Chapter: 162
As I watched Joy dining gracefully, radiating an elegance worthy of applause from the etiquette teacher, and Phoebe smiling subtly while skillfully managing her food without a single mess, I couldn’t help but stifle a smile.
Thank goodness for my mesugaki skills.
If not for that, I would surely be grinning like a creepy uncle right now.
I’ve always wanted to eat with others.
Eating alone, devoid of conversation, is just so lonely!
At home, it’s different!
But when you see classmates laughing and having fun with their friends while you’re all by yourself? The feeling of relative deprivation is overwhelming!
At least that’s how I feel!
I could chat with Grandpa in my head, otherwise, I’d be as lonely as a rabbit and probably would have died from it!
But at this moment, I was fulfilling my dream of dining in the academy with others.
And not just any ordinary people.
If you asked who the best person in the Soul Academy was, the answer that would pop up without hesitation would be Joy.
And then there’s Phoebe, who’s so effective that you must take her into challenges; naturally, I’ve grown fond of her.
So here I am, eating with these two.
How could I not be happy?
Ah, even just watching them chat while eating fills me up!
Is this what a mother feels like?
This is pure bliss.
[Ha. Good for you.]
“Right? I can’t believe they’re eating with me. I’m so happy.”
[…Hmm. I was speaking politically, but if you’re happy, then that’s good.]
“Political meaning?”
Pondering over Grandpa’s words, I began to understand their meaning.
Just a moment ago, I was lost in a dreamy state, not wanting to wake up from the fantasy of eating with these two, but now that I think about it, the answer became apparent.
Joy and Phoebe are close friends. This is an established fact known to all. They’ve been friends since childhood.
So if I were to bully Phoebe, Joy would be the most sensitive to react to it.
Of course, Joy is also close to me and has received kindness, so she wouldn’t act too strongly.
But if I truly bullied Phoebe, she wouldn’t be here sitting with us now.
Joy might be silly, but she knows when to step up.
In other words, the mere fact that Joy chose to eat with us guarantees that there’s no issue between these two.
After organizing my thoughts, I shared them with Grandpa, and he chuckled.
[Hoho. You’ve gained some insight.]
“It’s all thanks to you, Grandpa.”
Listening to Grandpa’s stories during various situations helped me learn naturally.
When I complimented him, Grandpa seemed pleased and chuckled.
“Joy must have intended this, right?”
[Wouldn’t you think so? She may be silly, but she is a noble from the duke’s family.]
“Impressive.”
After only seeing her silly and careless side, I naturally felt awe seeing her display her noble demeanor.
Right. Unlike me, who has little knowledge about nobility, Joy was born into a duke’s family and raised as a lady.
She’s the kind of person who stands at the center of many noble ladies’ gatherings, so she surely wouldn’t do this without some thought.
“I should be grateful too.”
Thanks to Joy taking the initiative, some of the bad rumors about me will likely die down.
Whereas my reputation has plummeted and I have no influence in the academy, Joy remains at the center of many noble ladies.
If she openly denies the rumor without grasping the situation, she’d find herself in quite a troublesome spot.
Those frightening noble ladies would pounce on her. Just like I experienced the last time in front of the infirmary.
I didn’t care, as I could push through with force, but others might not be able to do that.
I know the bullying among noble ladies is incredibly sinister.
“I need to give her a gift later.”
I might not be able to say thank you because of my mesugaki skills, but I can give her something!
It’s a way of expressing gratitude with presents instead of words.
Talking about this makes me seem like a tough guy. There’s no reason not to, right?
Anyway, since I need to visit an auction house during the break anyway, I’ll buy a gift for Joy then.
Now that I think about it, there’s quite a bit I need to get. I have quite a few people I need to give presents to, right?
I need to get one for Karl too,
and I decided I’d give one to Arthur as well,
since I worried him a lot, so I should get something for Benedict too,
and I should sprinkle some around the Alrn Order as well.
As I pondered, my brows furrowed.
Considering what I’d need for myself, I might need quite a bit of money. No, a lot!
“Lady Alrn, what are you thinking so hard about?”
Just as I reflected on all this, Joy interrupted me with concern in her voice.
The worries floating in my mind melted away as I sensed her genuine concern through her stoic gaze.
I can think about my troubles later.
What’s important is to enjoy this moment right now!
Tomorrow, I’ll probably end up eating alone again, so I can’t waste this joyous time worrying about unnecessary things!
“It’s nothing.”
“Don’t mind me. I just thought the silly noble girl ate like a silly girl.”
“…What’s silly about me? I was eating according to proper etiquette.”
‘Indeed. What’s silly about you?’
“Don’t you know? Puhaha. It’s because you’re so clueless that they call you the silly noble girl. Silly!”
“So what exactly is the problem?!”
