Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.17 – Irene Windler is a Villainess? (1)
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Cricket was one of the high-class leisure sports enjoyed by nobles, similar to baseball, and at the same time, a familiar sport among commoners as well.
Unlike polo—which required trained horses, a practice field, and equipment—you could play it anytime with just a ball and a wide bat.
Thanks to that, cricket had become a popular sport bridging nobles and commoners alike. It wasn't an exaggeration to say everyone knew the basic rules.
Which is why.
"Is that all you've got?!"
"Even my grandma swings the bat better than you!"
"Why can't you catch the damn ball!? It's dropping right in front of you...!"
...things were like this.
In the cricket exam—no, test grounds—the cadets playing as "athletes" desperately hurled the ball, swung their bats, and scrambled to catch it.
The two teams taking the exam happened to be packed with sons from prominent noble families representing the south and east regions.
And fate had split them onto opposing teams.
Before long, those hailing from the south and east were cheering for their home regions, and the cheers were heating up to the point where chaos could erupt any second.
A territory war disguised as a sport.
A wargame.
This was no longer just a sports match or a cadet exam subject. It was a war of pride for the territory's people.
Arno, who happened to be taking the cricket exam, shook his head wearily.
"...If we lose this match, it'll feel like a rebellion will break out in the territory."
"It's not 'feel like'—it really will. I heard some academy seniors from conflicting territories held a cricket match, and the losing territory's citizens armed themselves with slings, surrounded the lord's son, and pelted him with stones."
"D-Did that senior survive?"
"He's breathing. Apparently just living as the territory's worst traitor."
"......"
"So we have to win no matter what. I don't want to be treated like a traitor. ...And I sure as hell don't want to get stoned to death."
"...Mm."
In this way, the cricket match flowed in an unexpectedly thrilling direction despite itself.
The exam took a backseat as the mood turned to beating the opposing team half to death just to win.
The swordsmanship department folks, including Arno, were starting to worry when the fistfight might break out.
"Whoa, bench-clearing happens in this world too?"
Lee Han was utterly baffled as he surveyed the unfolding chaos.
He'd come to watch since it featured cadets he taught, but the situation was turning outright combative.
He'd expected noble sports to be refined and elegant.
Yet it was more exciting than most baseball or soccer games.
And moreover.
"Am I watching European soccer or what? Why are there so many hooligans?"
Even the spectators were all berserkers.
He could totally see some grabbing torches and setting noble carriages ablaze if things went wrong.
"What a riot."
Was it because entertainment options were so scarce?
People took their sports dead seriously.
Probably because cricket was such a familiar sport that this side came out.
"Should I try spreading soccer sometime?"
There was something similar to soccer, but properly introducing it on a serious level piqued his curiosity about the ripple effects.
Was this what they called intellectual curiosity?
Just as he wickedly considered importing modern soccer.
"Instructor?"
"Number 11 Baldy?"
He ran into a familiar face.
"It's Barry, Instructor. Not even the training grounds, so call me by name."
"You still remember your number perfectly."
"...Should I be grateful for that?"
"More importantly, Cadet Barry, what are you doing here?"
"Ah, earning some pocket money. Peak season and all."
Number 11 Baldy—no, Barry Cox—scratched his head with an awkward smile.
He pulled a cool drink from his massive backpack.
It was stuffed with jerky and pretzels for snacking too.
"Ho, you can sell stuff like that?"
"Officially no, but they turn a blind eye. Lots of guys like me, always short on cash, do it."
"Makes sense. I was wondering why I saw drunks... ."
"Haha, booze sales are illegal. They'd nab me the second patrols show up."
"...Patrols too?"
Lee Han chuckled wryly and pulled two silver coins from his pocket.
"Gimme one drink and some jerky."
"...That's too much money."
"Rest is tip."
"...Instructor."
"Study during exams, kid. Don't refuse out of pride."
"...Yes, sir!"
"Do well normally too."
"Sir, yes sir!!"
With a sharp salute, Barry accepted the two silver coins—worth a month's wages for a family of four—and handed over his entire bag.
He'd asked for one of each, but got the whole thing dumped on him.
"Listen when I talk."
Who asked for everything?
Lee Han grumbled as he popped a piece of jerky from the bag into his mouth.
