Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

26 – Midterm Evaluation (1)

After dinner, Rianna and I stuck to the same routine.

After classes, we’d meet in the training room to patch each other’s weaknesses,

or I’d show her how to use magic more efficiently,

or we’d go back and forth, answering questions about what she needed.

And in the end, we’d eat dinner together; that was how it went.

Judging by the increasing number of cadets who approached her,

concerned and asking after her well-being upon seeing me with her,

I realized many still thought she was being bullied by me.

Of course, Rianna denied it. Said it was all a misunderstanding, even.

Though I countered their claims, they wouldn’t believe me, and

instead, whispers spread through the academy that Lianna had been thoroughly, irrevocably brainwashed.

Because of this, Lianna blamed herself, chastising herself again and again, and

I had to soothe her every time.

The gazes of those around us stung, but what did it matter?

Since the rumour had spread that I’d tried to kill

my opponent during that duel of honour,

anyone but the most foolish avoided directly

picking a fight with me.

‘It’s a shame I didn’t kill the fellow, though…’

‘What was his name again?’

Leon, yes, Leon was the fellow’s name.

Offering him silent thanks in my mind,

I resumed training with Lianna, and

finally, the day of the mid-term assessments arrived.

*

Meanwhile, at that very hour,

the academy’s annual event, and

that which kept all students in a state of anxious anticipation—the mid-term assessments—

there was one more who had been yearning for it day after day.

“I..must…kill..you…”

Outwardly, his appearance was unremarkable, quite ordinary.

However, the aura he emanated,

and the words he spoke, made it difficult to see him as anything resembling normal.

From the words he continued to utter

a deep-seated resentment towards someone could be felt,

and within his mind, he could still hear

the recriminations of his father, blaming him.

He shook it off, and for the sake of his revenge,

he had waited and waited for this day.

*

“You pathetic wretch!!!”

“Gck..”

A middle-aged man, adorned with golden ornaments on his person,

kicked the shin of the boy standing before him.

Unable to withstand the impact, the boy stumbled forward,

and upon seeing this, the middle-aged man clicked his tongue, continuing to speak.

“Because of you!! My plans are ruined!!”

“Fath… Father… why…”

The boy, clueless as to why his own father was doing this to him, could only endure the blows.

His mood was already foul enough, thanks to the events at the Academy today.

After several of these strikes, the awful sounds echoing in the room, the middle-aged man spoke, his voice weary.

“Hah… Do you even realize what you’ve done?”

“Cough… W-what…?”

“Do you know… why the Headmistress aided you today?”

Indeed.

She, who was known to treat all students fairly, had stepped into a duel of honor for him.

At first, he’d naturally assumed it was because his family donated to the Academy.

But the Headmistress wasn’t exactly short on funds; that couldn’t be it.

Ninth-Circle mages were rare, after all, and she wielded significant prestige within the Empire.

The more he thought, the less sense it made.

Seeing the boy lost in thought, the man exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke and, laced with anger, explained the reason.

“It began as mere chance…”

“That trifling woman, basking in the Empire’s glory simply because she’s a strong mage, never sat well with me.”

“So, I went to the Information Guild and investigated her background.”

It was madness.

The mere knowledge that someone had investigated her would be enough to deeply offend her.

Those who earned her disfavor lived in constant dread of her retribution.

No family could disregard her authority, yet the man was speaking as if he boldly defied it.

It either meant he knew nothing about her, or that he viewed her with utter contempt.

“Then, one piece… of information came to light.”

“Information” that could inflict a very severe blow on the Headmistress.”

He couldn’t suppress his rising smirk, as if merely imagining it brought him joy.

“I immediately used it to blackmail her.”

“As expected, she threatened me in return, but what can that little b*tch even do?”

“It was I who held the blade, mind you.”

“If anything, that just further proved how much she wanted that information kept secret.”

“So, I proposed a bargain to her, to keep this a secret.”

“Namely, when our family was in danger, or when we needed help,”

“She would lend her strength once, as a condition.”

Despite being nobility, the way he so brazenly blackmailed someone showed

no hint of compunction.

