Chapter 11: After The Sparring

When the returning professor yelled at us, I thought I would receive a pretty big penalty.

After all, it’s not like I didn’t do anything wrong.

Although I was the one who requested the duel first, and I was the one who started the fight first.

Anyway, I was the one who accepted the spar.

Since I thought I had some responsibility, I had a rough idea of what kind of penalty I would receive.

“Lian Trice.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“You will not be given a penalty. From now on, when you receive a duel like that, don’t just accept it.”

However, the head student in charge of the corporal punishment of the Academy students surprisingly didn’t give me any penalty.

Hmm. This is really surprising. It makes me curious.

“Can I ask why I didn’t receive any penalty?”

“This is the first time in my life that I’ve ever wondered why I didn’t receive a penalty.”

The student council president looked at me with a blank smile as if he was going to see something funny, and soon began to tell me why I didn’t receive a penalty.

“First of all, because the causal relationship was clear. According to Ellis Akstra, Philip and Edgar were the ones who provoked you first.”

“…”

“Second, because you sparred while following the minimum safety rules. The professor in charge wasn’t there to watch, but no one got hurt in the end.”

“I see.”

In summary, this was what he said: the cause of this sparring was fundamentally theirs, and no one got hurt during the process. Since Sacred Academy values growth among students through sparring more than anything else, the student council decided that I was not at fault in this incident. That was roughly what he meant.

And after hearing the results, I suddenly became curious about one thing.

“So Philip and Edgar received a penalty?”

“Yes. Since they were both at fault for harassing a student from the same academy, they were each given their own penalty.”

News that would completely clear my clogged stomach.

I’ve finally seen those two get a penalty in my lifetime.

It feels like only yesterday that I saw them sneaking alcohol into the academy where alcohol is prohibited and getting half-drunk during class.

I guess I feel a sense of satisfaction for no reason.

It wasn’t my intention, but in the end, I ended up implementing my own sense of justice.

“Are there any more questions?”

“Yes. That’s all.”

“Then, quickly move to the club office. Club time has already started a long time ago.”

The head of the student council clearly ordered me to get out of sight and not disturb the person I was working on if I had nothing to do. Of course, I had been waiting for that order to some extent.

“Understood. Thank you, Professor.”

“Go in.”

After bowing my head once in greeting, I left the student council office.

“……Lian Trice.”

“…”

“Come with me for a moment. I have something to tell you.”

Outside the student office, Ellis Akstra was standing there, leaning against the wall, staring at me.

As if she had been waiting for me to come out.

***

A quiet café inside the academy.

I followed Ellis, who had told me to follow her, and arrived there.

“……There aren’t many people here?”

“Well, it’s because it’s club time. It’s not like there are many people in the first place.”

As Ellis had said, the atmosphere of the café was quite different from that of a regular café.

If the atmosphere of a regular café was bright and modern, the atmosphere here was slightly dark and old-fashioned.

I felt bad for the café owner, but I had a feeling that there weren’t many customers.

“That’s why I like it so much. Other cafés are too crowded.”

“I didn’t know you were afraid of crowded places.”

“Of course, I don’t mind it normally. But sometimes, I want to work alone in a quiet place.”

In other words, she was using this place as a substitute for her own office.

“……Okay. Well, that aside.”

“If you have anything to ask me, ask now. I’ll have a lot to ask you later.”

“You don’t have to go to the club?”

“……Yes?”

“Club. As you said, it’s club time right now.”

It was a thought that suddenly occurred to me.

I was called by the student council president as soon as the sparring session was over, but Ellis should have gone to the club right after class was over.

How on earth did she ignore the fact that it was club time and talk to me here?

And, this answer was revealed so quickly that it was ridiculous.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?”

“What?”

“My club exists only on paper and has no real form. It’s a virtual club. I made it by gathering students who don’t want to belong to any clubs.”

Ah.

So there was a way. I didn’t know that. It was okay to just make a fake club.

As if reading my expression as I looked at her in disbelief, Ellis continued to explain.

