There Must Be an Inferiority Complex in Every World.
There Must Be an Inferiority Complex in Every World.
"Um, Professor Violet!"
The next morning, while on her way to buy coffee, Violet found herself waylaid by a cluster of students.
One, two, three... Quite a number of them. Violet answered brusquely.
"What."
"Well, it's...."
The female student who had met Violet's gaze head-on could only hem and haw, unable to get the words out. In the end, a male student beside her spoke up boldly.
"We checked the grade posting on the bulletin board. But there's something a little odd, so we came to ask."
"And what part strikes you as odd."
"A student who committed cheating received an A Grade. Is that a clerical error?"
"A student who committed cheating...."
Violet repeated the phrase, and it didn't take her long to figure out who they meant by "a student who committed cheating."
"Do you mean the student Plan?"
The crowd of students nodded in unison. Violet checked the male student's nameplate.
"Royren."
"Yes?"
Violet let out a deep sigh.
"Listen, all of you, not just Royren. Every grade was determined without any cheating."
"Did he... not use a magic scroll?"
"He didn't. Did another professor say something like that?"
"No, it's just a rumor that's been going around...."
"You admit it's a rumor with your own mouths, so why did you come find me? Are you messing with me?"
"......."
The students' faces fell into awkward expressions. They exchanged glances, looking from one face to another.
Then the first female student spoke up again.
"Plan's projectile didn't even fly a mere half-Van distance, did it? I don't think that range merits an A Grade."
That's because you lot don't understand the concept of a 'purification aid' at all. Violet barely managed to swallow her exasperation.
"Scroll usage was suspected, so a retest was conducted. During the retest, he produced a distance corresponding to an A Grade without any problem."
"But we didn't see that with our own eyes...!"
"And we could do better too if we got a retest!"
Another female student chimed in from the side. Haah. Violet heaved a sigh and placed a hand on her hip.
"So, you're finding it hard to believe Plan produced A Grade-level skill in the retest, and you're also saying you want a retest yourselves? Is that it right now?"
Violet nodded her head and raised one of her slender hands into the air.
"That is it, isn't it? Don't go pretending otherwise now. Hands up, all students who think that way."
There were differences in speed, but no student kept their hand down. In the end, every single student who had gathered raised their hand.
"Honestly."
Looking at their faces, they were all students who had received B or C grades.
"All right. You all get a retest too."
"......!"
The corners of the students' mouths crept upward. But Violet's words weren't finished yet.
"However, the method will be a little different."
Violet continued with a composed expression.
"In the exploration taking place one week from now, if your record is better than Plan's, you will be unconditionally promoted to A Grade."
The students' eyes went wide. Yet none of them could talk back to Violet's proposal.
Her proposal was perfectly rational. It would allow them to confirm Plan's skill while simultaneously achieving the effect of a retest.
"What are you all standing around gawking at? Go practice your magic."
Violet scoffed at the students who stood there dumbfounded, mouths opening and closing, then turned away.
◈
The lunch at Märchen Academy was passably edible.
The notion that magic is a hungry discipline is now an old tale. I was thinking such thoughts, moving my fork, when—
"I'm telling you, that really happened!"
Becky, her mouth smeared with food, insisted once more.
Ever since we started our meal—I hadn't intended to eat together; she had plopped herself down across from me—she'd been rattling on solely about Professor Violet.
"So what if it did."
"...Aren't you annoyed? That other students are doubting you? And aren't you amazed? That Professor Violet set a condition like that?"
There's no reason to care about other students' doubt. It's a matter to be proven with magic, not words.
As for Violet treating me specially, I'd anticipated that from early on. She's been keeping an eye on me ever since orientation.
The reason Violet showed an attitude seemingly defending me wasn't difficult to guess either.
'She means to keep her enemy close.'
Because staying close makes surveillance easier. But was this really something classifiable as an 'enemy'? A tenacious woman.
It's lucky we're both A Grade so blah blah... Professor Violet this and that... Becky, chirping away like a sparrow, was noisy.
The seasoning smeared around her mouth bothered me so much that I neatly folded a napkin with telekinesis and handed it to her.
"There's no need to make a fuss over grades. What matters is how deeply you explore magic yourself."
"Hey! What do you mean, no need to make a fuss over grades!"
After wiping her mouth with the napkin, Becky went on eagerly.
