Chapter 144: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (8)
Chapter 144: Dragon's Eye, Human Heart (8)
Dawn had come once again.
Everything that happened yesterday felt like a dream. Through my hazy consciousness, I fumbled around, searching for my canteen.
Clack. A heavy weight settled in my hand. Soon, with a practiced motion, I was gulping down water, letting it pour down my throat.
Only then did I feel my senses returning. Snapping out of my daze, I pushed myself up into a sitting position.
The events of last night began to replay in my mind. I felt like I’d spent the entire day in a fog, but looking back, I’d actually accomplished quite a bit.
First, I had secured testimony regarding the incident with the Princess.
And I had told Senior Elsie that we shouldn't see each other for a while.
Senior Elsie had looked quite pitiful then—so much so that she had grabbed my collar, trembling on the verge of tears. She had looked up at me with pleading eyes and asked:
“I-Is it because Elsie did something wrong? I-I’m sorry… I-I won’t do it again! Never again… S-So… please, don’t abandon me…!”
For a moment, my heart wavered, but I forced myself to stay firm.
It was for Senior Elsie’s own sake. A sigh escaped my lips involuntarily.
“Senior Elsie, it’s not like that. You know exactly why I’m doing this…”
I gave her head one last pat and turned away. But despite receiving the "reward" she loved so much, only tears rolled down Senior Elsie’s cheeks.
I remembered the sound of her sobbing, dripping steadily like raindrops soaking the earth.
It was a painful sight to recall. I shook the canteen needlessly and took another swig of cold water.
Come to think of it, there had been another incident in the early hours of the morning.
There had been a persistent, rhythmic pounding on my door. At first, I tried to ignore it, thinking it might be a mistake, but when the prank continued for nearly two hours, my patience reached its limit.
It was a clear message: if they intended to harass me, they had plenty of ways to do it.
It seemed my opponent wanted to gift me a sleepless night. So, I decided to return the favor.
A surprise gift would be more than enough.
After holding my breath behind the door for several minutes, I finally sensed a presence approaching.
I stopped breathing entirely, erasing what little trace of my presence remained. Then, the moment someone reached out to knock, I yanked the handle open.
A male student stared at me, his eyes wide with shock.
Behind him stood several other students, clearly part of the same gang. I flashed them a thin smile.
I lunged forward and grabbed the hand that had been about to knock.
Slam! The door shut again. Until the very last second, the rest of the gang didn't even realize what had happened.
Thrown onto the floor, the student looked up at me with a bewildered expression. There was no need for him to look so curious.
Thud! My fist slammed into the student’s face.
I heard the sickening crunch of cartilage as his nose collapsed. The student immediately clutched his face and let out a scream.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Only then did I hear whispering from outside, followed by frantic pounding on the door. It didn't matter.
The door was locked, and unless they had the courage to tear it off its hinges, this student’s fate was entirely in my hands.
I immediately mounted him and rained down punches.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
Three punches were all it took.
The student, who had been screaming at first, lost a few teeth after the first hit. By the second, only a wheezing sound that couldn't even pass through his vocal cords escaped him.
By the third strike, his face was a mess of bruises. The sound of his whimpering tickled my ears.
“S-Stop… P-Please… What did I even do wrong…?”
I let out a hollow laugh, incredulous. So, I gave him a fourth.
Crack. The man’s body convulsed violently under the impact. I considered hitting him once more but held back. He didn't look like he was from the Swordsmanship Department.
If I wasn't careful, I might actually kill him. Forcing myself to calm down, I questioned the sobbing student.
“Then why did you have to get on my nerves?”
“I-I’m going to report you… hic, I’ll have you reported and expelled… Gaaaaah!”
I reached out and snapped the fingers he was using to wipe his tears. With a sharp crack, his fingers bent backward, twitching.
He writhed again in intense agony. Only then did I break into a bright smile.
“Did you really think someone who laid a hand on the Imperial Family would be afraid of something like expulsion?”
At that, a vivid terror filled the student’s eyes. His trembling gaze locked onto mine.
It was clear he never imagined I would react this way.
That made me even more curious.
Logically, it made no sense for someone who had crossed the Imperial Family to fear expulsion. Yet, every person I ran into was prattling on about me being "expelled."
The student’s trembling voice provided the answer to my question.
“D-Didn't Her Highness the Princess spare you from expulsion?”
What a load of nonsense.
The Academy’s traditions were ancient, and even the Imperial Family respected its authority. This had been the case since the reign of the Late Emperor Idalos, one of the greatest emperors in history.
The Imperial Family had never once interfered with the Academy’s regulations.
Following that long-standing tradition, the principle was that the Imperial Household did not intervene in incidents occurring within the Academy.
Even if a member of the royalty was insulted, the rule held.
A physical assassination attempt might be different, but the Imperial Family wouldn't intervene over something like having water splashed on them. Doing so would only diminish the prestige the Imperial Household had maintained for centuries.
Instead, the Imperial Family usually moved more indirectly.
