Shall We Make a Bet?
After a brief silence.
"Um... Eugene?"
"Yes, Professor Eldora."
"D-do we really need to go as far as writing a contract?"
Having finished reviewing it, Eldora set the contract down with a composed expression.
"Is this not a world we live in by trust?"
It was a thoroughly businesslike smile, nothing like the shadowed look she'd worn only moments before.
Well, yeah. I did go a little overboard.
Transferring her entire fortune. Binding the Florence family as my slaves for generations. Bowing in my direction every morning...
I'd have refused too.
Which is exactly why I wrote it that over-the-top on purpose.
The first principle of negotiation.
If you want something, start by asking for something so enormous that what you actually want looks trivial by comparison.
What I actually wanted was just one thing.
For Yuria to become a scholarship student.
That would cut off one of the two reasons she becomes a villainess.
"...Eugene?"
"Yes?"
"I, um, was hoping you'd say something..."
Looking at Eldora, it seemed she'd agree to just about any request at this point.
This should be enough.
I nodded and stood.
"Then let's keep it simple. If I win the bet, Professor Eldora grants me one request — anything within her power."
"...And the terms of defeat are the same?"
"Of course. Feel free to add a few conditions of your own, Professor, if you'd like."
Not that she ever would.
"Anything else you'd like?"
I looked at Eldora with a smiling gaze, and she slowly shook her head.
"No. Then we'll proceed as discussed."
"Thank you."
I offered a polite thanks, then met the eyes of every remaining professor, one by one.
"The rest of you agree as well, I assume?"
Don't you dare go back on this later.
That was the meaning I packed into my stare — but they looked even more excited than I was, as if this was what they'd been hoping for all along.
"Hah, of course! You're the one who'd better not go back on it when the time comes!"
"Thanks to Lady Eldora, that's one less thing to worry about."
"Everyone, let's head back and prepare for the Rank Assessment Exam! We've got a mountain of work to do — a mountain!"
Phew. Barely managed to memorize all their faces.
I'll definitely have to "accidentally" punch them later.
A short while later, only Nahan, Chulsoo, Bright, and I remained in the infirmary.
"Aren't you two heading back?"
"..."
Chulsoo silently glanced at Bright, and Bright—
"Ahh... Lord Eugene..."
"The fuck?"
He suddenly dropped to his knees, shuffled over to my side, and carefully extended a hand.
In that hand—
"I-i-i-if Lady Vivian ever comes looking for you again, please, you must take this..."
A white token, the name Bright engraved upon it in gold.
I took it and asked,
"And I'm supposed to do what with this?"
"Well..."
The face of that ice-cold pretty boy twisted into something like a pervert drunk on excessive desire.
"Throw it at Lady Vivian."
"?"
Has this guy lost it?
That was like saying:
"If you happen to encounter a starving bear while hiking, please use this."
"This rock?"
"Yes. If you throw this at the bear..."
You'll get torn to shreds and die.
Just like I nearly got smashed to pieces by Vivian, if I hadn't had a unique constitution.
"Kihik, kihihit. If that happens, Lady Vivian... at last...!!"
"Ugh. This lunatic."
Can a person really go this far off the deep end in just two days?
"Got it, now get lost."
"D-do you truly mean it?!"
"I said get lost."
"Kyaruk-kustustus! Then I shall take my leave!!"
There was no point trying to have a conversation with him, so I gave a vague "sure" and shooed him out.
Now the only one left was—
"So what do you intend to do now?"
My beloved disciple, Chulsoo.
I smiled and answered.
"Get back on my feet, of course."
"Is it true... that you've lost all the aura you'd built up until now?"
"Why don't you check for yourself?"
"May I?"
"Of course. By the way, the way you keep going nya-nya like that is kinda cute. Like a cat."
"Pardon me, then."
The rest of my sentence got chopped off at the waist.
Ash-gray aura gathered in Chulsoo's eyes.
"..."
He seemed to scan my body for a moment, then immediately bit down on his own lip.
"...I'm sorry."
Chulsoo bowed his head.
"Because I was inadequate, because I was weak, because I was complacent and stupid... I made you lose everything."
He must think I was crippled because he failed to stop Vivian.
Come to think of it, he was like this in the original too.
Gloomy and taciturn enough that people mistook him for a shadowy mastermind, but in truth, he cared about his students more than anyone.
"Put this on."
"Huh? I'm not even hurt."
"Under your right eye."
That's how far it went — he'd hand you a bandage for a scratch you hadn't even noticed yourself.
"H-hiek, Professor Charles!!"
"...I'm glad the wound has healed."
"Ah, th-thank you."
A man who lost sleep over the smallest injuries, who seemed overflowing with joy at even the slightest growth.
That was the Head of the Swordsmanship Department at Academy Zion: K-Charles de Lumière.
That's why I smiled.
"Then do better."
"...?"
"I said do better, disciple."
"Hah... Fine."
A faint irritation surfaced on Chulsoo's face, which had been drowning in guilt.
That should keep him from crying, at least.
I let out a short laugh and started getting ready to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To train, obviously. I've got a bet to win, don't I?"
"I mean where."
"Hmm. Somewhere with lots of bad guys?"
"Bad guys?"
I picked up some worn-out clothes, threw on a robe, and strapped on an elegant black sword.
