You Must Help Me (1)

No matter how I thought about it, there was no way I could lure Gremory by myself. So….

Gremory had the typical style of a boss lady, a madam. Therefore, if it was someone who wanted to come under her wing or had even the slightest prior acquaintance, she was the type who would gladly grant a request to strengthen Rorschach’s power. But as for me, no matter how much I pondered it, it didn’t seem like I could ever receive her help.

There were three problems.

First, it was already public knowledge that I belonged to the young lady’s northern faction. You know, that incident at the entrance ceremony?

‘That guy is the only one who noticed me using Rorschach right there on the spot.’

Naturally, he would remember me clearly. Approaching him would be fortunate if it didn’t arouse suspicion.

The second issue was that even if I did approach her, the fact that I wasn’t a mage would be a problem. My face was already well-known, but if I could at least use some suitable magic, I might have been able to grovel at her feet with smooth talk. In reality, however, I was a knight who had poured every point into the sword. The Steel Knight was nothing more than a trick. Since I couldn’t even wield magic power, I was naturally disqualified.

Above all, the final problem was the most serious: the goal I hoped to achieve by seeking her help.

‘My ultimate objective is to take down the crown prince.’

That was something Gremory could never accept. The Bancait branch of the Karlank family and Gremory’s Aregor family had forged their bond since the founding of the empire. Of course, since it wasn’t a blood alliance, there were many uncomfortable matters between them. Yet there existed a proper collusion: if the imperial Karlanks elevated the Aregors as their mentor house to solidify their position, the Aregors would deliver the support of every mage in the empire.

With two families locked in such a relationship, if I suddenly asked her to help me kill Bancait, there was no chance she would assist.

‘I’d be lucky if she didn’t report me instead.’

Moreover, she had lived a life of abundance with nothing to envy compared to me. As a reincarnated person in this world, I had no suitable bait to offer her.

But there is no problem without a solution. The way to solve this problem was simple. If I couldn’t target her directly, I just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠needed to target the person who could never be separated from her.

And I had my memory cheat. I knew exactly one such person.

So I….

Desperately hoping an opportunity would arise where I could speak to him, I spent the past few days attending only the lectures of the person I had fixed in my mind.

This was a cautious approach, arranged with full consideration of his personality and background. At least from what I knew, if I suddenly spoke to him and left a meaningful impression, he would absolutely refuse to converse with me.

Of course, even lectures I hadn’t registered for—if they were on his timetable—I attended anyway. Yes. This was auditing.

But what you need to understand is that Sigmund’s lectures had so many students that such things usually went unnoticed. Getting an academic warning for missing regular classes? Screw that. As I said, I didn’t come here to live a normal school life in the first place. For the sake of my “self-indulgent pursuit” operation, this much sacrifice was necessary, wasn’t it?

“…Good. I believe I’ve explained the concept of Azoth sufficiently.”

It was during Professor Casacos’s alchemy lecture. Aside from the fact that she was a character I had seen in the game, the name felt quite familiar. She was the female instructor who had evaluated my sparring match.

She was a vicious genius professor with no equal in the world when it came to alchemy. Perhaps because of that, the gender ratio of students was overwhelmingly male.

‘I’m not interested in alchemy, so I didn’t register, but…’

One thing was certain: this lecture was not the pink, overflowing fantasy the boys had signed up for. The class was seriously difficult. Even though I was only auditing, it made me want to bomb the course evaluation.

“Then, from now on we’ll have the question time that you students absolutely despise~.”

Ughhh─ The lecture hall filled with the groans of the young men. The pressure was no joke.

“What do you mean, ughhh? No. I’m not going to stop. Anyone who gets called should consider it their fate. Now, let’s see, who shall I pick─.”

But the name Casacos eventually chose struck my eardrums.

“How curious. This student has no surname. I’ll go with him. Cryan? Cryan, my friend~?”

‘…This is my chance!’

The person she called was precisely the one I had been looking for.

Then the man who had been quietly scribbling notes beside me stood up, removing the hood he had been wearing.

“Yes….”

A voice that seemed to crawl along the ground and a gloomy aura. But in complete contrast, he possessed flowing golden hair and sparkling green eyes. If you saw him in passing, you might wonder if he wasn’t the rag of a person I planned to beat—Bancait’s younger brother. And that thought would be correct. He was Bancait’s half-brother.

In the great purge Bancait had carried out long ago, he had barely saved his own life, been struck from the Karlank family register, erased his surname, and crawled into the magic tower.

To such a Cryan, Casacos posed her question.

“Cryan, my student! I’m going to ask you a simple question now.”

“Yes, Professor….”

“Since we’ve just learned the basic concept of Azoth, why don’t you tell us, drawing from the Hermetic tradition I explained last time, in what ways Azoth can contribute to the sublimation of human consciousness?”

