Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: A Young Man Who Just Wants to Live (3)
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Day 3 of suspension.
Having sorted out my thoughts in the dreary dormitory all that time, I finally donned a crisp uniform and arrived at the academy grounds for the first time in ages.
"Look over there. It's Blackmere."
"Whoa... that's him? The lunatic who picked a fight with the Hero Candidate."
"Blackmere's wastrel..."
Every student passing by was busy cursing me out.
And who could blame them? The karma Leonard had racked up wasn't something to sneeze at.
No, to be precise, it was this bastard Leonard who had completely trashed his reputation.
Fine, even if we stretch it, picking a fight with the Hero Candidate could be excused. In the story, the Hero Candidate turned out to be surprisingly magnanimous, so cleanup wouldn't be too hard.
The real problem was that Leonard poked at anyone and everyone who rubbed him the wrong way, no exceptions.
'Hmph. A family that doesn't even come close to the Blackmeres. What are you still doing here?'
'Don't stand in front of a Blackmere.'
'A commoner... talking back?'
And now that karma was mine to bear.
Leonard had flipped the table, smashed the TV, and turned the house upside down. And here I was, left to clean up the mess.
Life had screwed me over big time.
'Fuck this.'
I swallowed the sudden surge of anger and kept walking.
I hadn't left the dormitory because I wanted to get insulted.
Leonard had been given two punishments: a one-week suspension and 60 hours of campus service duty.
The suspension was easy—just hole up in the dorm.
For some legendary reason, time flew by even if I just sat there zoning out like a corpse.
But campus service duty was different. I had to actually do it myself.
'Might as well be a good thing.'
I decided to think positively.
To preserve my neck intact, I had to shed the wastrel image anyway.
Spilled water couldn't be gathered back, but if I threw myself into service duty with full enthusiasm, maybe perceptions would shift a bit?
"What a nerve."
"How does he have the face to show up?"
"No idea. Campus service?"
Thanks to that, I arrived at my destination while vividly hearing insults I could've ignored.
Honestly, it didn't piss me off much.
I just told myself they were cursing Leonard, not me.
The assembly point for campus service workers was the fountain in front of the main building, at 8 a.m.
A few service workers were already gathered there five minutes early.
Service workers, my foot—they were basically students like me, punished with campus duty by the academy.
"Heh heh, Blackmere on campus service?"
"Even a stray dog would laugh."
"Won't he pass out picking up trash? He's good at puking his guts out when he's all clean and tidy, though."
Just as there's the universe above the sky and the underworld below the earth, even among these delinquent teens, there were hierarchies.
And I was at the rock bottom of that unfair caste system.
A fool who strutted around on his high horse until he messed with the wrong person, got beaten senseless, and fell from grace.
There was nothing I could do about it now. From here on, I had to show them with actions.
'Launder the image with good deeds.'
I hadn't spent my time holed up in Wisteria Dormitory just wallowing in self-pity.
I'd endlessly pondered ways to survive, concluding that performing good deeds was the orthodox path to changing perceptions.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
No sharp solutions at hand anyway, so let's start here.
As I stood awkwardly alone by the fountain...
"You actually came."
Suddenly, someone approached and spoke to me.
'Whoa.'
Flawless white hair without a speck of dust, blue eyes holding the shimmer of sunlight on the sea, and... those massive breasts that instinctively drew the gaze.
"Brother Blackmere."
"...Celestina."
The Saintess of Compassion, Celestina.
She gazed at me with a cold smile.
Campus service duty turned out to be surprisingly straightforward.
Two or three students wandered around together, picking up trash with giant sacks.
Thanks to that, even though Leonard's lingering ego deep inside threw a tantrum and sparked revulsion, I could grit my teeth and endure it.
'Still...'
As I picked up trash with the tongs, I glanced sideways at the gaze I felt.
Celestina, standing stock-still by the fountain, staring right at me.
Her arms crossed accentuated certain body parts, but it didn't look appealing to me at all.
'I'm screwed...!'
Celestina. Saintess of the Genesis Church, revered by all as the 'Saintess of Compassion.'
Also a freshman at Kingswell Royal Academy like me.
If only it stopped there...
'Hey, wench.'
'Pardon? Were you speaking to me?'
'Yeah. That body's downright obscene. Does the Church now parade harlots as saintesses?'
'...What did you say?'
Blackmere's wastrel didn't disappoint.
Leonard Percival Blackmere, this psycho bastard's past sins left me throwing up my hands in defeat.
Even a madman wouldn't touch a saintess.
I'd somehow become something she despised like filth or a cockroach—the kind even the Saintess of Compassion scorned.
I'd half-expected this treatment, but facing it made my vision go dark.
'Is quitting really the answer?'
If I truly wanted to live, dropping out wasn't a bad idea. I'd survive for sure right away.
In the original story, he even quit the academy just before turning fully villainous.
