I Was a Good Guy
"That's just... bluffing!" Ligwen let out a hollow laugh, as if my words were utterly ridiculous.
"…Whether it's a bluff or not, you'll find out soon enough."
With a sharp burst of speed, Ligwen charged at me, sword raised. Even someone like me—who was practically clueless when it came to swordsmanship—could tell it was a textbook, straightforward rush. Nothing special.
Well, if he couldn't even manage this much, he wouldn't have gotten into the academy in the first place.
But to me, equipped with Goliath's Shield, it was laughably insignificant. And with stats like those…
I channeled mana into my arm and blocked Ligwen's sword—with my bare hand.
"Ah…?"
Ligwen let out a dumbfounded sound. That was understandable. After all, I'd just stopped his sword with neither shield nor weapon, but my bare arm. It must have been impossible for him to comprehend.
When your Constitution stat rises, your defensive power increases along with it. So an attack like that had no chance of working against someone with an SS+ Constitution like me.
I grabbed his sword, yanked him forward, and slammed my shield straight into his head.
—Clang!
A clear, resonant sound. It reminded me of my childhood, waiting in front of the TV every New Year's Eve to hear the midnight bell.
—Clang!
—Clang!
—Clang!
"Ugh!… Gah!… Grrrr…"
My shield kept hammering Ligwen's head over and over. Eventually, unable to take it anymore, he dropped his sword and frantically scrambled backward. Tears welled up in his eyes from the pain.
I tossed his sword back at his feet.
"Are you… are you mocking me?!"
Even though I'd returned his weapon, instead of showing gratitude, Ligwen flew into a rage. It reminded me of when I'd disciplined Luden. But Luden had been useful in many ways—including providing financial support—so I'd settled for the whip of love. This guy, though? He just needed the whip.
…
"…Ugh… P-please… stop…"
Ligwen was flat on the ground, begging for mercy. After I'd casually shrugged off what he'd clearly thought was his best attack, his eyes had gone as dead as a rotten fish. From that point on, it was completely one-sided.
There was no one around to stop me, so I went all out. By the time I was done, Ligwen looked like a rag. His once-handsome face was swollen like he'd been stung by a swarm of bees, several teeth were missing, and he was lisping badly.
Maybe I went a little too far…?
Ever since I'd been possessed, I'd been subjected to all sorts of unfair treatment because of the original owner's baggage. It seemed all that pent-up resentment had slipped out unconsciously.
It's not even my fault, but I still have to apologize? And then some worthless punk starts acting up? This is bullshit.
I kicked Ligwen in the head with a soccer-style punt as he begged for forgiveness.
Thud—!
"Guh… Guh…!"
Ligwen flew through the air like a soccer ball.
"L-Logue. Maybe you should stop now…"
Liana cautiously tried to intervene.
…I might have gotten a bit too worked up. If I caused more injury than necessary during a duel, I could end up getting dragged in front of the disciplinary committee—just like the Hero had been.
I pulled a health potion from my pocket and forced the opening into Ligwen's mouth.
"Mmph!"
It must have been one of Liana's special formulas, because his wounds visibly began to heal. Even his missing teeth are growing back…?
"Hey. Your name was Durang, right?"
"Y-yes!"
The male student who'd been badmouthing me alongside Ligwen—Durang—was trembling with a deathly pale face.
"What happened today stays between us. …Understood?"
"Y-yes! I-I swear I won't let a single word of this leak out!"
Durang seemed to have gotten the message loud and clear. I liked that.
"That includes you, Ligwen."
"Hii… Hiiiik…"
"Answer me."
"I-I understand… I understand!"
Supported by Durang, Ligwen staggered out of the training hall.
"Wasn't that a bit much…? If he reports this to the academy…"
"I already shut their mouths, so it should be fine. …There were almost no witnesses, so we can just deny everything. It was a duel, wasn't it?"
According to academy rules, as long as you didn't inflict more injury than necessary, most wounds were tolerated. It really was survival of the fittest.
…I don't know exactly how badly the Hero beat up the original owner to get him to the brink of expulsion, but…
The story had described him as nearly dead, so it was probably worse than what I'd just done.
Well, it's not like I was the one who got hit.
Liana returned to the Alchemy Department building, and the rest of us turned our steps back toward the main academy building.
"Now that I think about it, don't we have another class…?"
When I checked the time, lunch hour had long since passed.
