Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Not a Legend, But a Legend (5)
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#5 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Betrayer.
“Get lost. Do you even know what this place is?”
“Before we kill you, don’t come any closer.”
“N-No, that’s not…”
“What do you mean ‘not’? You officially made her the vice president like that.”
“You heartless bastard.”
“There are things you do to win and things you don’t.”
The gazes looking at me like trash pierced me, but I could only clamp my mouth shut.
Right now, I was trash incarnate.
“Just once… Just give me one chance.”
“Get lost.”
No matter how pitifully I pleaded, Arsia’s students wouldn’t let me into their territory.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have allowed it either if I were them.
The only ones who knew my side of the story were the wicked Yuglasia students who’d participated in the match.
In fact, most Yuglasia students who hadn’t joined the match actually believed everything Risen had said came from me.
Our academy’s female students stared at me with eyes full of disgust, while some of the guys looked at me with admiration.
Women saw me as the trash who’d thrown away a woman for victory; men saw me as the hero who’d sacrificed even his own girl for victory.
And the culprit behind all this, Risen… was using that Loki power to full effect, dodging me completely.
I’d thrown everything at him with every spirit, dead set on killing him for real this time, but earnest Risen slipped through the spirits’ encirclement like it was nothing, dodging every which way.
In the end, I couldn’t exact bloody vengeance this time either…
Even when I went to Arsia’s lodgings to beg forgiveness, I was vehemently turned away, left to trudge back with listless steps.
“Is it… really over?”
Ari’s wailing still echoed in my ears.
That cry filled with sorrow and despair… yet clinging to one last hope, asking me in return.
“How about sneaking in?”
Her voice lingered in my ears, and I halted, turning back toward Arsia.
Excluding Mercaria, most academy students were nobles, so even if the tents were top-notch equipped, they were still just tents.
To me, who’d researched every trick in the book to escape night self-study at Yuglasia, a few magic tools weren’t going to stop me.
Unless that tent was made of black anvil steel!
“Alright, I’ll hop over and find Ari on the sly!”
As I scoped out an escape-optimized route, a familiar voice came from behind.
“…Are you really going to commit a crime too, big bro?”
“R-Re, Rena?”
Rena Ti Silgran.
My childhood friend who’d been with me since we were kids, and my first girlfriend who’d confessed to me.
The sweet girl who didn’t get jealous of my other childhood friends who liked me and even helped with her own confession stared up at me with teary eyes.
“Are you… really going to commit a crime now too, big bro?”
“N-No… I just want to see Ari… I can’t, so that’s all!”
“…Sneaking in is still a crime.”
“Ugh…”
“Big bro… I watched the match today, and it wasn’t like you. The big bro I know wouldn’t do something so sleazy for victory!”
Sorry, I’ve fallen far enough to do sleazy stuff for victory without batting an eye.
This time it’s just blowing up because of Ari; honestly, if it were anyone else, I might’ve praised Risen.
That’s the situation at Yuglasia right now.
Even the jungle isn’t this ruthless!
“What I said yesterday… wasn’t me…”
I couldn’t say it straight, so I averted my eyes and spoke in a pitiful tone.
“Really?”
My oh-so-polished acting made Rena look at me with pitying eyes!
“Yeah. Yesterday, it was Risen, the student council vice president. You know Trickster? He used Loki’s power to mimic my voice.”
“You’re serious? It really wasn’t you, big bro?”
“Of course.”
No lie here.
So I nodded confidently, and the tears welling in Rena’s eyes started to fall.
“Thank goodness… really, thank goodness… Sis worked so hard to get her dad to acknowledge you this time…”
Her heartbroken sobs hurt my heart, but then came a line I couldn’t just let slide.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Ah…”
At my words, Rena’s eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape.
“Uh, w-well… Sis said if she did great at the Imperial Tournament… then… if she tried really hard… maybe her dad would warm up to you?”
Rena can’t lie.
She’s so bad at it, I’ve considered sending her to Yuglasia for a one-month crash course.
Of course, the moment she met the Silver Devil, she’d get dumped on the spot, so I’d never do it!
Seeing Rena lie to me like that, I deployed my Yuglasia-honed practical acting skills.
“Rena.”
“Y-Yeah?”
I lowered my voice, filling my eyes with sorrow.
My Silver Devil deception acting was subpar compared to playing dead, but the pity-act I’d refined against blocking professors was pro-level—I could beg on streets if my family went bankrupt.
“Really… is that all?”
Unlike before, now I stared at Rena with tears brimming in my eyes.
“Ah… Th-That’s…”
She couldn’t meet my gaze and turned her head away.
“Rena…”
But I wasn’t about to let that happen.
I preempted her turn, forcing her to keep seeing my teary eyes.
“Eek… Huh?”
She twisted her head every which way, but my face kept entering her view, so she finally hung her head, trembling.
Lowering her head to avoid my gaze wasn’t a bad call.
If she looked down, my face wouldn’t be visible unless I shoved it under her chin.
In this sad (acted) situation, shoving my face below was out of the question.
So ducking her head was a solid move to avoid my face.
If showing her my sad face was the goal!
Plop.
“B-Big bro?!”
Rena’s panicked voice rang right in front of me.
