If You Can't Avoid It, Enjoy It
As I looked around, a wall of students had formed as if a massive barrier had been erected around us. Every one of them stood with mouths agape in shock, their eyes brimming with contempt.
A short sigh escaped me. I squeezed my eyes shut.
My mind went completely blank, as if everything inside it was being erased. Aah, truly perfect. How could anyone troll this flawlessly?
Lise had probably just repeated what she'd heard. But the phrase exclusive maid for relieving desires was more than enough to collapse the tower of reputation I'd painstakingly built.
Anyone would think the same.
I would look like a horny scoundrel who openly paraded his personal desire-relief maid everywhere he went. Would anyone believe that such a person had been alone in a room with a foreign duke's daughter, sharing nothing but pure, innocent conversation?
If I were a third party, I'd assume the man had to be impotent. Especially since Eltemia possessed breathtaking beauty….
That was when it happened.
The muscles in Erics's face began to twitch violently. His complexion flushed a deep crimson.
“Y-you… you perverted bastard…!”
He radiated murderous intent, looking ready to chant a spell at me at any moment. It was a good thing Lise stood between us; otherwise, he would have cast it without hesitation.
What now? What kind of excuse can I possibly give? I thought, meeting his rage-filled gaze. This was for survival.
If things continued this way, my reputation hitting rock bottom would be the least of my worries. The instant the rumor solidified into truth—that the Empire's scoundrel had brought his desire-relief maid along while subjugating a foreign princess—things would spiral far beyond the academy.
It wouldn't stop there. The Dragonis Kingdom across the sea would surely make its move. The Lethe Ducal family would never tolerate the shame. They would either demand the Empire punish me or stage a show of force to handle it themselves.
All my efforts to avoid death flags had only summoned a much larger one.
In that fleeting instant, I ran through dozens of possibilities. But no matter how many times I turned it over, the conclusion remained the same.
There was no way to escape this situation unscathed.
Clumsy excuses or evasion would only breed greater chaos. So what should I do?
There was a saying: if you can't avoid it, enjoy it. I wasn't about to enjoy anything, but the thought of at least making use of this filled my head.
Since it had come to this, I needed to protect the princess's honor. That might prevent it from escalating into an international incident.
Having reached my decision, I scanned my surroundings again. They were still watching me with eyes full of contempt and fear.
Fine. In that case, I'll give them even more to despise.
“Haha… hahahaha!!”
Swallowing my despair, I threw my head back and burst into laughter. The sound echoed across the plaza, causing the murmuring crowd to flinch and begin inching backward in horror.
Even Lise jolted at my sudden outburst, staring at me with puzzled eyes.
Deciding it was enough, I gradually stopped laughing. I fixed a deliberately skin-crawling expression on my face and stared straight at Erics.
“Yes, that's correct. This child is… indeed.”
“…What? Then—!”
“Exactly.”
“What?”
“So what do you want me to do about it?”
“…This shameless—!”
“Aah, right. Now that it's come to this, I suppose I won't be able to approach the princess anymore.”
I shook my head slowly, my face the very picture of profound regret.
“She came to me herself, wanting to discuss Moving Casting. I was planning to slowly coax her, but it looks like that's no longer possible.”
“…Ugh!”
“Well, rest assured. I haven't laid a single finger on her yet.”
Erics fell into severe confusion. He seemed torn between relief that the princess had suffered no harm and fury at the fact that I had intended to try.
I walked past him and took a step toward the crowd. Then I spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear clearly.
“Well, any young lady curious about Moving Casting can come find me anytime. I'll treat you with the utmost care… and truly cherish you.”
“…!!!”
“Everything operates on equivalent exchange, doesn't it? If you're confident, come see me.”
The plaza fell so silent it seemed they had forgotten how to breathe. The eyes fixed on me now held even greater shock, deeper contempt, and stronger disgust.
Facing those emotions, only one thought crossed my mind: Same as always.
“Never… never approach the princess again!”
Leaving Erics's shout behind, I turned and walked away. People recoiled from me with looks of pure revulsion, as though I were something filthy.
Yes. With this, at least the Lethe family won't try to kill me.
Though they might still lodge a complaint with our count family?
“…Tsk. How troublesome.”
With those words, I hurried from the scene. Behind me came the sound of Lise's footsteps, but I didn't turn to look.
Right now, I couldn't stand the sight of her.
The moment I reached my room, I drove Lise outside, ordered that no one be allowed in, and locked the door. Then I sat heavily on the bed, rubbed my face with both hands, and finally released the breath I'd been holding.
“Haa… I really have gone mad.”
I'd done it to avoid dying like a fool, yet I'd chosen to become an even bigger fool to dodge a worse one. Well, when your life is on the line, there's no helping it, but….
