Chapter 5: The Clue
“…Young Master, it’s morning. Please wake up.”
“mhmm…five minutes…”
“Today is the first day we’ll meet our classmates. If we’re running late…”
“I don’t care…just let me sleep a little longer…”
“…”
I stayed up all night in fear of getting stabbed by Kania while sleeping.
Of course, when Kania got up and tried to wake me up, I deliberately pretended to be asleep just to annoy her.
It may appear to be a pointless action, but each of these actions becomes a false evil point that can save the world.
[Acquired False Evil Points: 1 pt! (Poor Acting)]
To overcome the problems I’m facing right now, I immediately need to move on to the next phase. In other words, I need to work harder to commit more intense evil than ever before.“…Ha, then I’ll leave first. I hope I’m not late…”
“Let’s go together.”
“…Yes?”
“If you’re my attendant, you should go with me. Wait here for a minute.”
“…”
She has been trained as a butler in our family since childhood. So she has a sort of obsessive-compulsive disorder for following set rules and regulations and terribly hates breaking them.
So, if I make her late on the first day… I’ll be able to earn quite a lot of points.
“…Young Master. Please, let me help you prepare immediately…”
“Am I a kid? Stay still. I can handle this on my own.”
I stopped Kania from trying to help me, then started packing as slowly as possible.
“Please, Young Master…”
“…”
Then Kania, who was watching me, broke out in a cold sweat and hurried me along.
“Let’s see…books… writing utensils…hmm, shall I take a quill or a fountain pen?”
“Young Master, we’re running out of time. Let’s take everything first and then-”
“Which one do you prefer? Kania?”
“…the fountain pen.”
“Okay, then I’ll take the quill.”
“!”
After wasting time like this for a while, Kania lowered her head and muttered suddenly.
“…Young Master, we only have a minute left. Please allow me to leave.”
“Wait, I haven’t decided what brooch I’m going to put on yet.”
“D-Did I do…something wrong?”
I was casually rummaging through my brooches when I saw Kania glaring at me with a resentful expression while asking a question.
I wanted to tell her that trying to kill me is a mistake. But I decided to remain silent since it’s all my fault and karma.
“If you tell me, I’ll rectify it. So please forgive me…”
“Kania, you like fountain pens, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
But as she kept speaking, I took the treasured fountain pen that she always carried out of her pocket and spun it around while answering her questions.
“I heard that the recently developed magic fountain pen writes while moving by itself, isn’t it?”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes, isn’t it really convenient? Because you don’t have to hold the pen in your hand while writing.”
“I see. But why does it matter now…”
“By the way, just because a fountain pen can write by itself doesn’t mean it’s better than its owner, right?”
I grabbed Kania’s shoulder with one hand and stopped spinning the fountain pen in the other, then started poking her in the chest.
“If the fountain pen gets excited about the fact that it can move on its own and write on its own accord, it’ll eventually be thrown away. In the end, a fountain pen is just a tool, no matter how brilliant the applied magic is.”
“…”
“So, if you don’t want to be abandoned, don’t act on your own, Kania. If you keep being imprudent, such as sending a telegram to my father when I didn’t even ask like this time around, I’ll throw you and your sister out of the family using my authority somehow.”
“I-I…understand.”
Kania replied with her teeth clenched as I finished my speech by flinging her fountain pen into the corner of the room.
I looked at her with a satisfied expression, then glanced sideways at the clock behind her and opened my mouth after confirming that it was past the hour mark.
“Well then, let’s go slowly.”
“…Yes.”
“You carry my bag. I’ll just pick up a brooch then catch up with you soon.”
“…All right.”
So I let her carry my bag and sent her out of the room. Then, I immediately stumbled and groaned, as I covered my mouth with my hand while coughing.
“Cough! Cough! Ugh…”
Apparently, when I grabbed Kania’s shoulder with my hand, I tried to infuse a day’s worth of life force. It seems I overdid it.
After sitting on the floor coughing for a while, I staggered up with my hand on the bed as I sighed and headed for the door
“…Haa.”
And now it’s time to head to Class A, where all the heroines who are trying to kill me are gathered.
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“…You two, it’s already been 10 minutes since the class started. What the hell were you doing?”
“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”
“…”
As soon as we entered Class A, we could hear the scolding of our homeroom teacher.
“…Frey Raon Starlight, and Kania. The two of you are penalized 10 demerit points for tardiness.”
“…Ugh!”
“Do as you wish.”
As I headed to my seat, pretending to listen to the homeroom teacher’s words, I quietly began staring at the system window in front of me.
[Acquired False Evil Points: 70 pts! (Unavoidable)]
‘…Yes, I had no choice. It was unavoidable. I’m sorry, Kania.’
If Kania is left unattended like this, she’ll face her ‘First Crisis’ in a few months.
In the previous timeline, she barely survived the crisis, but she was permanently subjected to excruciating pain and auditory hallucinations.
So, to delay or overcome the ‘First Crisis’, her younger sister must be awakened earlier than before.
The reason I deliberately committed this kind of evil now is that there are items in the system’s ‘Item Store’ that can awaken her younger sister earlier than expected.