For instance, they might send one of the Five Great Noble Families or use various connections to apply pressure.
The way the Princess was dealing with me now wasn't much different. Therefore, there was zero chance she had convened the Academy’s Disciplinary Committee.
No gambler bets on a match they can't win. At best, the committee would have ruled it as self-defense.
Splashing water was wrong. But charging at someone with a real sword with intent to kill was a far greater wrong. Thus, my response was justified.
Within the Academy, whether one was royalty, nobility, or a commoner, they were all just students. Even if only on paper, the probability of the Disciplinary Committee ignoring these regulations was infinitesimally low.
So, the premise that the Princess had "spared" me from expulsion was impossible from the start.
Of course, if the Imperial Family truly had the will, they could make it happen, but they had no reason to show such loyalty to a princess who was so far down the line of succession.
It might be different for the First Prince or the Second Princess, who were considered the leading candidates for the throne. But compared to them, Cien’s power and influence were meager at best.
This only deepened my suspicion.
It was true that most Imperial nobles were blinded by their loyalty to the throne. However, it was unlikely they would hallucinate such basic facts.
There was only one answer. Someone was spreading false information.
The only remaining questions were who, and for what possible reason.
“Her Highness spared me from expulsion? Who told you that?”
“Y-You… they said you used unjustified violence against Her Highness…”
“I only beat up her escort knights a bit. I never laid a finger on Her Highness.”
But the student only stared at me with eyes full of distrust.
Tsk. I clicked my tongue.
I was certain now. Distorted rumors were circulating within the Academy.
However, as far as I knew, no group within the Academy possessed that level of organizational power.
While some influential families might control rumors within the Academy, they could usually only silence people; the truth would still spread through word of mouth.
In contrast, the attitude this student was showing was entirely different.
He seemed to sincerely believe the information.
If that were the case, I had to assume there was an organization capable of conducting an information war strong enough to suppress the testimonies of dozens of witnesses from that day. And all for the sake of the 5th Princess, who was nowhere near the throne.
With a hollow smirk, I delivered the final blow.
Crunch. With the sound of breaking bone, the student lost consciousness.
His head slumped forward. Judging by his breathing, he wasn't dead, fortunately.
I rummaged through his clothes. Since the dormitory I stayed in housed many lower-ranking nobles, he was bound to have at least one self-defense dagger if he was a noble.
Sure enough, I found a rather crude dagger. I pressed the dagger into the unconscious man’s hand and then lightly grazed my own cheek.
The minimum requirements to claim self-defense were now met.
Just as I was about to toss the unconscious student back out the door, a piece of gray paper fell out of his inner pocket.
After a moment of silence, I picked it up. It was a newspaper.
[The Truth Behind the Central Avenue Incident! How Far Does Her Highness’s Mercy Reach?]
It seemed I had found at least one place I needed to visit.
I tucked the newspaper into my coat and dragged the student along. Then, I opened the door and tossed him out.
The student’s companions, who had been pacing anxiously outside, jumped in surprise and stared at me. I gave them a slight smile.
“He’s a bit of a violent fellow. I tried to have a conversation, but he attacked me out of nowhere.”
They looked at me with disbelief, but their faces turned pale when they saw their friend’s mangled face.
The silence was awkward, so I cleared my throat and left them with one last word.
“Tell anyone else who wants to 'talk' with me that my door is always open. Goodbye.”
After that, no more students knocked on my door.
They should have done that from the start, I thought as I went to refill my canteen.
But my hand paused as an idea struck me. My eyes drifted toward a bottle of liquor.
It reminded me of my freshman year. On days when I particularly hated training or studying, I used to carry alcohol in my canteen instead of water and take small sips.
And today felt like it was going to be a particularly bitter day.
After a moment’s hesitation, I picked up a bottle of whiskey and poured it into the canteen.
It was the start of another day.
Today, it was time to figure out how to strike back at the Princess.
*
It happened while I was walking with sluggish steps after hearing that mail had arrived.
Normally, there were mailboxes assigned to each room in a corner of the dormitory, but when I checked this morning, it was a disaster.
The word "DIE" written in red ink was the least of it; the box was stuffed with all sorts of trash and leftover food.
A classic, petty method.
The post office, concluding that I couldn't receive mail normally, had sent me a separate notice. They wanted me to come and collect it in person.
Having the Imperial Family as an enemy was certainly a hassle. I was yawning while thinking that when a group of people emerging from an alleyway caught my eye.
They were snickering and dusting off their hands, but they froze the moment our eyes met.
Then, they began to slink away, glancing back at me warily.
My suspicious gaze followed them. Then, a sudden bad premonition hit me, and I ran straight into the alley.
There was a pile of trash there. For aesthetic reasons, the dormitory’s trash collection points were often located inside alleys.
The face of the man slumped in that trash pile was far too familiar.
“Reto!”
He was groaning amidst the garbage, but he swiped a banana peel off his head and spoke.
“……So you’re here, Ian.”
Though, his tone sounded extremely disgruntled.