Chapter 39
“That’s just ridiculous.”
Once I heard Kaier’s story, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh because of how dumbfounded I was.
What had just happened was apparently a tradition that was passed down in Class A.
Apparently, it was called “water draining,” a sort of ritual meant to prevent even the most prestigious nobles and royals in the Royal Class from acting out and forcing them to stay in line.
The idea was to instill a sense of equality in everyone, regardless of how high they could soar or how low they would crawl, because at the end of the day, they were all students, and thus on equal footing. It was an infamous tradition that had been handed down from generation to generation.
In effect, it involved second-year students disciplining first-year students. During this session, they were berated not to ever lose to Class B, with threats that they would be “killed” if they did.
That was why they were doing it today, on the weekend of the first week of school.
Regardless of one’s social standing, the only hierarchy that mattered here was that of seniority—seniors over juniors. That was why everyone had been ordered to get down on the ground, and they were all being given a hard time. Indeed, everyone, whether royal or commoner, seemed to be on the receiving end of the unjust punishment. And from the looks of it, those who had never experienced such treatment before had found it all very shocking.
I couldn’t believe that such an unethical tradition was being passed down in the Class A dormitory without my knowledge. It was probably because most of what I’d written pertained to the Class B dormitory.
Now that I looked back on it, it seemed like the Class A students’ aversion to losing to Class B might also have been due to the pressure from their seniors.
While Class B had kind seniors who would snack on sweets and laugh together with them, Class A seemed filled with people with rotten characters, regardless of their year.
And right now, the one with the most rotten character in Class A was surely me.
“So, you mean to say that Class A has always had someone of commoner background take charge of educating the first-years in this manner?”
“It seems so...”
“And that little child earlier, what about her?”
“She’s a second-year student... Her name is... Her name is...”
“Rudina. That’s her name. She didn’t mention what her talent was,” Connor Lint chipped in.
So essentially, Class A’s important event was being managed by someone from a commoner background, who was stepping all over the pride and authority of the royals and nobles. Moreover, the person in charge of it this year was that brat who looked like she had skipped a grade.
Anyway, it seemed that everyone had been gritting their teeth and enduring this treatment just because it was a tradition, however ludicrous it might seem. Even if their pride was hurt, being dismissed from the Royal Class would have been even more humiliating in their eyes.
They probably endured it, thinking that other royals and nobles in the Royal Class had gone through the same thing.
In any case, while the royals and nobles were silently swallowing their pride and undergoing this degrading event, a kid from the slums had come out of nowhere and started causing trouble, demanding to know why he should partake in such nonsense.
“...”
That explained why everyone seemed to be focusing on me.
Everyone was still milling about the training grounds, wondering if it was okay to leave.
“Hey.”
Number 4, Harriet de Saint-Ouen, the one with the talent for magic, called out to me. She seemed anxious.
“What is it?”
“If this goes wrong, are you going to take responsibility?”
It seemed like she was questioning why I hadn’t bent my pride when they all had. Despite her pretty face, there was a poisonous edge to her words. What a total brat.
“If this does go wrong, what exactly is supposed to happen?” I asked in reply.
“The seniors will obviously look down on us.”
It sounded like she was worried about getting on the bad side of the seniors.
“And if they look down on us, how does that actually affect us?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, what exactly would happen if the seniors look down on us?”
“Uh, well...”
“Are we not allowed to attend classes, or will we be unable to sleep? If those guys beat us up, we can just report it to the teacher. Why are you all acting like idiots, crawling about on the ground silently just because ‘it has always been this way’? Don’t you guys have any guts? You seem to have less pride than me, and I’m from the streets! Tsk.”
I scanned them all with a disdainful expression, and all their faces turned red with embarrassment, except for Ellen and Cliffman. They were probably all worried about the serious consequences of not listening to a senior’s command, and had forced themselves to remain silent while thinking of the honor and social recognition that would come after graduating from the Royal Class. They might have even been forewarned about disciplinary actions.
It was disgusting, but they had been willing to bear with it and move on until I’d come along and disrupted the whole situation.
“Anyway, this is all your responsibility! I did as I was told! I’m not in the wrong! Got it?”
Harriet seemed to have thrown away all her dignity and pride, yelling at me and blaming me for the whole situation.
“If anything goes wrong with my life at the Temple, I’m gonna kill you.”
Harriet must have kept quiet because she hadn’t suffered any direct harm, but now that she thought she might be caught up in the aftermath too, she was lashing out angrily at me.
