For a Mad Dog, a Stab Wound Is the Best Medicine (1)
The academy's entrance ceremony wrapped up in less than two hours.
Entrance ceremonies were never particularly time-consuming affairs to begin with, and there was nothing about Luminor Academy's version that made the atmosphere all that different. From a game-design standpoint, after all, most players skipped the entrance ceremony entirely—there'd be no reason for the developers to pour effort into it.
A brief speech from Seraphin, the top student across all departments, followed by the awarding of scholarships and commendations to each department's first and second place students—that made up the bulk of the event, so the whole thing proceeded at a brisk pace.
Having anticipated some congestion around the podium, I deliberately slipped out of the grand hall a little early and waited outside for Edan to emerge. If I lingered inside the crowded hall waiting for him, I figured I'd only feel suffocated—and I had a feeling Edan would notice my absence and come find me on his own anyway.
So there I stood just outside the grand hall, quietly waiting for the honor students' schedule to run its course, when a male student who looked like a freshman suddenly approached me and asked me something. A stranger—a man—walking up to me out of nowhere flustered me a bit, and I answered with a question laced with wariness.
"Excuse me?"
"…Are you talking to me?"
"Yes. I'm a new student, so I don't really know my way around the academy yet—could you tell me how to get to the pharmacology building from here?"
"The pharmacology building is past the combat arts building directly ahead of the grand hall, then to the right. Once you turn right, the first building you'll come to is the engineering building, and the one after that is pharmacology."
"Oh, got it. Thank you so much!"
…And here I was getting all guarded for nothing. He was just asking for directions.
Still, considering the somewhat rough-and-tumble reputation of Luminor Academy, it was hard not to be on edge. This was an academy that gathered the strongest young talents the empire had to offer—which meant it was also a place where you'd occasionally run into people who'd lost their manners along with their common sense.
I was staring blankly at the hall entrance again, lost in that thought, when this time a woman in a white priestess's habit—clearly from the theology department at a glance—came up to me with a question of her own.
"Pardon me, Sister, but might I ask the way to the theology building?"
"The theology building doubles as the academy branch of the Church of Aurelia. Walk forward along the main road in front of the grand hall and you'll reach the magic building—go halfway around it and cross over to the back, and the theology building is right behind it."
"Thank you, Sister. May the Goddess's grace ever be with you."
"Excuse me, where would I find the central park…"
"The central park is to the left of the main administration building. Follow the main road from here and the building with the central bulletin board is the administration building."
"Oh, I see."
"And dormitory three—how do I get to…"
…What is going on?
Why did it feel like an unusual number of people were asking me for directions today?
The ceremony was over and I was simply standing in front of the grand hall waiting for Edan to come out, yet freshmen kept swarming up to me. Bewildered, my eyes happened to fall on the uniforms of the academy maids guiding the crowds at the entrance—and suddenly I had a pretty good idea what was happening.
Come to think of it, I was wearing my modified academy uniform right now.
With this outfit that looked like a half-blend of maid's dress and academy uniform, it wasn't exactly strange for people to mistake me for a directly-employed academy maid. I'd designed it from the start to unmistakably read as a servant's clothing, after all, and to the eyes of today's incoming freshmen, it would be hard to distinguish from actual academy staff attire.
Well, since it would take Edan a while longer to make his way out of the grand hall anyway, I figured I'd do a bit of volunteer work in the meantime and kept giving directions. I'd seen this game's endings twenty-four times, so I more or less had Luminor Academy's map memorized—and besides, speeding people out of the hall would actually help quell the congestion.
Fantasy world or not, freshmen were still freshmen. Approaching them the way I used to treat underclassmen at my old school in my past life was honestly kind of fun.
I was in the middle of explaining the academy layout to yet another batch of new students when a lazy-eyed noble boy sauntered up and asked for directions too.
"…You there, I'd like to ask for directions."
"Oh, of course."
"I arranged to meet an acquaintance at the student cafeteria after the ceremony, but it's so crowded in there I've forgotten where it was. If it's not too much trouble, perhaps you could escort me there…"
"Judging by your uniform, you're a swordsmanship student, aren't you?"
"…Ah. I am, yes."
"The academy cafeteria is behind the main library building—if you head from the swordsmanship building toward the library, it's just past it."
"……"
He just stood there dumbly, as if he had more to say, but I deliberately avoided meeting his eyes and gave him an appropriately indifferent brush-off, naturally shifting my gaze as if to help another freshman who happened to be approaching.
That was my plan—ignore the tiresome noble brat, keep guiding the other new students, and wait for Edan. Unfortunately, the shiftless-looking young man seemed utterly incapable of grasping the intent behind my words and actions.
"My department's senior told me to come to the back gate after the ceremony ends. Does the academy even have a back gate?"
"The back gate is along the main road between the archery and pharmacology buildings—"
—Grip!
"……Ah."
A sudden pressure closed around my arm, right where that noble brat had been standing moments before.
I could guess well enough what he was thinking, grabbing my arm like that, and the curses rose unbidden in my mind.
…For the love of—all you had to do was take the hint and get lost.
"The student cafeteria is behind the library, in the direction of—"
"Sorry, but I'm finding your explanations rather hard to follow."
"……"
"Couldn't you simply guide me there yourself? I'm quite certain I'll lose my way if I go alone."
The audacity. The absolute gall.
I met the eyes of the noble brat running his transparent little scheme on me one more time, and marshaling the last scraps of my patience, answered with all the courtesy I could scrape together.
"I'm sorry. I don't have the time to spare for that, even for a new student."
