NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48
The blood-red, platinum-like eyes swept across the training grounds.
Finally, the gaze settled on Shivria’s feet.
Seeing that, Fabiana chuckled and stepped closer. At the same time, Shivria’s foot, which had been trampling Yurasia, gently lowered.
“Your name was Shivria Eustetia, right?”
“…That’s correct.”
“Did you orchestrate this?”
Shivria couldn’t respond.
In the meantime, I walked forward.
Fabiana, Shivria, and Silina.
I walked without caring for the gazes of anyone present, raising Yurasia and Stella to their feet.
“Are you hurt?”
“I, I’m… I’m fine.”
“Stella, you…”
“…I, I’m… ugh, haah… I’m fine too…”
Sniffling and rubbing her knees, Stella lightly healed herself and Yurasia with a heal.
“Ah, Young Lady, I’m fine, so please calm down—”
“Shut it.”
Only after thoroughly checking both of their conditions could I suppress my anger.
I gently closed my eyes and gathered my mana.
From the reactions around me, only Fabiana and Yurasia seemed to realize what I was about to do.
Other students seemed oblivious to the mana.
“Haah…”
Releasing the last remnants of my anger in a sigh, I looked at Fabiana.
“Are you in third year?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me ask. Is this ridiculous culture inherent in the Signia Class?”
I could hear the sounds of people swallowing gasps.
Meanwhile, Fabiana burst into laughter.
“Khaha! Ridiculous culture… such a ridiculous culture does not exist. It has long been abolished by my brother, Jerolt de Herman.”
“And yet, it seemed to resurface here. Not ordinary hazing, but unreasonable cruel acts.”
“It seems that way. The First Prince, Jerolt de Herman, manually abolished this utterly ridiculous culture, yet it almost reemerged.”
Fabiana’s sharp gaze pierced Shivria. Then, she stared at the muddy-haired, platinum-haired boy standing behind her, along with his crew.
“I’ll ask again. Is my eye deceived? Is my head messed up to misunderstand? Is my judgment clouded due to my youth?”
There was no answer.
“Surely I’m not an old fart falling behind in trends. Then what is it?”
Chuckling, Fabiana pointed out one of the second-years who had kept quiet.
A young man with a hazy but royal hue.
“My brother. What was your name again?”
“…Baldwin de Herman.”
“Ah, right. Baldwin. Answer me. What, exactly, is happening right now?”
Baldwin, after a weighty pause, replied.
“I heard that this year’s new students are exceptionally talented, and I was issuing a warning in case of unforeseen accidents.”
“Warning, huh? If that’s what you call it, then my eyesight truly is shot.”
Fabiana reached out and grabbed Baldwin’s wrist. Then she brought it close to her eye and giggled mischievously.
“Then, Baldwin, as a senior, could I ask one favor? Could you pluck out the eye of a senior who’s so blinded that she can’t see the real world?”
“I, w-well… that…”
“I’m worried that my eye is so messed up that I might make a mistake. So please, do me a favor. Pluck out my blinded eye and hang it at the academy’s main gate. We should let the world know. The plucked eye of Signia’s top student and student council president!”
“Uh, um… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!”
“What are you apologizing for?”
“For not being a warning… for making them do hazing.”
Fabiana burst into laughter.
“Hah! So my eyesight truly is shot! It must have gone so far I couldn’t see it properly! Baldwin! Hurry up and pluck out my eye! I don’t want to see this messed-up world anymore!”
Then Fabiana’s arm moved.
With the hand that had grasped Baldwin’s fingers, she aimed for her own eye.
In that moment.
With mana flaring up, Baldwin attempted to shake off Fabiana’s grip.
But Fabiana wasn’t just going to let it happen.
Using mana too, she gripped Baldwin’s hold even tighter.
As a result.
CRACK—!
“Ugh, gahhh!”
Baldwin’s wrist jerked loose, and the hand attached to it was mangled beyond recognition.
With ooze already seeping through the squishy skin, Baldwin held onto the ruined hand, stammering.
“It was cruel, cruel treatment. I’m sorry. It was an unreasonable hazing. I apologize, I apologize.”
Hearing that, Fabiana exaggerated her voice and shouted.
“Oh my! Cruel treatment at Karela Academy, especially in the Signia Class! How could such a thing happen? And me, sitting as the student council president, Fabiana de Herman! Ah, this is my fault. I must be punished. Don’t you all think so? Shivria. You think so too, right?”
“N-no, that’s not it…!”
Pale-faced, Shivria took a step back, shaking her head. Fabiana closed the distance, grasping both of Shivria’s hands.
“Then whose fault is it? Is it the dean, Sedil Mershdoff’s fault? Is it a failure to maintain the academy in such a state? If so, I must step forward not as the student council president, but as First Princess Fabiana de Herman. Why are you shaking your head? Is it not the dean’s fault? If so, whose fault is it? The professor in charge of the second year? Since I don’t know which one it is, I must go right now in the name of the princess and separate their bones and flesh. No, even that may not be enough. This damages the honor of Karela Academy and, further, the Empire, so I must behead the families of the professors, old or young alike, without mercy.”
