Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: How Underachievers Fight (1)
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After the disciplinary committee meeting, I returned to my dorm.
A new post had appeared on the Starstream bulletin board.
□ Come see the quotes from the Eunsuri Class’s first Honorary Duelist [381]
Unless you were a fool, there was no mistaking who the subject of the post was.
“This is about me.”
That much was fine.
I had already heard from the committee members that the proceedings and results of the hearing would be transparently disclosed for all to see.
The problem was the content.
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[If fighting for honor is a sin, then I shall gladly accept my punishment. But if it is not, then the Cradle should cease to insult me and treat me with honor.]
[If the Cradle’s teachings are nothing but shallow compromise, then I shall willingly refuse them.]
[I would rather live one day with honor than a lifetime without it.]
[Even if faced with the same situation again, I would gladly draw my sword for honor. Even if the price is my own ruin, I would accept it with a smile.]
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An unnecessarily solemn tone.
These were lines fit for a condemned man, falsely accused and sentenced to death.
And apparently, I was the one who had said them.
“When did I ever say…?”
Dumbfounded, I searched the bulletin board.
After a long search, I finally found it.
An announcement detailing the entire process and outcome of the disciplinary committee meeting.
The quotes in question were written there as well.
They were identical to the post I had seen, down to the last syllable.
It was absurd.
“This isn't right…”
I started to get dressed, intending to go find the committee members and confront them, but then I put my coat back down.
“Ugh.”
Thinking about it now, it wasn't as if the words were complete fabrications.
If I went to complain, I’d be at a loss for words, since it wasn’t like they’d been maliciously fabricated.
What would I even say?
I couldn’t very well ask them why they had glorified it so much.
Besides, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
Most of the knights' songs circulating in the marketplace underwent this kind of embellishment.
The knights themselves took it for granted.
The only problem was that I wasn't a knight, nor was I as shameless as they were.
*Flush.*
I wasn't just saying it; my face was literally burning up.
It felt as if every drop of blood in my body had rushed to my head.
“Ugh.”
Come to think of it, that first post had been flooded with cadets’ comments.
Things like my spirit was extraordinary.
Or that there was a real character among the new students.
Or that they wanted to go see who it was.
Even a quick glance had been more than enough to make me uncomfortable.
I didn't have the courage to look at the bulletin board again.
Still, I mustered my courage and opened it.
As expected, the post was filled with excessive attention and praise.
After some hesitation, I added a comment below the post.
[STRIDER11] Isn't that less about spirit and more about being thoughtless?
[STRIDER11] I heard that cadet has a lot of behavioral problems…
[STRIDER11] To be that vicious to a non-resistant opponent is a bit…
A special measure to divert the excessive attention.
It was the seventh method in the bulletin board crisis management guide I had received a crash course on from the stars of the outer constellations.
‘Muddying the waters.’
The effect was tremendous.
└[COSETTE_3604] Yeah, says the guy who’d keep his mouth shut after his master gets insulted.
└[KEION_3611] Anyone who doesn't know what honor is should just walk out of the Cradle on their own.
└[MAREK_3401] A Cradle cadet is dissing this??
└[ROENGRAM_3406] From now on, we, the ‘Live and Die by Honor’ club, will consider any attack on said cadet as an attack on our group and will hunt you down and cut you down.
└[WALDO_3027] ^This
└[MARIA_3615] ^This x2
A stream of rebuttals from the board users followed.
At this rate, instead of diverting attention, I had only drawn more of it.
└[STRIDER11] No? He has a terrible reputation. I heard his own group members don't even treat him like a person.
└[MAREK_3401] Go file an additional report with the disciplinary committee then.
└[KEION_3611] His group members are trash. Who’s the group leader? They just let that happen? Why are they even a leader?
└[COSETTE_3604] So there are people who bully their peers among those who revere chivalry?
I tried to do damage control, but it only backfired.
-This comment has been reported multiple times by board users.
-This comment has been reported multiple times by board users.
-This comment has been reported multiple times by board users.
Eventually, it reached a point where every comment I posted was immediately reported.
*Beep.*
With a sigh, I turned off the terminal.
I forced my eyes shut and tried to sleep.
“Please…”
Let this all be gone when I wake up.
