Group Project (4)

Though we got off to a rocky start, the project itself proceeded smoothly enough. The topic of our group project was perfectly suited to me, and Leona, who had clashed with Aira, followed along afterward without a word of complaint.

Benjamin, who had nearly been caught in the crossfire, was able to participate in the project after receiving a book from Leona. Thus, our serious discussion began on Friday evening, after all our classes had ended.

"Ah, when will Ms. Aira get here?"

"I don't know either. She'll show up eventually."

It was Friday, and we were standing outside the restaurant we'd chosen as our meeting place.

Benjamin and I talked about where Aira was, since she showed no sign of appearing. Leona stood beside us without saying much, but her already stiff expression had grown even more rigid.

There were no smartphones here, let alone telephones, so not knowing where she was was simply frustrating.

"She definitely told us to meet in Military Studies..."

As Benjamin's question suggested, every member of our group took Military Studies. So after all our classes ended, Aira had called us together and stressed that we had to be there by the appointed time.

She had even said she'd warn anyone who was late, yet she herself had missed the meeting time. What on earth was she trying to do?

"What if she doesn't show up? She can't do that..."

When Benjamin muttered anxiously, I glanced at him. He seemed so worried that Aira wouldn't come that he was gnawing on his fingernails out of habit.

I figured I should reassure him. I looked at him and spoke as though it were nothing.

"Don't be so anxious. She must have some reason she can't talk about. If Aira doesn't come after ten minutes, let's discuss it among ourselves."

"C-Could we do that?"

"Why not? It'd be a waste to call it a day just because Ms. Aira isn't here."

"But Ms. Aira is the group leader... She might scold us later for doing it without her."

I was momentarily baffled by Benjamin's answer. What the fuck was he talking about? He seemed to think of Aira as someone above him. But thinking it over, Benjamin was a commoner, while Aira was the daughter of a marquis.

The difference in status was enormous, so Benjamin naturally regarded Aira as someone far above him. It was one of the ills of the class system, and I couldn't say anything about it even though I wanted to.

I might reveal my true thoughts for no reason and get strange looks in return.

'Am I the weird one here?'

Probably.

Even Marie of the Rechillis family, who was practicing noblesse oblige, considered it natural for commoners to speak to her politely. The reason I could speak casually with her was that I was technically a noble too.

Moreover, a commoner speaking informally to a noble without using honorifics was plainly an affront to 'authority.' The Rechillis family might not abuse its power, but it guarded its authority with an iron fist.

Authority and authoritarianism, however, had to be clearly distinguished. If authority simply meant possessing legitimacy, authoritarianism was the exercise of power to rule by exploiting that legitimacy.

Of course, authoritarianism had once grown so severe that an event resembling the French Revolution of my previous life—the Jeyros Revolution—had broken out. Its effects had weakened authoritarianism regardless of the country, but authority itself remained intact.

'That doesn't mean I can tell him to start using honorifics again.'

Benjamin would silently obey, but he'd feel awful. After all, nothing feels worse in the world than having something given to you taken away again.

'Speaking of which, why is our petite, dainty group leader nowhere to be seen?'

She had even set the time herself, yet not a strand of her hair was visible, and I was gradually starting to get angry. If this was how things were going to be, I couldn't understand why she'd volunteered to be group leader.

"I-I'll just go to the bathroom for a moment!"

Benjamin, who had been fidgeting like a puppy that needed to poop, said that and dashed toward the bathroom. Judging by the way he ran while clutching his stomach, he wasn't fleeing—his stomach really did seem to hurt.

Anyway, with Benjamin gone, only Leona and I were left standing alone by the restaurant entrance. Since it was Friday, not a single person was walking through the corridor. Only silence had settled over the place, making the awkwardness bloom.

I glanced at Leona amid the awkwardness that had sprung up in an instant. By coincidence, Leona was also looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

"... ..."

"... ..."

We watched each other sidelong for a while, then turned our heads away entirely. Once I turned, Leona's expressionless face came into view.

While I wondered what I should say in this situation, Leona unexpectedly spoke first.

"Hey. Penguin."

Her tone was nothing like the one she used in character. I briefly flinched at her cool summons, then furrowed my brow at the word Penguin that came out of Leona's mouth.

It was honestly ridiculous for her to call me Penguin when I had a perfectly good name.

For the record, penguins existed in this world too. They lived in regions cold enough to form glaciers, such as Antarctica and the Arctic, and judging by the illustrations in the bestiary, they looked exactly the same.

But, as befitted a fantasy world, there was also a species that lived not in glacial regions but in lava fields. They weren't animals, but monsters that attacked people.

Anyway, enough of that explanation; answering Leona came first. I had no idea why she'd called me a penguin of all things.

"Why are you calling me Penguin when I have a perfectly good name?"

"You just look like a penguin."

Now that there was no one around, perhaps she'd dropped her act; Leona giggled as she teased me. I was dumbfounded for a moment, then immediately counterattacked.

"You look like a dog."

"...Do you want to die? I'm a lion, not a dog."

