The Person I Didn't Want to Meet (1)

The plaza was already packed with students.

Examinations at Soul Academy marked a crucial turning point—whether one advanced to the next year or fell behind. For any student who belonged here, it was something they couldn't help but keep their eyes peeled for.

The results didn't seem to have been posted yet, and yet so many had come early. Truly diligent people, Arthur thought.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, someone grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Auuuya. So you came to check your scores too?"

The voice—known among the royal court retainers for being as unrefined as a common warrior—belonged to his own kin, Cecil Soladin.

"Brother."

"Good day to you, Second Prince."

Arthur merely stared at him blankly, but Joy, standing beside him, was a different ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠story. With practiced grace, she curtsied and offered Cecil a proper greeting.

Cecil told her that at the Academy there was no need for such formality, yet the pleased curve of his lips made it plain that her courtliness had won him over.

After exchanging a bit of light small talk with Joy, Cecil at last turned his head toward Arthur and flashed a wide grin.

"Auuuya. So? Think you might manage to be the best this time around?"

It sounded like a brother simply asking how the exam went. It was not.

Cecil Soladin would hardly bother asking after Arthur's well-being. The true question was this: I was utterly crushed by Lucy Aln last time—what makes you think you'll win this round?

It was a provocation, a jab at how he had clung to the top spot every time only to be knocked off it now. The theatrical smile made that abundantly clear.

Had this been the Arthur of before his wager with Lucy, that provocation would have hooked him, and his voice would have trembled with emotion. To the Arthur of back then, being robbed of the top spot had been a complex, plain and simple.

But that was no longer who he was.

Now that he had come to regard Lucy Aln not as someone beneath him, but as a rival standing above—a rival he would someday surpass—he could smile through even Cecil's provocations.

"Hard to say. I did my very best, but the results are anyone's guess."

"...Hm. Is that so?"

Perhaps the reaction had been far too lukewarm compared to what he'd been expecting. Cecil let his disappointment show without the slightest attempt to hide it, muttered something about needing to go check his own scores, and walked off.

Honestly. His appearance and build were every bit the imposing warrior, yet his insides were so petty and small.

Brother Cecil, it seems, will never have what it takes to be king.

Watching Cecil's back as he shoved through the crowd with his retainers in tow, Arthur wiped him from his mind the moment he caught sight of what lay beyond: a professor emerging, hauling an enormous sheet of paper.

At last. So, what manner of score did Lucy Aln manage this time?

Had she been undone by her own arrogance? Or had she once again flaunted her talent before the world?

Which it would be, he truly wondered. Come now. Show me.

The professor, paper in hand, made his way to the center of the plaza and pinned it to the notice board. The first to be unveiled were the first-year scores.

And the name written at the very top—

'Lucy Aln'

It was exactly the name Arthur had expected.

Ha. Hahahaha.

Of course. So she truly is a genius, is she?

Skipping the professors' lessons entirely, subjugating everyone beneath her by talent alone—so that's how it works, does it?!

There was simply no wrapping his own head around it. She wielded power mighty enough to bring Frey Kent, the continent's foremost genius swordswoman, to her knees—and possessed the intellect to conquer Soul Academy without studying a single day.

Was this creature truly within the same category of being as himself? He had carried his own pride in being something of a genius, but he supposed there was always a higher heaven above the heavens!

"Wow! Whoa!"

Just as Arthur was marveling at the name of Lucy Aln claiming the summit once more, an exclamation burst out beside him—sudden and unrestrained.

Coming from Joy, who ordinarily strove to maintain a noblewoman's composure at all times, it was an excessive display of emotion. What on earth had her score been, to draw such a reaction? Judging by her delight, she hadn't made any fatal mistake, at least.

Arthur glanced sideways at her, then returned his eyes to the results board—and froze, eyes going wide at the name directly beneath Lucy's.

It was behavior unbecoming of a prince's dignity by any measure, but he couldn't help himself. The name there was a far, far cry from anything he had anticipated.

'Joy Partran'

"I got second place! I think that's the highest score I've ever received!"

The name Arthur Soladin was written below hers, in third place.

This... what on earth is this?

Joy beat me? How? What mistake did I make? Was there an error in the grading?

Countless thoughts churned through his head, but Arthur couldn't bring a single one of them past his lips. The Joy standing beside him simply looked too happy. He wasn't petty enough to ask an acquaintance to her face, why did you beat me? So he forced a smile instead.

"Congratulations, Joy."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

I woke from a dream of being chased down by ghosts and shot upright, stared at a completely bare wall, and promptly faceplanted forward.

So tired. I shouldn't have stayed up late last night—I should have gone to bed early. The culprit behind my current exhaustion was the studying I'd started for the very first time last night.

After the midterms ended, Grandpa spent all day nagging at me to start studying right away. I tried telling him I'd rest a bit first since the exam had literally just finished, but faced with 'Did YOU take the exam? I did,' I had no good comeback.

"Put it off a day or two like that and you'll end up never doing it for the rest of your life! You have to start NOW!"

Unable to endure Grandpa's nagging, I trudged off to the Academy library and carted back a stack of study primers for toddlers. Setting aside questions of education or whatever, I was someone who lacked even basic common sense. If I wanted to study, I needed to start from the things little children with blank-slate heads learned first.

At first I only pried the books open because Grandpa forced me to, but once I got going—huh, it was actually kind of fun?

