Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: It's Already Mine
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Some bishops, including Malias, disguise themselves or kill someone and steal their identity.
Or they manipulate perceptions to sneak in undetected.
In that regard, Climude was fundamentally different from the other bishops. His identity was genuine, through and through.
The first place Climude appears in the original story is the imperial palace.
At the time, his occupation was imperial palace scribe.
Climude has a gentle, smiling face when he softens his expression, paired with a bear-like build— the textbook likeable type.
He happens to appear alongside a squinting male noble scribe, which royally smacks the players who judge villains by looks right in the back of the head. That was Climude's role.
So why was he here?
And escorting an academy upperclassman, no less.
'No way... is it that? A fallen noble house...?'
Defeating Climude unlocks a brief background story on him.
The setup is that he's a man who climbed the ranks from childhood by any means necessary, stabbing people in the back without remorse.
It's mentioned in the original that he once served a powerful noble house that fell into ruin: the Whiteusher Marquess family.
Before becoming a palace scribe, Climude worked as the head butler of that house, learning the ins and outs of noble society and gathering internal intel.
He used that as a springboard to infiltrate the palace as a church spy.
'At this point in time, he hasn't become a scribe yet, I guess.'
Which means that white-haired girl is the Whiteusher lady.
"Miss. It's too rowdy here. Let's head inside."
"Sure. I have no interest in getting tangled with idiots like that."
Climude, trying to swiftly escort the Whiteusher lady away from the spot, locked eyes with me just before vanishing into the crowd.
"..."
He didn't seem to recognize me.
Or even if he did, he showed no sign of agitation.
'Why is he here?'
Is it the church's doing? Or just coincidence, carrying out his duties as head butler.
One thing was certain: right now, in this moment, I held a clear advantage over that bastard.
Climude's true identity wouldn't be revealed until he himself disclosed it.
Meanwhile, I already knew who he was.
'If I play this right, I could catch him.'
There was potential. I'd already taken down two bishops at a point when I wasn't even supposed to encounter any.
Catching Climude on top of that would be perfect.
The problem was I had no evidence to say, "That guy's a bishop."
'Might need to consult with Alicia.'
Lost in thought and pausing for a moment, the harassment directed at Aren reached its peak.
"Hey, answer me! A first-year brat ignoring a senior?"
It was just as the upperclassman's hand reached out to shove Aren's shoulder again.
"That's enough."
A voice came from behind.
It was Eugene. Beside him stood Senia, exuding noble elegance in a purple dress.
Senia slipped back a bit and flashed a smile at me and Cecilia.
"What, you again. Did none of the first-years get etiquette training?"
"Eugene Raygal."
The moment Eugene said his name, the upperclassman's face stiffened.
The leader of the noble faction, heir to the Raygal Count family.
Not someone an upperclassman could treat lightly.
"Didn't you say you shat blood on the front lines? And the best you can do is pick fights with imperial citizens and academy juniors you're supposed to protect?"
"Th-that's... this punk was disrespecting a senior...!"
"The thing you claim this punk 'sucked honey from while clearing' is the Abyss of the Evil God. A dungeon that would wipe out your entire family knight order if they all charged in."
Eugene took a step forward instead of replying.
"You couldn't possibly not know that. So what is it, Valerius Dran? This childish harassment."
Eugene's eyes sharpened.
"Did the captains put you up to it? To test Aren Bright?"
"...That's!"
"Whether it's your own idea or someone else's orders, I'll make it clear right here: he's ten times stronger than you. Get lost before you embarrass yourself more."
The upperclassman called Valerius's face flushed red with rage.
"Fuck...! Just you wait, first-years."
Unable to swallow his anger, he led his group and vanished into the venue.
The students who had been spectating the commotion scattered.
"Pathetic."
"Thanks for the help."
"I wasn't helping you specifically. I just couldn't stand seeing the noble name sullied."
Gruffly replying, Eugene shot me a glare before heading into the venue.
But Senia lingered.
"Not going in together?"
"It's fine. Everyone here already knows about us anyway. Show them a friendly moment at the entrance, dance once inside, and we're done."
Is that how it works?
With that, Senia hooked her arm through Cecilia's.
"What? Does Halibal prefer being alone with Cecilia after all?"
"Sis?!"
Senia, grinning playfully, suddenly glanced at Aren.
Her smile vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold stare.
"You didn't need to step in. We could've just let it go. Right, Halibal?"
"..."
She still hadn't forgiven Aren.
At that moment, Richard muttered while glaring in the direction the upperclassmen had gone.
"But is that the best second-years have got?"
"Anyone can see it's a tail. They pick a fight with the guest of honor to gauge the reaction, then decide whether to recruit them to their club based on it."
"Looks like the ones pulling the strings didn't even bother showing up."
One or two people seemed to catch on from the harassment.
I realized it too once the word "club" came up. I'd thought it was just ladder-kicking, but the club captains were behind it.
The club system unlocks starting second semester.
A sort of growth pumping system.
After vacation, characters' specs skyrocket, but classes alone can't keep up with the limits.
That's where clubs come in for additional training.
They allocate afternoon class time to club activities, raising stats efficiently without wasting time.
But Louisdel's club was a club in name only—more like a guild or faction.
Rivalries between club captains flared up frequently.
