Chapter 109 Volume III - Chapter 30: Everything is a Game?
I was silent as I walked toward the research building. There was hardly anyone outside because of the light rain and more recent events, but the few people who saw me kept their eyes on me for a while.
My name was much more common now than it used to be, I was the center of attention and it wasn't something I didn't like, but... I wasn't in a position to be happy about it right now. On top of that, it was much more uncomfortable than I thought it would be.
I took a deep breath and shook my head slightly from side to side.
After I talk to Ulka, all my short-term work will be done. All I have to do is talk to him, and then I will go to bed and rest for a long time...
Ye-
"Heh, she got what she deserved."
I hesitated for a moment, stood where I was for a short while, and finally turned toward where the voice I had heard had come from, a shadowy alley of buildings with no one around.
My eyebrows furrowed, and my eyes squinted slightly. I moved slightly closer to the voice, eavesdropping.
"That whore thought she was something. Whenever she walked by someone, she put on a cold face, as if she were the queen herself, and ignored everyone. Like she was the princess of the kingdom!"
A group of three people were talking among themselves. There were two boys and a girl. It was this girl who spoke these words. The makeup on her face, the nail polish on her nails, the way she was dressed... everything about her resembled that gossipy, popular girl in every school.
"You heard what she went through though, right?"
One of the boys asked with a slight tension in his voice, and the girl responded without changing her tone even a little; on the contrary, she responded even more fiercely.
"Games, man, they are games! How do you think this got into the media so fast? Simple! Because they want people to pity her, so they can attract as many people as they can and try to improve their reputation."
She was confident, yet the boy who asked her this question was not satisfied.
"I'm not saying you're wrong, but have you read the leaked information? They were saying that her legs were burned, that her arms were skinned. There are even people who say she was raped."
Wait a minute... the person they are talking about...
"Meh, it's all exaggerated, but if any of it is true, she got what he deserved. She needed a lesson, she was too cocky."
My eyes widened, and my whole body trembled for a moment. I clenched my fist, my teeth gritted from clenching them too tightly.
"Heh, that wh-"
I couldn't take it any longer. I slammed my cane down, and a loud thud echoed through the building.
Those who had been talking suddenly fell silent, instantly turning toward me with the sound echoing in their ears. They stared at me for a moment and then one of them spoke, his eyes widening.
"Ah?"
He recognized me, and immediately after him, two of his friends had a similar reaction. After all, I was a kind of media celebrity right now, most people had seen my face at least once.
"What? Are you angry?"
The girl who had spoken about the rumors recovered quickly, looked at my cane with a frown, and laughed.
"Are you angry because I speak the truth? You are no different from that girl! I don't believe you defeated someone many times stronger than you, it's just a rumor spread to protect the reputation of the academy. I'm sure all those bandages and the cane are a hoax!"
She took a step toward me, and this time she started shouting without holding back.
"And aren't you like us? You're not noble! Why are you playing into their game?! Don't you know what we've been through? You must know what we've been through just because we pissed off a noble! That girl was just like them! She didn't give us a single glance, she ignored us as if we didn't even exist! That wh-"
My face twitched, I clicked my tongue and interrupted her.
She was getting on my nerves more and more with each passing second. Each passing second she was going further and further.
"One more time-"
"What happens?"
A big smile appeared on her face. Without hesitation, without caring, she walked toward me.
"Are you going to beat me? If you have as many scars as the media says you have and you can't walk without a cane, I doubt you can do it. Are you going to report me? Are you going to lecture me like those nobles just because I speak the truth?"
I bit my lip, because she was right, even if I didn't want to admit it.
I was weak, I couldn't even use my mana properly in my current state, my body was a mess. There was nothing I could do.
But am I going to let them insult Celine so freely? Am I going to ignore it just because I'm weak? Am I going to let someone talk back to her like that after what she's been through?
'What choice do you have?'
I heard a voice echoing in my head, and it wasn't Sith's.
'What can you do? You're weak, helpless, you can't even walk like a human without a cane. You can't even use mana properly, let alone walk.'
I bit my lip so hard that a metallic taste came into my mouth. I clenched my fist so hard that my fingernails scarred my palm. I was angry, angry at my own powerlessness, and by this time the smile was gone from her face, replaced by disgust.
"I hate the nobles, I hate the powerful. When the rumors first broke during the preliminaries, I was happy that one of our own was starting to show himself, but you've been blinded too. You are all the same! Once you have power, you rot! You and that maniac called Adrian and that witch who pretends to be sick to make herself feel sorry for herself!"
My vision blurred slightly, I clenched my teeth even more and slammed my cane down hard again. As the sound echoed through the building, I turned to the duo behind the girl.
One of the two was relatively short in stature, looking like a thin guy. He had brown hair and orange eyes. In contrast, the other was tall and well-built. He had dark hair and blue eyes.
The one who had just asked her about the rumors was the one who seemed short and thin. At least he thought she was exaggerating... right? He didn't agree with her, this girl was a lunatic who lived all this inside herself... right?
He must be...
"Do you think like her?"
No matter how many seconds passed, neither of them answered my question. Nevertheless, their facial expressions were a substitute for an answer, and they were different from what I imagined, from what I wanted.
I became even more annoyed.
If these people thought this way, then they couldn't be the only ones who thought this way. There had to be more people, people who didn't have the slightest idea what was going on, people who talked, people who thought they were something...
Why can't I do anything? There is someone in front of my eyes insulting an emaciated girl who has difficulty talking to people, let alone looking them in the face, but... I just stand there.
Ah... just like she said, I want to beat her up. I want to pounce on her, I want to beat her to the ground. I want to pay her back for every one of the things she said, every one of her insults, but... I can't do anything because of my body.
Hahahah...
That's... funny, isn't it?
"So... you're saying that everything in the media is a lie, that I didn't fight someone from whom I got these wounds. Celine wasn't tortured and she's not even in the hospital, she's fit as a fiddle. And I'm fooling everyone in the same way. It's all about making people feel sorry for us and keeping the reputation of the academy alive a little bit… Everything is a game, you say?"
I have to stay calm... I have to stay calm... I have to stay calm...
There's nothing I can do now, but in the future, I can take those insults and put them back in their mouths.
"That's right! I had a confrontation with that girl who was supposedly hospitalized and you know what happened? I asked her for help and she ignored me! She looked at me like I was an ant! She treated me like I was pathetic! She pretended I didn't exist and just kept on walking! So I don't understand why people pity her! If she was really tortured, that witch got what she deserved!"
I need to calm down... Now is not the time, what I need to do now is to be patient so that I can make them regret it in the future... I need to focus on other things... For example, the buildings, how modern they are compared to my old world; they look nice, don't they?
"I don't care what you had with her in the past."
Yes, I'm calm. Calmer than I've ever been...
I'm really calm!
"But if you call her a whore or a witch or something like that one more time..."
"If you attack me, you will only prove that the rumors are lies. And if the rumors are true, you can't do anything to me in your current situation! I will not be punished for calling a witch a witch!"
Fuck calmness.
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