That’s it.
After rationalizing the bothersome task as new content to annoy the newbies, I turned around casually and saw that the 2nd-year members were still chatting.
Since nothing urgent was happening, I decided to join their conversation.
For some reason, Alkine, who had been sitting still, stood up and followed, but I guess there’s nothing to do about it.
When Grain saw me approaching, she lightly spoke first.
“It looks pretty serious. What’s going on?”
“I heard that it’s going to get annoying from now on.”
“Oh, that’s what you mean. Hang in there.”
“Thanks…”
Even though I received some encouragement from Grain, who seemed to know the situation roughly, I didn’t feel much better.
“Seria. By any chance…”
“Oh, it’s not Grain. You can relax.”
“…I see.”
They started whispering behind me, but since those two often act like this, I just let it go, and right now, my main concern was the question at hand.
“I heard there was an objection to selecting the 2nd-year top student. What’s going on?”
“Oh, that?”
Upon hearing the question, Grain reacted immediately and pointed at Cain with her fingers.
“This fool did that.”
“Fool? I just exercised my legitimate rights.”
“You’re a fool for thinking it was legitimate.”
“Kain, sorry, but I can’t side with you on this one.”
Seeing that both Grain and Golid, who usually sides with Kain, were saying this, it seemed like Kain had really done something reckless.
In fact, with people like Kain and Golid, they were talented enough to be top students. There’s no way they joined the student council for nothing.
However, seeing their names as the top students of the 2nd year was very difficult. In the current 2nd year, there were two crazy guys known as the “mad twins.”
‘The royal followers and the goddess worshippers.’
As the title “twins” suggests, they were actually brothers. The two of them, one with a knight concept and the other with a priest concept, were truly ridiculous concept enthusiasts.
No, wait. After graduation, they actually joined the royal knight order and the goddess cult and are working there, so maybe the concept isn’t the issue?
Either way, they looked like crazy people, no matter how you looked at it.
They were so serious about their concept that they even rejected the student council invitation, saying that there was only one place for them. Meanwhile, Alkine, who only kept a concept of speech, could almost appear like a fairy.
But when it came to skill, they were undoubtedly top-notch. Apart from Alkine, even the original student council members would be no match for them in a fight. There was the now-missing Diggers, who could at least be compared to the former vice president, so I didn’t need to explain much.
Actually, the top and second-top student positions were filled with their names.
‘I hope they come and challenge me first.’
By the way, the royal follower is the president of Seria’s fan club, and the goddess worshipper is the representative of Lillith’s followers.
With the rumors about my grades spreading, these were the people I would inevitably cross paths with soon.
They were troublesome opponents. They had unusually many traits, and they used them excellently.
In the later stages, they would appear just one step below the strongest characters in the world, or something like that.
Anyway, they were fairly well-known and respected within the academy, so beating them would make for a pretty decent stepping stone.
Given their personalities, it wasn’t impossible that they might come after me.
Hmm… but what’s important right now isn’t that.
I needed to figure out why Kain had raised an objection to the results of these skilled people.
“Why is that?”
“Hey, listen, junior. That Mitaine guy, he definitely collapsed after a joint attack from me and Golid, right? But when they were carrying him out, he suddenly got up and tried to hit me in the back of the head.”
When I asked, Kain quickly launched into his story. Mitaine was the royal follower’s name.
Even though it was a joint attack, he knocked out Mitaine? That’s impressive.
But that was about as far as my impression went. His story didn’t really provide a reason to object.
Because in the 2nd-year brawl, if you get knocked out, you can rejoin the fight after resting.
It was one of those rules where you can keep fighting during the time limit, and if you’re exhausted, you can leave and come back. So, it’s fine if you hit someone in the back of the head.
“That’s not the real reason, right? There’s something else going on, isn’t there?”
So, I asked again.
Although Kain was impulsive and lighthearted, he wasn’t the type to cause trouble without a reason. There had to be something behind it.
Thinking that, I asked the question, and Kain looked at Grain and Golid before sneaking up to me.
Then, he whispered something I hadn’t known, just loud enough for me to hear.
“…That guy, when I collapsed, he cursed at Grain.”
“…Ah.”
So he got mad and just poked at him because of that?
In other words, Kain wasn’t really interested in the top student position. He just wanted to knock Mitaine out of it, so he objected.
I finally understood, but… even if this fact was revealed, I didn’t think he would be able to avoid looking foolish.
If anything, he’d look even more foolish.
But well. From the academy’s perspective, it probably wasn’t an entirely ridiculous objection.
