How to Survive at the Academy - Chapter 16

How to Survive at the Academy

Chapter 16: Joint Combat Practice (3)

“Penia, you were born with God’s blessing.”

The first person to recognize Penia’s Insightful Eyes was her father, Emperor Kroel. 

An emperor’s life was nothing but an endless parade of secret battles and conspiracies. And since her father only ever showed his honorable side to the public, no one could have ever guessed how dirty was the darkness he was hiding.

And the emperor was wrong about Penia’s Insightful Eyes. 

It was not a present from god. It was something she had acquired from trying to protect herself from a depressing abyss. 

She had complete confidence in her ability.

She had been able to read the chancellor’s eyes, filled with intent to poison her aunt. She had seen the duchess’s desire to turn her son into royalty. She had glimpsed the trembling eyes of a worker trying to steal a golden chain from the bedroom, and had heard the unstable footsteps of a leader who tried to embezzle the knights’ armament funds. She had even felt the gaze of a young royal who was jealous of her power, and noticed the trembling voice of a spy disguised as a maid to collect information. 

Oh, the princess knew of the dark abyss underneath every royal’s gaze that looked up to her benevolence.

But despite knowing everybody’s darkest secrets, she had always led her life acting as if she knew nothing.

“I look forward to working with you.”

She looked straight at the boy who greeted her so politely.

The princess had a unique level of sixth sense. A higher level of intuition than her would require mind-reading.

* * *

– “Hahaha! What’s with him?! Isn’t that Ed Rothstaylor? He was always wearing fancy clothes and jewelry, but now, he looks like a peasant!”

– “That frugal appearance suits him quite well!”

– “He was always arrogant, but it’s finally going to be revealed he actually has no talent in magic.”

The students’ whispers could be heard all the way down to the arena. It seemed they wanted to mock and belittle Ed as much as they could, but couldn’t because they had to behave in front of the princess of the kingdom.

“Yes, I look forward to working with you as well.”

She gently raised her hand and felt the flow of her magic, her condition at its best. One of the important characteristics of an impressive archmage was to always take care of one’s body.

She narrowed her eyes at the boy across from her.

“Your efforts will be rewarded! Don’t be discouraged! Hey! Straighten your back! There’s nothing to be ashamed of!”

“Walk with confidence! You did a good job! This was only because your opponent was too good! Don’t be discouraged by something like this!”

Ed Rothstaylor shouted at the student who was in danger of failing the class, all the while ignoring her, the princess of the nation.

But rather than be surprised that he disrespected her, what surprised the princess more was the urgency in Ed’s voice.

– “Did you hear him yelling at Taylee earlier? He’s seriously quite stubborn.”

– “Ha… even after bullying him earlier this year, he’s still making a fuss. He really should stop picking on that weakling.”

– “Maybe he just wanted to try and act nice. Something like, ‘At least I’m helping him now, even though I bullied him before’? Maybe he’s thinking something like that.”

– “Wow, his intentions are quite shady then.”

– “Wasn’t he someone like this in the first place?”

The audience’s words could no longer be considered whispering.

Even the princess could hear them all the way down where she was. There was no way Ed Rothstaylor hadn’t heard them.

But his eyes remained calm. His pupils didn’t even tremble one bit.

It was easy for the princess to read his emotions through his eyes. 

Indifference. Apathy. But otherwise good.

It was a familiar feeling, the same feeling from that time she saw Ed at his camp. Ed had always been this kind of person. The audience’s mocking whispers didn’t even leave a scratch on his heart.

There were many people like Ed. People who tend to have an indifferent attitude, born with calm temperance regardless of what others may say. 

These were people who believed themselves to be the center of their lives. This firm belief ingrained in their hearts wouldn’t be shaken by the will of others.

There was no need to look far for such people. The first years were full of them.

Students like Lucy Mayreel, the Golden Daughter Lortel, and Spear from Nature Ziggs.

The princess felt relieved at the thought. Somehow, this made Ed seem more human.

It took a while for her to accept it, but he was somehow a level above the princess’s Insightful Eyes. It was why he was able to take his stance with such conviction.  

However, his puzzling words from earlier and that of ignoring the princess…

Ed was wholeheartedly encouraging a first-year student, someone he had tried to fail before. The contrast made the princess feel dizzy.

