Chapter 3: The Hidden Boss Enters a Battle Arts Competition
After summer break was over and the heat of the summer had begun to calm down, one of the Academy’s major events, a battle arts competition, would be held. Within this competition, there was a swordsmanship division where participants would battle each other in a one-on-one tournament and a magic division that was judged on a point scale. Students of every grade could participate, but participation was not mandatory.
I didn’t plan on participating. The battle arts competition was a great opportunity for students who aspired to be military officers to show off their skills, as many powerful aristocrats came to spectate the competition—it felt wrong to get in the way of that.
As I stared at the bulletin board with the event information, Patrick appeared beside me.
“The battle arts competition, huh? Are you going to participate, Yumiella?”
“Of course not,” I replied matter-of-factly. “How about you, Patrick?”
“I’m gonna pass too. It’s not like I’m trying to be an officer in the King’s Army. On top of that, the grand prize is something I can’t imagine anyone wanting. I guess it’s more like a bonus, though, since honor is the main prize.”
The battle arts competition was an event that also occurred in the game. The in-game prize was a pretty strong weapon but of no use to me. Still, I looked toward the bottom of the bulletin board to see the grand prize listed.
It’s still a rare item, so I would think there’d be more people who’d want it...
“An amulet of dark magic enhancement?!” I exclaimed.
Patrick nodded. “Useless, right? You’re the only one who can use dark magic, and there’s no need for you to be any stronger so—”
“I want it! I want it very much! I’ll do whatever it takes to get it!”
“Hey, calm down, Yumiella.”
I need to register to participate immediately!
Patrick was saying something, but I didn’t have time for that. I took off running to the teacher’s offices and expressed my wish to enter the tournament, only to be led to the headmaster’s office.
Ronald was wide-eyed with surprise. “Wait, you really came?” he said, partly to himself.
“I’m going to enter the battle arts competition,” I said immediately. “I have the right to participate as a student of this Academy, right? Right?!”
“You’re scaring me a bit,” he replied with a nervous smile. “Don’t worry, you can enter, so you don’t have to get so close to me.”
Oops, got a little too excited there. The prize isn’t going to run away, so I should discuss this calmly.
As I collected myself, I wondered why the prize was different from the game.
Did the story change because of me? The new prize even feels like it was made for me.
“If I hadn’t noticed what the prize was, the winner of the tournament would’ve had an encounter with a mysterious bandit,” I joked.
“How scary,” he responded dryly. “But someone winning it wouldn’t be possible. Take a look at the competition guidelines.” The headmaster pulled out the same papers that were posted on the bulletin board.
At the very bottom, it should say that the grand prize is an amulet of dark magic enhancement...
“Wait, the grand prize for winning both divisions?”
“Yes, it’s the prize for winning in both the swordsmanship and magic divisions. I didn’t think anyone could do it, so I was planning on just giving it to you after the competition.”
It was probably useless to ask why he went through the trouble of making it the prize in the first place—I had clearly fallen for the grinning headmaster’s trap.
“It’s no problem then,” I responded. “I’ll enter both divisions.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would actually go for it... His Majesty actually told me to just give it to you. I wonder if I’ll get in trouble.”
Ah, so the amulet is from the king. The headmaster could use a good scolding from the king.
“I’m grateful to His Majesty.”
“It’s true that I want you to enter the competition, but I won’t force you. I’ll give you the amulet if you decide not to. His Majesty and I are just happy to give you something you want.”
That felt somewhat unfair. Event rewards were meant to be obtained by clearing the event.
◆◆◆
The day of the battle arts competition had arrived and was being held in the army’s training grounds outside of the Royal Capital. The weather was unfortunately cloudy, but the hastily built stands were filled with aristocrats. As the participants were hard at work getting in last-minute practice in the middle of the venue, Patrick and I stood back in a corner.
“It’s an even bigger event than I thought.”
“It’s usually held within the Academy, but there were too many aristocrats who wanted to view the competition this year, so they decided to hold it here instead.”
“Oh, because the prince is entering?”
It was only natural for nobles to want to observe a special event for the second prince. However, as a magic swordsman, the prince was probably at a disadvantage. Considering the divisions were either just swordsmanship or just magic, William and Oswald were more skilled.
