Chapter 260
Chapter 260:
The day after the Virtual War match ended.
All sorts of rumors continued spreading among the first-years.
Some marveled at how overwhelmingly strong the upper-ranked second-year Scholars had been, far beyond anything they could dare challenge, while others wondered why access to the ‘place where the Blocks were summoned’ had been completely restricted for some unknown reason.
Naturally, there were also stories claiming Villead had used his family’s backing to threaten the seniors and steal the key. Even so, people mocked him for being miserably weak enough to be defeated by Marie in a single strike and later lose consciousness in the street from the aftereffects despite the protective spell.
But among all those countless topics, the one mentioned by far the most was…….
“Miss McGrim’s guerrilla concert really was the best.”
“I still feel like I dreamed the whole thing. It doesn’t feel real at all.”
“It was the greatest performance of my life. I’ll never forget it…….”
“She even sang an unreleased new song. When are they going to officially release it? I want to hear it again.”
“Damn it, I wanted to hear it too……!”
“Ah, you’re one of the guys who passed out at the concert and missed it.”
The popular songstress Miss McGrim had made an unannounced surprise appearance in the middle of the battlefield.
Since even unreleased new songs had poured out during her performance, the cadets regarded that time as though it had been a dream.
As a result, the sparks inevitably reached the ‘McGrim with the same name,’ who normally wore a beret.
“You’re actually Miss McGrim, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“You look different, but somehow you kind of seem like Miss McGrim…….”
“I said I’m not.”
“Miss McGrim! Please give me your autograph!”
“Haa…….”
Under the endless barrage of questions that came regardless of time or place, McGrim sighed and silently kept walking.
“Miss McGrim is always smiling and passionate, right? But she seems kind of cold…….”
“Yeah, she definitely looks different too.”
“Seems like she’s a little shorter as well?”
“I’m not short!”
“Eek!”
When McGrim snapped irritably, the cadets whispering nearby jumped in shock and backed away.
“See, would the kind and wonderful Miss McGrim ever get angry like that?”
“Right, right. No matter how you look at it, they really must just share the same name.”
The songstress Miss McGrim with dazzling hair mixed with pink and blue.
And McGrim with straight black hair wearing a beret.
Since the two differed not only in appearance but in personality as well, the commotion surrounding the McGrim who merely shared the same name seemed to come to an end.
Before the entrance ceremony, McGrim had thought she could hide her identity for now and naturally reveal it once enough time had passed, but…….
“I’ve decided. Even later, I’m never, ever revealing my identity. Not until graduation, absolutely never!”
Sounding slightly angry, McGrim bit down hard on the tomato skewered on her fork and swallowed it.
This was the balcony on the fifth floor of the main building.
She and Hesty were having a quiet lunch alone beneath a parasol.
Hesty smiled as though she found McGrim adorable and opened her mouth.
“It must be really hard for you, McGrim.”
“Yeah, telling only Hesty my secret might be the best decision I’ve made since coming here…….”
McGrim had revealed the identity she had kept tightly hidden to Hesty alone.
When she first confessed her secret, she had worried that Hesty might find it difficult to treat her normally.
Fortunately, Hesty treated McGrim exactly as she always had.
No, if anything, opening up about that secret had made them even closer.
Then, remembering yesterday’s events, McGrim suddenly asked.
“Hesty, do you know of any kind of magic that can see the past and future? I’m not completely sure, but it seemed like Senior Villead had spoken with someone like that.”
It was something she had overheard from the conversation between her classmates ‘Marie’ and ‘Lou.’
“The future? If it’s that…… I think I might know.”
“Huh? Hesty, you know?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen it in a book before.”
For Hesty, who had watched the counter at Kirchen Inn since childhood, books had been like friends.
The inn counter was peaceful. But since she never knew when a guest might arrive, she had to remain there quietly.
So Hesty always brought books to read.
Novels filled with wonderful adventures or love stories, essays that let her glimpse other people’s thoughts, and even literature containing vast amounts of information.
