Chapter 95: Mis?understanding (3)
Chapter 95: Mis?understanding (3)
Today’s classes were pretty grueling.
I’d managed to look over the materials Iona gave me, but it had only been half a day. It was hardly enough time to catch up on a week’s worth of progress compared to the other students.
Still, it wasn't impossible.
The growth buff from the "Talented Freshman" title was gone, but my base stats had jumped significantly thanks to the rewards for defeating Edmerec and the effects of the elixirs. Plus, my mana manipulation had leveled up during the elemental combination intensive training I received from Iris on the way back.
At the very least, I had enough skill to show people that running their mouths off could get them into serious trouble.
If I kept this up for a few days, students would start questioning if it was really okay to keep gossiping, just as Carla and Elisha predicted. Around that time, if I borrowed a bit of influence from my sponsor, the Church of Righteous Light, I should be able to at least stop the false rumors from spreading further.
…Or so I thought. Until lunch.
"Brother. Is it true that you enjoy 'dick-bauchery' every weekend at a mansion near the Academy?"
"Dick… what?"
Helena had marched right up to me while I was in the middle of eating to say something incredibly dangerous. When I blinked and asked for clarification, she tapped her lips and corrected herself.
"My apologies. A slip of the tongue. …I meant to ask if it is true that you enjoy a life of debauchery every weekend?"
"I don't know how the rumor that I bought a mansion spread already, but I only bought it yesterday."
"Phew… As I thought, it was just a baseless rumor. Then the debauchery must be a lie as well."
"……."
"…Brother?"
Helena looked at me with a gaze full of growing suspicion. When her innocent, golden eyes began to distort with horror, I hurriedly shook my head.
"Alcohol! I don't drink!"
"Aha? You don't drink… but the part about being promiscuous is true, then?! I should have known when you asked for a nun's habit!"
"How could I just leave these two alone?"
I pointed cautiously at the two who were eating beside me. Helena jumped slightly, her gaze darting between them. Normally, sitting at the same table as attendants was considered undignified and frowned upon, but since I had no dignity left to lose anyway, we were just eating together.
When the two of them bowed awkwardly under Helena's gaze, she finally snapped out of it.
"They look more… normal than I expected?"
"I mean, what did you expect? Did you think I was going to break them or something?"
"Well… one must use expensive things with care."
Her answer felt strangely off-target.
Come to think of it, Helena was a devout believer in Righteous Light, enough to be a Saintess Candidate. To her, these two—the family of a cultist and someone who became a slave after a failed spirit summoning—probably weren't objects of pity.
After a moment of thought, Helena continued in a serious tone.
"Brother. To be honest, your private life doesn't really matter to us. You aren't a member of the clergy who has partially renounced the secular world like we have, after all."
"I see. Then what is the reason for your sudden visit, Priestess Helena?"
The Church of Righteous Light might be a bit unhinged, but a member of the clergy is still a member of the clergy. She wouldn't have come just to ask out of simple curiosity like everyone else.
As I waited for her next words, Helena let out a deep sigh.
"…The rumors about you are spreading too quickly, and in a very distorted form."
"What? It's only been half a day."
"Yes. Only the morning has passed, yet I've already heard rumors that you are the heir to a dark underworld mogul, that you force any woman you like to her knees as a slave, and that your next target is the top student of the 2nd-year Magic Department."
"Hah… That's completely groundless. Besides, isn't the top student of the 2nd-year Magic Department a guy?"
This is bad. If this keeps up, the secret society I’m trying to build will just be perceived as a common street gang.
When I nodded with a serious expression, Helena chimed in as if she understood.
"Exactly. The stories going around are so absurd… On my way to the cafeteria, I even heard a rumor that if someone locks eyes with you for more than three seconds, they might become your slave."
"If that were true, you'd be my slave for sure, Helena."
"Yes. Though we both know that's impossible."
We shared a brief chuckle. Soon after, Helena nodded and stood up from her seat.
"At any rate, I am well aware that you are suffering from an excessive amount of slander."
"Are you planning to help me?"
"Of course. However, no matter how much it concerns you, we cannot use the Church's official power for mere rumors within the Academy…."
"That's only natural. Just having you tell people it's all nonsense is more than enough."
"Thank you for understanding. I'm sorry for interrupting your meal. I'll be on my way now."
