Chapter 9
Javer Droit.
Grandia Academy's head professor.
The woman was quietly lost in thought.
“······.”
Her crimson hair had fallen loose.
Without even thinking to brush it back, her emerald eyes bloomed like leaves.
The woman's distant gaze recalled a recent moment.
The subject of that memory was a certain boy.
‘Victor.’
A smiling mask.
A boy with his face hidden behind a grotesque mask.
‘He definitely··· didn't look away.’
In the middle of the entrance ceremony.
Javer had deliberately infused her gaze with killing intent and met Victor's eyes.
She had wanted to see how he would react.
Yet, far from being frightened, the mask had stared blankly at her.
The corners of that wide-split mouth had seemed to mock Javer instead.
‘He was calm.’
No, could it really be explained on such a simple level?
The woman was crushed beneath an unpleasant pressure.
A hollow breath escaped her lips.
Javer recalled her mission.
-Professor Javer. I will assign you as the homeroom instructor for Class E starting this semester.
-I want you to keep an eye on Student Victor. If you discover that he is connected to a cult, or notice anything suspicious···.
It was definitely strange.
Despite how chilling it had been, she hadn't sensed any demonic energy.
Nor had there been the slightest hint of sorcery about the boy.
Rather, that was what made the woman suspicious.
‘If it wasn't demonic energy or a curse··· what was that sensation?’
The woman had worked as an investigator and executed hundreds of cultists.
She was therefore highly resistant to energies like demonic power and curses.
But the aura emanating from the boy was different.
It was fundamentally unlike what she sensed from cultists.
Even so, it was an uncomfortable situation in which she couldn't easily dismiss her suspicions.
‘There are plenty of suspicious points.’
Every stat was E-rank except for theory.
Yet he had shown overwhelming performance in the practical exam.
He wandered around trailing an ominous aura of unknown origin.
He had lived in the countryside until a month ago, then suddenly taken Grandia's entrance exam.
‘A commoner··· and if he came from the countryside, he could hardly have received a proper education anywhere.’
Yet that boy had taken first place in theory.
And with a perfect score of A+, no less.
Objectively speaking, this was a situation in which not being suspicious was more difficult.
‘The problem is that I have nothing conclusive···.’
There was no physical evidence, only circumstantial suspicion scattered everywhere.
That was why Javer, who was in charge of the investigation, was perplexed.
The woman hummed without changing her expression.
‘Maybe I should sound him out.’
She checked the paper in her hand.
A chart listing the rankings of the students in Class E.
The students' stat grades were listed alongside their rankings.
There were exactly twenty-eight names, with the boy's at the very top.
‘It will be easier to watch him if I put him at the top rather than the bottom.’
Javer herself had moved Victor's rank from last place to first.
She had placed him where her eyes would fall on him more often.
Of course, it hadn't been Javer's unilateral decision.
The faculty meeting had approved it.
-Adjusting Student Victor's rank···.
-Well, I think it's fine. He did show quite a performance in the practical exam.
-We're not asking him to skip a grade. If it's only changing his rank within the class···.
The faculty members seemed to accept it without much difficulty.
After all, they had all just reviewed the footage of Victor's practical exam.
‘His last-place ranking didn't make sense to begin with.’
The movements he had shown in the practical exam.
Teleportation whose principles and foundations were impossible to understand.
Honestly, it had been a performance that wouldn't have seemed out of place even in Class A.
It was a mystery.
What exactly was the ability Victor used based on?
How could he display such a performance with that frail body?
‘I need to find out what he's hiding behind that mask···.’
Before she knew it, she had arrived in front of the classroom.
Without delay, the woman opened the closed door and entered.
“Greetings, everyone.”
The students of Class E were waiting inside.
The masked boy was seated among them as well.
Javer greeted them calmly, her face expressionless.
“I am Chief Investigator Javer. Starting today, I will be your homeroom professor.”
Even as she spoke in a lifeless voice, the woman kept her eyes fixed on Victor.
Just then, the boy turned around, and their gazes met.
The ominous mask was still there.
That mask was smiling.
***
I had trouble hiding my bewilderment.
A crimson-haired woman stood before me, calmly greeting us.
“I am Chief Investigator Javer. Starting today, I will be your homeroom professor.”
What?
What was going on?
