Chapter 81 - Final Exams (2)

To the students of the current Archenia Academy, the student council held a significance far greater than that of a mere student self-governing body in a typical school.

This was especially true for the students born as children of influential noble families.

Certainly, serving as an officer in the student council of the prestigious Archenia Academy was a considerable point of pride.

It was a resume entry that would be highly regarded even after becoming an official knight.

However, what was even more important was the existence of the 1st Imperial Prince, Claudio Renart Abellon, who was currently serving as the student council president.

The reason why Claudio’s mere presence elevated the status of the student council was simple.

It was because he was an influential successor to the throne, possessing a status unprecedented for a crown prince throughout the empire's history, to the point where he couldn't even be compared to any latecomer contenders.

It was for this reason that Claudio had been able to serve as the student council president for three years with overwhelming support since his first year, right after entering the academy.

With such an overwhelmingly influential crown prince, whose position as the next emperor was almost certain, as the head of the student council, what kind of phenomenon would occur?

Yes, the student council was no longer a simple student self-governing body, but a place for ‘those who would become his confidants in the same generation as the Crown Prince’, in other words, for those who would become the central figures of the next Crown Prince’s faction.

Milo Gloss, who had moved up to the high school division of Archenia Academy, had no doubt that he too would become a member of that student council.

He believed he would become a significant figure within his generation, just like his father, Melton Gloss, who wielded considerable influence in the empire's social circles.

However, reality was not so easy.

“Ah, young master. It is true that we will be appointing some new members to the new student council to be formed next semester… but all the positions have already been filled. Let’s look forward to next year.”

A roundabout refusal.

That was the response that came back to Milo, who had been subtly appealing to the Prince to appoint him to the new cabinet of the student council.

“Your Highness, could you please reconsider…?”

“Haha. I’d love to, but….”

After confirming the prince's intentions, Milo literally went in and out of the student council room countless times, begging Claudio, but the reaction was the same.

With that benevolent smile, he would only show a roundabout refusal.

“Damn it… Damn it…!”

It was, without a doubt, a clear disgrace.

-Hehe.

-I knew it from the moment he was miserably defeated by that bastard… how utterly pathetic.

It might have been a natural course of events for these incidents to become a laughingstock for some of Milo's political rivals.

He was even despised by students from upper-class noble families, whose standing was better than the Gloss family's…….

It was about two weeks before the final exam period began. It was a story from a time when Milo was frequenting the student council room as usual.

To be precise, it was when he had been offering various things to win the Crown Prince's favor and was about to leave the student council hall.

Thump.

“Milo Gloss.”

A student blocked Milo’s path as he was leaving the student council hall after exiting the president’s office.

“Fel…ix.”

Felix Shotton.

The eldest son of the Marquisate of Shotton, a traditional martial family renowned for being just below the Three Founding Families.

He was a man of ability who was recognized by himself and others as the Crown Prince's closest aide, despite being only a first-year high school student.

The fact that he acted like a member of the student council with the Prince's permission, even though he wasn't affiliated with it, said it all.

In other words, he was a figure who was clearly positioned much higher than Milo Gloss in the class society of this Abellon Empire.

“I believe I told you. His Highness the Crown Prince is quite busy with various matters, even without you.”

The navy-haired student, Felix, from whom coldness dripped, said so in a voice full of contempt.

“Why can’t you grasp your place? Do you really not know that the only thing you possess is your family’s halo?”

Felix saw through it all. How narrow and shallow the vessel of a person named Milo Gloss was.

It was so shallow that the bottom was clearly visible.

“Ugh….”

Despite being in the same grade, the conversation flowed completely one-sidedly, with Felix reprimanding Milo.

It was a form of punishment for Milo, who couldn't let go of his lingering attachment even after receiving several warnings, and Milo couldn't say a single word back.

“No, I….”

Glare.

Milo seemed to try to protest something, but the words that lingered in his mouth were crushed and disappeared by the beast-like gaze emanating from the student before him.

“I’ll warn you one last time. From now on, please act according to your station.”

“……”

Who could have ever imagined the high-nosed Milo Gloss fumbling like this?

However, this was not particularly surprising if one knew Milo's habits.

He became infinitely strong when he judged someone to be weaker than him.

He became infinitely weak when he judged someone to be stronger than him.

That was the way the man named Milo Gloss lived.

“Damn it!!”

Slam-!

As Felix, who looked at him with disgust until the very end, left the place, Milo vented his anger by punching the wall.

Was that anger directed at Felix? Or was it directed at the Prince?

Surprisingly, the target of his anger was neither of them.

“Because of Rain Enlight, that despicable bastard….”

