Giving Up Makes It Easier
The student council room at Attelina Academy selects its officers primarily from those with outstanding grades or strong support from the student body. Among them, the position of student council president is decided not only by the students’ approval but by unanimous consent from the officers as well. Currently, that role belonged to the Empire’s Crown Prince, Aslan von Armenia.
After breaking off his engagement with the villainess Olivia and regaining his freedom, Aslan had found that both his academy life and his relationships with the nobility had improved significantly since his re-engagement to Lily. However, something was bothering him more than usual today.
One of the student council officers, Riler, the eldest son of the Plant family, was sitting gloomily on the sofa. Normally he would have let it slide, but Riler came from a close noble house and they had known each other since childhood. It felt wrong to simply ignore him.
“Riler, isn’t this the time for swordsmanship class? Weren’t you happy about being able to take it?”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness.”
His crumpled face suggested something had happened. Seeing a guy who looked like he would only cry at his parents’ funeral sniffling like this, it seemed he had suffered a truly unfair blow.
“Then why are you here? Even your friends outside looked like they were sighing hard enough to sink the ground.”
At those words, Riler let out a sigh as heavy as his companions’.
“Ah… I was kicked out.”
It was truly embarrassing to say aloud.
“From swordsmanship class? How on earth?”
“Well, it’s like this…”
Riler explained everything from the first time he met Olivia to what had happened in the swordsmanship department. Even as he spoke, he realized how ridiculous it sounded, but he said it anyway.
“You made a bet with the condition that the white-haired Miss Ashtar would drop swordsmanship class, and you lost?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of stupid thing is that? It must be a lie. There’s no way you’d lose to that woman.”
Aslan knew Olivia better than anyone. How much trouble had she caused him all this time? For Riler, the eldest son of the Plant family, to lose to her was simply unbelievable.
Yet Riler’s serious expression as he sat quietly thinking told a different story. He might be stubborn, but he wasn’t a fool.
“It’s true. Honestly speaking…”
“Stop dragging it out and just say it.”
“After the broken engagement, she seems like a completely different person. And that power… it’s not something you can obtain in a day or two.”
Not something obtainable in a day or two? Was there any way for that Olivia to gain such strength? If he had to guess, the most likely possibility was that she had made a contract with a demon.
“What are the chances she made a deal with a demon?”
“None. The Ashtar family would never overlook something like that, and she had no way to contact one.”
That was true. After the broken engagement, she had been confined in the dormitory by knights and maids sent by the Ashtar family for quite some time. She had even slit her own wrist and collapsed. There was no way she could have contacted a demon during that period. If a demon had entered the female dormitory, the academy’s anti-demon barrier would have activated immediately.
“Besides, with the Demon King’s territory acting strangely lately, there’s no reason a demon would come all the way to the Empire just to give power to a woman who was dumped.”
“Exactly.”
Then did that mean she had been hiding her power all this time? The problem was that, aside from that, nothing else seemed to have changed.
“So you’re saying she was concealing her strength?”
“Riler might have been mistaken,” Secretary Yuria said coldly as she checked the list of students’ major course registrations. She knew about Olivia as well.
“If Riler was mistaken, we’d have to completely overhaul the imperial capital’s defense system. Still, I’ll need to see it for myself.”
It was unlikely that the imperial capital’s barrier or the academy’s barrier had been breached, but there was no harm in being thorough. Moreover, this was the same Olivia who had tried to commit suicide. Perhaps she really had used some extreme method to obtain such power. The worst-case scenario would be if it was some kind of demonstration.
“Will you be all right?” Secretary Yuria asked, suddenly worried. It wasn’t as if the Crown Prince hadn’t already suffered plenty of headaches because of Olivia. If she was plotting something again this time, Yuria would have to step forward and stop her herself.
“Well, she was my fiancée once.”
“You said you never wanted to see her again.”
“No matter what, she’s from the Ashtar family. Now that Lily is my fiancée, I have no choice but to face her whether I like it or not.”
Olivia’s obsession had simply been too much. Objectively speaking, Olivia had received empress training and was the very model of a noblewoman. If it had only been that much, he would have maintained the engagement for the sake of the future. But her obsession had been the problem. Not to mention the issue with Lily.
If Olivia had truly changed because of some event, maintaining a friendly relationship wouldn’t be so bad.
With that thought, the Crown Prince headed toward the swordsmanship department along with the student council officers.
And there he saw her.
The former fiancée who had changed so completely it was almost impressive.
The swordsmanship department wasn’t filled only with Plant family followers and Lily’s admirers. There were quite a few others. Even counting all the followers, there weren’t even ten of them, yet over forty people had signed up for the swordsmanship class. Naturally, most of them were Lily’s followers.
The original owner’s little sister really was popular. Come to think of it, this face wasn’t half bad either.
So much so that even the Lily followers who had joined the swordsmanship department had asked for my name at first.
“Wow~ I didn’t expect so many students to apply for swordsmanship class. You pathetic pieces of trash. This Lady Olivia will personally soften those rock-hard brains of yours.”
Anyway, this is why you can’t trust ignorant fools. Tsk tsk tsk. No wonder I was called the Sword Saint.