When more than a certain amount of false evil points are accumulated, the next stage of the system will be unlocked, allowing access to the ‘Item Store’.
Therefore, to prevent Kania from being cursed and as a result, suffer from eternal pain and dreadful illusion for the rest of her life, I have no choice but to harvest points from her, who is currently the most vulnerable and closest person to me.
For reference, one of the biggest reasons she committed suicide in front of me in the previous timeline was unbearable pain and auditory hallucinations.
So, as the system stated, this was an ‘unavoidable’ choice for me.
– Chomp, chomp…
While I was thinking about that, I heard a strange noise. Looking to the side, I see Kania biting her lips so hard that she was even bleeding profusely. It seems she is behaving like that since she feels guilty about being late on the first day and, as a result, received demerit points.
‘…Later, I’ll have to put some good ointment in her bag without anyone noticing.’
“Well then, now that everyone in Class A has arrived, let me introduce myself.”
Meanwhile, the professor who glared at us wrote her name in large letters on the blackboard, then opened her mouth as she examined all the class A students.
“…I am Isolet Arham Bywalker. I’m the professor who will be in charge of your Class A for the first year. So, I look forward to your kind cooperation.”
I muttered to myself as I stared at her after her brief self-introduction.
‘…It’s been a really long time since I last saw her.’
Isolet, the professor in charge of Class A in the first year, is the academy’s only true professor, its hope and last conscience.
She is the eldest daughter of the Bywalker family. Her forefather was the Sword Saint who helped my ancestor, the Hero, to challenge the Demon King a thousand years ago. She is such a promising star that even in her family, that has always produced outstanding knights, she is known as the Second Coming of the Sword Saint.
Having been on the steep rise from an early age with her exceptional skills, she was offered both the position of Deputy Commander of the Imperial Knights and the Academy Professorship at the same time a few months ago.
Naturally, any normal person would have chosen the position of Deputy Commander of the Imperial Knights, which is the highest honor and path to success as a knight. However, Prof. Isolet, who is now looking at us with an icy gaze, overturned everyone’s expectations and chose the professorship position at the academy.
The reason was her forthright and righteous sense of justice.
She chose academy professorship with the aspiration to become a professor at the academy and nurture future sprouts rather than becoming the Deputy Commander of the corrupt and decaying Imperial Knights who will be nothing more than a puppet. It’s because of that she got into a huge fight with her family, who were furious with her choice and in the end, she is now halfway disowned.
Therefore, it is unlikely that she will ever refer to herself again as ‘Bywalker’ after her self-introduction.
However, just because she doesn’t call herself a Bywalker doesn’t mean her skills and dignity will disappear.
She is proficient enough to subdue most of the Academy students, as she has the power to do so.
“…Well then, let’s get this class started.”
Most of the students sighed or grumbled when she announced the start of the class in a dry voice.
That’s because usually the first day of class is all about adventure tales, games, making new friends, or self-introduction. But there has never been a class that followed a curriculum like hers.
Yes, Prof. Isolet’s downside is that she’s a staunch advocate of principles. Perhaps that’s why Kania and she got along really well together.
‘…However, she is a teacher who deserves respect.’
When the academy collapsed, the only one who remained until the end to slay the Demon King’s army and to protect the students was none other than Prof. Isolet.
In other words, as I said earlier, she is literally the ‘last conscience’ and ‘hope’ of this corrupt academy.
According to the contents of the prophetic book, thanks to such endeavors, I think she was called something like a ‘Sub-Heroine’ in my ancestor’s original world?
It’s something I don’t understand quite well, but anyway, it’s really fortunate that she’s a ‘sub’ heroine. If her memories of the previous timeline also returned because she’s the ‘main’ heroine… I may have been engaged in a life-and-death battle with her by now.
“…You, y-you, y-you… how can you be here…!?”
“…?”
As I was engrossed in my thoughts, I suddenly heard a startled voice, and when I glanced aside, I saw Irina staring at me with a haggard face, as if she was looking at a ghost.
“…”
And at the same time, I felt a chill down my spine, so when I looked back, I noticed Saintess Ferloche glaring at me.
“…”
Kania, who was sitting right next to me, eventually stared at me with hateful eyes, and a cold breeze started blowing in the classroom.
“Concentrate! All of you there, focus! I’m not kind enough to take care of every single one of you just because you’re in Class A!”
I was sweating profusely under such a gaze when Prof. Isolet shouted while pounding the blackboard with her fist diverting the heroines’ attention, as I sighed and mumbled under my breath.
“…Now three-fifths of them have already gathered.”
Even without the presence of my fiancée who is abroad and the Imperial Princess who is supposed to arrive at the academy right before the end of today’s last class, the atmosphere of the classroom is already freezing.
I guess I’ll have to buy one of those hot packs soon.
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“Then, let’s finish today’s class here.”
Prof. Isolet, like a disciplinarian, finished the class the moment the bell rang to announce the break time.
Thanks to this, I was freed from the pain of having to listen to what I already knew and started stretching as I leaned back in my chair. Suddenly, Kania, who was sitting next to me, got up from her seat and began heading somewhere else.