Joy raised her voice as if she couldn’t accept being called silly, but it only provoked my wicked intentions.
Her adorably flustered expression made me want to tease her more.
“Are you not even going to try to realize it yourself? ♡ Spoiled noble girl ♡ Until when are you going to live in mama’s arms? ♡ Totally pathetic ♡”
“I have no…!”
“Puhaha.”
Even Phoebe, who had been desperately suppressing her laughter up to this point, couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out giggling.
Joy shot her a glare, but Phoebe seemed too absorbed in her laughter to care about it.
Did Phoebe’s chuckling annoy her? A frown appeared on Joy’s face.
“What’s wrong with my perfect etiquette?!”
“If you’re incompetent, at least try to make an effort, okay? ♡ Figure out what the problem is, silly noble girl ♡”
“Ugh…”
Watching Joy bite her lip and then cover her face with a fan was utterly delightful.
This must be the effect of my mesugaki skills.
There’s no way I’d find joy in tormenting someone for no reason.
*
Thanks to the rumors about me bullying Phoebe, I found myself eating with Joy and Phoebe, feeling increasingly high-spirited as I headed toward the teacher’s office.
Ah. Just thinking about Joy getting angry makes me so happy.
I don’t know who started the rumor, but I’ll make sure to express my gratitude.
Of course, even with thanks, I won’t forgive them.
There’s no way I’d forgive the rumors they spread with malicious intent, right?
The moment I get my hands on them, I’ll make sure they experience what a true mesugaki feels like.
As I walked, I pondered how best to spice things up for them, and before I knew it, the office where the combat studies professors resided came into view.
I came here because I heard some information about Naklad while talking with Phoebe previously.
The man in black who holds rumors related to Naklad.
He probably made deals with several academy students, using the promise of revealing what they wanted as bait, planting darkness within them.
Just like he did with Phoebe.
That darkness would surely be used for ill intentions later, so I needed to remove it beforehand.
Ideally, it would be best if Phoebe addressed this directly, but there’s no way I can tell someone who’s mentally unstable that “there’s dark god’s magic residing within you.”
So I needed to take action myself.
“What brings you here, Young Lady?”
As I stepped into the office, I immediately heard Karl’s voice from the side.
‘Hey, Karl?’
“Hey. Pathetic.”
“Yes, Lady. What is the matter?”
‘It’s just that…’
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“It’s nothing major. I sensed your presence walking down the corridor.”
So he sensed my presence and was lurking around while working?
What an unnecessarily impressive skill.
I might be impressed given my current situation, but considering it’s Karl, it’s a bit…
“I’ve got a bad feeling.”
That’s understandable; he seems like the type who’d use his skills to track my movements, justifying it with some lame excuse about being a knight who should remain close to his master.
Receiving my genuine disdain for his presence through my mesugaki skills, Karl seemed to have fallen apart, stumbling back with a look of despair as if the world was ending.
His face looked like a pitiful dog that was just scolded, but I wasn’t fooled.
I have to ask what he did with this later. He definitely wasted it on nonsense.
Successfully sending Karl packing, I approached Anton, who was in the middle of the office.
Since Anton started liking me after the last field trip, he welcomed me with a smile.
“What brings you here, Young Lady Alrn?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Of course, you came because you had something to say, didn’t you? You pathetic professor.”
I explained to Anton about the rumors circulating in the academy and the situation surrounding Naklad.
To the unwitting ear, it might sound like a ridiculous delusion, but Anton listened closely to what I had to say.
It’s only natural; I’m the messenger!
I single-handedly repelled the dark god’s apostle that attacked the academy and even thwarted the schemes directed at Phoebe afterward.
Having a track record against dark god’s apostles really grants credibility to what I say.
“Indeed. There is a possibility that the magic of the dark god’s apostle has been implanted within the academy’s students.”
“Exactly. So…”
“Not bad for a pathetic professor, you’re catching on quickly. Exactly. The foolish followers wouldn’t even realize the trouble they’re causing, so a total investigation is necessary.”
Naklad serves the dark god of darkness, so the magic he has implanted follows the dark god’s characteristics. In other words, it’s insidious and difficult to detect.
Therefore, we need to collaborate with the church to identify and purify those burdened with darkness.
After explaining this, Anton nodded.
“Understood, Young Lady. I will speak with the church.”
“Please make sure to do so?”
“If I hear it with one ear and let it flow out the other, expect to lose all my hair.”
“Haha. Don’t worry. With your dog right next to you, how could I possibly do that?”
Great. Then this roughly resolves things within the academy.
Imagining Naklad grimacing at everything he had prepared getting ruined made me feel really good.
Now that I think about it, he won’t be capable of mischief during finals, so I can relax.
I should ask Joy to study together!
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