As I continued beating them a little more, the professor who had been watching from the corner began to sob. She had been there for a while now. She looked a bit older than me, a woman. For a professor to be this weak…
Thanks to that, I was able to thoroughly thrash the knight family brats without interference. Eventually, the sobbing professor slowly approached.
“Olivia Lapa Ashtar.”
She called the original owner—no, my current name—Olivia with caution.
“Yes, Professor.”
Come on, praise me. Right now Olivia desperately needs even a single word of praise! Praise me all you want!
“I heard you’ve been famous since last year, but I never imagined it was like this. I thought you were just obsessed with the Crown Prince and got dumped, but that wasn’t it?”
“Ah, that part is correct.”
That part was definitely correct.
“Looking at you now, you’re simply a lunatic. At this rate, no one will remain in the swordsmanship department.”
“Hahaha. Is that any of my business?”
I didn’t have to read the room, I got first place, and the professor didn’t have to teach anymore. It was mutually beneficial for everyone, wasn’t it?
“No, it is my business. Because you made a bet involving your family’s honor and ended up driving every single student out of the swordsmanship department.”
That was true. I had won the bet man-to-man. I didn’t refuse anyone who came at me. And the idiots in the swordsmanship department, with their family names and knightly honor on the line, would never be able to swallow their pride and come back. If they were upset, they should have been stronger.
Seeing them rush at me claiming I was harassing Lily when it wasn’t even their business, they looked just like heroes charging toward a succubus in the fires of hell.
“Ah, it’s been a while since I got to use my strength. Can’t I enjoy myself a little?”
“No, listen. Professors have performance reviews too, you know. Look. I’m the swordsmanship professor. What do you think will happen if every student who signed up quits on the first day?”
Everyone quitting on the first day, huh. Hmm.
“That could happen.”
It was entirely possible.
“They’ll start questioning my character as the supervising professor! So stop picking fights with every student who shows up, okay?”
“Professor, I completely understand how you feel.”
The image of that hero bastard who tried to get with every pretty woman he saw suddenly came to mind, so without thinking I patted the professor on the back.
“You do?”
“Yes. I understand perfectly.”
“Good. Then…”
Right. For now, I was in Olivia’s body. And I had registered for the swordsmanship class.
“So, Professor, to make sure you can properly slack off during class, I’ll make sure to tell every student who comes for swordsmanship lessons that not only should they drop the class, but that it’s a subject far beyond what their pathetic skills could ever hope to learn.”
Since today was the first day, a few more students who had registered for multiple classes would probably show up. There was no problem at all.
“No, that’s not what I meant! Did you even understand what I said?”
“Wouldn’t one hardworking genius be better than a bunch of hard-headed idiots? And what’s scarier than a natural genius is a genius who actually works hard.”
They say a person who works hard is better than a genius, but if that genius starts working hard, the game is already over.
“You call yourself a genius so casually.”
“Just look at the guys who collapsed in front of me. If I acted like ‘Oh my! How could a beautiful girl like me swing a sword like this?!’ wouldn’t that just be asking for trouble? It’s better to admit it cleanly.”
Honestly, after beating all the kids down, if I then acted weak, what would happen? It would be obvious. I’d just look like the most annoying bitch alive.
“That does make some sense…”
“Right?”
“No, I can’t let myself be convinced. My job is on the line here!”
Job, huh. Hmm. The gangsters in the slums seemed pretty good at finding work for people.
“I know some guys who could arrange a new job for you…”
“It’s hard to find a better job than this one!”
The professor stomped her foot hard on the training ground floor. Well, of course the jobs gangsters offered and a position at the central academy were different.
“That could be true.”
“Do you always just go along with it whenever you’re at a disadvantage?”
-The hero took my wife! What are you going to do about it?
-Well, that could happen.
-What?
-One good hit to the head at a 45-degree angle and you’ll forget everything. So just hold still.
I had that line stuck in my mouth because of that damn hero bastard. Son of a bitch. He was the one who took the married woman, but I was always the one cleaning up the mess he left behind. Come to think of it, I was still cleaning up after the original owner of this body too. Did I commit some act of national betrayal in my previous life or something?
Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.
After the cool entrance that ended with Riler getting beaten, it took a total of thirty minutes to thrash all the other brats. I needed to go to the next department and get my attendance checked.
“Ha, Professor. These things happen in life. By the way, Professor.”
“What?”
I leaned in close to her ear and whispered softly.
“There’s no class today, is there?”
At my words, she glanced around before answering.
“Does it look like there is?”
Of course not. Things like this were supposed to be asked as a formality.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the next class. It’s magic engineering.”
I’d go get my attendance checked there and cause a suitable amount of chaos as well.
“Ah, sure. Go ahead.”
“You’re not thinking of docking my attendance points or anything, right?”
All the other students had fled, leaving only me in the department. I had taken attendance and proven my skill.
“No! With skills like yours, I don’t even need to put you in practice matches. I’ll give you full points. Happy now?”
“I like that attitude of giving up.”
At some point I had given up on Eugene, the hero who only ever chased women, ate, and played around. No, once I let go of my expectations, things became so much easier. So if the professor just let go too, she’d feel much better. The woman in front of her was simply a monster. All she had to do was give her decent grades and be done with it. That was the right way to think about it.
Look at her. Her face had become incredibly peaceful.
“Usually aren’t you supposed to say ‘do your best’ or something?”
Nope. No thanks.