“I don’t think they’re after His Highness, but...” Patrick turned to me and gave me a pointed look. “You know?”
“It’s tough being popular,” I sighed dramatically.
There was no doubt that the competition had become such a large event because of me. I wasn’t sure if those who came to watch felt like they were coming to see a lion at the zoo or if it was more like viewing a new weapon at an arms manufacturer presentation.
The competition was about to begin, and the participants were called to gather up.
“I’m off, then. I’ll do my best!”
“Yeah, do your best.” Patrick paused. “Or actually, maybe not your best. Do your appropriate, moderate, held-back best.”
That’s a bit much. You don’t have to be that worried, Patrick. I’ll be fine.
After leaving a melancholic-looking Patrick, I made my way toward the center of the venue.
The competition started with the swordsmanship division. First, the tournament pairs were decided by lottery. Almost every other participant besides me was a male student, and they were all drawing the lottery while looking as if they were praying to a higher power.
Prince Edwin and William ended up in the right block, causing every participant who would go up against them in the first round to sigh. By the time it was my turn to draw, there were only two blank spots left. It was a fifty-fifty chance between the right block and the left block. Though I didn’t mind either spot, the tension in the air around me seemed to reach a climax.
“Number 3, you’re on the left side.”
“Aaagh!” the participants in the left block roared, falling to their knees as despair washed over their faces.
There’s no reason to be that upset, is there?
I shifted my gaze away, unable to bear watching the unlucky group any longer, only to make eye contact with William.
“I heard you stayed at the Academy during summer break.”
“What? Oh, yes, I did.”
“I was training the entire break, so don’t think things will be like last time. I’m level 20 now,” William boasted. I felt a little sorry for him, but seeing how proud he was of himself was actually kind of funny.
Don’t do it... Hold in that laugh.
Level 20 was amazing... I think. It was said that there weren’t many people who could raise their level by that much during their time at the Academy, so William was amazing for accomplishing that in one year.
“That’s incredible...heh heh,” I responded, failing at containing my laughter.
“How dare you laugh! You better not be thinking that a difference in level is equal to a difference in skill!”
William wasn’t wrong. There were personal differences in stats at the same level, as well as differences in technique. However, no matter how much of a genius swordsman William was, there was no chance level 20 could do anything against level 99.
Our attention was called at just the right moment—the matches were about to begin. Everyone in the venue, including William, turned their gaze toward the arena. Each participant was to bring their real sword for their matches in the battle arts competition. Stopping at the last moment was possible with a certain level of swordsmanship, and there was a recovery team on standby. Everyone also had an amulet of protection, so there was no concern for insta-kills.
The first match began. I was a complete novice when it came to swordsmanship, so I thought the technique of the two participants currently dueling was incredible. One was keeping a solid guard and only counterattacked at the right moment, while the opponent skillfully switched his posture and used a more technical approach with feints. My only gripe was they were both painfully slow. Their levels were low, leaving their bodies to be low-spec.
People in this country, or rather, people in this world, are making level grinding out to be more difficult than it is. They should focus on raising their levels before honing technical skills.
The opponent using the technical approach won the first match. He had been enjoying his victory, but his expression clouded when he saw me.
I’m looking forward to our match in the second round.
“First round, second match! Yumiella Dolkness versus Lewis Wrexham!”
My turn. Let’s have a good match.
The venue went up in a frenzy that was incomparable to the first match. Even tough-looking aristocrats, who were most likely military officers, were leaning forward, trying to avoid missing even a second of the match.
My first opponent was a well-built upper-level student. I didn’t have a single doubt that I would win, but I thought it would be nice to let him look good.
I’ll hold back and let him show off his swordsmanship to the audience before going in for the winning blow.
The other thing I had to worry about was the durability of my sword. I was using a pretty expensive one, but if I were to wield it with my full strength, it would most definitely snap in half. The savings I had amassed by slowly selling magic stones I collected during my level grinding had actually been quite drained due to the sword durability tests I conducted.
I guess I can always just go clear a dungeon again.
I unsheathed my one-handed sword and began to do some practice swings.
Let’s see if it can handle this.
The sword boomed as it swung through the air, causing the ground to tremble slightly.
Nice, I’m glad the sword can withstand at least that much.