"Homemade? Pretty good."
It was tasty enough not to regret the coin.
-To cut to the chase, Lee Han had 'audaciously' rejected Grand Duke Magnus's proposal.
For a mere knight to refuse the Grand Duke's offer was unthinkable.
The Grand Duke could've seen it as an insult and ordered his head chopped off.
But instead.
-Why refuse?
He just lit up with interest.
It was a damn good offer, so why turn it down?
And rightly so. Play it right, and he'd be the Grand Duke's son-in-law.
A chance for social ascension, even earning the Lionel name.
So why pass it up?
Lee Han's response to that question was.
-Not interested.
...That was it.
At this masterpiece of a reply, Grand Duke Magnus blinked, while Maximus clutched his stomach and rolled on the floor laughing.
-Kahahaha! Brother, I told you! That guy's a madman, a madman! To treat the mighty Lionel like a stray dog! Incredible!
-...Indeed, haha!
Yet neither the Grand Duke nor the northern knights seemed offended.
Amused, if anything.
Was it a northern trait?
Unlike central nobles who hid their true feelings, they prized sincerity and bold straightforwardness even higher.
After bursting into laughter, Grand Duke Magnus said.
-Still, knight, always remember my offer. Lionel will always welcome you.
He left while leaving the door open.
A storm of a man.
He'd swept in with ferocious intensity that could've devoured everything, then vanished cleanly like a gale.
-Next time, let's have a proper duel. I'll be waiting, Rohan!
-...You're doing that on purpose, right?
-Hm?
"...Should I smash that bastard's jaw next time we meet?"
The guy who'd renamed him Ri Han, then La Han, then Rohan three times.
Unlike the Grand Duke who'd left a positive impression, this punk had needled him to the end!
If he crossed paths with that cheeky gorilla again, he wouldn't let it slide easily.
Jaw or neck—he'd snap one!
Lee Han added a new target to pulverize, alongside Galahad's cocky grappler.
But before that.
"Should I smash the info guild bastards first?"
Priority over grapplers and gorillas: the info guild.
They got paid, so do the job right. How was all the intel so mangled?
'Duke I thought was a murderer turns out normal, guy I pegged as rapist is surprisingly magnanimous—what the hell?'
Of course, you couldn't judge everything from one meeting, but Lee Han trusted his eyes and gut.
In that sense, neither the Duke nor Grand Duke were utter trash.
They had the dignity and competence befitting true nobles, more than any he'd met so far.
Thus, Lee Han narrowed down why the guild fed him such crap to two reasons.
One: they half-assed the intel gathering.
Or.
'Both sides meticulously faked their own intel.'
Either way.
"...Exhausting."
Somehow, incidents piled up way more than back in the knights' order.
...Was it the academy?
"Nah, academy's fine. It's the people."
You know that?
In any academy story, things stay peaceful until the protagonist shows up.
And right now, his workplace had not one, not two, but three protagonist-tier leads.
'Regressor, mystery mad prince, and... .'
"-Instructor!?"
"......"
"Oh my, what a coincidence? Running into you here, hehe... ."
"...Hm."
...the possessor right in front of him.
Lee Han let out a groan as the thought struck him anew.
This girl really.
'Sucks at acting.'
Irene Windler approached him with an awkward smile.
'Shut up—what the hell am I even doing because of you?!'
Irene Windler wondered what on earth she was doing.
Thanks to the chatty ghost roommate yapping nonstop every day, she'd even done her makeup this morning.
'Y-You want me meeting him looking like a beggar!? I-I'm doing this for you, you brat.'
'W-Why look at me like that?'
'I don't have any shady motives! ...But do I really have to do that favor?'
'Ugh...!'
Irene Windler, who'd trusted the ghost girl to memorize all subjects and skipped studying entirely, was reminded she had no choice but to comply.
Even as top of the magic department, low scores wouldn't get her expelled, so bombing exams wasn't the end of the world.
'But I can't bomb the exam!'
For a girl with the soul of an exam-taker who'd never taken the college entrance test, low scores were as terrifying as it got.
Thus.
'J-Just touch the thigh, just the thigh... .'
The girl swallowed dryly, glancing at the knight's thigh—thicker than her own waist.
"...?"
The knight felt an inexplicable chill.