Crush Disaster's Sprouts Early
“.....Tch.”
Shina puffed her cheeks out a little and clicked her tongue.
When speaking, more easily inflames male counterparts, and inspires faint favor in female ones.
A qualification granted to the Casanova who monopolized everyone's idol and earned the bitter resentment of many of his own gender. Whatever else may come of it, one thing seems certain — life from here on is going to be rough.
I hadn't done a single thing, and somehow I'd become a Casanova overnight.
Something about this feels deeply unfair.
Slapping the title of Casanova on a guy who'd never even managed to get a girlfriend once — comedy didn't get more absurd than this.
The title's actual performance wasn't bad. For someone like me, who used conversation mid-fight to bait out an opponent's stronger attacks, having one more tool to scramble their focus was definitely useful.
The problem is that this thing applies outside of combat too — in everyday life.
From now on, I'd have to be especially careful whenever I talked to men. I had no interest in stirring up pointless friction.
Then again, thinking about it, I didn't talk to guys all that much on a normal day. Maybe it wouldn't matter that much.
“And finally — the student who showed the most outstanding performance in this Mock Occupation Battle. Shion Frelia. Please step forward.”
But looking past the present and into the future, this was going to be a real headache. Especially if, say, I ran into Jeremy and this title had some unfortunate effect on him — that would be a genuine problem....
“....Shion!”
“Ah — yes? Did you call me?”
Shina's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“The Headmaster called you. What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and go to the front.”
She said it with a distinctly sulky look on her face.
Huh. Did I do something wrong? Why does Shina look like that?
Wait — I got called? I must have been so focused on the new title that I completely missed it.
“Pardon? I'm being called? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, that's not it — Shion, you.....”
Shina made a face like she was about to lose her mind and opened her mouth to explain.
And apparently she wasn't the only one getting impatient.
“Wha—!”
A dimensional rift suddenly opened beneath my feet, and I was sucked straight into it. The place I landed, after tumbling through the gap, was the top of the podium.
Thankfully, thanks to my Parkour trait, I managed not to eat dirt in front of the entire student body. Small mercies.
“Haha. Quite the distinctive entrance, Student Shion.”
“Ahaha. I hear that a lot.”
Fortunately, the Headmaster laughed off my flashy arrival and went on.
“Shion Frelia. For the first time in the history of Luin Academy's Mock Occupation Battle, he formed a team consisting of himself alone and perfectly defended his territory. In the process, through wisdom and quick improvisation, he single-handedly defeated a full thirty-four enemies.”
As the Headmaster recited my achievements, the students began to murmur.
“You could make a team by yourself in the Mock Occupation Battle?”
“No, hang on — beating nearly thirty people alone? That can't be real, right?”
“Why would the Headmaster lie about it....”
Most of the reactions boiled down to disbelief.
“What is even more remarkable is that Shion is a 1-Star ability user, while those who invaded his territory ranged from 2-Star to 3-Star. The feat of single-handedly defeating dozens of opponents stronger than himself and holding his territory has no parallel in the entire history of Luin Academy.”
“Wait — 1-Star?”
“So he took down dozens of people several times stronger than him? By himself?”
“......Is the Frelia family just a nest of monsters?”
The students were buzzing far louder than they had for Shina's or Charlotte's turns. Which only made sense — what I'd pulled off was completely unhinged.
It's basically like an ordinary person winning a tug-of-war against thirty bodybuilders.
And yet it had actually happened.
“Accordingly, in high recognition of this unprecedented achievement, we present a commendation — and with it, the right to claim one item of your choosing from Luin Academy's Artifact Storage.”
Wow. I'd wondered if it might happen, but I hadn't truly expected this reward. The corner of my mouth started lifting on its own.
Artifact selection rights. An extra reward granted when a player pulled off something truly deranged in the Mock Occupation Battle.
Aside from that one time-mage route where I solo-captured something like six territories, I'd never gotten this before.
And now this garbage character with zero offensive skills was walking away with the rarest prize of all. Life really was a circus.
“It is a blessing that Luin Academy has a talent like you. Continue to give it your all.”
“Haha. I'll give it a moderately sincere best effort.”
“Quite the joker, aren't you.”
The Headmaster chuckled and handed me a certificate of commendation along with a flower-shaped badge.
“Student Shion. Do you have any remarks you'd like to leave?”
“Ah, of course. Naturally I do.”
I took the amplification artifact from the Headmaster and spoke with a lazy little smile.
“Ah, I'd love to dedicate all of this credit to the teammates who fought alongside me..... but unfortunately, I was the only member of my team, so I'm forced to monopolize it myself.”
A snicker rippled through the students.
“Still, if I absolutely have to share — I'd like to credit everyone who has helped and supported me in ordinary times.....”
I glanced around, searching for someone.
Ah. There he is.