I faced my opponent and waited for the signal for the match to begin, but the referee stood frozen still. Even the rowdy venue was suddenly quiet.
“Um... Are we not starting?”
The referee seemed to snap back to reality at the sound of my voice and was about to give the signal to begin, only to be interrupted by my opponent.
“I withdraw,” my opponent squeaked.
“Yumiella Dolkness wins,” the referee announced after a pause.
Maybe he suddenly felt sick or something, I told myself.
Though it was by default, I had gotten through the first round.
After my match, the competition progressed without issues. It was now the first match of the second round, and I was up against the student with the dexterous sword skills.
“I withdraw.”
No way. There’s no way that all my opponents will withdraw...right?
I made it to the finals without fighting in a single match. My opponent was William, who beat Prince Edwin in the semifinals by a narrow margin.
Please, I beg of you, don’t withdraw.
“Did you think I would withdraw? Well, too bad. I’m making this a fair fight.”
All right! Good job, William!
If it weren’t for him, I would’ve finished this competition with a bad taste in my mouth.
“This is the Great Sword of Strohd! It’s a fine blade that I worked hard to obtain,” William exclaimed proudly, pointing a sword at me that was about the length of himself. The Great Sword of Strohd was something I had seen before in the game. It had no element, but it was an item that was a league ahead in terms of physical attack power. It was supposed to be an item that could be found toward the end of the game, so I was left wondering how William had obtained it. In terms of its durability, it was the best sword one could have—it might even be able to withstand my full strength.
“The final battle!” the referee announced. “Yumiella Dolkness versus William Ares! Begin!”
William immediately went for an attack, believing the idea that making the first move would lead to victory. He held his sword high above his head, swinging down. I twisted my body and dodged his attack. He continued to make daring attacks but couldn’t even get the tip of his sword to graze me.
“All you do is dodge,” William gasped, out of breath.
“It’s because we have a difference in material strength.”
My sword was a normal item that was available for purchase—it would probably easily break if it were directly up against the Great Sword of Strohd. A master swordsman could probably parry the attack or aim for a weak point in the blade.
Should I try it just once...?
It would be easy to defeat William without our swords hitting each other, but I felt beholden to my default wins. I decided to contribute to making the final battle worth watching.
“Here I come!” William exclaimed, swinging his great sword above his head.
“Go ahead. Come at me.”
The image of what would happen was clear as day.
When he swings down, I’ll elegantly parry his attack, knocking his sword back before counterattacking.
I swung my sword up from below in time for William’s attack. The moment our swords clashed, a crack formed in mine.
Oh, that’s not good. I’m pretty sure there was a rule where you would lose if your weapon broke. I shouldn’t have tried to use a master’s move.
I wasn’t giving up just yet. I drew my right hand back carefully, so I didn’t break my sword and made a fist with my left hand before thrusting it forward. My left jab landed on the wide middle of his sword, and the blade of the Great Sword of Strohd broke into pieces.
William was bewildered. “What?! My sword! How could it lose to such a dull blade?”
My hand had moved before I could even think, but William seemed to have missed it. In fact, no one in the entire venue seemed to notice that I broke the great sword by punching it.
I don’t think there’s a rule forbidding the destruction of weapons by hand anyway, so yay! A win for me.
“The winner is Yumiella Dolkness!”
The venue erupted into a massive frenzy at the referee’s declaration. William seemed to be in a trance, though it was unclear if it was caused by the shock of losing or the loss of his favorite sword.
I am sorry about breaking your sword.
The swordsmanship division of the martial arts tournament had concluded. Next up was the magic division. In this division, the participants would each perform magic for the panel of judges, and the winner would be decided by the number of points they received. The judges were made up of three Court Mages.
I was last, so there was quite some time until I had to go up. It probably couldn’t be helped that my eyes wandered around, looking for him, who was somewhere in the venue. But as I searched the venue, my gaze met Oswald’s.
No, not you. I’m going to break your glasses.
Oswald made his way toward me. “You did great in the swordsmanship division,” he said.
“Thank you,” I responded cordially.
“However, the magic division won’t be so easy. Points are given based not only on potency but also on the different types of magic as well as accuracy. Even though I may not be able to defeat you directly in battle, I have the advantage here since I can use the four main elements,” Oswald haughtily explained, pushing his glasses up.