Just when the princess thought she had him figured out, he would do something like this and become like slippery fish that would torment her.

Was he yelling at Taylee to make fun of him?

Was it all a two-faced stunt to make up for what he did while cheering Taylee on?

Without knowing his motivations, his actions did appear to support the audience’s speculations.

But the princess saw his sincere desperation from a while ago, something he had never shown before. 

If he had appealed to her the same way back when they met at his camp, then the princess wouldn’t have such a headache over him right now.

“Please don’t expel me from school. I’m sincerely reflecting on my actions. Please give me a chance.”

Had he appealed like that with all his strength, had he fallen on his knees and rubbed his hands together, she wouldn’t be feeling so uncomfortable.

So many people already bow their heads and desperately appeal in front of her anyway.

But he treated his expulsion with indifference, the same way he was taking all the mocking and ridicule from the audience.

However, his reaction to the heartbroken first-year student who failed was not indifference but unnatural desperation, something sincere from his heart. 

“You’re making me confused, Ed Rothstaylor.”

The princess sighed. 

Was this something to use this much energy on?

She was tired of getting swayed by Ed’s unpredictable behavior. 

He was just… a student whose nobility was stripped off him.

He wasn’t someone corrupt, dreaming of overthrowing the royal family. Nor was he a corrupt prime minister embezzling public funds, or a disgraceful staff who tried to steal a royal’s wealth. 

Who cares if her Insightful Eyes cannot gauge him?

Yes, this duel was an opportunity to take care of this once and for all. To end it all here. 

The princess managed to calm herself down. This was her chance to fight Ed Rothstaylor, who she couldn’t understand at all. 

“I want to end it all cleanly with this duel.”

There were so many unknown things in this world. As long as there was a simple way to take care of it, it didn’t matter. The context of it wasn’t important. Just because she couldn’t figure him out doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.

She was already gauging the amount of mana Ed Rothstaylor had. It wasn’t an amazing amount, but the natural way he controlled the flow of his magic meant he wasn’t an easy opponent. 

This was the first march between a second year and a first year. Therefore, a handicap that they could only use beginner-level magic was out in place to even out their fighting power.

You could tell that Ed has had a lot of practice using beginner elemental magic by the way he could control the flow of his magic through his body. It was hard to say how much intermediate elemental magic he could use, but he was, at the very least, skilled with beginner magic.

The princess’s magic skill was not as impressive as Lucy’s or Lortel. But she had never neglected her magic training due to her diligence. 

“Please start your match now.”

Princess Penia got into position.

The first strike. It was usually used to measure your opponent’s skills. 

The princess’s water elemental magic specialized in anomalous attacks. It wouldn’t be easy to respond to the sudden changes in her attack’s movements. 

“I’m coming!”

The princess raised her hand, where the beginner elemental magic Water Ball was formed.

Using magic to form a mass of water was a tricky technique. It could surprise the enemy through his blind spots, applying great pressure.

She was capable of summoning up to five Water Balls at once, allowing her to attack from all directions. However, to gauge Ed’s skills first, she only summoned one.

His elemental magic was wind and fire. How would he respond?

The princess planned to change her strategy according to how Ed would react. She was thinking of increasing her magic output little by little, fighting with all of her power.

Through this one last dramatic battle, Princess Penia wanted to forget everything that she could about Ed Rothstaylor, an enigma she could not understand. 

There were so many other things she could pay attention to aside from him.

She threw her Water Ball with all her might, the mass of water changing directions as it soared to attack Ed. 

The princess saw it. His eyes were following the Water Ball’s path. Would he use wind? How would he defend himself? And after his defense, what should be the follow-up blow–

Bang!

Her Water Ball hit Ed right in the abdomen.

His body flew through the air before rolling on the floor. A pile of dust rose from where he landed. He had completely fallen, sprawled out on the floor.

“… I lost.”

“What did you say?”

Princess Penia’s eyes began to tremble.

– “HAHAHAHA!”

– “Wow! What the hell was that! He was more useless than Taylee!”

– “He acted all cool but fell down at once!”

– “Princess Penia! You’re so cool! That was amazing!”

The audience cheered and applauded her win. They sounded extremely happy to see the public enemy fall down, defeated.

But that wasn’t what it looked like from where the princess stood across from him.