If only the Blackmere Family hadn't exiled him right after.
Then I wouldn't be agonizing like this.
'Keep that up, and we'll strike you from the family registry?'
To his parents, it might be a standard threat, but to me as Leonard, it didn't sound like a joke.
If it ended with mere exile, fine—but afterward, the Blackmeres sent someone to corner him.
Offering poison: suicide honorably, or die disgracefully by underlings' hands?
Leonard barely escaped, only to fall into the Dark Crusade—the story's biggest black curtain.
His end: sliced by the Hero Candidate's sword.
Quitting was no real escape.
That's why image laundering was even more crucial.
I spoke to the male student picking trash beside me, eyeing me warily.
"Hey. So, your name was..."
"Uh, y-yeah?"
"What's your name again?"
"V-Vincent. Vincent Oswald..."
"A commoner, huh."
Commoners entering Kingswell Royal Academy weren't common, but it happened occasionally.
Usually from well-off families or with exceptional talent—making them an overwhelming minority either way.
Misinterpreting my mutter, Vincent squeezed his eyes shut in fear.
"D-Don't! If you cause trouble while suspended, you'll really get expelled...!"
"..."
"The Saintess of Compassion is watching too. Unless you're some hooded beast, don't do anything bad...!"
No, he wasn't just scared.
Despite his scrawny, timid looks, he spoke his mind.
"No ill intent. Vincent."
"R-Right... Ah, sorry."
"...No, it's fine. Anyway, I have a question."
"Yeah?"
Maintaining Leonard's arrogant tone while being friendly was harder than expected.
I wanted to speak casually, but that might arouse suspicion.
I glanced at the saintess now openly glaring, and whispered.
"Why's the saintess doing campus service?"
"Y-You didn't know? She's the president of the service club..."
"Oh."
Was there such a club?
It suited her perfectly. With her usual sweet, kind personality, nothing odd about it.
Her nickname 'Saintess of Compassion' wasn't for show.
"She's here to supervise the service workers today. Can't just let delinquents loose."
"What about you?"
"M-Me? Too many unexcused absences..."
"..."
I quietly picked up trash with Vincent.
Chatting revealed he wasn't a bad student aside from skipping classes like meals.
Since we clicked, he relaxed and started talking more freely.
"Heard the new Golden Dormitory resident is the Hero Candidate. The one who beat you silly..."
"No need for the rest."
"S-Sorry. I'm a bit too blunt..."
"...Yeah."
"Apparently, it's the first commoner in Golden Dormitory in 25 years. No wonder the noble students seem uneasy lately."
"Makes sense."
"But with the saintess here, they won't cross the line completely."
"One thing I've wondered: why do you honor her?"
"She's the Saintess of Compassion. You wastrels might not care... Ah, slip of the tongue."
"Starting to sound like you want a fight."
Chatting idly with Vincent while picking trash, our sack soon filled halfway and we dragged it along.
We proudly submitted the trash bag.
"Brother Blackmere."
"Celestina."
For some reason, Celestina's expression looking at me seemed a bit complicated.
"...No, it's nothing."
"Alright then."
At least no curses flew out. Something to be grateful for.
"Hey, Blackmere. If you're okay with it, want to do service together tomorrow?"
"Leonard suffices. But is it fine for you to tag along?"
"W-Well, I don't have friends anyway..."
"Oh."
And unexpectedly, I'd made a new friend.
Not a bad day at all.
'Keep this momentum going!'
Thanks to that, my steps back to Wisteria Dormitory felt endlessly light.
"Urgh, fuck...!"
If only not for those infernal 300 steps.
Leonard Percival Blackmere. Second son of the Blackmere Family.
Celestina quietly watched his retreating figure.
A man who, from their first meeting, hurled insults she couldn't forgive even with her broad heart.
'You've shown embarrassing behavior.'
She knew it too. Youthful mistakes could be overlooked, and her attitude toward Leonard ill befitted the Saintess of Compassion.
But Leonard hadn't insulted just her.
The Hero Candidate, Celestina, countless classmates and seniors—even professors.
He'd scorned and humiliated them all.
So Celestina had long concluded: irredeemable.
Yes, that was it.
"What on earth..."
But today's Leonard was somehow different.
Not only did he dutifully tackle campus service—a task he'd normally flee in terror without a glance.
He didn't snap even amid the whispers cursing him from all sides.
The student picking trash with him was a commoner, yet he didn't pick a fight for no reason.
No, he even conversed normally, like friends...
'...Still.'
But Celestina quickly steeled herself.
One odd day couldn't change perceptions. Especially not for a wastrel like Leonard.
Maybe just a whim, or perhaps even a scheme.
But if he was truly starting to change...
'I'll be watching, Brother Blackmere.'
Celestina intended to observe.
Because she'd make him apologize for that day's insults, no matter what.