Chapter 41
No matter how angry one gets, some things must never be touched. Chief among them is family.
Even the most broad-minded person gets angry when their family is involved, so if someone still puts up with it, they're not broad-minded—they're just a pushover.
Besides, I have fairly severe trauma related to family. In my previous life, my parents died in an accident, leaving me alone in an instant. I had no siblings either, so all my family ties were severed.
Of course, Aira couldn't possibly know that I was reincarnated, but so what? Anyone with the slightest bit of common sense shouldn't say something like that. Especially not the daughter of a military family.
"W-What? What did you just say..."
A sharp curse burst from my mouth, and Aira began to stammer. Her eyes widened like saucers and her mouth hung open, so she seemed to have been quite shocked.
What did she expect me to do? I watched Aira retreat step by step with a cold gaze. As everyone knew, I usually didn't swear unless absolutely necessary.
But Aira had made me let loose a filthy curse. The difference was that Jackson's curse at the gathering had come out of sheer bewilderment, while this one had burst out because I was angry.
I stared directly at Aira, who was too shocked to continue speaking, and said what I wanted to say.
"Why? Couldn't hear me? Want me to say 'bitch' again?"
"Y-You...! How dare someone like you...! Just because I was being nice to you, you think I'm an easy target?!"
Aira pointed at me as she flew into a rage. Her face flushed redder by the second, so she seemed genuinely furious.
But I was the one who had more reason to be angry than she did. Aira had touched something that should never have been touched.
I opened my mouth while barely suppressing the anger boiling inside me like an active volcano. I tried to remain as calm as possible, but I couldn't stop my voice from dropping into a low register.
"You were being nice to me? You need to stop talking bullshit before it can even qualify as bullshit. All you're doing is spouting crap. You tried to drag along someone who said they didn't want to go, and when that didn't work, you brought up their family? A soldier working on the border, where they could die at any moment?"
"Y-You swore at me way too harshly over something so trivial! And knights or soldiers who aren't commanders are nothing more than dogs guarding the house! Why would anyone abandon an easy life and become a soldier, risking their own life? Isn't that the part that's even harder to understand?"
"Wow... seriously..."
Fuck. I'm at a loss for words. To think I'd hear something I used to hear in South Korea even after reincarnating.
I had no idea how she'd been raised, but if words like that could come from the mouth of a military family's daughter, her upbringing had to have been seriously messed up. Or perhaps her family was fine and she had simply twisted everything because her own personality was rotten.
I inhaled as I watched Aira huff and puff, then exhaled slowly. My chest felt stuffy, as though I'd eaten a sweet potato.
"Are you really a young lady of the Marquis Matius household? The daughter of a margrave responsible for the border?"
"Why would I lie? You know impersonating a noble is a crime, don't you? How stupid..."
"The stupid one is you for insulting soldiers. It would be interesting if word spread that the daughter of a military family had insulted soldiers, wouldn't it?"
In my previous life, it was like the daughter of a four-star general had insulted all the soldiers under her father's command. If that reached the soldiers' ears, their trust would not merely waver—it would probably be shattered.
"So what? They're all people under me anyway."
"Didn't your parents or siblings ever teach you to care for your subordinates?"
"I was only taught that, to become an excellent leader, I had to command the people beneath me well. What's the problem?"
"Ha..."
No wonder people have such a fucked-up view of the military. After hearing what she had said, I realized there was no point in responding and shook my head. Aira's way of thinking was seriously warped.
The elitism naturally ingrained in her from being born into a marquis's family and the method of becoming an excellent leader, as she'd described it, had created a truly beautiful synergy.
On top of that, she was only seventeen. The reason she had appointed herself group leader seemed to be that she firmly believed she could control everyone well.
"...I'll give you one piece of advice. Keep acting like that, and someday something far worse will happen to you."
"You expect me to believe that? Who do you think you are?"
Even when I gave her sincere advice, Aira looked distrustful. But the murder of a superior officer was a historical fact that had remained unchanged throughout time and across the world.
Moreover, such killings occurred frequently in dangerous places like the front lines or borders. In most cases, commanders drove their subordinates into certain death to preserve their own lives, only to have their heads taken by those same subordinates.
I wondered whether Aira knew such facts. She had probably never been to a place where life and death hung in the balance, which was why she could say such outrageous things.
I considered how I could teach that immature brat a proper lesson, then gave up on doing it with words. No matter what I said, Aira would never listen.
"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. I'm only asking out of concern, but you're not planning to become a military commander someday, are you?"
"Isn't that obvious? I'm the daughter of the Marquis of Matius. Once I complete all the military studies at the academy, I'll be commissioned as a commander."
"Oh? Congratulations. When that happens, it'll be several times worse than what I'm saying to you now."
I wanted to sneer that something even worse than that would happen to her. But that would have crossed a line, so I forced myself to hold back.
Even though she'd touched my family, I didn't want to give her unnecessary ammunition and risk her pulling more bullshit. Above all, I wanted to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.
"You really...! I don't know what gives you the nerve, but you're finished. I'm telling my dad right now! Got it?!"
Aira shouted, apparently bristling at my blunt words. I replied as though it were nothing important.
"Tell him or don't. Anyway, you're not planning to participate in the project, are you?"
"Who wants to do it with someone like you?! Just because the professors are interested in you, you think you're so great?"
"Isn't that describing you? Who are you to order us around? And as for being a marquis's daughter, there are people around me much higher-ranking than you."
I didn't mention who they were. Even if I was acquainted with those people, I didn't want to use them.
"Ngh...!"