Ed Rothstaylor’s eyes were following her Water Ball’s movement as it flew right into him.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t stop it.

It was that he didn’t stop it.

“Just what are you…”

“Great match. Thanks to you, I learned a lesson today, princess.”

He took off his dueling guards and stood up, meeting her eyes as he gave his greetings. 

It was then that Princess Penia realized he hadn’t made eye contact with her until now.

He never had any interest in their duel from the very beginning. 

Princess Penia felt as though something hot was stuck in her throat, and it wouldn’t disappear. The uncomfortable feeling she tried to shake off through this fight had now started to swallow her whole.

* * *

* * * 

Was this really the time for a duel? 

I quickly walked off the arena as fast as I could. The childish mockery and ridicule the students welcomed me with today… It must have been great to see me get knocked down so easily after one shot from the princess.

“Taylee… where did that guy go?”

There was a prioritized order for everything. And everything had a set level of importance. 

It was important to minimize the impact as carefully as possible when in contact with Princess Penia. This was so I wouldn’t affect the story as the princess was an extremely important person in the game.

But Taylee, as the main character of this world, was even more important than the princess.

If he were to completely succumb to this ordeal and get disheartened, it would form a fatal flaw in my grand plan of taking advantage of him so I could graduate.

I had to do something no matter what. It didn’t matter how important of a person the princess was. She couldn’t be more important than having Taylee move past this.

“Anyways, finding Taylee is my first priority.”

Leaving behind their taunts and mockery, I rushed down the hallway leading to the exit of Nail Hall. The class wasn’t over yet, but I should be able to mix well among the crowd and leave unnoticed.

As long as I find a way to help Taylee come to his senses, I could just work hard to cover for the things that would affect my grades.

I took long strikes with that thought in mind, noticing there was another person behind me.

“Ed Rothstaylor!”

The princess had surprisingly jumped down from the arena and followed me. Her Vitality might be low as she was leaning against the wall, catching her breath.

I looked back at the princess, puzzled beyond words.

“Huh? Princess Penia, for you to have come all the way here without your knights…”

“Don’t make that face like you don’t know anything!”

Honestly, the princess shouting at me with a voice full of contempt was a bit surprising. Was she ever this kind of character in the game?

No, the better question was, was there even anything that could have made her so mad?

“Every time… Being unsure if it’s wrong or right… Do you know how frustrating it is to have to measure a person like that?”

“Um… I am not sure what you are talking about. If it’s about the duel, I have learned a lesson thanks to you…”

“What do you mean learned a lesson…!”

I could clearly see her clenched fists shaking. She must be seriously angry.

“Princess Penia, please… calm down.”

“You never thought of winning from the beginning. All you thought about was getting off the arena as quickly as possible!”

“Princess Penia, your voice is too loud…”

The princess was not the type of person to be flustered enough and show it publicly like this. This was completely unexpected, coming from her.

Princess Penia was a royal who hated using her authority to oppress people. She was also a noble who never forgets the value of her dignity at all times.

So to put pressure on, shake her fists at, and raise her voice, all without dignity, to someone beneath her power… it went against her own beliefs. And if someone were to see or hear this, the rumors won’t be pretty.

I tried to calm her down first.

“It’s already hard enough to keep up with my classes, but that fox-like merchant keeps hiding her intentions and is trying to devour the whole academy for her own gain! And Professor Glast’s temper isn’t getting any better! Meanwhile, people around me kept mentioning the royal laws… even if I didn’t want to, I had to pay attention to them! It’s all too difficult!”

Had she always had this much pent-up anger?

But why was she unloading all of this on me? Was it a sin to have a duel with her? I get that she had a lot of built-up frustrations inside of her, but she wasn’t going to have all of that explode on me, was she?

“Princess, please calm down.”

Ready to be criticized for my insulting actions, I touched the princess’s royal body, putting both of my hands on her shoulders and making eye contact. 

“Take a deep breath.”

As my hands wrapped around her shoulders, the princess took a deep breath. No one would dare touch the princess of this kingdom. But in a situation where it was just the two of us alone… she was probably surprised by my sudden touch. 

“There’s no need to get too agitated. Just take a deep breath, in and out.”

The princess listened and took a few deep breaths, in and out…

In such situations, people generally feel uncomfortable after regaining their composure.

