63 – Moral Life Girl (2)
Of course, I robbed the professor’s lab. And from the perspective of a third party called Ari, it would be ‘wrong’ in name and reality.
It doesn’t matter what the reason was.
Aria didn’t know the reason, and I had no intention of explaining it either.
‘Even if I explain it in the first place, they won’t convince me.’
For example, Aria would understand if she were to say that that day, while passing by the building, she happened to find an emergency patient and had to enter the laboratory.
Rather, you will apologize, saying you are sorry for misunderstanding and that you did what you had to do.
But. In the end, that only applies if I become an intruder in the lab for the greater good.
A pass to sneak into the academy’s basement, and he reveals the truth that he broke into the lab just to get it?
What’s the apology? As it wasn’t even a misunderstanding in the first place, Aria will drag me straight to her professors.
No matter what, I couldn’t do that. So, I don’t plan on talking about the situation.
Rather than make the situation even worse, it would be better to let the current misconception that “Nothing was stolen” Be maintained.
Furthermore, I had nothing to lose.
‘Actually, it doesn’t really matter either way.’
I folded her arms while listening to Aria’s sermon that was still going on.
There is a reason why she didn’t go out of her way to avoid me even though she knew she would recognize me in the first place.
Simply, there won’t be any problems whether you recognize it or not.
That’s all.
“Hey, are you really listening to me?”
“So?”
“Uh, huh?”
I stopped Aria mid-sentence.
Aria must have been surprised by my calm and yet calm tone of voice, so Aria blinked her eyes for a moment.
I guess I didn’t expect this kind of reaction.
But what do I care? This may have been before the underground attack, but at this point, this cannot even be considered a crisis.
I’ll say it again, there was nothing special about me.
On the contrary, poor Professor Chloe Jane is the only one who criticizes Tsumei for failing to properly guard the lab, so there’s no way she’ll be in trouble if she gets caught.
“What do you want to say?”
To summarize, there is nothing Aria can do.
A girl who was just trying to establish justice will be helplessly broken down by the strong collusion between a student and the dean. So unfortunately…….
“…… Uh, um. Uh?”
Aria seemed speechless at my shameless response. The bewildered look on his face clearly showed his true intentions: ‘Isn’t this right?’
I felt a little sorry, but there was nothing I could do about it. To be honest, I don’t want to hear any more sermons, and I just want to get to the point as quickly as possible.
“Are you going to tell the professor?”
Okay, that’s the point.
“He was the intruder back then, so I want him to be disciplined quickly, or something like that?”
“…… No, that’s it.”
Why bother listening to a sermon? All you have to do is just say what you really want to say quickly.
As I already said, I didn’t really care whether Aria found out what happened or not. Now that I have gained Tsumei’s absolute trust, I don’t think anything major will happen because of that.
So, if you think about it, this is a problem from before that.
The reason why Aria ‘dared’ to talk to me when she realized that the culprit at the time was me.
Since breaking into the professor’s office is not a relatively(?) Serious issue, there was definitely an intention to try a conversation with a sermon first…….
More than that, it may be because she had a slightly different purpose.
And I was able to guess the purpose without difficulty.
The reason why Aria unnecessarily extended her sermon.
That is also related to her original purpose for entering her academy.
‘Accurately, it should be said to be an order from the Sword Saint.’
Just as Beatrice entered the academy according to her church’s plan, aiming for her magic sword, Aria Ten was not much different. In the end, she came here because she had goals beyond ordinary academic achievement.
In the case of Aria, her Sword Saint’s advice and instructions could be said to be the fundamental reason why she decided to enter the academy.
*****
East of the Empire. A location a little deeper than the area commonly called Dongbang (東方).
It is not the highest peak on the continent, but on one peak of Spiritual Mountain, which has a comparable height, there is a fortress that does not match the scenery.
Beyond the strong castle that blocks external enemies, the main building stands tall between four or five outbuildings…….
The spacious training hall is located in the center of the main building.
– … ….
There was a girl.
Whoa!
With sweat-soaked hair fluttering, the sharp sword slashes from top to bottom.
At first glance, it was just a simple repetitive action, but the interval between slamming the sword and raising it again was too long. As if there were more meaning than ‘repetition of movement’ contained within it.
So to speak, it was an act of wandering around looking for a clue to advance to a slightly higher level.
Whoa!
Once again, one sword.
The sound of the wind cracking echoed quietly.
-Ha… ….
The girl took a deep breath.
The expression on his face was not clear.
It would be correct to say that it looks rather stuffy.
High, hard, and impossible to return.
That’s what a wall is.
The girl was making efforts to break down that wall.
Swing the sword again and again.
It was around the time when the sky began to darken that she heard someone else’s voice in her own training ground.
-You are almost nineteen this year, Aria.
From noble mtl dot com
Stop-
It was a mid-low sound that was quite familiar to the girl.
Arya put down her sword and turned her head.
-Grandpa?
As expected, her grandfather was standing there.
The continent’s strongest swordsman, Reinhard Ten.
At the sudden appearance of the person she respected more than anyone else, Aria wiped away her sweat and looked amazed.
-You came back early. I understand that less than a week has passed since you came down the mountain.