And at Casacos’s words, I quietly thought.

Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way we would know that. This woman really must want to die.

Probably everyone present was thinking the same as me.

“……”

I remembered Cryan as someone with a very good head. Even he was hesitating, unable to answer.

‘Damn it—!’

My original plan had been to listen to the question Casacos asked and answer from the side somehow to sell her a favor. That was why I had sat next to him. But how could I know something like this? It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was my first time attending the lecture today. No matter that I had entered as the top student, what I didn’t know, I didn’t know.

So as things had come to this, a complete revision of the plan was inevitable.

“Oh dear, can’t you answer~? If you can’t, there will be a big punishment, you know?”

“Ah, well….”

Scribble scribble scribble— While Cryan hesitated, I quickly wrote something in my notebook, tore it out neatly, then poked him in the side as his face grew paler—and handed him the note without a word.

“…Who are you? More importantly, please wait. I need to think of an answer to the question right now.”

“Just take it.”

“What is this?”

Overwhelmed by my momentum, he accepted the note and simply stared at me.

“I’ll save you, so.”

At that moment, I stroked the sword I had hung beside my seat.

‘Drakaris.’

Whoosh─ At that moment, my hand froze solid.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack—!!!”

I screamed as pathetically as possible in the pain and convulsed. I could have endured if I wanted to, but now was not the time. To steal all the aggro focused on Cryan, I had no choice. The aggro-stealing ghost—right now, that was me.

Since I was completely blocked off and couldn’t pull off method acting anyway, this desperate measure was…!

“Uh, ughhh?! What’s happening over there?!”

Casacos, startled by my pain-filled scream, even shattered the half-speech role-play she had been barely maintaining.

“Yes, I touched something on the experiment desk incorrectly, Professor.”

I answered with perfect composure.

“You idiot, you stupid fool! Who told you to touch that…! Wait, are you student Yohan? Why are you here when you don’t even take my class….”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack—!!!! It hurts, it hurts!”

I cut off the disadvantageous words coming from Casacos’s mouth, loudly advertising for her to please stop what she was doing and take care of me.

“Ugh, it can’t be helped…. Students, we will end today’s lecture here. I must treat student Yohan…!”

At those words, the model student in the very front spoke up.

“P-Professor. At that level, shouldn’t we call ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the emergency staff?”

“Be quiet. Since the injury was caused by alchemy equipment, it’s common sense to treat it with alchemy, student!!”

“Sorry….”

Under Casacos’s protection, I was the first to leave the lecture hall.

“……Huh.”

To Cryan, who was staring at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me with a dumbfounded face, I simply gave a slight wink.

Did you see that? My super save. Now, if you have any conscience, you’ll respond when I talk to you, right?

“Should I report this to Lady Gremory….”

On the way back to the dormitory, Cryan held a note in his hand. It was from the black-haired giant who had been in the lecture a moment ago—the one who had posed a major threat from the entrance exam onward, becoming the subject of rumors after turning the entrance ceremony into chaos. It was Yohan’s note.

The note contained the following:

It was extremely disorganized, as if written in a hurry, but Cryan’s attention caught on the word “business.”

Business. With me. Why?

A guy who was top of his grade and famous enough to rampage with his young lady at the entrance ceremony—why would he come to someone like me?

‘Is he trying to make a secret friend or something…. That would be the worst.’

Perhaps, like the survivors of that “blood purge” who always requested private meetings with him, he had come to plot the assassination of His Highness his older brother?

‘It can’t be. Why would a northerner with no connection to the center say such things— No, you never know.’

Even with these thoughts, he still couldn’t fathom the true intention, so Cryan’s mind was in complete chaos. Besides, the situation earlier hadn’t even been that difficult; he had already known about Azoth. He had simply been pondering how to answer well when the other party suddenly stepped in without being asked.

Was he really that desperate to talk to an uninteresting guy like himself?

However, to be honest….

‘It was funny.’

If the man had approached him directly, he would have felt rejection and avoided him. But to think this far ahead—there was no reason not to meet.

Therefore, Cryan decided he should speak of this to the person he served: Lady Gremory. Upon reflection, the lady herself was also viewing Yohan with interest. If he went with her instead of alone, it should be fine.

‘The problem is not knowing his intention. If I go with the lady, I can block any strange talk at the source.’

Of course, as he had said, it was unlikely the business concerned His Highness his older brother. If it did, he had no desire to get involved in such a plot, and there were reasons he could not even listen to it. Still, there was no harm in being careful. That was why it had to be Lady Gremory. If he was with the lady who served as the wings of Karlank, no sane person would dare speak such words.

Though Lady Gremory herself did not yet know what kind of person his older brother was.

‘Lunchtime, at the cafeteria….’

Whoosh— Cryan quietly crumpled the paper and burned it with new magic.