Chapter 60
The ranking duel had been one shock after another.
Victor, the top student of Class E.
Kaitlyn Letus, the top student of Class B.
The duel between the two students ended in a crushing victory for Victor.
The girl had put on a performance befitting Class B's top student, while the boy had won by countering every one of her attacks.
The high-level match had been more than enough to captivate the students.
“Seriously··· I can't get that match out of my head.”
“If I could pay to watch it again, I think I'd hand over the money without a second thought.”
“The match itself was spectacular, too. Especially the Class B top student's side—she was really blazing······.”
“And the Class E top student, casually swatting her away while dodging that entire onslaught······.”
It had even been featured on the front page of the academy newspaper for an entire week.
Victor's stock, in particular, was soaring.
“That Class E top student from the ranking duel, what was his name··· Victor?”
“Is he really from Class E? He didn't seem like he had the skill to remain in a lower-ranked class···?”
“I was curious about that, too. How could they admit someone like him into Class E?”
“I asked the professor who supervised me during the entrance exam, you know? He said there hadn't been any mistakes during grading or anything.”
“What? So he really was only about as strong as Class E's top student when he enrolled?”
The fact that he had overwhelmed Class B's top student while belonging to Class E.
It was impossible for that not to draw the students' attention.
The students each raised their own questions and exchanged stories about Victor.
“That guy··· His overall stats were E rank, right?”
“Oh, right. There was a rumor like that, too.”
“It's true. I was watching from behind when they measured his stats.”
“Whaaat?! Good heavens, I assumed it was obviously just a baseless rumor···!”
On top of that, according to the overall stat evaluation, Victor was E rank.
Even so, throughout the ranking duel with Kaitlyn, he had controlled the situation without suffering so much as a scratch.
“Wait··· If his overall stats are E rank, isn't he weaker than most ordinary people?”
“He beat Class B's top student with a body like that? Just what kind of monster is he···?”
“Come to think of it, didn't he say he never uses magic?”
“Huh? Isn't that wrong? I saw him use something like short-range teleportation now and then in the last match.”
“Idiot. His mana sensitivity is E rank, so how could he use magic? That probably wasn't magic either.”
“If it wasn't magic, then what was it?”
“Who knows··· If I had to guess, maybe some kind of shamanism? An obscure kind of indigenous shamanism, at that.”
“But listen. No matter how skilled he is at shamanism, is it really possible to overwhelm Class B's top student with such poor base stats···?”
“I don't know either···.”
“Where did a guy like that even come from···?”
Victor, who had rapidly risen to become Grandia Academy's superstar.
At the same time, a certain rumor quickly spread among the students.
“I hear Class A is planning to recruit him soon?”
“I hear he's already going through the procedures to skip up a class?”
“Well··· It wouldn't make sense for someone like that to remain in Class E.”
“It seems a few professors have their eyes on him, too. I heard some of them even want him as a direct assistant.”
The rumor that Victor would soon be recruited into Class A.
He certainly had the qualifications, having demonstrated that he could overwhelm Kaitlyn.
Some of Class A's officers had already expressed their desire to bring him over···.
“I'm jealous~ His market value looks like it's about to pierce the ceiling.”
“He seems skilled enough to at least reach the middle ranks of Class A.”
“Sigh, I wonder if I've got anything going for me···.”
His actions after the ranking duel also became a hot topic.
Several students from Class B who had often picked fights with Class E.
The day after the ranking duel, they stormed over and thrashed them one by one.
“I hear he ground their mental states into powder, too?”
“What···? Does that make any sense? He beat down all of Class B by himself?”
“It wasn't exactly a fight. More like he disciplined them? Apparently they'd made some kind of promise among themselves. If Kaitlyn lost the ranking duel, they'd all grovel before Victor···.”
“Why would they make a promise like that?”
“As if they thought they would lose.”
“I suppose.”
The things Victor ordered the Class B students to do were as follows.
‘Top Blade’—spinning on their heads and crashing into one another.
