The situation was simple.
It was about the missing paperwork I had submitted.
If we think about it ordinarily, it could just be considered a loss during the process of working.
Since the course registration period hasn't ended yet, I could just rewrite it and submit it again. But perhaps because I had recently heard from Luka that the commoners disliked me, this small matter weighed on my mind.
A tiny suspicion grew larger with each passing day. Various minor incidents piled up.
The food I planned to eat at lunch got burnt. I was summoned to places I had no reason to go. The moment I sat in my favorite chair, it broke beneath me.
With all these occurrences stacking up, by evening, I began to recall the commoner storyline from the game, which should have nothing to do with me now.
So I decided to go back to the source.
Starting with the missing course registration paperwork.
Soul Academy offers jobs for commoner students.
It’s not because they lack people; it’s to help those commoners working at Soul Academy who have financial issues.
The cost of living in an academy primarily composed of noble heirs is beyond what ordinary commoners can bear.
While scholarships are provided, the reality is that even three meals a day can be a struggle.
If you want to buy even a single piece of equipment, you’d have to prepare to go hungry for a week. Commoner students who have to rely solely on scholarships live with poverty constantly clinging to them.
The academy has prepared jobs for these students. Not just any jobs, but ones with conditions far better than usual.
The work is easier than most places, with good pay and various elements that help with academy life, so commoner students work within the academy instead of going outside.
Naturally, the academy does not assign students specialized tasks. Most of what they do is simple, tedious paperwork.
For example, sorting course registration documents.
<It seems like a rather far-fetched conclusion. It might just be a day of bad luck.> ‘I know that. But I want to confirm it with my own eyes.’
I thought like the elder. Normally, I’d wonder if I had a bad day.
However, the reason I’m overreacting is that there’s a similar plotline in the game.
When selecting a commoner character in Soul Academy and progressing through the game, you will face bullying from higher-year students.
From minor annoyances to quite significant troubles. Resisting this bullying and fighting back is the core of the early part of the commoner character’s story.
The beginning of that story was precisely the missing course registration.
Isn’t it similar? The misfortunes that began from the moment I realized the registration paperwork was missing.
I hope this is just unnecessary worry, but if my guess is correct... if some crazy fool has touched me without knowing their place...
Shouldn’t they reveal who they’ve touched?
As I walked into the administrative office, the professor in charge recognized me the moment he saw my face and began to speak.
“Lady Alrn. Did you come regarding the missing course registration?”
It seemed the professor knew of my infamous reputation as he bowed while I scanned the students behind him.
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
There was a guy, his head bowed, focusing on paperwork behind the partition, and a girl who was fidgeting nervously in front of me.
Their faces were familiar to me. I had to visit the administrative office often while progressing through various quests at the academy.
The girl had enough importance to have her name attached.
“I was checking the organization and was shocked to find that you hadn’t submitted your paperwork.”
‘But I definitely submitted it.’
“Dumb professor. I submitted the paperwork, you know? Don’t think of me as some fool like you!”
“...Is that so? I apologize. It seems there was a mistake in the middle.”
When I submitted my paperwork, the administrative professor wasn’t there. Knowing that, I pointed it out first to naturally segue into the next topic.
‘I gave it to that girl. Right?’
“I gave it to that little kid. Hey, kid. Remember?”
Belma, who was called a kid by someone smaller than her, was flustered and didn’t know how to respond.
Knowing her timid personality, I kept my mouth shut and waited for a response, but she only turned pale and began to sweat.
“I remember.”
At the end of that wait, the response came from behind the girl. The guy working on the paperwork stood up and spoke.
“Lady Alrn came on the first day of course registration.”
“Beets. Is that true?”
“Yes, it’s certain. Lady Alrn is someone who naturally captures attention. There’s no way I could forget.”
As the guy continued, Belma’s previously pale face turned completely black.
Even while watching him, I nearly burst out laughing, even though I should have been angry.
No way. I thought the expressions were exaggerated because it was a game’s CG, but her face really does change like that?! Her reaction is amusing. She looks like she’s begging to be teased.
“Belma. You remember too.”
“Uh... Ah. I mean, um...”
Having regained some composure, I felt a sense of déjà vu listening to the conversation between the two.
“Could it be that you lost it?”
