Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: The Original Troll Appears (7)
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Changing locations to a secluded path behind the main building, away from prying eyes.
"Brother Blackmere. Have you lost your mind?"
I met Celestina's gaze, filled with bewilderment.
The thought that hit me the moment our eyes locked.
'Ah, shit.'
I'd acted too recklessly.
Teaching those punks a lesson was the right call a hundred times over, but even so, beating the crap out of students might've crossed a line.
Anyone else might've gotten away with it, but I'm Leonard Percival Blackmere, of all people.
The guy who'd just served a week of suspension and sixty hours of campus service.
Suspension was over, and I'd finished the service a few days ago, finally free—but if a repeat offender like me pulled this stunt, who knows what reaction that'd provoke.
But what's done is done.
Instead of agonizing over how to scoop up the spilled water in front of me, I needed to grab a rag and mop it up fast.
"So, what? I should've just stood there?"
I crossed my arms casually, acting like it was no big deal. Celestina's mouth fell open in a daze.
"W-what?"
"You saw it. Charlotte and I got hit with milk bombs for no reason."
"Th-that's true..."
Celestina, you were right behind us.
Wasn't that straight-up campus bullying?
Kingswell Royal Academy encourages sparring between students.
Officially for skill-building, but it's also to curb random violence or petty harassment.
Of course, that's just talk.
How could there be no bullying or exclusion in a place full of hot-headed kids?
Even adults have outcasts; immature students are worse.
But that's beside the point.
"They might call me fair game, but Charlotte's innocent."
"..."
"Probably targeted just for being next to me. Her commoner status didn't help."
Celestina, you witnessed that firsthand. How could you stand by?
I laced my words with that intent, and Celestina clamped her mouth shut, speechless.
Her protruding lower lip trembled.
Along with her quivering... whoa...
"...Ahem."
I cleared my throat awkwardly and averted my eyes. Oblivious, Celestina nodded with effort.
"All right. You're not wrong. I can't tolerate Charlotte Taylor being bullied for no reason."
"Exactly. That's why I stepped in."
"But you didn't have to use violence."
"Then how should I have handled it?"
"If I'd stepped in and gently admonished them..."
"Too soft. Way too soft, Celestina."
"...?"
Surprise flickered across Celestina's face.
'What the hell is this guy on about now?'
"You think gently scolding them using your high status as the Saintess of Compassion would make those students listen?"
"...At least, it always worked in every case I tried."
"Sure. But that was with devout folks like you."
"Th-that's..."
Exactly.
No matter how much Celestina admonishes people, it's only her Theology Department followers or pious Genesis Church members who listen.
"There's a saying in the Swordsmanship Department: 'A healthy body houses a healthy spirit.'"
Celestina flinched at my words.
Charlotte, standing beside me, tugged my sleeve and gave me a look.
Is there really such a saying?
'Beats me.'
Total bullshit. I just made it up.
But she had no way of knowing.
So I just had to make her believe it was real.
If my mouth could spin tales like this, everything would be smooth sailing.
"Know what the Swordsmanship Department is? Bunch of blockheads too dumb for magic, not pious enough for Theology, but freakishly talented with blades—kids who got called geniuses for it."
"..."
"Raised hearing 'prodigy' since childhood, swinging swords before they even lost their baby fat. Swordsmanship demands sparring to learn, so they grasp man-to-blade combat early. Know what grows from that?"
"Wh-what...?"
I tapped my temple with a finger.
"All that hot-blooded pride from getting thrashed while learning swordplay piles up with nowhere to go. Ends up bloated with fragile ego."
"..."
"Where do they vent it? Fresh off the farm into the academy, they take it out on innocent students."
Though, by that logic, wasn't Leonard doing the same?
But admitting that now would kill the mood, so I slapped on a shameless poker face.
"If you truly think words alone can rein that in, I won't stop you. But even professors roll up their sleeves for a good whack for a reason."
"...But."
"Their heads are that thick, so I gave 'em a loving correction myself. Wasn't thrilled about it."
