Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: The Point Trade
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[1st. Caron Woodjack, 43 points.
2nd. Zeros Silver, 31 points.
3rd. Shinba, 29 points.
4th. Hans Vander, 28 points.
5th. Hector Bednicker, 25 points.
…….
…….
16th. Ruan Bednicker, 18 points.
…….
…….]
More than a few things were off.
The names in second and third place were new to me, and fourth place was what? Hans Vander?
Even I, who hardly paid attention in class, knew that guy's name had been called out countless times.
- Hans Vander, one point deduction.
- Hans Vander, two point deduction.
- Hans Vander… you again?
Naturally, it was never for earning points; he was losing them most of the time.
And that guy had a higher score than Hector?
Of course, what was even stranger was Caron's score.
“…Forty-three points?”
We were all given ten points at the start.
Did that mean the guy had earned thirty-three points in less than a week?
I glanced at Evan for confirmation.
Evan shook his head, his face grim.
So even this guy, who had been calculating the scores of most of the cadets, didn't know what was going on.
“Caron Woodjack.”
A low voice cut through the air.
Looking back, I saw Caron sitting at a table sipping water, and Hector standing before him with a cold expression.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“I wonder. I don't know what you're asking.”
“Playing dumb? Then I’ll ask you plainly. I’m asking about the points.”
At that, Caron let out a smirk.
“Do I have some obligation to tell you?”
“You do. You dared to commit a dishonest act in this Bednicker training camp. Your father would be ashamed if he saw you.”
“You’re spouting some interesting nonsense.”
Caron remained unfazed by Hector’s provocation, his voice flat as he replied.
“For the sake of my honor and my father’s, let me clarify briefly: I have not committed any sort of foul play.”
“What?”
“Separately, I’ll give you a piece of advice, Hector Bednicker. Give up on trying to rank high and just focus on graduating. With your skills, you should at least be able to manage that.”
“You bastard…!”
Hector ground his teeth.
And just as he had done in front of me before, he gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist.
The moment Caron’s eyes turned chillingly cold, I stepped in.
“Brother, calm down.”
“…Move, Ruan.”
“Move for what? Are you seriously planning to fight here?”
I glanced at the communication crystal.
The instructors were probably watching us through it.
If a fistfight broke out, they would intervene immediately and hand out penalties.
“Cool your head. You’ve lost out more than once because of that hot-headed temper of yours.”
“……”
Hector froze.
In that moment, Caron stood up and left the lounge.
A group of cadets followed him out in a rush.
I saw a few familiar faces, including Hans. …Which meant they were the ones I had just seen on the board, the ones in the top ranks.
“What in the world is going on?”
A sharp voice pierced my ears.
It was Lady Rubyeta, fuming.
I quietly scanned our surroundings.
‘About twenty-four, twenty-five of us.’
At a glance, it seemed like our side had more people… but who knew for sure.
We wouldn’t know the details until we dug in.
“Caris, gather some tables.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to talk.”
“But it’s lunchtime…”
“This isn’t the time to be stuffing your face, you bastard.”
I spoke while also looking at Hector.
“Brother, you should sit down too.”
“…What do you want to talk about?”
“About Caron Woodjack, of course.”
Normally, I wouldn’t get involved in these childish squabbles and would just focus on my own development…
But since things had escalated to this scale, I could no longer stay silent.
‘Besides…’
For some reason, the sight of that bastard Caron taking first place was starting to get on my nerves.
***
The noble faction and the commoner faction gathered in one place.
Of course, there were commoners on their side and nobles on ours…
But the people I had arbitrarily categorized as such were now gathered together, glaring at each other.
A total of twenty-six people remained in the lounge.
Not a small number, but not a large one either.
“What is there to talk about? It’s obvious that filthy commoner used some filthy trick!”
Lady Rubyeta shouted, her voice sharp as a blade.
She had a pretty face, but her temper was fiery.
First, I corrected her misconception.
“If he had used such a trick, don’t you think the instructors would have noticed?”
