Chapter 79
Chapter 79
Episode 79
The final exams, including the comprehensive evaluation, had all ended.
So, I had thought it would be vacation now, but in reality, that wasn't quite the case.
There had been incidents like the [Death King]'s invasion or Prudence Loa's deviation, and due to that, many subjects had been postponed.
Yes, that meant there were supplementary classes.
And even then, since there weren't that many subjects, it had been a considerably leisurely and peaceful class schedule, but…….
-Oz, rush over to the Headmaster's office right now.
Tia had summoned me.
“The Headmaster? I thought there might be some misunderstanding, but I really had done nothing this time.”
It felt unfair. I really hadn't done anything this time.
As I was also a person, I had needed time alone, and after seeing Professor Ira suddenly lose his temper, I also hadn't made any more contact with others than necessary.
Yes, since the final exams had ended, I had been resting both body and mind.
-What, it wasn't like a guilty person giving themselves away; did you think I only summoned you when you had unconditionally caused trouble?
“Wasn't that the case?”
-Actually, that was true. So, if you didn't want to end up dead, rush over while I was asking nicely.
Now, I didn't know what I had done wrong or where, for things to have blown up.
What had I done wrong?
What had I touched, and where, that caused those guys to suddenly lose their temper?
I didn't know. For now, since Tia didn't seem as furious as I had thought, I figured I should walk slowly and think it over.
It was when I was thus moving through the quiet campus with slow steps.
“Ah, Oz.”
“Marie?”
Marie, the pitiful girl who trembled eight out of ten times we met, appeared.
But today, her symptoms were a bit more severe. She was trembling violently, as if she were being watched or something.
Although there were watchers even now, that was strange.
Not only was there no one among the watchers who could overpower her, but most of their gazes were directed at me.
If so, the one making her tremble was not someone present here.
“Oh, Oz. You know…….”
“Was it the [Death King]?”
“Huh……?”
This was Marie, who hadn't even feared death. The only things she feared were her friends' danger and the [Death King] alone.
In the current situation, since it was unlikely anyone had fallen into mortal danger, it was clear that the [Death King]'s side had made a move.
It had seemed like they had caused some trouble recently as it was, but this was quite blatant.
“What was wrong?”
“Th-th-th-that is, it seemed Father had started to move.”
“First, calm down. No matter how hard that bastard tried, unless you yourself opened the door for him, he couldn't even set foot in Scientia.”
“No……”
Marie was now on the verge of tears.
What was it that she felt so sorry about? As if it were her own fault, she covered her face and sobbed.
“Father has gathered all the Clutches who lead his armies…….”
“All the Clutches?”
The Clutches. They were the executives of the legion that followed the [Death King] Thanatos.
The dead were somewhat removed from the concept of time.
And the Clutches, even among such dead souls, were monsters who had especially endured for a very long time.
During the last invasion, as they had likely deployed their forces assuming total annihilation, there had been no Clutches, but this time was different. The fact that he had gathered all the Clutches, who were executives, could mean, as Marie had said, that he was preparing for an all-out war.
The somewhat fortunate thing was that this was a development that had also been observed in the game.
If I knew it, it could be twisted.
I had to believe so.
“There was nothing to worry about, Marie. Since I happened to be on my way to the Headmaster anyway, I would try to speak to them well.”
“Ha, would the Headmaster believe your words, Oz? After you had caused so much trouble….”
“...You too have been seeing me like that? That was disappointing….”
Really…….
Disappointing?
“Ah, no, it isn't true! I'm sorry! That hadn't been my intention….”
Marie, who had been trembling in fear until just a moment ago, began to get flustered.
Fortunately, it seemed my acting had been quite decent. She, who held a sense of indebtedness towards me, regained some of her usual self in response to my reaction.
But if I left her like this, she would sink back into anxiety.
I had to reassure her. I had to instill in her the conviction that it would be okay.
The conviction I could give her was the Headmaster's power, and.
“There was no need to think about its difficulty. Because I already knew everything.”
A confident bluff.
Such a bluff, for her, would rather be able to bring conviction.
“You knew everything...? Really?”
“Yes, in fact, I had also been thinking that they would make a move around this time."