Even though it seemed like Kain was acting recklessly, he must have submitted the objection systematically, so it was probably accepted. In the first place, Mitaine and his twin brother, Ratein, were only a paper-thin difference in skill… one was a swordsman, and the other was a mage, so it wasn’t easy to distinguish them precisely.
So, I could understand Kain’s actions and the academy’s response.
“But what did he say that made you go this far?”
That was the reason for Kain’s objection, but I was surprised that Mitaine had cursed at Grain.
What would make someone who’s not really interested in anyone except Seria, who has ties to the royal family, curse at Grain?
Curious, I asked, and Kain seemed to get angry again, furrowing his brows as he continued.
“He said my thoughts were wrong, and that I was trash for hanging out with someone like him.”
So it was over something like that. I had known, but he really is serious about Grain.
Or not? Should I have done the same if someone had insulted Seria or Alkine?
By the way, thoughts… I had a vague idea, but…
Just in case, I asked Seria.
“Seria. Did you do anything with Grain before the midterms?”
“With Grain? No, nothing.”
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but it didn’t seem like she had anything in mind.
Well then. The reason was clear.
“Grain.”
“Yeah, why?”
Grain must have said something to Mitaine.
After all, they were both in the 2nd year, so they could at least talk to each other, and during that process, Grain must have said something wrong.
“Did you ever talk to Mitaine? Well… I did talk about Seria and you…”
“What did you say?”
“Well… um… I said you two get along really well.”
“Ah, come on. Grain, why would you say something like that to others?”
“Well, I mean… I just said it because you two really do get along… yeah, right. You two get along.”
…Seeing how awkward he was, it didn’t seem like a compliment.
Did he subtly criticize you by saying you’re a little quirky?
Anyway, it became clear. This was the reason.
If you tell the fan club president that someone she already finds annoying gets along with her, of course, she’d get upset.
…Wait a second. Does this mean she’s already sharpening her knives?
If Grain is saying something like that openly to Kain, I feel like just a little bait would be enough for her to bite.
“Seria, if we go out now, events are going to happen, right?”
“You told me not to call running into people an event.”
“I’m just saying it like that.”
“So, are you going? I don’t mind following you.”
“Why the sudden change? Sounds fun. Can I follow?”
“Well… I was planning to get some fresh air, so this works out.”
One by one, Seria, Grain, and Alkine, who had awkwardly reset her concept, joined in.
Behind me were Seria, Alkine, and behind Grain were Kain and Golid, so everyone who had been inside earlier came rushing out, but… I guess I just have to let it go.
For now… should we go to where the most people are?
At one of the 2nd-year club buildings.
Although it was a club building, it was actually used more for other activities. Here, two very similar-looking men were having a conversation.
“Hey, Mitaine.”
“Ah, Ratein. Did you forget that if we steal the top student position again, I was supposed to start calling you hyung?”
“Ah, seriously. Fine, hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“Really pissed off right now.”
The twins, Mitaine and Ratein, who had taken the top two spots of the 2nd year, were briefly bickering over their titles. But soon, the younger twin, Ratein, abruptly changed the subject, seeming not to want to continue on that topic.
“Forget that. I just got a message. They say that guy is at the central plaza.”
“Really?”
“Why are you so indifferent? Aren’t you going to go?”
When Ratein asked, Mitaine sneered and replied.
“Hey, I’m the fan club president, and you’re the representative of the followers, so if we show up from the start, it’ll look bad, won’t it? Let’s watch what others do and test the waters first…”
“They say there are four women with him.”
“…Who?”
“Grain, the student council president, the princess, and the saintess.”
“Let’s go now. That guy’s completely crazy, isn’t he?”
Why is he hanging out with so many women when he’s with the princess?
Well, of course, it’s also annoying if he’s not just with the princess. Anyway, that guy was definitely crazy.
Ratein also seemed pretty upset that the saintess was involved, but there was still a lingering hesitation, like something was bothering him.
“Are you sure it’s fine? I’m still feeling uneasy.”
“Hey, you heard about their practical exam, right?”
“That rich knight thing?”
“If you took that test, how would you do?”
“Right, I’d just crush it.”
“Yeah, but can you really compare yourself to him?”
It was funny that the 2nd-year students were comparing their skills to the 1st-years, but both of them seemed to have completely stopped caring about that.
They had already passed that point long ago.
“We need to go and give them some mental education. This scoundrel is done for.”
“Ha. Yeah. We’ve been too scared of 1st-years so far. I’ll go too.”
The two stood up and immediately headed to the central plaza where Rudion was said to appear.
And there, they encountered…
“…He’s pretty good.”
“Yeah. Are you sure you’re okay with this, hyung?”
The miserable defeat scene of the 4th-year senior… the vice president of Seria’s fan club.