Rather, as if this were the most natural thing,

he continued his story with an indifferent expression.

“But how to trust a promise spoken aloud?”

“And so, I made a contract with her, woven with mana.”

“The condition was as I just said, the price being that I would absolutely not

spread any information about it.”

Having finished speaking, he frowned, looking at the boy before him, who was still

touching the wounded area and groaning.

“But do you know what that wench came and told me today?”

[I have kept my contract. Therefore, you cannot break yours.]

“At first, I told her she was spouting nonsense.

Because I had never asked her for help!!”

“Do you know what she said then?”

As if reliving the moment,

his face twisted into an even more unpleasant grimace.

*

‘How strange. I seem to recall there was another condition to our contract?’

‘What are you talking about, what?!’

‘Wasn’t the condition [to help when your family is in danger]

also included?’

‘In what way is our family in danger, I ask you!!’

As if finding his shouting undignified,

she let out a light laugh, brushed her hair back, and continued.

‘You have a son, do you not?’

‘I do, but what does that suddenly have to do with anything?’

‘Your son almost died today, and I prevented it.’

‘Wh..what?’

‘If your son were to die, your family would lose its rightful succession and

its bloodline. Surely that qualifies as a [family crisis]?’

Unlike her, who laughed as if amused by it all,

fury did not abate on his face.

‘That…that’s sophistry!!’

‘What is sophistry?’

The woman who moments ago wore a smile was gone,

replaced by one whose stern expression seemed to chill the very air.

“I have not, in any just sense, interfered in events,

but rather aided your house in navigating its crisis.”

“The contract remains unbroken, proof of this.”

“And my mana remains untouched.”

For those who have penned contracts of mana, breach meant

immediate and total loss of their magical power,

rendering contract violation easily verifiable.

“I have kept my word.”

“So too, shall you keep yours.”

“Lest the loss of mana be the least of your worries.”

With those words, a weight settled in the air,

pressing down on the man,

who, despite his great fury,

could only nod his head.

*

Recalling that situation, the man, as if newly enraged,

seized a chair and brought it crashing down upon the boy.

*Kwang–*

“Ugh… blurgh…”

“Do you now understand what you have done?”

“Cough… *cough hack*…”

He hurled the shattered chair to the ground,

and leaned heavily on the desk, speaking.

“With her power, I could have been Emperor.”

“….”

“The entire Empire could have been at my feet.”

“….”

“But!!! You ruined it all!!!!”

Again, he seized a book from the desk and flung it at the boy’s head,

who could only moan in pain.

“Do you even know how much I lavished

upon the information guild to obtain her secrets?!!”

*Thwack—*

“And what of the Academy’s sponsorship funds?!!”

*Thwack—*

“And the cost to silence anyone who might spread that information

to other nobles—do you have any idea how much that was?!?!”

*Thwack—*

“A staggering 5000 gold coins!! 5000 gold coins!!!”

Despite the relentless surge of pain,

the boy could only gape, the sum far exceeding any expectation.

Trailing her came with dangers beyond imagining,

and naturally, the price of her information had risen;

the commission fee alone, not to mention the hush money, could not be cheap.

But a different question gnawed at him.

Even the ducal family didn’t possess such a fortune, so

how had his own house readily produced such a sum?

Only this man knew the secret of how it had come to be: countless acts of tax evasion and the sucking dry of the peasantry.

If caught, he would face severe punishment,

but he believed that in a nation where he would soon be Emperor,

he was entitled to at least this much.

Yet today, that dream had crumbled in a single morning,

all because of his stout, precious son.

“Why couldn’t you have just died, why couldn’t you have

thrust a dagger into your throat on the spot!!”

“F..Father..”

“Silence!! From this day forth, you are no son of mine.”

“W..What?!”

“Get out of my house this instant!! You witless fool!!”

“I..I’m sorry!! I was wrong!! Father!!”

“Guards!! Get this thing out of here!!”

Soon, servants seized his arms and legs,

dragging him from the room, and he ceaselessly

cried out for his father, but no answer came.

“Let go of me!! Do you know who I am?!”

