漫画大王

Chapter 226 [Illustration]

I could leave it to Olivia Lanche, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that sending her alone might result in her saying something inappropriate...

She was undoubtedly a helpful person, but you never knew what she might do, which made me worried.

Aside from the Magic Research Club, there was another matter that needed my attention.

“There’s really not much we need to do.”

“... Really?”

The Rotary Club Headquarters...

I was listening to a report in Loyar’s office.

“Yes. The people from the prince’s side are handling everything from negotiations for investments to the application for permits. All we need to do practically is provide manpower.”

Vertus was only getting ten percent of the profits, yet it seems like the people Vertus was sending were managing things so well that even if he’d asked for ninety percent, it wouldn’t have felt unreasonable.

“Of course, we’re not completely in the dark about the overall picture. Experienced club members are accompanying them.”

It was good to know that club members who had past experience in business were working alongside Vertus’s people to advance the project.

Connections... The more one experienced their power, the more one realized they’re incomparable to any form of brute force.

“We’re planning an initial setup of fifty stores, prioritizing stations with high foot traffic.”

The business had to be truly impressive since Loyar, who normally hated dealing with such matters, was willing to provide a formal report to me about it. This was someone who despised anything non-physical and strongly opposed my idea of taking over the Thieves’ Guild.

Yet here she was, overseeing a business operation out of necessity.

Thanks to the people Vertus had sent, the project of setting up stores at various stations was proceeding smoothly.

I wondered if Loyar was feeling stressed since she hated this sort of stuff.

“Are you having any difficulties?”

She shook her head.

“I only have to nod when they talk about what they will do and what they have done. As long as I remember what was discussed, I don’t have to use my brain much.”

“Hmm, they do seem quite capable.”

“They even gave a presentation on the estimates of expected sales and net profits. I don’t have much to do, Your Highness.”

What was this? Wasn’t this practically Vertus’s business, which I was just leeching off ninety percent from?

Vertus’s people were handling this business project quickly and efficiently, so there was probably no need for me to concern myself further with it.

However, Loyar seemed slightly uneasy.

“Your Highness, are you sure this is alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“... You’re getting involved in too many things. Everything, almost.”

So that was her concern.

With the Rotary Club now connected with Prince Vertus, it was clear that Loyar had already been exposed.

Of course, Loyar was already known by the alias “the Hound of Irine”.

Vertus had probably identified Loyar long ago, but he wouldn’t know of Loyar’s true identity as a demon.

Likewise, since I was forming various connections with the prince and princess and undertaking major ventures, I was gradually being exposed to the outside world.

Though Loyar might not understand why I was doing it, to her, the Magic Research Club also formed part of this broader exposure.

“You might be endangering yourself,” Loyar said.

This Rotary Club business aside, the situations unfolding in the Temple were unrelated to the Demon Realm.

“What must be done, must be done.”

“...”

My response was met with silence.

I wasn’t saying that what I was doing was necessary for the reconstruction of the Demon Realm. My efforts were solely directed toward preparing for the Gate Incident. Establishing the research club within the Temple and presenting them with challenging projects wasn’t for the sake of the Demon Realm.

It was to ensure that everyone stuck together, even if I wasn’t around.

It was impossible to know if something might happen, or when my true identity might be exposed.

If that happened, I’d not only have to leave the Temple, but the imperial capital as well.

The plan was to make sure that the kids could grow stronger even in my absence.

I thought that would be enough. But was it really enough?

I no longer wanted to leave the Temple.

I’d formed too many precious bonds there.

***

I might sound like a broken record, but I’d sustained a serious injury. Though I was off crutches now, I still had to face the inevitable consequences.

1st - Ellen

2nd - Louis Ankton

.

.

.

.

21st - Ludwig

22nd - Reinhart

Midterm results had come in, and I had landed at the very bottom of the list, below Ludwig.

A student placing below Ludwig was something that never happened in the original work, but it had just occurred.

It was the miraculous downfall for someone who had been the top scorer in the first semester midterms.

“...”

Everyone was looking at me with a mix of disbelief and pity.

[Challenge Complete - Finish Last in Midterms]

[You have received 500 achievement points.]