‘Oh, is that so?’
“Kill me? You’re spouting some big words there. Do you think that I can’t beat you up just because you’re a girl or something?”
“Wh-what?”
“In the Royal Class, equality is determined by talent alone. What does social status or gender matter? If you act like trash, I’ll leave my fingerprints etched into your cheek for a week. Got it?”
When it came to death, I was the veteran. I was the only one who had experienced it already.
‘None of you have died before, have you? Well, I have!’
As I took a bold step forward, Harriet recoiled in alarm and stepped back.
“You’re acting all high and mighty when all you’ve got is nothing but a somewhat thick skull rolling around in there. Who are you to kill me?”
“T-th... th... thick skull?”
“Yeah. Thick skull.”
As I treated Harriet, the daughter of Duke Saint-Ouen, as if her skull was the only good thing about her, the expressions of the people around us became quite a sight to behold.
“Ha, ha... Ha! Ha!”
It seemed that Harriet felt an even greater insult than when she had been made to do the push-up position a moment ago. Her face had turned red, and she was so flustered that she couldn’t even speak properly.
And then...
Bang!
“Bring out that bastard from earlier!”
A group of individuals barged into the training grounds.
***
There were five of them, probably all from the second year, so they’d be about eighteen years old. Of course, that little brat from earlier was included among them.
“Is it that kid?”
“Yeah!” exclaimed the brat Rudina, who hid behind her male classmates and pointed a finger towards me.
It was surprising how petite she was when she was beside her classmates. She was like a little sister who had called her older brothers over after she got into a fight. Even the male classmates seemed to have the attitude that they were protecting their younger sister.
The apparent leader of the group gave me a skewed glance.
Seeing a high schooler acting tough in front of my eyes made me want to throw up on the spot.
“Hey, kid. What’s your name?”
“Reinhart.”
“Oh. You must be some illustrious noble, who doesn’t know how things work in the Royal Cla—”
“Oh, I’m not from a noble family.”
His mistaken supposition that I was from a grand and noble lineage caused laughter to erupt among the first-year students, despite the tense situation.
“Are you guys laughing? Is this funny to you guys?”
The atmosphere grew tense again at the senior’s remark.
“So what, then? Are you royalty or something?”
“Nope.”
“... What?”
His expression then turned strange. I wasn’t a noble, nor was I royalty, so there could only be one conclusion.
“What? Are you saying you’re part of the imperial family then? But Vertus is the one from the imperial family. That doesn’t make sense!”
“Who said I was from the imperial family?” I said with a smirk. “I’m neither noble, nor royalty, nor imperial. I’m from the streets, a gutter rat.”
Everyone was taken aback by my bold declaration.
“... Gutter rat? You mean you are a beggar?”
“Yeah, a beggar. You got a problem with that?”
Everyone seemed to be taken aback by my nonchalant confession. The apparent spokesperson for the seniors folded his arms and stared at me with an incredulous look.
“Okay, and what’s your point? Do you think that separates you from everyone else? Even the nobles and royalties were following our orders!”
“I’m not going to do something that I don’t want to do. It’s that simple. What does social status have to do with that? Can’t a beggar have pride?”
“Oh really? Is that what you think?”
He unfolded his arms and began advancing toward me.
“Alright then. I feel like beating you up a bit, so I’ll do as I please.”
Thwack!
I was struck before I had the chance to react.
I realized instantly that this guy was the real deal.
***
The atmosphere chilled even further.
“Ugh...”
It was incredibly painful, and the pain was all I could think about. This guy’s fists were seriously no joke.
“Also, you were speaking in a really casual manner all along. Am I your friend?”
As I clutched my stomach and backed away as he started to approach me slowly.
I had acted impulsively until now, and expected that I might run into a character like him without being properly prepared.
But the fact that it was not a classmate but a senior was beyond my expectations. It was clear that I stood no chance against someone with a definite talent in physical abilities and a year’s worth of advantage.
“If you come to the Royal Class...”
Thump!
“Ugh!”
“You have to follow the traditions of the Royal Class.”
Thump!
“Ughh!”
“Back when I was in your year, I would have been dead if I even dared to do something like what you did. Understand?”
An eighteen-year-old was pulling the “back in my day” card as if he was some old man, and I was helplessly suffering blow after blow. Unable to just stand there and take it, I charged at him.