Oh, I see. I guess I might be at a disadvantage since I’ll only be using dark magic. It looks like he prepared some kind of strategy for the competition, so I better think of something too.
I shifted my attention toward the center of the venue, thinking there would be something I could reference for my plans. Just as I looked over, Alicia was about to perform her magic. She held both her arms up toward the sky, causing particles of light to pour down and shower the venue. The sparkling magic seemed to be recovery magic that was thinly spread across the area.
She seemed to have not done any level grinding—as expected—and it was so weak that it probably couldn’t even heal a scrape. However, the sprinkling of light that rained down from the gray sky was dreamy. The particles appeared to stay intact even when touched, and people began to hold their hands out and stare at the droplets of light. I hated to admit it, but it was beautiful. I even joined in and reached out to grab a particle as well.
“Huh? It disappeared.”
As soon as I touched it, the granule disappeared.
I guess it’s not just Alicia who hates me, but light magic in general.
Alicia received eighty-eight points out of a maximum of one hundred. The judges gave her points based on the rarity of her magic as well as its beauty.
If rarity can get points, then maybe I still have a chance at winning.
The magic division continued, and Oswald’s turn arrived. I paid attention since no one else had beaten Alicia’s score yet. Oswald made his way to the center of the competition venue and pounded his staff against the ground near his feet. The ground began to grow before my eyes, becoming as tall as a person before forming into something else.
“It’s like a die,” I muttered to myself.
The raised earth was, as far as I could tell, a flawless cube. The judges let out gasps of awe at the preciseness of his magic. Next, Oswald sent a gust of wind magic flying like a blade, which cut the cube into palm-sized pieces. It was also an extremely accurate spell—each piece of earth was a small cube. Finally, he created a large pillar of fire and immediately put it out with water magic, which ended his magic performance.
Oswald had shown accuracy with earth and wind magic and potency with fire and water magic. There was a large round of applause for him having used all four main elements. He earned the maximum number of one hundred points. It was finally my turn, but victory seemed to be slightly out of reach this time.
“It looks like I’ve won,” Oswald muttered to me in passing on his way back to his seat. “No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to get over a hundred points.”
“There’s still the possibility of a tie,” I bluffed, still unsure of what magic I would perform. Looking at the venue from the center made me very aware of how many eyes were on me, making me slightly nervous.
Oh, there’s Patrick. Why is he so far away?
I tried smiling at him since we made eye contact, but that only made him take three steps back.
Hey, what was that for?
“The final participant is first-year, Yumiella Dolkness!”
The signal to start was finally given. I decided to use maximum potency so Patrick would be able to see from his position as well. It had been many years since I used my magic at full power. I couldn’t help but feel the corners of my mouth turn up into a smile.
“Black Hole!”
A black orb appeared much higher than the one I created at the Academy before. The orb continued to grow larger as it swallowed the clouds.
“Is it nighttime?” someone murmured in the now silent venue.
My magic spread across the sky as far as the eye could see, leaving only a sliver of light peeking through on the horizon. In the next moment, light overflowed from the sky above—Black Hole had destroyed the overcast clouds, leaving blue skies and a visible sun.
Well, that was unexpected.
I gently laughed while squinting at my now bright surroundings.
“I didn’t know I could use beautiful magic too,” I whispered to myself.
Suddenly, the entire venue was hit with ferocious winds. Black clouds began to fill up the sky, and large droplets began to rain down. Screams erupted like it was the end of the world.
“This is the end! We’re all going to die!”
“I knew it! She was the Demon Lord after all!”
You’re all overreacting. Also, these are false charges. The rain and wind aren’t my fault.
“I didn’t do anythi—oh.”
Black Hole had eliminated the entire atmosphere along with the clouds. The vacuum that was created pulled in the atmosphere from the surrounding area, suddenly lowering the atmospheric pressure.
Sorry, everyone, looks like it was actually me.
The mini typhoon ended five minutes later, and the panic in the venue began to subside as well.
It’s basically summer, so I hope you guys can forgive me for the wet clothes.
As I looked down at my feet, feeling guilty, I picked up on someone’s voice.
“So... How many points was that?”
Shoot, I’ve still only used one spell.
