The Moment Jealousy and Envy Turn into Hatred and Anger (4)

The entrance ceremony had only just ended, yet annoying shit was already piling up. This was the second time I’d ended up in the infirmary without even getting any proper training in. The school nurse looked at me like I was some repeat offender who’d flunked life twice, her face slowly filling with exhaustion as she treated me. Still, using just two fingers to pinch the gauze and dab at the wound? That’s fucking harsh.

My expression and heavy sigh must have finally gotten to her, because she closed her eyes tight, took a breath, and actually looked at my injury properly this time. Still, it was only the second visit. That counts as doing pretty well, right? Hmm…

“Ah, here you are.”

“Eve? How did you…?”

This was honestly scary. Eve Abraham stood in the infirmary doorway with her signature axe-like glare fixed straight on me. Sure, rumors spread fast. In a student’s world, the academy is the whole world. But this was too fast even for that. Maybe Eve had been…

“You weren’t ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stalking me from behind the whole time, were you?”

“Hmm? Ah~ O-of course not~ Why would I stalk you, Cain~? I’m a saintess, remember? A saintess.”

Yeah. A saintess. One with several screws missing. A total airhead saintess. Strictly speaking she wasn’t stupid—she’d read every book that could be considered essential knowledge for the Holy Kingdom. The problem was that she only displayed her genius in subjects that actually interested her. The academy was nothing but boredom to Eve. New magic, swordsmanship, herbalism, alchemy—none of it caught her attention. That was probably why she just twirled her pen during exams and turned in blank sheets.

“Ah~ Is that so, Saintess?”

“Chee… You’re totally making fun of me for getting last place, aren’t you?”

Bingo.

“No? I’m speaking with complete respect and reverence for the Saintess, of course.”

“Cheei…”

I’d hit the bullseye. Eve clenched her fists and trembled. From behind her, another head suddenly popped out—pink hair in a side-tail and those distinctive purple eyes. Panzy Vlad. She gently pushed Eve’s head aside and walked slowly toward me.

“Looks like you’re not badly hurt.”

“I’ve got more endurance than I look. I just saw an opportunity when those bastards all gathered up.”

In truth, without my spirits I couldn’t have done anything. Yet here I was, dressing it up like a badass. Nice one, Cain!

“Hmm… You can cast magic without incantations or magic circles. Looking for an opening makes sense.”

Panzy nodded seriously, accepting my words at face value. In this world, magic worked by converting natural mana through formulas. Incantations helped the caster organize mana easily, while magic circles served as the calculation array. To any normal person living here, someone like me who could cast without either would seem incredibly strange.

“If you were actually some incredible archmage or something…”

“That’d be ridiculous. You saw it yourself.”

“Hmm…”

If I really were an archmage I wouldn’t be suffering like this, you idiot. My genuinely resentful expression must have convinced her, because Panzy gave a small smile and reached out to ruffle my hair.

“You’ll heal quickly. Once you’re fully recovered, come back to the training ground. I’ll train you personally.”

“Whoa~ Personal training from the top student of the Martial Arts Department? This humble one is truly moved~”

When I exaggerated my thanks, Panzy’s ears turned bright red. She turned her head away in embarrassment. I needed to recover fast and start training. After promising to meet again, Panzy Vlad left. Eve Abraham stayed behind, still pouting with her axe-like glare. I lay back on the infirmary bed, closed my eyes, and savored the rare silence and rest.

“By the way, Cain. Have you completed your course registration yet?”

“C-course registration?”

Ugh! The nightmare from my university days was back…!

Seeing my clueless face, the nurse let out a deep sigh and advised me that registration opened around nine tomorrow morning, so I should look into it. The process here was identical to what I remembered from university—selecting major and elective courses based on an eighteen-credit standard. Thanks to advances in magic engineering, they apparently used devices called “computers” to handle registration.

Hmm… This was probably going to be…

“Oh, the student council also asked me to pass on a message.”

“The student council?”

“It’s nothing too serious… There are statements saying you were the victim, so they probably want to confirm your testimony.”

Ah, so I was supposed to show up and spill every last crime those bastards committed. I smiled and nodded. Looked like Panzy Vlad’s influence had worked perfectly. She was the top student with an exemplary record—the student council had no reason to doubt her. I’d already beaten the shit out of a few of them~

“Of course, they’ll also be filing claims for the damaged property. Being a freshman sure is rough, Cain~”

I’m fucked!

It wasn’t my imagination—Silph’s eyes had definitely sharpened. Right before she could fire a blade of wind at Kasa, I reverse-summoned her and sent her back to nature for a while. According to the spirits, they didn’t live in some separate spirit realm like people usually thought. They were nature itself—fire, water, wind, earth. That was why reverse-summoning them turned them into something like a gentle breeze that simply faded away. If I did the same to Kasa, maybe a small spark would flicker out?

“Silph! She’s gone!”

I reverse-summoned her. Stop teasing Silph too.

“Cain teased first!”

…I see.

Yeah. Better not to engage. This kid spoke in a somewhat dumb way but always said exactly what she wanted, making it nearly impossible to refute her logically. Maybe she was actually insanely smart and deliberately acted dumb to make her opponents drop their guard? What a terrifying little monster.

