Chapter 94 - The Joint Grade Mock Battle, and Its Aftermath (2)

After that…… I went to see Regina to hear the full story.

Wondering what on earth she had done to Hugo to make him grovel even to me.

And the story I heard was…….

“I plan to use Professor Hugo as an informant to grasp the movements of the Crown Prince's Faction.”

Regina said to me, calmly watering the flowers with an unnecessarily luxurious watering can.

“An informant, you say?”

Was Hugo a person of that much value?

Hmm, in the game, he was just a character who got cast aside, so I wasn't sure.

“Fufu, you must be wondering if Professor Hugo is that useful. Is that what you're curious about?”

“……That’s right.”

Damn, she’s a psychic.

Sometimes when she talks like this, it startles me.

“Well, it's not unreasonable to think that. I'm well aware of how shallow Professor Hugo's humanity is. And of course, his abilities are pathetic too.”

However, as if not caring about my surprised feelings, or perhaps not noticing them, Regina continued her story.

“But, there’s a reason he’s holding onto that position despite his shallow humanity and abilities. And that reason is his social skills.”

“Social skills……”

As I mentioned before, Hugo appears in as a typical corrupt professor.

Therefore, what's highlighted in the work is his incompetence. He was a device to show how corrupt Archenia Academy, and by extension, the society of the Abellon Empire, was.

However, realistically thinking, there's no way a person with only such shortcomings could function properly at the academy.

Especially since it's the most prestigious school on the continent.

“Professor Hugo has a wider network than you think. He’s particularly close with several key figures in the Crown Prince's Faction. Well, he's treated almost like a servant, though.”

“I see……”

And the merit of Hugo that wasn't revealed in Arche seemed to be those social skills.

Though it was closer to flattery than social skills.

“He’ll have no choice but to bring us a lot of useful information. Hugo himself knows that if his usefulness disappears, we'll have no reason to keep him around.”

Oof.

How scary.

“Then Milo Gloss’s cheating case will be covered up.”

“You don't like that?”

Hmm, if you asked me if I liked it or not, I'd say I didn't. I did have a dislike for Milo.

But the thought that came before that was, does this mean the development where Milo leaves, which happened in the original work, won't occur?

I also thought I could use Milo's case to attack the Crown Prince's Faction as a bonus.

“It's not so much that…… I thought this case would serve well to tarnish the prestige of the Crown Prince's Faction. So I was surprised that you were just letting it go.”

With such clear evidence, Regina as a princess, Regina Eliade Abellon, not just as a cadet, could intervene without issue.

There would be interference from the Crown Prince's side, of course, but getting rid of Milo would be a piece of cake.

It was a development that happened in the original work, after all.

But the princess didn't do that. Why?

Regina smiled, raising the corners of her mouth slightly, and answered my question.

“Because if we were to have an enemy, an idiot of Milo Gloss's caliber is just right.”

“Just right……?”

“You're aware that my older brother is using Milo heavily because of the Gloss family's prestige, right?”

That was certainly true.

Milo's own abilities were mediocre, but the prestige of the Gloss family couldn't be ignored…… there was a description like that in the original work.

“My brother, who despises commoners, probably feels like breaking out in hives every time he talks to Milo Gloss…… if we were to weed out such a person, who would benefit?”

“Aha……”

I started to get the gist of it.

“……For Crown Prince Claudio, it would be an opportunity to place another competent person in the spot Milo vacated.”

“Exactly. From our perspective, dealing with an idiot is much more comfortable than dealing with someone else who is competent, isn't it?”

“A foolish ally is more frightening than a brilliant enemy, is that it?”

In short, if an idiot like Milo continues to occupy that position, it's a 'thank you' for us.

‘Scary, so scary.’

I thought I had gotten quite used to Regina, but this side of her…… no matter how much time passed, I didn't think I could ever keep up.

Truly, I had to say she was a person I could only purely admire…….

It was in a different sense from the other protagonists of .

“……Really, I like you because you understand so quickly.”

“I am humbled.”

“Well. Ah, speaking of which, did you do well on the examination?”

What followed was such idle conversation.

Whether I did well on the examination, how the semester was. Things like that.

Come to think of it, the frequency of having such trivial conversations with Regina seemed to have increased recently.

Though even that might be a politically related activity for Regina.

Anyway, we continued to talk after that.

Of course, we couldn't stay like that forever. The atmosphere to part ways began to set in.

And, just as I was about to get up from my seat.

“Ah, right. Do you remember what I said?”

“……?”

Regina asked a question like that.

Uh, remember what she said?