"You would defy me—a scion of the House of Reidenhart—over the word of a mere academy servant?"
…You has got to be kidding me.
I'd sent every signal—blatant disinterest, a clear "get lost"—and he still wouldn't take the hint. What a spectacularly oblivious piece of work.
Grabbing my hand out of nowhere with his repulsive manners wasn't bad enough—now he's pompously reciting his family name at me?
Whether he simply failed to notice that I was staring at him with open contempt, the man who'd introduced himself as a scion of House Reidenhart tugged at my arm again and began hurrying my steps along. I wrenched my arm out of the grip of this man whose patience I'd exhausted, and let the profanity fly.
"Out of consideration for your reasonably presentable face, I'll overlook this just this once. Now, escort me to the academy cafeteria at once—"
"You're spouting absolute bullshit, you son of a bitch."
—Crack!
Ignoring every stare around us, I slapped my palm down hard on the forearm of the Reidenhart brat who'd tried to drag me off without warning, and slipped my wrist free of his momentarily numbed fingers.
And to the idiot looking down at me with a incredulous expression, I spat out exactly what was in my heart.
"What do you think you're—"
"What am I doing? That's my question to ask, you son of a bitch. Does your dorm room not have a mirror? What exactly gave you the confidence that I'd just naturally follow along behind you? Hm?"
"……What?"
"Is only your face broken, or are your ears defective too? Why on earth would I, on my first meeting with you, escort your ugly ass all the way to the student cafeteria? The more I think about it, the funnier it gets. Genuinely hilarious."
"……"
He clearly hadn't anticipated this reaction—the Reidenhart brat was trembling, unable to hide his fluster.
—Shiiing.
And then, apparently deciding his pride had been wounded, he abruptly drew the sword at his hip and leveled it at me.
And here I'd thought he was just an ordinarily brainless noble brat. Turns out he was a straight-up rabid dog.
"G-get down on the ground and beg my forgiveness this instant! How dare a lowly academy servant show such insolence to a count's son—!"
"Go fuck yourself, you motherfucker. I thought your ears were decorative, but are your eyes ornamental too? You don't see the academy crest on this uniform? Why the hell would I be your servant? Hm?"
"……What did you say?"
"And drop the 'count's son' posturing, you moron. This is the academy, not your little fief. Every noble brat in the empire is crawling around this place—do you honestly think being a count's son is some peerless, awe-inspiring title here?"
"……"
Cornered by my plain logic, the Reidenhart whelp glanced around in flustered confusion, with nothing left to say.
Whether it was the sword he'd suddenly drawn, the attention of the surrounding crowd had been caught, and several onlookers began encircling the two of us like a ring, watching.
"Wh-what's going on? Are they fighting?"
"That guy tried to drag that girl off earlier and she refused, right? Maybe it's because of that?"
My plan had been to let him walk away scot-free if he sheathed his sword and left right then—but with all those eyes suddenly converging, he found himself unable to lower his blade so easily.
In the end, if he wouldn't sheathe his sword, then I too—for my own defense if nothing else—had no choice but to draw mine against him.
—Shlik.
"……?"
When the silver short blade slid out of the inner pocket of my uniform, the Reidenhart brat's brow furrowed in mild disbelief.
To this fool still too dense to sheathe his sword, I leveled the silver blade's edge and spoke.
"The sword a freshman brat like you swings couldn't beat this one little silver blade even if you tried—so if you want a fight, come and get one."
"…What did you say?"
"You told me to get on the ground and beg forgiveness, didn't you? Then by all means—try and win. An apology, a plea for your life, whatever you want—I'll give you any of it, as much as you like… if you can take it."
"You insolent bitch, of dubious birth—"
"But the moment you lose, that House of Reidenhart you're so proud of comes crashing down with you. All thanks to the Reidenhart whelp who charged a girl—not even a swordsmanship student—wielding a longsword, and got beaten in disgraceful fashion."
"……"
Perhaps he was actually listening to me all the way through this time—the Reidenhart brat glared at me, eyes darting, visibly wrestling with whether to attack or not.
With me projecting such brazen confidence, he evidently found himself hesitating to charge in. Made sense—this was the academy, the gathering place of the empire's strongest, and he couldn't rule out the possibility that the woman standing before him was, in fact, a genuine master.
But we'd long since passed the point where this could be settled easily, and frankly, I'd already developed a taste for the idea of dueling him.
So, to help the arrogant little noble firm up his resolve, I deliberately opened my mouth one more time and provoked him into coming at me.
Specifically, by prodding the inferiority complex that must be festering in the mind of a boy who'd introduced himself as merely a 'scion' of House Reidenhart.
"Ah—actually, no. Now that I think about it, you needn't worry about Reidenhart's honor at all."
"…What is that supposed to mean?"
"Isn't it obvious? If some third-son-and-below spares-candidate with no real claim to the heirship pulls something idiotic out in public, what does that have to do with the family's honor? Right?"
"You fucking cuuuunt—!!"
Struck square in the sorest spot he had, the enraged Reidenhart charged at me with his sword raised.
Gripping the silver blade tight in my right hand, I kept my eyes locked on the incoming steel to the very last instant.
—KAAANG!
Our two blades met, and the open ground before the grand hall rang once with the shriek of steel on steel.
His sword had been flung away on the shockwave, and unmistakable panic was spreading across his face.
…And with that single exchange, I quietly and thoroughly confirmed the outcome of this duel.
Well, well. Looks like I've finally got an event where I can farm some experience points.