Chapter 86

Chapter : 86

Surprisingly, the Academy was peaceful. Since I entered, there had been a few minor incidents, but compared to the truly eventful incidents and accidents of the original, it could not have been more uneventful.

The reason was me. Thanks to me, the Academy was safe.

Why had so many incidents happened in the original? The cause was Bishot. As she mingled with the various male lead characters, she created friction and moved the male leads.

As she became entangled with the male leads, she made many enemies, and when those enemies attacked her, the male leads exploded as though competing in a race.

Because I had prevented such incidents in advance, Bishot instead spent her Academy life safely, and the Academy buildings were mostly intact as well.

In exchange, there was exactly one thing that was dangerous for Bishot.

At present, there was no one around Bishot to protect her. She had no connection at all with Kartea, Agares, Ian, and the others, and even Jefrin, who had been close to her since before entering the Academy, was away for training.

At the Academy, she was alone.

Most of the countless incidents that had happened in the original were caused by her relationships with the male leads or by their aggressive affection, but not all of them were.

Her tough personality, her nature of leaping into fire or water to say what had to be said, sometimes caused trouble too.

The incident that happened this time was exactly that. In the original, even with monsters swarming around her, such incidents had happened now and then, so I had wondered why things were quiet.

Something happened. To summarize this incident briefly, a wealthy noble courted Bishot, Bishot rejected him, and because she spoke in a way that offended him, the noble grew angry.

He tried to retaliate because he was angry, but what could he do?

If word of the matter spread, he would be the one criticized, and at the Academy, it was difficult to have people harass someone on his behalf. He might have been able to use the people around Bishot to isolate her, but Bishot already did not have a single friend, so even that was impossible.

So I ignored the matter. I knew about it, yet I stood by.

If it had been Jefrin, he would have tried to look after every tiny detail like a parent leaving a child by the water, but Bishot was not a child. She was an adult, so should she not handle it herself?

While I remained careless like that, the rumor spread strangely.

The rumor became extremely unfavorable to Bishot, and the Academy students seemed to believe it.

Ah, at this point, I remembered my promise with Jefrin. I had promised to help if danger arose, and if it had reached this level, then I had to move.

---

I went to Bishot and said,

“Should I help?”

“Do you not believe that rumor?”

Because I had read the original, I snorted the moment I heard it. It made no sense.

I knew exactly how high her standards were.

I had clearly seen with my own two eyes how she had played tug-of-war between the Crown Prince, the Grand Duke of the North, and the Master of the Magic Tower. Even if I wanted to believe the rumor, I could not.

“It was not an especially strange scandal. It was the kind of gossip that would be popular these days. But why are you offering to help me the moment something happens, without even checking whether it is true?”

I could not tell her the truth and say I knew because I had read the original.

“I am not particularly interested. Yes, as you say, it could be true. I think it is not, but it could be. But I promised Jefrin. That is all.”

“What can you do if I ask for help?”

“I would go find the bastard harassing you and tell him not to do that.”

Bishot hesitated for a moment before answering.

“I have nothing with which to repay you.”

“You only need to forget a little more of what happened in the past.”

“What exactly do you want me to forget?”

There were things between Raphael and Bishot that the original had not gone out of its way to mention. I could not mention them myself, so I asked her to present them first and negotiated.

---

After finishing the negotiation like that, I went to find Agares.

It was because Agares was a master of torture, and I hated torturing people. Since Agares was skilled at torture, he would be helpful in achieving what I wanted without actually torturing anyone.

After hearing my explanation, he clutched his stomach and laughed, saying I was a prince in everything but name. I asked Agares not to tease me, and he laughed even louder at my request.

“Hmm. As you say, the other party is a noble too, so torture will likely be difficult.”

“I would not do something like that even if he were not a noble.”

“Ahh, that was not what I meant. I meant torture is not almighty. I do not torture people lightly either. I choose the time and the opponent.”

Agares rubbed his chin and let out a breath.

“It is not an easy matter. It is not as though you can duel him either. You made a difficult promise.”

“Yes, that is true. Once I actually tried to begin, none of the methods seemed satisfactory.”

“If the opponent is not merely a noble, but one with a territory and quite a bit of accumulated wealth, applying pressure will be difficult. And since you cannot simply swing a sword from the start, what you can do within the bounds of legality is limited.”

Hearing him say that made me wonder if I had stepped forward too rashly by telling Bishot I would help. The people around me were all brute-force idiots, so I had assumed that if we pushed with force in the same way, something would work out, but this was not something that could be solved that way.