Studying stops being fun at the point where every single letter you read makes your skull ache. At the level of learning addition and subtraction in math, that kind of wall simply cannot exist. And on top of that, every time I solved one of those basic problems, Grandpa would praise me—well done, you're a genius—and before I knew it, I'd been sucked all the way in.

The result: the time I actually fell asleep last night was after the small hours of the morning. I did come to my senses eventually and go to bed, but there was no way I'd gotten much sleep.

Let's see. What time is it... 7:10...

I'M LATE!

I sprang up and began scrambling to get ready to go outside. First, the disaster zone my bedhead had made of my hair needed taming...

"Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"Waking a soundly sleeping lad seemed poor form. The daily training isn't strictly mandatory, is it?"

"That may be true, but—!"

Mandatory or not, patterns are patterns!

I normally started training from the crack of dawn. It happened naturally, from synchronizing my routine with the Aln family knights. When I first came to the Academy I trained alone, but before long Frey joined, and after that whole incident, Joy did too. The three of us had never actually discussed it, but every dawn, without fail, we came out at the same time and trained together.

Those two would already be at the training grounds by now. They'll manage fine on their own, right? They're not waiting on me or anything, right?!

Rushing out of the dormitory and nearly sprinting toward the training grounds, I spotted a crowd of people gathered at the Academy Plaza and cocked my head. What's going on? Unless something's happening, there's no reason for people to be over there.

Oh! Today's the day the results come out. Right. My head's been such a mess I forgot for a second.

...Well, I'm already late, so a little more lateness won't hurt, will it? The two of them are training on their own anyway.

Slowing my pace, I rose up on my tiptoes to peek at the notice board. Regrettably, my current height was a good one to two heads shorter than the average student. Meaning that no amount of tiptoeing was getting me over their shoulders.

Haaah. Nothing for it, then. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was hoping not to resort to this, but what can you do when there's no other way?

Giving up on checking the scores over everyone's shoulders, I wordlessly poked the person in front of me in the side. The male student blocking my way turned his head with a scowl.

"Who the—"

His hostile expression vanished the instant he saw my face.

"Hello there. Could you move for me, please?"

"Y-yes ma'am! Right away! I'm in your way, aren't I! Sorry for just standing there in front of you—how unpleasant that must have been!"

The moment the boy let out something close to a shriek, every gaze in the vicinity swung toward me. And then, one by one, the people who'd realized I'd arrived began backing away, carving a path straight through the heart of the crowd.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the miracle that Armadi's Apostle can perform: parting the waves of humanity.

What's that? Armadi doesn't actually have an authority like that? Not my problem.

My useless Chief God's Apostle is me and me alone anyway, so by definition, my power IS the useless Chief God's authority. Next question.

Long since accustomed to the whispers of the people around me, I let them flow in one ear and out the other as I pressed forward—finally able to read the scores pinned to the board.

'Lucy Aln'

'Joy Partran'

'Arthur Soladin'

'Jackal Burrow'

Having confirmed the four names strung across the very top, I wondered for a moment if I was seeing things and checked again. Nothing changed.

Huh?

Why is Joy in second place? Am I still half asleep?

"Grandpa. Is this a dream?"

"If it is, snap out of it."

"Right, it can't be—"

But then why is the Airhead Lady in second place?! Our Airhead Lady doesn't have it in her to pull this off! Who ARE you?! Tell me the truth! Did some other transmigrator possess her?! There is no way the Airhead Lady scores second without making a single mistake!

Just as I was reeling from a situation my common sense couldn't process, a notification chime rang out. Our useless Chief God, at least, is always punctual ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠about handing out rewards.

However Joy managed to snag second place, I could investigate later. Rewards first.

When I opened the Inventory window, the sight I'd seen until I was sick of it back in my Soul Academy days washed over me, and a wave of calm settled in my chest.

Yes. THIS is what I'm talking about. This is what a game looks like. Absolute peak.

As a test, I slipped the ring I was wearing into the Inventory window, watched it vanish and take its place inside, and nearly teared up with gratitude.

Lord Armadi, thank you sincerely for this quality-of-life feature. Please keep adding ONLY features like this from now on. I'm begging you. And please, please stop with garbage features like that log window.

- Ding.

I clear one quest and you just issue another one? What is it this time? What are you giving me? Is it something actually useful, like the Inventory? Or is it something that helps me farm other people's affection points?

Even if our useless Chief God reverts to his useless, incompetent, perverted ways and hands me a quest designed purely to screw me over, I can handle any amount of that. Just make sure the reward is something decent for once, please.

"Lady Lucy of House Aln."

I was about to read the next message to check the quest when I heard someone calling my name. Who now? Academy students don't so much as want to approach me. Someone picking a fight? If so, they were about to get a full demonstration of what a mesugaki truly is.

Chambering a fresh round of spicy vocabulary in my head, I turned around—and froze solid at the sight of the person standing behind me.

"Sh...it!"

"A pleasure. I am Cecil Soladin, Second Prince of the Kingdom of Soladin."

Cecil Soladin. Second Prince of the Kingdom of Soladin, and an NPC who vies with Arthur for the throne. Before he grew through his personal storyline, he was a simple-minded, thuggish, petty excuse for a human being—a character utterly unfit to be king.

Whew. That was a close one. Thank goodness I clamped my hand over my mouth in time. If I'd actually said this man's name out loud, I'd have been in serious trouble.

And why, you ask? Because among the players, this man's nickname was the Idiot Prince.