Hindrastar's So Unjustly Wronged (6)

I headed over to the garden beside the lecture hall, where the kids usually gathered to hang out during break. Sure enough, Knightly and her little entourage were over on the far side.

"Hey! Knightly! I need to ask you something!"

The moment I called her name and waved, her followers all scattered. Knightly stayed behind alone, arms crossed, waiting for me.

"What is it?"

"What's going on with you guys? The kids keep running away every time they see me."

"Who knows?"

Knightly offered a vague answer, wearing an inscrutable little smile.

"If that's the case, shouldn't you be asking the people involved instead of coming to me?"

"I tried. They ran. Besides, you're the student I'm closest to."

At that, Knightly's smile grew even wider.

"Does that mean you don't have any other students you're close with?"

"Well, not really. Not on a personal level."

Knightly's breathing went slightly irregular.

"So I'm the only one, then?"

"I don't know if that's the right way to put it..."

"I'm the only one, right?"

"Fine. You're the only one. So if you know what's going on, tell me."

I gave her a halfhearted answer just to get her off the persistent questioning, and Knightly's mouth stretched from ear to ear.

"Well, there's been talk. That you and I have... that kind of relationship."

"That kind of relationship?"

"You know what I mean."

A professor and a female student having "that kind of relationship"... yeah, I could guess.

"So that's why the kids have been avoiding me? What even is that? Some baseless rumor that sprang up out of nowhere?"

"I honestly don't know much about it myself. It's been popping up sporadically all over the place."

"Really? That's strange..."

"Who knows. Maybe someone got jealous that I've been receiving private lessons from you and started spreading a malicious rumor."

"Maybe. But nobody even knows about that except the professors in our department."

So who would it be... who would it be... I ought to dig into this properly.

"Professor. Are you listening?"

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Would you like to have a private lesson with me today?"

"Today? Today's not a lesson day."

"That's true, but we don't necessarily have to stick to the scheduled day and the scheduled material, do we?"

As she said it, Knightly gave me a coquettish little eye-smile. I'd seen Ismera's theatrical yet devastatingly beautiful version of that look often enough that it didn't particularly move me.

She's way too young to be pulling that already, good grief.

"Since it's come to this anyway, why don't we just go all in? If we're going to be accused of it, we might as well actually do it, don't you think?"

Knightly hooked a finger under her shirt and tugged it up a fraction, licking her lips with a somewhat awkward air. This lunatic.

"Knock it off!"

"Aack!"

I gave her a light rap on the skull, and Knightly clutched her head with both hands, curling in on herself.

"Why'd you hit me! I was right!"

"You were right. Right in the face!"

I raised my fist, and Knightly bolted.

Ugh. I ought to just send her straight back to her father.

Anyway, confirmation first. I needed to find out what kind of maniac was spreading a rumor this absurd.

"Pelemiya!"

I called out to Pelemiya just as she was coming out of her psychological warfare class.

"What is it? You seem to be in a hurry."

"Have you heard anything circulating among the kids lately?"

"Well. What sort of thing did you have in mind?"

I told her what I'd been seeing and sensing, and Pelemiya adjusted her glasses.

"The atmosphere is definitely off. Shall I look into it?"

"I'd appreciate that. I don't know what it is, but if this starts poisoning the academic climate, that's a problem."

"Understood. I'll look into it and report back before I leave today."

Pelemiya swept her cloak and slipped soundlessly into the crowd of students. As the psychological warfare professor, she was an expert in intimidation, persuasion, coaxing, and indoctrination. She was bound to come back with something substantial.

That afternoon, as promised, Pelemiya appeared at my office.

"Chief Professor. I looked into a few things."

"Let's hear it."

Pelemiya laid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out everything she'd uncovered.

"Stop. Stop."

I raised a hand to cut Pelemiya off before my mind could melt any further.

"So the rumor started with Student Sophie, then?"

"That's correct. Though it doesn't appear there was any malice involved."

Of course there wasn't. Hindrastar's original remark hadn't contained a shred of anything that could be misconstrued.

But that was only true in the eyes of a third party who didn't know a thing. What kind of dragon was Hindrastar? Did anyone honestly think a genius of chaos-sowing wouldn't have taken out insurance?

She'd have prepared an out in advance — something she could feed me about how she was just genuinely curious, and so on and so forth. This had clearly been intended to send my reputation at the academy straight into the gutter.

Which left me with three options.