Because, within her, I would already be the hero who had saved her once.
“I had already noticed it even before the final exams began. The Death King was, after all, just playing into my hands.”
“Th-then...!”
Marie's eyes, which had always been tinged with murkiness, rarely shone with light.
Although I felt a slight burden, it couldn't be helped. It was a life I had saved.
It was a life I had decided to take responsibility for.
She herself was the very existence that symbolized the first fate I had twisted.
Although she was clearly a half-dead being from the Netherworld.
“This matter could be resolved even more simply than previous matters, so there was no need to worry.”
It was clearly a life I had brought back.
“Because I had already finished the preparations.”
“Really?”
“Yes, so you just needed to think about what you would do for fun in Scientia during the vacation. When vacation started, most of the kids would probably go home, so you would probably have to find a hobby you could do alone.”
“Ah, since I was usually alone most of the time anyway, that point was fine.”
“...No, that wasn't something that was fine. You shouldn't have thought it was fine.”
Even though Marie had regained her liveliness, she was tinged with gloom. She was that kind of person.
“Then, since I had to go to the Headmaster for now, you go and play. You were going to remain, weren't you? Then you should tell your friends that I was going and would be back.”
“Uh, yes!”
At my words, Marie began to run off with quick, short steps, as if in a hurry.
As she was running off like that, she spun around, as if she had forgotten something for a moment, and said to me.
“Be careful and come back safely! Oz.”
“...Yes.”
After sending Marie off like that, I too headed towards the Headmaster's office.
Was it because the day was hot? I felt a little dizzy. My feet got tangled.
“Haah….”
No, I knew. In front of Marie, I had put on a brave front with great effort, but I knew well enough that the situation was not very good.
To think I could see the [Death King]'s movements only now? No, there was no way that was true.
I didn't believe in the luck of having accidentally discovered such an important plan.
This had been shown to me on purpose.
The [Death King] Thanatos, through Marie, had provoked me, asking if I would dare to challenge him, even knowing it was a trap.
“That bastard, with such lingering resentment….”
Main Story Chapter 5, where the [Death King] began to move again.
It seemed that moving secretly behind the scenes would likely be impossible.
“Damn it….”
Let's think a little.
I only knew that the Death King causing trouble was Main Story Chapter 5, but I didn't know the exact timing.
While thinking about Chapter 5 when Chapter 4 hadn't even been cleanly wrapped up yet might seem premature, it couldn't be helped.
Because Main Story Chapter 5 held a special meaning even for me.
“It meant he had lost….”
In Chapter 5, Oz had been defeated.
He had rolled on the floor disgracefully, dragging down the morale of his allies as much as possible.
Even if it was said he had lost due to carelessness, Oz was Oz, no matter what.
That meant he was a skilled person in a position far beyond my current self.
Such an Oz had lost.
But then, how could I, who was currently not even as good as that Oz, twist Chapter 5?
Earlier, to Marie, I had spoken as if the [Death King]'s plans or the like would be nothing if we had the Headmaster's power.
But that was impossible.
It was because of Spina's existence.
She underwent an incubation process starting from Main Story Chapter 4 up to Chapter 6. In such a situation, if Tia's time had been taken away, it was unknown what would have happened.
She was Tia's earnest wish, the crystallization of lingering attachment built up over hundreds of years.
It could have been said she was everything.
If, by any chance, any problem had arisen from this incident, I would have had no face to see Tia. All of the future Main Story would have become opaque.
“Haah….”
In the end, what I could do was only to utilize the things I had built up until now to the fullest.
Perhaps I would have to borrow the manpower of Tenebris.
I might have become entangled with the Empire more than necessary....
“...I wondered if, at this rate, I wouldn't soon be captured and become the princess's live-in son-in-law?”
Now, I also didn't know.
In front of the Headmaster's office door.
Now, if I opened the door, Tia, with her fiery temper, would greet me.
Honestly, being scolded by her was scarier than a natural disaster on a national scale.
The [Death King]'s large-scale invasion plan?
With one breath from Tia, wouldn't they all just melt away?
Yes, I was going to meet a wicked evil dragon.
This trembling meant it was normal.
“Stop loitering around and come in.”