“Heup!”
Thump!
“Argh!”
“And now you’re trying to hit a senior, huh?”
He evaded my punch with a simple tilt of his head and seemed astonished that I even dared to throw a punch. He scoffed and grabbed my hair.
“I’m gonna need to teach this bastard a real lesson.”
Thump!
In the chest.
“Seriously.”
Thump!
“Ugh!”
Then in the abdomen.
“You really wanna die, don’t you?”
Thump!
“Huck!”
A blow landed on my face.
Everyone, classmates and seniors alike, was watching me get pummeled with vacant expressions.
Unexpectedly, the expressions of those watching me get hit didn’t seem like satisfaction, but horror.
As I was held by the hair and struck continuously, I realized something.
I might be bad at fighting, but it seemed like I had still won the fight.
“You’re gonna get beaten to dea—”
Grasp!
“You.”
“Agh!”
“Gotcha, you piece of shit.” I said.
“Aghhhhh!”
I grabbed the guy’s crotch and squeezed with all my might. I scored a direct hit, and like seizing a victory crown, I took hold of his jewels.
Hmm... I supposed it was about average for high school students.
“Now, I want you to beg for your life.”
“Aghhh! Hey. Hey. Let go. Let go, I’m telling you nice—agh!!! Stop!”
The limits of his vocal cords and his manhood were being seriously tested in front of everyone.
The other seniors witnessed the appalling scene and tried to approach me to make me stop.
“Hey, stop it already!”
“Aghh! This guy’s crazy!”
“Don’t come any closer, you bastards!” I screamed.
“Urghhhhh! Aghhh! Unghhh!!!”
“I’m gonna twist it! Would you like that?! Should I just twist it off? Huh? Just try me. I’ll spin it a full circle! Do you want to see this guy living the rest of his life as a sterile dud? Huh? If you come any closer, this guy’s family line ends with him!”
My threats held them at bay, and none dared to come closer; meanwhile, I tightened my grip further.
“Let go! Let go! Let gooooooooohuhuhuhuhuhuh!”
“Say ‘please have mercy on me’, and I’ll let go.”
The male students, witnessing this horrifying scene, instinctively tensed up and covered their own crotches.
“Ha-have! Have mercy! Have mercy on me!!!”
“You have to say the word ‘please.’ Come on now!”
Squeeze!
“Please have mercy on meeeeeehoohoohoohoot! Hoot!”
The guy, by this point, had started making noises like a little girl.
“Did you really think I was going to let go? Not a chance!”
Squeeeeze!
“Krrrhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu! Eeeeeeek! Eek!”
He was really making some outlandish noises, and I almost got goosebumps just listening to it.
“Take your little crew of brats and get lost,” I muttered darkly. “You might have been able to beat me up this time, but next time you do that to me again, be ready to say goodbye to your precious one for good. Next time, I’m really going to twist it right off.”
I let go of him and watched as he collapsed onto the floor, writhing in pain.
Thud!
“Kek!”
“Take your scumbag friend and get lost, you pieces of shit.”
As a finishing move, I delivered a soccer kick to the guy’s face.
***
It seemed that attending to the guy foaming at the mouth and writhing on the ground was an urgent matter, as two of the seniors hurriedly gathered him up and disappeared with him.
“Crazy, psycho, pervert!”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The little kid called Rudina had tears welling up her eyes as she followed the injured senior who was getting carried out. It seemed like she was extremely shocked at what just happened.
However, one senior remained on the training grounds. She also had a look of disbelief and horror at what she had witnessed, but she seemed relatively calm compared to the others. She was a female senior.
“Aren’t you gonna leave too?”
“Hey junior, you’re making the situation far too serious.”
“Well, should I have just stood there and taken a beating without even trying to fight back?”
“Junior, I’d like to talk this out nicely. Since there are no other seniors around, could you at least show me the minimum of respect?”
There was a persuasive undertone in her voice that made me feel slightly uneasy.
I didn’t know exactly what it was, but there was something about her that seemed very strong, and made her seem more adult-like. She was likely hinting to me to stop speaking so informally to her. Since she was willing to speak to me nicely, there was no reason for me to respond with a lousy attitude.
The other kids seemed to have given up trying to understand how the situation was unfolding.
“Sure, we’ll do that. So, what do you wish to talk about?”
“I’m a second-year in the Royal Class, A-2, Adriana. You said your name was Reinhart, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Wow, formally introducing ourselves?! Did I finally find someone who was normal?
