Chapter 104
"Just you wait! My name will be higher this time!"
The villainess confidently declared her intention to steal the top spot.
Her blue pupils were shining brightly.
Perhaps because she had been thoroughly beaten in the last exam, her will to get revenge this time seemed to flicker.
Her fine lips held her characteristically arrogant smile.
She looked certain of her victory.
"It was natural for me to take the top spot from the beginning. I'm born of the noble Beniti bloodline after all."
Despite being tricked several times, that vanity didn't seem to be bent at all.
The girl provoked this side with a brazen sneer.
A gaze as if looking down on the loser.
Though she was walking a different path from the original work, it seemed her original personality hadn't changed.
It was truly a boast proving the name of a vain person.
'Hah.'
I hid my twitching mouth corners.
Indeed, each reaction was dopamine.
Though I had faced her with quite a bad impression at first, now I knew her shabby aspects were full beyond that mask.
No matter how much she laughed like a villain, she only looked like a dopamine charger.
'This is fun.'
Thinking about crumbling that proud expression, even my cold heart felt like it was melting softly.
I maintained a complicated atmosphere with a deep breath.
It was to deceive the prey more perfectly.
As I continued acting troubled, the girl became even more convinced of her victory.
Feeling this was the moment, I threw out bait.
"How about we make a bet while we're at it?"
"A bet?"
"We compete for the top spot. The loser grants one request from the winner."
"Will you be alright? This exam's scope was especially difficult... it's not a level you can catch up to with just one night of studying."
"Of course, that's true."
"Besides, you couldn't even attend classes properly because you were outside."
The villainess who had been teasing me until now, but now worried when I proposed a bet.
Sly goodwill was hidden among her vanity.
Unlike her high-spirited provocation, she seemed hesitant.
I asked briefly.
"Are you perhaps scared?"
=Chicken?
That was a phrase that couldn't be passed over.
The girl's expression hardened.
"What did you say...?"
Was she flustered at being provoked in return after provoking?
Emilia froze, at a loss for words, then belatedly furrowed her brow and struck back at my attack.
It seemed she had been scratched.
"Who's scared! I was just worried you might cry after losing the bet!"
"So you mean?"
"Let's do it! I'll trample you thoroughly!"
"You're coming on strong as expected."
"It's a bet I can't possibly lose from the start. You should prepare to pay the price of defeat."
"If you say so, I'll look forward to it."
I answered with a malicious smile.
Prey that had properly bitten the bait.
A huge wave of dopamine was surging.
All the girl could do in the coming future was be laughed at to the fullest.
I leisurely left my seat.
***
A week later.
The short vacation field trip passed, and the final exams were held exactly a month later.
The written exam results that had been conducted first were already out.
There were rumors circulating that it had overturned the academy's past history, surpassing the level by far.
The students were utterly destroyed by the malicious difficulty.
However,
There are always those who achieve being one in a thousand even in such turbulent times.
The villainess was also included among the few geniuses.
Emilia was overflowing with confidence both before and after taking the exam.
She had worked hard enough not to fall behind.
Though a perfect score was realistically impossible, she thought there was no lack in rising to the top spot.
The girl proudly smiled, celebrating the sweat she had shed until now.
"This time it's my victory for sure!"
This exam was quite important.
At the start of the semester.
Due to the crack she had shown in front of the whole school, Emilia's position had become greatly precarious.
To solve such a problem, constant proof was needed.
The timing was appropriate too.
The boy who had taken the top spot with overwhelming grades in the last exam had been absent for a long time due to personal business.
Not only could he not attend lectures, he probably didn't even know the exam scope properly.
The villainess was inwardly certain of victory.
On one hand she hesitated if it wasn't an unfair fight, but her soft thoughts cleanly flew away at the attitude of blatantly throwing provocations.
Only the thought of giving him a taste of his own medicine remained in the girl's mind.
"It's a bet I can't possibly lose from the start. You should prepare to pay the price of defeat."
