‘How do you know that?’
“How do I know? Are you a stalker or something? Gross. Disgusting.”
“The rumors have already spread, Lady Allen.”
Rumors?
I was sure I’d left the dorm unnoticed last night, so how could there be any rumors?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Joy pressed her fingers to her forehead with a sigh.
“The dorm supervisor mentioned you were missing last night, and it spread from there.”
Ah, right.
I did leave in the evening, so of course, the dorm supervisor would have noticed I was gone. That must have started the rumors.
It’s not a big deal, though.
The dorm supervisor might scold me, but that’s the worst of it.
I’m a count’s daughter; they can’t really do anything to me.
Even if they tried to punish me, I could just rattle off all the accidents that have happened here at the academy, and they’d back down on their own.
I’ve been through enough incidents by now that I’m entitled to this!
Do you know how much trouble I went through just to stop Benedict from storming the academy?
I almost died because of Nakrad, and he told me not to worry about graduating from this place and to just come home!
I barely managed to convince him to let me stay because I had unfinished business at the academy, but now he contacts me every day through the crystal ball.
It’s mentally exhausting dealing with an overprotective uncle who keeps clinging, asking for just a little more time to talk. It’s seriously draining.
“And that’s not all. This morning, there were people who saw you running from the back alleys to the academy. There are also students who saw you arrive for the exam in that armor, covered in scratches. Everyone knows you weren’t in the dorm last night.”
Faced with the unemotional list of facts, I couldn’t say a word.
So, everyone at the academy knows I wasn’t in the dorm last night, huh?
Great. I wonder what wild rumors will spread next.
This academy is full of people ready to sink their teeth into any morsel of gossip.
It’s exhausting figuring out how to deal with the constant rumors and slander that get thrown around here.
At least lately, people like Joy and Arthur have stepped in to stop the worst of it.
“So, tell me, what were you up to last night?”
How am I supposed to explain this?
I went out to prevent a disaster that was going to happen during the academy’s exams?
Yeah, that sounds too crazy.
I went to help a friend?
I don’t have any friends besides Joy.
Scratch that, too.
I was making deals with people from the underworld.
That would only fuel more bizarre rumors.
As I rolled my eyes, trying to come up with a plausible story, Joy let out a sigh.
“Is it difficult to talk about?”
Difficult to talk about? More like impossible to explain.
How could I possibly explain that I went and cleared a dungeon created by an apostle of the Evil God to sabotage the academy’s exams?
There’s no way she’d believe me.
“If that’s the case, let me ask you this: you didn’t do anything bad, did you?”
‘Of course not!’
“I’m not some brutish fool like you think, you know? Of course not.”
“Then that’s all I needed to know.”
I had been worried she might press me further, but Joy let it go surprisingly easily.
“I trust you wouldn’t do anything foolish. But next time, can you at least let me know before you go off doing something? I was really worried about you.”
Seeing Joy shrug her shoulders and smile, I nearly felt like crying.
Joy! That’s not fair!
My favorite character cares about me!
Ugh! I’m so touched!
How could I record this moment? Can I frame that line at the top of my log forever?
Even though I was internally freaking out with excitement, my outward expression remained calm and composed.
The Mesugaki skill clearly decided that showing excitement wasn’t fitting for me.
I wanted to hug Joy and jump up and down, but the skill had different plans.
All it did was move my hand to hide my smile and raise my lips into a smug grin.
‘Thanks a lot, Joy!’
“Hmph. Worried, were you? Afraid the cowardly little noble would be defenseless without someone to protect her?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
Joy, seeing me acting like my usual self, shrugged and walked back to where the other noble girls were gathered.
It seemed that, unlike me, who didn’t need to take the dungeon studies exam, Joy was offering advice to the other noble girls.
Seriously, for someone who looks so intimidating, she’s incredibly kind.
Now that Joy’s gone, I can finally get started on what I came here for.
‘Grandfather?’
「I’ve been investigating already. Wait a moment.」
In the game’s story, the student who used the magical artifact during the exam didn’t get caught at the time.
The chaos that followed erased any traces of the artifact’s use, and the artifact itself was imbued with the power of the Evil God, making it hard to detect.
But I have a way to track it down.
After all, I have Grandfather Emon, who’s not only my mace but also an excellent high-performance detector.
In the dungeon, he could sense monsters from nearby and even from far away.
With his sharp senses for anything related to dark magic, finding the artifact’s user should be a piece of cake.
And I wasn’t wrong.
