I Became an Outcast in the Academy

2. Duel (4)

“By the way, now that it’s all over, explain to me. How did you predict that our Prince Hwang would be beaten up like a dog by our older brother?”

“Well, that’s simple. Even though I didn’t like it, he is our older brother, after all. Unlike other idiots, I at least understand what our older brother can and can’t do.”

My head was spinning. The conversation between those kids felt like a faint echo from a distant place.

“Our older brother has spent half of his life on the battlefield, and every time, he came back as a living monster. It’s impossible for him to lose in a duel with an immature kid like our Prince.”

“…But you clearly said something like this last time. You said we should prepare in case we don’t know how the duel between our Prince and our older brother will end.”

“That’s right. Because at that time, our older brother had a pretty fatal weakness.”

“Weakness?”

“Money. Or power… or maybe background, if you prefer that word.”

Leticia was explaining everything calmly from the perspective of an obvious victor.

“Think about it. Our Prince, who always wears the highest-quality luxury items, naturally, has a top-notch sword. I heard that our Prince’s sword is one of the empire’s treasures, for instance.”

“However?”

“In contrast, our brother has always been short of money and dressed in shabby clothes. Starting from the clothes he wears, all the way to the sword, which is more precious to him than his life… As far as I know, that sword our brother has been carrying, he must have used it for at least ten years, right?”

Just as I knew a lot about Leticia, she also knew a lot about me.

But that’s precisely why all that information… now functioned as a deadly double-edged sword against me.

“In truth, for someone of our brother’s caliber, the weapon isn’t as crucial. Even if he had a mere tree branch, he could have bested our prince. However, if it were to happen that way… it would put us in a very difficult position.”

“Because our brother will need to prove his skill in front of all those people?”

“Exactly. That’s why I didn’t think it was a good idea for our brother to fight Ellie. The more our brother shows his skill, the more it will become evident that the rumors we’ve spread were lies.”

…So, those rumors were also spread by you.

All the rumors that tormented and troubled me so far were indeed propagated by you.

“Our brother is strong. But for some opponents, his belief in his own strength can become a weakness. For example, someone not very bright but as precious as a rare gem… like our prince.”

“So that’s why you gifted that sword that our brother put so much effort into making, instead of the dark sword.”

“Exactly. To make our brother use his skills to their full potential, it was enough to gift him a good sword. Our brother has always used old, worn-out, shoddy iron swords, so he wouldn’t know how sharp and powerful such a good sword could be.”

Leticia’s words reminded me of what I had done just now, turning Ricardo’s right arm into a bloody mess during the recent duel.

I had swung the sword with the thought of just slightly marking the enemy’s skin and tendons, but the power it displayed had caught me slightly off guard.

But now I saw that even that… was part of the terrible plan those kids had schemed.

By handing me a renowned sword I had never touched in my life, they had made it part of a gruesome plan to make me inflict even more devastating wounds on Ricardo.

“Our brother did an excellent job in the duel as we expected. And in the process, he not only caused a significant injury to the prince but also thoroughly trampled over many people watching. Can our prideful prince endure such humiliation?”

“But the events of the duel aren’t considered publicly, right? If our prince says he won’t hold our brother responsible…”

“That’s why it’s our role to provoke the awakened prince. When the prince wakes up, we’ll whisper in his ear like this. He became such a great disgrace to the empire, and he’s just going to let it slide. Considering our prince’s personality… he will never just let it go, even if it harms him in the long run.”

“There’s absolutely no way our brother can escape this time.”

The voices of Leticia and Lovelia, now sneering at each other, echoed in my ears.

I would have been happier if I had never known anything. The painful truth was tearing at my heart.

That piercing pain made me tightly shut my eyes.

‘…Ah.’

In the end, I had learned all the truths. The truths I had desperately avoided and didn’t want to know were precisely because of that.

The attitude of those children, who claimed they no longer considered me family but still circled around me in a peculiar way.

And even the double-sided act of gifting me a sword for my victory, despite planning to make me suffer in a gruesome way by giving me a sword I had never touched in my life.

All these aspects, which had given me a glimmer of hope that these kids might still consider me family behind their façade, were actually actions intended to destroy me.

I had no choice but to accept it, even though I didn’t want to.

What I had once considered as family had long crumbled, leaving only an empty, useless shell.

It was precisely because of this that those children tried to abandon me.

Just as there is nothing else for a hunting dog to do but go into the pot after finishing its hunt.

For me too, I was discarded only because I was no longer of any use to those children.

“…..”

I knew that, in truth. In the past, those children and I were definitely a family, but now we were nothing more than mere acquaintances.

But I wanted to believe. Even if it was a relationship filled with lies, I wanted to maintain it until the end.

During the hardest times of my life, we encountered each other in the middle of the street.

When life was too hard and difficult, when I couldn’t hold on by myself, when I was filled with thoughts of wanting to die rather than believing the world hated me as a person.

At that time, it was those children who supported me and were by my side.

For me who had no place to rely on in the world, the fact that there was a home to return to and a family waiting for me there was

“Then I’ll abandon you first.”

Those children no longer considered me as family.

I begged and tried to get closer, but in the end, they tried to abandon me.

So… this time, I’ll abandon you first.

You are not abandoning me. Before that, I will abandon you.

After I abandon you, I will surely watch you deeply regret and shed tears, looking at my empty place.

Because now… I no longer consider you as family.

Absolutely not.