The two confirming the results were announced a few days after perfectly completing the written exam.
The villainess stood proudly beside the snake.
If things flowed as originally expected, there would have been no defeat.
However,
"This can't be..."
There was one fact she had overlooked.
If there is a crane standing tall among numerous chickens, there exists a peacock raising its head even among those cranes.
Emilia stared at the rankings with shaking pupils.
[Final Exam]
[Comprehensive Written Rank Announcement]
Yuda Snakers
Emilia Beniti
Charlotte Little von Staufen
Rusca Beniti
.
.
Yuria Perzinas
Janan Craston
The results of the written exam were announced early.
Confirming that, the villainess had no choice but to grab the back of her neck.
"This is impossible."
Who would have thought?
That he hadn't let go of his studies at all while carrying out schedules outside the academy.
It was truly insane tenacity.
It was also a result created solely with the intention of thoroughly teasing the opponent, with the single-minded purpose of causing chaos.
The person in question froze at the unbelievable ranking.
"Young Lady."
Beside her, the snake was smiling brightly.
"Young Lady."
"......"
"Second place is also an excellent grade."
"Don't do that."
"Se-"
"I clearly warned you. If you do this again I'll really get ang-"
"Second place is also an excellent grade."
"......"
The inevitable teasing coming in.
Emilia had to swallow her anger while biting her lips tightly.
What could she do?
In both the midterm and final exams.
The girl's rank was 2nd place without any upset.
***
On the way back to the dormitory after confirming the announced rankings.
The villainess particularly didn't open her mouth.
Perhaps because she had been teased all day today, she was completely silent.
Judging by the stiff atmosphere, it seemed she was not ordinarily angry.
Finally, as I was walking in uncomfortable silence, I carefully spoke while watching her mood.
A gesture of reconciliation offered with the feeling I might have gone too far.
"I think my joke went too far."
"......"
"I'm sorry."
"...It's fine. It's okay."
"I think my joke went too far. I'm sor-"
"Hey!!!"
It was just plain teabagging.
"Is it fun? Is it fun?!"
"It's enjoyable."
"Ugh...!"
"It's enjoyable."
"Be quiet!"
Emilia reacted with huffs.
Her expression looked like she was about to die from anger.
We had been repeating this conversation for a while now.
Mockery was the privilege given to the winner after all. The loser cannot go against the cruel world of competition.
I did my best to mock the opponent.
"This is so childish! Do you think I'll crumble to such wordplay?"
"Yes."
"No I won't?!"
"Yes."
"Eek, eeek...!"
The villainess desperately swallowed her boiling anger.
Perhaps her reason had blurred from the continued teabagging, even her elegant way of speaking was crumbling.
Of course, it was still too early to crumble.
Because she hadn't paid the most important price yet.
"I'll stop joking here."
"......"
"Instead, shall we receive the reward we promised before?"
"By reward..."
"Didn't we make a bet a week ago? That the person who lost in the final exam would grant one request from the winner."
"...I remember. So what's your request?"
"Huhu."
I laughed ominously.
Without particularly hesitating, I recited what I had thought of.
"I will touch your body."
"What...?"
"It means exactly as I said. I will fondle any part without regard. My request is for you to stay still without resisting during that time."
"S-s-suddenly such an indecent request...!?"
"I trust you won't go back on your word."
"I did promise, but, but still this kind of... Of course I'm not saying it's not allowed, but d-do you really want something like this?"
"I have no other requests."
"Ugh, uugh...!"
The girl's face instantly turned into a red radish.
Where did the snow-white atmosphere like winter go, heat was blooming like a flower on her cheeks.
Perhaps because she received a completely unexpected request.
She was flustered, even forgetting her characteristic arrogance.
"I shouldn't have accepted that bet then..."
Her own foolishness caught up to her.
The villainess groaned for a while.
Finally, as if letting go of her heart, she spoke while tightly closing her eyes.
It was a trembling voice.
"D-do as you please."