Indeed, since I was in front of the door, it would have been strange if Tia hadn't noticed.
Should I have not come in, claiming it was hot, and wandered around outside a little longer instead?
Damn it……. Unlike usual, perhaps because this time there was really nothing I could predict, it was scarier.
“Hoo….”
With one deep breath, having steeled my resolve, what I heard the moment I opened the door was.
“Welcome. Pfft……. Nu-number 1 male who looked like he would look good in women's clothes.”
“What did you say……?”
It was strange nonsense.
Tia, as soon as she saw my face, as if she couldn't hold it in, started laughing while snickering, clutching her stomach.
What was this? Really, what was this?
Perhaps it had been a surprise party for me? But it only made me feel bad.
“Ahah, we-well, don't just stand there blankly, come in for now.”
“May I ask what kind of situation this was now?”
Stop laughing. Because it was annoying.
“Well, it was a bit much to explain in detail. First, look at that.”
In the place Tia pointed to, what was visible was familiar bluish-silver hair.
“Aah….”
Just from seeing that hair, dizziness arose. As if a puzzle in my head was being pieced together, a chill rushed over me.
“Noah, you, you litt—... No, what have you really done……?”
In a corner of the sofa, the person sitting demurely was Eleanor.
She, as if she had become a sinner or something, was bowing her head.
“What have you done to be summoned directly by the Headmaster? What kind of trouble have you caused again this time?!”
“……”
Eleanor did not answer.
She merely bowed her head even lower. That confident Noah had caused trouble to the extent that she couldn't lift her face?
“Well, for her to say it with her own mouth would probably be a bit funny.”
Tia, saying such words, was looking over documents and writing something.
Each time she turned a page of those documents, a sigh as if finding it absurd and a sneer as if finding it quite a spectacle hung on the corners of her lips.
“To explain first, since it seemed that child didn't have any family either, I called you as her guardian. You two are close, aren't you? It was widely rumored even in the disciplinary committee.”
Tia had found out that Eleanor was the owner of a key because of the incident with the ‘Outer Being’.
And I had asked her to overlook it, saying I would take responsibility for Eleanor.
This was that.
As an extension of that, she was treating me like a parent.
There had never been a time I had resented Eleanor this much.
Damn it…… If only Tia hadn't been watching, I would have given Eleanor a good smack.
More than that, the fact that the rumor of Eleanor and I being close came from among the disciplinary committee members, didn't that mean they were seeing her and me as troublemakers on the same level?
With such an attention seeker? It was humiliating.
“Don't glare like that and just listen first. Because she had committed a cute act.”
“If it had really been a cute act, she wouldn't have come to the Headmaster's office like this, would she.”
Seeing Tia's sly face, it didn't seem like she was that angry.
But that too was a red flag.
It meant it was a preliminary step for grinding down not my physical body, but my mental state.
“That blue-haired one. So, the reason Noah was called here was none other than this: her demerit points had broken through the limit.”
“No, what on earth had happened for that to happen already…….”
Until now, in Scientia, there had only been one person who had received demerit points up to the limit within one semester.
The limit referred to someone who had done something to the extent of warranting grade repetition or expulsion. Yes, one of them was me.
“What have you really done?”
Speaking as someone who had received demerits up to the limit myself, unless one had done something to the extent of devastating the surroundings during the entrance exam, it was hard to reach that point.
As for Eleanor, although she had steadily accumulated demerits from her usual conduct, even so, it was too many.
Even when I had checked while doing disciplinary committee work, it hadn't been that much.
There had also been many things I had overlooked.
“She had apparently conducted a popularity poll.”
“……?”
I didn't understand.
I couldn't understand any of what Tia was saying.
What was she talking about now?
“Don't make such a dumbfounded face and just listen first. That idiot, you see. ……She had sold voting rights for money.”
“What in the…….”
She was really something else. How could she be so malicious?
“Moreover, there had apparently been several categories.”
“The fact that that bullshit from earlier actually hadn't been bullshit was truly shocking. I want to sue for defamation; would that be possible?”
“Since it seemed like it would unnecessarily escalate things, don't do anything pointless and endure it.”
What, I was ranked number 1 among men who would look good in women's clothes?
Me? How was I supposed to take this person's malice?