I Will Become Emperor

The academy was in an uproar. A first-year had challenged a fifth-year to a duel — a 3rd-tier mage against a 5-Star warrior, who also happened to be the heir to House Dremore. Out of 306 people, 301 had predicted the fifth-year would win. Of course they had. The first-year was X the weed, and the fifth-year was Gripork, an officer of Sword Rang.

And then X the weed had won. The impossible had come to pass.

"This is a scam!! Give me my money back!!!"

"That was the money for Alexander's premium feed!!"

"How does a first-year beat a fifth-year!! You two were in on it!!"

Which was why a crowd had gathered at the academy's front gate, glaring at X as if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they wanted him dead. Their eyes were so murderous they looked more painful than Gripork's Auror Blade.

"Everyone."

Of course, X was long past being bothered by this sort of thing. Rare as the occasion was, he treated them to a thoroughly twisted smile.

"Who told you to bet on Lord Gripork?"

"What the hell, you bastard!!"

"Did anyone put a sword to your throat and threaten you not to bet on me?"

"Y-you swindler!!"

"Take responsibility for your own choices! Of course, thanks to all of you, I've multiplied my entire fortune sixfold!!"

"Th-th-that—!! Kill him! Kill that guy!!"

X fled the enraged mob at a dead sprint.

People who had seen X's abilities with their own eyes had been certain he could never beat a fifth-year like Gripork. That was probably why so many of the students who'd placed bets were first-years — X was taking every elective, so the entire first-year class had witnessed his skill firsthand.

The result, of course, had been the exact opposite.

Even after he walked into the classroom, the stares didn't change.

"You're late, commoner!"

Except for Lola and Elia, that is.

"Elia. Hey."

"...Hello?"

Elia looked strangely drained. Her smile was darker than usual, and her face had a haggard, sleepless cast. He could guess why.

Still wrestling with it, huh.

X filed Elia's condition away in his mind.

"Young lady, you're here early today. That's unusual."

"What's that supposed to mean! I always come early!"

"Mmm. If you say so."

"Hmph. There you go, brushing me off again. But starting today, things are going to be a little different."

Lola rummaged around inside her uniform and produced something. It was a magnificently crafted brooch of burnished brass. Holding it up, she spoke with her nose held as high as it would go.

"The investigation into the Demon Mansion case we resolved last time is finished. My name was listed as a key contributor, and this past Saturday I was formally presented with a merit award!"

"Oh, already? I thought it'd take a bit longer."

"Which means that Lola Lou Lemercier, daughter of Count Lemercier, has received the Dritania Imperial 3rd-class decoration — the Royal Knights Honor Medal!"

"Oh.... Wait, what?"

"Got it? From today on, you address me as Dame Lola!"

The Royal Knights Honor Medal was a decoration that conferred the highest honorary knighthood. It wasn't a formal knighthood, but among honorary knight appointments, it stood at the very top.

The reason X was shocked, however, had nothing to do with Lola becoming the highest honorary knight.

Is this going to be all right? The Royal Knights Honor Medal means the Imperial Family has taken an interest.

Imperial interest wasn't a bad thing in itself. It meant she'd done something honorable, so the Imperial Family would protect her and look after her for a while. The problem was that, in order to do so, every last one of her movements would be monitored and investigated.

She's an academy student, so it shouldn't be too severe, but...

The result was obvious: he himself would inevitably fall into the Imperial Family's investigative net as well. That was bound to sit poorly with him.

As his expression hardened, Lola furrowed her brow and scowled.

"What! Be happier about this!"

"I am happy.... Haa...."

"Hey!!"

Then Lola seemed to remember something. A look of understanding crossed her face, and she snorted.

"Regretting that you didn't put your name down as a contributor? Want me to beg them to add you even now?"

"No. Anything but that."

He'd already drawn every kind of aggro the academy had to offer. If he attracted Imperial interest and surveillance on top of that, he might not be able to do a thing. The moment he landed in the Crown Prince's surveillance net, it was over.

"Boring. Then worship me a little more!"

"My, how magnificent. Our Lady Lola.... No — Dame Lola, young lady.... Wait, is it Young Lady Dame Lola?"

"You jerk!! You're still ugly no matter how many times I look at you!"

"Huh? So you wanna go?"

While the two of them were bickering, Elia, who had been listening, spoke up.

"A contributor? What's that? The Demon Mansion case?"

