The Academy’s Doomed Young Lord Dies Ten Thousand Times

Chapter 07 - Archenia Academy (3)

After settling in at the training ground, I had been practicing swordsmanship for about five minutes. What I felt during that brief time was……. that a lot of attention was being drawn to me.

From those who murmured as they passed by, to those who even settled nearby and showcased flashy swordsmanship as if aiming for a contrast effect.

All sorts of people flocked around. Though those swordsmanships were only flashy on the outside and were extremely sloppy.

It was around the time I finished grasping the position that illegitimate children, and especially Rain Enlight, held in the school.

“Are you practicing your pathetic skills to look good to the professors?”

A voice I had heard somewhere, a taunt I had heard somewhere.

It was the sound of the green-haired brat I had seen earlier, Milo Gloss, taking the bait.

***

In , various events exist even in the early stages. They are mostly through interactions with NPCs, and Milo Gloss's event was one of them.

If you wander around Milo's vicinity with a character from a commoner background, an event where he picks a fight with you at a certain probability would occur.

And, if you choose the aggressive response option in that event……. you get to have a duel in the subsequent main event, the ‘Entrance Evaluation’ part. He's a tough opponent by early game standards, but if you win, you get a decent amount of reputation, experience, and achievement points.

Yes, that's what I was aiming for. The duel event with Milo Gloss.

“Unfortunately, there aren't any professors here who are lenient enough to be impressed by your basic swordsmanship, you know?”

“Puhahaha!!”

At Milo's words, his gang burst out laughing in unison and spat out various remarks. I didn't think it was that funny.

“Lord Milo, don't be so hard on him~. That poor guy thinks this is difficult and is showing off.”

“That's right. Being stupid isn't a sin……. Pfft.”

As Milo approached, I lowered my sword and turned my gaze to him. While trying to hold back the smile that was about to break through.

Now, it's time to provoke him.

“In the House of Gloss, it seems they teach that the virtue of a knight is not the sword and magic, but the mouth.”

As I uttered that single sentence, a sudden silence fell among the gang.

“……What, did you say.”

Amidst the silence, Milo had an expression of bewilderment, or perhaps anger. His voice was also leaking such emotions.

“Do I need to repeat myself?”

The anger mixed with bewilderment was brief, and the guy snatched my collar. It was the second time in one day that my collar had been grabbed.

“This bastard has finally gone mad……!”

As Milo shouted with a reddened face, I could also feel the gazes of the training ground slowly gathering here.

And, at that moment. A person appeared between the overheating Milo and me.

“That's enough.”

A neatly worn student uniform, fluttering golden straight hair, a girl with brilliantly shining emerald eyes.

It was Serene El Stellia.

“Lady Serene……. what this trash-like mongrel said about our family……!”

“Sir Milo.”

Milo tried to protest something to Serene, but Serene cut him off sharply.

“Let's stop here.”

At those words, Milo glared at me and then roughly let go of my collar.

“……You will surely pay the price one day.”

He said, spouting a line worthy of a third-rate villain.

“No, there's no need for that.”

But, I had no intention of letting him back down like that.

“There's a good opportunity tomorrow, isn't there.”

And at those words, Serene looked at me in surprise.

“Rain……!”

Upon hearing those words, the corners of Milo's mouth slowly rose.

“……You bastard, you mean it, don't you?”

It seemed the two of them immediately understood what those words meant.

The entrance evaluation, and among them, the duel test, was in principle a duel with a student designated by the academy, who was evaluated to be of a certain level.

However, this duel test had one peculiar rule.

Nominated duel.

When it's their turn, the student can publicly declare a duel opponent. If the opponent accepts, the duel is established, and the evaluation is based on that duel.

The reason this system was introduced was because Archenia Academy had a middle school.

Since many of them knew each other's levels to some extent, it was a way to prove their skills in an equal situation by nominating someone of a similar level.

“But what's the point of me nominating you? The level difference is too great. Even if I win by nominating you, it doesn't mean much to me, you know?”

Milo feigned innocence with a smirk. As if trying to draw a certain word from me.

Of course, this nominated duel had one blind spot. It was the possibility of maliciously choosing an opponent.

If a strong person deliberately chose a weak one, the meaning of this nominated duel would be tarnished.

Of course, there was also a countermeasure against such malicious nominations. If the result of a nominated duel was overwhelmingly one-sided, the winner's side would also be evaluated harshly.

Conversely, because of this, the stronger side could also be unfairly treated when a weaker person chose them……. so there was also a rule that the one who won after being ‘nominated’ in a nominated duel would receive a grade of ‘Excellent’ regardless of the battle result.

Of course, if this is also found to be fraudulent, they would receive a punishment equivalent to expulsion.

Anyway, judging from this, the words Milo wanted were set. It was for me to nominate Milo. He would think it would be his overwhelming victory.

Could he even imagine that the shut-in young lord would win against him?

“I will nominate you from my side.”

As I said that, Milo smiled with satisfaction.

“Teaching a lesson to a fool who doesn't know his place is also the responsibility of the noble.”

After that, well, there was nothing to see. The Milo gang disappeared, laughing, and only Serene and I were left.

Just as I was about to pick up my sword to train again.

“……Will you be alright.”

Serene, who had been watching in silence, opened her mouth as if to dissuade me.

