The Scent of Hypocrisy
"I'll keep this brief. We don't have much time."
I didn't like repeating myself. Especially not now, when I couldn't fully trust everyone in this room.
However, now that Olivia's eyes had turned serious, it would be ridiculous to exclude her from the conversation.
"Fabian was being systematically bullied. And he was using drugs himself."
"Is that... really true?"
Olivia trailed off in disbelief, but unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury of time to coddle her shock.
"Conrad was the one orchestrating the bullying. Though it seems he rarely got his own hands dirty."
"...Why? Did he hold a grudge against Fabian?"
"No. I doubt it. There were probably many other dark mage cadets who suffered the same treatment as Fabian."
Claire bit her lower lip. She seemed pained by the realization that such things were happening right under her nose in her own class without her noticing.
But there was nothing she could have done. Dark mages instinctively fear being perceived as weak, and they fear other dark mages finding out about it even more.
Those who wielded the light might feel terror toward dark mages, but they still had a chance to overcome it. The reverse was also true.
But for a dark mage to feel fear toward another dark mage, or to be looked down upon, was a matter of life and death, to put it only slightly dramatically.
Even if someone was tormenting them, they would never go around broadcasting it to others.
"Fabian needed a lot of money for the drugs, and it seems Conrad made a massive profit by lending money to him and others like him."
"...That's."
"I witnessed him beating Fabian myself. Of course, I don't think it was a regular occurrence."
Conrad's social standing was quite high. There was a vast difference between rumors of him ordering someone to be bullied and an actual victim beaten by his own hands stepping forward.
"Considering his status, I doubt he'd get worked up over a few pennies... but who knows."
Olivia's eyes looked hollow.
"So... that's how it was."
"And second, the drugs. Victor from the dark magic class was distributing them."
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"Because I went and bought one myself."
Lightly brushing off Olivia's question, I continued my explanation.
"And Conrad is also involved in this drug distribution ring. Though Victor didn't seem to realize it."
"..."
"To be precise, it's a larger organization he belongs to. Conrad's role was likely to bypass the guards' inspections and make them look the other way."
Olivia, who had been listening in silence, asked skeptically.
"Wait. Isn't that a leap in logic? I get that Conrad is a bastard and Victor is the perpetrator. But... you don't seem to have any proof."
"I have my ways of gathering information. Ways I can't share with others."
Kellin nodded silently. As a dark mage's subordinate, she knew all too well that there were countless ways for a dark mage to extract information.
Of course, my deductions were based on my knowledge from my past life, not familiars or dark magic.
"So, we are going to interrogate Victor and find the evidence linking Conrad to this."
The students' anger was smoldering. If this conflict was left unchecked, it would inevitably trigger a cascade of incidents brushed off as 'youthful hotheadedness among academy cadets.'
Once things escalated to that point, it would no longer be an issue the Academy could resolve internally. And I knew exactly who wanted such an outcome.
"End of explanation. The sun is setting. It's almost time for our meeting, so let's move."
There was no time for a lengthy discussion. I stood up from my seat.
"First, we pay Victor a visit."
Following behind Wade, Olivia replayed his words in her mind dozens, hundreds of times.
"What I want..."
She had been furious. She couldn't accept that she had been unable to defeat Kellin.
Now, she knew the reason why.
Her devotion had been lacking. She hadn't realized what she truly desired. She hadn't been ready to sacrifice everything else for the one thing she wanted most.
Ironically, he already saw right through her.
"You just wanted to be recognized, didn't you?"
That single sentence had pierced her to the core.
As if he were a master diviner rather than a dark mage, he had peered straight into Olivia's soul.
Recognition. Not honor, not loyalty, but simple recognition.
The one thing the countless members of her family had never granted her. The one thing she was willing to abandon everything to obtain.
Perhaps it didn't even matter whether it was recognition as the 'honorable knight Olivia' or as the 'undeniably strong Olivia.'
Re-evaluating herself from that perspective, Olivia felt incredibly pathetic and insignificant.
She was a woman whose heart was filled with the deception of denying her own desires. A woman harboring a craving so ugly she could barely tolerate it.
Yet, she had no choice but to admit it.
"Do you think you'll become some kind of hero if you kill Fabian while he's locked up in prison?"
She hadn't been thinking that. That much she could swear.
But the moment she heard his words, she couldn't deny that the thought, 'Was that an option?' had crossed her mind.
Affection for her kin, a sense of kinship as someone else who went unrecognized, the belief that Fabian wouldn't have done such a thing without a reason, and the sympathy urging her to save an innocent soul.
She possessed all of those feelings to some degree, but they were infinitesimally small and weak compared to her burning desire for recognition.
"But... is this really okay? Two of us are already Katarin's subordinates! This involves dark magic, so there's no way that woman isn't involved."
"It doesn't matter. It's true that both you and Kellin are connected to Katarin... but this incident has nothing to do with her."
And yet, he had recognized her.
It was laughable. The effort Olivia had poured in, her strength, her loyalty, and the sacrifices she had made to wield demonic energy had played absolutely no part in him acknowledging her.
"Besides, Olivia... you have a right to this."
She had figured she might eventually have to use her family's authority. But she had never imagined it would happen like this.
Because a familial bond she had never once deemed important was the very thing that had earned his acknowledgment.
"..."
She was confused.
Her decision to follow him had been driven half by sheer stubbornness.
I will never... accept this.
Deep down, Olivia had already realized what kind of person she was, but she still couldn't bring herself to accept that 'ugly Olivia.'
She wanted to be a knight who acted for honor and justice, not a monster driven solely by a craving for validation.
Her desire to be recognized was preventing her from facing the self that desperately wanted that recognition.
"How much further?"
"We're almost there. I'll tell you now: do not move without my orders."
Wade's cold command pierced Olivia's ears.
"Victor is someone I can handle on my own. Having you all move with me now is simply to add credibility to my words."
"Because of Conrad?"
"Because of Conrad."
Every single word he spoke was filled with absolute certainty. Though the other party members might have had their own thoughts, they all respected his directions.
In a different way from Katarin or the Princess, he was anything but ordinary.
Unlike her heart, which was tossing like waves before a storm, he moved with a steadfast purpose.
She envied that so intensely.
"Brought a lot of friends, didn't you?"
Victor grimaced, staring at my party members alongside his own crowd.
"We have things to discuss."
"Is it really that urgent? I came out because a promise is a promise, but... the atmosphere in the Academy is pretty tense right now. I was planning to keep a low profile for a while—"
"The drugs you distribute."
I fired back immediately, giving Victor no time to think.
"Fabian killed someone. Of course, the murder was his own choice, but there was something that made him lose his self-control."
"That's..."
"And that's not all. The addiction rate of this drug is far worse than I thought."
Victor shouted defensively.
"Damn it, what drug isn't addictive?! For someone like you, the addiction wouldn't even register, so I didn't warn you. But I warned that bastard Fabian!"
"Sure. Whatever the reason, it doesn't change the fact that your drugs caused this incident. Or that it's a banned substance."
Victor bit his lip. A brief silence fell over us.
"Right... a banned substance? And who banned it?"
"Obviously, the Academy—"
I stopped mid-sentence as a massive sense of incongruity struck me.
"Before the Academy, it was the Empire. The Empire banned it."
Victor took a step closer to me.
"By the very scumbags who steal the exact same stuff, sell it legally, and still can't get enough!"
The scent of the drug. I had experienced that exact aroma once before in this world.
In the Silver Shadow Tea the Princess had given me.