“Of course, it was possible because I was the top scorer in the written exam. What professor would turn down someone who ranked first in the written exam wanting to create their own club?

“…”

“If I had to be specific, I was trying to let my guard down. ‘Wouldn’t someone who ranked first in the written exam create a club just to skip a club?'”

Ellis smiled wickedly as if she found that really funny.

Watching her, I realized once again that Ellis was Ellis.

I really shouldn’t look bad to her.

There was a reason why she said such things in the original.

“Well, do you have any more questions?”

“……I guess so? That was the end of the questions in the first place.”

“Okay. Then it’s my turn to ask you.”

Ellis took a deep breath and began to ask me questions.

“I’ll get straight to the point. When did you start learning swordsmanship?”

“About 8 years ago?”

That’s usually when nobles first learned swordsmanship.

Perhaps the original Lian also picked up a sword around that time.

Ellis changed the content of her question as if she had expected this answer.

“I’ll ask the question again. When did you really start training in swordsmanship, aside from mandatory education?”

“About a year?”

“If it’s a year… Is that when you decided to shed your image as a loser?”

“About that. That’s when you started training in swordsmanship as well.”

“Why did you start?”

“Why?”

“Yes. There must be a reason or trigger for someone who had never properly held a sword before to suddenly start training in swordsmanship.”

Ellis asked me as if she was determined to get an answer, her red eyes shining.

Very unfortunately, that wasn’t a question I could sincerely answer.

“It suddenly occurred to me that there might come a day when I have to use it.”

“Oh. Seriously. And thinking back on the sparring we had earlier, it was all a case of wisdom.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, I didn’t expect that, actually. You haven’t even told me why you stopped being such a jerk.”

“……You’re not going to believe me after all?”

Ellis stared at me, her expression a mix of curiosity and skepticism. I could see that she was trying to piece together the puzzle of my transformation, but the truth was too complicated to explain.

In order to clarify why Lian Trice, who had once been a coward, suddenly started training in swordsmanship, I would have to reveal that I was not the same person as the Lian of the past.

And explaining that was a problem in itself.

There was no way that Ellis, who was more objective than anyone when it came to information, would believe this fact.

How could she accept that the current me was a completely different person from the Lian Trice of the past?

It would be fortunate if she didn’t think I was crazy.

To that extent, the concept of possession was impossible to explain to others.

Fortunately, Ellis nodded shortly after.

“Well, I didn’t expect that, actually. You haven’t even told me why you stopped being such a jerk.”

“……You’re not going to believe me after all?”

“Would you believe it? You didn’t discover gravity because an apple suddenly fell on the street, and you just suddenly thought it would be useful someday?”

“It’s not like you’re some kind of prophet or anything,” Ellis continued, letting out a deep sigh. “Ugh, I was the only one being sincere again. I only gave you the information that was true.”

“……Is that intentional? It’s just because I found out about you.”

“Shut up. No matter what the reason was, it’s true that I only gave you the information that was true.”

“…”

“It’s okay. I got something from you today. I won’t bother you anymore.”

It was a welcome remark, but there was one word that stuck in my head.

“……You got something from me?”

“Yes. Someone as dull as you would never notice, though.”

“…”

“You probably won’t notice it unless I tell you.”

Ellis was now cursing openly. Normally, she would have asked what that meant.

“Isn’t that so? Mr. Dull?”

For some reason, Ellis’s expression as she said that seemed much brighter than usual.

“…….Yeah, well.”

I didn’t bother asking why.

“Now go ahead. You’re in a club, right?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“You were in the same club as one of the third-year seniors, right?”

“…….That’s right.”

“Oh, you’re going to get in trouble. Of course, that’s not my job.”

“…”

Hmm.

Thinking back, it would have been better to somehow find out the reason.

I felt belated regret, but it was already too late.

Which meant that I was already late for the club time.

‘….I’m going to get in trouble again.’

With an uneasy feeling that I would get scolded by Senior Tinia, even though I hadn’t gotten scolded by the student council president, I left the café, leaving behind Ellis, who was waving at me.