[Special Achievement Unlocked - Finishing Below a Dunce (Ludwig)]

[You have received 100 achievement points.]

‘Ugh... I did it on purpose, but it’s still annoying.’

Placing last in the second-semester midterms had been, to put it bluntly, intentional.

I’d missed many days of classes because I’d been unconscious and because of my injuries. Unlike the common classes, individual instruction subjects were mainly practical. Swordsmanship, Supernatural Powers, and Comprehensive Martial Arts—most involved physical activities.

The only non-physical classes were Mana Attunement Training and Demonic Ecology.

Because of this, I’d been given a fail grade for my practical classes for not being able to participate in the midterm exams.

Due to the unavoidable circumstance of my injury, it was possible that my overall scores would still be adjusted based on my performance in the final practical exams, but for now, I had failed my midterms.

A similar situation had happened in the general common classes. I had missed many classes, and when I did attend, I was too busy and distracted to focus.

Yes, I could have studied if I’d wanted to, but given the situation, I’d decided to let it go.

If I was going to fall down the rankings, I might as well hit rock bottom for those Achievement Points.

I wouldn’t have intentionally done so under normal circumstances, but since receiving a good score had become impossible due to my injury, I figured, “Let’s earn some Achievement Points,” and threw it all away.

This resulted in the 500 points from the “Finish Last in Midterms” achievement and 100 points from the bizarre “Finishing Below a Dunce” achievement.

‘Damn it.’

No matter what, being stupider than that thick-skull Ludwig grated on my nerves.

‘Wait, Thick-Skull is Harriet.’

Being seen as dumber than Ludwig?

Wasn’t that a bit too harsh?

Nobody made fun of me since they all knew I had been busy with various other matters and had gotten injured.

Still. Last place...

The same expression of sympathetic understanding was on everyone’s faces.

But I didn’t care.

Achievement Points were more important. After all, they were also a form of achievement.

***

Harriet de Saint-Ouen couldn’t help but be shocked at the midterm results.

Reinhart, who had topped the midterms previously, was now at the bottom.

Despite not being close, she knew that Ludwig—who always scored last—was quite exceptional in his own idiotic way.

They weren’t very friendly, but whenever they crossed paths, he’d always greet her with a bright smile.

‘It’d be nice if Reinhart could adopt even half of that attitude. Though, if he actually did, it might be a bit annoying,’ Harriet thought.

If Reinhart greeted her cheerfully, saying, “Hello,Saint-Ouen! How’s it going?”

It would feel very... Disgusting.

She’d probably respond immediately with, “What’s wrong with you?”

In any case, Harriet didn’t think much of Ludwig aside from the fact that he was that kind of person.

She had overheard Louis Ankton from Class B mention during one of their recent Magic Research Club meetings that Ludwig was incredibly, disastrously dumb.

And Reinhart had scored lower than that disastrously dumb Ludwig.

Normally, she would have relentlessly teased him for finishing last, fully enjoying his embarrassed reaction. This time, though, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Reinhart had topped the first-semester midterm exams. He certainly wasn’t dumb. His injury had probably caused him to fail all the practical exams.

However, if he had at least scored decently in the written exams, he wouldn’t have ranked below Ludwig.

It wasn’t that he didn’t study. He just simply couldn’t.

“Get the money.”

It was because of the words she had said to him.

Everyone in the class was shocked by Reinhart’s last-place finish. Even Vertus looked surprised.

The only one who remained expressionless, as usual, was Ellen, seemingly indifferent to whether Reinhart placed last or not.

But Harriet couldn’t simply ignore it. She had told him to raise a large amount of research funds.

Truthfully, it had been just a joke. Because he was the club president, she had given him an entirely unreasonable task, thinking he’d brush it off.

But Reinhart, instead of seeing it as an absurd request, had accepted it and diligently went about searching for the funds.

She was taken aback by it all. She had expected him to say, “What are you talking about? Isn’t this amount already enough?”

But he’d accepted it as if it were obvious and earnestly went out searching for research funding.

He attended club meetings, and she heard that he even visited the Head Student Council Office—something most students never did until graduation.

Seeing Reinhart talking with the fifth-year student Olivia Lanche, whose presence alone was dazzling, made Harriet uncomfortable, but she realized that conversation had also been about securing more research funding.

