Just Rivals!

The assembly hall seethed with noise.

At its center, Roella Amelia sat with a calm face, lost in a memory.

It had been before the expulsion committee convened, on a quiet bench in the Academy garden.

The cast: Roella herself, and Ian.

She remembered sitting there with her arms crossed, brow furrowed tight.

Why had she been so annoyed?

Ah.

Probably because Ian's words had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been so absurd that they refused to feel real.

"From now on, I'm going to swallow the Darkest family whole."

That idiot had repeated the nonsense right to her stunned face.

No.

His own expulsion was hanging over his head, and he was saying what?

That he was going to devour his family?

Roella had genuinely thought he'd lost his mind.

You know how it goes — pile enough stress on a person and they retreat into delusion until something snaps.

"Don't talk crazy."

The Darkest family. Their prestige wasn't what it once was, but they were still one of the Empire's foremost houses. And a bastard like Ian thought he could swallow them? It was beyond ridiculous.

"It's not crazy."

"What kind of garbage is that? Do you actually think that makes sense? Has your head finally gone soft?"

Even under Roella's sharp rebuke, Ian stayed unfazed. Instead, he began laying out his plan in a calm, even voice.

"Lionel has always crushed me one-sidedly. The moment he faces an unexpected counterattack, he'll panic. He won't even manage a proper defense. That's when I push."

"But you're a bastard! A bastard trying to seize the family — no, just baring your teeth at them would turn the entire noble society against you! No one will take your side!"

It was genuine concern.

Rival or not, she didn't want her rival to suddenly lose his mind and self-destruct.

Ian smiled bitterly.

"I know. In this world, a bastard is little better than a slave. A slave biting his master? Who's going to look kindly on that. But I've thought it through. I don't need to put the blade to his throat myself. I just need to borrow the Academy's power."

"The Academy's power? How, exactly?"

Roella's eyes filled with questions.

"Simple. I use Lionel."

Ian wore a meaningful smile.

Roella's recollection ended there.

So help me out a little. I'll make sure you're compensated more than enough. That was what Ian had said, and Roella had nodded along in a daze.

And so the expulsion committee had begun — and now.

The chairman's solemn declaration rang through the chamber.

"Cadet Ian Darkest is judged free of guilt. Regarding the suspicions raised this day against Sir Lionel Darkest, this body hereby declares that a separate fact-finding committee shall be convened to conduct a thorough investigation."

Roella stared blankly at Ian. When she'd first heard his plan, she'd dismissed it as empty nonsense — the delusion of a dreamer with no grip on reality.

And yet here it was, that impossible plan, becoming real right before her eyes. Lionel had been driven into a corner, and Ian had not only escaped expulsion but secured a foothold for his counterattack.

Is he… a genius?

The words slipped out of her unbidden.

Ian Darkest. That bastard she'd always written off as a dense, frustrating fool — had he been hiding this kind of strategic brilliance all along? Schemes even she, Roella Amelia, had never thought of?

N-no! He just got lucky!

Roella hastily shook her head and forced an awkward laugh.

"Ha! Th-this much is the bare minimum… if you're going to call yourself the rival of this Academy's greatest genius, Roella Amelia!"

She gave a deliberate little cough and tossed her head.

Fine. She'd admit it. That guy was better than she'd given him credit for. Without that kind of nerve and the ability to read the board, he had no business claiming to be her rival.

Of course, he still had a long way to go.

Ian's fief, Seorigol, was a speck of land with barely sixty people to its name. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The territory she governed herself — Loreal City — held two hundred thousand subjects alone. Nearly three thousand times the scale of Ian's holdings. The sheer gap hit her afresh, and confidence flooded back into Roella's eyes.

"Hmph. You've still got a long way to go, you dummy."

The thought that she'd ever considered the lord of a fief with fewer than a hundred people her rival made her face burn for a moment. If only his territory would grow already, she could acknowledge the rivalry with a little more dignity.

Then, unbidden, she thought of the top-grade mana stones her family had recently mined. Something that could do wonders for developing a fief.

…As a congratulations for getting out of expulsion, slipping him a few wouldn't be… too much, would it?

Roella was sitting there flushing over that thought when the chairman declared the session closed.