Let tomorrow be the same as yesterday.
I prayed as I tossed and turned for a moment.
*Knock, knock.*
The sound of someone knocking on my door woke me up.
“Looks like you were sleeping.”
When I opened the door, a familiar kid was standing there.
It was Lian Kart, the leader of Group 3.
“...?”
Wondering what was going on, I questioned him with my eyes.
“If you’re not busy, come with me for a moment.”
“Why?”
Instead of answering, Lian turned around.
I couldn't sleep anyway.
After a moment's thought, I followed him out of the room.
*Swoosh.*
We arrived at a small garden attached to the dormitory.
The other kids from Group 3 were waiting for us there.
“From this side, Udo, Selma, Emma, Boen, Pon, Dario, and Peter. For the record, Selma and Emma are sisters.”
A sudden introduction.
I looked at him, wondering what this was all about.
“We may have had some friction, but this is a chance for us to try and get along from now on.”
In short, he was saying we should bury the hatchet and get along.
I glanced at Lian in the midst of this sudden situation.
*Please, just go along with it. Huh?*
His face was so earnest it was practically a plea, swallowing the pride of his prestigious family.
It was clear he was trying his best to act as a leader.
He was the one who had offered to be punished alongside me at the disciplinary committee meeting. I couldn't just ignore his efforts.
His efforts were commendable, so instead of storming out of this awkward and random gathering…
*Thump.*
I found an empty spot and plopped down.
Lian gave me a grateful look.
I just shrugged.
Honestly, it wasn't something worth being thanked for.
Whether a bunch of little kids ostracized me or not…
I had considered it none of my business.
So, I held no hurt feelings or grudges.
After a glance at me, Lian began to calmly explain Group 3’s schedule to the others.
“As you know, we’re down one person. But the joint classes resume tomorrow.”
Group 3 was composed of low-ranking students from the start.
Now with a vacancy, the gap in our overall strength had widened even further.
I didn't know how the group competitions would play out, but it wouldn't be easy to face them with internal strife.
“The other groups are probably looking down on us.”
That must have been why he had arranged this uncomfortable meeting.
“This is when we need to show a united front.”
It was an obvious statement.
But right now, sticking together as Lian said was our best bet.
“To do that, we need to solve the immediate problem our group is facing.”
The immediate problem facing Group 3 was, of course, me.
“I’ll start.”
With those words, Lian shot up from his seat and spoke to me.
“Instead of mediating the conflict, I knowingly ignored it. As a group leader, that was a dereliction of duty, and as a cadet, it’s grounds for disqualification. I’m sorry.”
I shrugged.
I didn't have any hard feelings toward Lian.
I hadn't thought much of him before, and even less so after he offered to take punishment with me at the committee.
Now, I even felt a bit sorry for him.
Seeing him running around, swallowing the pride of his noble family just to play the part of a leader, reminded me of someone else.
I, too, once had to bow my head like that to clean up the mess made by a certain ill-tempered person.
Next were the sisters, Selma and Emma.
“It wasn't really ostracizing. We just weren't interested. In the end, I guess it’s the same as going along with it. Anyway, sorry.”
“My position is the same as Emma’s. So don’t feel too bad.”
Come to think of it, the sisters looked identical.
Were they twins?
“I’m Emma, and she’s Selma. Yes, we’re twins. So could you stop looking at us like you’re playing a game of spot the difference?”
Oh. It was the first time I'd seen twins this up close, so I was just fascinated.
The one with her hair in a braid was Emma, and the one with long, straight hair was Selma.
After they had their say, the two sisters sat down.
Lian gestured for the other cadets to continue.
At that, Pon slowly rose from his seat.
“Sorry if you were upset.”
Pon apologized with an awkward expression and sat back down.
Next was a pale-looking kid named Boen.
“…”
Boen fidgeted for a long time before bowing his head deeply.
Come to think of it, when all that chaos broke out in the dorm, he had grabbed me and stammered for a while before running off.
He must be incredibly timid.
“…”
After Boen, no one else stood up.
“As I said before, if we want to survive the upcoming group competitions, we need to stick together…”
“I!”
Just then, a kid who was particularly large, even among the well-built ones, shouted.
I remembered him.