"Heh heh. Look at this!"

At the question, Lola handed Elia the Royal Knights Honor Medal. As Elia examined it with curious eyes, Lola launched into an explanation, swelling with pride as if she'd been waiting for this exact moment.

"I, Dame Lola, detected and tracked down a demon that had infiltrated the Empire two weeks ago, and played a part in dismantling its wicked scheme! As a key contributor, no less!"

"Wow! You did?"

"The investigation revealed it was a matter serious enough to endanger the entire Empire. In other words, I saved the Empire from crisis! Well? Feeling any respect for me yet?"

"That's amazing! So you did something incredibly kind?"

"It wasn't just something kind! I saved the Empire!"

"But..."

Elia's gaze turned toward X.

"Was X a contributor too?"

"He didn't receive a contributor nomination, though."

"Does that mean X did the same incredibly kind thing as Lola?"

"I suppose so, yeah."

It wasn't something to brag about, so he answered evenly. He needed to plant the image of maybe he's actually a good person? in Elia's mind, so there was no reason to hide the truth.

"Why?"

But at that question, something in Elia's eyes shifted. The light faded from her once-clear pupils, and they grew a shade darker. She kept pressing.

"Why would X do a good deed?"

X realized what she was trying to say.

This is bad...!

Elia's eyes were trembling violently. Her breathing was growing more and more ragged, as if she were having a seizure. She was not in a normal state. This was a time bomb one second from going off.

"Wait, Elia. Let's talk outside..."

"Why do you keep doing good deeds?"

"I can explain, so just..."

"X isn't supposed to do things like that...!"

"Elia, wait...!"

"This doesn't make any sense!!"

Elia shook off X's hand. Lola, who'd been snickering, whipped her head around in shock. The other students startled at Elia's outburst as well. Under everyone's gaze, her voice trembled as she spoke.

"X, I heard your nickname was Screaming Herb. That from the entrance ceremony onward you caused a scene and couldn't do a thing — that you were the academy's trash. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That you couldn't do swordsmanship, or magic, or holy power. Nothing."

"Pfft.... Heh heh..."

A snicker came from somewhere. A cluster of students gossiping in a corner.

"That you made life hard for a bunch of people with your ridiculous stubbornness, that you randomly challenged people to duels and almost got expelled. That even recently you skipped every class without permission, barged into other classes, and beat students down...!"

"Elia, stop..."

Lola tried to restrain her, her expression complicated. But Elia wouldn't listen.

"A filthy, worthless, utterly shameless commoner maggot without a shred of decency — that's who X is...! So what the Goddess said was right...!"

"Elia, stop it!"

Amid everyone's laughter, only three people weren't smiling. Lola desperately tried to stop her. Elia screamed as if she were howling. X simply took in her words.

"You doing good deeds for someone else is wrong! The Goddess said so! You are a monstrous incarnation of evil, the very root of all wickedness...!"

Crack—!!!

In that instant, the sound of a slap rang through the classroom. The students jumped at the sudden noise. X was no different. Something that shouldn't have been possible had just happened right in front of him.

"What the hell is your problem?"

Lola had just backhanded Elia across the face. She was glaring at her with a terrifying expression she had never shown before in her life.

"Who do you think you are, running your mouth with that kind of bullshit?"

"...What?"

"Who do you think you are to say that."

"What I... am..."

Elia couldn't believe she'd been slapped. And by Lola, of all people — the one she'd considered her only friend.

"I-I'm Elia.... Goddess Elysia's..."

Looking into Lola's terrifying gaze hurt more than the slap itself.

"That hurts, Lola..."

"Why do you keep saying that kind of crap. That it's weird for X to do something good?"

"That's not it. X is actually..."

"You've known him for a week and you're acting like you know everything! Are you even someone important enough to talk like that?"

X hurriedly stepped between them.

"Hold on, young lady. Calm down. There's a misunderstanding..."

"A misunderstanding? Do I look like I'm in a state to calm down? Doesn't it piss you off, hearing that kind of garbage?"

"No, young lady. First just calm down..."

Calming Lola when her emotions were this high wasn't easy. But Elia's emotions were just as inflamed.

"Lola, you're being deceived!"

Elia shouted, looking as if she were in a full-blown panic.

"Lola, you're being deceived by X — no, everyone is being deceived by X...! I'm the only one who knows the truth!"

"...You. Shut your mouth."