“Sir Milo is not an easy opponent. It would be better to cancel it now…….”

Of course, Serene was saying this out of concern for me. Because Serene had no information about the ‘current Rain’.

“Is he a difficult opponent for you too, Lady Serene?”

I asked Serene in a low voice.

“……No, about that……. I'll have to answer no.”

Of course, that's not possible. I chuckled. In contrast to my relaxed expression, Serene's face was still full of worry.

“That's enough.”

Saying so, I picked up my sword again and started swinging it. The practice I had always done. And I added one more word.

“Don't worry.”

“……Yes?”

I don't know the exact reason, but isn't it polite to add a word or two to someone who is worried about you?

“I will win.”

From Serene's point of view, it might have sounded like absurd and vain confidence, but my expression was full of conviction.

Seeing me like that, Serene still had a worried expression.

“This time, is it not because you have to fight……. but because you can win.”

But Serene didn't try to stop my actions any further. Because she nodded as if she had made an effort to understand.

‘This time,’ huh. It seemed something had indeed happened in Rain's past.

I couldn't ask about it with my own mouth, so I'd have to devise another way to find out.

***

After that, nothing much happened. I stayed at the training ground for a few hours, then washed up, went to the cafeteria to eat, and……. then went back to the training ground to devote myself to swordsmanship practice again.

No particularly noteworthy incidents occurred during that time, but I felt like the murmuring had increased every time I passed by. Was it because of the earlier confrontation with Milo?

I thought I should get used to it, but I still wasn't used to such murmuring. I didn't feel like I would ever get used to that unpleasant feeling.

“……Did Rain Enlight live his whole life in this kind of environment.”

Did he live his whole life amidst such murmuring and ridicule? Such a thought came to me, but I quickly shook it off and returned to reality.

There was something more important at the moment.

On a night with brightly shining stars, I am now walking towards a ‘certain place’.

Since it seems it will take quite some time, shall I organize my thoughts for a bit? Thoughts about the assassination attempt on me.

I know who was behind the assassination. It would be the head of the Enlight family. Since he revealed himself as the mastermind in the game and said so with his own mouth.

But the problem was that I had no clue about the reason for the assassination. Because Rain's story was outside the story of .

Anyway, what was really important at this point was the possibility of another assassination attempt.

Since the previous assassination attempt had failed, the subsequent attempts would be harsher. It might even become a trap that I can't escape even if I regress 9,800 times.

Of course, there was no guarantee that another assassination attempt would come. But conversely, that also meant there was no guarantee that an assassination attempt would not come.

Then, what can I do? That could be broadly divided into two things.

To cultivate the strength to deal with the assassination myself.

To create a situation where I won't be assassinated.

The first was something I naturally had to do to survive, but the second was a different story.

If you look through human history, assassinations generally have two major purposes. To eliminate the target secretly, and to leave a specific message by assassinating the target publicly.

And the assassination attempt on me clearly belonged to the former. To eliminate me in a secluded forest.

Isn't the intention transparently honest? The intention of not wanting the assassination to be revealed to people.

Then, what I have to do is simple. If someone wants to eliminate me in a dark place, I just have to go out into a bright place.

To build a good reputation, to occupy a certain position and catch people's eyes.

That was the best I could do right now. In Archenia Academy……. it would be the position of a rising promising knight.

Now, therefore, what I have to do was simple.

“In this entrance evaluation, to stand out more than anyone else.”

I have laid all the groundwork for that.

What remained was the plan to prepare for what comes after.

***

As I was lost in thought and walking, I had arrived at my destination, a small and beautiful garden with white flowers in full bloom.

The moonlight settled on the flowers in the garden, and in contrast to the dark night sky, it looked as if they were emitting light themselves. In other words, it was exactly as I had seen in the game.

Even the path leading to this garden was in a corner of a corner, so it was a task just to find it.

It was the dormitory where I was located, Aurora Hall, and a small garden located in a secluded place behind it.

I had come here for another ‘event’. In this case, it wasn't an event that was originally in the game.

As I said before, the development of is desperate. Not only the supporting characters but also the main characters die off in a flash, and the world even faces a crisis of life and death.

Hope blooming in a world that has been messed up to the point where it could be called destroyed……. it was something like that. It was poignant when playing, but it's a bit too harsh to take as reality.

Therefore, for me to live stably, just following the original work was not enough.

Even if I somehow managed to cling to the main characters and stay alive until the end of the scenario, what's the point if the world is shattered? My back would just break from helping with the reconstruction.

Then what should I do? Yes, I had to transcend the official history. Not overcome the tragedy, but prevent the tragedy from happening.

And, what I am waiting for here now was part of that act of ‘transcending the official history’.

“……Oh my, I didn't expect to find a prior guest in a place like this.”

As the voice I was waiting for was heard, I turned my head and looked in that direction.

And, a girl was there.

She was neatly dressed in the same academy student uniform as the other students, but she was a girl from whom an undeniable noble grace could be felt.

Her long, neatly combed white hair gave off a demure and elegant atmosphere, but at the same time, the ambition burning in her purple eyes suggested that the girl was a formidable person.

And, the unique confident and dignified smile on her beautiful face. Only then could I recognize.

The fact that the mid-boss and scapegoat of Part 2, the Imperial Princess Regina Eliade Abellon, was standing in that spot.