‘Sonic’—traveling by forward rolls instead of walking.
‘Hadouken’—when Victor brought his hands together, they had to fly thirty meters straight backward.
It was a truly vicious revenge.
“Do you think the Class B kids will finally start keeping their heads down?”
“Ugh~ Serves them right, serves them right! Honestly, it pissed me off when they used to pass by while subtly sneering at us.”
“I finally understand why the Class E kids treat their top student like a big brother.”
“No kidding. When I heard he made them pull a rickshaw, I thought he was some kind of lunatic··· But I guess he's got a decent sense of loyalty.”
“Isn't this cool even from a guy's perspective? He took the opportunity to clean house and deal with all the people who used to bully their own classmates.”
“Yeah. Honestly, I don't think Victor's gay after all.”
“That's not it, you asshole.”
A hot topic.
Grandia Academy remained abuzz for a week.
***
One week after the ranking duel.
I spent a rather bothersome daily life under the concentrated attention.
“Student Victor.”
After the ranking duel with Kaitlyn, calls came from all over.
“Might I have a word with you?”
“Ah··· Professor Cloburn.”
“You know who I am. Then this should go quickly.”
Faculty members approached me several times a day.
Every one of them asked whether I had any plans to become a graduate student.
They seemed to want to raise me as an ordinary assistant or a promising student, even if not as a direct assistant.
“I have something I'd like to propose to you.”
“A proposal? What could you possibly propose to an ordinary student like me···?”
“Would you be interested in studying shamanism more deeply?”
"······."
“If you're willing, I'd like to recruit you into our laboratory.”
“Recruit me, you say···.”
Well, I had certainly been following an extraordinarily bizarre path.
It was only natural that I would attract the interest of the faculty, being a type of student they had never seen before.
They probably also wanted to put me in the position of an assistant, keep me nearby, and observe me.
"Our lab is a little short on people these days. If there's a promising student, I was thinking of taking them on as a disciple······."
Professors had their eyes on me.
This was the seventh offer I'd received just today.
Every time, I had no choice but to let out an awkward laugh.
“That's very kind of you, but··· for now, I'd like to focus solely on my studies.”
“Oh, come now. If you joined as an assistant, I could even give your grades a favorable look.”
“I still feel that I have a long way to go.”
“Hmm, is that so···?”
“I'm sorry.”
“Not at all. I seem to have put too much pressure on you. If the opportunity arises, let's speak again sometime.”
The old professor gave me a deeply regretful look.
He turned away with words promising a conversation next time.
He even clicked his tongue as though disappointed.
I did feel a little sorry for him, but there was no way I could accept the offer.
‘I already have a position waiting for me.’
Jaber's direct assistant.
It was the position she had promised me after the incident in which we apprehended the inside informant.
‘I should probably announce this soon, too.’
Once it was announced, I figured these recruitment offers would die down as well.
Having to refuse them every time wasn't exactly pleasant.
I would probably have to consult Jaber soon.
‘Still··· I can't say I feel bad about it.’
So many people wanted me.
They were interested in my achievements and actions.
Having a high market value meant exactly that.
Of course, I shouldn't let that sense of fulfillment sweep me away too much···.
‘I'm not that kind of guy.’
I shook off my idle thoughts and walked along the main building's streets.
Whiiiiish-.
It was already early summer, and a warm breeze.
It passed through the greenery that was just beginning to settle softly over everything.
As I savored the brief respite, the girls accompanying me at my side grew noisy.
“Vic, Vic-tor···!”
A head of black hair peeked out.
Alice was holding out a booklet to me.
“The story about you was on the front page of today's academy newspaper, too, Lord Victor!”
“Miss Alice.”
Her eyes shone brightly.
Pages clumsily cut from newspapers had been pasted inside the notebook.
It contained everything that had appeared in the newspapers over the past week.
“Oh-ho··· You cut out and saved only the sections where I appeared.”
“Eek.”
“I didn't know you'd collect material for me with such devotion.”
“Ah··· Y-yes. I wanted to sh-show them to you, Lord Victor···.”
