The Result of Aggro (6)
A system window?
Along with a euphoric rush as if fireworks were bursting before my eyes, translucent letters quietly drifted into view.
Crafted by combining Agility, Intelligence, and Mana Growth Powder
Effect: Fatigue recovery · Stamina increase · All stats boosted
At the same time, energy surged through my leaden body. The fatigue vanished, and I felt as though some omnipotent power had been poured into me.
"Ha…?"
Back when I was dying in that plaza fiasco, I'd begged for this thing to show up and it hadn't so much as peeked its face. And now it decided to appear?
Was it mocking me or what?
Irritation flared, but the thrill of having gained yet another power outweighed it by far.
"Side effects… temporary exhaustion?"
I began examining the translucent window floating before me in detail, along with the item's effects.
Sure enough, just as expected—there was no Save, but Load was there. Essential game features like Episode Check and Affection Check were also available.
But with the inventory, character status window, settings, and so on all missing, it seemed the in-game system hadn't been fully implemented.
What the hell had been the unlock condition for this system, anyway?
"…Well, I guess I should count myself lucky."
The feature I'd needed most—Affection Check—had been added, so for now I could afford to celebrate.
And so, to commemorate the moment, I downed the last remaining packet of Strength Growth Powder.
"Ehehehe!"
I surrendered myself to the omnipotence surging through me. Until that ecstasy faded, I kept my eyes wide open, mouth hanging slack, and simply reveled in it.
Afterward, once every sensation had drained away, I was left with a peculiar post-climax clarity—and had to wipe away the mess of tears and drool smeared across my face.
It was a little gross.
But!
Wanting to check my improved stats, I pulled the handgun I'd stashed against my chest, worked the slide, and took aim.
—Click-clack!
The entire sequence finished in barely a few seconds. My movements had become that sharp.
The kind of speed that conjured images of a Wild West gunslinger!
Yes! This was it!
At this pace, anyone short of a serious opponent wouldn't even realize they'd been shot. It wouldn't work on main characters or anyone who'd grown strong by the mid-to-late game—but against early-game supporting-cast students, it would more than suffice.
Preparations were complete.
I'd packed a few contingencies for the unexpected, magic bullets included. And with the system window now available, I could even pull off cheats I originally wouldn't have been able to use.
Time to confirm my skill in a duel—and deliver a thorough education to the bastard who'd dared set his sights on my heroine!
"Heh heh. Let's see how you like the bitter taste of this."
I sat on a bench conserving my stamina, waiting for Burgang to show. After a few minutes, duel time finally arrived—and Burgang came striding over at the head of a whole pack of students.
Most looked like they belonged to the Kingdom faction, though mixed in among them were students from other powers who hung back from the group, watching with open curiosity.
"That's the crazy bitch from the plaza?"
"Tsk. Burgang really stooped low, challenging someone like that."
"It's an obvious fight. Isn't this a waste of time?"
And on top of that, the practical combat professor had come along to mediate the duel and confirm the result.
The stage had grown far larger than I'd expected—but the situation itself was completely predictable.
What a childish little brat.
He'd dragged this whole crowd along just so more students could watch me lose to him.
But!
Let's see how long that confidence of his lasts!
"Come on! Let's fight!"
"…You've lost your mind."
I stepped forward without hesitation and met Burgang face to face.
God, what an ugly mug.
"…Wh-what on earth are you doing?!"
Before Adel and Burgang's duel began, Novena—who had been tailing Adel as usual—witnessed a sight she could scarcely believe.
"Ngh…!"
It was—
"Hnnngh…!!"
Adel, seated on a bench at the sparring grounds, tipping some unidentifiable white powder into herself and beaming with a look of pure rapture.
"Crazy—!"
Novena had to clamp a hand over her own mouth and nose to smother the scream that nearly tore free.
Anyone could see that was not a normal sight.
Those pure white powders of unknown origin. The tiny packets no larger than two finger joints. Anyone looking would think of drugs.
If only Adel hadn't worn that ecstatic expression, Novena might have dismissed it as sugar, flour, or some other edible powder.
"…H-how could she…"
This was, without any doubt, the face of a drug addict.
She couldn't fail to recognize it.
Among the soldiers locked in endless combat against monsters at the front and hostile nations along the border, more than a few were addicted to opium or morphine. Novena had stood on those battlefields beside them. She had seen what addicts looked like—and how they died.
…It was a horrific memory.
Reliable soldiers who risked their lives to protect the kingdom, their families, their citizens—reduced in the end to trembling wrecks still clawing for another hit. Withered like mummies. Nails, toenails, and teeth all fallen out. Eyes bloodshot a vivid red. Frothing at the mouth, choking and gasping, unable even to draw a proper breath as they died.
Novena found herself superimposing that image onto Adel.
"No…"
Had the duel with Burgang terrified her that badly?
Badly enough that she'd take drugs just to forget the pain?
I should have stopped her after all.
"If I… if I just hadn't said anything unnecessary…"
It was her fault for bringing up the duel. Because of that, innocent Adel was suffering like this.
Novena knew the truth.
She had been tailing Adel's every move for well over four days now. The girl had neither the motive nor the ability to commit any act of terror. And given Adel's everyday speech and behavior, there was no chance she was connected to those deranged extremists either.
A completely blameless girl was being tormented over nothing more than a single mistaken suspicion.