“If you want, I can solve it in your place.”

“Would that be all right?”

“Not all nobles are like you. Everyone likes me so much, you see. At a single word from me, they would all fall over themselves. If I told them to die, they would at least pretend to. Would the bastard who caused this matter not be similar?”

“I would be grateful if you helped.”

Agares tapped his own chest with his fist as though telling me to trust only him.

“Once it is over, let us eat that chicken dish you make for that mage bastard. I will prepare the alcohol.”

“Let us do that. I will prepare it.”

---

The lords of the North had long been followed by harsh rumors. Territorial problems were frequent, and every day, they had to prepare for and fight against outside threats. Because of that, they made cruel decisions and grew accustomed to blood. Among them, Agares was especially unusual.

He inherited the position of lord at a young age and grew up personally carrying out the killing his father normally would have done. With a body that developed quickly beyond his age and a face that had not yet lost its boyishness, he walked around drenched in blood, and it could not have looked stranger.

After contracting with Amadeus, he acted as though there was nothing to fear and personally solved the problems that had plagued his predecessors through extreme methods.

Properly educated nobles, especially those who possessed territories, knew that the rumors about Agares were false. In addition, they understood why such rumors had attached themselves to him, and what the background of those rumors was.

Rumors always had a reason.

Agares truly did kill people. As though he could not feel pity, he killed people without hesitation.

If this had been the original, the man would have been a third-rate villain who appeared once and vanished.

His name was Morris.

He was a bastard who had only barely managed to act up because Raphael had erased the very conditions that allowed all sorts of villains to appear.

Agares twisted Morris’s arm and gripped his fingernail. Agares had learned how to use his own name.

The purpose of torture was not to inflict pain on the other party, but to move them as one wished. Pain was a tool for giving fear, not the purpose of torture.

Tap, tap.

Agares lightly tapped Morris’s fingernail from underneath. That alone was enough. Morris understood what the gesture meant and frightened himself in advance.

In a calm tone, Agares spoke to Morris.

“I received a request. They said you were acting like a rather mean-spirited person and asked me to teach you a lesson. I have so few people I am close to, you see, so I truly want to grant this request. You understand my feelings, do you not? Do you know what this matter is about?”

Morris had prepared himself from the moment Agares summoned him.

The Grand Duke of terror, who had no point of contact with him, had called him. Why? No matter how positively he tried to look at it, it could not be a good thing.

It was obvious that it was related to what he had done this time.

‘He is not someone lies or wordplay will work on. Perhaps the rumors are true after all.’

Agares was a bastard who could do anything if he did not get the result he wanted.

Facing Agares, Morris felt his breathing quicken. His muscles stiffened, and his lips dried. Sweat gathered where his skin overlapped.

“Yes. I know why you called me. I am sorry.”

Morris immediately admitted his wrongdoing.

The moment Agares’s mood soured, one fingernail after another would be torn out. Morris regretted the matter with Bishot. Yes, with that beauty, it would not have been strange if she had caught someone’s eye. Perhaps that someone was Agares.

‘I was stupid.’

He should have investigated a little more before courting her. His eyes had been stolen by her beauty, and he had acted hastily. When Morris realized that, his heart felt as though it might burst. He had touched the woman of the Grand Duke of the North, so he considered that he might die.

“I will do as you say. I will do anything. Could you forgive me just this once? I will give you everything you want.”

Agares smiled and nodded, thinking this was why having a reputation was convenient.

“Good. Then I will tell you what you must do. Correct the rumor properly and apologize directly to the person you wronged.”

“Is that enough?”

“Of course. If you follow my words exactly, no threat will come to you.”

“Thank you....”

Morris doubted his ears. It was a shockingly merciful punishment. He had been prepared to give up at least one eyeball or one ear. If he was unlucky, he had expected the aftermath to reach not only his neck, but even his family.

“Thank you.”

He had to settle the matter quickly before Agares changed his mind. Morris slammed his head into the floor where he stood. His forehead struck the hard floor with a CRASH—!

“Thank you! I will finish everything by tomorrow. Thank you!”

Agares smiled in satisfaction at Morris’s response. He had expected the matter to be easy, but he had not known it would be to this degree.

“Yes. I will trust you and leave now. Do well.”

“Yes! I will absolutely produce the result you want!”

Watching Agares’s back grow distant, Morris thought that rumors truly could not be trusted. Agares was an extremely gentle person.