episode_0042

“This is truly amazing. Why has he become a different person? Is this really Ras, the one who used to get beaten up by Blaber every time…?”

In front of me, a very neat and tidy-looking guy was groaning, gripping the hilt of a sword.

One of my excellent team members, the self-proclaimed ‘Lonely Captain,’ Eustace.

“Right… Ras, he’s like a really good fighter, like a thug..! He’s so cool!”

Sweating profusely and breathing heavily, gripping an iron staff, the ponytailed girl was my subordinate, Irha.

“……..”

Meanwhile, the two individuals, a man and a woman, who lay sprawled on the floor in somewhat pathetic poses, unable to utter a word, were Shasta and Pio.

“I just held back because drawing too much attention is tiring. I’m a genius, originally. Hey! You two, stop lying down and get up. Is this a bed or something?”

I chided Shasta and Pio, who were somehow sweetly lying there, and smiled contentedly.

Currently, the five of us are preparing for the additional exam coming up in a few days.

This additional exam is crucial for both the ambiguous honor students, the Trio, and Irha, who is barely clinging to a passing grade.

Especially in the case of the Trio, they’re the kind of kids who generate synergy when they’re together, so there’s more room for them to earn points here than in individual evaluations.

They get along so well that they ask to be called ‘the Trio.’ What a bunch of funny guys.

But in truth, this exam can be considered the most important one for me.

First, putting aside my personal resolve to become an elite in the academy, my goal is to catch Skada’s eye in this exam.

Honestly, from my perspective, trying to catch the eye of Skada, who is nothing more than a greenhorn, is a slight blow to my pride, like an ant’s antennae.

But to mess with Leon, Lizley, and Emma, this much blow to my pride is perfectly acceptable.

“Ugh… By the honor of a Spearman, just one hit… I just want to land one hit…!”

Shasta gnashed his teeth as he got up, and Pio, who looked a bit like a sly minx, followed suit.

“If you want to win, throw away your spear, Shasta. That’s a symbol of defeat.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I won’t forgive you if you disregard my family’s secret spear technique, Ras.”

I gave realistic advice to the gritting Shasta, but he was as stubborn as a Spearman, so there was nothing I could do.

I shook my head from side to side, and this time Pio uttered a fairly valid complaint.

“But… our team’s balance is a bit messed up, isn’t it? Why did both Ras and Irha suddenly become melee fighters…!”

Pio’s complaining, tearful voice actually had a point.

Because with Irha and me drastically changing positions, it’s true that our backline, which is responsible for burst damage, has become too weak.

However, in the current situation, this doesn’t really matter.

“Instead, it’s better to go all-in on the front line rather than having three clumsy backliners. Our opponents aren’t classmates; they’re upperclassmen and skilled student council members.”

When comparing first-year and second-year students on average, the difference is more pronounced in the magic-wielding backliners than among the direct-combat frontliners.

Unless you have talents that far exceed your age group, like Marisa or Leon.

In Pio’s case, she’s a pretty skilled young lady from a magic family, so she can’t be seen as a weakness. But if Irha, a sloppy witch on the verge of failing, stands in the backline, that would be a huge weakness.

“You guys, focus on defense so you don’t get easily taken out. Pio, prepare thoroughly for defensive magic rather than offensive magic.”

The list of second-year students participating in the exam has already reached us.

I don’t particularly remember the others, but one name stood out.

Garett Shabrier.

He’s a formidable prodigy, one of the top five among the current second-year students.

While there’s quite a difference between him and Skada, who is royalty, considering his family’s prestige and characteristics, this guy is easily a genius.

Was he the one deeply knowledgeable in wind magic, integrating it into a unique spear technique to fight freely?

Before my regression, when Semere and I broke through Sephir together, I clashed with this guy, and he died by my hand back then.

Was he the vice-captain of the Imperial Spearman Corps…? Anyway, he was a guy who reached a fairly high position due to his skill, and his abilities were quite decent.

He seemed to have a decent personality, good skills, and good looks. Why on earth did such a man date someone like Emma?

I have no hobby of saving men, but perhaps I should save this pitiful man while I’m at it, living a new life?

“Rest for ten minutes, then focus on defense again. You’re not even using your mana properly.”

“Ugh. I’m definitely going to hit you today!”

The guys gritting their teeth were truly a good sight to behold.

Friendship, something I didn’t have before my regression.

*

Emma was at the salon with Lizley for the first time in a long while.

Since receiving the breakup notice from Ras, Lizley had been attending the academy in a somewhat dazed state, rather than simply being in a low mood.

“Hmph… Garett Oppa wouldn’t possibly lose to someone like Ras, would he?”

“……”

Just like now.

Even when Emma chattered and talked right in front of her, she often zoned out and missed it.