“Ahh… Ack…!”

Princess Penia realized how undignified she had been acting and covered her face.

This was her moment of realization, the embarrassment coming back to her all at once.

“Uhm… About earlier… Please forget all of it…”

Great idea! 

“Uh… Of course…”

The princess had her hand covering her face for a while, red from extreme embarrassment.

So… was she good now?

Could I go now?

“Yes, I know I have a bad habit of trying to figure out people and piecing together their secret plans, even though I know it’s fine to simply ask questions if there are things I’m wondering about. I guess it’s because I grew up in the royal family.”

She started talking about things that nobody asked her about.

No, I got it! I’ll listen to you some other time and give you my sincere reaction then!

Just let me go first! I need to find Taylee!!!!

“That bad habit… I knew I had it but…”

I couldn’t just tell the princess to her face, ‘Oh, I don’t care. Just please let me go. It’s urgent. I’m busy.’ So I had to nod my head for now.

“I see. Princess, then…”

“So, let me ask you straight.”

What now?!

“This is what I think: you knew something about the secret darkness within the Rothstaylor family, or you were hurt by them, so you tried to cut your ties with the whole family. But you needed some type of justification to be excommunicated, so you bullied a student named Taylee. Is that correct?”

The Princess continued to talk while keeping eye contact with me. It was quite a sharp deduction. Most of it was wrong, but the reasoning about the dark side of the Rothstaylor family was correct.

I may have mentioned it before, but the head of the Rothstaylor household, Lord Krepin Rothstaylor, was studying the magic of immortality with the power of Mebula, an evil god of the Mythic Age. In the process, many people were sacrificed as experiments. 

But that was something the princess would directly investigate by mobilizing the academic affairs power vested in her in the second half of the story. That part was still a long way to go.

 “So if you know something about the darkness of the Rothstaylor family…”

Was there a reason to tell her?

“I don’t know anything about it.”

“…There’s no way.”

The princess quickly interrupted my answer.

“Logically, it doesn’t make any sense. Why did you just shout at Taylee? Why are you encouraging and supporting the person you were trying to get kicked out of school? You didn’t hate Taylee in the first place, did you?”

“Uh… That’s…”

Hey, this kid, why are her questions quite sharp?

“That’s… I was just teasing him. Or… uhm… that… well.. hmm… Well everyone hates me, right? So when I cheered for Taylee, I wanted to show them a different side of me… Won’t they see that side of me then…? Something like that…”

“Anyone can tell that’s a lie!”

“No, I’m not lying…”

“I have something that helps me judge another person better than anyone else. It’s my pride, my Insightful Eyes.”

The princess raised her head and spoke clearly. It was true. The Benevolent Princess Penia was unrivaled when it came to judging people.

“Even if everyone in the world believed you, I clearly saw through you, even for just a moment. And that moment you encouraged Taylee, you were really desperate.”

No, I had no choice but to be extremely desperate… I’ll be screwed if he gets disheartened…

But that was something I couldn’t explain to her. Instead, I decided to use the ‘absolute defense strategy’ that everybody all around the world used. From elementary school students, all the way to grownups. 

“I’m serious…”

Do you have proof?

You don’t have proof, right?

You only have your suspicions, right???

“No, that’s…”

“But it’s true… I’m telling the truth…”

This strategy left no room for an argument. Even if she had her Insightful Eyes, because I said it wasn’t, then it wasn’t. If she were to keep bringing it up, she would have no choice but to bring physical evidence.

“I’m serious… it’s the truth…”

“Ahh… Seriously…!”

At this point, without manner or class, the princess grabbed her hair with both hands, her expression crazy with frustration. She stomped her feet and kept saying the same thing.

There was nowhere to relieve her anger and frustrations so she trampled on the pavement. 

“AHHH! SERIOUSLY!!!”

Being so close to finding out the truth, only to have it repeatedly escape and run away from her would definitely leave her frustrated enough for steam to come out of her head. Not just for a day or two, but for several weeks.

On top of that, her Insightful Eyes had always allowed her to see through anyone easily. As this was a new experience for her, she was bound to be two or three times more frustrated and suffocated. 

But there was nothing I could do. It was my responsibility to make sure the future was stable and moved along as smoothly as possible. 

If someone else was in my place… would they have been willing to tell her?

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