After class, Seria and I headed to the Student Council Building again.
It was originally a place we’d go when we had nowhere else to go, but today there was a reason.
[Alkiné: Can you come to the Student Council after your schedule today? I have something to tell you.]
It was because Alkiné had sent that message.
By the way, her tone in the message had completely loosened up. It stood out even more compared to the messages she sent just a while ago.
[Alkiné: Can you delete the records left above?]
…What the. Did my thoughts get automatically transmitted or something? How did she know to send this kind of message…?
I did feel a little like keeping them instead of deleting them, but if I got caught, who knows what would happen… So, following her instructions, I deleted all the previous records.
A little while later, we arrived in front of the Student Council Building.
For some reason, the place that usually felt lonely was quite bustling.
I could clearly hear voices murmuring inside.
I sneakily opened the door and went in, and there were the second-year Student Council members—Grain, Cain, and Golid—sitting around a table, chattering away.
“Hey, isn’t that our amazing junior?”
“Your midterm rank was lower than expected, what happened?”
Cain and Golid greeted me with those words as they noticed I had entered.
These guys were originally Grain’s close buddies, so I rarely had a chance to talk to them… But after the recent Rift incident, it felt like we’d gotten closer somehow.
I found out later that, up until now, they had seen me as… something like a love rival.
-“Rudion? He’s a monster of a junior. Talented and all. But you know… from my perspective, he doesn’t even seem human, so he doesn’t have those kinds of feelings you guys are thinking about.”
After the Rift mission that day, Grain had boldly declared that when I mustered the courage to ask, and it seemed the misunderstanding had been cleared up.
Thanks to that, I achieved the incredible feat of 0 confessions and 1 first love, but since I’d already experienced the even more absurd 0 confessions and 2 successes, it didn’t really move me.
Anyway, they seemed to be talking about this year’s second-year top student.
I was curious about that too, so this worked out well. I’ll ask about it later.
For now, my conversation with Alkiné came first.
Even now, instead of going straight to her, I was exchanging a few words here, and she was staring right at me. If I dragged this out by talking about the second-year top student or whatever, I’d definitely get an earful.
So, I quickly wrapped up the conversation and approached Alkiné.
“Senior. We’re here.”
It was a greeting I gave as she wanted, even changing the way I addressed her, but for some reason, she looked dissatisfied.
“…Call me by my name too.”
When I wondered why, it was because I hadn’t called her by her name.
This person is really annoying.
“Alkiné.”
“Ugh, he’s way more annoying than I thought.”
Seria seemed to share my thoughts, as she said something along those lines. The only difference was, I kept it to myself, while she actually blurted it out.
“Huh? What? I just said Rudion would handle it, so I’m only asking for what I want.”
Alkiné responded confidently to Seria’s words, but it was clear she was a bit shaken by the direct comment, her pupils trembling slightly.
But hey… it’s not like it’s hard to call someone by their name. So I decided to just go along with it.
“Alkiné, senior.”
“Yeah, come on over.”
Finally satisfied, Alkiné acknowledged the greeting.
I kept my voice low enough so it wouldn’t reach Grain and his group, who were chatting nearby… It felt kind of sneaky, like we were hiding something, which gave me a weird feeling.
Then, out of nowhere, Seria grabbed my wrist.
“Rudion. Where’s that bracelet?”
“Huh? Oh, I stored it in subspace. Why?”
“Give it to me. I need to read your thoughts right now.”
Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?
But if I hand over the bracelet now, it feels like things will go south, so I carefully pried her hand off my wrist.
“…Rudion?”
“No. Can’t give it. It’s mine.”
“So that’s how it’s gonna be? Just wait. I’ll make everything you have mine.”
What are you even saying, Seria? Even as a joke, you shouldn’t say stuff like that.
“It’s not a joke.”
“No, it has to be a joke.”
“Okay, fine, it’s a joke.”
“…Do you two practice your conversations or something?”
In that brief moment, the conversation shifted to Seria, and Alkiné started to look a bit disappointed. But she seemed aware that she joined late, so she didn’t complain further.
So, without saying anything more, she immediately got to the point.
“Well, the reason I called you is… I think there’s going to be a lot of annoying stuff coming up. So I thought I should give you a heads-up.”
Annoying stuff? Did the Student Council’s workload increase or something?
