No matter how much the cadets’ gazes improved, the fact that they were rivals didn’t change.
And even if their brainwashing was lifted and malice disappeared, that didn’t mean resentment wouldn’t accumulate in the future.
In that sense, there was one being who continually built up that malice, and that was none other than Ramihi Kihmuhir.
For Kihmuhir, whether the opponent harbored ill feelings towards him was not a big deal. Raised among pure-blood Elves, she judged solely based on the ‘value’ the opponent possessed, which meant their abilities and skills.
Of course, even the Elven Society was ultimately a place where people lived, so it was impossible for the society to operate solely on meritocracy. They did have some tolerance in certain areas.
For example, even if someone was not as strong in combat as others, if that person was genuinely kind or good with words, that was also considered a form of ‘ability.’ If someone was remarkably beautiful or could sing well, that too would count as an ability.
However, all these add-ons had to be built on the basic premise that they possessed at least the minimum abilities to handle the tasks assigned to them; that ‘basic premise’ is, of course, a rule that only applies to pure-blooded Elves.
Other races, who were fundamentally ineligible to join the Elven society, almost never caused direct friction with the Elves, regardless of their abilities.
Anyway, when other races meet Elves, the most crucial thing is that ‘first impression.’
Besides Elves, when meeting another race, they first look at appearance, then listen to their voice, and finally observe that person’s personality and actions to decide if they’re worth engaging with.
This standard can differ among Elves. The more conservative Elves, who have been in the village for an extended period, tend to have standards that reach for the sky, while those who mix with humans might have lower benchmarks.
Naturally, while Ramihi Kihmuhir, who has to live among various races and is the embodiment of a righteous heroine, had lower standards for an Elf…
The issue was that the cadets had ruined that ‘first impression.’
Elves believe they rigorously filter others. They take pride in it, thinking that their strict standards are objective and rational.
Of course, such standards are not easily broken, and they are extremely averse to others ignoring them.
For example, if someone they acknowledged is ignored by another.
It’s quite common among Elves. However, even if opinions differ amongst Elves, if the opponent is an ‘ordinary Elf’ in their eyes, they trust that Elf’s standards. Thus, the dismissive Elf corrects their opinion, and the disregarded Elf accepts it.
The problem was that the cadets were not Elves and didn’t exactly respect Kihmuhir when they were bullying Erica.
Naturally, the impression of ‘vermin’ that Kihmuhir had towards the cadets has not changed.
Ah, by the way, according to the setting, Ramihi Kihmuhir was an accessible girl just for the protagonist. She boasted a handsome appearance and a charming voice, making a fantastic first impression, and with abilities that exceeded expectations, it was almost mysterious why someone like Lee Ji-An would enter into such a realm.
Of course, he hadn’t appeared in the main story yet.
I hope this setting works here too, and that Jian can control that Elf heroine.
*
Why isn’t this event wrapping up?
Seriously, those witches are no help.
Oh, of course, it makes sense they wouldn’t help since they’ve been villains from the beginning.
But leaving a ripple of this magnitude even after death—there shouldn’t be anything like that, right?
Or could a strong being indeed leave behind such a ripple? Even though both died incredibly anticlimactically.
With the Witch of Jealousy gone and the magic she had spread also vanished, the cadets returned to normal, but their image hadn’t changed much toward them.
Erica was the most notable victim of bullying by the cadets, but fundamentally, everyone had been nitpicking about something, so the impression that Academy students had regarding the Officer School cadets wasn’t exactly positive.
Even if there was a student who wanted to apologize, unless it’s in a blatant situation like Erica’s, it’s nearly impossible to do so properly. How could anyone remember a student who purposely nudged them on the way? It wouldn’t have been just one or two.
Unlike the cadets affected by the witch’s magic, the negative feelings the Academy students held were ‘real’ malice.
And at the top of that malice was none other than Ramihi Kihmuhir.
“Did you hear? Apparently, Ramihi had another duel yesterday.”
“……Who did she fight this time?”
“Yeah, it really seems like they got beaten to a pulp.”
In the morning, just like any other day, after arriving first at the school and doing some quick cleaning, Selena, who came to school with Jian, said that.
Well, getting beaten up wasn’t going to lead to death. At least, from what I know, the only being strong enough to break the auditorium’s accident prevention magic was Lee Ji-An. Demons or witches might be able to, but obviously, they’re excluded.
So, no matter how earnestly Kihmuhir fought to kill her opponent, they would never actually die—
But getting beaten badly enough that their face would swell up is certainly possible. That’s a different issue from life-threatening injuries.
And someone who gets beaten that much, obviously, wouldn’t have good feelings toward the one who did the beating.
I let out a long sigh.
In this case, the disappearance of the witch’s magic is hardly meaningful. If they keep colliding and fostering bad feelings, a situation even more dire than before the witch’s magic could arise.