Hesty had read all kinds of books without discrimination.
“……Observation. Yeah, I’m sure that was the name.”
“Observation?”
A truly mysterious ability capable of seeing the future or past of an object.
“They said the only people in the Empire who can use that ability are incredible people like the head of House Finzer. And His Majesty the Emperor. Apparently, you need an enormous amount of magical energy.”
“Ah, then does that mean Senior Villead was communicating with people that incredible?”
“……If what McGrim said is right, probably?”
“Aha.”
McGrim slowly nodded and continued.
“Senior Villead might be even more incredible than we thought.”
Hesty also nodded in agreement with McGrim.
“Yeah, I don’t believe the rumors anymore either. Among the first-years, the two of us know better than anyone that Senior Villead isn’t a bad person.”
“And among the second-years, aside from Senior Lapin and Senior Karin, it didn’t seem like anyone really knew Senior Villead either.”
McGrim continued talking comfortably like that.
……But one question still remained in McGrim’s heart.
Who had tried to cause casualties in the battlefield, and why?
Or…… had it merely been an accident?
‘I’m curious, but I couldn’t find out.’
Even now, the order prohibiting access to the place where the Blocks had been summoned hadn’t been withdrawn, and the Knight Order continued standing guard.
‘Could it have something to do with that?’
But McGrim deliberately didn’t tell Hesty.
Not only could it simply be her misunderstanding, she herself didn’t know the details, and she didn’t want to carelessly bring it up and make Hesty anxious for no reason.
It seemed unwise to say anything before the truth came to light.
“Lunch break is almost over. Let’s go to class, Hesty.”
“Yeah, the next lesson is…… Basic Understanding of Magic.”
“Ah, I don’t like that class. It looks difficult…….”
After briefly brushing their teeth, the two entered the classroom.
The seats were already filled with cadets waiting for the lecture.
While McGrim and Hesty sat side by side in empty seats and waited for class to begin.
……McGrim suddenly noticed someone.
A male student with an honest-looking face, Dion.
He had acted like a delinquent over the past few days, but now the look in his eyes had completely changed.
No, rather than changed…….
‘……He’s back.’
He had exactly the same impression as Dion on the day of the entrance ceremony.
The kind and gentle face from back then.
McGrim unconsciously shot to her feet.
“Hesty, wait here a moment.”
“Huh? Okay.”
McGrim walked toward Dion and stopped in front of his seat.
Sensing her presence, Dion raised his head and looked at McGrim, then began sweating profusely.
McGrim spoke first.
“Hey, do you remember me? You helped me.”
Dion scratched his head and nodded.
“Yes, I remember. You’re the person who stumbled and nearly fell during the entrance ceremony, right?”
“Then do you remember my name too?”
But Dion looked flustered.
“You don’t know my name? I definitely told you.”
When McGrim tilted her head, Dion panicked and began stammering.
“S-Sorry. This may sound strange, but lately my memory has been…… Ah, no. It’s my fault.”
Sweating coldly, Dion hurriedly closed his mouth.
A full week had already passed since the entrance ceremony, but Dion’s reaction made him seem like someone who had only just finished it.
It was obvious that he had no memory whatsoever of what he had done over the last few days.
……But McGrim felt relieved.
Right.
Maybe Senior Villead had helped Dion return.
No, just as he had confidently declared, he must have resolved it.
McGrim smiled brightly and opened her mouth.
“I’ll introduce myself again. McGrim. Call me McGrim.”
At those words, Dion’s expression gradually brightened.
“……I’m Dion. I look forward to getting along with you, Miss McGrim.”
“‘Miss?’ We’re classmates.”
“Then……?”
“Just call me McGrim comfortably.”
“……Nice to meet you, McGrim.”
McGrim grinned, and Dion followed her with a bright smile of his own.
The next morning, during the walk to class.
“Hey, that’s that senior.”
“He’s got some nerve. He caused that huge mess and still shamelessly came to class the next day.”
