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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It was unfortunate, truly unfortunate. If they’d been ordinary Royal Noble brats, he would have let them go, calming his anger.
He would have vowed to make them pay next time and returned to his dormitory. But they’d made a crucial mistake.
They’d angered him further.
‘Horse’s lackeys!’
That gay bastard.
The thought of them being his subordinates fueled his rage. He chased them down, one by one, beating them senseless.
How did he catch them all?
‘Do you think I don’t know every nook and cranny of this place after eight regressions?’
Despite his loner tendencies, he’d explored every corner of the academy, searching for hidden events and system exploits.
He’d even snuck into the girls’ restroom and locker room. He knew exactly where they’d hide.
“H-How?!”
He found one hiding in the boys’ locker room.
“Obvious!”
Another in the training grounds storage room.
“Gotcha!”
“Aaaaaah!”
One running towards the second-year dormitory.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Aaaaaah!”
“A race? If I catch you, you’re dead!”
“Aaaaaaaagh! Mommy!”
One even hid in the girls’ restroom.
‘Thwack!’
“Not here?”
‘Sob…No…!’
‘Thwack!’
“Not here either?”
He checked each stall, banging on the doors with his wooden sword.
‘Tap!’
He heard a faint sound, a noble trying to hide his breathing, pretending to be gone.
“…Found you.”
“Aaaaaah!”
A scream.
Egenir, already on top of the stall, looked down. The scream and the falling wooden sword were the last things the noble remembered.
“Teacher! Teacher!”
The last one ran towards the faculty office, seeking refuge with the teachers.
“What’s going on?”
A deep voice echoed from within.
“T-Teacher?!”
“A student? What are you doing here so late?”
“A crazy guy is chasing me! Teacher! Help!”
“Crazy guy?”
‘Thud!’
Egenir emerged from the bushes.
“Are you talking about me?”
“Aaaaaah! How?!”
“I’ve fought demons and all sorts of monsters. You think I can’t imitate a scared little brat?”
“Aaaaaah! Stay back!”
‘Thwack!’
He’d gathered all five and laid them out on the training grounds.
Then, using his swordsmanship, he carved a message into the ground.
The next day…
“What’s that?”
“Aren’t those…”
The second-year student council members.
The not-so-prestigious swordsmen who boasted about their connections to the Royal Noble faction were lying unconscious on the training grounds.
“What the hell?”
The students arriving for class stared in disbelief.
“There’s something written there.”
A large message carved into the ground.
[Horse, you bastard. I’m returning your trash.]
And a perfectly drawn image of a raised middle finger. The students were confused.
“H-Horse? The student council president?”
An unknown assailant had beaten up five student council members and declared war on the president.
The teachers rushed over, carrying the unconscious students to the infirmary.
“Who did this?”
The students, when they woke up, refused to answer. They were afraid of Egenir, and they didn’t want to admit they’d been defeated by a first-year.
“Tell me who it was! I’ll have them expelled!”
A thug who’d assaulted five students in the middle of the night. They closed their eyes, silently pleading for the teachers to stop asking.
“Such violence on school grounds…unacceptable.”
Then, a figure appeared, someone even the teachers treated with respect.
A prince, a member of the Royal Family.
“Your Highness!”
“Your Highness!”
That confident smile, that regal posture…
“Teachers, may I speak with the students privately?”
“O-Of course.”
The teachers immediately backed away. They couldn’t afford to offend the youngest Sword Expert, a prince. They practically ran.
The nurses and doctors also kept their distance, leaving only the six of them.
“Your Highness!”
“There’s no need. I know what happened.”
“…”
“Are you injured?”
He offered them high-grade healing potions. They accepted them gratefully.
“Th-Thank you!”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
“So…”
Horse began, his voice calm.
“I believe I instructed you to observe from a distance.”
The five froze.
“Th-That…”
“These are top-grade potions. They’ll heal any injury.”
“Th-Thank…Aaaaagh!”
