The Vain Person (1)
Two days after the fiercely contested class placement exam, the final approved rankings were released and the classes assigned accordingly. I had been placed in Class A—the elite group that accepted only the top twenty students out of a thousand. Since I had claimed first place by defeating the princess hailed as the continent’s greatest genius, my presence here was hardly surprising. If anything, it would have been far more shocking had I been assigned elsewhere.
“Y-Young Master…”
“Hm? What is it, Miss Legia?”
“D-Do I… r-really belong in a place like this…?”
“My, my.”
A soft chuckle slipped from my lips. The pink-haired girl beside me was trembling like a leaf. She had been hunched in on herself for some time now, shoulders drawn tight with nerves. This was Legia, who had been placed in the same class as me.
Well… I suppose that’s understandable.
She had performed terribly during the placement exam. In her own mind she had probably already pictured herself dropping into the failure class—or worse, being expelled outright.
“It’s perfectly all right. There’s no need to worry.”
“But…”
Legia chewed her lip. Our protagonist seemed genuinely unsettled by the unexpected outcome. Perhaps she felt burdened by it.
“There are so many people far more talented than me… I’m not sure someone like me should even be here.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes…?”
“I doubt there are many students with talent surpassing yours, Miss Legia.”
After all, she was the heroine of this world. In time her growth would be explosive, and in the latter half of the story she was fated to surpass even Charlotte, becoming a powerhouse in her own right. She possessed the greatest potential of any student here.
“You are more than worthy, Miss Legia.”
“…You really think so?”
“Of course. The academy would not have formed these classes without good reason. As I told you before, someone has clearly recognized your possibilities.”
For the record, that someone was Gaston Galimard, the academy’s headmaster. Though to be precise, he had not simply “recognized” her potential—he had known about it from the very beginning. Still, his handling of the matter had been impeccably clean. He had done this sort of thing more than once or twice, after all.
“You may hold your head a little higher.”
“Th-Thank you…”
“Think nothing of it.”
After a few light exchanges, the once-empty classroom gradually filled with the murmur of arriving students. It really was the protagonist-centered Class A. Familiar faces appeared everywhere I looked. Charlotte sat gazing absently out the window. In the back row, Emilia held court among her followers, chatting away. And in the far corner, a blue-haired boy fiddled with his sword in lonely silence. Every one of them was a character from the original story.
So the key figures remain unchanged.
I carefully catalogued the students around me. As my gaze swept the room, Legia suddenly murmured a question.
“Wh-What kind of person… do you think our homeroom professor will be?”
“Are you curious?”
“Y-Yes… I-I’m… a little… nervous around older people…”
“Hehe. Is there anyone you aren’t nervous around, Miss Legia?”
“Ugh… D-Don’t tease me…”
The girl drooped, looking thoroughly dejected at having been seen through. Part of me wanted to tease her a little more, but she seemed on the verge of tears, so I relented and gave her the answer she wanted.
“It should be fine. I hear the professor is quite young.”
Not only young, but a handsome man as well. He was meant to become an ally who would support the protagonist’s party for the next three years. His personality was a bit rough, but he was a decent enough person. I believed his name was Cadel Evans.
Creak—!
While I was recalling the original story’s details, the closed classroom door burst open with a loud groan. All twenty students were already seated. It seemed the homeroom professor had arrived. Every pair of eyes snapped forward at once. So did mine.
Click. Click.
The sharp ring of heels echoed through the room. The figure who appeared was a woman with long, disheveled purple hair…
“…Huh?”
Dim, hazy crimson eyes. A bottle of liquor clutched in one hand. The moment my gaze traced those violently sensual curves, a giant question mark floated above my head. Was I seeing things?
I stood there stunned for a moment, but the woman at the front of the class spoke indifferently, paying no attention to my reaction.
“Nice to meet you all. I am Selena Drunkard, the head professor who will be in charge of the top-ranked class for the next year.”
No fucking way. Why the hell are you here?
Two days earlier, on the very day of the class placement exam.
After Yuda and Charlotte had finished their turns, Selena heard the following from the headmaster.
“I knew you would answer that way… but is there anything you desire?”
“Desire…?”
“If it is within my power, I shall grant it.”
“Hmm.”
Selena fell into brief thought. She was not the type to covet things, but neither was she the type to carelessly throw away an opportunity. The faint scent of alcohol drifting past her nose helped her organize her thoughts.
Well… there’s no real need to think about it.
She had already decided what she wanted. It was the reward she would demand if, by some slim chance, the boy defeated the princess.
Selena parted her lips with a faint smile.
“In that case, I have a request. Please allow me to serve as Yuda Snakers’ homeroom professor for this incoming class.”
“Hmm?”
The headmaster’s face clouded with surprise. He had not expected such a request at all.
“You wish to be the homeroom professor for the top student… meaning you want to take charge of the highest-ranked class?”
“That is correct.”
“Well, well.”
Selena had never shown much interest in students. Ever since her beloved younger sister had passed away from an incurable disease, her daily life had been filled with nothing but alcohol. During homeroom assignments she would either refuse outright or simply take whichever class was left at the end. That had always been her pattern.
“How surprising.”
“Is it?”
“It really has been a long time since you showed interest in anyone.”
“It is merely a whim.”
“Is that so?”
The headmaster smiled meaningfully. He flipped through the documents in his hand a few times, then drew a firm line through a certain section. The old man’s eyes turned toward the woman.
