漫画大王

Chapter 35

“Present.”

This confirmed to me that Charlotte was indeed a superhuman.

But what kind of power could she possibly have?

“... Reinhart.”

“Present.”

After calling my attendance, the teacher in charge of the class looked at me intently.

“Although I agreed to take you on because of a special request from Mr. Effenhauser, you don’t have any supernatural abilities, do you?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“I’ve heard you have aptitude in various areas... but I’m not sure how to awaken your supernatural abilities... that’s not something I can teach you...”

The teacher appeared perplexed, and the other students were looking at me as if I were the odd one out. They stared at me like a vegan who had wandered into an all-you-can-eat meat buffet.

“I’m sure it will work out, somehow.”

“Huh...”

The teacher and everyone else, including Charlotte, looked at me as if they couldn’t believe it.

***

Crack! Fizztssst!

“Very good, Ms. Granz. You have the best control among the class.”

“Thank you.”

“Try to gradually increase the intensity from that state.”

Riana de Granz managed to produce sparks between the index fingers of her hands, and she heaved a sigh of relief. Classes involving supernatural power could result in unexpected incidents, so teachers instructed students one-on-one.

Whoosh!

“Good. Now let’s see how long you can maintain it.”

“Okay.”

Heinrich von Schwartz, who had successfully created a flame above the sandpit, was sweating profusely as he maintained his concentration.

—H-hey! Don’t look!

—I’m not looking, Mr. Lint. Please get dressed.

Then, from a location that resembled an isolation room more than a classroom, came a cry from Connor Lint, followed by the weary voice of a teacher.

Connor Lint. He was known for simping after girls, but he possessed a rather overpowered ability to teleport his body.

The problem was that he couldn’t teleport his clothes with him. Hence, using teleportation came with the fatal side effect of always ending up naked.

Thus, his power was mockingly said to be useful only in public bathhouses.

Naked teleportation. Though it was a power that wouldn’t hurt to have, it was something others might both desperately want and not want at all.

“‘I will go out to the main street for a crepe at lunch today.’ Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll try going outside this time. Let’s do it again.”

“Okay.”

B-7, Evia, was using her telepathic ability. She had the power to send her thoughts into someone else’s mind.

It seemed she was currently conducting range tests.

“Mr. Reinhart...”

“Yes, teacher?”

“What should we do?”

The teacher assigned to me was wearing a look of bewilderment, not knowing what to do, since I had no supernatural powers but had enrolled in a class that was all about learning how to control supernatural powers.

I must have seemed quite the joke to him. This place was meant for superhumans to learn to control and enhance their abilities, not to awaken them.

My teacher had no clue what to make of the situation.

“Please push me into an extreme psychological state.”

“... Sorry?”

“Maybe my abilities might appear during a traumatic moment?”

“What... What are you trying to say?”

“For example, pushing me to the brink of death without actually killing me... or something like that?”

“Please, don’t ask me to do bizarre things!”

The teacher gasped as if I had made the most absurd request imaginable.

The teacher firmly refused, saying that it was not possible for a teacher to torture a student in such a way. I was offered an explanation that, although supernatural powers could awaken in such situations, it was not at all a guarantee. And that if it was that straightforward, the world would have been overrun with superhumans.

No, I understood that.

But I actually did have supernatural powers!

Since it seemed futile to try and persuade the teacher further, we just watched the others.

And then there was Charlotte.

“...”

After the class started, Charlotte’s dedicated teacher led her somewhere.

Was she being taken to an isolation room so they could observe her abilities, like Connor Lint? Was it a sort of ability that couldn’t be revealed to others?

“What kind of supernatural power does the princess have?” I asked the teacher.

I asked it as if it were just a casual question. As if it were nothing. Just something one might ask out of curiosity.

The teacher just shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know either. Apparently, it’s confidential or something like that...”

"Confidential."

That was when I finally understood why there’d been no discussion about Charlotte’s powers or what they might be.

Charlotte had awakened her supernatural powers.

And except for a few teachers, no one knew what her powers were.

***

I had no choice but to sit and while away the time until the class was over. Charlotte, who had gone off somewhere, returned around the time the class ended, looking exhausted.

The princess’s supernatural powers were confidential, and the students probably didn’t know anything about it. For some reason, it was being treated as top secret.

Teachers like Ms. Mustang and the dedicated instructor assigned to her for this supernatural power control class would likely know about her supernatural power, but I wondered if Mr. Effenhauser knew.

If Charlotte was really superhuman but her abilities were confidential, that made it also possible that she might not actually possess any supernatural powers.

There was a clear chance that she could have claimed to have supernatural powers just to gain admission into the Temple without truly having them.