“Please don’t scream. It makes punishment…difficult.”
He casually broke one of the student’s fingers.
“You committed this act with your hands, so your hands shall be punished.”
“S-Sorry…Ugh…”
He held the student’s hand, gently squeezing. One by one, he broke their fingers, one or two per person.
The nurses and doctors, too far away to notice, only saw Horse shaking hands with them.
“Consider this a warning. And…get well soon.”
“Thank you…Your Highness…”
They winced, clutching their injured hands.
“Now then.”
Horse stepped outside.
“Those students are useless. Expel them from the student council.”
“Understood.”
“After this incident, no one will dare approach him.”
A mad dog.
A walking time bomb.
But to Horse, Egenir was a rough diamond, sparkling with potential.
“An uncut gem appears worthless. But once polished, it becomes priceless.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
Horse smiled.
The insult, carved into the training grounds, seemed to have fueled his possessiveness.
“I received a letter. I should respond in person.”
[Horse’s affinity increased by 3.]
‘He’s definitely gay!’
Egenir, groaning as he made his way to Spenny’s magic studies classroom, was disgusted by Horse’s affinity increase.
“…”
He opened the door to find Cecilia waiting for him.
“Why are you…”
“I submitted my application for the magic studies department.”
“…What?”
She was planning to stick to him like glue.
“Aren’t you preparing for the student council elections?”
Cecilia had been busy building her support base. This sudden change of plans was puzzling.
“I…need more time.”
“Time?”
“There’s a rumor that the current president canceled his early graduation.”
“What?”
“It’s just a rumor, but I heard it from the teachers, so it’s probably true.”
He remembered Horse’s creepy smile.
‘That bastard…’
Was this turning into some kind of academy BL story, where he had to fight off a gay prince obsessed with his…virtue? A prince willing to use his power and influence to…acquire him?
And…
“This bastard…”
Spenny hadn’t arrived yet. He sensed a familiar, hostile presence. There was only one person who radiated such an aura.
“The magic studies department?”
An unwelcome guest. He knew exactly why he was here.
“This gay bastard…”
“I received your message. The last part was…quite impressive.”
The image of the middle finger.
“Touched by my artistic talent?”
“More than you know.”
“I can carve it into your flesh if you’d like.”
“If you can?”
He didn’t need a sword. Horse, a master of the Royal Swordsmanship, far surpassed the academy’s Dragon Swordsmanship.
His delicate fingers seemed to gleam like blades. Egenir instinctively reached for his wooden sword.
“Hmm?”
Horse smiled.
“That sword…it looks a little…burnt, doesn’t it?”
“I’ve been handling it…roughly.”
“Oh? I’d like to see that.”
A glint of competitiveness, of possessiveness, in Horse’s eyes.
“Next time, bring at least twenty of them. Not those weaklings.”
“You didn’t like my gift?”
“It wasn’t even a warm-up.”
“I’ll avoid such…disappointing gifts in the future.”
“Your head would make a nice gift.”
“I’m honored.”
Egenir finally understood why Horse was here.
‘It wasn’t intentional.’
The attack hadn’t been Horse’s idea.
His subordinates had acted on their own, trying to impress him. And Horse, having been personally insulted…
‘He’s here to cover his tracks.’
He was trying to smooth things over, to prevent any further escalation.
‘Why does he think I’m so important?’
Was it some kind of princely intuition? Or just good judgment?
He could sense Horse’s desire to either possess him or break him. And Horse could sense Egenir’s readiness to attack, to tear him apart.
“If you bring those weaklings again, I’ll crush you, prince or not.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Baron Talfon.”
“Ugh…”
He maintained his arrogant tone even when at a disadvantage. That condescending attitude was grating.
“…What’s going on?”
Cecilia had been watching.
“…Nothing.”
He tried to think of an excuse, but Cecilia wasn’t stupid.
“Last night…did you…”
And then…
“You should have called me!!!”
Cecilia’s aura exploded.
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