Chapter 38 – String (3)

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Chapter 38 – String (3)

"…I've reflected in my own way."

"Reflection, you say…" The principal, upon hearing my response, brought her hand to her chin and lowered her head in contemplation. "Alright. Still, hearing that you've reflected puts my mind at ease as the principal. But listen to me well, Edwin. The reason you can still be in this academy is due to the leniency of the Disciplinary Committee, considering that life could become too harsh for you with just one punishment.

The things you did in the past were enough to warrant expulsion, depending on your intentions. However, there are no second chances. If you cause the same problem again during your studies, I will immediately expel you without any further leniency. You must always keep that in mind in your future academy life. Do you understand what I mean?"

"…I'll keep that in mind. Then, I'll be on my way…"

After I finished speaking, I turned around to stand up.

Since I had directly answered that I had reflected, I thought that this person would not pay attention to me in the future. The principal is a busy person. If she wanted to take care of the academy's internal and external events and the protagonists of the original work, she would need ten bodies, but it doesn't seem like she would intentionally allocate a place for me.

Well, I'll still be cold to the commoner students in the future, but that's not even a matter that could be brought up to the disciplinary committee, let alone expulsion.

In addition, based on the principal's reaction immediately after examining me earlier, it seems that she also failed to see through me with her Judgment. If she had properly understood my true feelings, she would not have been making such a bewildered face and muttering to herself.

And that wouldn't be strange for the principal either. Her Judgment eye was indeed a very powerful ability, but it was also stated in the original work that its performance varied greatly depending on the time.

In the midst of misfortune, fortune followed.

Yeah, that's enough.

Although I was a bit taken aback by the unexpected encounter with the principal, I think I handled it very well with quick thinking.

"…I hope you don't hate the other children too much. You and they are all loyal subjects of this country."

However, contrary to my desire to leave this place as soon as possible, the principal seemed to have something else to say.

When I turned my head to look at the principal, she had a somewhat forlorn expression on her face.

"There are many talented children from commoner backgrounds. It's just that there was no one to polish that gem. You know, the child you fought with, named Eugene?"

What? I stopped moving when I heard the name that came out of the principal's mouth. Why is Eugene's name coming up here? Was the principal already paying attention to Eugene? It seems similar in terms of timing, but…

"That child is really, really great. He's been in the school for less than three months, and he's made a lot of talk — single handedly capturing an intermediate-level monster that escaped during practical training, redirecting a wide-range spell's mis-casting to prevent casualties, challenging and winning a duel against a member of a prestigious noble family… Impressive."

Up to this point, all of these were the events that happened in the early part of the original work. I was worried that something might go wrong, but I'm glad that it was going well as usual even when I wasn't looking.

"Thanks to that, quite a few people have become indebted to that child. One of them is a talented young heir from the prestigious Acelus family. From what I've heard, it's the first time that the esteemed child has shown such interest in someone since entering the academy."

Acelus's heir… could it be Claudia Acelus?

In the original work, she became interested in Eugene after they prevented a potential catastrophe during a magic practical session and later became a heroine through various events. Despite her popularity due to her beauty and aspirational personality, I never held a particularly favorable view of her, given her somewhat erratic behavior and tendency to treat everyone but Eugene like pests.

"Being a commoner, he received an F-grade in etiquette and culture in the entrance exam, but even then, many professors recognized the child's potential, including your Fi… I'm sorry, your ex-fiancée. She's said to be close to that child and is teaching him all the knowledge he needs to know."

Wait… What?

"And since he learns so quickly, he may be able to take the promotion exam to the upper class soon. If he is successful in the promotion, I intend to allow him to join the student council under the special admission system by the authority of the principal. Even with his current performance, he has proven his abilities, and not utilizing such talent is a great loss for the academy as well."

It's fast. This is… too fast. In the original work, Eugene's special admission to the student council was a long way off from now.

And did his meeting with Iris continue after that? And they became close enough to help each other with their studies?

"I dare to predict that this time, the child named Eugene will become the representative of the commoner students. Yes, a powerful representative that will represent the commoner students who are always pushed around by the noble students. And considering the child's excellence, it won't take long for his ability to be recognized even by the noble students."

As I continued to listen to the principal's words, I began to feel a throbbing pain near my left chest; the feelings of that time, buried deep in the abyss, come to mind again.

