Bullied but Popular

13 – Eavesdropping

There are several gymnasiums within the Borridge grounds.

The gymnasium is divided into 10 groups, students are randomly placed, and a tournament is held.

Each year the chicks were penalized in tournaments and the number of days before they were expelled.

“What, will it work somehow?”

“If you don’t meet me in the first round, you’ll be able to survive.”

“… Let’s see.”

Aren wrinkled his face and concentrated on eating.

There was a female student who approached the two of you.

“Hello~.”

“…!?”

‘… Who is it?’

I’m confused when a beauty I’ve never seen suddenly talks to me.

I glanced at the tail and noticed who it was, but soon I frowned and got up from my seat.

“Oh my~ It’s been a while since I saw Tails. Are you just leaving?”

“… hello.”

Tale said dryly and left the restaurant.

She looked at Tails as if regretting it, then turned her gaze to Aren.

“hi!”

“hello?”

“Yeah yeah I’m called Prey Exent!”

‘Iggent?’

Is it the same as our name?

…You’re royalty.

I got up hastily and set my example.

“Excuse me, Princess. I…”

“No~ At the academy, they just call me senpai~”

“Yeah… but what did you come for…”

“I’m here to make friends with you!”

“yes?”

“I saw the duel yesterday too.”

“ah…”

“So I came to talk to you!”

‘Are there no normal people in this academy?’

Aren was immersed in thought as he saw the only princess in Korea who suddenly appeared.

Obviously, she knew that she was from the Department of Magic Engineering.

But did he come to the Mana Management Department in the morning just to talk to Aren?

Introverted these days? It was a mind that Aren, who had become a personality, could not understand.

“What swordsmanship did you show yesterday?”

‘It’s straightforward.’

He confidently tells people he meets for the first time to put up a lot of money.

Her voice was so loud that everyone in the restaurant started looking this way.

Aren was thinking about how to send this immature princess back when he suddenly heard a voice interrupting him.

“What are you doing Frey?”

Cecilia approached with a polite poker face.

“Hi Leah? Good morning!”

“Hey. What are you doing here?”

‘I get along well with unusual people.’

Aren saw the two of them standing next to each other and thought they looked very good together.

Both of them are unusual in their beauty, so it feels like the atmosphere around them is brightening up.

“We were talking about a duel yesterday.”

“This is the Department of Operations.”

“Yeah, you know~ I walked on my feet.”

“Okay, go back.”

“why?”

“It disturbs the other students.”

“Ah~ since when did we care about others~”

“……”

‘Poop, it’s a fact.’

Aren felt something cool about Frey’s fact and held back a laugh.

“Anyway, go back.”

“Let’s talk with Lia~ Honestly, you have a lot of questions, right?

“……”

‘It shook.’

There was no change in expression, but Frey’s words made it possible to sense that Cecilia was worried.

Aren decided to withdraw before it was too late.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to stop because I’m preparing for class.”

“Eh already?”

“……”

Aren bowed his head apologetically and left the restaurant.

In the end, Frey and Cecilia also talked for a while and went back, and there were people watching this series of situations from beginning to end.

Carol, Tia, Luke, Anna, and Ron were eating at the restaurant and watching them.

“Wow~ Is he popular?”

When Anna says it’s funny, Luke retorts.

“Heung! It’s just that a new technique has come out, so you’re probably interested. Maybe you’ll lose interest over time.”

“… no no.”

“…?”

When Carol spoke a little later with a firm feeling, Luke looked at him with a surprised expression.

“What isn’t it?”

“The value of the practice method used by Aren is not that much.”

“……”

‘This guy says this?’

Luke also uses a sword.

And I also saw yesterday’s duel.

I definitely think it’s a great technique, but I don’t think it’s great enough to say it with a straight face like that.

It was surprising that he made a long-range attack with a mana sword, but wasn’t it just that much?

Luke did not feel that he was inferior to Aren because he had been handed down the seniority method passed down from his family.

Because he was such a Luke, he refuted Carol’s opinion this time.

“I admit it’s great, but not that much.”

“If I’m right…”

Carol paused for a moment before speaking.

“If you practice Aren’s practice while using your aura, you can even cut mountains.”

“… what?”

Aura is a skill that can only be used by Aura Knights or higher.

But if you ask if an auronite can cut a mountain, it’s absolutely not.

An Aura Master might be able to cut it, but it was questionable whether it could be cut in one blow.

“Isn’t that too much of an exaggeration?”

“……”

Carol didn’t answer anymore and focused on the meal quietly.

Luke could see that Carol was sincere.

‘That much?’

Ron said for a moment that there was still silence.

“Tia, do you know anything about him?”

“… huh?:

“You probably know more than we do.”

‘I also want to know…’

Tia and Aren were engaged.

Their intentions were not entered, but they were verbally engaged anyway, and thanks to this, Tia had done some research on Aren.

And as a result of the investigation, nothing was found.

‘Who the hell is it that my sister and father are so obsessed with?’

From Tia’s point of view, she was really worried and felt like she was going to go crazy.

My sister does something she has never shown before, and my father is stubborn for no reason.

Even after research, what he knew was not very different from what his friends knew.

It was just that it was a baron’s distillery in a rural village.

Tia pondered seriously for a moment before speaking to Anna.

“Are you close with Anna Mate?”

“Mate?”

Mate was a first-year student in the Department of Engineering and was quite close with Anna.

“Why Mate?”

Tia moved her lips as if hesitating for a moment, then spoke with a serious expression.