“My apologies, Young Master.”

With a *thwack*, he was thrown out of the main gate,

which slammed shut behind him.

First came denial,

then rage,

and finally, acceptance.

The acceptance that he had been abandoned.

Tears streamed down his face as he walked,

and the overwhelming injustice threatened to burst forth, unable to find purchase.

He had simply sought to punish a particularly irksome fellow.

How had things escalated to this point, he wondered.

And so, a jumbled mess of resentment and curses,

He entered the back alley, and

a sudden realization dawned – not a single sound from the street reached him.

The boy tensed, alert.

After waiting an age, nothing appeared.

Dismissing it as his imagination, he turned to leave the alley when

*shwoosh*──

The space behind him warped, and

a man materialized.

He wore a stark white, smiling clown mask,

and was shrouded from head to toe in a large black robe –

someone anyone would deem suspicious at first glance.

As the boy warily eyed the suddenly-appearing man,

a jarring voice erupted from beneath the mask.

A voice one couldn’t possibly imagine belonging to a human.

“Wouldn’t you… seek vengeance?”

A preposterous question.

He didn’t even know the identity of the man before him, yet

how did he know he craved revenge?

The boy pressed his lips into a firm line, offering no reply, and

the mask seemed to grin wider.

“Who are you…”

“Ahahaha!! My apologies, I haven’t introduced myself.”

“I asked, who are you!!”

“I am ‘Cunbell’.”

“Cunbell? Never heard of anyone by that name.”

“That’s because I’m a fairy. A wish-granting fairy.”

He wrote it off as nonsense.

Calling himself a fairy while dressed like this?

He resembled a demon or a fiend more than anything.

The boy ignored him, about to leave the alley, when

a certain emotion began to bloom within his heart.

The feeling of wanting someone to hear his unfair plight.

Today had been so incredibly devastating that

the boy slowly began to confide in him,

and as he finished his tale, the figure of the man called Cunbell

seemed to grin even wider behind his mask.

“Oh my?! You must be incredibly aggrieved!!”

“Yes… It wasn’t my fault…

Why must *I* suffer such a fate!”

“Wouldn’t you seek vengeance?”

“Of course I want to!!”

But presently, the boy lowered his head.

Knowing full well his own powerlessness.

He couldn’t even best the fool he underestimated,

So how could he ever hope to deal with the Chairman?

No matter how he pondered, he found no means of revenge,

And as despair consumed him, the mask approached once more.

“I…will give you strength.”

“Strength…?”

“The strength to take your revenge!!!”

“How…?”

Hearing his question, the mask produced a thing from nowhere,

A violet crystal, which he placed in the boy’s hand.

“Embed it within your body.”

“How can I trust your words?”

“It matters little to me whether you embed it or not, hmm?

Was it not you who sought power?”

The boy, unable to deny the truth of his words,

Gritted his teeth until they nearly cracked,

And accepted the crystal offered to him.

“What do you want…”

“Hm…I simply wish to witness your vengeance!!”

“That’s all…?”

“What more could be required? Heh heh heh.”

Leaving behind the man with his chilling laughter,

The man caught the boy once more before he could depart,

And pressed a slip of paper into his grasp.

“What is this now.”

“Use it when there is someone you wish to kill.”

“…”

“Even if you cannot evade the Chairman’s gaze within the Academy…

I can obscure her vision for a fleeting moment.”

“How does one use it?”

“Think of the person you wish to slay,

Pour all your murderous intent into inscribing these characters.”

As he spoke, the man offered another slip of paper,

Upon which were etched a multitude of unfamiliar glyphs.

“And if you tear this paper before the one you wish to kill?!!!”

“…What will happen?”

“You will be transported to a space where only you and they exist, no more.”

“Keh… Keheheh, good. I’ll do as you say.”

With the words of wishing me luck, the man

vanished once more, and

as he concealed himself, the subdued sounds of the street

began to reach my ears again.

In the back alley remained only the leaves swept away by the wind, and

a figure slowly walking towards somewhere.

“I will… kill you, without fail…”

An incomprehensible voice murmured alongside them.