episode_0048

A day has passed since I verbally abused Celdianne.

Time passed by so relentlessly that it was almost annoying, and today, as always, a new year rose without fail.

“Haa… I wish today was a little more peaceful.”

Although I felt a bit uneasy about heading to the academy, I didn’t hesitate and got ready as usual.

Well, going there now felt like walking into the jaws of a giant demon.

I must be a little upset because I expressed my dislike so strongly yesterday.

There was no way to know how she, with her proud nature, would react, but one thing was certain.

I’ve made another enemy at the Academy.

That too, from the noble Elkonza family, one of the most dangerous targets in the Academy.

I thought I had resolved the misunderstanding with Lucica and untied one knot, but a new headache was created.

It felt like bad things always happened in an equivalence order.

What kind of thorny path will the life that unfolds for me from today be?

I didn’t particularly want to take back what I said to Seldiane, nor did I have any regrets, but considering the worst case scenario, I felt like something quite annoying could happen.

If that annoying woman were to throw away her dignity and everything and come running to catch me and beat me up… just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

But what can you do about what has already happened? You have no choice but to endure it.

As I always have, once I’ve committed, I won’t back down and will fight to the end. That’s my way of life.

Of course, if Celdianne still has some conscience left and stops harassing me, there would be no happier ending than that.

I hope that we can both take a step back and reach a peaceful conclusion.

I think I’ll just let the wind blow for a bit now.

To be honest, I’m just exhausted because so many big things have happened in a row recently.

Please, Celdiane.

*

Fortunately, nothing major has happened since arriving at the academy.

I don’t know if Seldianne needed time to think before taking action, or if she just decided not to pay attention to me, but she didn’t make her presence felt near me all day.

The day was strangely peaceful, with morning training, lunch, and afternoon theory lectures.

Of course, that didn’t mean the gossip around them disappeared.

Whether noble or commoner, I was still being watched as a person of interest due to the aftermath of that great incident, and even though no one spoke to me directly, the gazes pouring in from the hallways and lecture halls were not exactly kind.

But that was okay.

In the end, for students who were not directly involved, it was an incident that would be forgotten as time goes by, and the parties involved in the incident were expelled, placed under house arrest, and suspended for three months.

The situation with Lucica, who had a big connection to the incident, was resolved well, and although I’m not sure about Seldianne yet, it’s likely that she won’t be involved with me anymore.

Even though it was a bed of thorns, there were no longer any truly explosive problems.

At least until Kelg Durakal returns to the Academy, if you can just tolerate the slightly uncomfortable atmosphere, there shouldn’t be any major problems in your life.

Of course, if after that human returns, he tries to use his power within the Academy to take revenge on me and those around me who harmed Tirisia and himself, that is another matter.

Even though Durakal holding a grudge against me is a situation where a person who farted gets angry, a person with common sense would not have committed such a heinous act as stealing someone else’s girlfriend.

‘…at least.’

If such a situation ever came up, I had to build up my strength to the point where I could protect myself and those around me.

I couldn’t exactly gauge the extent of Durakal’s abilities, but it was clear that the human was several levels above me.

Because the absurd defeat at the Yeonmu Festival was proof of that.

So there’s still a long way to go.

If even Heidiera, Lucica, or even Seldian, who provided the means for the exposure, became his targets, I planned to fight Durakal.

Even though Seldianne is someone I will not have any contact with anymore, I do not like the idea of that Durakal taking revenge on someone for paying his karma.

It is no longer Tirissia’s job to prepare for that possibility.

I could bear the fact that destroying our relationship and even trying to exclude me from the Academy was something that would at least end with my own sacrifice.

I was prepared to endure it with a bone-cutting resolve, because my goal was to give Tirisia complete freedom.

But if Durakal extends his reach beyond me to the people around me, that’s a different story.

Regardless of respecting Tyrissia’s choice, this story was a task that had to end, at least between us.

No matter what kind of cesspool I ended up in, no matter what kind of ending Tyrissia had, the two of us and the villain Kelg Durakal had to be the only characters there.

If, beyond that acceptable range, the villain runs offstage and starts swinging his sword at unsuspecting audience members, then it’s time to fight with all your might.

Now that Tirisia has fallen into his clutches, the only ones who can protect others are me or Senior Perzena.

However, I heard that my senior was still suffering from the aftereffects of the past runaway magic circuit, so I couldn’t have the weak thought of relying on her.

In case of emergency, I must personally stop Kelg Durakal.

And to do that, I had to become several times stronger than I am now.

There are no shortcuts. Constant practice is the only answer.

With that kind of determination, I was heading to the podium for after-school training today.

“Erto!”

Shhh!

As I was walking down the passage outside the building, Lucica flew in before my eyes with a flash of red lightning.

“Ah, Lucica. What’s going on?”

I told you in advance that we would resume training starting today, so it wouldn’t be a question of going back together, so why did you suddenly come running to me using magic?

Lucica conveyed one fact to me with a slightly embarrassed look.

“Elconja That bitch… has called another noble meeting!”

“Really?”

“Really? No, you idiot! Your name was mentioned in the reason for the meeting! And Heidi and I, who obviously know you’re close, insisted on attending!”

“Ah… ”

Oh my.

You finally took action, Celdianne.

It seemed like she had been quiet all day, but it seemed like the time she tried to move was after school.

And it wasn’t a personal revenge, it was a summons to the noble council.

How much of a boost do you think you’re trying to get by by gathering all the academy’s noble students in one place?

Furthermore, the fact that even Lucica and Heidiera were requested to attend meant that they were targeting all the nobles without leaving anyone out.

What on earth are you trying to say…?