Truth was, I was just pissed about the milk bomb.
Celestina seemed fully bought into my nonsense, nodding blankly.
I drove the final nail.
"It's fine if they mess with me. That's my karma."
"Brother Blackmere..."
"But not Charlotte."
I'm okay, but she's off-limits?
Water ghost tactics, but not entirely wrong.
Celestina looked at Charlotte with pity.
Charlotte... just blankly kicked a pebble at her feet, lost in thought.
I brushed the milk from her hair and continued.
"Charlotte's my friend. If she gets bullied just for being near me, I'll step in without hesitation."
"..."
"Celestina. What about you? Gonna let this injustice slide?"
Celestina bowed her head silently for a moment.
Then she looked up, her eyes...
"...I swear on the Dawn of Genesis, I won't tolerate unjust bullying."
No more disgust for my bat-swinging.
Instead, righteous fire for what happened to Charlotte and me.
'Easy peasy.'
I glanced at her, then headed to Wisteria Dormitory with Charlotte.
Sticky as hell. Damn it.
Celestina felt like the heavens had split open.
Shocked that, despite sharing Kingswell's walls, she knew nothing of other departments' plights.
More shocked that injustices brewed beyond her sight.
And finally...
"It's fine if they mess with me. That's my karma."
Blackmere accepting all arrows aimed his way with calm resolve.
For some reason, a tight, lonely ache gripped her chest.
A dazed fog, like a hammer to the head.
A massive stone clogged her heart, suffocating.
Leonard walking away with Charlotte, accepting his lot stoically.
Staring blankly at his back, Celestina replayed their talk.
All the academy's hidden injustices.
When rumors of Leonard's tyranny reached her, recalling their humiliating first meeting—what vow had she made?
To eradicate all ugliness and unfairness in Kingswell.
But after talking with him, she realized.
'I... was wandering aimlessly.'
She hadn't risen for Kingswell's justice.
Just targeted Leonard Percival Blackmere out of personal grudge.
Other departments might suffer worse than his deeds.
Yet she'd fixated on him alone, driven by spite.
Wait, was it even fixing him she wanted?
Or just payback for her grudge?
If so, how was she different from the Gideon crew who tormented Leonard and Charlotte today?
Celestina burned with shame.
Wanted to crawl into a hole.
'Brother Blackmere was right.'
Nothing wrong in his words.
She'd buried herself among followers, blind to Kingswell's truths.
A flower in a greenhouse, eyes shut tight.
But now she knew.
What she must do.
'I'll uphold justice.'
If Leonard got punished for this, it'd be absurd.
Against justice.
Gidson's gang deserved punishment for bullying Leonard and Charlotte.
Celestina turned and left, strides toward the administrative office quickening, hesitation gone.
But Leonard's words echoed.
'It's fine if they mess with me. That's my karma.'
His former arrogance seemed a lie, replaced by quiet acceptance.
That fleeting loneliness in his eyes—why?
Celestina couldn't shake their conversation.
'What circumstances does he carry?'
Curiosity stirred about his past.
The students clutching their rears staggered to the infirmary.
In the settled classroom.
Amelia Hill slowly picked up the club rolling on the floor.
The glossy bloodwood club... no, Professor William's Bloodletter.
At the end Leonard Percival Blackmere had gripped moments ago, his hand's warmth lingered faintly.
Amelia clutched it silently.
'Someone has to do it, and if it's thankless... then I should step up and fix it.'
'Because I'm a Blackmere.'
Leondard's parting words resurfaced.
Because I'm a Blackmere.
Why did they hit differently?
Like he was volunteering as the villain.
'What kind of man was Leonard Percival Blackmere?'
Amelia recalled her previous regression.
Straining to remember Leonard, the frequent foe.
But only fragments: clashing as enemies, her sword at his neck.
No personal memories.
If this era's Leonard was genuine.
If this was his true self.
What drove him to evil in the last loop?
Amelia gripped the club tight, resolving.
'...I need to find out.'
To see this cursed regression's end.
Uncover the truth.