Not only was it bewildering that my ranking had suddenly been inflated.
Why had she suddenly shown up too?
‘My homeroom professor? Chief Investigator Javer···?’
Fuck.
I realized that the situation was going badly wrong.
‘In the original, Professor Raphael was definitely the homeroom teacher···.’
The story had gone off course.
There could only be one reason for that.
The fate of transmigration stories: the butterfly effect.
The cause was me.
‘Was I too flashy in the practical exam?’
I had been careless.
Because it had been fine when I played the original, I had simply assumed it wouldn't matter this time either.
I had overlooked something important.
I couldn't treat reality with the mindset I had used to play a game.
The people in this world weren't NPCs running according to a program.
They were people who thought for themselves, felt emotions, and reached their own conclusions.
‘So they can be suspicious too.’
Well, my report card must have been difficult to accept.
The flashy performance I'd put on in the practical exam had come back to bite me.
“······.”
“······.”
Our eyes met for a moment.
A strange tension settled between the silence.
‘Javer···.’
She was a character who appeared in the original once certain conditions were met.
The condition was acquiring black magic.
From then on, the player would be placed under Javer's surveillance.
Among the faculty, she was especially prone to fits at the sight of cultists.
If the player did anything shitty with black magic, she would tear them limb from limb on the spot.
‘······Am I being suspected?’
But not directly.
I hadn't received a warning or a threat.
If she had already reached certainty, things wouldn't have been allowed to drift along this vaguely.
‘She's not certain.’
Suspicion.
It was the natural result.
There was no way to prove that I wielded demonic power.
‘How can I prove that I don't actually use it?’
I was innocent.
A student with absolutely no connection to demonic power.
The abilities I used were merely bugs, with no connection whatsoever to the cultists.
There was nothing to be nervous about.
‘Tch, it is a headache, though.’
There was a concept known as the devil's proof.
Proving that the devil existed was easy.
You only had to show the devil to someone.
But proving that the devil did not exist was impossible.
‘Proof of nonexistence··· It would be difficult to prove my innocence. Unless they stopped suspecting me, that meant I would remain under surveillance.’
I racked my brain behind my calm mask.
I organized my thoughts and devised a plan.
The butterfly effect.
I couldn't panic just because something so minor had grabbed me by the hair.
I had to accept the current situation and calmly look ahead.
‘······Huh?’
As I worked through it, a brilliant thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘No, wait···.’
It was a truly genius idea.
I nearly smacked my forehead right there.
‘Isn't this actually fucking great?’
Javer had been assigned as my monitor.
I had suddenly thought of a way to make insanely good use of her.
She might prove even more useful than the Evil God's Mask or Robe in this situation.
‘So this is what they mean by turning misfortune into fortune.’
A crisis was an opportunity.
The corners of my mouth had already shot straight toward heaven.
Fortunately, the mask kept anyone from seeing my expression.
‘I'll put you to good use later, Professor.’
It was a mouthwatering situation.
There was nothing to be afraid of.
They wouldn't know that I had noticed their suspicions.
Rather, they would believe they were the ones in control of the situation.
‘This is how you set the board.’
There was no need to shrink back just because I was under suspicion.
Acting unnaturally would only arouse more suspicion.
I would simply brazen it out.
I would act the way an ordinary student might.
‘Javer is strict about the rules she sets for herself.’
Anyone who violated those rules was unforgivable, even if it was Javer herself.
She was so inflexible that you could say she faithfully followed the character she was based on.
In short, all I had to do was walk the line of those rules.
Of course, it would still be better not to do anything that made people dislike me.
It was best to maintain an amicable relationship with my homeroom professor.
‘Anyway··· this is a game I can only win.’
I boldly met Javer's gaze.
Since I was seated at the very front, only a few steps separated us.
I casually offered a greeting.
“I look forward to working with you, Professor.”
“I look forward to working with you as well. It seems the top-ranked student happened to be sitting in the very front.”
Javer replied as if she knew nothing.
She focused the students' attention, then continued with a brief introduction.
She talked about various aspects of academy life, including the curriculum they would be following.
I listened attentively, my eyes shining.
“Grandia Academy's curriculum is demanding. First, the Freshman Welcome Exam is scheduled for a week from now··· and in two weeks, the first midterm examination week will begin immediately afterward···.”
