I Became The Academy’s Joker Character

Chapter 10

—–CROW—– 

“Wahahahaha!”

Her laughter was truly boisterous.

Even if she hid in the forest, her location would be completely exposed with that level of noise.

She was probably hoping for that, but I couldn’t help but get a headache listening to her laughter.

“Prince Oz, I believe I have shown you considerable respect.”

The disciplinary committee had treated me quite politely.  Except for the initial surrounding and threats, they hadn’t done anything.

So, I could understand why Olivia was now raising her menacing mace.

Because I had disregarded her respect.

“Therefore, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from causing us further trouble.”

Relying on [Master of Mana] to fight was too risky at this close range.

Moreover, some of the disciplinary committee members hadn’t gone after Eleanor.

If I picked a fight, I would only get beaten up with my current skills.

Besides, there was no reason to fight in the first place.

I had already achieved my goal, hadn’t I?

Eleanor was probably enjoying a fun game of tag right now.

“Alright, I’ll come quietly.”

I raised both hands in surrender, but Olivia and the disciplinary committee didn’t lower their guard.

Were they still wary of me?  Even though I had deactivated [Contemplation]?

Then there was no other choice. I had to use the all-purpose cheat code.

“If you still don’t trust me, I swear on mana…”

“…If you insist, it’s fine.”

The disciplinary committee members, who had been clutching their weapons warily, sighed in relief and lowered their hands.

Just how effective was the mana oath?

It was almost frightening how much trust it could garner.

“Prince Oz… I don’t know what you’re planning, but I hope you’ll show respect to the person you’re about to meet.”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.”

That person was in the disciplinary committee.

The disciplinary committee was mostly composed of paladins and priests.

Then it was obvious who was at the top.

[Saintess of Hope] Arietta Domine would be there.

“…I won’t say much about you speaking informally to me, a second-year, considering your status, but if you show the same attitude towards the Saintess, we can’t guarantee your safety.”

It was a blatant threat.

Well, it was only natural.

The reason they were in in the first place was to protect the Saintess.

“By the way, you’re a second-year?”

“Did you think we joined the disciplinary committee before the semester even started?”

“No…”

Actually, I hadn’t thought about it.

I remembered [Saintess of Hope] Arietta Domine being a first-year.

So, I assumed her escorts, the [Shield of Light], would be the same.

“Wait, then is the Saintess of Hope also a second-year?”

“No, she failed a semester because she didn’t meet the attendance requirement.”

“Ah, I-I see.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.

Was it because she was busy running around that she lacked attendance? No, that was strange too.

If she had things to do, there was no reason for the [Shield of Light] not to accompany her.

Weren’t they the Saintess’s escorts?

“But you guys…”

“The Saintess…”

“…”

“She… lacked the required attendance. Do you understand, Prince Oz? She lacked attendance.”

“Uh…”

It seemed there was something I shouldn’t ask. But if they were this blatant about it, I couldn’t not know.

Perhaps Saintess of Hope Arietta wasn’t very bright academically.

“I understand.”

“Do you really understand?”

“Yes, have you forgotten who I am?”

“…I’ll trust you.”

They were telling me to be careful not to touch upon the Saintess’s sore spot.

I also didn’t want to upset her by bringing up grades.

“Then, let’s go. We’ll try to send you back before class starts.”

“Alright.”

Perhaps because I mentioned the mana oath, the disciplinary committee members guided me with lighter steps.

They didn’t seem to think I would run away.

I wasn’t planning to run away anyway, but it was a bit anticlimactic.

“Then, please come in.”

The place the disciplinary committee led me to was, unexpectedly, a church.  There was a church where the disciplinary committee room should have been.

I didn’t understand why the disciplinary committee room was a church.

I glanced at Olivia and the other members of the disciplinary committee, and they seemed completely indifferent.  This must have been going on for a while.

Wasn’t this abuse of power…?

I gave them a questioning look, but they just stared back expressionlessly.

“Please come in.”

As I was half-pushed into the church, I felt a strange sense of dissonance.

It wasn’t unpleasant or uncomfortable.