“Of course…!”
Lady Rubyeta, who had been raising her voice, snapped her mouth shut and glanced nervously at Hector.
It was only natural.
To doubt the Grand Master Teachers was to deny the Bednickers, and by extension, the Iron-Blooded Duke who had invited them.
For Hector, the number one believer in the Iron-Blooded Duke, it was obviously not a pleasant thought.
“Let’s say for a moment that you’re right, my lady. But do you really think it’s possible to manipulate the rankings of an entire group, not just one person?”
“…That’s.”
“You all must know by now, right? Aside from my brother Hector, all the cadets listed in the top ranks were from Caron’s group. Oh. Was Hans not one of them?”
“…Hans Vander started sticking to Caron a while ago,” Hector said in a displeased tone.
At that, voices erupted from all around.
“Did he really only raise the points of his own clique?”
“How is that even possible?”
“…A new rule.”
Hector’s words made everyone flinch.
Right.
It seemed their brains were finally starting to work.
If they had been this sharp from the beginning, I wouldn’t have had to step in like this.
“That’s right. He probably used that right to pull some kind of trick.”
“A trick?”
“I don’t know the details, but I have a hunch.”
“What is it?”
“Skull.”
At my words, Skull, who was in a corner, jumped.
“Wh-what?”
“When did your points drop to two?”
“……”
My question made his already pale face turn even whiter.
“W-well? I’ve been getting a lot of deductions lately…”
“Evan, is that true?”
“No.”
Evan shook his head firmly.
“Skull has only received a deduction once since the training began. Likewise, he received one merit, so they canceled each other out. However, he has a record of one win and two losses in duels.”
“Is that so? Then his point total should be seven right now, shouldn’t it?”
I looked at Skull and asked.
“So I’ll ask again, Skull. Where did your five points go? They didn’t just grow legs and walk away, did they?”
“……”
“Skull.”
“I-I didn’t know it would turn out like this…!” Skull cried out, his face crumpling.
He covered his face and said, “At first… at first, it was just a small trade.”
“A trade?”
“Yes…! They said if I gave them one point, they’d let me eat all the high-class steak I wanted…”
“Steak?”
“How could you get something like that here…”
Of course, the quality of the food in the cadet cafeteria wasn’t terrible.
They served meat, obviously.
The problem was the taste. As a rule, things that were good for the body were generally bland and plain.
In other words, it left much to be desired for satisfying the palates of hot-blooded youths.
“More importantly, giving away a point? Does that even make sense? Points aren’t something you can just trade like that…”
“‘Points can be traded.’”
I said, resting my chin on my hand.
“It’s possible if Caron added a rule like that.”
A mixture of gasps and groans erupted from the group.
Hector narrowed his brow and said, “Putting that aside… where in the world did they get steak? They shouldn’t have been able to bring it in.”
“They probably don’t have a magic tool either. They would have been thoroughly searched on the first day.”
He was right.
On the day we arrived, the instructors had conducted a rather strict body search.
They didn’t say anything about my Spirit Orb, but I had brought that for training purposes, and it wasn’t something that could cause problems on its own.
“…Zeros Silver.”
Skull spat out the name as if chewing on it.
“It’s his Blessing.”
“Zeros, the one who was in second place?”
“Isn’t he the guy who’s been hanging around Caron? That arrogant bastard.”
“That’s right.”
Skull nodded.
“I don’t know what kind of Blessing it is… but that guy had a ton of things you can’t get here. All sorts of food, beer, tobacco, and even rare accessories that are hard to find outside…”
Did he get his hands on some kind of spatial-related Blessing?
I wasn’t sure, but I was starting to get a clearer picture of the situation.
“So that guy is the smuggler. In that case…”
I looked around and said, “Besides Skull, there are others here who made a deal with this Zeros guy, right?”
A good number of the cadets flinched, but they must have decided they couldn’t hide it, as they began to confess one by one.
“…Truth is, I haven’t had a single dinner since I got here, but last night he suddenly offered me food.”