As I was gazing her way while craning my neck, I suddenly heard a voice from behind.
“…E-Excuse me. Sir Frey?”
“……?”
When I heard a shrill voice, I turned around to find Saintess Ferloche standing behind me with a nervous expression on her face.
“…Would you like to visit the cathedral after school? I would like to give my blessing to Sir Frey, a member of the Hero’s family.”
False Evil’s Intuition
A strong murderous intent is felt nearby
Eventually, as soon as she made a suggestion while sweating profusely, a system window popped up in front of my eyes, and thanks to that, I had no choice but to mutter under my breath with an absurd expression on my face.
‘…What? Is this a foreshadowing of a murder?’
She is called the ‘Pure White Saintess’, who is kind and pure enough to be acknowledged by all the people across the continent.
In other words, she is too naïve to come up with a proper scheme.
“…Status Window”
[Stats]
Name: Ferloche Astellade
Strength: 1
Holy Power: 8
Intelligence: 2
Mental Strength: 8
Passive Status: Blessing of the Sun God
I closed my eyes tightly and opened her status window while muttering softly as I looked at the trembling Ferloche, then opened my eyes wide when I saw the status effect field.
‘…The Blessing of the Sun God?’
The Blessing of the Sun God is not something that any mortal can receive. It is a blessing bestowed only upon a Saintess recognized by the Sun God, and only when their earnest prayer has been answered.
With such a blessing, the ability values become meaningless. Today, Ferloche can even bend me with one hand and tear me to shreds.
There’s even a legendary tale that thousand years ago the Saintess, who was a member of my ancestor’s party, the Hero, used that blessing to tear off the sides of the Demon King.
“…No.”
“…Ugh.”
If I follow her to the cathedral, I’ll be quietly offered as a sacrifice to the Sun God in secret, so when I immediately rejected her, Ferloche had a shocked expression on her face.
“Now, w-wait a minute…don’t be like that, you don’t seem to know the value of my blessing. The blessing I’m offering to Sir Frey today can’t even be bought with money…”
“…Well, I don’t need it?”
“Yes? But…”
“Get out of my face. I hate religious fanatics.”
“U-Uh, excuse me… so…”
As I spoke with an annoyed expression on my face, Ferloche broke out in a cold sweat and began stuttering.
As one can see, this ‘Pure White Saintess’ literally not only has a pure heart but also a pure mind.
To say it in nicer terms, she is a devout believer who only knows the Sun God and his doctrines. To put it bluntly, she’s just a holy power shuttle. When I realized that she didn’t even come up with a Plan B when I would reject her offer, her scheme was already over.
‘…Tch, because you’re so stupid, the Church took advantage of you.’
The elders of the Church who coveted her ability, which was overflowing with holy power to the extent that even the system had to label it holy power instead of mana, deceived her with honeyed words into becoming their holy power shuttle.
After all, it is the Church that serves the crazy Sun God who bestowed his blessing upon the heroine who’s trying to kill me instead of giving me a helping hand, who was desperately struggling to save the world. Not to mention the guy didn’t even show up at all in the previous timeline when the Demon King was rampaging all around without hesitation.
Therefore, the Church needs to be reformed. It feels like even when I stay still, I somehow get more mess to deal with.
“Uh, u-uh… um…”
“…Piss off. You holy power shitstain.”
“…!”
When I rebuked her harshly because of my worsening mood, the Saintess bowed her head while holding back her tears and returned to her seat.
To be honest, I was worried about what to do if she got desperate enough to try ripping my head off, but I’m glad she didn’t.
“Uh, how is he even alive… that fucking son of a bitch… was he in‘First Crisis’ cahoots with the Demon King since this early on…?”
Ferloche returned to her seat looking defeated.Then, Irina, who was next to me, started muttering something in a panic.
She will suffer from ‘Mana Exhaustion’ for a year, so in the future, I think I should take care of her like Kania.
If she drops out of Class A or gets expelled, the ‘scenario’ will have a lot of problems.
‘Then, the most dangerous ones are the Imperial Princess and my fiancée…’
So, listening to the voices of Ferloche, who was diligently planning her next scheme in the back seat, and Irina, who was constantly muttering next to me, I quietly leaned back in my chair and started pondering about the Imperial Princess and my fiancée.
And after mulling over it for a while, I came to the following conclusion.
‘…Should I just take a leave of absence?’
Even with the system, I’m not confident I can beat them both.
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“I found it, my fountain pen.”
While Frey was agonizing over how to deal with the Imperial Princess and his fiancée, Kania returned to Frey’s dormitory and picked up the fountain pen that had been lying on the floor.
“…I’ll definitely kill you, you son of a bitch. No matter the cost.”
She tightly embraced the fountain pen, which she forgot to take with her in fear of being late. The most precious treasure her sister gave her as a gift when she was young then tried to return to the main academy building before the class bell rang…
“…Huh?”
Soon after, she noticed something on the white bed sheet as she tilted her head and approached it.
“…What is this?”
There remained blood-stained handprints.