“And the remaining scrap of credit, about the size of an ant's toenail, I dedicate to Sir Pascal over theeeere.”
I grinned idiotically at Pascal's crumpled face.
“In fact, without Sir Pascal, I never would have stood here at all. Some of you may know this, but Sir Pascal was the one in charge of assembling the Red Team's squads. In other words — the fact that I had to lonely defend my territory all by myself is entirely thanks to Sir Pascal.”
The moment I dropped that bomb, the students started murmuring all over again.
“Pascal Frelia did that? Hard to believe, but..... if it's true, isn't that abuse of power?”
“Come on, no way. They're family. Would he really abuse his authority just to pull that kind of garbage on his own brother?”
“But Shion has no reason to walk up on stage and lie about it.”
“Then that means....”
I could hear it. The sound of Pascal being buried alive.
“Ahaha. Of course, I'm grateful to Sir Pascal as well. He personally abused his authority to set the stage for me to face thirty people. And without a single ally, no less. You couldn't pull that off without real faith in me, could you?”
I could see Pascal grinding his teeth.
To that naked display of rage, I simply slipped a hand into my pocket and answered by staring steadily back at him.
“No — it doesn't make sense any other way. Someone of Sir Pascal's standing, a figure admired by all, would never stoop to such a filthy act just to sink a frivolous guy like me. Right?”
“........”
“The way you look at me so steadily and dependably, without a word — it's truly magnificent. Once again, my deepest thanks. Sir Pascal.”
Ah, I should head down now.
I started to hand the amplification artifact back to the Headmaster—
“Ah, right. Sir Pascal — I hear you lost your territory. Don't be too discouraged. Fighting!”
With that parting shot, I returned the amplification artifact to the Headmaster and stepped down from the hall.
On the way back to my seat, I could feel Pascal's gaze on me — cold, thick with hostility.
Of course, I paid it not the slightest attention and returned to my original place. I didn't even give him the courtesy of a reaction.
“Shion, are you all ri—”
“Lady Astorius, pardon me a moment.”
Shina had started to speak to me, but Chloe cut in, asked her leave, and dragged me off into a corner.
“You.... are you out of your mind?”
“Pardon? About what, exactly?”
When I played dumb, Chloe glared at me with a piercing look.
“What you just did is the same as grinding the Frelia family's honor into the dirt. Are you actually sane? If Father finds out about this.....”
“Well, I suppose I'll get scolded a little. It's not as if I'll be disowned, is it?”
“Haa... You are truly...!”
I already knew that publicly tearing Pascal down would be taken as an insult aimed at the Frelia family itself.
But it had been an unavoidable choice.
“Lady Chloe. Do you know how people see Sir Pascal?”
“The genius of the Frelia family. A magnanimous young man who protects the weak, blessed with beautiful looks. Is that enough?”
“Correct. Exactly as you said. The public looks up to Sir Pascal like an idol.”
I nodded and continued.
“Then this time, would you describe the Sir Pascal that we know? Speak freely. Whatever you say here, I'll take to the grave.”
“.......”
Chloe glanced around, checking for listeners. Once she was sure no one was near enough to hear, she let out a small sigh and opened her mouth.
“Trash. An arrogant, insolent piece of work drunk on his own talent who looks down on people and treats others like disposable tools. On top of that, his temper is filthy and vile, and if something doesn't go his way, he won't rest until he's ruined it. Is that enough for you?”
Hearing Chloe unload like that, it was clear she had quite a backlog of her own with Pascal.
Right. I'd only stacked a month of bad blood with him. Chloe had known him for a full seventeen years — she'd seen far worse than I ever had.
“Haha. Well said. Exactly as you put it, Lady Chloe — there's an enormous gap between Sir Pascal's public image and the real one. Until now he's managed to wander around in that fake face without getting caught by the tail..... but can he keep that up forever?”
“So you decided to expose him early? Dragging the Frelia name through the mud is still the sa—”
“No, Lady Chloe. It's completely different.”
“What do you mean....”
“Listen carefully.”
I held up one finger and laid out a scenario.
“Here's the first case. A student named Pascal of the Frelia family causes a socially scandalous incident at Luin Academy and gets publicly dragged through the mud. Naturally, the Frelia family's honor takes a hit.”
I raised a second finger and offered another scenario.
“Second case.... a high-ranking official named Pascal of the Frelia family is revealed to everyone as trash who despises and oppresses people. Because so many had respected and trusted him, the disappointment is enormous. Naturally, the Frelia family's honor takes a hit.”
All right. Pick one.
“Lady Chloe — of the two cases I just described, which one does more damage to the Frelia family?”
“.....The latter.”
“Exactly. The higher a person's position, the harsher the condemnation when their true nature is exposed. In short, what I did up on that podium just now was simply this.”
I opened my usually closed eyes and spoke.
“I lanced the boil called Pascal before it could grow any bigger.”