"I was threatened by X too! If I told the truth, everyone would be in danger! That's the only reason I can't say it — X is originally the most wicked being in this world, without equal...!"

"I said shut that trap, you ungrateful little bitch—!!!"

In that instant, Lola instinctively unleashed magic. Fourth-tier explosion magic — when had she even reached the 4th tier? Point-blank explosion magic with no thought for the aftermath. And she'd cast it inside a classroom.

This lunatic...!

At this rate, Lola, Elia, and the other students would all get hurt. Unfortunately, X didn't have the technique to shatter a spell's core. The only option was to throw his body in the way and protect someone — and he could only protect one person.

If I have to save someone...!

The other students, who were a bit farther away, might be all right. But Lola and Elia would definitely get hurt. They had no defenses up, so in the worst case it would be serious injuries.

Coldly speaking, Elia would be hurt less. Her stamina stat is high. The chance of a serious injury is small. But Lola is a mage, so she's more likely to be hurt worse...

In the middle of making that calculation, he suddenly felt disgusted with himself.

Even in a situation like this, I have to draw that kind of line?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"To hell with it!!"

He raised his auror at once. He ignored the stares around him. A Probability Penalty? Bring it on.

What he pictured was the image of a round sphere. What he applied was Gripork's Auror Armor. What he wanted was a sphere of auror to contain the explosion.

Auror Armor was a technique one mastered only after undergoing extreme training — and reshaping its form was another matter entirely. It was a high-difficulty art that a warrior who'd only just crossed the threshold of 4-Star shouldn't even be able to look at.

But right now, he had to do it.

If the technique isn't enough, I'll just dump all my internal energy into it...!

A ramshackle, incomplete sphere of auror wrapped around the explosion magic. Whether he was in time or not — the instant the auror sphere enclosed it, the explosion magic activated.

BOOM—!!

The light of the explosion passed through the auror, but the blast itself hammered in every direction as if trying to smash through and burst free. There was no way an incomplete technique could hold it.

Crack—!

The auror sphere split with a fracture in an instant.

If internal energy isn't enough, then mana too...!

There was no logic to the action. He just poured it in, grasping at straws. Of course, no "miracle" occurred. But he discovered a certain "possibility."

I don't know why, but I can do this...!

The instant before the auror sphere shattered, the internal energy and mana he'd shoved in indiscriminately redirected the explosion. The direction: a place with no people. The ceiling.

KRA-KOOOM—!!

"Kyaaaaah—!!"

The heat and blast of the explosion shot into the empty ceiling where no one stood.

"An e-explosion!!!"

The students screamed, but fortunately no one was seriously hurt. Only X was exhausted from burning through both his mana and his internal energy.

"...I'm gonna die."

But even if no one was hurt in body, someone was hurt in heart.

"Ah, ah. Uh.... I didn't mean to..."

Lola was in shock at what she'd done.

"I-I just.... I just wanted to protect Lola and everyone..."

And Elia was horrified that Lola had attacked her. Elia, whose mental fortitude was fragile beyond compare, couldn't bear this situation at all.

"...I'm sorry."

So what she chose was to run. It was the first decision Elia had ever made for herself.

Fortunately, the situation was just barely contained.

When Roxwell arrived, took one look at the explosion site, and asked who had done it, every student pointed at X. Thanks to that, he got beaten like a dog in midsummer — but at least Lola and Elia weren't dragged before the disciplinary committee.

Something more worrying came up.

"...Elia's not coming."

"...I don't know."

Even by fourth period, Elia hadn't returned. He went looking for her every break, but finding a person on these vast grounds was like finding a needle in a haystack. On top of that, he had to comfort Lola, who was thoroughly dejected.

"Don't take it so hard. Nobody got hurt."

"...That's only because you stopped it."

She was drowning in self-loathing. She also seemed sorry now for the harsh things she'd said to Elia. No matter what he told her, she just looked more downcast, and it made him feel sorry for her.

What am I supposed to do...

He barely made it through fourth period, feeling like he was sitting on a bed of nails. When lunch started, he grew even more worried about Elia.

She needs to eat, at least. Where is she.

Come to think of it, Elia didn't even have a Mana Phone. Naturally, there was no way to contact her.

And then there's this...

In the end, he'd gotten it. The wording was dripping with malice, as expected. It had been a while since a Probability Penalty.

At least it seems like the penalty isn't that severe, since it only spread as a rumor...