When I beat Aira over the head with facts, she clenched her teeth and trembled. Her face reddened visibly, as though she were burning with rage.
Then, apparently having nothing more to say, she shouted furiously. It wasn't threatening in the slightest.
"Fine! I can do just fine on my own, so I don't need any of you! What's so hard about predicting the plot of The Chronicle of Xenon...?!"
"What about the group leader? Don't tell me you're going to do that alone?"
"You or the two commoners can handle it, I don't care which! I'm so pissed I could die!"
Aira ranted by herself, then whipped around and strode away. Judging from the way she'd clenched her tiny fists, she seemed thoroughly furious.
Just as I was letting out a troubled sigh, wondering whether the situation was over, Aira stopped where she was and whipped around to face me. Then she shouted again, her voice full of spite.
"You know you're in serious trouble, right?! Do you even know what my father is like?! He's called 'Iron-Blood'—Iron-Blood!"
"I don't, so go already. You're driving me crazy."
"Grr...! You bastard...!"
When I waved my hand dismissively, Aira disappeared as though fleeing. I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling as though a storm had just swept past.
To be honest, I hadn't expected her to bring up my family, but the situation had been somewhat foreseeable. I'd merely lost my temper and escalated things.
'What should I tell Professor Virrus...'
All I could do was hope that Professor Virrus would show some flexibility. A simple disagreement would be one thing, but this had happened because Aira had crossed the line.
'Surely the other nobles don't think like Aira, do they?'
Soldiering was a profession that should never be looked down upon. Soldiers were heroes who willingly gave up their own freedom for the freedom of their country.
Even in South Korea in my previous life, where soldiers' social standing was low, openly insulting them like Aira had would have earned someone a public backlash. In the United States, where soldiers were treated like heroes, a person would be practically ostracized.
Besides, the Minerva Empire's territory was so vast that its soldiers had a higher rate of dying in battle than those of other countries. As a result, soldiers were held in correspondingly higher regard, so I couldn't understand why she would spout something like that.
'Does she perhaps take war lightly?'
It might have been because she didn't know what sort of situations soldiers at the front faced. She'd never experienced it herself, so she could probably speak like that.
It was actually a fairly common phenomenon. During World War I, young men who enlisted while dreaming of 'romance' experienced the living hell of trench warfare. That was in the 1900s, so there was no need to explain what the Middle Ages must have been like.
More than anything, I didn't even have to look far. Even my father, who was famous as the 'Red Lion,' had once been unable to sleep unless he drank alcohol. Nicole had told me that story last time.
'War...'
There was a war arc in The Chronicle of Xenon as well. Originally, it was supposed to be a scene showcasing Xenon's heroic exploits, but after seeing Aira, I began to have some doubts.
Would people take war lightly because of the way I described it? That vague thought crossed my mind.
Besides, the main enemy in The Chronicle of Xenon was not humans but demons. There would be a war against demons, but I had no plans to include a war between humans.
'...I absolutely have to depict this in my next work.'
Although my plans had been thrown off by The Chronicle of Xenon's unexpected success, I had originally conceived a separate work for my next novel.
It came from the thought that writing fantasy in a fantasy world would produce an ordinary novel, but writing a modern story would make it fantasy.
I planned to start writing it little by little before The Chronicle of Xenon ended. Probably about a year from now.
"So what are we going to do now? Should we do it among ourselves?"
While I was lost in thought for a moment, Leona spoke in a curt tone. I came to my senses and looked at her.
She had her arms crossed and wore an indifferent expression. I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck and answered.
"It can't be helped. Honestly, you don't mind either, do you?"
"I don't mind, but it'll be hard to get a good score. Are you confident you can make up for that with a good presentation?"
I chuckled at Leona's concerned question and answered confidently.
"Of course."
I was a writer, after all. How could I not manage even that?
Leona looked surprised by my straightforward answer, then shrugged.
She seemed to know that thinking about it for too long wouldn't produce an answer.
"You're confident, huh? I'll see you prove it."
"Don't tell me you're planning to ride on my coattails too?"
"I haven't sold my conscience like that bastard has. Ah, by the way..."
She was speaking nonchalantly when she suddenly stopped and stared at me. I tilted my head at her observant gaze, and after a moment, Leona's tightly closed lips finally parted.
"...Your surname is Ducer Maishal, right?"
"Yeah."
"Is your father's nickname 'Red Lion'?"
My father really must have been quite famous. Even Leona, a beastfolk, knew of him.
I nodded absentmindedly at her question. Leona's expression changed subtly, and she muttered in a voice that was barely audible.
"A penguin born beneath a lion... They say a tiger father can have a dog for a son, but the world sure is full of surprises."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. By the way, when is that Benjamin guy coming?"
"I'm here!"
They say that even a tiger comes when you mention its name, and Benjamin returned as soon as Leona mentioned him. He came running toward us, waving his arms and panting heavily, looking just like a puppy.
Even though he'd gone to the restroom, Benjamin checked that we were still the only ones there and spoke anxiously.
"A-Aira hasn't come back yet?"
"She came, but left again. She won't be working with us from now on."
"What?! W-What do you mean? What happened?"
"Something happened, that's why. But don't worry. I'll handle it."
After that, the group project proceeded smoothly.
"...which is why only the three of us ended up participating in the discussion. Even so, I couldn't stand her insulting soldiers—especially those serving at the border."
"Hmm... I understand. Normally, to be fair, I would deduct points from everyone, but this is an exceptional case, so I'll deduct points only from Aira."
"Thank you, Professor."
The following Monday, I paid Professor Virrus a separate visit and made sure Aira got royally screwed.