I Became an Outcast in the Academy

9. Branch (4)

“Yes, my student came to see me because he had something to say.”

Duke Orphega’s office.

There, the duke was looking at his student, Eli, with somewhat interesting eyes.

“This is so… If it’s surprising, it’s a request. “You have never visited me for personal business before.”

Although the Duke himself was his disciple, Ellie could be said to be a rather unappealing disciple to him.

Duke Orphega still vividly remembers what happened when he took Eli as his disciple.

Among the talented people produced within 100 years, a girl was born with exceptional talent in the field of ‘sword’.

She was originally planned to be raised as a hunting dog by the imperial family, who noticed her talent, but through secret negotiations with the imperial family, the Duke agreed to take Ellie as his student. It was successful.

During the course of the negotiations, the duke had no choice but to endure considerable losses, but he had no regrets.

Because, given Ellie’s talent, there was a possibility that she could perfectly master the swordsmanship that Duke Orphea had perfected after many years of honing it.

And just as the Duke expected, in less than half a year after Ellie became her disciple, she grew into a powerful person within Lutra’s five fingers.

Considering the fact that before she entered Lutra, she had only learned the basics of swordsmanship from her older brother for self-defense, her growth was incredible.

Of course, at this point, Eliga Orphee’s skills were a step lower than that of her princess, Chlamys, but that was something that could not be helped.

Chlamys is approximately one year older than Ellie, and above all, Chlamys has been exposed to all kinds of advanced sword techniques since she was very young, and above all, she even received sword training directly from the Duke.

In contrast, the time Eli received sword training from the Duke was at most half a year.

Rather, she should praise Ellie’s greatness for improving her skills to the point where she was able to chase Klamis under the chin in such a short period of time, even though she only knew the basics of her swordsmanship until now.

In this way, if she had been born in difficult times, she would have been treated as a hero, but compared to the fact that she was born with great talent, Ellie’s personality was extremely petit-like.

Hesitating and not being able to come to his senses from the power he tasted for the first time in his life, trying not to let go of that power without knowing how to use it, and yet never opening his hands to the duke to protect his pride…. In the duke’s eyes, this was truly a ridiculous behavior.

Power. Well, Orphea’s status as the Duke’s disciple made her seem quite attractive and authoritative on the outside.

However, since ancient times, authority is nothing more than something that automatically follows in the face of overwhelming power.

It is truly laughable that they are struggling to protect the authority that comes from the duke without even knowing such a simple fact.

But until now, the duke didn’t really care what his disciple did behind his back under his authority.

If Ellie was truly a talented person who could inherit everything he had built so far, she could understand and tolerate her student’s antics.

That’s why the Duke of Orphega felt something strange as he looked at the image of Ellie that was currently reflected before his eyes.

She was a petty person who took advantage of the duke’s authority for personal gain, and Ellie, who had the same pride as her nobility and never said anything regretful to him, had disappeared somewhere.

Instead, the person in front of him is… There was only one girl looking at him with determined eyes, as if she had decided on something.

“Yes, I had something special to say to the teacher, so I came to visit you suddenly without contacting you in advance. Sorry.”

“It is done. There is no need to show courtesy when a disciple comes to visit his teacher. So what do you have to say to me?”

At Duke Orphega’s words, Ellie’s face hardened as if she had made up her mind, and then she quietly opened her mouth towards him.

“First of all… “I would like to ask Master a question.”

“Tell me.”

“Master, do you think of me as your disciple?”

Duke Orphega laughed for a moment as if he was taken aback by Eli’s words.

“What a funny question. So, did you think that I was such a leisurely person that I would stop anyone passing by on the street and teach them how to use a sword?”

Duke Orphega is a man who did not even raise an eyebrow when famous knights of the empire came to him with thousands of gold and asked to look at his sword.

He still didn’t understand the meaning of teaching a sword from beginning to end to a girl who only knew the basics?

“You have been taught the sword by me, and you are the one who is scheduled to inherit everything from me in the future. “If you are not my disciple, then what are you?”

“Master, you already have an older brother as well as me?”

Shocked.

The Duke narrowed his brows slightly at Ellie’s bold and bold words.