The line is almost identical to the one from the game. It felt like I was reciting a script. If that’s the case, does that mean my assumption was right?
Wow. I never thought that starting as a noble would lead me to participate in the commoner storyline.
“Belma. Is what Beets said true?”
As Beets’s questioning ended, the administrative professor continued.
The implication was clear.
This incident was Belma’s personal mistake.
This seemingly clumsy girl lost the paperwork and was now too scared to speak up.
“It’s... um. That is...”
“This is no small matter, Belma.”
“I’m really sorry, Lady Alrn. It seems there was a mistake in the middle.”
A normal noble would have been fooled by their intentions. They’d think that a clumsy commoner had made a mistake.
A good person would likely tell them not to do this again next time, and perhaps someone angry would raise their voice, but the focus would be on Belma. The administrative professor and the boy beside her would just be scolded for not managing things properly.
This is inside Soul Academy. After all, it’s a place where, at least outwardly, everyone is considered equal under the academy’s rules. It’s impossible to take their heads because of their noble status.
But I’m far from an ordinary noble. I’m a rotten one who has seen the story of Soul Academy through all ranks.
Naturally, I know a lot about their background.
Even if they belong to the commoner group, not everyone in it is the same.
How can a rich merchant, whom even nobles fear, and a farmer who has to worry about daily bread be the same kind of commoner?
Such differences also emerge within the commoner group at the academy.
Those born into relatively good families. Those with culture. Those who have some outstanding trait. These people receive preferential treatment within the commoner group and try to form good relationships with each other.
But those who are the opposite do not. They are discriminated against. More severely than nobles hate commoners. They are told that because of their existence, commoners are looked down upon. They are exposed to bullying.
Belma’s case was just that. Born the child of a farmer and lucky enough to get into Soul Academy, she became a target of disdain and bullying.
In the game, the missing paperwork incident was not Belma’s fault.
The boy she worked with had ordered her, and she had no choice but to follow him.
And she became the bad girl who betrayed her friend.
What about the administrative professor during that time?
Among the commoner students working at the academy, some cases remained in the soul academy.
The administrative professor in front of me was one of those cases.
Having worked here during his school days, he became a staff member and became an administrative professor. He was well aware of the situation in the commoner group at the academy and had often provided help with the issues that arose among them.
It was the same during the missing paperwork incident in the game.
The boy sought the professor’s permission in advance, and because the professor permitted it, that incident occurred.
Will it be the same this time?
I still don’t know.
While I half-confirm it in my mind, I have not yet seen clear evidence.
Having seen countless cases diverging from the story of the game, I refrained from definitively deciding and hitting the administrative professor.
If this person turns out to be innocent, then my slightly improved reputation would certainly drop back to the bottom.
As for others, that’s fine, but I need a valid reason to justify violence towards the people around me.
I don’t want Joey to see me as a tyrant!
“I’m really sorry, Lady Alrn.”
“How should I apologize...”
“Do you think your voices are pleasant?♡ Listening to you feels like a curse on my ears!♡”
“...Yes?”
“Shut up! You’re so noisy!♡ How could you not understand this? Are you perhaps less intelligent than a goblin?♡ Though you look worse than a goblin?♡”
With my direct insult, the two trembled, but they couldn’t get angry. The difference in status between us was clear.
Having silenced the annoying noise, I grabbed Belma’s chin, who was drawing watercolor on my thigh, and forced her to lift her head.
“You look like a clueless little kid♡ Hahaha♡”
The provocation of the mesugaki skill is absolute. This provocation works even on opponents much stronger than me, making even inanimate objects heat up and have no choice but to look at me.
“How did such a thing get into the academy?♡ Even if it’s a complete failure of an academy, this is just too much♡”
So what would happen if I provoked a timid girl?
“Apologize to the other students who got accepted into the academy♡ Say you’re sorry for being here with them when you’re such a failure♡”
What would happen if I provoked this girl, who was so frightened that she couldn’t say anything and burst into tears?
“Apologize for dropping out to make amends for being a clueless idiot who can’t even keep track of a piece of paper!”
“I didn’t make a mistake! I...!”
Belma’s voice, which had finally broken free from her sobs, burst out.
She widened her eyes in surprise, as if she was shocked at her own shouting, but that was enough for me.
It seems this place is not much different from the story of the game.