Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Reason for Existence (4)
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Rias stared at the person in front of her with an utterly disgusted look on her face. Yustina kept chomping away at the snacks right in front of her like she was putting on a show, while Professor Selene sat beside her with a wry smile. Just seeing them made Rias's blood boil.
Especially that brother-obsessed idiot who had thrown all pretense of manners out the window and was noisily devouring Julius's handmade cookies—Rias had no clue what to do with her.
"God, she's really pissing me off."
"Jealous? Admit it."
"Finish swallowing the food in your mouth first."
Crunch.
As she turned her head away from Yustina—who hadn't even bothered to swallow properly and had already shoved something new into her mouth—Rias spotted Professor Selene pouring herself a cup of tea and slyly snatching a piece of snack from the side.
What an obnoxious sight.
Rias spat out a comment because she couldn't stand watching Yustina pig out like a hog, dodging every hand that reached out without sharing even a single piece.
"You knew Julius was coming yesterday but kept it a secret from me too, right? And now you're here bragging because you got a gift."
"Yeah. So what?"
"You fucking bitch."
"Student Rias. Didn't I tell you to watch your language?"
"If that two-faced bitch stops stuffing her face so sloppily, I will."
"Nom. Oh, right. I also told big brother you've never cooked for him once, and he teased you about it."
"...Fuck."
It was true, so Rias had no grounds to complain and clamped her mouth shut.
If she'd lived a little more decently in the past, maybe things would have turned out differently. But in truth, she couldn't even picture herself living kindly, so she decided to just accept it.
Sweetly? No, not sweetly—but she had to accept it anyway. What choice did she have?
Sighing deeply, Rias took a sip of the tea Professor Selene had poured. What a cursed life. What a shitty life. The ones just like me... well, not exactly, but the kids who'd screwed up somehow managed to reach out to Julius and patch things up a little. So why was she the only one left out?
"Isn't it because you've caused trouble for way too long, Student Rias?"
"...It's showing on my face, huh."
"Yes. And one more thing—practically speaking, you don't have anything useful to offer right now."
Rias's face twisted at those words. Her very first inferiority complex had stemmed from the idea that she could never stand equal to Julius—that she was nothing but a burden to him. And even now, nothing she possessed was something he needed.
Family? She'd already done too much damage; even the Calamity family had practically disowned her. A dramatic reunion with Julius might allow a comeback, but that seemed like a pipe dream.
Money? Julius had more than enough personal funds.
Power? As a mage, she ranked mid-to-upper tier, but that was it.
Information? All she knew was the local geography.
Thinking it over again, she really was a worthless woman.
She should've buckled down and worked on something instead of drowning in self-pity.
Then maybe she could've stepped up boldly with a line like, "Everything was for this moment...!"
"Professor Selene."
"Yes?"
"Do you have any field where you could help Julius?"
"No. Not right now, anyway. I'm just someone who does research in my specialty and offers relationship counseling."
"Doesn't that embarrass you? Or make you angry?"
"Powerlessness isn't something to be ashamed of. I can't swing a sword like Julius, or wield light magic like Student Ermina—but is that wrong?"
After a brief pause, Selene took a sip of tea and spoke in a slightly husky voice.
"What you should truly be ashamed of is failing to step up when you could—and must."
Rias had nothing to say to the professor's somewhat gloomy expression.
They weren't exactly on friendly terms to begin with.
Still, the final piece of advice she heard before the gathering broke up shifted something in Rias's heart.
"So when help is requested down the line, don't drop the ball when you actually could have done it."
"...Professor, if you've got some emotional scars, I hope they heal."
"Scars... Yeah, you could call them that. I'm okay."
Flipping off Yustina—who was still munching cookies and poking fun—Rias headed to her next stop.
She had plans to meet one bastard who'd been keeping quiet for a while.
**
"What is it, Christoph? At a time like this."
"What, does a call from the discarded prince amuse you now?"
"My family ditched me too."
"That's your problem."
Inside the academy, information was reasonably controlled, so few people knew the full details of Julius's actions or his battle with Danil.
Most nobles were in the dark on the specifics, and some cases involved strict gag orders.
But Christoph—even as a rotten royal—had learned all about Julius's movements. Rias had heard he'd been furious upon hearing the news.
"How much does that bastard Julius look down on me?"
"When has he ever?"
"Ha. Now he's fully turning his back? We teamed up because our interests aligned—so now that the benefits are gone, he's betraying me?"
"Quit being such a whiny bitch."
"I've never once thought I was king material. But Julius treated me like even less than that. He took down a Demon Worship Cult executive single-handedly like it was nothing and strutted off!"
Was it the confinement that had him battling his delusions nonstop?
Rias sighed and rubbed her face at how much worse his paranoia had gotten.
She'd wanted Julius to feel a twinge of jealousy, and this fool seemed easy enough to handle—no risk of getting flak for arrogance if they hung out. But getting lumped in with him would piss her off too.
I have a bad inferiority complex, but not that bad.
Noticing the man in front of her staring with the exact same thoughts—but oblivious to her gaze—Rias cut to the chase.
"So why? Got something I need to do for you? I don't feel like it."
"Don't get uppity. I have all the dirt on your crimes."
Seemed like he'd already spilled everything to Julius. With nothing left to lose, Rias pretended not to hear.
Enraged anew, Christoph started yelling again, so Rias plugged her ears.
The silver lining was that Christoph—marinated in inferiority since childhood and never accomplishing jack— was weak, unwise, powerless trash.
She waited in silence until his solo meltdown ended and his face returned to normal, then unplugged her ear and picked up the conversation.
"I've got nothing left to lose anyway."
"You, who wanted Julius so badly?"
"Everything I've done is already out in the open. Julius expects zilch from me. And my family's prepping to boot me if they can't win him back."
When she laid out her situation to cut ties, Christoph burst out laughing and pointed mockingly.
"Hahaha! Yeah, that suits you. I always hated that smug face of yours, acting like you're a cut above when you're no different!"
"That's why you're in this mess. Just like me. Right?"
"You saying my current state is my fault?"
"Duh."
Bang! The table shook violently.
Whatever. If it came to blows, she'd win.
"You're trash! Trash! A woman with nothing but that cheap body and your family's halo! Without your family and hotshot fiancé, you're nothing! No reason to exist!"
Every word hit dead-on.
Deeply scratched by his barbs, Rias knew getting mad here wouldn't change a thing.
Let him scream his stress out, then bail once he calmed down.
As Rias steeled herself for that, a teacup hurtled toward her.
Her instinctively conjured spell barrier blocked it, but the mana-infused throw caused it to shatter with a vicious crack, shards flying everywhere.
"...Hey. Now it's not gonna end pretty."
"Hey? You called me hey? The one who can't walk away is you!"
He kicked over the reception room table—a public resource—smashed it, charged right up, grabbed Rias's collar, and reared back for a punch. Yumin intervened.
"Enough."
"Oh? The goody-two-shoes junior, guk—"
Yumin knocked Christoph out cold with a murderous glare.
"I must've been insane thinking I could work with a loser like that."
"Same here."
"I still don't like you."
"You think I enjoy looking at your face? Thanks for stopping this from blowing up bigger. Now scram."
"Tch."
"...When I see Julius later, I'll mention you helped out."
"Oh."
Rias muttered "gay bastard" under her breath at his suddenly beaming face, then sank into thought while surveying the trashed reception room.
So why the hell had Christoph summoned her in the first place?
The real point he'd overlooked amid his inferiority meltdown felt forebodingly ominous.