Was it just one or two things?

“You know, the story about keeping your schedule free after the end of the semester.”

-Ah, do you have any plans set after the first semester ends?

-No, nothing has been decided in particular.

-Fufu, then keep it that way.

Ah…….

That, the thing from the tea time after I ran into Robelia.

“……Of course.”

I answered with a relatively expressionless face, but Regina snorted with a sullen expression.

“You have a strangely expressionless face, but sometimes your inner thoughts are so easy to read.”

“……”

“You should be a bit more careful, okay?”

Hmm.

Lately, it seems my inner thoughts are being read often?

“……Yes.”

As I answered, I heard Regina muttering to herself.

“There’s just no part of him that gets boring……”

It was a voice that strangely held Regina's unique sadistic quality, but what did that mean…….

Well.

It probably didn't mean anything special.

***

After that, well, nothing much happened.

What Regina said was to keep my schedule free…… and that something would come up about a month after the end of the semester.

From the nuance, it sounded like she was going to take me somewhere…… I wondered what her intention was.

Well, it wouldn't be a bad thing for me. Whether I liked it or not, we were in the same boat, and I had proven my value to Regina.

Thud.

I slowly left the garden and started walking again to go somewhere.

I had come after all my daily schedules were finished, so I was crossing a campus that had become quite dark.

“……”

It was quiet. That was the impression I got while crossing the campus.

Other than the sound of my own footsteps, not a single other sound could be heard.

A silence that felt as if I was the only one left in the world.

Lately, I had felt this kind of silence quite often.

It was the same when I fought a life-and-death battle with Gabriel, and when I secretly followed Arien to the factory to help her.

Hmm, it was a good night for getting lost in thought.

‘Everything is going well, come to think of it.’

I slowly recalled my goal for this time.

There were other secondary goals, but the most important one was to make it into the top 10 of the department this time.

Achieving that goal didn't seem difficult. Originally, Hugo trying to find fault with me to lower my score would have been an obstacle…… but the situation had changed a lot.

‘To think Hugo would be turned to our side.’

My goodness. In the original work, Milo and Hugo were mercilessly cut off, but this was a strange harmony.

Well, since it turned out like this, given Hugo’s personality, he would definitely give me the highest score…… and judging from Pleta’s reaction, she probably gave me a good score too, so I'll probably get the grade I hoped for.

“Good grief.”

Honestly, it was a good thing, but I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.

To be in the same boat with the man who helped the guy who was hell-bent on bringing me down.

Should I call it a trick of fate, or should I call it detestable?

‘My words to Arien are becoming meaningless.’

Even if people can't understand each other, they can live together because they respect each other.

It was an answer I had come up with after contemplating the relationship between humans, but at times like this, my conviction couldn't help but diminish.

Even without respecting each other, we ended up in the same boat due to mutual interests.

It wasn't just about Hugo, even looking at the examples of Theodore or Milo I saw today…… hmm.

I couldn't help but wonder if it was too much of a hopeless idealism.

‘But, well.’

As I continued walking, lost in my own thoughts, I soon reached my destination.

And from the place I was aiming for, the training ground, I heard a familiar voice.

“Oh, what’s this. You’re late?”

A girl with a natural liveliness and easy-going nature. Yuna's voice.

“He seems to have been busy with this and that lately. It's probably something like that this time too.”

A boy with a refined reason that restrained his instinctive wildness. Khan's voice.

“Even though you seem busy, you come out consistently…… I think that’s amazing. But please don’t overdo it.”

A girl with a natural goodness that even made her seem unapproachable. Serene's voice.

“Then since Rain-ssi is here too, let's start again! Rain-ssi, I request a spar today.”

Finally, a boy who knew how to temper himself in the right way. Elwin's voice.

As they were the protagonists of the game , it was hard to find any overlap in their personalities.

I, too, found it hard to find a human connection with the other guys.

However, we were still living together. Respecting each other.

Of course, it's impossible for everyone to respect everyone else. Not all humans can be good.

If that were possible, humans would no longer be human, would they?

And, the same was true for the opposite case.

‘Well, isn’t this enough?’

This world is filled with all sorts of stuffy and annoying human archetypes, but it's not like people who don't know respect don't exist.

That was enough.

“……Haha.”

I raised the corner of my mouth slightly in a smile.

‘I've become quite the philosopher.’

And I slowly moved my feet and headed inside the training ground.

The semester is ending, and the break is starting.

During this break, I wanted to spend it a little comfortably. Without getting caught up in any happenings.

Is it…… possible?

I hope so.

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