The unpleasant feeling I felt when I saw Iris and Eugene together on the campus on the day I left the academy.

"You may think I'm discriminating against you. And I understand that feeling. But can't you understand me a little too? As long as you're enrolled in this academy, you're all my children, just like that. And there are no parents who raise their children by discriminating against them. However, it is enough to pay a little more attention to the child who is lacking."

The principal smiled wryly and held my hand. In her eyes looking straight at me, there was a drip of desperation.

"Do you know why I told you all these unnecessary things? Edwin of House Reed. I don't want you to waste your time on vain things anymore. This is a sincere word for you. You have your own path, and everyone else has their own path.

School days are short, and once they pass, they never come back. It's an academy life that comes only once in a lifetime, wouldn't it be enough time to do fun things? My dear, I hope you will listen carefully to what I have to say."

"…I will remember. I will also engrave the principal's advice in my heart…then…"

I let go of the principal's hand and made a quick greeting, then staggered out of the principal's office.

I needed some time to clear my head.

* * * * *

"Hmm…"

A long time had passed since Edwin left the office, but the academy's principal, Evangeline, was still sitting there, engrossed in her thoughts.

"It's strange. No matter how I think about it, it's strange…"

No matter how much she thought about what happened today, it felt strange.

After Edwin left, she slightly used her power on others who had been in and out of the office, she confirmed that its performance was fully exerted, unlike before. Although her Judgment eye has a big drop in performance, it was not completely inconsistent.

If there was a day when she couldn't cast it at all, she might understand, but she'd never experienced a case where the ability was activated while picking people.

And today, it was possible to cast it on everyone else except Edwin, so in this case, it would be reasonable to say that her ability did not work properly on Edwin alone.

"If that's the case, what I felt earlier wasn't a misunderstanding… Surely, it wasn't a mental barrier."

Because even she could see that the portrait in the academic record and the Edwin in front of her were so different, she used her Judgment eye on him to confirm whether he was really the right person, and also to check whether he had used any forbidden spells, even if he was the right person.

And because the traces left in the portrait were the same color as the soul that Edwin had, she confirmed that he was the right person, and she could immediately see that the light was not darkened, so she knew that he did not use the way of evil.

However, just in case, she tried to check deeper, but her eyes were blocked by something in the middle. Even if she tried again and again, it was blocked and she could never see beyond it.

It wasn't something that felt evil, but it wasn't something she could guess its identity.

"…What the hell happened during the suspension, Edwin…"

He was just one of many students at the academy whose name she couldn't even remember.

Since this year's freshmen had a lot of shining stars, she was already struggling to take care of them, and the reason Evangeline finally remembered his name was not because of any merit, but because of a violent incident that was carried out for an impure motive.

And when he returned after narrowly avoiding expulsion, he had changed so much that he seemed like a different person.

Not to mention his appearance, Edwin's behavior that he showed to her today was completely opposite to the evaluation of him recorded in the academic record.

Throughout her conversation with her today, Edwin constantly and desperately tried to avoid revealing his true feelings.

Although his mind was quite good for children of his age, he could not have perfectly concealed everything because he still had little experience.

He said that he was repentant, and it was certainly not a lie, but there was something more that he was trying to hide from her.

Even if she didn't use her Judgment eye, it was obvious.

One question was that he seemed to have lost his composure for a moment when she mentioned his ex-fiancee's story. Was he still unable to forget the child of Robinette? As far as she heard, it was said that the engagement was broken off due to Edwin's fault.

Anyway, if the appearance he showed her just now was not his true heart but his fabricated appearance, then what was his true heart? Beyond that barrier that she could not see through to the end.

"Come to think of it, I think there was a guy named Reed in the past…"

The principal closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers and muttered.

"Yeah, that's right. Now that I look at it, they really look alike. That guy was also definitely Reed of Madehaven… So, in terms of timing, is he his child?… His father also made me sick, and it's no wonder that the child is just like him in causing trouble… It's interesting, really interesting…"

Evangeline whispered quietly towards the void, then closed her eyes and raised the corners of her mouth.

It was a smile filled with the sincerity of a long-lived species that was rarely seen by those who had actually seen it.

"Let's just wait and see. I will watch you."

If you want to read the first 25 chapters for free and read up to the final chapter for a cheap price patreon.com/Makima02