Chapter 300: Between Lover and Pet Dog (6)
Chapter 300: Between Lover and Pet Dog (6)
Elsie had to endure all sorts of indignities for several days.
It was the first time in her life she had ever bowed her head to a commoner.
Internally, she was fuming, and there were several moments when her patience nearly snapped, but Elsie gritted her teeth and suppressed her temper until the very end.
It was frustrating and exhausting.
Why did she have to recite words of apology to mere commoners?
It was only natural for the weak to be trampled.
The reason Elsie had crushed them so utterly that they could never recover was to prepare for the day they might become strong and try to trample her.
That was the world Elsie had always lived in.
It had been that way since she was a child.
The strong trample and torment; the weak are either trampled or become strong and trample others in turn.
Therefore, her violence was a form of self-defense.
Elsie simply didn't want to be trampled again.
She didn't want to go back to those painful, difficult days of her childhood. That was Elsie's honest, unvarnished truth.
Yes, she would have said exactly that until not too long ago.
But now, whenever Elsie felt sad or wronged, she thought of Ian.
He was a man who supported and embraced the weak instead of trampling them.
Their first meeting hadn't been pleasant, but it was an undeniable fact that her fate had changed completely upon meeting him.
Elsie's world was no longer confined within the Lainella Family.
Ian was the new master, the life, and the world that Elsie had chosen for herself.
So, if this new world demanded a new set of ethics, she would adapt to them as much as necessary.
And so, the girl gritted her teeth and endured the path of humiliation.
It was during one of those days that she encountered an ill-fated bond from her past.
"Well, well, look who it is. Isn't this the one who's been dragging the reputation of high nobility through the mud lately... Lainella the bitch?"
A woman appeared, a lollipop in her mouth.
She was leading a gang, which wasn't unusual. By the time students reached the upper years, everyone either belonged to a gang or led one.
Elsie shot a sideways glare at the woman.
What was her name again? Right.
"......I guess you haven't forgotten the taste of electricity from last time, Ludmilla."
The woman called Ludmilla burst into a snickering laugh.
She was someone whose gang had been smashed by Elsie's in the past.
Like Elsie, her group hadn't been of particularly good character, but Elsie had left them alone because they were high nobility—until they picked a fight. Then, Elsie had seized the perfect justification and suppressed them in one fell swoop.
It was an incident from back when Elsie was at the height of her notoriety in the Academy.
Ludmilla's right shoulder had been shattered as a result, but it had been effective in shutting up the Ludmilla family, so it wasn't a bad trade.
Since that day, Ludmilla used to lose her nerve whenever she stood before Elsie, but today, for some reason, she seemed full of bravado.
Elsie let out a hollow laugh, finding the sight absurd.
But Ludmilla remained as arrogant as ever.
"Lainella, I heard you've been busy bowing your head to commoners lately? Why don't you bow that cheap head of yours to me, too?"
"Fuck off, you bitch."
Crackle. An electric charge flickered from Elsie's hand.
The opponents were many.
Normally, Elsie would be at a disadvantage as a mage, but having grown a level during the battle with the Corpse Giant, she felt she could still hold her own.
And even if she were at a disadvantage, so what?
In a fight, the one who clung on until the very end was the winner.
Despite this, Ludmilla remained gleeful.
"Are you sure about that? If you touch me again, bad rumors will spread... that you've gotten yourself involved in another violent incident."
"That applies to those powerless commoner shits. Do you think a thug like you is the same as them?"
"Yeah, exactly the same."
With that, Ludmilla revealed her pale left arm, which had been hidden by her uniform.
There, a red line like a thin crack remained like a scar.
It looked like the branching path of a lightning strike.
It was obvious who had left that mark.
The wound Elsie had inflicted back then.
It still remained as a scar.
Elsie felt a surge of grim satisfaction and smirked.
"......Oh? Bringing back old memories, are we?"
"Who do you think will believe you?"
Ludmilla spoke in a low voice, her eyes burning.
Elsie's blue eyes silently met Ludmilla's gaze.
"You know, that kid Ian has been following you around lately, hasn't he? He must really not trust you to do that... I heard he even let you go when you were being picked on."
"So, what's your point?"
Phew. Ludmilla let out a breath and said with a faint smile.
"My point is, if I set my mind to it, it's easy to make you look like a total bitch."
"......Master would never believe you."
"Aren't you out here like this because you were abandoned by that 'Master'? Like a stray dog."
Puhuhu. Ludmilla burst into laughter and spread her arms wide.
"And besides, I didn't come here to fight you... I just came to get an apology."
Elsie let out a short, incredulous laugh.
She finally saw Ludmilla's scheme.
She hadn't come to fight.
It was a tactic Elsie herself had used often in the past.
Just cornering someone, keeping them trapped for a long time, and tormenting them with words.
The reason this tactic was so annoying was that you couldn't respond with violence.
If you did, you'd be the one striking first.
There were no devices in the Academy that could record every single event happening everywhere.
Naturally, things had to be judged by testimony and traces, and the traces of a fight were always the most vivid.