“I have a favor to ask…”

Tia started to speak her mind.

***

“… Ah, I don’t think this is real…”

Carol looked at her friends gathered in her room with a serious face and said,

Tia also hesitated for a moment, but then spoke as if she had made up her mind.

“You said you could leave.”

“that is…”

“And you know… My unnie has been so strange lately.”

“……”

It was a problem that cared about Carol as well.

I was honestly worried about why Cecilia was chasing Aren without telling me why, and I felt like I was going crazy.

And it was the same with Tia.

“It’s not that I’m not too fond of it either. But since I’ve been involved with him, my sister has been very strange.”

“……”

Carol couldn’t answer.

“Come on, everyone, calm down!”

Anna said in a bright voice as if trying to change the mood.

“Isn’t this enough? Anyway, we’ve already called the mate and executed the plan, so let’s see for now. If we hear information that could be disadvantageous to Aren, we can just pretend we don’t know, right?”

‘… okay.”

Six people were gathered in Carol’s room now.

The usual friends, new friends, and first year mates from the Department of Engineering were present.

Matt said.

“Luke, what about the device?”

“I put it in. He took off his jacket when he wasn’t there.

“Um, then.”

Mate took out an artifact in the form of a black box from her bag and set it down in the center.

“Put in mana and it will work right away.”

“… I’ll do it.”

Tia voluntarily stepped forward.

Because this plan was also conceived by her in the first place.

The artifact brought by Mat was a kind of eavesdropping device.

Originally, it was a device that played a role in communication, but it was modified and brought by Mat.

Tia put mana into the device.

(… you can do it…)

‘I can hear it!’

Tia infused more mana to improve the sound quality.

Aren’s voice was heard.

(3 days?)

(okay.)

(Hmm, there are a lot of people, so I can’t help it.)

(… what are you going to do?)

(what?)

‘Is the other Tale?’

Tia and her friends focused more on their voices.

(Are you trying to win?)

(Me? How?)

(Well, Aren, you guys must be overdoing it.)

(… what are you doing to me these days?)

‘Are they closer than I thought?’

Tail Boyd was usually reticent and rarely socialized, so even Tia didn’t know much about him.

When such a tail seemed to be friendly with Aren, Tia was slightly surprised.

(Well, the winner would probably be Taille, Carol, or Aaron.)

(Well, there are still many students who hide their skills.)

(who?)

(There is one in your class.)

(Karl and Aaron are in the same class, are there others?)

food

Carol laughed involuntarily.

(Tia Cloud.)

Startle

Tia was taken aback by the sudden appearance of her name.

I was surprised more than necessary because I was eavesdropping.

(Oh~)

Aren’s voice at that time.

(Wouldn’t it be difficult for Tia Cloud to win?)

cheap

“……”

“……”

‘It’s a big deal!’

Anna glanced at Tia, who was sitting next to her.

There is no change in expression, but there is a glimmer of life in the corner of the eye.

‘Ah, what should I do?’

Anna hurriedly looked at the men around her asking her to do something, but they couldn’t tell.

Then I heard Taylor’s voice.

(She is an expert. You are a mana user.)

“Kick.”

Tia sneered, as if Tail’s words were funny.

Aren’s voice was heard.

(So what’s wrong with me these days?)

(I was telling the truth.)

(Hmm~ Tia Cloud is strong.)

Tia began to focus on Aren’s voice.

(But I have no talent for swordsmanship.)

(Why assert?)

(You can tell from the way I practice, I have good eyes.)

(Can you become an expert at 17 if you have no talent?)

(It’s possible. The reason Tia Cloud is strong is the result of a good teacher and pure effort. If you look at the effort alone, Tails should be higher than you?)

At that moment, those in the room who were listening to Aren looked at the speaker with a surprised expression.

Tia’s hard work is well known to all of her friends who have seen her since she was a child.

However, the first time Aren saw Tia was a month or two ago.

Even though he hadn’t interacted directly with Tia during that short period of time, Aren’s voice had a certain power.

While the people in the room were questioning that voice, Tail’s voice was heard.

(… I don’t know if I rate it low or high.)

(I underestimate Tia Cloud?)

(Didn’t I say at first that I thought I wouldn’t win?)

(That’s just the rating at this point, and I’m probably rating her higher than anyone else in the academy?)

Tia was surprised by Aren’s words once again.

‘What do you know about me?’

(why?)

(Hmm… Tia Cloud overcame her inferior physical abilities and talents to become an expert.)

“……”

“……”

There was an inexplicable silence in the room.

At first, it was a plan to find out the relationship with Cecilia and the identity of Aren, but the more you listen to his voice, the more you don’t know the identity of Aren.

The people in the room focused their eyes on Tia for a moment to check her condition.

“……”

Tia was staring at the speaker with a bewildered expression.

It was the first time even her friends had seen her look like that.

(Tail, if Tia keeps trying, you’ll catch up in your third year, too, right?)

(That’s expected. But how far can those eyes see?)

‘Are you talking about the snow again?’

Carol felt a sense of incongruity in the conversation between Aren and Teil.

(Heh, that’s what I want to see…)

(…? Why do you suddenly say…)

(for a moment.)

Suddenly, alertness rose in Aren’s voice.

(……there is something in the room)

“…!?”

“…!?”

‘no way…’

At Aren’s words, Carol looked at the speaker with a hopeless heart.

thumping

(……What is this?)

When Aren’s voice was heard louder than before, the expressions of those in the room instantly hardened.