He was the one who often hung around with Stefan, the one who got expelled.
What was his name again?
“I still don’t acknowledge you as a member of our group.”
“Udo! What are you talking about!”
Udo. Right. That was his name.
“You were merciless to a non-resistant opponent, and my code of chivalry does not permit that.”
“You agreed that our group’s situation isn't good…!”
“However!”
As an angry Lian was about to stand up, Udo spoke first.
“But I have violated the code of chivalry as well.”
With that, Udo sharply turned his head away.
What on earth was he trying to say?
I couldn't quite understand.
“...?”
Udo's words seemed to come out of nowhere for the others as well, as their faces were filled with confusion.
“Agh! I failed to practice protecting the weak!”
He seemed to think he was elaborating, but it was just as nonsensical as before.
“Ugh. This is the problem with boys. That stupid pride.”
“If you’re going to apologize, just say you’re sorry.”
The only ones who properly understood his incoherent rambling were Selma and Emma.
“What he means is, since he stood by while Yan, who has a lower entrance rank than him, was being ostracized, he’s also guilty of bullying the weak. He’s saying he’s not in the right either.”
“Such a child.”
Only after hearing the sisters’ explanation could I finally make sense of Udo’s disjointed words.
Udo’s apology-that-wasn’t-an-apology was just the beginning.
“Well, hearing Udo, I guess I didn’t do anything right either. If there was a timid group member, I should have led him well.”
This was from a lanky kid named Dario.
“My master once said to be lenient with the faults of the weak. I’ll forget about you trying to run away on your own.”
This was from a particularly old-looking kid named Peter.
“He’s such a child, holding onto his pride until the very end.”
“I feel sorry for Lian for arranging this.”
The sisters sighed at the non-apologies.
Lian looked at me.
His eyes were asking whether I would let this go or not.
Of course, it was obvious which one he was hoping for.
He would want the discord in Group 3 to be resolved, however clumsily, for the sake of surviving the upcoming group competitions.
So, I decided to handle it maturely.
I stood up.
And I apologized.
“I’m sorry for ostracizing you.”
I was, in my own way, being honest.
Just as they had ostracized me, I hadn't given them a second thought either.
For instance, today was the first time I learned the names of any of the kids besides Pon and Lian.
*Thump.*
Having said my piece, I sat down.
“...?”
“...?”
The kids stared at me blankly.
“So, this is that, right?”
“Tit for tat. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.”
It was then that the twin sisters spoke up.
“Now this is an unexpectedly classy response.”
“If he comes out like this, it’s a draw.”
The sisters gave me a thumbs-up.
“Yes. This is how you protect your pride. What is this, if not class?”
“You little brats. Watch and learn. See? How refined was that?”
I just blinked as the sisters misinterpreted my words and showered me with admiration.
*Clap.*
Just then, Lian clapped his hands and stood up.
“So, Group 3 has no more problems, then.”
His face looked as relieved as if a three-day-long indigestion had finally cleared.
“Then, before we discuss our future plans.”
Lian suddenly held out his terminal toward me.
“What’s your terminal ID?”
An unexpected question.
“I could find everyone else by searching their names, but you didn't show up.”
Instead of answering, I gave an awkward smile.
I had to hide it.
Just before coming here, hadn't I made my group members look like trash while clumsily trying to muddy the waters with my comments?
Thanks to my efforts, Lian had become a completely incompetent and irresponsible group leader.
I couldn't bring myself to reveal my ID in this situation.
“What? Don’t tell me you haven’t even registered an ID yet?”
Seeing my hesitation, Lian jumped to his own conclusion.
“It might be an unfamiliar device, but you should probably get used to it quickly. Class schedules and important notices are all delivered through this. There's also a dedicated channel for Group 3, so it’s useful in many ways.”
I said I would.
Though the day I revealed my ID to my group members would probably never come.
In any case, the meeting arranged for the harmony of Group 3 came to an end like that.
And the next day.
“Attention!”
The joint classes, which had been postponed due to the incident, began.
“From this moment on! The Eunsuri Class Group Competition will begin!”
The moment Instructor Dieter Liesner finished speaking, the Eunsuri cadets let out a roar.
The true competition of the Cradle had finally begun.