“I shall grant your wish.”
The white-haired elder glanced around. He was asking for the other professors’ opinions. Naturally, no one dared voice opposition in front of the strongest being in humanity. The faculty all averted their eyes.
All except one.
“Headmaster, what are you saying…!”
The one who stepped forward was a black-haired young man. He was the professor originally scheduled to take charge of the top-ranked class this year.
“Professor Cadel Evans.”
“Changing the homeroom assignments so suddenly is unfair!”
“Unfair, you say.”
Cadel Evans was the person who had most fiercely opposed Selena these past few days. He had actively spread rumors about a “fluke first place” and tried to strip her of the head professor position.
The headmaster quietly cut off his protest.
“I will not accept objections.”
“But—!”
“And if we are speaking of unfairness, should you not also be held accountable?”
“Pardon?”
“You were the first to raise an objection regarding Selena’s handling of the exam. Thanks to you, she nearly lost her position as head professor… How do you intend to take responsibility for that?”
“……”
“If you have no answer, it would be best to remain silent.”
His voice was gentle, yet it hid a needle. A strange pressure filled the room; cold sweat broke out. In the end, Cadel Evans had no choice but to withdraw like a mute who had swallowed honey.
A rather heavy atmosphere lingered in the waiting room, but Selena remained lost in thought, unconcerned.
Yuda Snakers.
The woman repeated the name inwardly. Alluring golden hair, narrow sleepy eyes, and skill so outstanding it had overwhelmed the princess. A mysterious boy. What had first drawn her attention had been curiosity, but now it had become genuine interest.
The moment the boy had revealed his power during the placement exam, Selena had glimpsed a certain “possibility” within him.
If my thoughts are correct… I must make that child mine by any means necessary.
Perhaps this was the encounter she had waited for all this time. The woman pressed a hand to her pounding heart and brought the liquor bottle to her lips.
Selena Drunkard was a character who appeared with considerable weight in the original story. Her concept—based on a drunkard—combined with her decadent charm and voluptuous figure had earned her a great deal of popularity in the “eye candy” position. Originally, she was a character one could not meet in the early stages no matter which route was taken. In the game she would only appear after at least half a year had passed.
That had been the case across all 1,943 attempts, so I had assumed it would be the same this time. Yet here she was.
“Nice to meet you all.”
“I am Selena Drunkard, the head professor who will be in charge of the top-ranked class for the next year.”
Not only had she boldly appeared before the protagonist’s party, she had even declared herself our class’s homeroom teacher. How could I not be stunned?
In the original story, the homeroom professor for this class was supposed to be a handsome young man.
The flow of the original story has changed.
Of course, that was not what surprised me. I had stirred up so much chaos that I had already anticipated some backlash. What truly bewildered me was something else.
…She is absolutely not the type to take on a role like this.
The Selena I remembered was an indifferent person. She might refuse to take any class at all if it seemed bothersome, but she was not the sort to volunteer for the most demanding schedule—the top-ranked class. There had to be some purpose driving her.
There are a few things that come to mind… but I can’t be certain.
My thoughts continued for some time. As I walked along in a daze, Legia, who had been beside me, spoke up.
“Y-Young Master?”
“Yes?”
“Y-You’ve been spacing out for a while now… I was wondering if you were all right.”
“Ah.”
It seemed she had been worried about me. Had I been too quiet? The pink-haired girl watched me carefully, her expression anxious. Finding her concern endearing, I unconsciously reached out and stroked her head.
“I’m fine. I simply had a few things to think about.”
“E-Eep…”
“Still, it’s nice to have a friend who worries about me.”
“F-Friend… hehe, ehehe.”
Did the word “friend” please her that much? With one casually tossed remark, our protagonist was completely disarmed. I wondered how she planned to get close to the other children.
“Miss Legia, are you interested in fox beastkin by any chance?”
“Fox beastkin… Do you mean the person we met before? The one with the slightly fierce expression and crimson hair…”
“That’s right. Miss Irene.”
“I’m interested!”
“Hehe… Then I’ll help you become close to her.”
While the conversation continued, Legia and I walked toward the carriage stop. We were returning to our respective dormitories. Perhaps because it was the first day and classes had ended early, the grounds were bustling with students despite the early hour. We stopped to wait for a carriage.
That was when it happened.
“What a perfectly matched pair.”
A voice came from somewhere. A chilling tone whispered past our ears. Legia’s expression froze instantly. When we turned, a girl with blue drill-roll hair stood there.
“One is a fluke first-place, and the other is an ignorant outsider who doesn’t know her place.”
“Lady Vanity.”
Emilia Vanity. The villainess who had driven our protagonist to the brink only a few days ago had appeared. The girl smiled mockingly.
“I didn’t think you’d still be shamelessly remaining at the academy?”
Her eyes contained nothing but open hostility. Perhaps the memory of the placement exam had resurfaced; Legia’s body began to tremble slightly. The villainess who tormented the protagonist. It seemed this part was flowing exactly as it had in the original story.
Of course, I had no intention of simply letting it happen. After all, a reliable—well, somewhat reliable—ally now stood at the protagonist’s side.
I gently moved the trembling Legia behind me.
“Y-Young Master…?”
“Shh.”
It’s all right. This time, I’ll protect you.
A sly smile curved my lips. I stepped confidently in front of Emilia.
“It is a fine day, My Lady.”
My mouth was already stretched into a wide grin at the thought of dealing with the ducal family’s daughter.