“We’re not doing this because we want to. It’s been carried on from generation to generation, so the upper-classmen pressure us to do it, and to do it quickly.”
It was a typical way of perpetuating an unjust system; being forced to do it even if you didn’t want to.
“Rudina is naive. She’s not the type who can show actual scorn. She was probably forcing herself to say harsh words to you guys despite not meaning it on the inside. The upper years chose her and made her do it against her will.”
“Why not just refuse then? Why do it if it only results in everyone getting hurt?”
“Because this is how it’s always been. I know, it’s strange and doesn’t make sense. But abolishing something that has been carried on without valid reason can actually lead to more complicated problems.”
It seemed very clear that Adriana herself disliked doing such things. Due to pressure from the upper-classmen, a little kid like Rudina had been forced to carry on the tradition, regardless of her will.
“If we admit to the upper-classmen we didn’t carry on the tradition, then the third-year students will probably come and find you, like how we just did now. If that happens... are you going to do the same thing you just did then?”
She asked if I would perform the same embarrassing and dismissive acts I had just done to drive away the third-years.
“As the students go up in grades, so does their strength increase. You may get seriously injured.”
That’s right. One grew stronger with time spent at the Temple.
I was fortunate to have found a way out this time by grabbing the second-year student’s sensitive parts, but such a chance wouldn’t even present itself if those from even higher grades came to confront us.
“And the teachers, do they just stand by and watch all this happen?”
“They all turn a blind eye.”
It must have been favorable for the teachers if the students who were prone to acting all superior and mighty were restrained like this by the upper-classmen. They let the students deal with the overly bold ones themselves, and even tacitly encouraged the action.
“Junior, let’s just end here. If this escalates any further, we might get a scolding from the upper-classmen and that’ll be it for us, but it’ll be much worse for you when they find out.”
Essentially, her proposal was that I should just cower and comply like everyone else. Adriana was persuasively suggesting this in quite a gentle manner, and it was clear that she wasn’t willing to endure significant trouble to break this cycle.
She was basically asking me to stop making a scene and just play along for once.
I understood what she meant, and I could tell that she was a person I could finally work with.
“Tell the third-years to come then. There must be someone among the upper-classmen who’s pushing this behavior, pressing you guys about why it hasn’t been done.”
“... What?”
Adriana seemed taken aback. She had not expected that I would escalate things further.
I dealt with the second-years, and now, bring on the third-years!
Challenge accepted!
“But not today, and not tomorrow either,” I said as I flashed a cunning smile.
“Tell them to come on Monday. Specifically, Monday night.”
I knew exactly why they had chosen the weekend to come for us. Adriana also seemed to understand immediately what I was getting at and bit her lip slightly.
“Let’s see if those third-year punks have the guts to tell Vertus de Gradias to go down into a push-up position as well. Why does such a thing have to be done during such a leisurely time like the weekend? It’s like they purposely chose it to be on a Saturday! I absolutely will not accept what’s being done right now. This is something that everyone should endure together. I promise that if they show up on Monday, I’ll accept the tradition quietly.”
There was a clear reason why they had specifically come on the weekend.
They must have waited until the prince returned to the imperial palace for the weekend.
Even within the Royal Class, no one would want to mess with a prince. Although they might have dared to do this to other royals or nobles, touching the prince of the imperial capital would have seemed off-limits even to them.
“If those third-years don’t show up on Monday, I’ll go ahead and assume that this sort of thing isn’t going to happen anymore.”
“...”
Everyone was shocked that I would audaciously bring up the prince.
Adriana closed her eyes and sighed briefly.
“You really are something else.”
The composed senior left these words behind as she quietly left the training grounds. It seemed she never expected someone would be crazy enough to bring the prince into this.
I turned to Harriet de Saint-Ouen.
“There, I’ve taken the ‘responsibility’ you kept on talking about. Happy now, thick skull?”
“... D-don’t... don’t call me thick skull! I-I’m way smarter than someone like you! By a long shot!”
“Okay sure, a mediocre thick skull. Good now?”
“Y-you! You little—!!”
She yelled till her face turned red, but it was clear that she was relieved that a solution to the earlier incident had been found, whatever it may be.
As the others began to disperse one by one, the looks they gave me appeared different from before.
It was as though they had discovered a useful attribute in the crazy psycho that was to be avoided—there was a peculiar sense of recognition.
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