NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42
<42 - This wasn't the kind of event I expected>
The Chapter Boss is strong.
Basically, a dozen classmates could easily smash her to pieces.
‘She probably doesn’t know, but from my perspective, it’s like watching a horror movie.’
They’re openly bullying Hestia, who can rip a person apart.
And it’s much worse than when they used to pick on that apprentice female knight in the cafeteria.
Now, she’s being insulted by the upper class students who have gathered with malicious intent, going far beyond just teasing.
And even though they know it’s an unjust disgrace, no one helps Hestia.
‘Is it because of her looks?’
The Mana Compression, the Mana Refinement Technique that raises quality.
The Mana Flow Technique that increases the overall amount of mana.
Hestia is strong but hasn’t mastered either Mana Flow Technique or Mana Refinement Technique.
Since she can’t compress her muscles, her body has bulked up in a non-feminine way, and her reputation is that of a lowly mercenary in an academy filled with nobles.
Meanwhile, those who would be enemies if they sided with her number five, all Empire Nobles occupying the Central continent.
Five people that are all daunting to consider as enemies.
Freshmen believe that if they get on their bad side, trouble will arise either inside or outside the academy.
‘What kind of main boss gets bullied like that?’
It’s a bit ridiculous, but this is a fantasy-themed game world.
It’s possible for a strong, muscular woman to be overpowered by a skinny noble girl.
Of course, Hestia’s strength can tear everything apart, regardless of technique.
“Hey girls. You’re from Group B, right?”
She confidently raised her voice.
“A cute little girl with a height barely reaching 130 cm and bright eyes. Yes… you must be Oknodie?”
“Oknodie? The one who defeated Northern Grand Duchess Irene and Duke Andersen of the Western Noble Union, taking first place in the upper class of Group A?”
“I see. The standards of the Border Region.”
The Empire Noble girls laughed while covering their mouths and glancing at us, their malicious smiles gleaming.
Unlike the bullying gang in the cafeteria, these girls look ferocious enough to throw a punch.
“You’re already picking a fight. If you have nothing to say, get lost.”
“Oh my. Are you trying to maintain some semblance of dignity in front of a child?”
“If you had remained silent, you wouldn’t have faced pain.”
“Aren’t you a friend of the enemy?”
“Oh look, she’s shaking her fists.”
“Is that a threat? Just like you did when you eliminated your mercenary friends.”
Hestia wouldn’t do something like that.
Her comrades’ elimination wasn’t her fault; it was because of the mercenaries’ greed.
The mercenaries, blinded by scores, touched what they shouldn’t have and were thoroughly wrecked, leading to their ugly downfall as they engaged in a score competition amongst themselves.
This is the reality of the Western Mercenary Union’s collapse.
The nobles of Group B, uninterested in the details, continued their slander.
‘Even if she’s not a Chapter Boss, it’s pitiful to watch.’
Hestia’s occupation is Berserker.
Also called a warrior of madness.
An occupation that exchanges rage for strength.
Sometimes, she loses her reason, leading her to attack allies.
Naturally, her popularity is the worst.
Despite being a front-line job, she doesn’t hold back against enemies in the rear and even threatens her allies, contributing to her terrible reputation.
In major boss battles or duels against powerful individuals, she can prove invaluable, but because she is difficult to handle, she remains a niche occupation among players.
No one wants her in their party.
Her reputation is at rock bottom.
Maybe that’s why she attracted me even more.
I’m also aiming for one of the occupations that are shunned at the academy.
“The wild dogs get scared and bark when they encounter a beast, and that’s exactly how you girls look.”
“Huh?”
“Wild dogs?”
“How dare you speak such nonsense in front of Empire Nobles? Have you lost your mind?”
“Oh, my apologies.”
At the mention of my apology, their expressions instantly swelled with pride.
Did you think I would offer a sincere apology?
“Since you’re all teaming up to bully one person with nothing but base remarks, I could hardly think of you as Empire Nobles. I should have considered that you lacked family education.”
The faces of the upper class students in Group B turned grim.
One of them darted a look at us.
“Ahh, my legs are getting weak.”
“Who keeps pushing me?”
A few stocking-clad girls subtly approached Isabel, jabbing her side with elbows and hitting her thighs with their knees.
“Ugh.”
Isabel stifled a suppressed groan at their cowardly scheme.
I couldn’t just stand by and watch that.
“Ah, I feel like I’m going to fall over~”
Snap!
“AAAH!”
“Can’t you let go of my hand?!”
As they grabbed her hair tightly, the stocking girls screamed and flailed their arms wildly.
Attempting to grab Isabel and me like a complete circus show, their efforts to tie our clothes failed because I twirled my arms in a neat manner, clearing the area around us.
“WAAAH!”
“It hurts…”
The stocking girls, with patches of hair tugged out, sank down and began to cry.
“You girls are really going overboard!”
“It’s your fault for rushing in so recklessly.”
All the ordinary students who didn’t want to witness the commotion stepped back.
“From the beginning, Hestia is part of Group A. A rival who sat for the same exam as me. If you insult my rival, you’re disregarding my achievement as the top of Group A.”