But…
Once a duel had been arranged, there was no way to help her.
At the Academy, a duel was a sacred vow. You could refuse one and abandon your honor—but once it had been accepted, it could not be canceled.
In the end, all Novena could do was writhe with guilt and silently watch every moment until Adel stepped forward to face Burgang.
—Ssshh.
"Did you see that?"
As Novena stared blankly at the combat arena Adel had just entered, a petite, ethereal woman appeared at her side without a sound.
"…Don't tell me you saw it too?"
At Novena's heavy question, Hino simply nodded.
Not a single emotion showed on Hino's face—only a cold, empty blankness.
"Do you know what that powder is?"
Even so, Novena could sense it faintly.
Despite that expressionless face, Hino's two small fists were clenched so tightly the blood had left them.
Because of that, Novena couldn't even properly focus on the fight that had just begun. She poured all her attention into trying to identify the drug Adel had taken.
"Look. Adel's holding her own."
Hino was the same.
Under ordinary circumstances she wouldn't have answered at all—she would have picked a fight with Novena instead. But now she kept her eyes fixed on Adel's duel, continuing her analysis in a calm, even voice.
"Physical ability: substandard. Magical ability: none. Talent: none. Comprehensive entrance evaluation: C-class. And yet she isn't falling behind Burgang."
Hino was right.
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
Adel moved with an uncanny, almost-catchable-yet-never-caught fluidity, pouring shot after shot into Burgang's armor without the slightest hesitation. Each time, the armor's enchantment flared blue and absorbed the impact.
An unexpected strong showing.
But an ordinary mana-circuit handgun like Adel's couldn't leave so much as a scratch on enchanted armor. And thanks to that irritating hit-and-run style, Burgang's attacks only grew rougher—dangerously so.
"Probably some kind of stimulant. The type that temporarily boosts physical ability."
"…So she didn't take drugs because she was afraid of the duel. She took them because she wanted to win?"
"Yeah. That's the more likely possibility."
—"Uwaaaaah!! You rat-like little bitch!!"
"But there's no way she can win with just that."
Novena let out a long breath.
Like it or not, she had known Burgang for a long time, and she knew his skill well. He was arrogant, with not a single likable human quality—but in a one-on-one fight, he was good enough that even she couldn't easily overpower him. There was a reason the head of House Yungtoa strutted around pushing for an engagement between them.
No amount of stimulant could overcome innate talent and the physical difference between a man and a woman.
Anxiety began to mount.
Adel, who had seemed to be holding her own, was being driven into a corner. Burgang didn't miss the opening—a slimy smile spread across his face.
And then—
A flash!
—CRAAACK!!
"…Huh?"
Something flared. In the instant Adel staggered, Burgang's fist smashed into her face—
—Grrrk…
Adel's neck bent at an angle no neck should bend. She convulsed, pink froth bubbling from her lips, and died.
What—that was impossible…!
A duel was only a duel. Taking a life was never supposed to happen.
Why wasn't anyone stopping this?
—Thud!
Adel crumpled lifelessly to the floor, her neck twisted at that grotesque angle, and a thick pool of blood spread beneath her. That once-beautiful pink hair, soaked through with red, was a sight so cruel it made the skin crawl.
"N-no…!!"
Adel died because of me.
The kind classmate who had genuinely mourned Professor Lutera's death—who had risked her own life to stand against everyone when the whole Academy was swept up in madness and about to do something unforgivable.
That Adel was dead because of my mistake.
If I hadn't interfered—if the duel had never been arranged—this never would have happened.
Novena's whole body shook as she forced the rage down. In the end, she could no longer hold it.
She surged to her feet.
Even if it meant cutting Burgang's head off right here and now, she was going to avenge Adel. She didn't care about the aftermath. The so-called professor had done nothing while Adel was murdered—so even if she got expelled from this worthless Academy, it didn't matter.
The moment Novena rose, weapon in hand, ready to charge into the arena—
"…What are you doing?"
Hino, still seated beside her, caught Novena's step with a tone as flat and unbothered as ever.
"Ha! And you acted like she was such a precious friend."
Adel was dead, and she was still sitting there like nothing had happened—pretending not to care?
"Adel's dead, and you still—"
She was going to say something. Anything. She wouldn't know what to do with this rage otherwise.
"Are you a psychopath? You—you fucking don't get to stop me!"
"…What are you even talking about. Did you take something too?"
Hino remained perfectly calm.
"Why would Adel be dead."
As if she'd just heard the most ridiculous nonsense, she snorted and grabbed Novena's shoulder, turning her back toward the arena.
And then—
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
—"Uwaaaaaah!! Y-you rat-like little bitch!!"
"…Huh?"
Somehow, the scene Novena had already watched once was playing out all over again.
Only this time, unlike the memory of Adel's neck snapping and her being slaughtered—
—"Hmph! What're you saying, you eunuch bastard."
—"Y-y-you crazy bitch, what did you just—?!"
—CRAAAAACK!
Adel's kick slammed home through a gap in Burgang's armor—armor that had somehow come loose, leaving his crotch exposed and swaying.
That ended the duel.
"————!!!!"
Burgang collapsed without even managing a proper scream, foam at his lips. From the crumpled ruin of his groin, a sticky fluid mixed with bright red blood pulsed and leaked out.
"…What the hell just happened?"
Novena could not, for the life of her, make sense of any of it.