"Life's a practical exam, after all."
Chulsoo let out a short laugh.
"The Backstreets, then."
"Ooh. Promoted to chimpanzee."
"...The hell."
"It's nothing."
After finishing all the discharge preparations, I bowed at the waist toward Nahan.
"Thank you for saving my life."
"I'm the one who should thank you for coming back alive."
"I'll come visit again soon, Father!!"
I ignored Nahan's face crumpling in horror, opened the door, and stepped out of the infirmary.
"I'll walk you to the front gate."
"I'd appreciate that."
We talked as we headed toward the entrance.
"How many freshmen are there?"
"Swordsmanship, magic, and specializations combined, well over a thousand."
"Must've been a lot of work, with the entrance exam."
"Not particularly. Someone smashed the scarecrow, so several professors were able to step in and run the exam. If anything, it lightened the load."
"So why no thank-you? Hmm? Disciple? You got to coast thanks to me."
"...The hell."
As we chatted about this and that, Chulsoo handed me a small pouch.
"Five gold in cash. The rest is a check."
"Holy moly."
"...I can never understand a word that comes out of your mouth."
I took the pouch and checked the contents.
Ten gleaming, heavy gold coins and a single crisp check were nestled inside, looking downright precious.
They'll all be gone soon enough anyway...
It was enough to make me tear up, but what could I do? If I didn't want the world to end, I had to pour everything into it.
I popped a gold coin in my mouth and started rolling it around on my tongue, and Chulsoo bowed his head once more.
"I'm sorry. After letting you go through something like that, this is all the compensation I can offer... I've filed an objection, so I'll pass along the result once it comes in."
"Can I kiss you?"
"Get off."
Honestly, I just needed money I could use right away. I wasn't particularly greedy.
Until I achieved a happy ending, I had to live for that and that alone.
A reliable patron would come along soon enough, too.
So what mattered right now was—
"By the way. What happened to Rania?"
The protagonist's well-being.
"...?"
Chulsoo, who until now had answered everything instantly, opened and closed his mouth for the first time, fishlike.
Uncharacteristically hesitant, he leaned in close to my ear and asked carefully,
"Were the two of you... involved?"
"Excuse me?"
"No. Why would a girl like her, with someone like you..."
Someone like me, what, you bastard.
He seemed to be misunderstanding my relationship with Rania, so I boiled it down.
"We're just friends."
"I knew it!! There's no way that girl would be with a lunatic like you..."
Chulsoo's expression hardened again.
"Why would she be friends with someone like you?"
Okay, that one actually stung.
I looked at Chulsoo and let out a sigh.
"Right, what would she want with a guy who doesn't even have aura? Pretty mysterious, isn't it?"
"No, I just—"
"Lost a lifetime's worth of aura in a single day. Woohoo, awesome. Went from a leading candidate for top incoming student to a piece of trash nobody even wants as a friend. Oops. Maybe I should climb into a garbage can. Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a spare trash bin at home, would you?"
"...Eugene. I sincerely apologize."
"Yes! I win."
Anyway, he said Rania had become the freshman representative and enrolled without incident.
"That's a relief."
"You look as happy as if it were your own affair."
"Of course I am."
The fact that I'd die if I didn't achieve a happy ending was terrifying, but separate from that, it genuinely made me glad that the protagonist I'd always loved was happy.
The entrance exam would be over once I found a suitable F-Rank and borrowed a skill. What remained was...
Saving the villainess, Yuria.
And all the conditions just so happened to be in place.
Not being able to see Rania for a while was a shame, but it couldn't be helped.
As we bantered about this and that, we arrived at the front gate before I knew it.
"Then I'll see you in a week."
"Before that, hold on."
Chulsoo raised his right hand.
Shhhk.
Ash-gray aura rippled, drawing metal from within his coat.
The instant he clenched his fist—
Crunch, craaack! Crush!
The metal hanging in midair compressed, glowing red, and became a sharp dagger and a small orb.
"Take them."
"Hot—son of a bitch!!"
"Ah."
Hisssss...
"I forgot to cool them down."
"You did that on purpose."
"I forgot, regardless."
Isn't that my speech pattern?
I had to borrow a bucket from a guard and cool them off before I could even carry them on me.
"Use them however you like, but if an emergency comes, destroy the orb with the dagger."
"And then what happens?"
"It explodes."
Hold on.
"Doesn't that mean I'd be the one getting blown up?"
"...Anyway, you'd best be on your way."
"No. Wai—"
"That's all. I'm busy."
Chulsoo spun around in a hurry and started walking back toward Zion.
I shouted at his back.
Chulsoo stopped in his tracks.
"...Guess I can't bring myself to hate you."
He whispered something under his breath, then waved a hand without looking back.
The atmosphere had somehow turned warm.
I looked at Chulsoo and let out a short laugh.
"He's wearing tighty-whities..."
Wear some looser pants, man.
It's awkward and annoying.
Anyway, I left Zion behind, and the moment I stepped into the Backstreets for the next phase of the plan—
"Hey. You can't just wander in here, you know? I don't know who you are, but get out right n—"
A familiar voice.
The owner of that voice was—
"Uh..."
The greatest early-game villain of Academy Genius.
"Eugene?"
The villainess, Yuria.