The first was to correct the false narrative. Even a groundless rumor that the Chief Combat Professor was in an inappropriate relationship with an individual student did the academy no favors whatsoever.

The second was to turn the whole affair into an opportunity — a practical lesson in agitprop and intelligence gathering. Field operations included infiltrating hostile nations to spread disinformation, or, conversely, assessing the truth of rumors and propaganda circulating on our own side. This situation was remarkably similar, and if I used it well, it could make for some genuinely useful training.

The third was a thorough mental rearmament for Hindrastar. That one still hadn't learned her lesson.

Well then. Might as well start with the lowest difficulty and knock out number three first.

I picked up the wooden practice sword leaning against the desk and walked out of the office.

The rooftop of the academy's abandoned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠building, where the troll was being held.

Having ditched class on her own authority, Hindrastar was already on her hundred-and-somethingth lap around the rooftop.

Professor Dian and Knightly? They did something in the forest outside the academy's east gate? Wasn't that a troll hunt? Waiver caught the troll, though. Honestly, there would've been plenty of time before or after the hunt. Come to think of it, during the night infiltration last time, didn't Knightly take a separate route by herself? What if that wasn't an advanced lesson at all...

And they said Knightly went along when they brought back that wild horse, too. So she wasn't riding a horse — she was riding the professor?! Didn't someone say Knightly ran away here to dodge an arranged marriage? But when Knightly's father visited, didn't he seem ridiculously close with Professor Dian? Then is Professor Dian Knightly's new marriage prospect? Was Professor Dian a noble? I wouldn't know. He does kind of seem like one, though. There's not a single person at the academy that Professor Dian has to watch himself around. Or maybe he's a hidden Secret Imperial Prince?

Anyway, so it's true that Knightly and Professor Dian were all over each other in the professor's office, right? Then what's the deal with the maid who lives in that house with him? Someone said she's his daughter and also his wife and also... ugh, this is too complicated! Hah... so this is how I lose Professor Dian... I was going to confess after graduation... yeah, right. Like Professor Dian would ever go for someone like you.

She'd only asked because she was genuinely curious. She had never imagined it would blow up like this.

Hindrastar had considered going to Dian first and coming clean about everything. But she gave up. She was far too scared.

Dian was a madman. The one she'd run into during the Four-Year War would lose all reason when he got worked up, turning into something like a berserker you couldn't talk to.

So Hindrastar decided that keeping her mouth shut was better than coming forward first. Even Dian couldn't possibly trace it back and figure out that a question she'd tossed out had grown this large.

Please let that be the case...

"Let's have a little talk."

A shadow fell over her without warning.

"D-Dian...?"

Dian was looking down at Hindrastar with a wooden practice sword slung over his shoulder.

"I was just about to head to class anyway!"

Dian said nothing.

"I'm serious! I'm going right now!"

Dian said nothing.

"What? You got something to say? Huh? Then say it. Don't just stand there posing!"

Dian said nothing.

"Haa, fine. I get it. I'm sorry. I put some stuff on your tab at the dessert cafe under your name. I'll pay it back soon."

"What...?"

Ah, damn. Shouldn't have said that.

"Anyway, we good now? I'm leaving?"

Dian silently shifted his feet and blocked her escape.

"What the hell, seriously! What is it! Why are you trying to scare people?!"

Dian said nothing.

Hindrastar stared at him for a moment, then finally came clean.

"Fine. Yeah. I did it. I just asked because I was genuinely curious, and those human brats went and twisted it all on their own. It's true."

Dian said nothing.

"I'm serious, okay? Believe me. I spent the whole war stirring up chaos, but I'm not crazy enough to pull that when you're standing right next to me."

Dian said nothing.

Hindrastar's voice began to tremble.

"What do you even want me to do! I really only asked that one thing! I didn't say anything else! My intentions were pure!"

Dian said nothing.

"What do you want me to say, huh? You just want to beat me up, don't you? Whether I actually went out of my way to stir this up or not doesn't even matter, does it? That's it, isn't it! That's what this is!"

Dian said nothing.

"Fuck, what the hell is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your problem with me!!"

BOOOOM!

Startled by the sudden crash, Professor Ismera rushed to the window.

Far off, on the rooftop of the abandoned building where the troll was being held, a pink-haired Special Talent Student was leaping off the edge.

"Somebody help me!!"

And the one diving after her was... Professor Dian?! What?

But the two of them vanished from sight in the space of a blink, and Professor Ismera was left wondering whether she had imagined the whole thing.