"So you came here planning to break my arrogance, didn’t you, Ias?"
At Pielot’s words, Ias shut his mouth, unable to answer.
Well, that was more or less true.
To be precise, he’d just been irritated that the transfer student was getting attention and had come to pick a fight.
"......Y-yeah. I’ll change your pathetic mindset right now."
"As expected. Someone as arrogant as me needs that kind of thing."
......What the hell is he talking about?
And why is he making that face?
He’d come here to provoke him, yet the other guy’s eyes were shining as he stood there, brimming with fighting spirit.
Had the provocation worked too well?
Meanwhile, Pielot took his stance and said,
"Come. Fix my determination from the roots, Ias."
"I’m asking what that even means."
Even as he sputtered in confusion, Ias still took his own stance. A fight had been his goal, after all. Definitely.
Pielot’s eyes gleamed. A fresh, feverish thrill bloomed across his face—far too bright for an immature transfer student.
Please watch, Senior.
It’s true—I’m still arrogant.
So I’ll fix it properly this time.
'With everything I’ve got.'
A blue light flickered in Pielot’s eyes.
The genius of Aura—the [N O V E L I G H T] gift flowed unfiltered, filling his whole body from the tips of his toes.
'With everything I’ve got, I’ll break apart.'
Pielot was fully prepared to destroy himself. He was even ready to be beaten senseless by Ias and ridiculed by the surrounding students.
Indeed, Pielot was selfish by nature.
He was ready to be broken—but whether the other party was prepared to break him didn’t even cross his mind.
"......W-wait, hold on."
Cold sweat slid down Ias’s back at Pielot’s absurd intensity.
Pielot said,
"Come at me, Ias."
He clearly wasn’t even seeing Ias’s expression anymore.
"Defeat me utterly."
***
That evening, in Frondier’s room.
Pielot was kneeling before Frondier. The others were gathered around, each wearing an awkward expression.
"......So you’re saying you ‘defeated him utterly’?"
Frondier asked again, dumbfounded after hearing Pielot’s explanation.
Pielot spoke in a shrinking voice.
"It wasn’t ‘utterly.’ Ias even fell with admirable form—"
"You call that something to say?"
"Sorry, sir!"
Pielot instantly took back his words.
Frondier turned toward Elodie.
"What’s Ias’s condition?"
"A clean hit to the temple. So clean it barely left a mark. And because it was so clean..."
"He passed out the moment he got hit and was taken straight to the infirmary, huh."
Ias had collapsed during his match with Pielot and been carried to the infirmary, only regaining consciousness near the end of after-school hours. When his family found out, a bit of a commotion broke out.
"Ias is a noble, right?"
"Yeah. Not just any noble, either. Supposedly one of the great houses—second to none, they say."
"Second to none... So about the same level as Roach?"
When I asked with a naïve interpretation, Elodie tilted her head.
"Mm, let’s say... one of the top five."
So, not quite that high.
Listening beside them, Lirih spoke up.
"The one kneeling here so politely—Pielot—was from the House of Ribanche, right? I heard the Ribanche name carries weight even in the Falind continent."
"That’s impressive."
The Ribanche family was among the most prestigious houses in the eastern part of the continent. That was also the main reason I’d thought his family couldn’t possibly have approved him coming here.
No noble of that level would ever allow their child—even for a former teacher’s sake—to follow a man branded a demon.
For comparison, it would be like the House of Beherteo before Edwin’s downfall.
"Who attacked first?"
"......That’s a little ambiguous."
"What’s ambiguous?"
"Well, when the match started, the first to move was Ias. I saw his motion and went for a counter. I assumed he’d block or dodge, so I was already preparing my next strike."
"But it just landed clean, didn’t it."
"Yessir."
I pictured the situation easily enough.
Ias had made the first move, but Pielot’s strike arrived faster and hit Ias square in the temple.
Ias collapsed immediately. To bystanders, it would be impossible to tell who attacked first—only the two who fought would know.
I asked,
"You didn’t use Iaido, did you?"
"......N-no, sir. It was a spar, so we used wooden swords. And wooden swords don’t have scabbards, so—"
"I’m asking if you took the stance, scabbard or not."
"......"
Pielot couldn’t answer. The implication was obvious.
"You idiot. You used that against a student not even of age yet?"
"......I’m a student too."
That was true enough.
Though kneeling politely, Pielot still looked a bit wronged as he added,
"......I heard Ias was the strongest among Atlas’s students. He looked that way to me too. So I took it as a chance to correct my slackened heart, but somehow everything just went wrong."
"......‘Went wrong,’ huh."
I watched him quietly.
After teaching him for so long, I’d learned one thing: Pielot was utterly incapable of self-assessment.
It was similar to Aster, yet different. Aster had a habit of belittling himself, but he wasn’t blind to those weaker than him—he recognized them perfectly well.