My chosen method: surprise hug!
She’d ducked to avoid seeing my face.
Thanks to that, she couldn’t see my face—or me at all.
Vision blocked?
No need to ask—launch the surprise attack!
“Rena… I want to know. What happened with Ari?”
“Huh?”
If the first surprise catches them off guard, follow with second and third strikes to finish, I’d learned.
Professor Arhan said ambushes mean nothing if you don’t utterly crush the foe.
“Rena… I… I’m sad. I don’t want to make you lie.”
“B-But…”
My whisper in her ear made Rena’s face burn hotter and hotter.
“Tell me, Rena…”
“Th-That’s… Eek… Sis told me not to…”
Now sniffling a bit, she squirmed to escape my assault, but that only pulled her deeper into my arms.
“Eek… Wh-What…”
She tried to flee, but the closing distance left her dazed.
‘It’s over.’
“You really… won’t tell me?”
“Hnnyaaah!”
My final blow—nibbling her earlobe—sent her collapsing in tears.
“B-Big bro’s gotten… naughty…”
She’d gotten the wrong idea, but whatever.
And a little later.
“So that’s it.”
“I see.”
We sat on the grass as Rena spilled her long story, which summed up simply enough.
To explain: We’d grown up together since childhood, but Ari’s family and mine were worlds apart.
Mine was just some middling viscount house.
Hers was a countess house—upper nobility, even if not empire-renowned—and Ari was their second daughter.
So Ari’s dad hated us hanging out.
Already with the status gap, he was a knight who’d risen from baron to count purely by the sword, and he prized his family’s history fiercely.
In short, he always said he’d only marry his daughters to swordsmen.
But me? Pure summoner.
Spirits only, clueless about swords.
Even so, with Rena’s help, Ari and I became a couple, and hating to hide it, Ari kept trying to win her dad’s approval.
Impressed by her efforts, maybe, her dad said if Arsia won the Imperial Tournament thanks to her, he’d reconsider us.
So Ari trained to the bone before the tournament, boosting her skills!
And the result of all that?
‘Yuglasia smashed us flat!’
All that effort, and with one match left, Arsia still at zero points!
Worse, she lost to her boyfriend’s betrayal (even if untrue) in the match she’d poured it all into!
“Sis… cried nonstop after the match. Even when I visited before meeting you, she was still sobbing.”
“Ugh…”
I didn’t need Rena’s sad voice to picture Ari.
“In that state, even if you snuck in, sis wouldn’t see you.”
“Yeah.”
How heartbroken must she be? How much must it hurt?
She’d given everything to get our relationship approved, only for me to reject it.
Even if I didn’t, she had no choice but to see it that way now.
Would she even want to see me like that?
Even if I snuck in, would she accept me?
“So wait a bit, big bro. Until sis recovers… you can wait, right?”
Rena mediating between us couldn’t hurt.
Me pushing now might just wound Ari more.
But… but!
“No, I won’t wait.”
“N-No! Sneaking in is still a crime!”
“I won’t sneak.”
“Th-Then what?!”
I wiped the gloom from my face for Rena’s panicked look and flashed a forced but bright smile.
“Frontal assault.”
“Huh?”
Seeing her blank face, I stood from my spot.
“Rena, where’s Ari’s tent?”
“S-Sis? She’s over there… Ah!”
She pointed at a tent, panicked, and yanked her hand back, but the target was locked!
“Be right back.”
“B-Big bro?!”
Rena reached desperately, but couldn’t grab me.
“Huh?!”
“He said get lost—what?!”
“Grab him! Yuglasia’s student council president is trespassing!”
With the wind spirit’s blessing, I bolted forward at top speed.
My night self-study escape-honed evasion was beyond Arsia students.
“There it is.”
Dodging the crowd, I reached Ari’s tent.
Bam!
“Ari!”
I kicked the entrance flap flying.
“N-Ne, Nerkia?”
Ari bolted up from bed in shock, her eyes bloodshot red.
Her hair was a mess.
Tear tracks stained her cheeks, and—hate to say it, but snot trailed like I hadn’t seen since we were kids.
“D-Don’t come in!”
Was she hiding her state, or just hating me?
She screamed sharply, pillow over her face.
“No way.”
As if I’d listen.
“Get out! Just leave! Yuglasia’s win matters more than me!”
“Not true.”
“Liar! When I… begged to see your face, you wouldn’t show…”
“That wasn’t me.”
“Liar! Why should I believe you!”
As she battered me with the pillow and shoved, I…
“Believe me.”
“Huh?!”
Sealed her lips.
“Wh-What are you doing!”
“What? You’re cute, so I pounced.”
“You’re Nerkia? The Nerkia I know wouldn’t mmmph!”
I blocked her nagging mouth again.
With what? My lips, obviously!
“Pha… Ne, Ner… Mmph! W-Wait! C-Can’t… breathe… Eek!”
Second, third, fourth strikes landed, then like with Rena, I whispered in her ear.
“I’ll make you believe I value you more than Yuglasia’s victory…”
“R-Really…?”
Dodging my gaze with flushed cheeks, I kissed hers and kept whispering.
“Yeah…”
And the next day.
“Come at us, Yuglasia!”
The match began, and I declared war on Yuglasia.