Then did Vertus know what the princess’s powers were? Things were getting more complicated.

If the princess had no powers and Vertus knew about this, there was no reason for him to keep quiet about it. That meant either Vertus also knew about the princess’s supernatural power, or, he was simply not aware that she didn’t possess any powers yet.

When the class was coming to a close, the teacher called out my name.

“Reinhart.”

“Yes.”

“For now, I’ll allow you to participate in the class, but keep in mind that you will receive a failing grade if things stay as they were today.”

“I see. That’s fine, there’s nothing I can do about that.”

It was obvious that someone without supernatural powers would not get a grade in a class that was meant for students with supernatural powers.

As I nodded in agreement with the teacher, everyone in the class looked at me as if they were wondering what kind of person would be fine with failing.

If I fail, so be it, not a big deal.

However, I wasn’t going to fail this class as easily as people thought.

After class, everyone started to leave the classroom.

“Hey, Number 11,” someone called to me.

“Yes?”

The one who called me was A-6, Heinrich von Schwartz. Right away, I could tell he was not in a good mood, and everyone began to hang back and watch what was going to happen. Charlotte had already left, oblivious to what was happening.

“Is the Temple some kind of joke to you?”

He clearly seemed very upset, and the looks from others weren’t any kinder towards me.

“No, not at all.”

“Then why would you, who doesn’t even have a supernatural power, crawl into a supernatural power class?”

‘Why was this guy suddenly asking something so obvious?’

“Um, because I’m trying to become a superhuman?”

Upon hearing this, Heinrich’s expression changed to one of disbelief. The others seemed incredulous as well.

“You think that’s possible?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? You never know. It’s worth a try.”

Heinrich furrowed his brow, as if he could no longer hold onto his patience.

“I’ve heard that you’ve been jumping into every major you can get your hands on. Is that true?”

“Yeah, that’s correct.”

“Do you really think, because of your so-called ‘infinite aptitude’, that you can do anything? Do you actually believe that? Huh? Do you think you can just become a superhuman or a swordmaster or a magician simply because you want to?”

The other students seemed equally uncomfortable and disturbed.

Sure, I could see why they might see me in a bad light.

“I’m doing this because I might eventually stumble upon something I’m good at. Who knows?”

“Ugh...”

He had an expression as if he was completely exasperated.

“Forget it. From now on, don’t show up to the supernatural power classes. If you come again, I’ll burn you alive. Got it?”

It seemed that my mere presence in the supernatural power class was irksome to him.

Heinrich’s threat to burn me left me astonished.

“Burn what? With what I saw today, I don’t think you can even burn a potato properly.”

“What did you say?”

“I mean, it was too obvious for me not to notice.”

Though he had managed to produce a small fire in the sandpit, it definitely wasn’t even bigger than a small campfire.

My words made Heinrich’s face turn beet red with rage.

“What kind of grand supernatural power do you have to brag about? If all you can do after straining your eyeballs and huffing and puffing like that is produce a flame smaller than one coming from a flint, then a simple flint would be more useful than you.”

“What, what... What did you just say? You, you little...”

“Do you want to compete with a flint and find out which is more useful? I’d bet on the flint winning hands down. At least the flint won’t run its mouth like you do.”

Heinrich, who was being compared to something as trivial as a flint, seemed completely taken aback. He was clearly not expecting such an insult.

“Ar-are, are you... do you know who you’re insulting right now?” he stammered in response.

Heinrich was so dumbfounded that he began to say something he shouldn’t have.

“Yes. I’m insulting A-6, Heinrich von Schwartz right now. I wonder how high and mighty one’s clan must be to throw around their family name like that, even here at the Temple.”

“How dare you, a commoner, insult the royalty of the First Principality—”

I raised my hand to cut off his rant.

“Hey, you owe me an apology.”

“What, what did you say...?”

“It’s forbidden to flaunt one’s social status here at the Temple. Did you forget the rule?”

I looked around at the dumbfounded audience.

They were all students from our class, excluding Charlotte—there was Connor Lint, Riana de Granz, and even Evia, who was anxiously watching from a distance.

“We’ve got witnesses around as well. You guys all heard him too, right?”

Heinrich realized he had let his emotions get the best of him and had violated the rules, and his face turned pale. Everyone’s expression soured when I mentioned that they were witnesses.

“I’ll give you three seconds to apologize. If you don’t apologize within three seconds, I’ll report you to the student council.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

As soon as I reached three, I turned around. It was another breach of the school regulations on his part, and reporting it was the right thing to do.

“Time’s up, see you.”

“... I was foolish.”

His answer was a bit delayed, but soon after I heard it, I looked at him and flashed a sly grin.