"No, it wasn't an interruption. You could have joined us if you wanted."
When I shrugged and said that, Helena smiled brightly and shook her head.
"I've already finished my meal, so unfortunately, I'll have to postpone sitting with you until next time, Brother Yandel."
"Can't be helped, then. See you next time, Priestess Helena."
After a brief exchange of goodbyes, Helena walked away. I watched her back for a moment before whispering urgently in a low voice.
"Do I really have to wait until they back off on their own? Really?"
"I-I'm sorry, Master!"
"We didn't think it would turn out like this either, Yandel. To think it would spread through the entire Academy in less than a day…."
Even now, Elisha's ears were twitching as if she were trying to eavesdrop on everything around us. I suppressed the urge to grab them to keep them still and nodded.
"True. Even I can see that this isn't normal."
"Ah, about that. I have a bit of a hunch, Master."
"What is it?"
Carla was about to wipe some sauce from the corner of her mouth but leaned her face toward me instead. I chuckled and wiped it for her with a handkerchief, and she grinned before continuing.
"A series of events happened that were bound to set the whole Academy buzzing."
"Huh?"
"First, the raid on the practice dungeon was a huge deal, but then you, a first-year, even defeated an Archbishop-class cultist. As I mentioned before, that alone was enough of a crisis to close the Academy for ten days."
The protests from parents worried about their children's safety, the distrust toward the Academy itself, and the significance of the cultists launching a full-scale attack rather than a simple act of terror.
The Academy had been in an uproar for a while. I still remember how awkward it felt to be treated like some kind of hero the moment I woke up.
"The next thing that happened was the spirit summoning at the Sylvan Magic Tower. Normally, people would just shrug it off as 'Elves being Elves'…."
"Wait a minute! What do you mean 'Elves being Elves,' Carla?!"
Ignoring Elisha's indignant shout, Carla continued.
"It happened right after the cultists, who usually hide in the shadows and only cut off their tails, attacked openly for the first time. Naturally, an attempted spirit summoning that brings in an alien entity was bound to be magnified."
"I think I get it. People were already primed to pay attention, right?"
"Exactly. And you happened to be at the center of every single one of those events."
If you throw a spark onto dry kindling, it’s bound to flare up.
However, Elisha seemed to have a slightly different take. Still huffing, she shook her head.
"I don't know. The speed of the rumors is one thing, but I don't think that alone explains the level of distortion."
She then scanned the surroundings with sharply narrowed eyes.
"Someone is spreading rumors about you, Yandel. And they're distorting them intentionally."
*
Elisha had put forward a very significant theory, but it wasn't something we could prove right now, nor could we find the culprit immediately.
So, in the end, all we could do was walk around looking as intimidating as possible.
I intended it as a warning—a way of saying I was watching, so they should watch themselves.
"Eek! We made eye contact! He's definitely planning to make me his slave too!"
"……."
It seemed to be having the opposite effect, so I stopped.
If someone really was spreading rumors on purpose as Elisha said, what exactly were they trying to achieve by ruining my image?
Sighing inwardly, I finished my afternoon classes.
Before heading back to the dormitory, I decided to stop by Fay's workshop.
Partly because I was too tired to say hello when I returned yesterday, and partly because I was worried she might get anxious if these rumors reached her ears.
And so, we arrived at Fay's workshop.
Elisha, who was visiting for the first time, stood there with her mouth agape, murmuring in a daze.
"I-I didn't know there was a workshop in a place like this."
"The location might be a bit rough, but her skills are top-notch, so don't worry."
Elisha nodded at the mention of the topical potions I’d handed out in the practice dungeon and the fact that she’d even crafted an elixir using Iona's blood crystal as a material a few days ago.
"Certainly. If that's the case, her skills surpass most alchemists in Zone 1. I'm not sure how she ended up being pushed out all the way here, though."
"There are complicated reasons for that… well, you'll see soon enough."
Since we had arrived, I shrugged and tapped on the magical tool that served as the workshop's doorbell.
Knock, knock, knock.
…….
There was no answer.
Just as I was about to knock again, wondering if she wasn't in today.
—Junior…?
"Oh. You're here. Open the door, Senior Fay. I have something to talk to you about."
—N-No!
"???"
My beneficiary… is talking back?!