Leona furrowed her brow and growled like an animal. Apparently, she was more upset at being treated like a dog than at the insult itself.

I tilted my head slightly and asked another question. When it came to beastfolk, I could only think of dogs or cats.

"Then a cat?"

"Don't compare me to mere catfolk, will you? It's extremely insulting to someone as great as me, a member of the lionfolk."

"You called a human a penguin."

"... ..."

Apparently she had nothing to say to that, because she scratched her head. Soon, embarrassed, she turned away and began acting as if nothing had happened.

I snorted at the sight, then spoke.

"So why did you call me? Did you have something to say?"

"I was wondering what you thought of that woman."

By "that woman," did she mean Aira? She obviously did.

After hearing Leona's question, I thought it over. After being knocked around from all sides whenever I did a group project, someone like Aira was more than good enough.

Besides, as the saying went, better the devil you know. Whenever I remembered that utter disaster, I automatically concluded that she was at least better. If it had been Jackson instead of Aira, the group project would have been completely fucked.

"I don't know. She's proactive, so I can't exactly complain; I just wish she'd stick to her own share. That's about it. What about you?"

"I don't like her. Everyone else is suffering while she plans to sit around and enjoy herself. Just because she's a noble. She's nothing but a good-for-nothing bitch when you get down to it."

Aira had made such a terrible first impression that the criticism kept coming. I couldn't deny that Leona had a point.

I quietly watched her grumble, then suddenly thought of something and asked.

"Are there no nobles in Animers?"

Animers was a nation of beastfolk founded 300 years ago. After gathering beastfolk scattered throughout the world, they united and built a civilization of their own.

Leona shook her head at my question. Seeing that, I thought Animers had no nobles, but it wasn't that simple.

"There are no marquises or anything like that as in human society, but the authority available to an individual varies with their martial strength. You may or may not know this, but beastfolk have a deeply rooted culture of venerating martial power."

"Then are there separate classes?"

"Of course there are. Want me to explain?"

I nodded. I rarely had a chance to learn about beastfolk's way of life, so this was lucky.

When I nodded, Leona gave a small smirk and slightly raised her chin. She seemed to be organizing her explanation for a moment.

"Let's see. First of all..."

"Hey, guys~!"

Before Leona could say another word, a familiar voice reached my ears. It was a lively girl's voice, still untouched by puberty.

Leona closed her mouth, and I turned my gaze toward where the sound had come from.

As expected, our group leader Aira, who was very late for the meeting, was approaching with the brightest expression in the world. Seeing her smiling like that despite being late, I couldn't help thinking she was shameless.

Aira then came to a stop in front of us, opened her eyes wide, and showed her confusion. It seemed to be because Benjamin was absent and only the two of us were there.

"Huh? Why are there only two of you? Where's Curly?"

Even though they'd introduced themselves, Aira called Benjamin Curly. It was clear she looked down on Benjamin, a commoner, as beneath her.

When she asked me directly, I opened my mouth to answer. Surely she wasn't going to complain about him going to the bathroom. She was the one who had been late.

"Benjamin went to the bathroom for a moment. He'll be back soon."

"What? The bathroom?"

At my answer that he had gone to the bathroom, Aira knitted her brows. She was expressing exactly how much she felt I had to be joking.

Then she crossed her arms and, in a suspicious tone, asked me to confirm.

"He didn't run away, did he?"

"No."

"When did he go to the bathroom?"

"About five minutes ago."

"But seeing as he still hasn't come..."

"He went to take a dump, so there's no need to suspect him."

I cut her off before Aira could voice any unnecessary suspicions. Since becoming group leader, she'd often shown an authoritarian side, and I was worried she'd do so again now.

A group leader was normally closer to being the person responsible, but in this world, the class system had twisted that into authority. You could get a rough idea from the warning Aira had given Leona last time.

Aira stared at me for a while after hearing that, then eventually let out a small snort. Her expression said she found it ridiculous.

Then she put both hands on her hips and spoke in the most breezy, cheerful tone imaginable.

"Do we really need to wait for him?"

"...What?"

What fresh bullshit was this? It went beyond hypocrisy; it was as if her conscience had burst.

Meanwhile, Aira placed a hand on her chest and confidently stated her opinion. Whatever gave her such confidence, she seemed utterly shameless.

"I have to wait because I'm the group leader, but he doesn't, right? Besides, I wasn't even that late. It's his fault for not being able to wait that long."

"... ..."

"So let's leave Curly behind and go by ourselves. If he asks where we went later, we can just make up some excuse."

Where had she left her conscience to say something like that? As I stood there stunned by the shock, Aira subtly grabbed my arm and gently tugged on it.

Anyone could see she was trying to take me with her. Startled by the feeling, I quickly pulled my arm free.

"...What are you doing?"

When I pulled my arm away, Aira's voice dropped sharply. Her face crumpled too; she clearly hadn't liked it.

But whether she was displeased or not, I had to say what needed saying. She was the daughter of a marquis, so I swallowed my anger this once.