“Is it possible that you are reacting this way because I tried to get your brother and Chlamys to marry? Sorry, but your guess was wrong. “I was thinking about making him my son-in-law, not about making him my disciple.”

“No, I think Master doesn’t think of you as just a son-in-law. “If he thought of my brother as just a son-in-law, he wouldn’t have made it this big from the beginning.”

That was the conclusion that Ellie had come to after contemplating death for the past few days.

“Teacher, this is what I am asking you. If Master succeeds in completely capturing his brother… “I wonder if Master still needs me at that time.”

“…..”

At that moment, Duke Orphega looked at Ellie with something new in his eyes.

Until just now, he had assumed that Eli had come to see him out of fear of losing his position as ‘Duke Orphega’s only disciple’… It seems that the prediction was wrong.

Now, Ellie was asking the duke, if you were to take her cyan into your hands, wouldn’t she at the same time be reduced to a person of no value to you?

When she looks at it objectively, Ellie is Ellie and her Xian is Xian. Since both are extremely rare talents in their respective fields, there is no way their value will decrease if they coexist.

Ellie, who probably knows that fact better than anyone else in the world, has only one reason why she bothers to ask the Duke this question.

Ellie… I realized why the duke was trying so hard to make his draft his own.

Perhaps, we cannot deny the possibility that Xian even knows what ‘ability’ he has.

“…..”

As his inner thoughts were immediately read by his student, who had hitherto been thought of as somewhat clumsy, even a man of the order of the Duke of Orphea was momentarily unable to control his facial expression.

And when Eli saw the Duke like that, he was finally able to be sure.

I think it’s finally possible to have ‘stories’ with each other on equal footing.

“Master, let me ask you again. Master made me… Do you consider yourself a disciple? Not just now, but forever? And for how long?”

“…..”

Same question as before. But the weight contained in those words was on a different level than before.

In the end, Duke Orphega remained silent without giving any answer, but Eli was not particularly hurt by the Duke’s reaction.

From the beginning, she had already made up her mind. So there was no reason for her to get hurt now.

So there was no reason for her heart to break just because her teacher had already confirmed that half of her heart had left her.

“It’s not that I don’t understand why Master acts that way and why she tries so hard to make her brother her own. “I probably would have acted like that if I were in the teacher’s position.”

I consciously try to sound cold. Otherwise, there is a risk that her true feelings will be revealed to her teacher.

“But even a mere animal fights proudly against an intruder who enters its territory, so I can’t just sit still like this. “This is especially true if the person trying to take my place is my brother.”

Ellie disguises her appearance by picturing Lobelia and Leticia as much as possible in her head. Because out of all the people Ellie knew, they were the two best villains.

‘… No, I guess I’m not in a position to tell others.’

If you look at her objectively, she is already a great villain, but she is far from that.

Ellie now has to go beyond being a great villain and become a formidable enemy who can truly threaten her brother.

She, Ellie, regrets the stupid things she did in her past, but she does not deny her past itself.

She desires the ruin of her own brother with all her heart, and she will act as best as she can for him.

Because at best, she can’t even overcome herself, and if she collapses here, she will end up worse than being killed by Leticia or Lobelia.

“In that sense, to my teacher… And Master, with his support, I would like to make a suggestion to my brother.”

“… Proposal?”

“I want to duel with my brother. And I would like to add the condition that whoever wins the duel takes everything from the loser. “Everything from Master’s discipleship to future possibilities.”

At Ellie’s words, her Duke of Orphea stares at her with his eyes wide open.

It is a possibility for the future. On the surface, it sounds like a pretty good thing to say, but there was only one way to completely take away a person’s potential.

Now, Ellie was hoping to risk her life and that of her Cyan in her duel.

“What if I, or that guy, Xian, refuse to accept your offer? “When she thinks about it with common sense, she doesn’t think there is any reason to accept that offer.”

“Then what… I can’t help it. I don’t want to do that either, but I have no choice but to make my own final struggle.”

“… “A final struggle?”

And at Eli’s next words, the Duke’s face hardened greatly.

“I will let the entire empire know what kind of abilities my brother has. If that’s the case, the entire empire will be turned upside down, and in the end, my brother will never fall into Master’s hands. Because there are many people in this world who have the idea that they would rather destroy something than they can have.”