The girl's face quickly turned red.
Her blue-green eyes, wavering as though they had lost their direction, were rather cute.
As I watched her reaction, Lanne, who had been peering over from beside us, added a word of her own.
“Amazing! I suppose that's only to be expected of you, Sir Victor!”
“You're overestimating me. If anything, it's a little burdensome.”
“How modest! Even in Class A, voices are beginning to call for us to recruit you, Sir Victor!”
“Ha, haha···.”
I laughed awkwardly.
‘I wonder if I've become too famous···.’
Well, it was actually a good thing.
I had plans for the future, after all.
For those plans, it was best to make my name known throughout the academy as much as possible.
‘I··· intend to devour this entire academy.’
All the commotion I had caused up to now.
It was all leading toward a single plan.
Soon, a scarlet wind of reform would blow through Grandia Academy.
“Heh heh.”
I smiled, filled with anticipation.
As I continued walking as though out for a stroll, my feet eventually reached my destination.
B Main Building.
“Let's see··· How should I torment them today?”
This was where the Class B students spent their days.
I hummed as I flung open the classroom door.
Perhaps because my visit was unannounced, several students sitting in their seats jumped.
“Good to see you all again today!”
Regardless, I strode into the classroom.
My unhesitating steps stopped at the seat in the farthest corner.
The seat occupied by a girl with yellow hair.
Kaitlyn Letus, Class B's top student.
She was also the girl who had become my lackey thanks to our slave wager last time.
“Miss Kaitlyn! I'm here!”
“······.”
I greeted her cheerfully.
The girl was looking quite shocking.
She was trembling in her seat with a red collar around her neck.
“Oh-ho, I see you put it on properly.”
“······.”
“Miss Kaitlyn?”
“······.”
“Gay Dentures.”
“······.”
“Answer me.”
“······.”
Despite my persistent calls, the girl kept her lips firmly shut.
With no choice, I gave the end of the collar a gentle tug.
Yellow hair flowed softly between her healthy copper-colored skin.
A sweet scent peculiar to a girl her age wafted over, and Kaitlyn soon found herself looking straight at me.
“Miss Kaitlyn.”
“······.”
Her face was flushed red to the point of bursting, perhaps from humiliation.
Of course, I had no intention of showing mercy.
I tapped the collar lightly as I spoke.
What we had agreed upon.
It was a binding promise, enforceable under the terms of the duel and the oath.
In fact, Grandia Academy's rules stated that any student who violated it would receive at least demerits and, at worst, expulsion.
“Miss Kaitlyn.”
“······.”
“Do you want to be expelled?”
“Fuck, you goddamn perverted bastard···.”
“Ahem, that's not how you answer.”
I cut off her growl.
How dare a Pokémon rebel against this Pokémon Master?
“What did I tell you? I said you always had to add something when answering me~?”
“Shut, up···.”
“Miss Kaitlyn?”
“······.”
“Expulsion.”
“······Fuck.”
“This is your last chance?”
The girl's shoulders trembled as she hung her head.
I called out to her in a cheerful voice.
“Now, Miss Kaitlyn?”
“W-woof···.”
“Hmm?”
“W-woof···.”
“I can't hear you.”
In the end, Kaitlyn gave her answer with a sudden burst.
“Woof, woof woof···!”
Steam was practically billowing from the top of her head.
As if praising her, I vigorously ruffled the girl's hair.
“Good girl~!”
“Ghk··· fuck···.”
Ahem.
What kind of pet dog curses?
“Expulsion?”
“Woof woof···.”
“Good girl~!”
Crack-.
Sparks flew between her tightly clenched fists.
Kaitlyn had her lips clenched tightly shut.
“Woof woof···.”
She wasn't merely a puppy.
It was the **SCREAM** of a blonde, tanned delinquent girl enduring humiliation.
“Ngh···!”
“Aww, what a pretty girl~!”
You gotta do what you gotta do.
How dare you run your mouth and then lose?
I'm going to make your academy life fun.