I Think My Fiancé Has Regressed

Chapter 24: Academic Warning (1)

Keeping Ms. Sierra’s power in check, increasing the size of my faction, investigating the cause of Alex’s strange behavior, etc.

As the semester began and I tackled each task as it came, half of the semester flew by.

Charlotte has been steadily spreading rumors about me and Miss Sierra among the students, and I am gradually increasing my support at the special event provided by Miss Natalia.

By the time the midterms rolled around, I’d pretty much finished shaping public opinion within the Academy.

The well-timed release of the ‘evidence that clears the poisoning suspicions’ helped me to sway public opinion throughout the Academy.

Naturally, Ms. Sierra countered that the evidence was fabricated, but as Charlotte said before, it’s not whether the evidence is real or fake that matters.

The use of fabricated evidence is enough to make people believe what they want to believe and to make the minority follow the opinion of the majority.

Thanks to this, the number of people currently by Ms. Sierra’s side is only about the number of fingers, even if counted on both hands.

And it doesn’t even feel like they’re rallying around her.

Rather, it looks like Sierra doesn’t want to be isolated in the academy, and is trying to force herself to join the rest of the group.

I think it’s time to wrap things up.

It’s time to move on to the next step, which is to prepare for Miss Sierra eventual downfall.

Originally, I was going to just kick her out of the Academy, and then not care what kind of life she leads after that.

As the circumstances surrounding her use of dreamweed were discovered, it became inevitable to punish and imprison her.

In this world, they’re so dangerous that their use is actually outlawed.

Even in the original game, you can’t be caught using them, and if you are, it’s a quick way to end the game.

It’s a dangerous item, and it’s not supposed to be out in the world.

I don’t think she used it more than once or twice, based on Alex’s testimony….she managed to stay under the radar this whole time…which is technically my fault.

Even though I knew that there was an item called dreamweed and that there were buggy plays using it, I’m to blame for not doing anything about it and wasting two years of my life.

Miss Sierra has probably been growing the dreamweed in her secret garden for the past year, as she’s been buying gardening tools periodically inside the Academy for the past year.

But now, as if on cue, she’d removed all the evidence, leaving only the traces of what she’d been growing.

I should’ve been quicker to secure the scene.

Two years of my foolishness was enough time for Ms. Sierra to cut off her tail.

We can’t arrest her based on circumstantial evidence or hearsay, we need hard evidence or an on-the-spot arrest.

Even if I succeed in kicking Miss Sierra out of the academy, the danger is that she’ll use the dreamweed to come up with another strange plan.

That could be the start of a new doomed ending that never happened in the original game.

But for now, Ms. Sierra is more cautious, so she won’t be as loose as before.

After all, there’s only one way out.

If she’s going to curl up in her shell, we’re going to give her no choice but to poke her head out.

* * *

“…And that concludes our class for today.”

The first class immediately following the end of the midterm assessment.

President Del Crouchia ended the class a little earlier than usual, sounding a little tired.

The cause of this, no doubt, was the one other student who was tutored by the President along with me.

“…Student Sierra, if this lack of accomplishment continues, I’ll have to give you a warning.

Up until now, I’ve been patient with your slow growth due to dealing with rare magic, but if you continue like this forever, with abilities that are no better than a normal person’s….”

“Yes, yes, I understand, thank you, Professor.”

Miss Sierra turned on her heel and walked away, barely even listening to what President Del had to say.

“Don’t you dare keep talking to me about NPC topics….”

From her inaudible mutterings, it’s clear that Miss Sierra is still not immersed in this world.

Of course, I’m assuming that Miss Sierra considers her life here to be real, regardless of what she thinks of the existence of this world.

“…….”

I waited until Miss Sierra was completely out of sight before I turned to President Del with the proposal I had prepared.

“President Dell, there’s one thing I’d like to talk to you about.”

President Del looked up, a little surprised that I was asking a question, since I usually do well on my own.

“What is it, Student Ariana?”

“Actually, I’m going to tell you a story about Ms. Sierra.”

At the mention of Ms. Sierra’s name, President Del’s expression hardened a bit, as her presence was probably a sore spot for him as well.

Plus, she and I had had an eventful relationship in more ways than one, and he seemed concerned that he would be meddling in the relationship between me and Sierra.

“I’m sorry Arianna, but I’m supposed to be a neutral party, so I can’t help you with any issues between the two of you.”

“No, it’s not that I have any particular dispute with Ms. Sierra, it’s just that…I’m just worried about her.”

“What?”

In a situation like this, it’s important to keep the conversation focused on Miss Sierra and away from me as much as possible.

“I’m sorry to say this, but Miss Sierra doesn’t seem to have any knowledge or talent for magic.

Considering that she’s already been at the academy for over two years and has barely grown from the first time I saw her, it would appear that she has no intention of pursuing her studies.”

“…Please continue.”

“Perhaps Miss Sierra wanted to live a life as an ordinary commoner, and was forced into the academy because of her blossoming magical talent.

If so, it’s understandable that she has little desire to learn magic. It would also explain her lack of sincerity in class, and her rebellion at being forced to do things she didn’t want to do.”

As President Dell listened to me, he looked deeply troubled.

This was probably one of the topics that had been on his mind.

Perhaps there was just one thing about Miss Sierra that was preventing him from making a firm decision.

“It’s true that she’s a rare possessor of light magic, especially since the stories that have been passed down have always said that the possessor of light magic is the one who performs miracles, whether it’s saving the world or curing the incurable.

But isn’t that only possible if the possessor has the will to do so? Do you still think that Miss Sierra’s talent for light magic could blossom at any moment and save the world?”

“…Even for me, who has been watching Miss Sierra for so long, I can’t easily envision such a future.”

“If Miss Sierra herself doesn’t want to be that person, I don’t think we need to bother her anymore.”

I deliberately put myself in Ms. Sierra’s shoes.

If I say this, President Del will feel like he is holding on to Miss Sierra, who has no interest in studying, because of his own greed.

“Even so, she is the possessor of a rare magic. There’s a limited amount of knowledge that she can learn differently than other students.

If we teach her differently, there may still be a chance for her talents to blossom.”

“The first time I used Creation Magic, an offshoot of Dark Magic, was before I was eleven years old, and like Miss Sierra, I had no background in Dark Magic, and I accomplished that much at the age of eleven through my own efforts.

With hard work and determination, even the rarest of magics can be advanced, and after two years, Miss Sierra should have shown some improvement.”

“…I suppose Student Ariana might have a point.”

“If she doesn’t show some growth by the end of this semester, I think it would be in her best interest to let Miss Sierra go.”

While Mr. Del Crouchia loves all of his students, the extreme attitude she has shown for over two years is enough to make him change his mind.

“…I’ll consider it for now.”

“I’ve been very rude, I’ll see you next class.”

“Yep. Thank you, Student Ariana.”

With a final bow to President Del, I walked out the door, leaving him to remain in the classroom, quietly thinking.

It was a few days later that Ms. Sierra was given her first academic warning.