-As the years have passed, she misses her granddaughter, who is now another year older. Still, she wasn’t able to attend the coming-of-age ceremony. She couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Reinhardt said that with a warm smile, but Aria’s response was just flat.
She turned away from Reinhardt’s smile with her sullen expression.
-You know very well. If that’s the case, shouldn’t you have come down a little later? There’s a difference of a few days.
– Wow… ….
Reinhardt was known as the Sword Saint, but he became infinitely weaker in front of his granddaughter.
Clearing his throat with an embarrassed expression, he tried to change the topic.
-There was nothing I could do about paying the rent. Since the person I wanted to meet was not a very leisurely person, I had no choice but to follow the time they decided.
And that attempt to change the topic worked quite well.
Aria opened her eyes wide as if she was surprised.
-Even though her grandfather asked to meet in person? Who on earth was the opponent? … ?
-Are you curious?
-Of course. Her grandfather is the one she has to match. Unless you are in a position similar to the Emperor’s Majesty…….
Aria, who was replying as if she was very interested, paused for a moment at the afterword I added without thinking.
It was just something I said and saw, but when I thought about it, it seemed quite plausible.
She looked up at Reinhardt with her wide eyes.
-Are you sure you really came to see His Majesty the Emperor?
Of course, her grandfather was in a position where he could easily meet the emperor, but even so, the word audience had a lot of weight.
This was also the reason why Aria’s expression took on a mysterious glow.
-No, not that one.
Should I say I am fortunate? Reinhardt shook his head in response to Aria’s cautious question.
Towards Aria, who had a slightly relieved expression on her face, Reinhardt only spoke with her shallow smile.
-You’ve probably heard the story about the gold dragon.
An even greater surprise than before appeared in Aria’s eyes.
*****
“… ….”
Aria was looking out her window with a blank expression. Her eyes blink occasionally as she examines the shapes of clouds flowing across the wide blue sky.
That was partly because her seat was by the window, but fundamentally it was because she had returned to her classroom.
The anti-anti-war war is over.
The total winning score of both sides was surprisingly 5 to 5, that is, a draw. Just like in Seonbongjeon.
Naturally, the classroom was in the midst of a fuss with talk about the results.
In particular, the sparring of specially admitted students was becoming a hot topic.
But… ….
In fact, Aria, the protagonist of one of the two sparring events that were becoming a hot topic, was not able to properly join in the noisy atmosphere of her classmates.
It wasn’t really an issue of affinity. A week had passed since her admission, so of course she had also become deeply involved in Class B.
‘…… No, really, what is it? ‘He.’
In the end, the cause lay elsewhere.
So, this is the boy that Aria is thinking about right now.
The name is Dante.
The boy, whom she didn’t know much about except that he was a special admission student, turned out to be the person behind the suspicious mask she had encountered before.
Aria thought blankly.
So what did he believe and was so confident?
-So, what do you want to say?
…… The reaction was so unexpected that I couldn’t say the right thing. Since interrogation and sermons have been completely blocked, it is naturally impossible to get to the point.
While he was hesitating, the anti-war war was over and Dante left.
The last time she glanced back at her, it was as if she was saying that it didn’t matter whether or not what she had done was known.
Aria felt somewhat confused. What? Was she in a position to come out so confidently? She was a little confused, but she was still able to speak clearly.
I don’t think that was the case…… !
‘You broke into the professor’s lab. That’s not wrong…… ?’
Of course, even if it wasn’t the professor’s lab, it was wrong for her to sneak into someone else’s private room, but Aria didn’t want to go into that right now. Okay, first of all, it’s about Dante.
‘…… I thought for sure she was going to tell the professor or something like that.’
She expected at least an awkward reaction. Even just a little bit.
And if that kind of response came back, she planned to sneak a peek at the main point next.
‘If things have turned out this way, she has already failed…….’
For example, a feeling like, ‘If you do me a favor, I won’t tell the professor.’
Of course she thought it was a mean thing.
However, she had reasons to be desperate towards Aria as well.
It wasn’t easy for her to ignore the pangs of conscience, and in fact, it took a lot of thought for Aria to come to that conclusion.
To sum up her thought process, she said it was simple.
First of all, it is definitely wrong to seize her opponent’s weakness and use it to achieve what she wants -.
‘It is true that that person committed the deviant act of breaking into the professor’s office.’
The spark itself was ultimately provided by Dante.
‘So, I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a threat…….’
Yes. It’s not a threat.
Rather, it would have been better to call it a transaction.
‘Furthermore, the professors did not take the incident itself very seriously at the time.’
I also heard from prospective graduates that there were quite a few similar precedents.
Then, isn’t this a level of evil that she must report?
In other words, it is a minor misdeed that does not have to be pricked by one’s conscience even if used for personal reasons.
He tolerates Dante’s misdeeds, and Dante grants his request.
Lastly, in the process of granting a favor, he will finish it neatly if he leads him with all his passion and sincerity.
How perfect of a deal is this?
Aria struggled to end her thoughts in that way, saying that a few hours ago she had approached Dante’s side.