Elsie snorted and tried to walk away, but Ludmilla wasn't about to let her go.
Ludmilla gripped Elsie's shoulder firmly.
Elsie almost screamed at the unexpected strength of the grip.
Only her pride kept her from doing more than glaring fiercely at Ludmilla.
Ludmilla's voice dropped to a threatening tone.
"......Just apologize, you bitch."
Her voice was thick with resentment.
It was the growl of a beast whose pride had been wounded beyond repair.
"Do you have any idea how ridiculous I look now that you're going around bowing to commoners? And yet you won't apologize to me? You're out here playing 'Master, Master' to some lower noble, acting all submissive."
Elsie tried to slap Ludmilla's hand away, but she didn't have the strength.
Before she knew it, the rest of the gang was closing in around her.
Facing a crisis for the first time in a while, Elsie bit her lip.
In her heart, she wanted to sweep them all away in an instant.
But it was also true that one thing Ludmilla said weighed on her mind.
'You know, that kid Ian has been following you around lately, hasn't he? He must really not trust you to do that......'
That was also why Ludmilla was being so reckless.
If Ian had seen Elsie being mistreated and said nothing, it could be interpreted as him signaling that anything was fine as long as a certain line wasn't crossed.
And Ludmilla was walking that line with exquisite precision.
Elsie was confused.
Would Ian really forgive her?
It was easy to go back to being the 'Little Villain' Elsie.
She could fight like a dog, and if that wasn't enough, she could summon her old gang for a brawl.
But hadn't Ian said it?
That he hated that side of her.
Elsie wanted to break up with her past self.
The self that was a fighting dog, barking and biting people because she was actually afraid.
Elsie was human, too.
After suffering all sorts of insults and humiliations while going around apologizing, her mental state was no longer capable of making normal judgments.
Instead, her lowered self-esteem was leading her toward a wrong decision.
Fine, I should just endure it, even if I have to take a hit.
The moment she thought that, Elsie's hand, which had been flickering with electricity, flinched.
Ludmilla was not one to miss the hesitation in those eyes.
She let out a bright, mocking laugh.
"I only heard rumors, but it was true? You crazy bitch... Not only did you fall for the guy who beat you with an axe, but you're calling yourself a pet dog, and now you've even sold out your pride as a high noble?"
Grit. Ludmilla gnashed her teeth.
The inferiority complex toward Elsie she had hidden until now was on the verge of exploding.
After being defeated by Elsie, Ludmilla hadn't even been able to meet her eyes.
But now, that terrifying Elsie had degraded herself into a mere pet dog.
She hated that fact beyond measure.
Because it felt like it degraded not just Elsie, but Ludmilla herself into something pathetic.
Ludmilla was almost delirious with joy at the fact that she could finally unleash that rage.
Crunch. Ludmilla's hand, gripping Elsie's shoulder, tightened instinctively.
Elsie finally couldn't hold it back and let out a scream.
"Ugh, ah... Aaaaaaaah!"
Even so, Elsie did not counterattack Ludmilla.
That fact meant only one thing.
Ludmilla spoke, her eyes glistening with ecstasy.
"Sorry, sorry. But just bear with it, okay? It was an accident... Let's just have a little chat."
Because her conversation with Elsie was only just beginning.
Yes, that was exactly what she thought until that very moment.
Until the sound of something shattering rang out.
Kwaduk!
Huh, did I mess up my strength control?
Ludmilla was puzzled, but as a hot liquid splashed onto her cheek, she had no choice but to turn her gaze.
There, a sight that everyone in the Academy feared unfolded.
A hand axe was buried in her shoulder.
As if by instinct, Ludmilla understood the situation immediately.
And then, a pain that turned her mind white followed.
"Ugh, guh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Blood soaked the clearing.
* * *
I let out a hot, heavy breath.
At first, I had intended to just watch.
Because it was possible that Ludmilla was someone Elsie Senior had bullied in the past.
But the moment Elsie Senior screamed, my patience reached its limit.
Before I knew it, I had already thrown the hand axe.
I rotated my wrist and walked forward with heavy steps.
The gazes of the crowd turned toward me, filled with terror.
Only Elsie Senior was looking at me with a dazed expression.
A female student, whose name I didn't know, groaned from the impact of the hand axe.
As soon as she saw me, she collapsed in fear.
She began to scramble backward on her buttocks, shaking her head frantically.
"D-Don't come any closer! If you come any closer, the Disciplinary Committee will—"
As soon as I heard those words, I let out a hollow laugh.
Thwack. The hand axe, which I pulled from the girl's shoulder, landed back in my hand.
With the axe removed, the bleeding that had been blocked became even more severe.
The girl tried to grit her teeth and endure it, but eventually, unable to withstand the pain, she slumped over, trembling.
"Ugh, guh... guuuuuuuh......!"
With those groans as background music, I spoke in a nonchalant tone.
Tapping the bloody hand axe against my palm.
"Yeah, go ahead and report me."
I'll just use Dragon Blood Runes.