This was really hard to get used to.
I'd heard of plenty of freshman welcome parties, but a freshman welcome exam was a novel concept.
Whoever had come up with it, it was a truly terrible name.
“That concludes the announcements.”
Javer concluded her thirty-minute speech.
Her green eyes suddenly fixed on me.
“Then··· Student Victor?”
“Yes, Professor Javer.”
“Before we finish, I would like to hear the top-ranked student's aspirations. Since you are now in a position to lead the class, please give your classmates a brief self-introduction and tell them how you feel.”
Top-ranked student.
At Grandia Academy, a ranking was more than just a number.
It represented the hierarchy within the class. The top-ranked student effectively led the class.
Put simply, it was the role of class president.
“Of course.”
I rose from my seat without hesitation.
Then I strode up to the lectern.
I could feel hostile stares pricking me from behind.
The looks didn't seem particularly friendly.
‘As expected.’
My classmates seemed to look down on me.
They must have all checked my stats.
The entrance hall listed each student's stats alongside their ranking.
-Is that him? The guy who got top of the class despite having E-rank in every stat?
-His name is Victor, so it must be him. He looks scrawny at a glance.
-Fuck, this is ridiculous··· I lost to that guy?
E-rank in every stat.
Forget being top of the class; he looked like someone who shouldn't have been admitted in the first place.
Even if this was the lowest-ranked class, they were all elites who had been called prodigies since childhood.
That meant none of them lacked either pride or ability.
-His scores were doctored to begin with. Perfect scores in theory and practical, and nothing else?
-It's obvious··· The only explanation is that he got in through connections.
-Corrupt-admission bastard. What a fucking piece of shit.
That was why I had aimed for last place from the beginning.
If I had done that, no one would have said much.
-You can tell he has no muscle. That's the body of someone who's never trained a day in his life.
-If I threw a punch at him, he'd probably piss himself in fear.
-Hey, hey, keep your voice down so he can't hear.
-That piece of shit. When do we get to stomp him?
The students whispered among themselves.
They seemed to be talking among themselves, but they were actually making sure I could hear them.
They raised their voices just enough for them to carry this far.
‘Sneaky. So damn sneaky.’
Well, it wasn't as if I couldn't understand.
A commoner from some rural backwater.
E-rank in every stat.
The kind of trash they wouldn't even make eye contact with normally.
But trash like that was the top-ranked student?
‘How could they not give me shit? They just had to put pressure on me.’
Murmurs faintly reached my ears.
I tapped the mask with my finger.
I stood before the barrage of hostility, using a smile as my shield.
‘Do I really need to respond nicely?’
The thought suddenly occurred to me.
Come to think of it, this class was the same.
If the situation deviated from expectations, quickly adapting to the changed circumstances was also a form of ability.
That was survival.
‘The plan has already fallen apart.’
I had been forced into the top spot.
The days of hiding at the bottom and picking only the things I wanted were over.
The important thing was to look ahead.
Rather than whine, I had to think and move forward.
‘This is a good opportunity.’
Since I had risen to this position, I might as well become the undisputed top-ranked student.
If I crawled along like this, I would only be branded a laughingstock.
Academy life would become exhausting if people looked down on me.
I had to show them enough force that my classmates wouldn't dare mess with me.
“Greetings, everyone. My name is Victor, and I have come before you as the top-ranked student in the class.”
If I couldn't be quiet, I would become the loudest one of all.
So that no one could raise their voice at me.
I met the eyes of the classmates who had been whispering.
“You there.”
I covered the mask with my palm.
The status window appeared after a few clicks.
Ding-!
[Set Effect Active]
-Evil God's Mask×1
-Evil God's Robe×1
[Would you like to raise the output of the granted ‘Intimidation’ effect to its maximum?]
My breathing cooled and settled.
I gently clicked YES.
“Instead of whispering behind my back like sneaky little rats, why don't you come say it to my face?”
I flashed a sunny smile.
That innocent expression combined with my coarse tone to create a jarring contrast.
The next moment, [Intimidation] activated across the entire class.
Kwoooong-.
Pressure bore down as if crushing their shoulders.
Pupils widened, and faces turned pale.
“I can fucking wipe the floor with you.”
““······.””
Since things had come this far.
I might as well make absolutely sure I established myself at the top of this class.