I had to get points by showing a variety of magic.
Perhaps I could make hands come out of everyone’s shadows or show off my turbid recovery magic. I wonder which would be the best.
“Please wait!” I interjected. “Before you decide on my score, please let me show you at least one more—”
“Three hundred points! You win, so please stop!” screamed one of the judges, who was in the middle of discussing my score with the others.
I thought the maximum was one hundred.
Oswald had frozen up after hearing my score, which made me feel a little sorry for him.
Thus, I won both the swordsmanship and magic divisions of the battle arts competitions and received the amulet of dark magic enhancement. Ronald handed me the prize I had been after during the awards ceremony.
“Thank you very much. Now my magic potency will increase.”
“Do you really need this?”
The headmaster didn’t seem to understand how wonderful this amulet was. There were too many people who didn’t understand the value of things.
Patrick would probably understand.
Later on, I showed off my grand prize to Patrick.
“Do you really need that?” he asked.
Maybe I’ll just show off my amulet-enhanced dark magic right here.
◆◆◆
A few months had passed since the battle arts competition—the season had changed to winter, and the end of my first year at the Academy was near. I was a lone wolf in my school life, as usual. If anything, people were more afraid of me after the competition. I couldn’t recall any recent conversations that weren’t with Patrick.
Alicia was the same as usual, not appearing to be working hard on level grinding. We were likely moments away from the hellish level-grinding dungeon time I had planned. If she didn’t take down the Demon Lord as a saintess, it would be trouble for me.
I was unsure if Headmaster Ronald warned Alicia and the love interests against talking to me, but they certainly picked fewer fights with me. The love interests hadn’t neglected their training either, perhaps due to the difference in skill they experienced at the battle arts competition. They would sometimes shoot me nasty looks, but I got to live in peace, so it was no issue.
“Recently, Alicia’s belongings have been disappearing. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Prince Edwin asked me one day.
So long, peaceful life.
“I have no clue.”
Alicia’s belongings were disappearing? Yumiella was behind that in the game—perhaps someone else was bullying Alicia.
“You’re always alone. I know you’re up to something.”
I’m pretty sure the reason that I’m alone is at least half your fault.
The prince had skipped the innocent until proven guilty step and had jumped to deciding that I was the culprit.
“The Demon Lord hiding someone’s belongings? I didn’t realize he did cute things like that,” I said with wonder.
I still had no idea what kind of impression they had of me. They had suspected I was involved with a mudslide that occurred in a faraway domain several months ago, and they thought I was behind the destruction of the Academy flowerbeds. Combined with my strength, their suspicions that I was the Demon Lord would not go away.
“I’ll find some kind of proof,” the prince huffed. “When that happens, I’ll banish you from the Academy.” Prince Edwin left immediately after delivering his heroic line. He had apparently not given up on banishing me from the Academy, but his efforts were futile because neither the king nor the headmaster had any intention of doing so.
I think he’s just gone too far to be able to take things back at this point.
If the prince were to accept that I wasn’t the Demon Lord or an evil person, it would mean he would have to come to terms with being wrong. Having never experienced setbacks or failures, that was likely impossible for him and his pride. Alicia, on the other hand, was just delusional.
I pondered who could be behind Alicia’s things disappearing. There were many students at the Academy who disliked Alicia—some who disliked her because she was a commoner and some who disliked her because she was close to the prince and his friends. Upsetting Alicia meant upsetting the prince, so many people walked on eggshells around her. There weren’t any stories about something directly being done to Alicia, though, because she spent all her time with those three. Alicia’s only allies at the Academy were probably the three love interests.
How sad for her... Oh, wait, my situation is sadder than hers. But it’s okay. I have Patrick.
Thinking seemed to lead to nowhere, so I decided to take action and observe the classroom after school. I hadn’t learned any useful tricks, such as making my presence disappear or becoming one with the shadows, so I had to camp out normally.
An hour into my observation, the only thing that happened was Alicia and the love interests coming by to see if her belongings had been stolen. Then, they mentioned something about going to a popular café and then left the classroom.
Are they really planning on finding evidence against me?