‘Why get cocky when you can’t even stick with it to the end?’

“Watch your mouth from now on, my friend,” I whispered as I patted him on the shoulder. “Unfortunately, there’s no place to complain to at the Temple, even if a noble gets harassed by a commoner.”

“Wh... what did you say?”

“Don’t act tough. You’re going to get beaten up pretty badly if you provoke someone here, regardless of who you are or your social status.”

‘The last thing I need is a guy that’s weaker than a household lighter to get on my nerves.’

I was about to walk past him when I suddenly felt a smack on the back of my head.

“You insolent brat, how dare you!”

“Oh? What is it now?”

He began to narrow his eyes, looking as if he was about to lose it and use his powers.

“Ah, you really want to do this?”

Slap!

“Argh!”

I walked over to him calmly and smacked him right in the forehead.

Naturally, he staggered, unable to use the ability he was about to unleash as his concentration was disrupted.

“Huh...? Wh... what the...?”

He had this look of complete incomprehension, as if something incredibly unexpected had just occurred, leaving him utterly speechless.

You could practically see the question marks swirling around his head.

“Yeah, like I would let you attack me that easily, you idiot.”

Why didn’t these so-called superhumans understand that a hand moved faster than casting an ability?

Everyone watched me slap the prince of the First Principality across the forehead with an expression of dumbfounded astonishment. It was more than just simple disbelief; they seemed genuinely shocked.

“Did... this punk just lay his hands on me?”

“I would say it was self-defense, wouldn’t you agree? Weren’t you the one who was trying to burn me?”

He was trembling with anger as he glared at me while I stood there, perfectly composed.

“Go ahead then, why don’t you try to burn me? Huh? Give it a shot.”

“I’m gonna kill you!”

He narrowed his eyes again, powering up.

Slap!

“Argh!”

“Do you think I’ll just wait for you to charge up? You moron.”

Was this guy for real?

“From now on, every time you try to show off with your so-called ‘immense’ supernatural power, I’m gonna slap you on the forehead. Got it? Because I’m nice, I’ll keep it a secret that you tried to use your powers on a fellow student. But keep in mind that this will grow into a headache for you if this gets reported.”

“Y-you... you little—!”

“What are you sputtering on about? Do you want to get smacked again? Fine, come here, I’ll give you what you want!”

He swallowed, then inhaled sharply and pulled his head away when I raised my hand.

“You’re scared now? Such a coward, aren’t you?”

“Y-you... You damn piece of shit...!”

Embarrassed by his own display of cowardice, Heinrich’s face became flushed with anger.

Unable to contain his frustration, he eventually charged at me.

Crash!

“Ugh!”

I countered his clumsy takedown and sent him tumbling to the ground.

An entitled royal like him wouldn’t know the first thing about fighting. And he was supposed to be a talent with psychic abilities.

“Oh, do you think you can take me on physically now?”

Thump!

“G-get your filthy foot off me!”

I stood over Heinrich’s, my foot on his head, and addressed the stunned onlookers, who were too shocked to even properly close their mouths.

“You all saw clearly that this guy was trying to use his powers on me, right?”

Riana de Granz was standing there dumbfounded, witnessing the scene, and Connor Lint seemed to be shaking almost uncontrollably.

They probably never imagined that someone who behaved so recklessly like I did could exist.

Anyway, that was beside the point. As offenses went, getting into a fistfight with a fellow student was hardly comparable to trying to use supernatural powers on them.

“I understand pride is important to you, but know your limits,” I muttered coolly as I continued to press his head into the ground with my foot.

“Who said I was going to give you trouble? All I wanted was to attend the class in peace. So why are you picking on someone who’s only literally minding their own business? And frankly, if I don’t have supernatural powers, you should be grateful instead, since that would allow you to stand out more.”

I leaned in and grabbed Heinrich’s hair while he lay sprawled out, and whispered in his ear, “Your current ability has a range of five meters, with a preparation time of ten seconds, and the strength of your flame is smaller than that of a campfire.”

“!”

I had been watching the entire class today and had observed Heinrich and Riana using their abilities, so I couldn’t help but deduce the levels of their powers.

When I recited the specifics of his abilities so accurately, his eyes widened in shock.

“If you try to use your powers on me again...”

Just because I didn’t possess any abilities didn’t mean I had to take it lying down. I’d rather die than stay quiet in front of those who despised the weak.

“I won’t just be slapping your forehead. I’ll gouge out your eyes.”

“...!”

“Mr. Effenhauser told us to be cautious of one another, didn’t he? So let’s all be careful.”

If you stayed quiet, they’d see you as prey and hunt you down.

I may have nothing to boast of, but I refused to be treated as prey.