“I was tempted by beer. The foam was bubbling on a freshly poured draft beer, and if I just walked past a sight like that, I couldn’t call myself a dwarven warrior…!”
“…I, uh, I bought a perfume. They said it was excellent at getting rid of the smell of sweat-.”
Seeing this, Lady Rubyeta shook her head with an incredulous look.
“How pathetic… The thought that you people will one day become heroes like me is making me dizzy.”
“Lady Rubyeta.”
“What is it?”
Evan spoke in a calm voice.
“As I recall, your point total should be twenty-three, but I saw earlier that it was twenty.”
“H-How did you…”
“……”
“Hmph!”
All eyes turned to Lady Rubyeta.
Realizing her slip of the tongue, she stammered for a moment before hanging her head low and muttering.
“…Th-There was a limited edition tiara from the Janetta Jewelry Store, and they said they’d sell it to me for just three points…”
“……”
“It’s an item you can’t get anymore no matter how much money you have…! Do you know what a bargain it is to get that for just three points…!”
“Yes, yes. We get it, so please be quiet.”
Lady Rubyeta looked like she was about to snap, but perhaps out of embarrassment, she closed her mouth.
“It goes without saying, but from now on, let’s not give them any points, no matter what they offer. If the gap gets any wider, it’ll be impossible to catch up.”
But the reaction was lukewarm.
While many cadets agreed with me, just as many wore expressions of uncertainty.
“What? If you have something to say, say it.”
“…I know myself. With my abilities, there’s no way I can make it into the top ranks.”
It was Skull.
“This isn’t a matter of will or grit. It’s just a limit I was born with.”
“So?”
“…Points are only meaningful to those competing for the top spots. All I need to do is graduate. If I can graduate from the Bednicker training camp without any trouble, that alone will be a great addition to my career.”
“I see…”
I understood what Skull was trying to say.
“So you’re saying you’re going to keep selling your points.”
At my words, Skull ground his teeth and glared at me.
“Do you know what Zeros told me? He said that for every one point I sell here, he’ll count it as one hundred gold later!”
He looked around and shouted.
“Selling just ten points gets you a thousand gold! Do you have any idea how much can change with that kind of money? The high-and-mighty nobles of prominent families would never understand…!”
“You’ll regret it.”
“…No. I can graduate without any points. So… I’m sorry to you all, but I’m going to keep selling my points whenever I can.”
With that, Skull stood up and left the lounge.
“…I’m ashamed to say it, but me too.”
“Sorry.”
“I have no choice.”
One by one, they followed Skull out.
Nearly half the group was gone in an instant—now, there were fewer than ten of us left.
Hector, of course, remained, as did Evan and Caris, who had been with me all along. I also saw Seren, who had been silent this whole time.
I took in their faces one by one.
So this was the extent of the talent that couldn’t be swayed by money and desire.
“…This situation seems more serious than I thought.”
“Hmph. One hundred gold for one point? Are they rolling in money?”
As Evan and Caris each made a comment, Lady Rubyeta scoffed.
“Of course they are. Zeros’s family, the Silvers, have been a great merchant house for generations. They’re as wealthy as the imperial family, perhaps even more so.”
“…Is that so?”
“Then is there no way for us to stop them?”
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
At my words, the cadets’ gazes gathered on me.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Ah, we could tell the instructors that Zeros smuggled in outside goods…”
I shook my head at Caris’s suggestion.
“I doubt it… The instructors probably already know. This entire training ground is likely under their surveillance.”
That meant the instructors had tacitly approved of Caron and Zeros’s seemingly dishonest actions.
This was Caron’s initiative from the start.
He wouldn’t have begun this if it could be ended by someone simply tattling on him.
I stood up and said, “For now, let’s go get some food.”
“…Why are you so calm? More than ten people just said they’re going to sell their points. We’re not even the majority anymore.”
“I wonder about that.”
Because I had a feeling the guys who just left were going to be kicking themselves in regret?
But since it was still just speculation, I said nothing.