He simply believed that this world was crawling with people far stronger than himself. It was Elodie and me who kept that belief burning.
I couldn’t read Aster’s mind completely, but if I guessed, he was probably thinking something like: “There are already two people in my class whose true strength I can’t even gauge—how many more might there be across the whole continent?” Hence, he saw his own ability as average. That belief would likely never change, even to his dying day.
But Pielot, both before and after studying under me, had no such self-awareness at either extreme.
When he’d been arrogant, he’d overestimated himself absurdly; now he underestimated himself just as badly. He couldn’t judge his own strength compared to others at all.
'You and Dierre killed a ranked demon together. Did you forget that already?'
Or maybe he thinks that was all thanks to Dierre?
Who the hell made this kid like this—
[Hey, Frondier. Don’t try to dodge this.]
Elodie’s telepathic voice cut in, as if reading my thoughts.
Don’t tell me this is my fault? All I ever told Dierre was never to praise Pielot. Sure, I’ve never praised him myself either.
Carrot for Dierre, stick for Pielot—that’s always been my policy. But could that really make him this oblivious to his own ability?
......The more I thought about it, the more it felt like this really was my fault.
"What do you think—will Ias’s family come here to complain?"
Arald answered my question.
"It’s possible. But if that Ias boy is as prideful as he seems, he might not want them to."
Pride, huh. He did look pretty prideful.
Something occurred to me, and I asked,
"Ias’s full name was ‘Ias di Achaia,’ right?"
"Yeah, that’s right," Elodie nodded.
That name bothered me enough to make me scratch my cheek.
"......Ias, huh."
"What about it?"
"Nothing, just thinking."
Not something I could dismiss as “just thinking,” though.
People in this world wouldn’t know, but in the game Etius, certain characters had names taken from myths or legends.
And when that happened, there was a high chance that character was a Named.
Take Hector, son of Lydwi, for example. A hero praised for his unmatched feats in the Trojan War.
Hector, son of Lydwi, hadn’t yet achieved such glory in this world—but that was only because I’d altered the course of the Manggot War.
If the barrier had truly been endangered, and the Empire had no countermeasure left, Hector would have unleashed an overwhelming power that devoured the monsters themselves.
He would have slaughtered uncountable monsters—even if it didn’t overturn the war’s defeat.
'If Ias likewise bears the name of a hero...'
Of course, it could just be coincidence. Ias was as famous a hero as Hector, but the name itself wasn’t particularly rare.
Still—his name was Ias, his surname Achaia, and he was the strongest individual in Atlas. And he even possessed Divine Power.
By my standards, it would be stranger to think he wasn’t connected to the mythic Ias.
'Which would be a headache, because there were two Iases in myth.'
And the two were very different. One was truly a hero, but the other—by my standards—was closer to a villain.
Considering all that’s happened—how he came at me, picked a fight with Pielot, and even had Divine Power—the combination of traits told me the student Ias might be modeled after the villainous one.
'......No, don’t jump to conclusions. It’s not certain yet. Look at Cybel—characters who seemed villains sometimes turned out good.'
There was no confirmation that Ias was a villain.
Any premature assumption was dangerous.
Then Arald spoke.
"If the House of Achaia does raise an objection, what shall we do? They might try to investigate Pielot’s background."
"His identity’s already set up, isn’t it?"
"Yes, but the person himself isn’t."
"The person, huh."
"Parents stepping into a fight between children isn’t exactly admirable, but it’s quite common."
True. A parent meeting, huh. It’d be troublesome to tell Pielot to summon his parents here.
I looked at Arald.
Arald’s face went cold.
"......Wait, Frondier."
"Perfect timing. I’ve got the ideal man for the job. You’ll play the father."
Arald was much older than me, and his face looked seasoned enough.
He’d do fine as Pielot’s father.
Lirih, who’d been listening, burst out laughing.
"Ahaha. Serves you right for opening your mouth."
"Lirih, you’re the mother."
"What?!"
See? That’s what you get for talking.
"I’d been wondering what work to give you since we arrived, so this works out nicely. Time to earn your keep, Lirih."
"W-what are you talking about! I’m the one who helped the demons adapt to human society! I’ve been managing all the demons who came with Arald!"
Lirih protested, but that didn’t sway me.
"You finished that management work a week ago."
"Urk—how did you—"
"I’m the one who brought every demon to this continent, including Elodie and Mei."
Of course, Arald and the others had followed of their own accord.
But once I’d said that, I couldn’t just wash my hands of them.
"I’m keeping track of how all the demons are doing."
"......"
Ria Liss blinked several times, then sighed.
"Fine. Anyway, as long as the House of Achaia doesn’t move, I don’t actually have to do it, right?"
"Right. It’s just insurance."
I nodded.
As long as the other side didn’t move, there was no need for us to.
That much was clear.