Just as I had gotten bored and was about to leave, a female student entered the classroom. She was one of the girls always hanging out with Lady Eleanora. Her family was probably radical and, therefore, always at Eleanora’s beck and call due to her standing as the lead radical’s daughter. After eyeing her surroundings for a moment, she began to go through Alicia’s desk. Upon finding the culprit, I silently landed on the ground.
“What are you doing?” I called out to her.
Until now, I was resting casually in the corner of the ceiling—one of those maneuvers that you would usually see ninjas doing.
“U-Um, it’s not what it looks like! I heard that Alicia’s belongings were disappearing, and I was worried about her,” she began explaining herself before realizing that I was the one who called out to her. “Oh, Lady Yumiella...” Her face had twisted into a look of terror as if she was experiencing the end of the world. “Please don’t k-kill me! I was only doing as Eleanora told me to!”
Once again, who do people think I am? I haven’t killed anyone yet.
The girl who had been hiding Alicia’s belongings spilled everything one after another without even being asked. Her family had the lowest status within Eleanora’s faction, and she was often made to run errands—this being one of those errands. I wondered about what I should do. Just handing her over to the prince and leaving it at that didn’t sound right. Eleanora would most likely say that the girl had done it on her own accord and cut her off.
◆◆◆
“So, are you accusing me of instructing her to hide Alicia’s belongings, Yumiella?”
I had decided to confront Eleanora directly. The girl that I had caught red-handed had no qualms about leading me to the parlor where Eleanora was.
“Not at all. I just thought I would let you know that your friend was doing something bad, Lady Eleanora. She’s even said it was her own idea.”
“I see. She’s done something unforgivable, hasn’t she?”
“Yes, she has. I’m sure His Highness would be upset if he were to hear about this. She’s your friend, so he might end up disliking you too.”
The moment she heard that the prince might dislike her, Eleanora—who had been feigning ignorance up until that point—immediately turned pale.
“She did it on her own, right? Why would I be...”
“His Highness may see her as a member of your faction, but don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.” Eleanora appeared surprised at my promise to keep this under wraps. “Others may notice that something happened, so it may be a good idea not to punish her. If we do that, I’m sure you’ll be able to wed Prince Edwin, Lady Eleanora,” I continued, trying to use a kind voice.
“What? But what about that home-wrecker?”
“Are you referring to Alicia? There’s no way a commoner could marry into the royal family.”
That’s a lie. His Majesty is planning to wed Alicia to the prince after being introduced as the second coming of the saintess. Especially because she’d kill two birds with one stone: she’d prove the legitimacy of the royal family’s right to rule and would be popular with commoners.
“R-Right. A commoner could never marry into the royal family,” Eleanora repeated.
“Yes, and we can’t have any of you experiencing any setbacks because of some petty bullying. I advise you to also tell the members of your faction to not do anything to Alicia,” I warned. Hopefully, this would keep anyone from bullying Alicia on her behalf again.
“Yes, of course, but why are you telling me these things?”
“I don’t think too highly of her either, but bullying her would only turn His Highness into her defender, deepening their relationship. Oh, and His Highness isn’t too fond of me, so let’s keep our meeting today between us.”
Thanks to Eleanora’s simplemindedness, I was able to achieve all my objectives: I stopped the bullying of Alicia, protected the culprit, and eliminated any reason for Eleanora to interact with me in the future. I left the parlor in high spirits.
◆◆◆
“That’s surprising of you,” Patrick responded after hearing the whole story. He was worried about me after the false accusations from Prince Edwin, so he came to see how I was doing. I couldn’t keep the situation from him.
What did he mean by surprising?
“I thought your usual self would hand over the culprit to His Highness and leave it at that,” he continued. “That would stop the bullying, and Lady Eleanora already has no reason to interact with you since His Highness hates you, right?”
Patrick wasn’t wrong. I thought for a moment about why I had taken such a roundabout approach before coming to a realization.
“It’s because the girl who was caught... She could have been me.” Originally, I was supposed to be the one who hid Alicia’s things.
“What do you mean?”
“If there was a version of me who hid the fact that I could use dark magic and hadn’t level grinded at all, I could’ve been in that situation,” I explained.
The Yumiella in the game, maybe she was...
“I could’ve been told by the parents I’d never met to be friendly with other aristocrats and done everything I could to join Eleanora’s faction,” I continued.