As a result, my reputation inside the academy had likely been driven into the ground beyond recovery. What would they call me now? Sex fiend? Garbage?
This was like returning to the beginning. No, it was actually worse. I'd caused this scandal before the hero even enrolled. At this rate, he'd try to kill me the moment he stepped through the gates.
In other words, the death flags might arrive far earlier than in the original story.
“…As if I'd die like this.”
If so, was there any way for me—now left with nothing but infamy—to survive?
Family? It held little meaning here. Enormous wealth? It wasn't even my money, and that carried little weight either.
Then what was most meaningful in this place?
“…Haa. I was planning to take it slow.”
No matter how hard I thought, my limited brain couldn't come up with another solution. In the end, it seemed there was only one path.
With that thought, I reached under the bed and pulled out the wooden box.
When I opened the latch, the Dragon Blood Grass revealed itself once more—its violent, dizzyingly dense mana as overwhelming as ever.
“Right. Since it's come to this, let's do it.”
My conclusion was the Dragon Blood Grass.
It was already too late to change their perception. The only remaining option was to meet the expectations of those who viewed me as a genius.
After all, a genius is someone who casually accomplishes what others cannot. Of course I had Moving Casting, but to solidify that image, I needed to raise my fundamental power.
For knights, it was aura. For wizards, it was circles.
“I never planned to stay stuck at 2-Circle anyway.”
Aura users had elixirs specialized for aura, while wizards had elixirs exceptionally effective at elevating circle rank. This Dragon Blood Grass belonged to the latter category.
Its inherent mana was so fierce and violent that even the direct descendants of the pure-blooded dragon Lethe Ducal family consumed it only in trace amounts. They did so continuously to prevent their mana circuits from rupturing, their blood vessels from bursting, and their bodies from collapsing.
I had originally intended to do the same. But now, I had no choice but to take the risk.
The saving grace was that I possessed a trustworthy form of insurance. To be precise, it was closer to a hopeful expectation.
“Please… hold on.”
My rubber-like body that had even endured Blood Flow Acceleration. I prayed its blood vessels wouldn't tear.
“Huu.”
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed ten roots of the Dragon Blood Grass from the box in one swift handful. This amount should be enough to raise my circle.
It was exceedingly rare for a first-year academy student to reach 3-Circle. More than half the students never even touched 3-Circle before graduation. There was even a saying that the academy's sole purpose was to achieve 3-Circle.
If I could accomplish that… at the very least, I'd be categorized as a genius. People might murmur when they saw me, but they wouldn't try to kill me.
It was all or nothing. Either my blood vessels and mana circuits would fail to endure the immense mana, collapsing and killing me, or I would endure and ascend to a higher realm.
I clenched my eyes shut and forcibly shoved the handful of herbs into my mouth.
Crunch. Crunch.
An indescribable taste flooded my entire mouth. Suppressing the urge to vomit, I kept my jaw moving relentlessly, chewing and swallowing.
The physical reaction came in less than a second.
“Keuk…! A-aaaagh…!!”
Even though I'd steeled myself, I couldn't stop the scream from escaping.
It felt as though hundreds of bombs were detonating throughout my body from within my stomach. The two mana rings encircling my heart thrashed wildly, swept up in the rampaging mana of the Dragon Blood Grass.
I collapsed to the floor, curling into a ball as convulsions wracked my body. Every inch of my skin felt like it was about to tear from the pressure. I couldn't even imagine what I must look like now.
In pain that surpassed imagination, I endured on nothing but the belief that my body would hold. The only thought in my head was that I must not die.
Get a grip…! Dying here would be a pathetic dog's death!!
I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood and poured every ounce of my mental strength into reconstructing my mana circles. I forcibly seized the torrents of mana hammering my body and crammed them into the rings around my heart.
Even as I kept vomiting blood, I refused to relinquish control. My mind faded from the agony countless times, yet with nothing but sheer obsession to forcibly expand my circles, I continued forcing the mana inward.
In what felt like an eternity, my circles slowly began to increase in volume. Then, just as the rampaging Dragon Blood Grass mana settled into my circles and began flowing in strange harmony with my existing mana, I heard something shatter inside me.
At the same time, the torment afflicting my body started to recede.
“Haak… huk….”
Gasping roughly, I continued observing my mana circles. A ring roughly twice the previous size, possessing a density beyond comparison, resonated powerfully. Encircling the two existing circles was a new, third mana ring.
“…I did it. I succeeded.”
My entire body was drenched in sweat and blood. I didn't have the strength left to move a single finger. Yet my lips curved into a smile filled with pure joy.
With my mind utterly captivated by the satisfaction of reaching 3-Circle, I slowly drifted into sleep.