Rather, it felt comfortable, like suddenly lying down on a warm blanket.

Then was this divine power?

Come to think of it, I had seen and felt mana to the point of nausea, but this was the first time I encountered divine power.

“Prince Oz? Is something wrong?”

“No, let’s go in.”

Olivia urged me on as I paused, momentarily captivated by the unfamiliar sensation.

Why were they so eager to bring me into the church?

Were they really investigating this?

“It’s here.”

Olivia pointed to a door and said.

I already knew. The divine power I had been feeling was emanating from inside that door.  All that divine power was coming from a single person.

The wooden door creaked open, and Olivia led me inside.

As I entered, a refreshing scent of apple mint wafted gently.

In the center of the room was a large executive chair that seemed out of place.

“Welcome.”

A girl’s voice came from behind the executive chair. A soothing voice.

Whirl.

The girl sitting in the chair spun around.

“Ah…”

She spun a bit too much.

She turned back to her original position.  I only saw her for a moment, but [Contemplation] didn’t miss it.

[SSR Saintess of Hope]

Arietta Domine

As expected, [Saintess of Hope] Arietta Domine, the healer character with the best performance in the game, was there.

“Saintess, you turned too much.”

“Ah, thank you, Olivia.”

Olivia casually turned the executive chair so that she was facing me.

Her pure white hair, as if all color had been drained from it, stood out in contrast to mine.

Then I saw her tightly closed eyes.

Although she had a gentle presence, I couldn’t look at her with just fondness.

Because she was blind.

That’s why, despite possessing such powerful divine power, she needed protection.

In the game, depending on the character rank, she would appear with her eyes open, but even then, her gaze was unfocused.

She had divine power that could even reattach severed limbs, yet she couldn’t heal her own eyes.

A Saintess who showed the light of hope to people, yet she herself couldn’t see anything.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Saintess of Hope, Arietta Domine. I am Oz Quabadis. It’s an honor to meet you.”

“First time…?”

“…?”

I heard a momentary sigh-like sound and raised my head, which I had lowered in greeting, but there was no change in Arietta’s expression.

Did I hear wrong?

“…”

No, I didn’t hear wrong.

Arietta’s expression remained unchanged, but the disciplinary committee members were glaring at me.

I wasn’t sure what it was, but I must have made a mistake.

“Uh, w-well, Oz… what brings you to the disciplinary committee?”

“I caused a small disturbance in the academy and was brought here as a person of interest.  How unfortunate.”

“…Prince Oz damaged the Headmaster’s statue with a strange girl and was arrested on the spot.”

“What?”

Olivia, who was still openly hostile towards me, made an unnecessary remark.

Arietta became speechless at her words.

An awkward silence fell.  What should I say?

If I spoke carelessly like before, would the disciplinary committee members kill me?

As I was pondering…

“Olivia, we’ve caught Noah, who ran away.”

“…Yes, bring her here.”

A savior appeared to break the tension.  Actually, I wasn’t sure if she was a savior or another troll.

A moment later, Eleanor, whom I had set free, was brought in, bound with ropes.  What did she do to be tied up like that?

She had a regretful expression on her face, but considering the time, she couldn’t have lasted long.

She was incompetent in many ways.

“Well… It’s a pleasure to meet you, Saintess.”

“Uh… Ah, yes, hello?”

Arietta started to sweat at Eleanor’s brazen attitude.

I would also be bewildered if someone acted like that after being captured. What made her so proud?

“Th-Then, I’ll start the confession for both of you…”

Arietta spoke hesitantly, as if something was bothering her.

“Confession? What should we do, Master? It sounds fun.”

“…I don’t see anything fun about it.”

The confession conducted by the Saintess was special. It had appeared a few times in the game.

In the confession that began under her rules, it seemed you could remain silent, but you couldn’t lie.

And I think I knew why.

Looking at the weapons the disciplinary committee members held right beneath my neck, I could understand why lying wasn’t an option.

This was a different kind of structure where lying was impossible.

“Then, I’ll ask Oz… first.”

“…Yes.”

“Why did you try to damage the Headmaster’s statue?”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding. I didn’t damage the statue. I destroyed the window.”