That me would most likely be the lowest on the totem pole, forced to do the things that no one else wanted to do themselves.
“And then, if I was forced to bully someone, and Eleanora cut me off when I was caught...”
Did the in-game Yumiella have any allies?
“If no one was on my side, and I hated my parents, hated Eleanora, and especially hated Alicia, who could use light magic and was loved by His Highness and his friends...”
Alicia, who could use light magic, and me, who could use dark magic. Her, loved. Me, unloved. Maybe Yumiella wasn’t some small-time villain who became the hidden boss because of some afterthought of the developers. Maybe she was actually the victim of this world.
“I would have started level grinding to get revenge. But the dark element is weak to light, so I wouldn’t have been any match for Alicia, and I would’ve been killed.”
The main difference between my in-game self and my current self was whether I level grinded or not. It was whether I had the one thing I could always rely on—strength.
“Those ‘ifs’ exist, so I wanted to help the girl,” I finished, looking up to find Patrick gazing at me with pity in his eyes. “What’s wrong? It’s just a hypothetical story,” I said with a smile, though I wasn’t sure if I was really smiling.
“That doesn’t change things,” Patrick replied, sounding as if he was pained. “That doesn’t change things between your hypothetical and current self. The only difference is whether your level is high or low.”
“That difference has a large impact.”
No. The biggest thing is that I have memories of my past life. That’s it... It’s because I’m mentally older.
“Do you currently have people on your side? Do you hate Alicia? Do you dislike this world? If so, then I...” Patrick trailed off, staring straight into my eyes.
It’s okay. I don’t hate anyone or dislike anything. Worst case, I just run far away and hide my identity. But there are things I like about my current situation.
“No, I don’t feel that way. It’s enough to just have an acquaintance I can talk to from time to time,” I replied while staring back at him.
Even if there are things that I slightly dislike in the future, if Patrick is here, I don’t mind staying in this kingdom.
Patrick fell silent, leaving me worried that I had said the wrong thing.
“I see...” he said in a comforting voice. He smiled, only to look a little sad before continuing. “Acquaintances, huh?”
Well, yeah. I’d say we’re at least acquaintances with how often we talk.
I hadn’t realized it would be so difficult to just get one acquaintance. I wondered when I would finally be able to make a friend. A romantic partner was completely out of the question.
◆◆◆
“Oh, Yumiella, we meet again.”
“Yes,” I responded after a pause. “Coincidences are scary things.”
After the bullying incident the other day, Eleanora had been following me around. Today she was once again waiting for me right outside the classroom.
“I was just about to have some tea. As a treat, I’ll invite you.”
She’s really scary. What’s scary about her? Well, the scariest thing is that I don’t ever know what she’s thinking.
I was sure I had recommended she keep our relationship hidden because Prince Edwin wouldn’t be too happy about it. Despite my cautions, she talked to me all over the Academy, regardless of where we were. However, I’d rather not be friends with Eleanora, given that she was the daughter of the Duke of Hillrose, the leader of the radicals who wanted to start wars.
I’ll just be honest and turn her down. It’s fine if she turns hostile toward me.
“Lady Eleanora, I’d like it if you would stop inviting me to tea.”
“Why? We also have delicious snacks, you know?” she asked, tilting her head in confusion.
What the hell? She’s undefeatable.
“If you’re friends with me, His Highness will dislike you as well.”
“Oh no, that would be terrible! Would you please give me some advice?”
I gave in. “Fine, I’ll go. That’s the only way to make you happy, right? I’ll go.”
I don’t want to deal with this prima donna anymore.
Eleanora took my hand and pulled me through the Academy halls. A cheery Eleanora and unhappy me—we were an unusual pair, and the students we walked by were wide-eyed with surprise. I had assumed we would be going to the usual parlor, but soon I realized we were going in a different direction. If we continued, we would reach the area with the student dorms.
“Um, where are we headed?”
“To my room! I wanted to be able to talk leisurely today.”
After arriving at Eleanora’s room, we sat across from each other at a small table. Eleanora’s room itself was almost exactly the same as mine, but every piece of furniture was much more luxurious and refined.
“Here, Yumiella, please have some of this.”
“Thank you.”
I wonder if it’s poisoned...
I mustered up my courage and took a bite of the cookie.