“Uh, you know… The third-years are probably going to start visiting you a lot.”
“Me?”
So the annoying thing isn’t about “us,” but “me.”
But third-years? Me? Why?
As I blurted out my confusion, Alkiné continued.
“The midterm results came out today. Everyone’s been curious about your results, you know. There are rumors going around and all. But…”
“…But my grades are pretty much at the bottom, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, that’s the reason.”
I was starting to get a sense of what was going on.
Until now, there was the story from the entrance exam, and since I was also part of the Student Council, everyone seemed to be holding back, thinking there must be something. But with the midterm results out, that atmosphere completely shattered.
“They came to me and asked how I was doing, so I answered honestly. But everyone thought they were just hyping me up because I’m a member of the Student Council and a first-year.”
Just yesterday, they didn’t even think of bothering me, but with just one grade revealed, this situation happened… It wasn’t surprising. That’s just how public opinion works.
“I told you, right? Handle it well on your own.”
“Sigh…”
As I sighed, feeling like things were about to get annoying, Seria, who had been listening to Alkiné, chimed in.
“Rudion. You know how sharp my ears are, right?”
“Yeah, I know.”
It wasn’t exactly the right question for the flow of the conversation, but I nodded and answered anyway.
Her hearing was beyond human limits. Even without any related traits, it was clear she was born with it.
Because of that, I stopped muttering to myself, and now she’s reached the point where she can almost read my thoughts… But let’s not get into that.
“I heard some things while coming to school and during meals today.”
I wondered why she was asking that, but it seemed she had already drawn a conclusion based on what she’d picked up here and there.
But that conclusion was pretty shocking.
“Not just the third-years, but the entire school might start bothering you, Rudion.”
“…Wait, seriously, why?”
“It’s not a big deal. But it seems like the story of you giving up on that exam got twisted in a weird way.”
From what I heard, it seemed like the fact that I just tapped a few times and gave up had been misinterpreted in a very biased direction.
And it seemed like my performance in the sparring match afterward was completely left out of the rumors… Honestly, it was kind of funny.
How did it spread so conveniently?
“People have always talked a lot, but they couldn’t do anything. Now, with this incident, some people think they’ve got a chance.”
As I chuckled at the thought, Seria casually dropped that bomb.
According to her, some group had already formed a movement to take me down.
It was obvious what group that was. Probably the Seria fan clubs that had been quiet until now.
They couldn’t do anything before, but with one grade revealed, they flipped their attitude like a switch.
‘There must be quite a few people there. Didn’t they notice something was off?’
Even if it’s just rumors, didn’t they try to verify anything?
Well, to be honest, their actions weren’t completely thoughtless.
Honestly…
My current situation seems like someone who stands out at first but gradually falls behind.
It’s quite unusual to start declining at the beginning of the first year when growth should be most noticeable, but that’s exactly where I am now… So it’s no wonder it feels like a weakness.
Still, with Seria by my side, maybe things will balance out a bit?
With that hope, I looked at Seria, but she just smiled brightly and shook her head.
“I’m not getting involved.”
“Why not?”
“Because Rudion didn’t lend me the bracelet.”
What kind of grudge is that?
Staring at her in disbelief, Seria giggled and changed her tone.
“Just kidding, I actually enjoy watching Rudion do his thing. If I step in, the situation would be over before Rudion even gets a chance to act.”
Well, that’s true.
No matter how much they try to pick a fight with me, if Seria steps in… Even the slightly more talented students wouldn’t stand a chance.
Both in terms of authority and even physical strength, they’d be way out of their league.
But… I didn’t expect to be betrayed like this.
I trusted Seria’s goodwill, but my trust was so strong it backfired.
“Well, hang in there. They’re all good kids at heart, so don’t torment them too much.”
With Alkiné’s added trust, now I really have no way out.
At this rate, I’ll have to face every challenge and sparring match that comes my way.
I thought trust was always a good thing, but now I see too much of it can be a problem.
Anyway, it’s going to be a huge hassle… But for now, I’ll try to think positively.
‘…Actually, this might be good.’
If you can’t avoid it, you might as well enjoy it.
Bullying newbies is taboo content.
But if they come to me legally, I’ll just gratefully accept it.
Alright, newbies. I’ll do my best to handle you as much as I can, so be prepared.
Since they’re the ones coming at me, it’s not my fault, right?