I felt a chill run down my spine at the words that naturally came out of my mouth.

It wasn’t because of the disciplinary committee’s threats.

I really couldn’t lie.

Even subtly twisting the truth was impossible.

I felt the most chilling sense of dissonance yet, as if I could only speak the truth.

“Why did you do that? D-Did you see a ghost or something?”

“Are you afraid of ghosts?”

“N-No… Ugh?!”

Arietta suddenly lowered her head.

The Saintess felt not only guilt but also physical pain when she lied.

It seemed she was afraid of ghosts.

“Um, could you please only answer my questions?”

“Prince Oz, please don’t tease the Saintess. As you can see, she’s quite delicate.”

“Alright…”

Arietta lowered her head again at Olivia’s pointed remark.

She seemed quite embarrassed.

“S-So, can you tell me why you did that?”

“I saw Noah trying to destroy the Headmaster’s statue and acted to stop her.”

“Then Oz is innocent? I’m glad my judgment wasn’t wrong. Hee hee.”

“…”

What was that?  Dark humor?

How should I react to her, a blind person, using the phrase “judgment wasn’t wrong”?

Should I laugh?  No, what if it was a mistake? Wouldn’t I look strange?

Fortunately, before I could react, Arietta turned her head. The target of interrogation had changed.

“Then…”

“It’s Noah.”

“Yes, then Noah, why did you try to damage the Headmaster’s statue?”

“I didn’t.”

“Huh…?”

Arietta looked back and forth between us with a blank expression.

She probably hadn’t imagined our statements would contradict each other so perfectly.

Honestly, I was dumbfounded too.

She could lie?

“I wasn’t trying to damage the statue.  In the process of demolishing it and erecting a new one, a scratch accidentally appeared!”

“Ah, I… I see.”

Arietta’s adaptability was beyond imagination.  She seemed to have already understood what kind of person Eleanor was.

Her line of questioning shifted completely towards Eleanor, away from me.

It was already half a sermon.

“Saintess, aside from that, it seemed like Prince Oz and Noah were planning something.”

“Is that so?”

Olivia intervened again.  She still didn’t seem to be in a good mood. Quite hostile.

“Could you two tell me what you were planning?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“We’re going to turn this academy upside down and spread our names.”

I told the truth, and Eleanor told a lie.

The scary thing was that this lie wasn’t a lie to her.  What a grand ambition.

Wasn’t Eleanor closer to a villain than a protagonist?

“…It seems the target of interrogation has been decided.”

Naturally, the target was Eleanor, not me.

* * *

“I’m… tired…”

Eleanor and I left the disciplinary committee room after the interrogation.

It really did end before class started.  The problem was that even if we sprinted, we would be late.

Anyway, since it was the truth, I couldn’t get angry.

Should we just find our own way back? They dragged us to the middle of a forest and weren’t even taking us back.

“We’re definitely late. Let’s just take it easy.”

“Then, how about we decide on a grand entrance? I like flashy things.”

“…Sometimes, I envy your optimism.”

“As expected, I’m someone to be envied.”

It was amazing how she could be so positive even after being dragged to the disciplinary committee on the first day of school.

I would be too worried about the rumors spreading to even open the classroom door.

“The Saintess, she was pretty, right?”

“Huh? Well, yes…”

Eleanor spoke to me as we walked silently through the forest.

As an attention-seeker, she wouldn’t be happy with the current silence.

She probably wanted to talk about something.

“I thought flour would come off if I touched her hair.”

“That’s not a compliment.”

Wouldn’t it be better to say it looked like pure white marble?

“Come to think of it, I heard the Saintess is also a first-year like us.  Does she not have to attend classes?”

“Since she took them last year, orientation should be fine.  Besides, I don’t think she has much to do here.”

As Olivia said, if she lacked attendance, she just had to make up for the missing days.

If she failed a subject, she could just retake it.

I wondered if she even intended to graduate.

“But… I know I shouldn’t say this, but I’m curious about her eye color.”

“Mint green.”

A bright turquoise, reminiscent of summer.