In that sense, the Witch of Jealousy had done something quite remarkable. Of course, whether she calculated all this or it was just a product of coincidence, I couldn’t really say.
“And… there are more rumors about Kihmuhir swirling around.”
“More rumors?”
Is there any other corner for an ill feeling to arise? Kihmuhir, with her pretty face befitting of a heroine, probably would have been liked by the cadets if only she hadn’t clashed with them. If the word ‘vermin’ hadn’t spread, some male cadets might have even liked her.
“There’s talk that her beating the Officer School kids might be her trying to imitate you and Jian.”
“Eh?”
What on earth does that even mean?
“You did beat up those two who were picking a fight with you last time.”
“Well… yeah?”
To say I beat them up sounds a bit off, but it’s true I swung my morning star at one of their heads with full force.
I was outnumbered 2 to 1, after all.
“And Jian did… it was different in scale, but he did something similar too.”
That was also true. If considering individual skills, it was almost like Jian gave a one-sided match, even if he was outnumbered. He had the strength to devour anything, witch or otherwise, so it’s obvious regular students were no match.
“What Ramihi does is almost the same. The only difference is that there’s no one to heal them.”
“But there’s Erica in E-Class, right?”
Though her power was of a different sort, Erica’s ability was quite sought after by the higher-ups. Unlike me, who could only use Holy Power within limitations, Erica’s power was effectively passive.
If someone just watched from the sidelines, the cadets probably would be healed in real time, right?
“Of course, she wouldn’t tell Erica. If she heard, she’d probably tell her not to come. What’s the point of beating someone if they don’t feel it?”
“That’s true.”
What would Erica do?
Hmm, actually, the settings for characters who haven’t appeared in person are barely a framework, so I’m not sure. In fact, I had written detailed settings for races, witches, demons, and gods while playing with the lore, but I only managed to understand Kihmuhir’s mindset a bit.
However, regarding Erica… from what I’ve seen, she seemed timid and kind, but I’m not sure if that kindness was close to agape.
Which means I can’t tell if she would harbor feelings of resentment toward someone who bullied her or if she might forgive them entirely. Given that she’s a heroine in an Academy story, she would at least have a sense of justice, but there are cases like Kihmuhir too.
“Anyway, due to this, the Officer School cadets are looking at E-Class with very mixed feelings. Even if their feelings have returned to normal, any feelings that develop afterward are a separate matter.”
Of course, they wouldn’t openly show their disdain. Only us who were there at that time, along with the high-ranking folks who probably received reports, would know that this was the witch’s doing. There aren’t any loose lips around here who would carelessly broadcast such important information.
“Should we go intervene directly…?”
“That probably wouldn’t help either.”
As Jian muttered from the side while listening quietly, Satsuki arrived just in time to drop her bag on the desk and said that.
“Kihmuhir is a pure-blooded Elf. Plus, the name Kihmuhir is renowned not just in this world, but even back when Elves lived in the original world. If anything, she would be even stricter than other Elves.”
There was a prick in Satsuki’s voice as she said this.
“Tighter, you say?”
When Jian tilted his head in confusion, Satsuki glanced away awkwardly. It was too long a story to explain all at once. From the get-go, humans didn’t know much about the lives of Elves since no other races could truly fit into Elven society.
In the extreme communal society of Elves, those who couldn’t fulfill their roles were mere hindrances. They believe it’s ‘natural’ that they don’t even have the right to coexist.
…Although I did set it up that way.
“What pure-blooded Elves believe is… usually just themselves.”
After a long pause, Satsuki said that.
“They don’t forgive other races for denying their beliefs. Ramihi Kihmuhir would probably be the same.”
Hearing Satsuki’s neatly summarized long explanation, Jian frowned.
“So, they don’t consider the possibility that they might be wrong?”
“Well, something like that.”
Satsuki was expelled from Elven society because she couldn’t fully perform the tasks of a pure Elf due to her human blood. Naturally, she wouldn’t have a good feeling about Elves.
Still, considering her past, this was a rather objective evaluation.
After getting my first smartphone since coming here, I tried to gather as much knowledge about this world as I could, and some posts were written by people who had directly encountered Elves.
Usually, it starts and ends with swearing.
Occasionally, when there were no cursing comments, someone would inevitably say that the Elf was a refined gentleman.
Honestly, I would have cursed too. Their technology was lacking, and while they blocked everything with their own abilities, they wouldn’t even try to accept other races’ developments. They often looked down on all races except for Elves.
In this world, Elves literally lived in the forest, building treetop houses and grazing on grass.
If you lack technology, you have to work hard with your body.
By the way, I have no idea why they live like that. I didn’t set any specifics.
“Ugh, are we really just going to let this joint training end like this?”
Aurora muttered anxiously.