Because that was a self-excuse within a reasonably reasonable range that did not significantly deviate from the line between right and wrong that she had set for herself.
“… ….”
The short recollection ended quite suddenly at that point. The cause was a feeling of despair that came suddenly.
After blinking her eyes a couple of times, Aria softly let out her sigh.
‘Now what use are these thoughts?’
Anyway, I put on her first button wrong. I don’t know why, but Dante didn’t seem to be particularly worried about the repercussions if his actions became known to the professors.
Your own threat-. No, a transaction request would not have any particular meaning.
“It’s not good…” ….”
Without realizing it, Aria slumped down on her desk with an even more complicated expression, muttering those words in her own voice.
It was definitely not good. Because she had her purpose.
Pursing her lower lip weakly, Aria looked out her window with slanted eyesight.
-There is a difference between confidence and arrogance.
What comes to mind are my grandfather’s subsequent words as he brought up the story about the gold dragon after his sudden descent and return.
-Go to the academy. She should raise her sword at the children of her own age, not at this woman or her brother-in-law.
When she first heard that, she probably expressed doubts.
It is not enough to be called a backlash. However, should we say that it was a skeptical response to the fact that she was not convinced.
Aria herself felt that her grandfather’s instructions would not be of much help in her path to the sword.
In some ways, she was looking forward to living with her peers, but not because she thought it would help her rise to the top.
How on earth can they help me with my stagnant growth in the first place?
Aria narrowed her brows slightly as if she couldn’t understand.
She’s not overconfident, but she’s never once lost to a peer of her own age.
Just a few years ago, she defeated the eldest son of the Phineas family at the island’s banquet. To put it bluntly, she is two steps ahead of her peers.
Even if it were an academy, it would not be a meaningful turning point.
-Would you like to make a bet with this money, Aria?
However, my grandfather didn’t seem to think so.
It was uncharacteristic of him to bring up such a story.
– Among the many students you will meet at the academy, if there is no one who will have a positive influence on you as you are sure. Then I will leave my sword to you. This is the divine sword that I so desperately wanted to have when I was young.
It was only for a moment that I opened my eyes wide at the unprecedented conditions, and the unfinished words continued quickly.
-But Aria, if you meet a child who truly surpasses you, as her friend said, then I want you to remember these words again.
At that moment, an extremely serious voice was spoken.
A voice worthy of the name of the Sword Saint, where nothing could be done other than nodding due to the force of the force.
Aria slowly closed her eyes and muttered her short words.
“There is a difference between confidence and arrogance… ….”
It was my grandfather’s request.
So, even if it wasn’t in the form of instructions, she did intend to follow them.
However, she still did not understand.
‘Grandpa, I wonder why he said that.’
Her words were the reason why her own grandfather, her sword master Reinhardt, sent her to her academy, even using her old sword as an inducement for her.
In addition, the reason why he emphasized the expression “Confidence” Several times to persuade himself.
‘Conceited? It’s not… ….’
Is there any way to be conceited?
She grew up watching countless executions, and at the top was the world’s strongest swordsman.
If you are conceited in such an environment, you will definitely be an unfortunate person who cannot be self-objective.
And Aria could guarantee it. She said that she was definitely not that ‘unfortunate guy’.
Aren’t most of the professors at this academy superior to you?
Not acknowledging that is beyond pride and arrogance.
“I’m still weak… …. “There’s a long way to go.”
I know that well.
Aria grumbled in a low voice.
She was completely unaware of the fact that it was none other than that part that penetrated the essence of the ‘pride’ that her grandfather had mentioned to her.
She doesn’t even see people of similar age as competition in the first place.
There was no awareness of the problem either.
“Whew, I can’t help it.”
Just peacefully stretching out, Aria once again thought of her Dante.
He won’t be stronger than you anyway.
Still, unlike others, she needs to check at least once, so let’s put aside threats that she’s not used to and try to resolve things through healthy conversation.
If I win against him, then I will be able to tell my grandfather for sure.
Of course, there were no students his age who surpassed him.
“…… The threat was rejected before I could even make it, but it’s still true that I tried to do something bad. Should I apologize and buy a gift? “If you ask politely, they will at least spar.”
As expected, Aria thought it was more convenient that way, and reprimanded herself for having had evil thoughts even for a moment.
*****
Meanwhile, Class A.
“Hey, Riche.”
“Why?”
“Are you upset?”
“Isn’t it?”
“I think that’s right.”
“I said no.”
“Hmm, really?”
“Of course. “There’s no way I could get upset over something trivial like that.”
At the girl’s reaction of turning her head, the boy laughed heartily and opened his mouth again.
“Then can I tell you one thing?”
“…… “What is it?”
Was there something I was waiting for? The girl turned her head, rolled her eyes slightly, and glanced at her boy.
And she continued speaking in an indifferent voice, as if the boy was nothing special.
“I was caught robbing the professor’s office by Aria.”
“?”
Immediately, the girl raised her question mark.
The boy was still laughing.
“You were probably caught too. “I will come back soon.”
“… ….”
“But don’t worry, I have a great plan to change that princess’s consciousness of being the chosen one!”
That, Aria, is what most people would categorize as ‘blackmail’.