Eavesdropping on the whispering students, the conversations going around were along the lines of, "I definitely saw him using auror." If X hadn't channeled mana at the end, it wouldn't have ended as a rumor.

But that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was the content of that penalty.

Demon infiltration of the academy...

It might be the most dangerous penalty possible in the current situation.

Who's coming in?

At this point in time, only one person came to mind.

Gremory after all...?

He didn't know what kind of demon Gremory was, but there was a high chance she was Elysia's subordinate. It was infuriating that he wanted to prepare but couldn't. Without information, certainty was impossible.

Bad news was piling on top of bad news. At first he'd felt a little resentful toward Lola and Elia, but thinking about it calmly, there was only one cause.

I was the problem.

The lies he'd told Elia had stacked up and exploded. It was karma coming back around. He couldn't blame anyone else.

But it wasn't as if only bad things happened.

Around the time fourth period ended and lunch began—

"Is there an X in this class?"

A beautiful voice. Golden hair and captivating eyes. A presence steeped in grace and authority appeared in Class F.

It was Princess Beatrice.

At Beatrice's appearance, everyone stopped breathing. Seeing their reaction, she covered her mouth and smiled.

"Oh my, was I too sudden?"

The Imperial Princess had appeared in a place as lowly as Class F. When the students, snapping out of it a beat late, tried to drop to their knees, Beatrice quickly stopped them.

"It's exhausting having to stop this every time. Please just treat me as a fellow student while we're at the academy."

The students responded awkwardly to her faintly complaining remark. Before stepping forward in front of Beatrice, X looked back.

"Young lady, will you be all right?"

Lola's complexion was very dark. She didn't want to be left alone in this situation. Of course she didn't — she'd fought with Elia like that and nearly caused a major accident. So if Lola was struggling, he'd intended to stay by her side for now.

"...I'm fine."

Lola forced a smile.

"...I'll be going, then."

She didn't look fine at all, but he decided not to ignore Lola's resolve.

When he stepped in front of Beatrice, she looked over his battered appearance with brightly shining eyes.

"We meet again. Did something unfortunate happen?"

"No. Nothing happened at all, Your Highness."

"Hmm, I see. Would you have time for lunch today?"

At those words, shock filled the students' eyes. They whispered among themselves, spreading and confirming meaningless rumors.

"Is it true that X caught Her Highness's interest?"

"Come to think of it, she sat in as an official witness during the Circe incident too, didn't she?"

"No way. Why would Her Highness care about a commoner like that...?"

Separate from those questions, X had plenty to discuss ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with Beatrice anyway, so he accepted the invitation.

"...That's fine. It's an honor, actually."

"I'm glad. Let's go now."

Beatrice took the lead and started walking. X fell in beside her.

"You can speak now."

Beatrice cast a sound-blocking spell. It was for a confidential conversation.

"Isn't this a bit too blatant?"

"You have to go this far to drive off all the annoying insects at once."

"A fair point, but..."

It was as X had guessed. Beatrice was issuing a warning to the other nobles. She'd claimed him first, so don't get any ideas. It was only natural — he was one of only two demons at this academy, and her only subordinate.

But Beatrice's actions right now felt somewhat rushed.

"What brings you to move so urgently?"

"There's a matter I must hurry, even if it means taking losses."

"Is it about the plan?"

"Yes. The target has been decided. I've thought endlessly about the humiliation of days past, but I couldn't bring myself to decide. I simply didn't have much at my disposal."

"Why make that decision now?"

"I have always bent my ambitions solely for the Great Demon and the will of His descent. But that filthy spawn has crossed a line that should never have been crossed — by a wide margin."

She was clearly talking about Gremory's deployment.

"Even so, until now I didn't have enough cards to oppose that creature. But coincidentally, you brought me a gift, and with that every card is in place."

"Sword Rang, you mean."

"Yes. I have more than enough 'scapegoats' now."

"Then by 'target,' you mean...?"

At the question, Beatrice smiled a thoroughly demonic smile.

"When I think about it, that damned piece of filth is freely wielding the throne from the very top of the Holy Kingdom. I see no reason I should remain a mere 'princess.'"

"...Don't tell me!"

"That's right, Mephisto."

Beatrice turned to look at X. Andras declared it with a savage, terrifying smile.

That arrogant, blasphemous declaration—

So this is where it starts. The Empire Split scenario...!

X had been waiting for it.