The upper class students of Group B were fuming.
“You’ve only beaten a bunch of rural folks and now you think you’re so high and mighty?”
“Words alone won’t suffice.”
“Lotto! Show them what you’ve got.”
According to the tradition of Empire Nobles not exposing bare skin, all the noble ladies in their uniforms had stockings but one was clad in a different outfit.
As long as her skin was covered, it didn’t matter whether she wore stockings. She sported a shockingly bold bodysuit and shoulder-length bobbed hair.
Dududun!
As she lightly stepped forward and threw a kick into the air, a strong gust of wind billowed.
The sound of slicing air and the sharpness of her trajectory seemed adequate to shatter bones.
“YAAAH! Lotto, you’re so cool!”
“Just give us a wink!”
Receiving fervent applause from the Empire Noble girls, Lotto radiated confidence, energizing the upper-class students.
“See? I received training from family-designated professional fighters. There’s a dueling ground right here, but if you wrestle with me, it’s going to hurt!”
“How about you apologize to the girls? You could lay on the ground and say, ‘I’m sorry for being an uncouth barbarian from the Border Region,’ and I might let you off the hook?”
“Oh my.”
“Giggle.”
“Oh my, that’s so lewd~ If I were to do that, I might just want to die of shame! Puhuhuh.”
Hestia stepped forward in exasperation.
“You cowardly lot. If you have grievances, come at me. Is it a matter that being Empire Nobles you can’t even refrain from striking a little girl?”
“It’s okay, Hestia. I’m, after all, the top freshman of Group A.”
I pointed to the girl called Lotto as an example.
“If you’re so confident, come to the dueling ground. I’ll match you.”
Though the Group B nobles seemed to trust Lotto.
I knew that girl well.
During the first semester midterms for freshmen.
That was the time when a furious Hestia committed a massacre.
Corpses were left sprawled on the ground, limbs torn apart, and they all looked just like that face.
Or it was when the early trigger appeared.
Before admission, when she separated a noble lady into a corpse, that’s when the noble who died looked just like that face.
In any route, she’s the first Group B student to suffer/suffer at Hestia’s hands.
That’s the infamous Martial Artist Lotto adored by noble ladies.
‘What a coincidence that the dates matched up so perfectly?’
The day before the entrance ceremony.
Even without Hestia going wild, there’s an event where an accident happens during a duel and one student gets terribly injured.
That student who ends up in the hospital with a cast is also ‘Lotto.’
‘Do the producers dislike bobbed hair or something?’
It was that level of thinking, where she suffers a wretched fate in any route, and by the time the first semester ends, she always meets death as an antagonistic NPC.
Someone so audacious stepping forward and taunting like this, all I could feel was ridicule.
[You are initiating the event [Group Competition (2)].]
[You will step in for Hestia in the duel.]
Winning is a given, and I need to be careful not to accidentally kill her while regulating my strength.
Ahem!
“A match between the top of Group A and the martial artist Lotto from Group B! ”
“Where?”
“It’s in internal Dueling Ground 3.”
The rumors spread in an instant.
Over a thousand students gathered to witness the clash.
Considering there were a total of 2130 new admits in Class 981, it’s about half of them turning up.
For Oknodie, this meant a guaranteed victory event.
It was supposed to be an intervention to prevent Hestia’s early downfall.
However, the sentiments of the students witnessing the confrontation turned out to be completely different.
“No way, she’s going to duel with such a tiny girl?”
“This is just too unfair.”
“Can a noble trained in martial arts do that?”
Even the reason behind the duel was ridiculous.
“She stepped in to help a girl being bullied, and they accepted that as a formal challenge?”
“Where is the dignity of nobility?”
“Scum! Does the empire only produce cruel women for nobility?”
From all sides rained down denouncements and jeers.
Even the noble ladies who entered the stands turned red in embarrassment.
A noble lady trained in martial arts picks on a little girl.
Even for them, it was so ugly that they couldn’t shield it!
As sympathy for Oknodie swelled in the stands, one noble lady from the upper class of Group B, unable to stand it anymore, sneaked in a comment.
“Her name is Oknodie. Being part Orc, she’s probably overflowing with strength.”
“Right? If she’s from Orc blood, how can we even think of her as the same kind?”
The lady’s friend chimed in slyly.
“I can’t believe this. In this day and age, a statement like that reeks of racial discrimination. Is that even a thing to say?”
“Shameless ruffians of the empire. To think that scum like this believes they are our equals!”
“Go die.”
A barrage of criticism.
Their jeers raining down.
The one most flabbergasted by the insult directed towards the 133cm tall girl and the scorn towards the disgraceful 165cm tall noble martial artist was Oknodie herself.
‘What is wrong with these kids? It was the exact opposite in the game.’
-They say similar people flock together.
-Did the muscle-bound beasts have something going on together? Kekek.
-Ugh, just the thought is nauseating.
-Lotto, you go girl!
-Teach those nasty muscle monsters a lesson!
This is how the mood within the stands turned a complete 180.