Yes, absurdly, that anger was directed at Rain Enlight.

“If only that bastard, if only that bastard hadn’t beaten me…!”

All this miserable treatment he was receiving now was because he was being underestimated due to his defeat against Rain Enlight.

It was because he had lost trust because of it.

Milo Gloss truly, from the bottom of his heart, thought so.

It was a way of thinking that was infinitely close to delusion or a persecution complex.

What was the reason for that? Well, perhaps it was because he didn't want to admit that a person he had regarded as trash beneath his feet since middle school was now above him.

Wasn't it because of such a hideous heart that his sense of defeat had transformed into hatred? One could only speculate so.

Even without this incident, the Crown Prince had no intention of appointing Milo to a key position, and Felix had despised Milo from the beginning.

The result would have been the same even without the happening with Rain Enlight.

But in that case, Milo would not have been so angry.

He would probably have been completely taken in by the Crown Prince's sweet talk, not even realizing that he was being treated like chaff.

As always.

But the defeat he experienced at Rain’s hands had caused Milo to be engulfed in a sense of defeat and an inferiority complex.

His current pessimistic but accurate assessment of the situation stemmed from that reason.

It was a case of a blind squirrel finding a nut, though.

“I have to do something… I have to repay him somehow. If I can pick up the pieces now…!”

And this kind of blind hatred was bound to be expressed in a misguided way.

***

Hmm.

I checked the team assignments for the Joint Grade Mock Battle, and it was utterly strange.

The monster suppression battle didn't have any particular problems. Well, since the monster battle itself wasn't a competition, I could manage to carry the team as long as I did well on my own.

However, the problem was with the interpersonal combat evaluation mock battle.

-Team A

: Dejan Lopez (Team Leader)

: Shasha Cristy

: Rain Enlight

: Mason Downs

: Joe Smallbon

: Tyler Moore

‘…Who are all these people?’

Except for one person, they were all names I had never heard before.

Even if we were in the same academy, I couldn't possibly know the information of all the students, but I had the experience of playing countless times.

If they had some level of skill or a significant enough role to appear, wouldn't they have shown up in the game, even if just in passing?

However, even though I had played like crazy, I couldn't recall the names of the guys on my team's roster.

And that meant there was a high probability that they didn't have very outstanding skills.

Though I wasn't sure.

‘At least there’s Shasha Cristy…’

Shasha Cristy. Shasha. The name lingered in my mind as Yuna's friend.

Even so, her identity was more inclined towards being Yuna's friend, so I couldn't expect much from her in terms of skill.

She was probably about average in the Magic Department.

‘Why isn’t she the team leader either?’

According to the settings, the team leader had the right to give orders to the team… This would make it difficult to lead the team's movements.

“Haa.”

With a frustrated heart, I sighed and looked at the roster of the opposing team, Team B.

And on that team, there were two familiar names.

-Team B

: Milo Gloss (Team Leader)

: Theodore Dietrich

“……”

Milo Gloss was a given, and Theodore Dietrich was a student from the Magic Department who appeared with some importance in the original .

‘He was a guy who used fire-based magic, and he had a strong tendency towards noblesse oblige.’

Though he was a guy who would later be influenced by Serene or Arien and repent.

Anyway, he was a guy with definite skills. He was probably easily within the top five in the Magic Department.

And after checking the roster like this, one thought came to mind.

‘Something’s strange.’

It was just a comparison of the names I knew, but wasn't the power difference a bit much?

There was no guarantee that the names I didn't know were necessarily inferior students. But even comparing only what I knew, the power difference was quite severe.

The aforementioned Theodore was, without a doubt, a top-tier student, and Milo also had skills around the upper-middle tier.

In contrast, our ally Shasha, sorry to say, had abilities that were utterly unremarkable.

“Huh.”

It was highly suspicious. It might seem like I was getting paranoid for no reason, but…….

The opponent was Milo, who had been obstructing me at every turn, and based on my experience so far, even if it seemed like nothing, the process of doubting once was absolutely necessary.

‘Wait a minute…’

As that question bloomed in my mind, I checked Team B's roster once again.

And, after a long time of trying to recall, I was able to remember.

‘…Their roles weren’t significant, but I have a memory… that they all appeared as members of the Crown Prince’s faction in the game.’

Should I say they seemed like names that appeared as enemy monsters you pass by in the game? There was a sense of familiarity somewhere.

Of course, I didn't remember it clearly, and it was at the level of suspicion.

“No way…”

Hmm.

Well, there's no harm in being careful, I thought, and wrote down this roster in the notebook I brought.

Now then, shall I do a little background check?

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