Reinhart had been very busy.

Even though he’d been injured and moving around on crutches, he couldn’t even study because he’d been too occupied with the task she had given him.

A wave of guilt washed over Harriet, and she couldn’t bring herself to tease Reinhart.

Harriet glanced sideways at Reinhart, who was staring blankly at the blackboard.

Was he despairing because the results were so disastrous and unexpected?

‘It’s all my fault. This is all my fault,’ she thought.

Harriet felt like crying because she realized she had inadvertently been incredibly cruel.

***

After the common classes ended, Harriet caught up with Reinhart, dragging her tired body from gym class.

“Hey.”

“Oh, right.”

Upon hearing her call him, Reinhart, instead of responding, grabbed her and started talking about various things as if he had just remembered something important.

“Did I mention this already? It looks like we might be able to secure some research funding through the sponsorship gathering,” Reinhart said.

“Huh? Oh... yeah. I wasn’t sure about it, but you said things were looking good.”

“Oh right, it seems like I did mention it.”

Reinhart seemed so scatterbrained that he couldn’t even recall if he had informed her about the sponsorship gathering or not.

‘Maybe he’s still in shock from the midterm results?’ Harriet thought.

“Anyway, don’t worry about the research funds. We have other options if the sponsorship gathering doesn’t work out.”

‘Why? I’m not sure why, but Reinhart, who isn’t even a mage, followed my unreasonable request and joined the Magic Research Club.

‘I asked him for something absurd, yet he’s the one running around most urgently trying to make things happen, even with his injury.’

When Harriet thought about it, Reinhart was always like this.

He’d openly make snide remarks, say things no one wants to hear, intentionally pick fights, and be generally annoying.

But when asked for help, he always provided it and he never expected anything in return. Harriet realized that over the somewhat short yet not insignificant amount of time, she had received so much from Reinhart.

From the group mission in the first semester, to convincing her father, the artifact, and even the Magic Research Club—she realized she had mostly been on the receiving end of his help.

And now, despite her unreasonable demand to secure a hefty sum of money from somewhere, he was still trying his best to fulfill it, and had ended up in last place for the midterms.

‘Who am I ? Why does he do so much for me?’

Harriet looked on as Reinhart went on about the research funds issue in front of her.

Sniffle.

“... What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Suddenly overcome with emotion, she started to shed tears.

“What... What’s going on? Why are you crying all of a sudden? I didn’t say anything this time, did I? Huh?”

Seeing her sudden tears, Reinhart waved his hands about in confusion, thinking he had somehow upset her.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry...”

“What? Huh?”

“I’m sorry. Because of me... You came in last... Because of me...”

“Whoa, whoa. What?”

Reinhart looked visibly flustered as he watched Harriet suddenly burst into tears.

“Because of me, you ended up last... You scored lower than that dumb Ludwig guy...”

“Hey, I’m the one who placed last, so why are you the one crying? And why are you insulting that innocent Ludwig all of a sudden?”

Reinhart seemed baffled, as if he truly couldn’t understand why she had suddenly started crying.

“It’s all because... because I said something weird...” she said between sobs. “That’s why you overdid it... I’m sorry. I won’t do it again...”

“Oh, is that so? You didn’t seem to mind it when you were yelling at me to get money.”

“I... I didn’t think you would actually do it...”

Realizing why Harriet was crying, Reinhart gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Why the hell do grades matter so much? I don’t care about that.”

If grades weren’t important, then what was?

Was his promise to Harriet more important than grades? Could a mere promise be more important than the grades that remained for his entire life?

Because Harriet didn’t know Reinhart’s true feelings, she could only infer everything from his words.

It was sad. But even though it was sad, an unusual emotion, one she’d never felt before, one that warmed her heart, seemed to well up inside her.

Her sobbing only grew more intense.

“Why are you crying even more now?! I said it’s okay!”

Reinhart grew even more troubled as Harriet’s sobs grew louder despite his attempts to console her.

From a distance, several classmates watched the scene unfold. They seemed to think that Reinhart the troublemaker was up to his old tricks, making another kid cry.

Their expressions said as much.