I Became an Outcast in the Academy

1. Nightmare (4)

Bang!

“It’s impossible! It’s unthinkable for a single student in the Lutra dimension to commit such an outrage!”

In the principal’s office of Lutra, Cartesia was protesting against him, slamming her fist down on the desk that he usually cherished.

The principal saw the Empress Cartesia showing her emotions to someone else for the first time.

Currently, Cartesia’s attitude was very different from her usual cold and indifferent demeanor towards others.

“Your Highness… No, Cartesia, you can’t do this here. No, you can’t. Even so, you’re a student and I’m the principal overseeing the students of Lutra, so giving me too much trouble is a little difficult…”

“If the principal hadn’t given such an absurd order to a mere student! I wouldn’t have had to come to a place like this!”

Cartesia glared at the principal with all her might, her face burning red, seemingly unable to hide her anger.

“I heard it all! You’re planning to have Sian duel with his younger sister Eli! Is that really something you should do to a student?”

On the surface, Sian and Eli’s duel seemed entirely fair.

Because both Sian and Eli were first-year students who had just entered Lutra.

But Cartesia knew all too well that this duel would be incredibly unfair for Sian.

Because Sian’s sister, Eli, was none other than the person who had entered Lutra solely for her talent in ‘swords.’

In the field of swords, she was an unstoppable force, possessing a talent that would be difficult for anyone to match.

Even if Sian tried his hardest, it was doubtful whether he could defeat Eli head-on, not to mention that Eli was his sister.

It was obvious that Sir Cian, whom Cartesian knew well, would not be able to wield the sword with all his might against Ellie.

This was because the Cian she knew was an idiot who was too kind to others.

“I cannot accept, no, I won’t! I absolutely cannot accept this duel!”

“Ca, calm down and just listen to me for a moment, Miss Cartesian. There’s a clear reason why we proposed such a duel to Cian!”

Upon hearing the preposterous excuse of the director, Cartesian widened her eyes and looked at him without a word.

This was her granting permission for him to babble his excuse, as she would first listen to what it was.

“So, you see, Miss Cartesian. We arranged the duel between Cian and Ellie as a… mercy and compromise on our part. We wanted to be considerate of Cian as well, but… there was nothing more we could do!”

“…Mercy? Consideration?”

Cartesian couldn’t help but make a dumbfounded expression at the words, which were far too shameless coming from the director’s mouth.

Was that even merciful to force her own students to participate in a duel they couldn’t win?

“Don’t you know, Miss Cartesian? Recently, there have been numerous rumors circulating around Cian. For example, claims that Cian got into Rutra Academy through some dishonest means, or that he tried to make unfair gains by selling his younger sister out to hungry authorities…”

“Those are all baseless rumors!”

“However, there’s no evidence proving that they’re not. Isn’t that right?”

“… That’s.”

At the director’s words, Cartesian clenched her teeth.

Of course, she never believed in any of those rumors surrounding Cian.

Just by having a short conversation with Cian, she could tell how much he cherished his younger sisters, and firmly believed that he wasn’t involved in such rumors.

For that reason, she had not spoken a word about it, even though Cian’s recent demeanor seemed despondent.

But other people, and the students of Rutra Academy, did not know about this side of Cian’s personality. No, they showed no interest or concern in knowing.

To other students, Cian is simply a lowly mercenary who rose from the streets and was ‘fortunate’ to enter Rutra Academy due to his talented sisters.

Given such rumors circulating, it was inevitable that the gossip would spread quickly among other students.

That’s because, to others, the rumor must have seemed like something with solid evidence and grounds.

“Although they are baseless rumors, everyone in Rutra knows about them now. And there are people who seriously believe them. That’s because the people involved with him aren’t saying anything.”

“… What?”

So, does this mean that Cian didn’t utter a word of denial against these unjust rumors?

‘That dumb idiot indeed!’

Of course, she knew. Even if Cian had desperately defended himself, no one would have believed him.

Moreover, Cian would have kept his mouth shut for the sake of his sisters.

But that was one thing, and this was another. Is it even reasonable not to make a single clarification for something he didn’t do?

‘And… those wretched people are the same.’

Though Sian hadn’t mentioned anything about his supposed younger sister all this time, the truth was that Cartesia truly did not like the young women who called themselves his sisters.

Their behavior, greeting him nonchalantly when they happened to come across their older brother in Lutra, and even now, keeping their mouths tightly shut as if it had nothing to do with the strange rumors circulating about their family—all of it.

“Of course, the faculty and staff of Lutra do not believe those malicious rumors. However, that doesn’t mean they can go without taking any countermeasures. Because, as long as Lutra is a place that nurtures talent for the future of the Empire, it must avoid rumors related to fraudulent admission at all costs.”

It was true. The royal family, who could be considered Lutra’s biggest patron, wouldn’t exactly welcome such baseless rumors.

“That’s why we assigned him such a task in order to prevent those false rumors in the first place and to prove that Sian didn’t engage in any fraudulent admission. If he manages to defeat Elly in a duel, at the very least, it will prove that he deserves his place in Lutra.”

“I understand that, but… this duel is far too unfair, don’t you think?”

“It’s actually a requirement that the royal family specifically demanded of Lutra. They made a judgment that if it wasn’t this extreme, they wouldn’t have a definitive proof of his innocence. Despite being young, wasn’t Sian a mercenary with quite a renowned past?”

“…the royal family?”

At the headmaster’s words, Cartesia asked back with an almost unbelieving expression.

It didn’t make sense. The royal family wouldn’t have much time to respond so quickly to some trivial rumors of fraudulent admission at Lutra, only if the problem grew to a much larger scale.

Where exactly would the royal family find a reason to interfere with a matter concerning Sian…

‘Robelia.’

For a moment, Cartesia remembered the fact that her older brother Ricardo and Sian’s sister Robelia were maintaining a romantic relationship.

‘…surely not.’

It didn’t make sense. No matter how much you considered it, there was no way that an evil sister would set up a trap for her own brother and push him into it.

Of course, if it were Cartesia herself, she would have gone beyond merely setting up a trap for Ricardo and instead directly pushed him off a cliff…

‘Damn it.’

If Cartesia’s speculation was correct, there was no point in bickering with a figure like the headmaster.

He was nothing more than a puppet, a person who didn’t even know the meaning behind the royal family’s instructions for Sian.

“…I see. So, you’re saying that with your authority as the headmaster, there is no way to do anything about the current situation surrounding Sian.”

“Indeed, Miss Cartesia. I’m grateful that you now understand my situation…”

“Excuse me.”

After closing the door quickly, she left the principal’s office and hurried toward the place where Sian was most likely to be.

Her mind became restless. No matter how she thought about it, this was a trap.

A trap filled with malice, targeting only Sian.

‘It can’t be.’

It was impossible. And above all, it was absolutely intolerable.

She couldn’t lose him like this and, more than anything, she hadn’t been staying by his side all this time just to witness this kind of scene.

Hadn’t she resolved long ago that she would never lose him in such a futile way again?

“…Ah.”

And it was then. I caught a glimpse of Shian talking with someone not far away.

“Shian!”

As Cartsia hurriedly ran towards Shian, she stopped abruptly upon seeing a beautiful woman engaged in conversation with Shian, who eventually turned to greet her.

“…That woman.”

A woman with an extremely beautiful appearance, exuding an aura of nobility.

However, she was also believed to be one of the culprits behind this whole situation.

Shian’s younger sister, the sorceress Letisha.