The only time she showed a normal reaction was when she was with Leon, but even that felt more like a difficult performance.

Grit, Emma subtly bit her lip and inwardly frowned.

As Lizley’s top lady-in-waiting, Emma had a rough idea why Lizley was in such a state.

‘Did you hear? Lizley and Ras broke up.’

‘Really?? Oh my… Weren’t they quite famous? That’s craaazy…’

Emma, with her sharp ears, had heard gossipers whispering about Ras and Lizley’s breakup countless times from behind her.

Emma, wondering where those commoners could have possibly heard something that even she, Lizley’s top hunting dog, didn’t know, swallowed her indignation and listened more closely to the gossip.

‘Hey, then why did they break up? Who dumped whom??’

‘I don’t know the details. But Ras looks perfectly fine, and doesn’t Lizley seem a bit out of it lately? Lizley must have been dumped.’

From Emma’s perspective, it was gossip that bordered on humiliation, beyond mere anger. Unfortunately, the girls gossiping were daughters of count families, so she couldn’t tear into them like a dog as usual…!

‘Hmph… If it were up to me, I’d have interrupted and said, “Lizley beautifully kicked him to the curb, you know?” But…’

Emma, who endured with extreme patience, wondering if Lizley was aiming for something, was in a way a truly loyal dog.

“Lizley…”

“Ah… Emma.”

Considering Lizley’s poor state, Emma had brought her to a private salon instead of an open cafe frequented by students.

Even bracing herself for harsh words, she felt she had to hear what exactly had happened between Ras and Lizley.

“Perhaps… I really don’t want to ask this, but… did something happen with Ras? Did he harass you or something?”

“Ah… it’s not like that. There was just a bit of conflict. Ras… he did say something about breaking up.”

Emma honestly couldn’t understand Lizley’s gloomy reaction at all.

From her perspective, Ras was nothing more than a huge flaw for the perfect Lizley.

Therefore, from Emma’s standpoint, if it was true that Lizley had broken up with Ras, she should be rejoicing, having been freed from a curse.

The arrogant son of Etgard, who, despite being a lowly commoner with a bit of money, dared to compare himself to the heavenly Gracia family and tried to seize the reins.

A fly that didn’t know its place, clinging to the world’s most beautiful flower, not even worthy of being a butterfly.

Emma could never forget Lizley, who, when her engagement to Ras was first decided, had cried bitterly in front of Emma, saying she had been sold off.

From that day on, Ras and the Etgard family were both great evils and obstacles in Emma’s world.

However, Emma, who belonged to the Agnelli family and had even less power than Gracia, could do nothing.

All she could do was subtly ridicule and mock Ras when he displayed his commoner vulgarity.

Moreover, Ras, who she had never liked, had become even more vexing recently.

How dare a vulgar commoner, not content with the overly good Lizley, flirt with this woman and that woman…

The sight of him grinning foolishly at someone like Rosalie, who suited a commoner like Ras, was fitting, but the problem was how Lizley felt seeing it.

Because, after all, it must have been quite upsetting for Lizley, who “owned” Ras…

It’s the same principle as if someone took away a doll that Emma herself possessed—she wouldn’t be happy about it.

‘But Lizley will eventually become empress. When that time comes, both Ras and the Etgard family will be erased without a trace.’

As Emma gnashed her teeth and mulled it over, Lizley’s mouth revealed why she couldn’t simply be happy about breaking up with Ras.

“Actually… breaking up with Ras is indeed a happy thing for me, but the problem is the manner of the breakup. You know Leon’s personality to some extent, but…”

Lizley’s explanation continued at length.

For Emma, who wasn’t intimately close with Leon, it was a statement she couldn’t fully comprehend.

However, as she sorted it out, Emma, having lived in aristocratic society, could roughly grasp it by reading between the lines.

“So… in the end, His Highness is displeased with the very situation of you being swayed by someone like Ras, is that it?”

“Exactly. To put it very simply, that’s it. In the end, I have to either re-seduce Ras, or drag him down to ruin.”

“Seduce… No, Lizley. You’re not seriously thinking of doing that, are you? Surely you haven’t actually fallen for Ras or something…”

“No, it’s not that… It’s just that the situation has become ambiguous… And my attempt to drag him down to ruin failed once already, so what do I do… sigh…”

Lizley looked at Emma with seductive yet pitiful eyes, and Emma felt an unspoken message in that gaze, one that needed her.

“Will you leave it to me? Lizley, I can always be your blade, can’t I? That’s what a vassal is for, after all.”

Along with the thought, ‘A loyal retainer always steps forward in their master’s time of crisis,’ Emma began to churn her extraordinary mind, in a bad way.

Even after regression, Emma was still the kind of woman who stubbornly didn’t change.