While I was thinking that, someone knocked on the infirmary door.

“Excuse me. I’m Amy Cleanford from the student council. I came because I have business with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cain. Wow, I’m popular.”

Amy Cleanford had the classic model-student look—round glasses and all her golden hair tied back neatly. In the game she was just an NPC secretary who handed out daily quests. Running into her somewhere other than the student council building felt surprisingly nice.

As I stared at her with that thought, our eyes met. She cleared her throat a few times before stating her business.

“You’ve probably already heard, but we need your testimony. The proper procedure would be to wait until you’ve fully recovered, but the student council wants to understand the situation as quickly as possible.”

In other words, they were busy so they wanted to finish this fast. I rolled my right shoulder, checking my condition. Since I had the Weakling passive, it didn’t tell me much anyway. And if the spirits drained my life force, the damage started from the inside. I hopped off the bed like nothing was wrong and smiled.

“Let’s go. External injuries heal fine with some ointment and bandages anyway.”

“Bandages…? You mean gauze. Well, I’m glad you’re not badly hurt. Follow me.”

Amy turned briskly and walked down the hallway. The student council building was a short distance from this Herat Hall, located near the center of the academy. The name was simple too. Unusually, they didn’t call it a “hall” but used the name Acropolis, which I’d heard many times before. Maybe they named it that to make receiving daily quests feel easier, but I had no reason to care about that right now.

After thanking the nurse, I hurried ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after Amy. The clear click of her heels echoed around us as we walked in complete silence. At times like this, the freshman should probably start the conversation.

“Um… Amy, senior.”

“Yes.”

“Have you secured Vermillion Vermon and his group?”

“They’re currently being questioned in a temporary detention area based on Panzy Vlad’s eyewitness account.”

“Ah, Panzy…”

Normally, since the lounge had burned down and the other side had given statements, it would make sense to hear my version before making a judgment. But honestly, it wasn’t my problem. As long as I was fine, right?

Anyway, I was giving testimony strictly from a victim’s position. I was about to make those bastards pay—time to smile.

“You seem quite close with Panzy Vlad.”

“Ah, we had a small connection during the entrance ceremony.”

“The Vlad family is famous for their strong sense of justice. Panzy has a reputation for being cold even within her own house, so this is fortunate.”

Amy spoke with what looked like a slight smile. How did she know so much about Panzy? I opened my mouth to ask, but her next words made me shut it again.

“This is Acropolis. Welcome to the student council, Cain.”

Her tone was blunt and businesslike. With a kind smile that didn’t match it at all, Amy opened the front door of the Acropolis. Students rushed around carrying stacks of documents, others communicated through magic engineering orbs. It looked exactly like a typical overworked company office. These guys really do work their asses off. Work was hard no matter where you went.

Amy grabbed my arm before I could voice my observations and strode quickly up the stairs.

“Um… Cain. The person you’re about to meet—you should be a little careful.”

“Huh?”

Was there someone in the student council I needed to watch out for? Um… who was it again…? I couldn’t remember…

“Dorothy. Dorothy Gale.”

“Excuse me? Dorothy Gale?”

Dorothy Gale. A character clearly inspired by the wizard from The Wizard of Oz. Called a magic prodigy, she had used her exceptionally sharp mind to seize a key position in the student council and was currently in charge of disciplinary affairs. The only issue was that she couldn’t smile. In the game, her family had been brutally murdered while still wearing smiling faces by the “Otherworld Invaders,” the mysterious antagonistic force. There had even been a sub-quest to heal her trauma, and because her performance was so good, she was a beloved character.

But was there something I needed to be careful about with that Dorothy?

“Um… I’m not sure if I should say this, but…”

Amy scratched her head with one hand.

Wasn’t Dorothy just a character with dead emotions? She was supposed to regain her feelings through that sub-quest.

We had already arrived in front of Dorothy’s office. Amy sighed and knocked slowly three times.

“Cain. Step aside.”

“Huh? What do you—”

Before I could finish, the office door burst open and an enormous gust of wind shot straight at me. The blast, strong enough to send someone with my weak body flying, only stopped after I slammed into the wall and flailed around for several seconds.

What the fuck…?

When I looked up in shock, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There stood Dorothy Gale—the same character who was supposed to be expressionless and emotionless in the game. Those characteristic half-lidded eyes. The blank face. Brown hair cut to her shoulders. It was definitely her. The only difference was that the Dorothy who never interfered with anyone unless it involved work was now pointing her staff from her desk all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the way to the doorway, having fired that powerful wind.

I turned to Amy with a face that screamed for an explanation. What the hell is this?

Amy let out a deep sigh, walked over, and whispered quietly.

“Dorothy Gale is in the middle of a work slowdown. When she doesn’t want to work, she blows visitors away like that.”

No… No, fuck, that’s straight-up dereliction of duty. Why the hell is someone like her sitting in that chair?

With that exact thought on my face, I looked back and forth between Amy and Dorothy. But Dorothy remained reclined in her chair with half-closed eyes, staff still pointed outward, while Amy simply kept sighing. Neither of them said another word.

This was going to drive me insane.