Would it be such a big deal if it ended this way? It likely depends on whether they hold onto their ill feelings until they become soldiers or eventually realize that it was nothing over time. Even if they did hang onto it, it wouldn’t change the whole group just because one batch thought that way.
But is it fine to just let it end like this?
“….”
Linea was deep in thought.
Due to the characteristics of Elven culture, it’s incredibly difficult for a church to penetrate. No matter how much welfare—a coercive proposal—they put forward, they would refuse, claiming, ‘We have our way,’ and only a minuscule number of Elves would go to maintain minimal interaction.
Approaching Elves outside in nun’s outfits would likely end with hearing unpleasant words. Of course, in my case, I had the ‘ability’ to lightly cover up such feelings. Kihmuhir had smiled when standing in front of me, after all.
“There’s… not no way at all.”
As I cautiously opened my mouth, the kids focused their gazes on me.
“Of course, I don’t know everything about Elves; I’ve only read about them,”
If I claim to know, it would complicate matters, so let’s just go with that for now.
“First of all, the Elves never treat someone who’s ‘self-acknowledged’ poorly. Right?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Satsuki nodded. Even if she hadn’t interacted much with Elves aside from a very young childhood, she surely knew them since her father was an Elf.
In reality, I hadn’t written much about Satsuki’s father, just noting ‘Dad is an Elf,’ so I couldn’t know about his actual personality.
He could be a stubborn Elf, or perhaps since he chose to live among humans for Satsuki’s sake, he might be quite open-minded.
He might even have been a person who wandered the outside world similar to Ramihi Kihmuhir. No, it’s highly probable that’s the case.
If not, he wouldn’t have fallen in love with a human. Only a tiny number of humans can gain entry to Elf villages with permission, and they wouldn’t have had a good ‘first impression’ if they entered without approval.
“Then, does it mean that even after this, if acknowledged, Kihmuhir would also recognize the Officer cadets?”
“That’s… possible, but is it really? They already have bad first impressions from the start.”
Naturally, it’s nearly impossible.
As long as no one incites it, of course!
People generally don’t want to earn recognition from those with negative feelings toward them. Unless the other person is attractive enough to surpass those negative feelings.
Of course, Ramihi Kihmuhir is beautiful. In this world, where most people are handsome and pretty, among Elves, she would undoubtedly be seen as exceptionally beautiful.
It’s likely she was the one carefully chosen to avoid tarnishing her faction’s reputation.
But that beauty is far from enough to negate malice.
In normal circumstances, that would be fine. But there’s one reason it may not be.
And that’s me.
Saying that this sounds painfully confident, but the appearance of the body I’m currently using is extraordinarily beautiful. Even if Kihmuhir’s face is on par, I overwhelmingly outshine her in body. Plus, I’m misunderstood to have a good personality, making me a literal ‘comparison target.’
Of course, that charm is of a completely different sort, but let’s not sweat the details.
So, it’s unavoidable that thoughts like, ‘She’s like that, yet why is that guy like this?’ start to form.
Am I being too narcissistic?
Well, whether I am or not doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that Kihmuhir’s image is constantly deteriorating, and in turn, the Academy’s image becomes negative too.
At this rate, this joint training is as good as a total failure. If the side effects are too severe, there may even be considerations to rethink the future joint trainings.
As someone who will continue living in this world, it’s best to minimize the seeds of discord.
So, how could I earn Kihmuhir’s recognition?
It’s not as complicated as it sounds. As mentioned earlier, Elves sometimes recognize others based on abilities even if they aren’t very physically capable.
So, if someone persistently approaches Kihmuhir to clarify misunderstandings, engaging in duels while persistently challenging her, and even if they lose, they must continue trying to earn her appreciation for their tenacity.
However, as stated earlier, very few people wish to be recognized by someone they dislike. Usually, they would avoid it out of disgust. It’s rare for someone to have the guts to persistently approach someone they don’t like, trying to clear misunderstandings, and to make them smile with sheer persistence.
It would be a fitting description for Lee Ji-An, but in this case, it wouldn’t help. After all, he’s an Academy student, and Kihmuhir likely acknowledges all Academy students as a whole. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have adapted at all.
While there’s a method to charm Kihmuhir by using Jian—who is an ‘easy woman’ to him—this is the worst approach. The moment Jian glances at a specific girl, other girls won’t just sit still, and most importantly, this rebel would likely refuse, saying, ‘I can’t use other people’s emotions like that.’
I needed someone other than Jian, one of the cadets.
Someone uncompromising and steadfast, who pushes through what they believe to be right, possess unwavering perseverance, and has a mindset that wouldn’t let the other dismiss their beliefs. And that person must also be a cadet of the Officer School.
Fortunately, I knew such a person well.
The president of the Army Officer School Student Council, Lynn Mayer.
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