「In the direction northeast from where you’re standing. Do you see the girl you knocked over once before?」
Before long, Grandfather Emon picked up traces of the artifact’s use.
Looking in the direction he indicated, I spotted a noble girl standing behind a tree, staring at a black stone with a troubled expression.
I remember her.
She’s the one who tried to block my way when I went to visit Joy at the infirmary.
Her name was... what was it again?
I remember she was someone who tried to lead other noble girls around Joy.
What did the Mesugaki skill call her?
I can’t remember.
Oh well, not important.
What matters is that I’ve caught someone who really dislikes me and has spread nasty rumors about me.
As I watched her frowning in frustration, the fatigue weighing on me suddenly lifted.
I could feel the corners of my lips curling up on their own.
How should I play this?
I can mess with her without feeling any guilt, right?
Alright, Mesugaki skill, I’m taking the leash off for this one.
Go ahead and have your fun.
Let’s start with the word you love to use the most, shall we?
“Trash♡”
Everything’s set.
Let’s go.
With the perfect excuse, I’m off to torment this girl.
Damn it. Why isn’t it working?
You told me that if I channeled my magic into this stone, there would be a massive disturbance, even I would notice it.
And in that chaos, Lucy Allen would get hurt!
Why isn’t anything happening?!
I’m pouring my magic into it!
Work! Do what you’re supposed to!
Punish that smug Lucy Allen already!
Isn’t that what an Evil God is supposed to do?!
“Hey.”
As Avery cursed at the stone in her mind, a voice startled her from behind, and she quickly hid the stone.
“Trash noble♡ What are you doing here, creeping around like that? Did you decide to start acting like the freak you look like?♡”
That obnoxious voice pierced Avery’s ears, and she didn’t need to look up to know who it was.
“Lady Allen.”
The person she hated most.
The one who had stolen the person she admired and adored.
When Avery raised her head, her eyes met Lucy’s smirking face, looking down at her with amusement. Avery bit her lip.
“What do you want?”
“I was just wondering what you’re up to all alone?♡ Oh! Did you decide to become the academy’s new outcast?♡ It suits you!♡”
Every word Lucy spoke sent a wave of anger bubbling up inside Avery, but she struggled to suppress it.
Lady Partran is here. If she sees me shouting at Lucy, she’ll be disappointed.
I can’t let that happen.
I don’t want her to hate me.
“Hah. If anyone’s the outcast, it’s you. You’ve got no friends, just a lonely little girl.”
“That’s not true. I’ve got a friend.”
“Liar.”
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“I’m getting all sorts of love from Joy♡ Unlike you, you gloomy loser♡”
“That’s all because you—!”
As Avery’s voice rose in anger, Lucy suddenly reached out and clamped her hand over Avery’s mouth.
Avery struggled to pull Lucy’s hand away, but it was futile.
How could a noble girl training to be a knight like Lucy be overpowered by a magic student like Avery?
Seeing the shock and fear in Avery’s eyes, Lucy grinned even wider.
“Calm down, Trash noble♡ Are you trying to broadcast to the world that you’re a pathetic believer of a scummy Evil God? Craving attention? Gross~♡”
How did she know?
As Avery’s eyes widened in disbelief, Lucy giggled.
No. No way.
She’s just bluffing. There’s no way Lucy Allen, a mere student, could know about this artifact, which even the professors hadn’t noticed.
“You really think I wouldn’t know?♡ That stone. The tall, show-off jerk gave it to you, didn’t he? Oh, are you in denial?♡ You really are a dumb little trash noble♡ So pathetic♡”
The show-off jerk.
Even though Lucy hadn’t named anyone, Avery knew exactly who she was talking about.
The man who gave her the black stone.
The one who had told her to call him “Darkness.”
The one who had given her all the information, along with this stone.
Lucy wasn’t just throwing out random insults to scare her.
She knew.
She knew everything.
“Are your little gears turning yet?♡ Trash noble?♡”
Lucy removed her hand from Avery’s mouth, but Avery was too stunned to respond.
She couldn’t.
Even though she was still just a student, Avery had been raised as a noble her whole life.
She had some political sense.
And in this moment, Avery knew one thing.
She had been caught.
By the wrong person.
She had revealed her hand to someone who shouldn’t have known anything.
Someone with ties to the Church of the Deity, someone who could send her straight to the pyre, all while grinning that infuriating grin.
“Shall we go have a little chat somewhere private? Somewhere quiet, where no one will hear you squeal?♡”
“...Okay.”
All Avery could do was nod in submission.