Fabiana’s words weren’t just absurd.
As the First Princess, such actions could easily be justified.
Of course, she wouldn’t touch the dean.
But she could certainly kill a couple of professors and their families without a second thought.
For that reason, Shivria’s completely pale face fell. Her trembling legs gave way, and she collapsed.
Fabiana sat across from her.
“Would such actions ensure the eradication of the unreasonable and utterly ridiculous culture of Karela Academy?”
“N-no… it was all my fault… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Shivria Eustetia. You’re stating it was your fault?”
“Yes. It’s all my fault… so please, calm your anger… I’m sorry…”
“Hmm.”
Pausing to steady her voice, Fabiana rose, looking toward Yurasia and Stella.
And then back at Shivria.
“It seems the one who should apologize isn’t me.”
Shivria trembled.
After a moment, she grated her teeth and stood up.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Yurasia Espirot. Stella Behrhaigen. Would you accept this insufficient senior’s apology?”
“…Yes.”
“Y-yes, ugh… yes…”
Chuckling, Fabiana opened her arms, trying to wrap things up.
“What a heartwarming conclusion. Now then—”
“Wait a moment.”
But I wasn’t done yet.
“Mm? Eliaernes. Do you have more to say?”
“Yes.”
Shivria’s penetrating glare pierced me.
I grinned at that look.
“Standing there is Shivria Eustetia… Your senior has made statements damaging Karela’s authority.”
“Hmm? Statements damaging Karela’s authority. Is that true, Shivria?”
“What’s that, utter nonsense… no, balderdash. I never made such statements.”
“Is that so? Eliaernes, you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
With a sly smile, Fabiana said to me.
From her expression, she seemed to already know what I was about to say.
How a 19-year-old kid could be so sly in the Empire, I had no clue.
I composed my expression and spoke clearly, word by word.
“First. You said Karela’s rules are a load of rubbish. The rules of Karela Academy are, in fact, the law of the Empire. By belittling those rules, you insult the Empire.”
“What kind of nonsense…”
“Isn’t that so?”
“…I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Oh? So you did say it. Well, if that’s the first, is there more to follow?”
Nodding, I cleared my throat.
It was time to be more forthright, composed, and audacious than anyone.
“Secondly, you mentioned that you couldn’t comprehend how I passed the special exam. You even stated that the power of Eustetia cannot infiltrate the academy’s inner workings. While others may not know, I remember you saying, ‘If it’s the power of Eustetia, entry into Karela Academy could be through foul means.’”
I intended to exaggerate a true statement.
And behind that, I highlighted Eustetia’s name and prestige.
Wouldn’t it be possible for Eustetia to gain entry through foul means?
“That statement, indeed, raises questions about the academy’s legitimacy. Moreover, Karela Academy is the world’s best, a gem of the Empire. To doubt, undermine, and belittle the academy is to cast doubt upon the very legitimacy of the Herman Empire, to deny its essence, and to undermine its authority.”
After that, I lifted the dignity of the academy and the empire to their peaks. Then, I casually shoved vague conclusions into the mix.
What’s key here is the audacity.
And the confidence to say what shouldn’t be a given as if it is.
At this point, everyone was likely thinking in their heads.
‘Uh… is that true?’
‘Seems that way.’
‘…It really is.’
‘That’s all fact.’
Glancing around, both first and second years wore such expressions.
Meanwhile, Shivria wore a look as if saying, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
It seemed like she was mentally running through countless rebuttals, but I wouldn’t give her the time.
Taking a breath, I looked at Shivria.
“I believe you won’t deny having made such statements. Everyone here heard you.”
I grinned at Fabiana.
“Princess Fabiana de Herman, what’s your take? At least I believe that, as a direct descendant of Eustetia, the spring of the Empire, and one who defended the Empire by vanquishing demons, the words and actions of Senior Shivria undermine the strong and steadfast honor and authority of the Herman Empire.”
I wrapped up my point by questioning not the Karela Academy’s students, but the princess.
Shivria’s complexion went deathly pale. The legs that had barely kept her upright gave way again, and she fell once more.
Beside her, Baldwin, clutching his broken hand, and all the second-years following him were shaking just like Shivria.
Meanwhile, Yurasia behind me wore a confused expression, clearly struggling to make sense of the situation, while Stella stopped crying abruptly, her eyes wide open in shock.
And Fabiana.
“Ugghh… Hahaha!! Ahahahaha!!”
She laughed fit to tear her insides apart.
“Kh-heh… Hoo… Well then. As the First Princess of the Herman Empire, I’ll respond.”
Laughter that lasted for about a minute.
“I concur with your thoughts, Eliaernes Eustetia. Therefore—”
At the end of her sentence, Fabiana declared.
“According to the laws of the Empire, we must eradicate these three lines.”
Behind me, I grinned.
They dare to touch me?
You’re all in big trouble.