"Thanks to getting an A Grade, I finally get to eat this cafeteria food for free, I can move into the dormitory in three days...."
The noise was grating enough to make me frown. It wasn't a meal I particularly wanted to keep eating anyway, so I rose from my seat.
"Whoops. Clumsy me."
But at that moment, someone tried quite deliberately to shove into me. I twisted my body and evaded without difficulty.
"What, you dodged?"
A large-framed male student muttered. When I gave him a hard look, wondering what his intent was, he got angry instead.
"What are you looking at? It was an accident, got a problem? Gonna use a scroll on me?"
Becky belatedly stood up and patted my shoulder, whispering.
"Hey Plan, ignore it. The atmosphere's a bit...."
I followed Becky's gaze and looked around.
New students preparing their meals. New students eating. New students who had finished eating. All of their gazes were directed at me.
Of course, those gazes were far from kind. Becky urged me.
"Let's get out, quick. Their inferiority complex is no joke..."
......To me, this entire situation was laughable.
No different from usual, I pushed the corner of my mouth slightly upward and exited the cafeteria.
Afterward, I shook Becky off on the grounds that I wanted to be alone.
Everyone surely has moments they wish to be alone, but compared to others, I have a particularly large share of time I wish to be alone.
'Inferiority complexes exist in every world, I suppose.'
I am accustomed to negative emotions aimed at me. Those things will, rather, serve as excellent fuel to stoke my desire to prove myself.
I had a two-day window before the lectures for my assigned grade would begin. What to do with these two days.
The deliberation didn't last long. If you look for amusing things, you'll always find them.
Wasn't it the loser who was supposed to prostrate themselves and apologize? A soft snort of laughter. I opened whatever page of Trivia's Memo was accessible.
Today, I would ponder what problem to pose on the Agora Board...
◈
The meals of knights are coarse and weighty.
At the Yudit table, where even the sound of moving utensils is barely heard, the Head of the Family, Theodore Yudit, opened his mouth.
"I heard from Catarina. Plan has not returned to the mansion for two days now."
The knife Scarlett had been using to slice meat at a steady pace stopped. She answered in a composed voice.
"It seems he has finally learned to feel shame himself. He must realize he lacks the face to return to the mansion."
"Scarlett."
Theodore set his utensils down on the plate with a clack.
"You—do you still resent Plan for that incident."
"......."
Scarlett's brow twitched for an instant. She subtly rolled her eyes to the side.
"It would be strange not to resent him."
Theodore deliberated a moment, as if carefully choosing his words, then picked up his fork and knife again and spoke.
"Still, he is your younger brother. At least look into his whereabouts."
"I shall do so."
After finishing her meal, Scarlett sat at the desk in her room and deliberated for a moment.
Why that trash's whereabouts had been unclear for two days, and which of the servants she should send out to find him.
......There was no reason to deliberate long. This time, the academy would serve as the servant.
The contributions the Yudit family had made to the Academy's Swordsmanship Department were significant. They would readily grant a request of this small scale.
She spread out a sheet of paper and picked up a quill pen.
Whatever Scarlett held in her hand was like a sword. The quill pen followed her hand, drawing upright, unswerving lines.
She is a knight. Irksome florid phrases were not added to her letter.
The missive contained only brief inquiries into Plan's attendance, attitude, grades, and so on. The words flowed onto the paper as quickly as she chose them.
On the final line, she clearly added a demand for a reply within the day. This much is sufficient.
She rang the bell set at one side of the desk, and soon the head maid Catarina came to Scarlett's room.
"Yes, Miss Scarlett. You called?"
"Dispatch this to Märchen Academy under my name."
Catarina received the letter with both hands and exited the room.
Scarlett quietly folded her arms and retraced what they had promised each other during that meal with Plan.
If Plan does not bring home the highest grade by the midterm evaluation, he is expelled from the Yudit family. She would extend no mercy whatsoever toward a failed younger brother.
"......."
Tap. Tap. Tap. She drummed her fingertips against the desk.
Abruptly, thoughts of the past flooded in.
Plan from still-young childhood days, clutching a sword and beaming brightly at Scarlett. Kicking his short legs about, eagerly swinging his tiny, fern-like hands.
She shook her head clear.
"......Trash."
Crunch. She gripped the hilt of her sword. She was too busy with training anyway.