“I heard from a senior I know that he’s always been like that.”
“So all those rumors really were true.”
Just by showing up for class, I could clearly hear how people now treated my reputation.
It was the same inside the Finders classroom.
While sitting down with Lapin, my eyes suddenly met Kayrin’s, who was seated farther away.
“Ugh……!”
Kayrin glared at me as though she were about to kick her chair aside and jump to her feet.
But only for a moment, before her eyes began welling up as though the whole world had wronged her.
“I’m not talking to you, Young Master! I’m still mad!”
……I hadn’t actually spoken to her.
When I silently looked away, I faintly heard Kayrin sniffle.
“I really wanted to ride the Block……!”
‘Should I apologize……?’
Just how badly had she wanted to ride that giant golem?
She looked so sorrowful, like the tragic heroine of some tale who had suffered every hardship imaginable, that I nearly apologized instinctively.
‘Whatever. I’ll give her some cake later and try to cheer her up.’
Of course, I had no idea whether cake alone would be enough to fix her mood.
“Villead, you.”
A young lady with purple hair, Ellined, quietly approached and asked.
“You had a reason you couldn’t tell anyone, didn’t you?”
Her expression showed that she was still trying to believe in me until the very end.
“……Who knows.”
But the incident was already over.
There was no need to go into every little detail and explain my reasons even to Ellined.
Letting it pass like this was probably the right choice.
At my answer, Ellined remained silent for a while before opening her mouth again.
“……This time, you won’t tell me.”
“Well, there’s nothing in particular to say.”
“……I understand. There must have been unavoidable circumstances.”
That was what she said, but her eyes looked slightly disappointed.
Not long after Ellined left, someone else approached me.
“Well, well, Dedenkman. Weren’t you working a little too hard during yesterday’s match? You pushed yourself until you collapsed from exhaustion.”
……The narrow-eyed Luga.
Yesterday, he had radiated killing intent at me while I wore the black mask, as though he wanted to kill me.
But now he was giving me his usual sly smile.
‘……There’s no way he realized I’m the Black Knight, right?’
Fortunately, judging by his attitude, he didn’t seem to suspect in the slightest that the Black Knight and I were the same person.
Luga was usually relaxed and sly.
Unless he regarded someone as an equal or stronger, he rarely showed his true seriousness.
Yesterday, Luga had wiped away every trace of amusement and shown his genuine side to me while I was in the Black Knight’s appearance.
Apparently, he considered the Black Knight an exalted powerhouse on the same level as himself.
‘At my level, I’m nowhere near that class. He’s misunderstanding way too much.’
He looked at me with a leisurely smile.
‘Yesterday really was dangerous.’
For some reason, he had pointed a sword at me then.
There had to be a definite reason he had mistaken me for an enemy.
‘I still can’t know the details yet……. But I should avoid using spiritual beast abilities in front of Luga.’
Even before this, I had already been refraining as much as possible from using Shark’s ability in front of the cadets, or only wrapping it around my hands or feet where it wouldn’t be noticeable.
I needed to be even more careful around Luga.
……Fortunately, Luga only made a few jokes and didn’t say anything important to me.
Soon afterward, Professor Ruber entered the classroom and began calling attendance.
Shen, who had supposedly returned to school, was once again nowhere to be seen today.
And.
「Absentees for the Day - Evil Shen Kuman Varkus, Sia」
For some reason, Sia was absent as well.
I had been curious about why she had come to visit me in the infirmary, but unfortunately, I couldn’t ask her.
‘Well, people miss class occasionally.’
I didn’t pay much attention to it.
……After class ended.
When I left the classroom with Lapin, an assistant wearing a uniform cap over half-tied dark coral hair blocked my path.
“Cadet Villead.”
Assistant Chariot, who worked under Professor Jennings.
With an expressionless face, she held out several sheets of paper to me.
“……What’s this?”
“The professor ordered you to write a statement of circumstances.”
“Hmm…….”
What had to come had finally come.