Most of the crowd remained rooted in place, still reeling — and through it all, her eye caught a cadet wearing a Newspaper Club armband bolting for the exit.

The Newspaper Club.

She was pretty sure she'd had business with them.

Ian had asked her to arrange something right after the session closed… what was it again?

"Ah! The interview!"

Roella shot up from her seat and sprinted out of the chamber.

Down the far end of the corridor, she spotted the Newspaper Club cadet racing off to write a breaking story.

Roella scrambled after him.

She arrived at the Newspaper Club office gasping for air.

The moment she shoved through the open door, that same cadet was already shouting to the editor-in-chief.

"Chief! Breaking news! Ian Darkest overcomes expulsion crisis! Lionel Darkest to face investigation committee over suspected Aberration involvement!"

Roella grabbed the club member by the arm.

"Eek!"

"Gah!"

"Wh-what is it, Lady Roella?! Our Newspaper Club is swamped right now!"

Roella caught her breath and bellowed the one thing that needed saying amid all this chaos.

"Interview! I've locked down an exclusive interview with Ian Darkest! Available right now!"

"Huh? R-really?!"

The Newspaper Club member's eyes went round as saucers. Ian Darkest was currently the hottest name in the Academy. An exclusive interview with him would be a massive scoop.

And right as the expulsion committee ended, no less!

"Yeah. So get down to the basement of Vermouth Hall right now. He shouldn't have left yet."

The club member was out the door before Roella had even finished speaking.

She watched him go, then collapsed half-exhausted into the nearest chair.

"Ugh, I'm dying."

A wave of existential fatigue hit her.

Why am I running myself ragged for Ian like this?

Then—

A soft clink, and a cool ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠teacup settled in front of her.

"Thank you."

Roella took a sip first, then looked up as she offered her thanks.

Short brown hair, worn loose.

Right — the Newspaper Club's editor-in-chief, wasn't she?

"First edition, headline it Ian Darkest's Dramatic Victory! and get it circulating as fast as possible!"

Having barked the order at her staff, the editor sat down across from Roella.

A warm smile — the kind that hid a thoroughly businesslike core.

Looking at that smile, Roella suddenly recalled what she knew about the Newspaper Club's chief.

It was no exaggeration to say that half the Academy's romantic rumors were born at the tip of this woman's pen.

So why was she looking at Roella like that?

"Lady Roella. You've been working awfully hard on Cadet Ian Darkest's behalf."

"Pardon?"

Roella asked back, still not quite processing.

Well. She had been running around.

Mentally and physically.

But something told her she shouldn't admit it.

Because the editor's eyes had lit up even brighter.

"Could the two of you have some… special relationship?"

"Wh-what? M-me?! For that idiot dummy? What exactly do you think I did for him?!"

Roella's face went red enough to burst.

"Hmm. Then you must have received something, at least. Looking at how hard you've been helping him. Something truly enormous, I take it?"

Under the editor's sly prodding, Roella turned scarlet all the way to her ears and floundered.

"O-of course! Obviously! I got something huge, so this much is—!"

The words tumbled out before she could stop them, and she clamped her mouth shut.

The Newspaper Club editor sipped her coffee, watching with keen interest. Her eyes curved into crescent moons. The look of someone who'd just found a delicious new lead.

After the raucous expulsion committee finally ended, I slipped out to the lounge and collapsed into a chair.

My head and my whole body felt like they were creaking and groaning, but I couldn't have cared less.

"Done."

A satisfied smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

I finally had justification to put ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a blade to the Darkest family's throat — and to Lionel's.

I cleared the hardest hurdle.

The bastard label.

That insane Darkest family.

Honestly, they were as bad as any Aberration — no, harder to deal with than most Aberrations I'd faced.

I'd just seized the chance to handle the two highest-share threats to my survival in one stroke.

There was still a long road ahead, of course, but I'd successfully fastened the most important first button.

And then—

"Ian— Ian Darkest, sir! Haaah, hah! I-interview! Intervieeeew!"

Some cadet came crashing in, gasping for breath.

A Newspaper Club armband was tied around his arm.

So Roella had handled her end properly.

I smiled and gestured him toward a seat.

"I've been waiting."