Are you really planning to publicly reveal the insults you suffered from me yesterday and hold a second execution ceremony?

As I silently considered the various possibilities, Lucica grabbed my hand with a frustrated expression.

“What are you staring at, you idiot! Let’s go together quickly! We’re meeting at the square!”

“Hmm… Okay, I guess it would be faster to just go and check for myself.”

“Heidi will go first. She will be checking out the atmosphere.”

As I walked along, keeping pace with Lucica, I asked myself one question.

“But would it be okay if the person involved in the meeting were present? I think it would be like a mud-covered loach.”

“Tell them to come at me if they want! God will punish me! I will protect Erto!”

Lucica walked forward, holding my hand tightly, red sparks flying from her cherry-colored twintails.

After fighting Tirisia, she seemed to have become more confident and less hesitant in expressing her feelings.

I thought that if something happened, I would be the one protecting Lucica, but I decided not to say anything because I found her confidence so cute.

So we walked together to the square where the noble students were gathering.

*

When we arrived at the square, most of the nobles were already gathered there and camped out.

Although the size of the meeting was smaller than when I had forced my withdrawal because the commoners had no reason to attend, the Academy was a place where a majority of students were nobles, so the crowd was quite intimidating enough to form a circle around the square.

And in the middle of them, the representative who had called the meeting stood with his subordinates on either side.

“Okay, I think we have enough people here.”

Celdiane Elkonja. She had created a makeshift platform with her crystal magic to make herself visible to the people in the square, and was standing on it.

Arriving near the edge of the crowd, Lucica and I decided to keep our distance from them for the time being so that we could just observe the situation.

“What is that golden throne? The king has been taken away.”

Lucica, who saw Celdianne’s appearance, pouts her lips and makes a disgusted expression.

“Lapiseul’s lord…! Leto’s lord…!”

“Wow.”

Suddenly, I heard an eerie voice from the tree I was leaning against, and when I turned around, I saw Heidiera peeking her head out, wondering how long she had been there.

“Heidi, how did things look?”

When Lucica asked calmly, Heidi shook her head as if she didn’t understand English either.

“I spied on the conversation of the noble students gathered here… but it seems they themselves do not know the purpose of this place… No one knows the intentions of the Elkonja Duke.”

“Hmm~? So you’re saying that this situation was all driven by that girl Elconja?”

“I think so… However, it seems certain that he is going to talk about the story related to the Lord Leto. He made it clear from the time he announced the gathering.”

“It’s my story… I feel a little sorry.”

As I muttered with a bitter smile, Heidiera stared at my face as if she had guessed something.

“Lord Lotto… Did you happen to meet Lord Elkonza near your house yesterday? Just the two of you… ”

“Yeah… I see you noticed.”

At those words, Lucica was startled and grabbed my collar.

“What?! That girl came all the way to your house?! What did she do?! Did she confess to you?!”

“Lucica… What kind of nonsense is that.”

“Ah, um, ahem.”

When I glanced at her with a pitiful look, Lucica coughed awkwardly, lowered her voice, and whispered something so that only the two of us could hear.

“No… It’s late to say this, but Elconza, that guy, Erto, seemed to like you?”

“This isn’t a time for jokes, Lucica.”

“… Hmm.”

Unlike me, who was pressing my temples and keeping a serious expression, Heidi sighed as if she was thinking about Lucica’s words.

Lucica continued speaking with a furrowed brow, perhaps aware that she was saying something absurd.

“Honestly, I know it’s really weird to say this, but when you’re together and you look at her from the side, her eyes are dripping with honey?! Erto, don’t you know what kind of expression that girl has when you’re not looking?!”

“Lucica… Stop reading romance novels… ”

“No, it’s true!”

“You know what he did to me, but does that make sense?”

“Ah… Seriously, I want to tell that bitch Elconja to bring back my memories!”

As I was tilting my head, wondering why Lucica was so frustrated, Heidiera asked me in a rather serious voice.

“Luto-gong… Did you have any conversation with Elkonja-gong yesterday? Was it positive or negative?”

“That’s… ”

I thought back to the verbal abuse that Celdiane had used on me yesterday, and the verbal abuse I had used against her.

“It wasn’t just negative, it was the worst. They were practically enemies.”

“Hmm… Is that so…?”

“Why are you doing that?”

When I asked her what she was thinking, Heidi answered with her chin resting on her hand like a detective investigating a mystery.

“If something like that had happened yesterday… and considering what Lord Lucica said, who also felt the same way… maybe Lord Elkonja was here―”

The moment the conclusion was about to flow out of her mouth,

“Attention!”

In the middle of the square, Celdiane raised her voice.

The three of us stopped talking and focused our attention on her.

The crowd also looked up at Celdiane, who was standing on a high platform in their center, with anticipation as to what kind of story she would tell about the commoner Erto.

“First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to all the nobles who have gathered here at the lady’s request! This is a story that I would like as many nobles as possible to hear, so I have called this meeting here, even though it is abrupt!”

A calm silence flowed through the crowd.

“Then, let’s get straight to the point! The reason why the lady has called you here today is… ”

Everyone in the square swallowed, waiting for the next words to come out of her mouth.

At least it was obvious that the subject would be provocative, given that it was about a commoner named Erto, currently the hottest potato in the academy.

The nobles, who were merely spectators at the prospect of another turbulent wind blowing into their lives, had bright eyes, anticipating new fun.

however,

“Because we want to come together and apologize to Erto student!”

What came out of Seldianne’s mouth were words that betrayed all the nobles’ expectations.

Let all the nobles bow their heads together to the commoners―

It was a shameful demand that could never be accepted.