“…?”

Eleanor suddenly stopped and put her index fingers on her temples, lost in thought.

She seemed to be wondering how I knew Arietta’s eye color.  After pondering for a while, Eleanor asked suspiciously, “Were you two acquainted?”

“…Perhaps.”

I decided to be vague, since she wouldn’t understand even if I explained.

She didn’t seem to care much and didn’t pry further.

“Come to think of it, isn’t it strange?  She’s practically the embodiment of divine power, yet she can’t heal her own eyes?”

Eleanor tilted her head and then spoke as if puzzled.

“Ariet… No, the Saintess’s blindness is because of her divine power.”

“Divine power?”

“A light too bright can blind you.”

“That kind of metaphor… it kind of stimulates my inner darkness, I don’t dislike it.”

“…I hate it because it makes my hair stand on end and gives me goosebumps every time you say something like that.”

A brief silence.

Then, Eleanor continued as if nothing had happened.

“By the way, Master, you seem to know a lot about the Saintess.”

“…I do.”

I had to.

The reason I started playing that pig-feeding game, , was Arietta.

She was my favorite character.

“But it seems we weren’t meant to be.”

I spent about 3,000 dollars trying to get her, but she didn’t come home.

Damn probability manipulation.

* * *

A paladin belonging to the [Shield of Light], the Saintess’s personal guard.

Olivia Blue disliked Oz from the moment she saw him.

He possessed the typical arrogance of those in power.

His eyes held that gaze.

Nevertheless, she showed Oz respect. Because Arietta, the Saintess she served, wished for it.

She was a , the escort of [Saintess of Hope] Arietta.

She was someone who had always observed Arietta from close by.

Therefore, she knew better than anyone that Arietta was more fragile than she seemed, just a kind and vulnerable girl.

Yes, to her, Arietta was like a younger sister.

“How dare he…”

And there was someone Arietta always talked about.

Oz Quabadis, who was from the same monastery as her.

Arietta, who had been eagerly waiting for the day she would meet him again, had even given up on advancing to her second year when she heard the rumor that Oz would be entering .

-It’s a pleasure to meet you, Saintess of Hope, Arietta Domine. I am Oz Quabadis. It’s an honor to meet you.

But Oz betrayed that expectation.  He drew a clear line between them, expressing his intention to reject her.

She couldn’t forgive him.  If Arietta hadn’t been there, she would have immediately swung her mace and crushed his skull.

“Saintess…”

“I-It’s okay, Olivia.  Come to think of it, it’s only natural. Remembering things from childhood… Ugh!”

After Oz and Eleanor left, chatting away, Arietta slumped onto her desk.

Outwardly, she said she was just tired, but I could see how heartbroken she was.

“…I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Okay.”

Grit──!

Olivia gritted her teeth and went to find Oz.

Although she knew it couldn’t be helped, as Arietta said, she couldn’t accept it.

She wanted to lash out at him, even if it was just a word.

“I thought flour would come off if I touched her hair.”

“That’s not a compliment.”

She soon found Oz, and saw him chatting with the girl called Noah.

Olivia gripped her mace as she watched.

“But… I know I shouldn’t say this, but I’m curious about her eye color.”

“Mint green.”

But the moment she heard those words, her grip on the mace loosened.

If he had truly forgotten Arietta, there was no way he would know that information.

Yes, it meant he hadn’t forgotten Arietta.

‘Then why…?’

Why did he draw a line between them?  As Olivia pondered, Oz muttered with a wistful expression, “But it seems we weren’t meant to be.”

Olivia flinched as if a chill had run down her spine, and then dropped her mace.

She finally understood the meaning of his words.

Oz was currently being pursued by the Demon King’s Kingdom, .

The moment he left , he would be in danger of being assassinated.

And Arietta wasn’t heartless enough to let that happen.

She would probably use all means to protect Oz, and that would create a huge rift between the Church and .

“So that’s it…”

He didn’t want to involve Arietta.

Olivia came to that conclusion and turned back.

What a cruel twist of fate.  Olivia felt pity for the two who couldn’t be together.

—–CROW—–