gaze fixed on the floor.

The villainess began to bend her posture, then slowly knelt on the floor.

Her pupils, seen fleetingly, were lifeless and dead.

“Please, have mercy and allow me to avoid expulsion.”

“Hmm.”

I hadn’t expected her to go as far as kneeling.

Seeing that notoriously arrogant Young Lady humble herself, it was clear just how desperate her situation was.

Her voice had, by now, lost its venom.

“I… want to live.”

She was simply pathetic.

So she knows.

That if she returned to her family like this, only death awaited her.

‘Is she struggling in her own way?’

If so.

I should check how sincere she truly is.

I leaned down towards the girl who was kneeling. Our breaths grew closer.

I whispered into her ear.

“How does it feel? To beg for your life so disgracefully?”

“……”

Emilia couldn’t answer.

She merely turned pale.

I continued to poke at her sore spot.

“You tormented me so much… and now you’re kneeling, aren’t you?”

“……”

“You lost disgracefully in the duel too, didn’t you?”

“……”

“Now that I mention it, that was the most pathetic duel I’ve ever seen. It was dismal.”

“……”

“I even wondered how such a dullard could be in the third seat.”

“……”

Inferiority, pride, desire for recognition.

Despite her wounds being poked relentlessly, Emilia didn’t let out a single groan.

She merely obediently nodded her head.

Of course, it wasn’t without impact.

Her tightly bitten lip, slightly uneven breathing, and eyes moist with tears.

It was a sight of emotions overflowing.

Emilia was simply swallowing them down.

To live.

‘Is this good enough to pass?’

She probably won’t bare her fangs recklessly.

I put on a satisfied smile.

I opened my mouth, thinking this would be the last time.

“Young Lady.”

“……Yes.”

“Your refined demeanor is truly entertaining. It keeps reminding me of a certain scene.”

My narrowed eyes twisted maliciously.

“How are your wet trousers?”

“Ah.”

“Wetting yourself in front of everyone, then ugly crying right after… You’re no different from a newborn infant.”

“……”

“Oh dear.”

Was that too much this time?

The words I uttered pierced deep into the girl’s heart.

Her pale complexion flushed scarlet.

Drip, drip.

Her eyes, full of dew. Raindrops began to fall.

Faint sobs joined in.

In the end, tears were poured out.

“Hic… *sniff*, *ugh*, *ahh*.”

“Oopsie.”

I made her cry again.

I had intended to stop right here, but it seems I miscalculated the damage.

To break down immediately at the mention of lemonade.

‘I guess it makes sense.’

She was branded a bedwetter in front of the entire student body.

If the bastard who caused it was doing a tap dance, I’d probably cry from indignation too.

And she couldn’t even complain because of her weakness.

“Oh dear… I pushed her too hard, it seems.”

I calmly extended my hand.

Warmth touched my fingertips. I cupped her soft cheek with my palm and wiped away the moisture.

Fingers that collected tears.

The girl seemed unable to resist.

“That’s a very displeased expression, isn’t it?”

“N-No… *hic*, *sniff*.”

Emilia hastily corrected her expression.

The awkward smile she managed held an indescribable sadness.

She was being crushed by her awareness, even while crying.

“I-I’m sorry… I was just, surprised, that’s all.”

She doesn’t need to overdo it like this.

I felt a strange sense of guilt.

I hadn’t intended to expel her in the first place.

I just didn’t like how she’d tormented our protagonist, so I was teasing her as a form of revenge.

I quietly opened my mouth.

“You’re more desperate than I thought, it seems.”

“Hmph, *ugh*… because I want, to live.”

“Huhu, good.”

“G-Good, meaning…?”

“Since the Young Lady is so desperate, it means I can grant a small favor.”

“……!”

The girl’s pupils widened.

As if she had seen hope.

Of course, I had no intention of simply giving in.

“However, there are conditions.”

“W-What are they?”

“Shall we say, I’d like a little sincerity.”

“Huh…?”

The blue-haired girl looked up at me, pausing.

I twisted the corner of my lips into a grin.

Emilia Benetti.

In the original story, she was merely a supporting character in the villainess position, but I saw her potential.

Because she was a highly exploitable person.

If I could bring her to my side, I could use her effectively someday.

Now that I had her weakness in my hand.

I planned to tie her down completely.

“Until graduation, for the next three years…”

I grabbed the girl’s chin and lifted it.

Our gazes crossed closely.

Towards her faltering blue eyes, I smiled sinisterly.

“I will make your body mine.”

=I will make you my pawn.

The girl’s face stiffened.