"…You don't even check your schedule? Professor Evelyn canceled the next lecture because she's preparing for the ranking matches."
I hadn't noticed because I'd been sleeping all day. I'd discovered the perfect position for napping during class this time.
"Then the timing works out just fine."
As we walked toward the main building, I naturally fell into step with Sane, who was also heading that way.
"Sane. Where are you planning to go now?"
"Me? Home, obviously? …Oh. Right, I'm supposed to be on guard duty here."
Was it really okay to entrust the academy's safety to someone like her? …Just kidding. There probably wasn't anyone among the guards more capable than Sane.
"And you were really good at hitting the vital points while avoiding anything too dangerous. You've done a lot of this before, haven't you?"
"…"
I'd held back just enough so things wouldn't get out of hand.
When we reached the entrance of the main building, I saw an unnecessarily handsome male student and a female student. It was the Hero and Serein.
Let's just pretend I didn't see them…
The Hero had suddenly apologized to me this morning, but Serein probably still didn't have a good impression of me. It was unfair since it wasn't even me who did those things, but what could I do?
I tried to avoid making eye contact as I headed into the main building, when—
"Logue. …That girl who came looking for you at the academy the other day, the one who said she was your little sister. Did you know about that?"
"…Yes, that's right."
If it was my little sister… that would be Lidia, right? Sane had mentioned running into Lidia at the academy and bringing her along. It seemed Lidia had met the Hero and Serein before encountering Sane.
"…You met Lidia?"
"Yeah. She said she hadn't heard from you since you were kicked out of the family and had been searching for you."
The reason there'd been no news was simple. I didn't know the house address.
"Anyway, we talked about a lot of things, and…"
The Hero was dragging it out again. If he stopped mid-sentence this time too, I swore I'd punch that smug face of his.
As I steeled myself inwardly, the Hero said something completely unexpected.
"…I'll be direct. Logue. Have all your actions at the academy so far been part of some plan?"
"……Huh?"
What the hell was he talking about now?
The Hero had just said something that made no sense to me. My behavior at the academy… he was probably referring to the original owner's actions. But where was this coming from all of a sudden?
"……What do you mean?"
"The version of you your little sister described and the way you've been acting here at the academy are completely different. And ever since the rumor spread that you'd been kicked out of your family, you've changed entirely."
Well, that's because that's when I got possessed…
"What your little sister—Lidia—said didn't sound like a lie. So… as hard as it is to believe, I came to this conclusion."
"Conclusion?"
"You've been deliberately acting like a delinquent for your little sister's sake… getting yourself expelled from the family to stop her political marriage."
……What the hell was he saying? Acting like a delinquent for my little sister? Why? To stop a political marriage? Did that even make sense? How would me pretending to be a delinquent stop my sister's arranged marriage? What kind of causal relationship was that?
The Hero kept spouting nonsense.
"If you get kicked out of the family, the only person left to inherit the household is your little sister. …And you said you were on bad terms with the family head. If you caused a scene at the academy where so many nobles gather, it's easy to predict what the head would decide."
So he'd kick me out.
"And the decisive part is what you told your sister before leaving the academy—you said you'd definitely stop the political marriage, so she shouldn't worry."
I—well, the original Logue—had said something like that?
Isabelle and Sane, who were standing nearby, held their breath as they listened to the Hero. Keyene, on the other hand, seemed completely uninterested and was admiring the flowers around us.
"Putting all of this together… it's hard to believe, but the conclusion is that there's a possibility all your behavior at the academy was planned."
"I don't want to believe it, though."
Serein frowned at me, as if the very idea was physically repulsive.
"So? What do you think of my reasoning?"
I was about to deny it, but the more I listened, the more plausible it sounded.
…Now that I think about it, if what the Hero is saying is true, wouldn't this actually be good for me?
According to the Hero's logic, the conclusion was that Logue had actually been a good guy all along.
…If that were the case, it would be a huge help in improving my relationship with the Hero going forward.
"The skill you showed during our spar… that wasn't fake. You were on a completely different level from when we dueled before. …That also makes sense if you assume you were hiding your true strength to deliberately fail your classes."
Even recovering my honor like this…
Since this world of Bethesda Academy ultimately revolved around the Hero, improving my relationship with him was absolutely essential. In other words, this development wasn't bad for me at all—whether the Hero's words were true or not.
"……So I've been found out."
From now on, I was a good guy.
Because the Hero had decided so.