“How is it?” she asked.
I took a moment to reply. “It’s kind of...an odd taste.”
I was truly uncertain of how it tasted. If I had to pick between good and bad, I would probably say it tasted good, but it also wasn’t particularly delicious.
Why did she feed me something like this?
“I was the one who made them,” she stated, looking slightly unhappy.
“Oh, I see. It makes sense why it has a strange taste, then. I think it’s even starting to taste bad.”
This is my opportunity to make Eleanora hate me! If I lied and said it’s the best cookie I’ve ever had, she would just continue to follow me. Go ahead, get mad at me, you selfish prima donna!
Eleanora did the opposite of what I had wanted and beamed at me.
“Yes! It’s a strange, odd flavor, isn’t it? But everyone keeps saying it’s the best cookie in the world!”
“What?”
“Yumiella, you’re the only one who’s told me the truth,” Eleanora exclaimed while clasping her hands around mine.
Oh shoot, did I make the wrong decision?
“Um, why did you suddenly decide to make some sweets?”
“I heard that Alicia brought Sir Edwin some handmade sweets, so I wanted to do the same.”
“I don’t think you have to do something like that. Actually, I think it might be impossible for you, Lady Eleanora.”
I just needed the determination to be disliked. Eleanora, the daughter of the lead radical, and me, a living strategic weapon, being friends would only give the wrong impression.
“I think so too! Everyone said I should do it so I tried, but I don’t think it’s very me.”
“Huh?”
“Yumiella, you’re the only one who’s told me the truth!”
Yeah, you already said that.
What was happening? The harder I tried to make her hate me, the more she liked me. I couldn’t have been the only one who disagreed with her—was Eleanora surrounded by yes-men?
“I’m the only one? Does no one else tell you the truth?”
“Everyone thinks that there’s no way I would make a mistake. Even if they’re thinking something different, they convince themselves that I’m right and they’re wrong...”
There’s no way that’s true. They just don’t want to upset you.
“That’s what they told me.”
Oh, I see, you’re just being fooled.
This prima donna was honest to a fault, which made me worried that a malicious person could control her to do as they pleased.
Wait... Could she already be controlled by someone?
“Regarding the hiding of Alicia’s belongings incident from the other day...” I started.
“I-It wasn’t me who instructed her to do so. It was, um...” Eleanora denied, awkwardly avoiding eye contact.
Your reaction is making it too obvious.
“Who was the first one to bring up that idea?”
“What? What do you...?”
There was no doubt that Eleanora had instructed the girl to bully Alicia, but could someone else have proposed that idea? Who came up with the idea to harass Alicia because she was in the way? I had been misled due to her family’s background, but Eleanora was a naive and good girl. At least, I thought she was. I couldn’t see the girl in front of me, who was groaning in desperation in her attempt to properly answer my questions, as a bad person.
“What do you think of the incident of having Alicia’s belongings hidden?”
“I-I didn’t think it was a very good thing to do, but after hearing what everyone had to say, I thought...that it was for the best.”
“Did you instruct them to hide her belongings then?”
“Yes, and then that girl volunteered to do it herself.”
After hearing her side of the story, it appeared that the bullying of Alicia wasn’t something that Eleanora herself had started. A member of her faction had brought it up, then the other members echoed that sentiment, convincing Eleanora that’s what she should do—this is what I believed to be the truth.
I snapped back to reality after having been lost in thought about Eleanora’s situation. Even if Eleanora wasn’t a bad person, the fact that I didn’t really want to be friendly with her didn’t change. The issue with her family was still there, and the people around her were bizarre, complex, and straight-up scary.
“You shouldn’t trust your friends too much,” I sighed.
“I’ll be fine! Because you’ll become my friend, Yumiella!”
I won’t. I don’t have any ill will toward you, but I don’t want to be your friend.
“Well, I’m busy with a lot of things...”
“There’s a lot of things I want your advice on. Well, it’s actually about the romance between Prince Edwin and myself.”
“I’m not really familiar with that kind of topic.”
“But you said that you were sure that Prince Edwin and I would get married, didn’t you, Yumiella?”
I couldn’t just tell her it was a lie. With Eleanora looking at me with such a carefree smile, there wasn’t anything I could say to her.
How did this happen?
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