"That's what I want to ask you, Ms. Aira. What on earth are you doing?"

"I only wanted to leave quickly. What's the problem? Ah! Are you worried we can't discuss anything because one commoner is missing? Don't worry about that. Nothing will go wrong just because one measly commoner is absent. The rest of us are enough."

Does Leona not count as part of 'us'? Aira smiled brightly, but she didn't even spare Leona a glance.

I became confused as to whether something was wrong with Aira's mind or whether this was simply how nobles thought. Even so, this was too extreme.

"Lady Aira, the professor said so himself. It would be to our benefit to take every group member with us to the end. If you leave Benjamin behind, you, as the group leader, will be penalized."

In the end, Leona, unable to listen any longer, advised Aira. Her tone was characteristically stiff—stiff as a board, in keeping with her persona—but there was a trace of anger in it.

Because a 'commoner'—not even a noble—had dared advise her, Aira's expression grew even more vicious than before.

Despite her delicate, doll-like appearance, she radiated a menacing air.

"We're having a conversation, just the two of us. Why are you butting in?"

"I was only worried that something might happen to you, Lady Aira."

"You think I'd be harmed over something like this? Aren't you being too naive? I heard from my brother that not once has anyone ever lost points because one member was absent. In fact, Professor Virrus gave that one person a zero."

I wanted to crack open her head and look inside her brain. I wondered what kind of upbringing had installed this mindset in her.

Or...

'...Is she trying to drive Leona away?'

Aira might have brought this up deliberately to drive Leona away rather than Benjamin. She had realized to some extent during their first meeting that Leona was the kind of person who said what needed to be said.

So Benjamin was merely an excuse; she'd made this ridiculous proposal simply to pick a fight.

"But wrong is wrong. We waited for you too, so I think we should wait for Benjamin."

"Then wait as long as you like and have a cozy little discussion between the two of you. I'll work with this one."

At Leona's added comment, Aira seized the opportunity, grabbed my arm, and pulled it toward her chest. Unlike Cecily's softness, I felt a flat sensation travel up my arm.

Either way, the surprise was mutual. Greatly startled by the sudden physical contact, I tried to pull free somehow, but she was gripping me too tightly, and I failed.

In the end, I had no choice but to shout at Aira.

"W-What are you doing? Let go of me. Now."

"I don't want to. You're coming with me, right?"

As if I'd go off alone with you, you lunatic. But the moment our eyes met, I faltered despite myself.

Her gaze was languid yet steeped in greed, and the corners of her mouth were subtly raised. Her expression was filled with a sticky obsession that said she would never let her prey escape.

'What did I do?'

Why was someone who had never been close to me acting like this? I watched her expression, then quietly opened my mouth.

"...Ms. Aira."

"Yes."

"Ms. Leona is right this time. So please let go of me."

"... ..."

When I took Leona's side, the corners of Aira's mouth plummeted. Her sticky gaze turned cold in an instant, and the strength she'd been applying to my arm also gradually loosened.

Just as I was slowly pulling my arm free, the corners of Aira's mouth, which had dropped, rose again. There was also a dangerous glint beginning to appear in her eyes.

"Your surname is Ducer Maishal, right?"

"...Yes. That's right."

Why was she suddenly bringing up my family name? I tensed sharply at the ominous feeling rising inside me.

Aira twirled a lock of her hair around one hand and spoke in a sly tone.

"As you know, the Martius marquis house has a very famous order of knights under its command. The Navy Knights."

"... ..."

"And a few days ago, I heard from my brother that the former commander's son had recently joined. His name was... Dave, wasn't it?"

Twitch-

The muscle beneath my eye twitched when Dave's name came from Aira's mouth. Hearing a family member's name on someone else's lips, I unconsciously clenched my fist.

Perhaps she hadn't noticed my reaction, because Aira continued saying what she wanted to say. She was arrogant, beyond merely confident.

"The Navy Knights mainly guard the borders and are tasked with preventing threats to the Empire before they arise. It looks honorable on the surface, but to me, they just look like fools who stupidly volunteer for dangerous work."

Was that something a noble—especially the daughter of a military family—should say? On top of that, the Navy Knights fought beastfolk who lived in tribal communities, and sometimes even encountered and battled elven scouts.

It was called a border, but in reality it was no different from a front line. The fact that the Navy Knights' fatality rate was more than three times higher than that of other knightly orders gave some idea of how grueling the place was.

Yet Aira took those knights far too lightly. To call soldiers who gave up their freedom to protect their country fools—she didn't deserve to be the daughter of a military family, at least.

"You understand exactly what I'm saying, don't you?"

Aira spoke haughtily with her arms crossed and chin slightly raised. It was practically a threat, sending the message that I could never reject her proposal.

She was probably hinting at what she could do to Dave the moment I refused. She might even send him somewhere worse than the border. As the daughter of a prestigious military family, that wasn't entirely impossible.

With those thoughts in mind, I let out a long sigh at her threatening question.

"Yes. I understand perfectly."

There was no way around it now.

"You fucking bitch."

Let's all fucking die together.