So they were scouting usable first-year talent early for next semester.
The captains naturally wanted standout prospects, and in the original, Aren got love calls from most clubs.
As Senia said, Valerius's provocation was probably part of that recruitment process.
A pressure interview to see if he was decent material.
Looking at it that way, I started noticing other upperclassmen's movements.
Upperclassmen sticking close to promising first-years, marking them intently.
Now that I saw it, there were even ones hovering near Ellie and Ran.
Of course, clubs varied in nature, so not everyone approached it as crudely as Valerius.
'Will someone come for me too? Who?'
But that wasn't the issue.
'Climude Raju.'
He wouldn't make any reckless moves here.
Adelrin comes, Killien comes, Regnar and Victor too.
Even a bishop revealing themselves outside a dungeon was perfect conditions for getting slaughtered.
Which made this an even better chance to take him out.
Above all, the Whiteusher lady he was serving nagged at me.
If it followed the original, her house would fall within the year, but the process wasn't detailed in the story.
Climude was surely involved somehow, and if I didn't deal with him, an innocent noble house might vanish.
That was when it happened.
From afar, a girl who seemed to be Richard's partner came running up in quick steps.
"R-Richard-nim...! Let's go together!"
This guy had ditched his own partner to hang out here.
"Sigh... I'll head in first. See you later."
Richard tossed out a curt remark and slipped inside alone.
Now it was just Aren and the three of us left.
"You came alone?"
"Yeah... No one else to come with."
"What about Ran?"
"Haha. Ran doesn't know my situation well..."
A male partner would've been awkward, but no female friend to bring either.
The alpha male Aren had turned into a total loner.
Sure enough, other ladies lurked around her, eyeing opportunities.
With the pressure already weighing on her, Valerius's harassment piled on.
"You've had it rough."
As I offered some consolation, Senia poked my side and gave me a look.
"Halibal. Aren't you Cecilia's partner right now? Why are you only looking at others?"
'Is that so? Fair enough.'
Before I could reply, Cecilia shrugged first.
"I'm fine with it."
"You really don't mind, Cecil?"
"Yeah? He's my arm for the day, remember? It's already mine—what's the problem?"
Her bold words silenced the three of us except her.
Cecilia then confidently pressed her right arm against mine.
"Sigh... Fine."
Senia stared at her for a long moment before sighing and releasing her arm.
"I'll head in now too. Oh, and Halibal."
She fixed her gaze on me.
"Take good care of our Cecil. Chase off any weird girls that come sniffing around."
"That won't happen."
"Hehe. You never know."
With that, Senia ducked into the venue.
Now it was truly just me, Cecilia, and Aren at the entrance.
But Aren's expression had darkened even further.
What's up with her now.
"You should head in too. Standing here longer might invite more trouble."
"Y-yeah. Will do. See you... later."
"No."
Cecilia cut off Aren's words firmly.
"No need to wait today. See you tomorrow, Aren."
"...Yeah."
Her retreating figure into the venue looked especially dejected.
"She seems really worn out."
Maybe because she's the protagonist.
Thinking I might've been in her shoes made me even more grateful to Cecilia and Regnar.
"Huh? What was that?"
"Nothing. Just saying it must be tough getting that much attention, like the protagonist."
I must've let it slip.
"Well, it probably is."
Cecilia murmured softly, watching Aren's back.
For some reason, her face bore the smile of a victor.
As the night breeze grew chillier.
I offered Cecilia my arm.
"Shall we go in?"
"Yeah."
Cecilia naturally linked arms with me.
I passed through the venue doors with her.
The moment Cecilia and I entered, the gazes of nearby nobles at the entrance snapped to us.
"Look over there. The Sword Fairy of the Ren family... and the Dirge Sword?"
"No way... The rumors are true?"
"No room for us to cut in?"
Hundreds of eyes appraised me, weighing my value.
It was a blatant pressure different from facing monster killing intent in dungeons.
'This is insane.'
Unlike me, unused to such stares, Cecilia seemed to relish them.
"Nervous?"
"Just annoyed."
"You'll have to get used to it. It'll be like this all night."
She smiled brightly.
"Maybe from now on too."
Swallowing an inward sigh, I quickly scanned the venue interior.
Far off on the dais, Alicia was greeting key imperial figures.
Aren stood awkwardly beside her, being introduced around.
Meanwhile, my gaze swept to the servants and butlers lined along the venue walls.
The Whiteusher lady, Termina. Climude standing shadow-like right behind her.
I'd been searching for him.
'There he is.'
At that moment, Climude whispered something to Termina.
She nodded, then began moving off with a group of upperclassmen.
Climude followed naturally behind.
'What are they up to? Should I check?'
My instincts moved my feet, but Cecilia tugged my arm.
"Halibal. Let's go to Father first."
Where she pointed, Regnar was conversing with some nobles.
"...Right."
Regrettable, but unavoidable. I wasn't here to hunt bishops—I was here to enjoy the banquet.
I memorized Climude's path, then nodded.
⁎⁎⁎
"You're that rumored Dirge Sword, huh?"
"...Yes."
A short while later.
For some reason, I was having a private talk with Termina Whiteusher.
Beside me, Climude poured drinks into my glass and hers with a friendly smile.